Oil Pigment Sticks – Page 5

Oil and Cold Wax: A Workshop With Lisa Pressman

It was pretty thrilling to experience several firsts in one week: my first visit to Whidbey Island in Washington, the first time I’ve taken a class at the Pacific Northwest Art School, and my first time taking a class with the talented Lisa Pressman.

I had a week of bliss. I invited my friend Tory Brokenshire to join me for the week and she enthusiastically said yes. It started with loading the car.

After a day of driving (okay, we might have stopped in Centralia for lunch and some junking in the many antique shops in that little town), we arrived on Whidbey Island. Our Airbnb was just as we pictured it would be: light, bright, cozy, and right on Penn Cove.

Class started on Monday morning and went for four days. Holy Moley. It was all I hoped it would be: lots of lessons, demos, prompts, and experimenting. Lisa left plenty of time for painting and was always circulating offering feedback, suggestions, and encouragement. The extensive demos and talks about R & F Pigment Sticks was an added bonus because I have been using these oil sticks for over a year, but didn’t know all the ins and outs of how they could be used. The answer is: endless ways.

Even my blotter papers turned out exciting.

I finished several 6×6 pieces on Arches oil paper.

And completed a series of little pieces on paper.

I came home inspired and motivated to continue experimenting with some new ideas burbling around in my head.

Waterlines: Life On and Near the Water

My fascination with waterlines started the summer of 2014 when I was floating in the Columbia River and I saw the waterline of our boat, Rapture. I was captivated by the beautiful colors and thought it looked like an abstract painting.

I continued to love the idea of waterlines, at first the hulls of ships, then shifting to more natural waterlines, defining waterlines as “Where water meets an edge. A shoreline. The hull of a ship. The sea meets the sand. A passage of water.”

A few months ago it was decided that our July show at Compass Gallery would be titled Waterlines. I started painting with that theme in mind. The paint flowed easily because I was excited about the topic and the vast possibilities.

At the last minute we decided to spend two weeks on board Rapture at the Portland Waterfront. Our show would be hung two days after we returned, so I had no choice but to pack up my substrates, oil paints, cold wax, pigment sticks, and the tools associated with laying down and scraping off paint. I set up an impromptu studio in the galley of our boat and painted whenever I could.

I spread out plastic table cloths in the helm, on the coffee table, and on the back deck. Things dried quickly because it was warm, windy, and bright – all three things that encourage oil and cold wax to dry.

I’m sure the gentle rocking of the boat influenced my work, as did the view out of every window and porthole. I created a couple dozen pieces, ranging in size from 6×6 inches to 12×24. Fortunately they were dry by the time we made the cruise from the Willamette River back to the Columbia where we moor our boat.

Here’s a look at some of the pieces I created during our two weeks living on board Rapture.

"Caught Up in Waterweeds" — “Caught Up in Waterweeds”

"A Thrilling Release of Earth and Air" — “A Thrilling Release of Earth and Air”

"A Small Current of Power" — “A Small Current of Power”

"The Air Was Perfumed" — “The Air Was Perfumed”

"Mist Rose From the Water" — “Mist Rose From the Water”

"Memory Floating Up" — “Memory Floating Up”

The show at Compass Gallery, Waterlines, runs July 8 through August 3, 2016. The opening reception is Thursday, July 14, 5-7 pm.

In addition to my work, the current show features the work of Bonnie Hull and her interpretation of waterlines.

New Love: Oil Pigment Sticks

I have a new obsession: R and F Oil Pigment Sticks. I’ve been experimenting with them for several months, mostly creating little abstract landscapes, but recently I decided to take the plunge and start using them on bigger canvases. But back to the smalls for this post. I’ve used other brands of oil sticks, but nothing, NOTHING, compares to R and F for pigment load, creaminess, and application luciousness (I don’t even think that is a word!). The sticks are made from natural wax, linseed oil, and pigment. You can paint with them as is, you can use a palette knife, you can even mix colors on a palette and apply with a brush. Versatile and beautiful, that’s what they are.

Here’s a sampling from a series I’ve been working on. All of these are 3×3, 4×4, or 5×5 inches.

Some of these Art Snippets are currently on display, through December, in my new gallery, Compass Gallery Cooperative, in Salem, Oregon. (I’ll share more about this exciting gallery venture in another post.) I regularly share new work on both Pinterest and Instagram, as well as my Facebook art page, so if you want to follow my art, take a look.