What Part Does a “First” Painting Play in Creating a Series? No. 1

Over the years I’ve had lots of “series”, even though I feel that all my work is one big series, the “Series of Karrie Ross’ Life and Loves”, but that’s another story for another time… back to what part a first painting plays for me in creating a series.

First paintings. What about them makes me want to paint more?

I never know when a ‘first painting’ will show up and ask to be a series… it just happens, it’s not planned. I sketch all the time and nothing happens with them, then there is one that sticks in my mind and I can’t get enough of it’s message. Then I paint it to see if it has a compelling enough question that needs to be answered that will give it continuing power and if it does, I paint another one, and continue until the questions no longer need answers. Of course the paintings still talk to me, but we’re balanced. A question left unanswered will cause an off balance and then need another painting to be created to answer it… therefore creating a series.

This is what a first painting means to my series. What does yours mean?

Tell me about an experience you’ve had…

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

Karrie Ross at the Rose Cafe Dining Room April 27 thru May 31, 2010

My new series will be hanging in the Rose Cafe dining room from April 27 thru May 31, 2010. Stop by and meet me on Fridays May 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 3 to 4:30 pm.

There will be 8 pieces from the series. Photos will be posted to the Portfolio / Exhibitions page as soon as the show is hung.

That’s if for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

Art in California: The California Arts Council at ca.gov

Here is an organization for California Artists… you might be interested in checking out and start getting their newsletter to keep updated on what’s happening with their organization. I copy and pasted the below info from their site for best reproduction of information.

“The mission of the California Arts Council, a state agency, is to advance California through the arts and creativity.

The agency encourages widespread public participation in the arts; helps build strong arts organizations at the local level; assists with the professional development of arts leaders; promotes awareness of the value of the arts; and directly support arts program for children and communities.

The 11-member Council and professional staff have expertise in the arts, creative industries, education, community development, state and local government, and the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.  The arts spark the engine of Creative California, and our goal is to ensure that they are available for every Californian.”

Programs and Initiatives
Grantee Map
Strategic Plan
Annual Reports
Council Members
Staff
What exactly IS the California Arts Council?
History
How to Contact

Tell me about some of your resources…

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

“GEM” at Gallery 825: See me there!

See me and one of my newest pieces, Spiral Series: Beyond the Veil: The Elements at “GEM” Gallery 825 along with 200 other artists from the gallery.

Click here to view the work that will be there!

“Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA), a nationally recognized non-profit art organization, will continue its 85th anniversary year celebration with its gemfundraiser on Saturday evening, April 24, at Gallery 825 located on La Cienega Boulevard . With over 200 affordably priced artworks, the event allows everyone to be an art gemcollector . The fundraiser supports LAAA’s mission to provide resources, services and exhibition venues for emerging LA area artists of all media. Samuel Hoi notes, “LAAA plays an important role in Los Angeles ‘ artistic ecological system. The accomplishments and diverse artistic voices underpin the success of LAAA as a forum for artistic dialogue, shared exhibition opportunities, and mutual support.”

As LAAAExecutive Director Peter Mays states,” Our gembenefit is the best place to discover emerging talents at the onset of their career paths and while they are still affordable to a broad base of collectors…it’s also the best party of the spring art season.”

What: gem fundraiser – A Multimedia Art Exhibition and Reception, benefiting the Los Angeles Art Association.
Click here to view the online preview!

When:
Saturday, April 24, 2010; 7-10pm,

VIP Preview 6-7pm.

Tickets:
VIP preview – 6 to 7pm – $100 ($120 at door).
Includes champagne, food by La Grande Orange and free valet parking.
The first 100 VIP ticket purchases will receive a signed and numbered print by celebrated artist Siri Kaur.

General Admission – 7 to 10pm $25.
Includes wine, Blue Angel Vodka bars and free valet parking.

Space is limited – call 310.652.8272 to RSVP today or click here to order tickets online.

Where: Gallery 825, 825 N. La Cienega Boulevard , Los Angeles , CA 90069 Between Santa Monica and Melrose on the west side of the street

Participating Artists include:
Lillian Abel, Irene Abraham, Mark Acetelli, Ruben Acosta, Lisa Adams, Robin Adsit, Nick Agid, Max Aichinger, Brandy Eve Allen, Sophia Allison, John Andolsek, Dean Andrews, Susan Arena, Terry Arena, Dori Atlantis, Deborah Baca, Christopher Barbour, Megann Zwierlein Bemiller, Quinton Bemiller, Stan Benson, Susan Bolles, Holly Boruck, Richard Bruland, Suzanne Budd, Catherine Burce, Ellen Cantor, Harry Chandler, Ching Ching Cheng, YaYa Chou, Richard S. Chow, Curran Clark, Alex Couwenberg, Jason David, Justin Davis, Emily De Araújo, Raul De La Torre, Norman Deesing, Margi Denton, Jennifer Dozier, Birgit Faustmann, Peggy Ferris, Domenico Foschi, Steven Fujimoto, Alisa Gabrielle, Martin Gantman, John Gauld, Gina Genis, Libby Gerber, Michael Giancristiano, Alexandra Grant, Tm Gratkowski, Matthew Miles Grayson, Shizuko Greenblatt, Jennifer Gunlock, Lia Halloran, Rebecca Hamm, Diane Holland, Tommy Hollenstein, Brad Howe, Eva Hyam, Larissa James, Jow, Krista Kahl, Flora Kao, Yoichi Kawamura, Jillian Kogan, Barbara Kolo, Shelley Kommers, Jonas Kulikauskas, Elana Kundell, Linda Kunik, Laura Larson, R. Dean Larson, Catherine Roberts Leach, Jackie Brethen Leishman, Diana Levitt, Jason Lockyer, Peter Lograsso, Rebecca Lowry, Kandy Lozano, Midge Lynn, Meg Madison, Cynthia Madrigal, Krista Marlene, Christopher Martin, R. Matt, Joanne Chase Mattillo, Ryan McCann, Katrina McElroy, Adele Mills, Dan Monteavaro, Larry Mullins, Gustavo Munoz, Marissa Murrow, Johnny Naked, Hung Viet Nguyen, Miriam Noske, Jayme Odgers, R. Nelson Parrish, Christopher Pate, Julia Pinkham, Bob Poe, Olga Ponomarenko, Peggy Pownall, Bret Price, Stephanie Pryor, Eileen Rapke, Glynnis Reed, Karrie Ross, Joy Rotblatt, Anne Marie Rousseau, Mara Safransky, Gwen Samuels, Debra Scacco, Heather Scholl, Steve Seleska, Cory Sewelson, Sharron Shayne, Karen Silkie, Susan Sironi, Irene Spiegel, Dennis Stevens, Amanda Symes, Lacey Terrell, Sophia Tise, Elizabeth Tobias, Luke Van Hook, David Eli Vaughn, Michael Verbenec, Larry Villarin, William Wareham, Art Weeks, Michelle Weinstein, Christine Weir, Bob White, Valerie Wilcox, Joyce Wisdom, Karen Frimkess Wolff, Elyse Wyman, Marlene Yamada, Meeson Pae Yang, Mara Zaslove and Indra Zigars.

Take your own art gem home on the night of reception. All proceeds benefit LAAA and Los Angeles ’s emerging artist community.2010 Benefit Co-Chairs: William Turner and Alexandra Gleysteen

2010 Benefit Committee:
Christine Anderson, Claressinka Anderson, Rob Brander, Andi Campognone-Couwenberg , York Chang, J. Dallas Dishman, Grace and Raj Dhawan, Elizabeth East, Tanna Frederick, Adam Gross, Samuel Hoi, Henry Jaglom, Lisa Jeanetta, Jonathan Kaye, Bettina Korek, Mayor Abbe Land, Lonnie Lardner, Janet Levy, Hillary Metz, Bob Poe, Melissa Pugash, Catherine Seward, Thaddeus Hunter Smith, Louis Stern, Jocelyn Tetel, Brent Turner, Adam Wolk and Jae Yang.
About: Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide opportunities, resources, services and exhibition venues for emerging Los Angeles artists of all media. LAAA began as a civic art institution in the 1920s, connecting elite art interests to Hollywood collectors, emerging after World War II as the center of Los Angeles modernism and finally becoming the city’s nexus for emerging artists of all media. LAAA serves as a dynamic force for contemporary ideas, outreach, and community. Gallery 825 and Los Angeles Art Association are located in the heart of La Cienega Boulevard ’s Restaurant Row at 825 North La Cienega Bl., Los Angeles , CA 90069 . Gallery hours are 10am – 5pm, Tuesday – Saturday or by appointment. Please call 310.652.8272 or visit www.laaa.org.

Does “Levy Flight” and Art Collecting Have A Connection?

I just heard about the Levy flight, concept…when an animal has a territory where they live and find their food, and when they realize they have used up all the resources for this area, they go off in a random direction and start the process all over again and again.

Now does this, can we, relate this theory to art collecting consumer behavior… where a collector has created a pattern of collecting art… they  discover your art, admire it for awhile, buy several pieces… then you don’t see them again because they’ve started to admire another artists work… of which they will repeat the pattern and again and be off to yet another artist never to return?

I remember running into a collector who purchased my earlier paintings, in our conversation they mentioned they didn’t connect as much to my current work so they weren’t interested anymore… but if I ever went back to the previous style, they’d be back. I did mention I would be happy to paint a commission piece in the style they resonated with but I wasn’t painting it as my main thrust anymore… alas…

I’d once met a very famous artist who was commissioned $30,000 to paint a 16×20 piece in a style they’d become famous for years before, this artist told me it was tough and they’d already been at it for months… it was something they still had to do!

Question: is there a solution to the problem of collectors moving on when your art changes as it usually does over time? Is this levy flight?

Tell me about an experience you’ve had…

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

Collectors Panel at LAAA Gallery 825

Today was an interesting day. Part of being an artist is keeping in touch and up-to-date with what is happening in the art world. Although I must admit I’m not the best at that…subjective memory I’m guessing.

The Los Angeles Art Association / Gallery 825 is a great place to begin this process. They are located on the famous La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles California. Today was an ArtSpeak Collectors Panel discussion and lasted about 2 hours… it was well attended with standing room only and flowing out into the next gallery space, I learned a lot and met some interesting people.

The panel was amazing. These people know their stuff! They were sharp, engaging, excited to be there talking to us and the diversity of views made for stimulating conversation.

The discussion was moderated by Rob Brander, Director, William Turner Gallery he put together a great panel for us. Here they are: Oliver M. Furth, LACMA’s Decorative Arts and Design Council; Jane Glassman, founder of ARTeamLA; Greg Karns, FOCA; Jacqueline Monash & Monte Stettin, collectors; Stefan Simchowitz, collector, curator, art advisor.

Questions ranged from “How did they get started?” with answers from “collecting is a gene”, “I started with stamps!” and “letters, history in writing” to the final question of “Where does one start learning to be a collector?” with answers of: education, books, publications, shows, websites, meet artists, organizations, museums, art history, exposure to art, hang out with the artists, find a mentor.

Some collect for future financial gain while others collected for the love of the piece stating that value can depreciate but the love and joy one receives from looking at the art on a daily basis is, for them, priceless.

I personally reflected on my collecting and that there is as diverse a reason for collecting as there is for producing the art and the reasons can seem similar. As an artist I test, try out, research techniques, mediums, process and am moved to paint by the need to do so, the love of doing it, the element of risk involved, the rush of passion and in achieving the balance of energy my paintings provide when completed…and for the knowing it’s valued, appreciated and desired when it’s purchased.

To this day, I still remember the first piece I sold… I remember not only the price, the piece and the energy the buyer felt and translated into the buy. Being honest, it’s probably as much a rush for me to receive the money as it is for the buyer to receive the painting. ha ha… they like me!

Tell me about your experience with collectors or collecting. “How did you get started, why do you collect and what type of art?”

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, California Artist
Los Angeles

Fine Art Process, Relationships and how fascination fits…

Fascination takes us to where it lives.

Fine art process is filled with fascination. The “How do I get it to do what I want, the how do I use this medium etc to make my emotion, my vision possible?” trial and error and risk fill our thoughts and emotions daily while we’re figuring it out… we have a passion for the answer. This keeps us going, the “Can I do it and how do I do it” of creation process and completion which takes us yet to another space of questions that need to be answered… the never ending quest for balance and experience. As in each risk come experience and for me each stroke or item drawn a risk exists… and the excitement of accomplishment is beyond comprehension.

Relationships are filled with fascination. The “What we want, the what we see it giving us” that pulls us there and when that fascination is taken away or leaves, so do we… unless there was more to it. We look for a balance and in each balance there is risk and in each relationship risk lives. Finding the balance if tricky… do we know the right questions, the process for this balance? Do we want someone who poses questions to us if even unspoken just implied… pushing, encouraging us to be the better the more of who we are? This is found in other places too… but the question is… DO YOU WANT THE BETTER THE MORE? and if you do, do you know how and where to find it?

This I’ve noticed is not always taught to our children… a lot of the time, we might know to teach it… then where do will they find this quality that is so important to expansion… the wanting of more?

Karrie Ross, California Artist

How to make aggravation work for you…

I noticed the other day a little aggravation… you know, the kind that just sits and stares at you expecting you to respond.

Ha! often times we don’t respond for a variety of reasons… mostly BECAUSE of the feeling of aggravation…that we wish it would go away. Sound familiar?

I observe things in my life like that… as though I don’t already have enough to watch, but, well, this is my life and how I make it. So, (used as a transition not a filler work, yes this is a Toastmasters thing) to continue, aggravations… if you are being agrivated by something… TAKE NOTICE… ask it WHY its there giving you this physical feeling that is causing emotional avoidance. Now, watch listen observe the answers that come your way.

When I’m painting, if the painting is not balanced it agitates me until I add something that balances it out, which is continuous until I see it as balanced, my balance… and within the something I add there is a risk involved… the “what if I ruin the painting?” risk that most artists feel… and the feeling that keeps them going and wanting to paint. AND each “something new added” creates another agitation which calls for another something to be added etc etc etc. I call this “talking to me” so I often mention when asked about “How do I know when it’s done?” I say “It stops talking to me, as which point it and I are in balance and we vibrate. I like to believe that this vibration is what lasts in the painting and calls to the people who will view and hopefully buy the work…

The attraction in the passion is the vibration, the balance, the connection.

So keep an eye on your aggravations agitations, you never know what it will bring to you.

Karrie Ross, California Artist

Spiral Series – Discussed – Photos

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[audio:https://karrieross.com//audio/spiral-series.mp3]

Audio as read by Karrie Ross.

About the Spiral Series (shown in the portfolio, most art is available as giclee print, ask me)

Spiral Series: Beyond the Veil: The Elements, #26, mixed media on canvas 30×40

The Spiral Series evolved a few years ago with the Spiral Flowers, 26×40 acrylic on paper with color blocks and spirals that took on the form of flowers and grew from there.

“What I dream of is an art of balance,
of purity and serenity devoid of troubling
or depressing subject matter.”
~ Henri Matisse

I started with watercolor and drawing as I’ve done that before successfully with the “Power” and “I am the Dance” series. They were a combination of paint and pen&ink. I then took it to a few mini pieces with good results. But I wasn’t finding the “how”, the process of extending this series. Without the process the vision was just images.

I remembered a color palate that I really liked and worked for several other paintings which was well received… the cream and green and since I really wanted to move into canvas instead of paper, I thought this would work out well. I also wanted it to have texture, but not too much and the illusion of layers and a feeling of beyond.

[portfolio_slideshow id=2018]
[portfolio_slideshow size=large]

My first attempt #1,  amazed me… I’d finally got to a point of balance that was in a finer space than the last work I’d been doing… not that it was better or worse… just different. And the feeling I had from it, the fascination/vibration/energy was stronger, more addictive that I found I couldn’t prep the canvas’ fast enough to try out another process.

With each piece I seemed to “need” to explore another, what I call ‘sub-set’ of the series. I went from ‘lines’, spiral flowers’, ‘shapes’, ‘faces’, ‘heads’, ‘people’, ‘hands’ to veils and my mind sees new sub-sets everywhere and I’m anxious to move on to them.

The paintings talked to me asking questions of balance and form. The questions seemed different than with previous works, these were filled with a stronger connection, a fascination for the moment, the balance to come, the risk to take… the something I needed for very life… I’d sit and look at them for hours to just make one spiral, then sit some more for another line, spiral, or approach. I found my need to connect with this growing fascination/vibration/energy consuming my life. Since my living room is my painting studio I have to pass through it to get to the kitchen and every time I would, I’d stop and watch. These paintings are the object of my affection in every way.

With each sub-set there came new challenges/questions/risk. Do I add more large spirals; do I add more texture in the prep of the canvas; do I let the background show more at the edges; how many lines or does it stay at three; I liked the checkerboard look, do I do more; what would happen if I over lapped the spirals then painted them, and more than I can even mention… the trick seems to be able to stay in the freshness of the creation.  The new “need” to expand was interesting to watch, to listen to my self-talk work me through the process, the risk of,  and the rush of excitement when I actually added something new. After all, I could always start over… or that is part of what I tell myself to work through this.

My fascination grew and fueled my need for more, the more we look for in our lives, the passion, the being. Each painting fulfilling this need as well as creating the need for yet another painting. The only other time I felt this strong a fascination/vibration/energy was with a man with whom I shared intimate moments…the connection was amazing. The moments stayed with me, creating the longing, the need for the more that occurred when we were together/apart. This energy still lives in me as I write.

The following poem presents how art comes alive for me.

“Remain at your table and listen.
Do not even 
listen, only wait.
Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone.
The world will present itself to you for its unmasking,
it can do no other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet.
~ Kafka”

When I’m in the mist of a series the phrase “one thing leads to another” is in full form. Each painting is a new child with a personality, balance and questions unique to itself. For me it lives. I have some paintings that stay with me until I can release them. The “when” our relationship is complete  and I can allow them to leave and fulfill another persons desires.

Let me know how you feel about my art, contact me to see more… and maybe purchase.
In energy
Karrie Ross, Artist
Los Angeles, California

 

Be A Point! by Karrie Ross; Do you have a point? Over 250 custom “point” to choose from… contact me to purchase.