Working in a Series

August 2024

You may notice how artists work in series. I enjoy working in series because the process allows me to explore an idea/technique/skill freely, use the explorations for more ideas, and create various bodies of works to show. In showing the series, it allows collectors and viewers to witness the evolution, understand where the idea came from, and invest in artist’s ideas.

Some series are purely for exploration and others grow into a pleasing body of work. This series of four are for fun and created after the workshop I lead, Inspired by Nature- ArtMaking on the Trail through New Mexico Art League earlier this month. Below are the final paintings and the initial sketches.

The color palette and style are the thread though all four acrylic paintings on canvas (12x9). The silhouetting of the object is similar to my recent mountain paintings with colorful backgrounds. Below each object was captured in my sketchbook in preparation for the workshop or hiking with the group.

These sketches were prompted by various exercises. From left to right: 1. Quick positive/negative drawing 2. Scale 3. 15-minute drawing focusing on one object and 4. Line drawing.

The artists participating in the workshop created 2-5 pieces in studio on the last day. Each artist had a different focus or theme. They were all unique and special because the ideas came from their experiences during the first two days on the trails. We hiked, sketched, chatted, and looked at the same things with different perspectives. It was moving to see how they captured the experience in their works.

From here, I am curious about making more pinecone and oak leaf paintings in different colors. That’s the thing about a series, they can keep going and going and going!