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This is the last layer in greys and blacks — now that all the shapes main figures (including kitties) are blocked in, I can add color and detail. The finished surface is gradually forming in my visual mind. I can’t wait to start painting in color.

Finally, a new progress photo — my work on the self-portrait part of the painting was stalled when one of our kitties ran away. I couldn’t bear to paint while I was worrying about him. After nine days, I finally found him underneath a neighbor’s house, starving and scared. His tail was broken (probably an animal bite) and had to be amputated, but he’s back home and safe. 

“Grey Baby” after his operation. Now I can get back to painting the self-portrait with cats. One of them will just be tail-less.

I’ve only worked on the right side of the painting — the angel and the homeless man. This is the phase where I push past the fragile, pretty beginning and dig deeper to bring out the energy of the characters. I have to let go of my fear of messing it up, and trust that the image will evolve as it’s meant to.

Your comments and responses have been so wonderful! Please feel free to post a comment on the website so others can read it.

Here’s a closeup of the angel in progress:

My mother is an artist. Growing up, I lived with art — every house we lived in had a studio for her work, and every wall and corner was filled with paintings, drawings, quilts, fiber sculptures, books, and whatever she found inspiring. Whenever we traveled, she dragged us kids to galleries and museums. Our jungle gyms were the outdoor sculptures at Kenyon College, where my parents taught Art and Drama. So much of what inspires me as an artist comes from those environments, and from my mom, Joyce Koskenmaki.

She was trained as a painter, but she explored various mediums over the years, including colored pencils, fiber arts, quilting, and more. When she went through her quilting years, crates of colorful fabric lined the walls of her studio. Our breezeway was dominated by a giant fiber sculpture/wall hanging. She designed a set of seasonal tablecloths and vestments for the local Episcopal church, which they still use today. 

We lived in a remote part of central Ohio, far from museums and galleries and the inspiration from other artists. So when Mom felt stuck, she asked me for advice. I had no idea what to tell her — and I’m sure I sighed and pretended not to care — but I liked being asked. She used to say the piece of fabric, or the line or color, would tell her what to do next — and so I learned to listen to my own art. I also learned from to commit to my art practice, to keep a studio and honor my work. Even though she rarely shared technical advice, she let me play with paint, sewing, drawing, papier maché, candle-making, sculpture, whatever I wanted, and so I figured out what I liked best and made it my own.

Over the years, my mother has taught at several universities, shown in galleries and museums around the world, and traveled on grants to China, Africa, Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, and most of the U.S. Today, she’s retired from teaching, and gets to paint full-time. She lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with her husband Scott.

Below is one of my favorite paintings of hers, entitled “Moose Running.” Here’s a link to her website: http://webpages.charter.net/joycekoskenmaki/.

"Moose Running", oil on canvas

And here she is at an anti-war protest in northern Michigan (she’s the one on the left, holding the sign).

Joyce Koskenmaki and friend at a peace rally

Happy Mother’s Day!

This is kind of a dark photo, but it does show the developing composition. I love this stage of the painting, when figures start to appear on their own, like characters in a writer’s novel. They carry their own independent energy, as if to say, ‘hello, it’s about time you painted me in, I’ve been waiting to appear.’ Even after doing this for seventeen years, I never get tired of meeting them. They always surprise me.

I think I’ll paint sponsors’ names in the light area, mostly along the top. That may change, but it seems like the most logical place for now. It may sound funny, but I feel your energy with me as I paint. It’s getting very crowded in my studio!

Here’s the most recent progress photo. It’s coming along! Since this is to be a “snapshot” of my current life, and how it relates to observing the larger world, it wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include the abundance of kitties in my life! Within the last eight months, seven ferals have showed up at our back door, and we’ve been slowly taming them. Now they’re part of the family. With our two indoor cats, that makes nine total. The daily feeding ritual has become quite an event! But they bring us so much joy every day, it’s worth it.

As far as the painting goes, there’s a family and a house appearing in the upper left corner, possibly being evicted from their home. Other shapes are starting to come into focus, but I’m not sure what they are yet. The homeless man on the bottom right looks suspiciously like my father. And did you notice the vague shapes of large hands?

Someone asked if the figure in the painting is reaching toward the angel — yes, she is! The sentiment is inspired by my favorite creative writing piece about angels — I’ll post that next.

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More coming soon!

Here’s a close-up of the postcard I taped to the canvas for inspiration:

It’s a photo by Pierre et Gilles (French gay artist/photographer team who create surreal fantasy scenes). I love this piece in particular for many reasons — the beautiful decorations and setting, the sitar (love sitar music), the Hindu references. But most of all, I love it because the expression on her face reminds me of my Muse: confident, sarcastic, alluring. Muse is constantly calling me to paint, paint, paint! And when I follow, Muse takes over and guides my hand. I just get out of the way.

Below are some more images by Pierre et Gilles:

I’ll be posting another progress photo soon …

Happy Easter! I can’t think of a better way for me to celebrate this day than to paint. This photo is actually from last weekend — I only just downloaded it from my camera. I’m working again today, so I’ll be posting another image soon. 

I’ve gotten some interesting questions about this piece that I’d like to answer here. Someone asked, “why is it all grey?” Well, I prefer to start my paintings with a grisaille layer — it means “tones of grey,” and is part of a classic method of oil painting that begins with a monochromatic value layer followed by transparent color glazes. I like to work out shapes and values in grey before moving on to color. It also makes the final image look more luminous. Even though I like to break the rules, this basic format is easy to work with. I’ll share more about it as I go along.

Someone else asked about the self-portrait figure in the middle, “why does she have three heads?” Well, I don’t know why I love to paint myself with many heads and arms — maybe because I wish I had the extra help to get everything done! It has something to do with my love of Hindu iconography and gods/goddesses, and also with the notion of id/ego/superego, or that the Self is divided into different levels of consciousness. I did a whole series of self-portraits in this style (click here), but this one will be slightly different.

Those are the only things I know so far. The angel is transgender, the guy on the bottom right is homeless, and the buildings and scenes are still forming in my head as I paint them. Right now it’s all about masses and movement. 

Oh, and someone wondered about the picture taped to the canvas in the earlier progress shot — it’s a Muse inspiration. I’ll share about that next ….

I’ve begun painting! When the inspiration to paint came over me, it was very strong — then it left as quickly as it came in. The figure in the left/center is me (with three heads). The angel above is from a graphic novel I’m writing, and will be similar to a series of paintings I started last year. I’ll be painting more this weekend, and will post another photo soon.