Mourning

"Mourning," 5 x 5 inches, oil and acrylic on paper

Saffron

14 x 11 inches
oil on linen

The next in my exploration of hues- yellow-orange.  Second choice titles include aurulent, which somewhat inaccurate, and marigold, which fits the hue but strongly evokes the flower.   So, I'm settling on the word saffron, also floral in origin, that is almost as often as a description of color as the spice which was used as a dye.  Again, many pigments were used from cadmium, arylide, euxanthin, which seem less fitting for a title.   

Viridian

14 x 11 inches
oil on linen

Another exotic title for a hue on the spectrum--this time, blue-green.   Borrowed from the Latin word for green, the name often refers to a paint made with chromium-oxide pigment.  I confess I may have used any and all pigments but actual Viridian, but I have a fondness for the way the syllables roll off the tongue.   (Somehow "Carbazole Violet and Sap Green" didn't fit the mood of the image....)

Amaranth Purple

14 x 11 inches
oil on linen

So, I worked myself into a corner with the "red violet" post title.   I've been in my own rose period of sorts, so I have been making more than one painting in that part of the spectrum recently.  I've never been fond of the word purple, but Amaranth is such a lovely word and pretty closely matches the average of hues in this one.  

Beata and Abi

"Beata and Abi"
oil on canvas
24 x 20 inches

Spurred along by recent mood to complete works, I pushed through on this one that has also been around in my studio for an unmentionable amount of time in various stages.  It started off very loose like most of my work, but gradually became more detailed as the colors shifted.  The final stage was making the dog on par with the person.  Lots-of-fur.

Red Violet

14 x 11 inches
oil on linen

In the last few weeks, I've been trying to push some larger paintings along.  (I am keeping them to myself for now.)  When I hit an impasse on the major work, I tend to start side projects with tend to get abandoned when I find a solution.   The false monochromes were a side project that haven't gone away, but this is one that was cast aside and reworked countless times.  Although I find it hard to believe, it appears I started it five years ago.   The resulting color scheme is obviously far from a monochrome but, whatever it is, it is finished.    

Blueness

"Niebieskość"
14 x 11 inches
oil on linen

This was the third false monochrome that was exhibited in the 2014 UNCP faculty exhibition.  It was later accepted into a 2015 national juried show titled "Form and Void" at the Golden Thread gallery in  Hartford, Connecticut.    I quite liked the title of the show as it meshed with my image and concept.