Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Martha's Vineyard







Martha's Vineyard     30x48"    thrown and splattered acrylic paint on canvas    2015

Martha's Vineyard is represented by L'Attitude Gallery in Boston Mass
sold

Monday, November 2, 2015

LAGOCA Acacia Tree

Acacia Tree               5x4'             thrown and splattered paint on canvas             2015

Acacia Tree is represented by the  Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art in the Arts and Gallery conclave of Laguna Beach, CA
sold Troutman and Sanders International Law

LGOCA Refugio Beach

Refugio Beach            4x6'             thrown and splashed acrylic on canvas            2015

Refugio is represented by the Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art in the Arts and Gallery district of Laguna Beach, CA

Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art

Redbud Tree         36x36"           thrown and splattered paint on canvas           2015

Redbud is currently exhibited at the Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art in the art and gallery conclave of  Laguna Beach, CA

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Cat Tails

Cat Tails  30x48"  Thrown and splattered paint on canvas   2015

This is my second sunset. While trying to develop the idea of the sunset, I became too painterly on the first. In trying too hard to look realistic, I lost the essence of the idea and ended up building up the painting too much. The last Sunset was so over thrown I had to relegate it to the overthrown pile. Since I can no longer throw on these, they are too heavy with paint, I brush a bit against the texture instead and then lightly throw an abstract painting, on top.
Recently I sold a painting that had a field of tall grass. I had withheld that painting for years because I liked it so, but I was persuaded. So, I was  excited to start a fresh canvas that was comprised of both subjects, the sunset and long grass in the field. As heavy as this one looks, it really threw pretty quickly (months of practice on the other canvases). I believe it's completed.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Patience Brewster shares the art experience

In  honor of the recent Artist Appreciation Month, I was invited by the artist,  Patience Brewster , to share along with other artists,  some of my art experiences and experiences in art.  Patience Brewster is a delightful artist whose figurines and whimsical Christmas Ornaments, are must haves on my list.
I am honored and a bit daunted by the request. Ok, here goes....

 1. As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly
affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?


I believe I was born to be an artist. My father's endless stories fueled my imagination and my mother's artistic talent inspired. My mother was my first art instructor. She could paint and draw, and her skills fascinated me. She taught me how to draw my first person and in the first grade, I received an honor for my painting of, "Two boys in the Grass", that was quite an achievement for me.



My mom and I getting ready to attend the 48th annual International exhibit at the SDAI, where my work had been chosen for exhibit. She was thrilled.

We lived in LA and I had some exposure to the arts through museum trips but it was the people in my life that I believe were instrumental in my desire to express my world through art; my mother and father, my artist aunt, and all their imaginative and artistic friends. When I was five, I sat still for a portrait by one of our neighbors, just so that I could watch the painting's progress.
Still in grade school I was mesmerized by a large volume of works my aunt and uncle had by the artist, Andrew Wyeth. Whenever I visited, I sat with that heavy book, pouring over each painting, entranced by Wyeth's renditions and skill. Today that book rests on my end table.


 2. As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?

My work is impressionist with an abstract bent. It's done by throwing and splattering paint onto a horizontal canvas, using sticks and brushes. When I am throwing, I am trying to interpret an image or an idea, generally a landscape I am familiar with. I am fairly good with my throws and sometimes, in an effort to 'see' the image,  I end up over painting a work. When that happens, the work looks painted on, rather than thrown. If it gets to this point,  I have failed in what I want to do. With my technique, I feel my work should suggest an image, not replicate it (we have realism and photos for that). What I try to convey is the essence of an image not the image itself.
                             Cardinal's Woods, photo on left, painting and detail on right (Virginia).

 3. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I had painted a painting from an area near Simi Valley CA. It was an overgrown  ravine with a trickle of water, near the side of a road. I titled it, "The Ravine". Later that year I exhibited that painting in an outdoor venue in San Diego. I was standing near the painting when a woman approached. She stood in front of the painting for a long time. Finally she turned to me and said, "You have painted the lake behind the house".  She then proceeded to tell me a bit of her story. She was raised in Hiroshima, during a very dark time. She said the only joy she had was when she and her family went to stay at a separate house, that house had a lake behind the property. There she found joy. I was mesmerized by her story. Even more so, when her brother found her in front of my painting and she asked him, "what is this", and he replied, "the lake behind the house." From that point on the painting has been titled, "The Lake Behind the House". I felt this couple knew more about my painting than I did and their interpretation held more importance and was so much more interesting, than mine.
                                                         The Lake Behind the House

 4. What is your dream project?


My dream project would be to just continue painting. To be able to see and interpret the world from an artist's perspective is more than I could ever have imagined. It is a gift I cherish and hope to be able to continue long into 'older' age.

the painting process
 

5. What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not!)

I admire all artists. Anyone that can put pen to paper, voice to song, feet to dance. Actor's, writers, musicians, teachers, doctors, mechanics, parents, students etc...those people of any and many ilks that channel a creative bent into their works. People that see the world with a little different slant, that interpret their vision for others to see. People who are not afraid to  allow themselves the creative freedom to investigate and define themselves and their own world.

Well.. that about sums it up. Thank you very much to Patience Brewster  for allowing me to partake in the artist conversation and to share a bit about my art life. To learn more about  Patience Brewster's art work please follow these links... https://www.patiencebrewster.com/ornamentals.html
https://www.patiencebrewster.com 

L'Attitude Gallery, Boston Mass, Barrier Island

Barrier Island  36x24"  thrown and splattered paint on canvas   2015
LGOCA Laguna Beach, CA

This painting was inspired by the works of Caspar David Friedrich, the haunting solitary seascape, where horizon and sky forge a compromise. The ruckenfigur metaphor here being the bits of sea grass, the only spectator within which one can grasp and decipher the totality of the work. Barrier Island is represented by L'Attitude Gallery in Boston Mass.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Sofia Hotel, San Diego


Beautiful Tribute from the Sofia Hotel and the Currant American Brasserie in San Diego



 
San Diego has long been a hotbed of creativity and artistic expression. Here at the Sofia Hotel, we love honoring that heritage by displaying the works of local artists we admire. One of our favorites is the painter Diana Carey, whose creations can often be seen hanging on the walls of the Sofia’s on-site restaurant, Currant American Brasserie.
Carey is a practitioner of what’s sometimes called “gestural abstraction” or “action painting,” where the artist throws, drips, or sprays paint upon a canvas instead of carefully daubing it on. With her physical approach, she seems to draw forth her subconscious into the sometimes-subdued, sometimes-slashing movements of her arms and wrists. As she emphasizes on her website, Carey’s paintings combine the stimulating combination of intent and unpredictability: The result is the “controlled chaos” (as she puts it) of multilayered, multicolored paint expressing bold, visceral, and highly energetic patterns.
Reading Carey’s own descriptions of her process evokes a sense of adventure, spontaneity, and mystery: An unexpected splash of paint, the manner in which the impasto texture emerges, a shape suddenly materializing out of skeins and bands and trickles of pigment—Carey follows her impulses where they lead, even at the risk of losing the thread of original inspiration or destroying a promising impression.
Many of Carey’s paintings are abstract landscapes, reflecting the colors, shapes, and moods of San Diego’s splendid natural scenery—from beachgrass-framed seashore to the twists of wind-sculpted trees.
Carey’s work has found national and international appreciation in major galleries, museums, and private collections. On top of her action-painting adventures, she is the fine-art curator for the Gallery at The Brooks, lectures and heads workshops, instructs expressive art to sheltered adolescents, and publishes poetry. We’re immensely proud to be able to showcase her masterpieces. You can now purchase her original paintings and fine giclee prints via the “Shop” button here at the Sofia Hotel website.

http://www.checkinsandiego.com/2015/06/painter-diana-carey/
 
 

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

New Work


Sunset                 36x48"                    thrown and splatted paint on canvas                     2015


This piece has been so many incarnations, from a beach grass, through numerous sky and land positionings, to a forest, a lone tree and finally back to a sunset. Each time the painting grows thick with paint, each time, may be the last before it loses integrity, or becomes too thick for my throws to land as intended or it will ultimately become dull, unable to  bounce light for viewing.It's always a gamble I will lose a painting if I continue to throw. But I was depressed over losing the sunset, which was my intention in the first place. So I determined to try one last time. Looking closely one will find bits and pieces of all the incarnations of this painting imbedded within its world.  

Monday, June 1, 2015

LGOCA Art Walk

Sakura Fubuki  (Cherry Blossom Storm) 5.5x8'   thrown and splattered paint on canvas   2013
Sakura Fubuki is currently exhibited at the Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art, Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach Art Walk is every first Thursday of the month. Free Shuttle Service to the participating galleries. Shown here with art director Christiana Lewis.
sold

The Gallery at The Brooks Art Walk

Featured Artist at, The Gallery at The Brooks, in Oceanside, June 5, 6-9pm. Oceanside's First Friday Art Walk is every first Friday of the month.
          Tree's Triptych (all three are on exhibit) 8x4.5' solid core doors with hardware

The doors are my original works in in the gestural style, thrown and splattered paint. I was attempting to discover what Pollock was trying to express using this technique. I still have no idea Pollock's reasoning but after spending a solid week working on these doors from sun up to sun set, I was hooked. What appeared simple, was terribly difficult; many times these were 'hosed' down because they weren't 'right', though I couldn't possible express what that meant. I believe it is a subconscious view that determines 'right'.  The Doors are the first paintings of this style, today I am more of an impressionist than an abstructionist but I remember to come back to these when I find I am working far too close to realism. It is the essence, not the image, I try to capture. These doors are a perfect example of that.

AT Home, The Hotel Sofia, Color Altered Prints

 
My work has hung in the Currant American Brasserie in the Hotel Sofia, San Diego,  for a number of years. The Hotel Sofia is now offering my work, original paintings and limited edition color altered giclee's, through their online catalog,
At Home, The Hotel Sofia.
 
 
Jacaranda Montage   4/ 24x24"    thrown and splattered paint on canvas   2015
 
 
 

24x24"  jacaranda color altered giclee   pink

24x24"  jacaranda color altered giclee  yellow

24x24"   jacaranda color altered giclee    green
 
24x24"  jacaranda color altered giclee  blue


Monday, March 16, 2015

Jacaranda Montage, LGOCA


Jacaranda  
 9/12x12" canvases that make up one image      thrown and splattered paint on canvas    2015

This painting is an impression of a jacaranda tree in bloom done on nine canvases. Each canvas  stands alone and can be interpreted as an essence of the tree, together they make up the tree image as well as essence. Represented by LGOCA, Laguna Beach.
sold

Summer Woods

Summer Woods       36x24"          thrown and splattered paint on canvas             2015

" Carey is working in a conceptual space beyond realism, where paint and gesture cannot possibly, theoretically, replicate every variation nature can. It is the gap between the idea of her application of splatter to nature and the endless possibilities of nature that gives to Carey’s work the friction that keeps it sharp and purposeful, her strokes directed, tense, meaningful. It is a kind of impressionism, but educated by a new generation’s fuller appreciation of fractal complexity in branching and all the chaos of natural form." Robert Mahoney NY art critic

Friday, February 13, 2015

Oceanside Museum of Art Beach Grass

Beach Grass IX               30x48"               thrown acrylic paint on canvas                   2014

I am honored to announce that Beach Grass IX was chosen for exhibit at the
Oceanside Museum of Art
San Diego Dreaming exhibit, March thru June 2015
Reception March 7 6-8pm
private collection

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art, Laguna Beach

 Autumn I is in the front window
 
Wild Mustard 4.'x11.7' , thrown acrylic house paint on canvas  2010
 
 

Autumn I, 5x7'  thrown acrylic house paint on canvas 2010
featured in the front window of the LGOCA

Both of these paintings mean a great deal to me. They were created while I was staying with my mother in the 'country' of Ventura. She was terminally ill and I was carrying for her. I did not have a studio there, so these pieces, which captured the wild nature of my physical and emotional surroundings so beautifully, were thrown outside. They had to remain on the ground for days at a time, while I built up the paint, during that time, birds, dogs, squirrels, and the occasional peacock would run or peck their ways across. Imprinted in the paintings are remnants of these visits.
Thank you LGOCA for featuring them so prominently.