Van Gogh's Birthday

                                                                 
                                                                   Mind Word Threads
                                                                           Acrylic
                                                                           8 x 10
                                                                        Carol Yap


Yesterday, March 30th was Van Gogh's birthday. I must say I did think of him when I used a palette knife for this painting yesterday.  For me the palette knife gives energy and vibrancy to the canvas regardless of the color used. Van Gogh used brushwork for that. He could paint four green vegetables against a green background and it looked great.  Do you think he had those moments during painting where you feel you are balancing on the brink of disaster or genius? Which is felt momentarily about half way through a painting, but dissolves as you continue to paint. There was an "Aha" moment for me when I looked into this painting and saw a resemblence of myself. This was painted from an old black and white photograph of one of my ancestors. The image was about the size of my thumb so it didn't give me much to go on, but was a start.    

Mind Word Threads is now available at Saatchi Art 

                      

Electric Portraits

                                                                           SOLID
                                                                 Acrylic on Hardboard
                                                                       10 x 8 inches
                                                                         Carol Yap

Anyone need their portrait painted? I have completed three portrait paintings in the last week and it's given me confidence to continue. This fine gentleman above is my Great Grandfather who passed before I was born. I do know this about him that he loved dark, strong coffee and worked hard from dusk to dawn for his family. Hopefully this shows in the painting? I think the energy is present at least. I will move forward onto the next fourth portrait.

I've listed a few more recent acrylic paintings for sale online at Saatchi Art. You can view my painting there by this link. There are many artists there that have been through art school. Since I didn't go to Art School there is a bit of white empty space in that box area. Gah. I will work hard and try to fill my portfolio with great art. I do believe that art is alot about emotions mixed with color and composition, brushwork, etc. Emotions I understand. Color I understand. It's funny because there are no two artists "exactly" alike. With every painting I create it's like weaving Emotions, Color, Brushwork, (or texture) and composition together by my internal creative genius. Some days present some days hiding. Everyone is born with one inside. We just have to wake it up and make it work, work, work.              

Seven O'Clock Painting

                                                                        Seven O'Clock

                                                                            Acrylic
                                                                          Carol Yap

I've had a crush on teal and orange for a bit now. Teal always represents the tropics for me like Tahiti, Fiji and those faraway-warm-South-Pacific places. Then there are the beautiful vintage Mexican wedding dresses in teal that are striking, too. A teal tablecloth, flowers and fruit are the next best thing to the balmy, beach. Who can pass up flowers? 

This painting is titled Seven O'Clock because that is when the first rays shine through the window lately.  I used a  8 x 10-inch hardboard panel, acrylics and a palette knife. Every small painting I paint I feel like I see a little growth. Do any of you see it? No need to answer that!  It is for sale now with Saatchi Art. It is such a joy to paint. Sure we might have a little frustration, but we figure it out, and sail on.    

Nine O'clock Painting

                                       
                                                                       Nine O'clock
                                                                          Acrylic


Spring is starting to announce it's arrival. Today two Canada geese arrived. I believe one of the two is from some eggs we hatched out years back. Yes! The other day as I was taking a coffee break I loved how the light was on the table with my oranges so I had to paint it. It's finished and I have listed it with Saatchi Art  Feel free to link over.

I read the best quote for us artists the other day on Instagram.

Pablo Picasso, "Painting is manual; it is physical. You find in the materials with your hands. You have a blank piece of canvas. The picture is already there. You scrape for it. It's like digging potatoes."

The Paris Review no. 32 Summer Fall 1964

PleinAir Salon Contest

Reminder to all artists.  There are only a few more days left to enter the annual PleinAir Salon Contest. Grand Prize is $15,000. That should get everyone's attention. It surely got mine. There are also First, Second and Third prizes as well.  It's only $35. to enter first painting and $15. for each painting entered therafter. Just what exactly are the judges looking for? Find out here. Exciting! Deadline is March 15th at midnight. I'm hoping to enter.

Here is the link to submit photographs of your best outdoor paintings. Winning art gets featured on the front of PleinAir Magazine plus you will get to stand center stage in Monterey, California in April and receive check and mingle shoulder to shoulder to some of the best Plein Air painters around. Sublime.

Barns Contemporary Painting

                                                                       
                                                                        Familiar Faces

My palette knife was put away for brushes. I must go outside my comfort zone to grow and think about design and composition in an abstract way. You don't see many sharp edges in my paintings and that changed today. All of my art must have meaning from myself, coming from within.

These two barns are on the farm and I see them often when I look out the window. We used to run up and down the ladder, stack hay high in the loft and look for kittens in them.  They are familiar features in the landscape and they have a fond place in my heart. This is how I saw them today! I painted this abstract landscape with acrylic paint on cotton canvas.

It was below zero this morning with so many closings, both business and schools, that it was a good time to work on some art projects here. I hope you have a great weekend.

Contemporary Art

                                                           
                                                                     Work in Progress
                                                           
                                                                 Contemporary Painting


My first cityscape painting in progress with a palette knife. The sunset makes little things here and there glow like at no other time of the day.  The bright under painting helps me not to forget my mission. This painting is more of a study for a much larger one, but it is my first and I have much to learn. I might be getting a bit more painting in as the forecast this morning said we could get 6-10 inches of snow tonight.  Not really a shocker. My phone has been delivering similar texts almost daily for the last month.

Here is some inspiration from Eli Klein in New York, "Negative feelings from viewers of an exhibition are often indicators of a successful show. It's much better for the audience to leave thinking about the artwork, even in a negative way, than with no emotional response at all." Don't you love this?

Flower and Sugar Art

                                                                            Side One    

                                                                       Flower and Sugar 

                                                                      Carol Yap Painting

          

My hand healed enough to finish some palette knife paintings. Here is a sneak peak of one side of my 8 x 8 x 8 inch box that I painted for The Artists Gallery Auction in Frederick. With all of the Winter snow and ice we continue to see how could I not go bold and brilliant? It is also March and the ground is still frozen solid.  There are five painted sides, three are bright and two are toned down, but hold their own weight against the others. 

Opening reception is March 7th Saturday,  from 5-9 pm at 216 N. Market Street, Frederick, Maryland. Located right next to Volt Restaurant. Make it an evening!   Check out their menu.