angeline evans

these days they don't have to be perfect

2011-12-19T20:57:00.001-06:00

"Skullflower", oil on canvas, 16" x 12"

a few new things

2011-12-07T13:10:00.003-06:00

"Night Creature", oil on canvas, 8" x 10"

"Blood And Snow", ink on paper, 6" x 8"

"Cactus 12-07-11", watercolor on paper, 11" x 10"

"Heaven", house paint and oil on canvas, 20" x 20"

new studio mates

2011-12-07T12:56:00.001-06:00

since the passing of Tabitha, my beloved 16 year old calico in august, i've been working alone in the studio without another heart beat. now i have new talents to share my work space with. Star (white/grey/brown tabby) and Romeo (tuxedo) are two boys about 7 months old. they are super cute and Star is outrageously curious. they get to be with me when i'm not working with oils.

i like saying the word "cacti"

2011-11-15T18:54:00.002-06:00

"Cacti 11-15-11", gouache on rag paper, 10" x 11"

11-11-11

2011-11-11T18:46:00.002-06:00

"Cacti 11-11-11", watercolor on rag paper, 10" x 11"

join the dots

2011-11-11T13:57:00.004-06:00

"Dots (11-10-11)", ink on rag paper, 11" x 10"

go figure

2011-09-16T17:02:00.001-05:00

what i'd like my paintings to be about.

on the third day he took me to the river

2011-08-08T21:23:00.001-05:00

"On the third day he took me to the river", oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

a new painting, inspired by Nick Cave's album "Murder Ballads".

disco drama

2011-07-21T13:48:00.000-05:00

this is a study for a larger painting that involves monsters, discos and dancing. i'm inspired by an episode of The Incredible Hulk titled "Alice In Disco Land". in the larger painting on canvas, i might change up the monster a bit, and create a darker mood.

study for yet to be titled painting. spray paint and oil on paper.
16" x 22"

sketch book drawings

2011-06-20T20:44:00.000-05:00

sharpie and nail polish on paper

pencil and watercolor on paper

thru the flowers

2011-06-20T17:17:00.002-05:00

"Thru The Flowers", acrylic and oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

just in time for memorial day

2011-05-28T00:54:00.000-05:00

new painting ...

"Bloodflowers", oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

in love with stars

2011-05-26T23:47:00.004-05:00

a finished painting and some sketch book contents.

"Written In The Stars"
spray paint and oil on canvas on wood, 24" x 24"

"Written In The Stars", detail

are we there yet?

2011-05-19T00:18:00.002-05:00

no finished paintings to show here. just a few that are in various stages of development. still groping and figuring things out. but as William O'Brien says, studio time is a luxury that allows us to figure out who we are, so i'm taking full advantage of it.

"Rock Candy" - this one is really problematic. drastic changes needed

no title yet. more weirdness to come

"Venus" - just started a few days ago. over an old painting

"Bloodflowers", depending on how things go, it's either 90% done, or 10% done

wall of possibilities

2011-05-09T20:47:00.000-05:00

everything you see here is at some stage of development. everything is contingent, unresolved, and full of possibilities.

studio views

2011-04-24T18:27:00.001-05:00

relics (deep mix)

2011-04-20T23:59:00.001-05:00

"Relics (Deep Mix)", oil on canvas, 36" x 36"

boys and rock candy

2011-04-19T00:46:00.001-05:00

these are two pieces i'm contributing to Peregrine Papers, a group exhibition of ephemera made up of 4" x 6" works on paper. contributors are to remain anonymous, therefore, the works are unsigned. Peregrine Papers is part of this weekend's MDW Fair, during which fair visitors are free to take any one piece they like.

ink and collage on paper, 6" x 4"

ink, color pencil, nail polish on paper, 6" x 4"

squirt

2011-04-11T23:46:00.003-05:00

about a month ago, i started a side project experimenting with oil stains on paper. the project stalled because i ran out of canvas paper and did not get around to making more. this break gave me a chance to switch gears and test the idea with a different medium. the concept of stains stems from my interest in all things fluid, such as those drippy clouds i made a short while back. those clouds led me to persue ideas about bodily fluids, marks and stains. when i started the oil stains, i was focusing only on their formal properties ... how the shapes develop and spread, how to contain and control them etc.. as i switched to using colored inks on paper, the process became much less controllable (fast drying water-based materials versus slow working oils). it was interesting to let chance determine some of the formal elements. after squirting a whole bunch of inks down on paper, i realized i wanted more than ink abstractions. i was seeing potential bodies, objects, even landscapes in the images. i started drawing over the ink abstractions. i'm not sure where this is all leading to, but here are some of the first examples.

ink, pencil, china marker on paper, 7.5" x 9.5"

ink and pencil on paper, 9.5" x 7.5"

ink, pencil, color pencil on paper, 9.5" x 7.5"

ink and color pencil on paper, 9.5" x 7.5"

ink, pencil, acrylic, watercolor on paper, 9.5" x 7.5"

ink on paper, 7" x 10"

ink, pencil, blue tape on paper, 9" x 12"

side plate

2011-04-05T10:22:00.004-05:00

"Jumping Jeff", animated gif, 2011

every girl needs a bit of distraction once in a while. since my paintings are not going so well, and i've been asked to participate in a one-night-only show in May that involves animated gifs, i've been spending time learning how to make them. the process essentially involves consuming massive amounts of internet garbage, and regurgitating them in the form of the lowly gif. i made eight so far and you can see them here. as usual, i work with subjects dear to my heart.

love note

2011-04-03T13:16:00.003-05:00

well, i've been in a creative funk lately. while every idea begins on a high note, the work always ends up feeling empty or forced. execution is something i'm struggling with, like trying to put too much control into the work that becomes more about reproduction than reimagination. i realize now that perhaps what i lack is not technique, but clarity and confidence ... clarity of vision, and confidence in my own authority on the work.

so, instead of showing you crap, here's something Mark made for my studio to cheer me up.

trouvé matière

2011-03-10T17:19:00.002-06:00

to keep things interesting, i have decided to post on this blog some found material that may or may not elevate its way into a future work.

don't know the designer of these gorgeous shoes,
but the netting already made it's way into my "Relics" painting

Bompas and Parr's gelatin creations

Gaultier Couture Spring 2011 collection

work by Pascual Sisto

if i can't have you

2011-03-10T15:27:00.003-06:00

i am happy to announce the geisha painting is finally finished. or more accurately, i'm simply "done" with it. even though i could still see a million ways to continue to destroy or subvert it, i am going to let it be so i can move on to the next challenge. below is the version as it stands, and two source images that partly informed the painting.

"If I Can't Have You", oil on canvas, 50" x 38"

Alberto Marani Spring 2011 collection

from Memoirs Of A Geisha

an "A" for quantity

2011-03-06T22:57:00.000-06:00

here are a few drawings and paintings i finished recently. some are more successful than others, but for me, it's all about making as much work as possible so that one day, i might actually get good at this.

"Across The Divide", watercolor

"Untitled (Vera Wang)", mixed media collage on canvas

"Untitled", oil on canvas

"Dude #2", pencil sketch

"Dude #3", pencil sketch

"Dude #1", pencil sketch

form + -less

2011-02-28T18:08:00.000-06:00

i've been experimenting with colored oil stains on paper lately. as with the drippy clouds series, i am attracted to amorphous, indeterminate forms and the organic process of making them. ultimately, i can discuss the inspiration behind these shapes, but for now, i wonder what comes to mind for viewers when no information is given. all are oil on 9" x 12" canvas paper. i hope to do at least 50 of these, and here are the first ones:

relics ... deep mix

2011-02-24T00:15:00.000-06:00

i worked on the "Relics" painting some more today. to create that feeling of underwater depth, i added a transparent ultramarine blue wash over the painting. then i blended in some brown ochre on top of that. i may have pushed it a bit too dark. painting is a constant process of push and pull, and how one "manages" metamorphosis.

rainstorms

2011-02-11T19:00:00.000-06:00

this is a canvas i started last year around april or may. it has had three incarnations: first as a fish sharing a tank with a rubber tire, then it became three figures having sex, and now, in it's third phase, a geisha finds herself flying through a garden on a windy night. i am determined to stick with this latest scenario, though the ending may remain unresolved. this image itself has had its fair share of work as well. it is one of those paintings where every possibility is fraught with consequences, and each stroke i make causes rainstorms elsewhere on the canvas. wish me luck.

"Relics" ... work in progress

2011-02-09T22:44:00.002-06:00

safety cones fascinate me. i used to photograph them. now i'm making a painting about things found under water, kind of like relics of urban life. in my underwater shrine, i have safety cones, wine bottles and diamonds among other things. unlike my other paintings which feel fast and gestural, this one is about stillness and obscurity. this is about ten layers into the painting:

minimalist to maximalist

2011-01-26T17:19:00.000-06:00

this is a painting i finished last week. it has a history that won't be revealed except under infrared technology. it began as a (discarded) painting given to me by my friend irene before she returned to Spain. it was a minimalist painting with perhaps three lines marked on it. that was it. i am trying to incorporate chance into some of my paintings, at least in the beginning stages. i put random colors on this canvas every time i needed to get rid of excess paint from my brushes. this took place over several weeks. then the blobs and squiggles began to take on personality. the colors were all random and uncoordinated. in the end, i finished it with a big, bold drippy cloud form (something that i had been doing with colored inks).

Untitled, oil on canvas, 20" x 20"

happy painters

2011-01-26T16:54:00.001-06:00

lately, i've been channeling the old masters in painting. i picked up two vintage books from the 1960s that are both hardcover, cloth-bound beauties. the first is "Picasso: His Recent Drawings, 1966-1968", the cover of which was designed by Picasso himself. the drawings inside took my breath away. they were done when the artist was in his 80s! the second is a small book of Fragonard's paintings. the book was published at a time when images were printed separately, then "glued" to the pages. how great is that!

Picasso's drawings reveal such joie de vivre, and Fragonard's paintings are sooooo sexy. i also love the palette of French painters in general. take a look for yourself.

play part 3

2011-01-25T21:11:00.000-06:00

the drippy clouds series got me started with playing around with india inks and i am really loving it. i'm new to inks and most water based media, so the results are just me goofing around and getting everything way too wet!

play part 2

2011-01-22T23:43:00.001-06:00

here are close-ups of some of the cloud drawings, in inks, watercolor or combination, on either watercolor or yupo paper.

with collage

play part 1

2011-01-22T22:47:00.003-06:00

moving into a new studio is like starting a new job. you know what your responsibilities are, yet in the beginning you spend most of your time trying to get used to your environment. i loved having my own space to work, and couldn't wait to get started in there. but it had been over 6 months since i made a painting (i spent the whole summer loafing with books and films on netflix). it was also scary for me to start painting because i suffered from post-show funk and did not know what my next project was going to be. i had no idea, or i had ideas, but had no form for them yet (more on that later). so i chose instead just to doodle and play in order to get some instant gratification, and to get my juices going again.

i told myself it's okay to experiment and not worry about the "meaning" of all this. so i took out my watercolors and inks and loads of paper, and made drawings of drippy, crying, leaky "clouds". for the most part, i was trying to see how watercolor and inks work differently, and i must confess, i am quite obsessed with color inks! here are some of them.

it's a new year, and i feel good!

2011-01-18T15:54:00.001-06:00

hi, i'm starting this blog in 2011 to document my studio practice. i'm trying to be good about being in the studio everyday, either making, thinking, writing, researching etc.. i love this little space i've created for myself to work. it's my retreat, it's my playroom. it has happy lights (5900K) so i can work into the wee hours of the night and still think it's day! below is a video of my studio when i first got it set up. um, the walls are no longer clean!

my hope is that i can spend creative and productive time in here, and in the process, document some of my experiments, embarrassing mistakes and all, for the world to see, or at least those of you who have found your way here. as you know, blogging takes up a lot of time. i will do my best to post here regularly, but we'll see! this might also mean that my music listening blog (http://flowertoflower.blogspot.com) will suffer, though that does not mean i work in silence. there is always music on.

more pictures to follow in the next few posts. xoxo