THE PAINTING I AM LOVIN' RIGHT NOW

'If it really is'    acrylic on canvas    24x18   (c) Loren Fidalgo 2016

Hey guys...it's Loren here.  I have been thinking that after I shared some personal health stuff in my previous post that I would write about something that I am lovin' lots right now.  

I am in love with this painting.  Don't know the psychology behind it however, this painting really speaks to me. I am lovin' all the texture in it.  I also love the way the color moved around the canvas.  I some times do not like how I interpret color. I struggle at times with it and varying the shades of a colors when I am mixing on the palette.  It's not that I don't see the colors, actually it's quite the opposite. I see and feel colors so deeply it's as if I can feel them in my body. I often need to touch a color to understand it's meaning and message.  I am compelled to try to hold the colors in my hands, move and manipulate them and only then do I understand what they want to say and do.  I am just in between the colors, sort of a mode of transportation, and the canvas surface.  Color has a language all it's own and some times I can not make sense of it.  So I am challenged often by it's control.  I however, do not mind it.

In this painting, the buildings are conveying emotion to me. The texture is so thick on the canvas. I enjoyed painting the layers of texture. I used a palette knife for the entire painting. I think the buildings are painted in a way that captures my attention because of the layering of one on top of another. They are also painted partially there and partially not there, like they are playing, peek-a-boo! They are painted as if they have degraded and have been distressed on the canvas or to the viewer's perception.  I love moving the paint around the canvas with the palette knife.

I have been getting into creating shades of different blues in my paintings.  I try to see how many shades I can come up with.  It makes the process so much more fun and you can never have enough of that! 

So, that is a wrap up.  Leave a comment if you would like to.
Cheers, 
Loren

NEW PAINTING WITH LOTS OF EMOTION & ENERGY

 Hey guys...it's Loren here.  I wanted to share this painting titled 'REALITY IN MOTION'  12 x 8 acrylic on canvas.  I created it about two months ago.  What I really love about this painting is the energy and emotion it evokes in me and other viewers.  I find this work to be such a freeing expression with the paint marks. It is quite a different technique that I usually use with most of my other paintings.  I used a palette knife for the entire painting as I usually do.  The day I painted this piece, I was in a fairly okay mood and I was eager to get started on this canvas because the landscape size proportion is so different than I am used to.

Usually, when I paint or create something, I have some idea on how I want to create what is in my mind.  With this piece, I didn't know where I was going and how I was going to get there.  I used a lot of loose strokes and I painted very quickly. I just love, love, love the freedom I had when painting this quickly.  I think I will incorporate this technique and looseness into my future paintings.  I want to be able to capture the same state of mind, too.  I believe the trick is to change it up by using an unusual size canvas. I think it makes it so that I will have to think differently about composition and mark making.

Well, that wraps up this post.  Leave a comment if you would like to.  I love to know what you are thinking?
Cheers,
Loren

WHATS BEEN GOING ON AROUND THE STUDIO + NEW SERIES

Hey guys...it's Loren here.

I wanted to post some info about what's been happening around the studio. I also want to discuss info about my progress with a new series I have been working on.  It's been a challenging time in 2016 and I can't believe we are 3 months in!  

So, I had my exhibit at Christopher's: A Neighborhood Place in Malvern, PA in February to March 2016.  It went well and gave me lots of exposure.  Lots of people attended the reception and friends came out to support me as well.  It was a great experience.  Planning to do it again soon. 



'It is brightest when alone' 14x11 acrylic on canvas (c),LorenFidalgo 2016

 I've been painting a lot and have begun what is shaping up to be a new series.   I am enjoying the process yet finding it a tricky progression as I struggle sometimes to get my painting into a series.  It is something I've been working on so diligently and consciously.  It's always a 'tug and pull', and exploration for me to create work in a series, but I manage to do it eventually. I love the novelty of birthing new ideas and bringing new ideas into reality, but I try to make a concerted effort to have unity in my work.  Nevertheless, I except the fact that I am a 'Creative Idea Problem Solver' ( my new self-appointed term, if it is one?) at heart and I am have been embracing this aspect of myself.  I want to see all my ideas to fruition and it is sometimes frustrating to have to curtail the explosion of ideas that bombard me day and night! I am however, coming to realize that possibly I can still have a voice and be a 'problem solver' at the same time.  It's such a fine balance, although do-able.  And I am doing it however challenging it is.  More to write about this in future posts.

About the my current work... no title to the new series yet. There are however, some canvases with lots and lots of texture by layering with acrylic paint. This is something that I have been playing with for a couple of years now. I am experimenting with different sizes and loving the newness of the canvas that sits on my easel to greet me. I say to myself, "hmmm...now, what can I do with you?"  It's exciting to adopt the new proportions and I am always surprised by the end painting.  I have also been playing around with color and all the gray shades I can create.  I am loving working with shades of blues such as Prussian Blue and Cerulean Blue and Crimson shades. I am amazing myself with all the yummy colors  I can achieve.  Lastly, my subject matter has taken a turn and twist.  There are subtle landscapes that have been emerging on the canvas and I am following the path that is calling me.   So, lots more to discuss about my current work in new posts.

I will post some more stuff about my work and some new things that have been going on this year. Question?   Do you struggle with creating unity in your work?  I'd love to hear from you.  Thanks for reading and enjoy your own journey!

Cheers,

 Loren

  

PAINTING A SIMPLE DISGUISE

THE SIMPLE DISGUISE
OIL ON CANVAS 24 x 30
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2009

This is one of my favorite paintings because I love the different angles and the subject matter. I am also smitten with the colors.  It's a 24 x 30 size painting.  I like to use this size for class paintings and sometimes when I am painting on my own.  The title, 'The Simple Disguise' is somewhat of a mystery to this painting.

I remember when I was beginning to paint this piece and I was really charged up and looking to seriously express something.  I just didn't know what.  At the moment that I put the paint to the scary white canvas, I was a woman on a mission, a rebel without a cause ( can a woman be a rebel, I'm not sure?) but anyhow, as I worked the paint around, I found my groove. I became aware to the idea that I was able to make a bunch of sense from the nonsense I was feeling.  This painting asks you to look closely at it and it just might help answer it's meaning.  I don’t like to talk about the deeper meaning to my work and how it reflects my secret world or life, as we all don’t.  So, you won’t find the answer to the exact meaning of this painting, however, since I am talking about nonsense, it brings me back to the title of this painting, 'The Simple Disguise'.  It is such a topic of conversation for people who view this work. "What does it mean"?  But the curiosity is not whether I have a simple disguise or if you might have one?  It’s about why we have one?  I have come to believe that we all do but in different ways.  I am reminded of a song by Bruce Springsteen titled, ‘The Brilliant Disguise’.  His lyrics in this song speak to me and make me think about the public face and the private face that we all might have.  Again, do all of us really have a disguise?  I'm not so sure how many of us do, but I'll bet that it is more common than people believe or will admit.  And as for my disguise, keep looking because it might reveal itself to you when you are not expecting it to.  But for now, I think it is something for me to think about and to ponder, as I always do. I search for the simple disguise in myself often and try to figure out how it does it's thing in my life. How about your disguise and it's purpose in your life? 


Cheers,
Loren

MY VERY FIRST PAINTING IN PAINTING CLASS

I wanted to share with you, my very first painting that I painted after my head injury in Ceramics class 3 years ago. 

This painting is simply black and white with lots and lots of texture and was even more of a challenge for me. It stretched my abilities to a place I didn't know or go before.  As I mentioned in another post, I had been used to creating in bright, bold and saturated colors.  Another unusual thing was that I painted the entire painting with a palette knife. It did not occur to me to use a brush.  The palette knife seemed natural and familiar, although I had only used it on two paintings that I attempted back in the day, somewhere's 1992-1993 ish!

CARDBOARD TUBES IN BLACK AND WHITE
OIL ON CANVAS 16x20
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2009

MORE STILL LIFE PAINTINGS ON MY BLOG

These are two paintings below,  that I've done in a yellow ochre, black and burnt sienna color palette.  I've mentioned that I love this color palette.  It is limiting in some ways and freeing in other ways.  When I only have three colors to use, there is not much thinking or decision making that bogs me down.  I've found that each color has a purpose and needs to be there when I am only using three colors.

To see more of my paintings in my portfolio, check out my Portfolio  Page.

SOME NEWS...
I wanted to mention that I will soon be posting the details about my head injury 3 years ago and how I began painting and working in mixed media after it.  Keep checking back to see when I post the "story".

A FINE BALANCE AND A PEPPER
OIL ON CANVAS  18x24
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2010

A TALL PITCHER AND A PEPPER
OIL ON CANVAS 18x24
(c) Loren Fidalgo 2011