Artists Are Always Young

"Artist are Always Young" this quote was written under my high school year book photo.

I remember the picture well, I had just come back from a swimming class and my hair was a mess. I chucked at the quote, not being terribly impressed at 17 years old, I was more concerned about the unflattering photo.

Me, 2019

Dad' Day at the University of Illinois, where I was majoring in painting and commercial design

In this shot from a local newspaper, I was working from a nude model, circa 1959

Now, many, many years later, I understand. Artists are always young because we are never finished with our work. Just when I get the inclination to put the paints away, I get another idea about developing more techniques for my paintings.

It has been more than 60 years that I have been a working artist.

Just finished this abstract. Encaustic and mixed media, on board

I had a battle convincing my parents to let me be an art major in college. My mother often said, "You are going to have to survive on beans and live in a cold-water flat." She insisted that I take a semester of typing so I could get a job after school. My first job was in the art department in a book publishing company in Chicago.

I always carried a sketchbook when I was traveling with my jazz musician, Kai Winding. I sketched and painted musicians for 12 years.

backstage at the Nice, France jazz festival, circa 1981

Process of a very large mural, circa 1990

My Christmas display in Artisimo Gallery's gift shop. About 23 years ago.

My partners in my first gallery, Artisimo, Scottsdale AZ. Note the T shirts I painted for some occasion.

My first abstract painting done during my second year in art school. Casein on illustration board. circa 1953

Is It Something In The Air?

Some people have expressed surprise at my newest series, "The Lightness of Being", since it seems like such a departure from my previous work.

I have asked myself, 'Where did this come from?" I go back and forth from figurative to abstract, but these paintings are encaustic and mixed media with a lot of mark making,

The work in this series does change with each painting as I incorporate various techniques. It was a new direction for me; then I began to see similar work online; very similar, but usually painted with acrylic rather than encaustic. Is the energy and inspiration for this style in the air, the cosmos? These other artists do not live close to me, nor would I have ever seem them if it weren't for Pinterest and other art sites.

I remember seeing an exhibit from the Society of Layerists about 15 years ago in the Southern Oregon University and thinking, "Perhaps that is what I am - a layerist. The Society of Layerists in Multi Media describe their artist process as:

"SLMM’s late mentor, expressed an idea that is relevant to Layering: "Energy that connects everything is a cosmic web— this includes information from the collective unconscious, the metaphysical as well as the physical."..."The society reports that many members follow a personal path of aesthetics combined with an active interest in wholeness."'..

I now claim to be a layerist. I don't feel the need to join the society, just keep painting.

Below is a painting from a series that I made several years ago. Very different, don't you think?

I still love painting figuratively, but I want to keep painting abstractly for the time being.

Here is the finished work. The Lightness of Being #11, It is heavy with encaustic

This was a few weeks ago. 

This was after many days of work where I was getting frustrated and covered everything with muted white encaustic

Creating in Stressful Times

I will help others that are suffering in what ever limited ways I can. I am not wealthy, but I have a comfortable life and can't ignore the misery of others. I can contribute some money and time. Donations are easy to send through the Internet.

 I have volunteered to pack food every Saturday morning for Feed The Hungry. This is an organization that feeds over 4000 Mexican children every school day. These children are the poorest of the poor and wouldn't be able to eat otherwise. Here is the link http://feedthehungrysma.org/

Still when I enter the studio, I would like to create beautiful, peaceful and uplifting work.

I finished the painting I posted in the last blog. It is oil and cold wax on cradled panel. Can you help me with a name? I have temporarily named it "Waiting"

I made this painting about 17 years ago. I brought it to San Miguel when I moved here and eventually loaned it to a friend. unbeknownst to me, she gave it away. Finally, the new owner tracked me down to tell me how much he loved the painting.  I was shocked. At least I still have the image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost in Thought

A Sprinkling of Rose Petals

These last two images are from my "Pensive" series. If you would like to see me check on the link to the series on my website. http://www.ezshwan.com/pensive.html

Process of a Mixed Media Painting

I found that many of you like seeing the process of my paintings. Here is one that is part of my Transformations series:

Quick oil sketch

some detail added

more oil painting and scraping

added encaustic medium covering the whole painting, and chan butterflies and back ground

I didn't feel the orange was right and changed the back ground, eyes and butterfly to blue and took out the butterfly in her hair. It is framed with a simple black wood frame.

Process of a Painting

When I was working on my 50 Faces series, I found that followers on Face Book reacted almost more positively to the process photos of the portraits to the finished painting.

I work loosely and do not draw before I start painting. Through the last 13 years I have been trying to get away from absolute realism to a more painterly approach.

Here is the process of a recently finished painting from my series, "Transformations"

Oil over black gesso

The oil painting has been covered with clear encaustic. The butterflies are painted with a hot stylus and the jar is a transfer.