Owner: ShirleyBodArt URL:http://www.shirleybodart.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:30:43 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Are you certifiably mad about art? You want honest opinions and are fed up with the bullsh*t brigade who alienate so many of us? Then this is definitely the blog for you! Site statistics:Click here
Keeping the Connections Fresh! 2007-04-23 22:30:00 Hi all,Yikes, I ‘m seriously in danger of falling very badly behind. In an umm, artistic scheduling sort of way. You know, as that usual ‘to-do’ list takes on a life of its own. Swelling, growing and consuming all and every spare crumb around it with its ravenous appetite…grrrrrrr!Where does all the time go and how do we adapt our brains to that ever green conundrum?Often when I ‘m painting, an idea (hitherto unformed) suddenly bursts out, taking me totally by surprise and proceeds to drag me off to some new, sometimes strange, (but never boring) tantalizing direction. If it’s an abstract painting then I purposely welcome these ‘creative bursts’ eager to play out whatever possibilities the idea presents.Connections (Diptych Acrylic (2 Box Canvases: 30x20 inches 60x51 cm each) seemed the perfect metaphor for my feelings of frustration regarding the limits of time and the dilemma of only having one head to ponder that ever growing to-do list.So, the diptych serves as the
My Abstract Evolution 2007-04-28 19:56:00 Hi all,What a bright, spanking sun kissed day it’s been! Way too glorious for long hours spent laboring over a hot canvas (sizzle sizzle) Oh no, not this bod, not today thank you! Today was for me and for…Re-lax-a-tion!The joy of simply chilling out with a tall, cold drink; a floppy hat, a shady spot and a favored piece of pulp fiction. Yummy! Yes that just about hits the spot perfectly…Just as well then, I had my creative socks on ripe and early. Up, ready, tooled and all set at first light. I wanted something ethnic in tone. Something with a definite um, fizz, a slice of that early, effervescent light that streamed into my studio this morning. The creative juices were salivating as the magenta melded perfectly with purple. Playful passages of gold overlaying and highlighting; serving to underpin the paintings composition. Now, that was looking good.Considering it was painted early in the day Evolution
(Acrylic on Box Canvas: 30"x20", 60x51cm) seemed an apt enough name (unless Read more:Abstract
Here's One I Did Earlier! 2007-05-03 22:49:00 Hi all!Carrying on from the theme of a change being as good as rest I thought I would display my latest creation (Red-Relief) from a rather less conventional viewpoint, a slightly more dynamic angle, in an attempt to add a small grain of excitement to your online experience. Now, who can say I never provide value for money!OK, so assuming you’re all simply blown away by the visuals… So here’s Red-Relief (Acrylic on Box Canvas: 30"x20", 60x51cm) and yes it really was done earlier, Monday I think, or was it Tuesday? (Sorry folks, serious brain fatigue setting in!) The palette reflected the sumptuous weather we had that day, and probably hinted strongly at my subconscious urge to toss my entire artistic regalia into the bin and sprint blissfully out into the sunshine (doubtlessly to the strains of George Harrison singing Here come the Sun!)I love playing with contrasts. Be it with colour or surface or indeed theme. It’s those contrasts that add interest, provide the work with its
A little Bit of a Make Over. 2007-05-03 22:31:00 Hi all!I think the picture says it all! I’ve been building my new web site (Major headache city!) and alas have neglected my blogging duties over the last few days. (Shame on me) So, upon my return, and with a mind wafting in and out of web design mode, I fancied the old blog needed a bit of an um…sprucing up!So, a few cosmetic changes have given it a slightly more ‘personal’ stamp, a tad more...Shirley power!Anyway, I have paintings to list, a site to slave over and some more blogging duties still to come; no rest for the whacked out!Shirley Read more:little
Bad Taste on Steroids! 2007-05-09 17:53:00 Hi all,If in the next few days you happen to take leave of all your senses then perhaps you’d care to visit Guardian Unlimited and indulge their fanciful whim that you might just be interested in downloading ‘an original piece’ by Gilbert & George (Pictured) As for myself…I’d rather exfoliate my legs with a blunt cheese grater! Who on earth in any state resembling cognitive sanity would want to download a selection of high resolution images by these two talent less buffoons, print them out on A4 then piece them together to create what exactly? Some bizarre testament to sewer standards and bad taste on steroids! What a wonderful way to while away your precious time!Isn’t it so typical of that out of touch, trendy Guardian mindset which assumes that work by this ridiculous pair is somehow akin to some form of National Treasure? Work which we jolly proles will... simply love darling...just as much as the luvvie arty set seems to.Please God rid us of such charlatans who thriv Read more:Steroids
Remember to Check My Pulse 2007-05-17 13:30:00 Hi all,Want to know something? I really enjoyed painting this one. Of course I love all my creative offspring but one does have ones favorites! There’s always the one that possesses that certain spark, that special elusive quality. One that leaves you with a delicious taste of satisfaction. I wanted a sunset theme with an abstract quality. Something that worked both as an image and as a playful expression in paint.The result was Pulse
(Acrylic on box canvas 40x20 inches or 102x51cm) which seemed to resemble some throbbing storm of turbulent colour. A fiery swirl reminiscent of some molten planet forever in flux. As I gazed at the finished result (as you do with that sense of smug self congratulatory ego stretching!) it seemed to almost glow, to throb even, with an internal pulse. Either that or too many late nights watching the Matrix Trilogy!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Remember
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Glimmer (Triptych (3 canvases) 20x16 inches or 51x41cm each, overall size 20x48 inches or 122x51cm) 2007-06-04 15:18:00 Hi all,My first abstract triptych came out rather well (OK, sometimes you’ve got to blow your own trumpet!) I wanted a real diffused look with the colours bleeding to create an almost autumnal look of warm, rusty hues.I think the red/orange on blue works well as the complimentary colours really vibrate together fusing the composition whilst also lending it that slightly psychedelic edge. Nice to know all those caffeine fueled late nights weren't in vain!Shirley Read more:Triptych
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Shimmer ( Acylic, box canvas 40x20 inches or 102x51cm) 2007-06-04 15:03:00 Hi all,A refreshing return to my passion for skies, (especially for setting suns) with their evocative outpouring of fiery colours.It also allows a freer style verging on abstract whilst retaining a recognizable image. I always try to capture that inherent sense of heat, of the ebbing energy latent in the sky during its final moments! I've also given you two views (side & frontal) hope that allows for a better understanding of my subject!Shirley Read more:inches
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Duplicity (Diptych, 2 canvases at 36x12inches or 91x30cm each) 2007-06-04 14:54:00 Hi all,I’ve always been intrigued by the diptych format. It’s especially suitable to abstract shapes and themes, allowing the visual elements to sweep from one surface to another yet maintaining a wonderful sense of wholeness.I also love the challenge of balancing the two picture planes, making sure that each works in tandem with the other.Shirley Read more:inches
Turbulence (Acylic on box canvas 24x30 inches or 61x76cm) 2007-06-04 14:36:00 Hi all,I’ve been pre-occupied with so many other things of late so forgive my lack of posting recently. I have still been painting! A real 'go for it' attempt at pure emotional abstract painting. I wanted it tactile and hot. Effervescent colours and a raw steak of spontaneity. I was pleased as punch with the outcome! Shirley Read more:inches
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Inferno (triptych-3-canvases)36x12inches or 91x30cm each) 2007-06-07 16:05:00 Hi all,It’s hot, it’s sumptuous and it’s simply aching to burst into flames! This painting is literally on fire...Inferno
is aptly named!I was bent on unleashing a veritable onslaught of fiery hues to conjure up my vision of unrestrained heat. I wanted the canvas to melt. The onlooker to almost want to step back as from a bonfire ablaze in all it’s crackling fury! The triptych format works especially well here helping to accentuate the sense of movement as the ‘flames’ leap across the panels evoking an internal rhythm within the picture plane.The cooler blues at the bottom not only act as complimentary to those sizzling orangey/reds but help to anchor the composition especially as the blues give way to near black.Loved doing this one folks. Can’t wait to get my asbestos gloves warm again!Catch you laterShirley Read more:inches
Indecision? (acylic-on-box-canvas-30x24 inches or 76x61 cm) 2007-07-08 16:32:00 Hi all, I’m not usually indecisive but on this occasion…I admit I was in two minds about where to go on this one!Plan 1…A colourful outpouring of unrestrained abstract abandon. Dazzling hues and simmering shades. Perhaps a mournful plea to our non existent British Summer!Plan 2…A darker, much more somber, moodier piece to suit our rain sodden, waterlogged excuse of a Summer…grrrr, where has the summer gone! So, after a few umms and ahhhs...I opted for Plan 2.It’s raw, broken and has that unfinished quality that quirky side to me soooo appreciates! It’s anarchic, insolent and in my view certainly needs a very stern telling off by those art critics amongst you prefer a more sanitized art form.The colour lays like tactile slabs breaking up the morbidity of the dark green. I achieved the lattice effect highlights using Gold leaf gilding paste which looks and feels very rich and is perfect for that slightly unusual effect.It’s dark but I really enjoyed painting this one!Catc Read more:inches
Sweet Layers (acylic-on-box-canvas-30x24inches or 76x61cm) 2007-07-08 16:05:00 Hi all,Yeah, I know it’s been a while but I assure you all I haven’t been idle!New sites to build…new frontiers to conquerO.K. why SweetLayers
? It simply seemed appropriate considering my frame of mind. Ideas stacked like layers, pressing down and squeezing out. I wanted something a little um…different. Something with little or no obvious reference to reality.I cannot emphasize the importance of experimentation in painting. Sometimes you simply ‘go with the flow’ and allow your creative outpour to react to the unexpected. Chance directs and it’s often so much fun to follow and see what happens!Like being a child again. Not afraid to dabble or play or make something that to older eyes might seem foolish. There’s something so very liberating about that.Catch you laterShirley Read more:inches
Guardians (Acrylic on box canvas Size 61x76cm) 2007-08-29 16:58:00 Hi all,I felt a return to a blatantly ethnic theme was way overdue! So, what better than a couple of highly stylized figures in ‘full on’ tribal mode. Simple composition yet… evoking that warm earthy quality that so epitomizes the whole African mystique. I really love doing these semi-abstracted paintings. What I aim to do (and not always successfully!) is lay down several washes while subtly diffusing the colours to give me a warm and vibrant background where the colours blend both evenly and naturally. Then using the palette knife I create my stylized figures with a fairly thick impasto gently shaped and finished with brush and fingers. Walla…a genuine slice of ethnic flavored painting to please Pablo himself.Trying different styles and themes is a certain recipe to bringing a greater degree of depth and skill to your work. A painting such as Guardians (with its heavily stylized elements) works (in my opinion) all the more successfully because of my time spent doing paintin Read more:Acrylic
'Wheels' Diptych, 2 canvases at 20x16inches or 51x41cm each 2007-08-28 15:22:00 Hi all,Yep, this one came out really well, hmm, not too bad at all. Not that I have A penchant for blowing my own trumpet (perish the thought!) but sometimes it all just…Comes together sweetly…and (dare I say) easily!In a way that makes you wish that painting worked like that every single time. No huffing, nor rabid expletives accompanied by a flurry of furiously hurled brushes…grrrrr! Wheels
sizzles. It’s hot and those vibrant colours seemed the perfect antidote to our oh so lackluster summer (what summer?) I wanted its circular forms to sweep the eye around the painting in a similar fashion to Van Gogh’s glorious Starry Night (just loooooove that painting Vincent)You see I just felt the need to go abstract with this one. I mean real abstract. As opposed to…want to know what really hacks me off? It’s when you see artists online (eBay springs to mind) who time and again palm off every painting they do as abstract. They paint a face slightly idealized…it’s abstract. Read more:inches
Distant Shores (Triptych 16x20 inches each canvas) 2007-09-21 14:57:00 Hi all,As an artist I’m always on the lookout for ideas. (Aren’t we all?) Influences coming in all manner of guises, be it the work of someone I admire (the list is endless) a scene I see whilst out for a walk, a movie, or perhaps quite often a photograph. I’ve always been fascinated by ariel photos where landscapes take on that patchwork quilt effect, or those satellite images where entire coast lines are reduced to abstract shapes…ready material for the painter to capture, conjure and metamorphosize into something with a distinct ShirleyBod spin! What I love about Distant Shores
is that it can work both as a purely abstract piece, free of deliberate form or subject matter, as well as working as an interesting interpretation of one of those ‘on high’ views of some shoreline (red sea aside!) However, in order to reduce that ‘ariel photo look (that ordinance survey feel) I’ve deliberately chosen the triptych format which splits the composition serving to emphasize i Read more:Triptych
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Fantast Flowers (Acrylic on box canvas 30x24 inches) 2007-10-13 13:42:00 Hi allI had in mind for some time the idea of doing a series of paintings featuring flowers. Not simply pretty petals and manicured border fodder. But rather…ummm, flowers with a differenceWell, we all like flowers (don’t we?) and I’ve always been drawn toward their infinite variety, transitory beauty and eh…flawless design. Dandelions are especially ephemeral. We’ve all held one up and…puff….gone, a myriad floating seeds. They are also quite visually striking, especially up close!It was whilst looking at macro photography of magnified objects that I had the idea for this series. Close up, cropped images in a highly stylized manner. One of the great joys of being an artist is to take the familiar and by invention create a new way of seeing it!Catch you later Shirley Read more:Flowers
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Oldest Painting in the world 11,000 years old 2007-10-12 12:10:00 Hi allJust saw this article from Reuters…“French archaeologists say they have excavated an 11,000-year-old wall painting (above) in red, black and white in northern Syria which they describe as the oldest in the world, although it resembles a modern work.The 2-square-metre painting was found below ground at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo, mission head Eric Coqueugniot told Reuters.It looks like a modernist painting. Some of those who saw it have likened it to work by Klee.”Imagine that, 11,000 years old! Some unknown artist (perhaps he was famous back then?) created that image long before the pyramids at Giza were built (3200 B.C) or the Greeks and the Romans even conceived of shaping their empires. Isn’t there something humbling yet reassuring to know that the human creative spirit stretches back that far and indeed in the case of the Lascaux cave paintings…possibly much further!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Painting
Wisps (Acrylic on canvas 16x39 inches) 2007-10-12 10:06:00 Hi allFelt the need to lay aside the abstract head and again return to the upbeat realms of another sunset…OK..I know I’m addicted to painting them!But actually, when you stop to take a long lingering look at those hot hues and evocative Wisps of colour you find in all sunsets a ready made abstract image. Yes…really! Walla, nature sows yet more seeds to set the creative juices flowing (if you pardon the gastronomic metaphors!)But I really cannot say it enough, sunsets are delicious! A fiery, visual feast upon which to gaze come those long cold nights. Perfect antidote indeed to those dreary drab grays and wintertime blues!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Acrylic
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Rustic Edge (Acrylic on canvas 24x30 inches) 2007-10-11 08:29:00 Hi all One of the great joys I get from abstract painting is the freedom to indulge in the wonderful possibilities of surface. For me that blank canvas is like a playground of infinite possibility simply begging to be unleashed!I love to play with texture, to tease the canvas with a variety of contrasting marks and spontaneous passages. Rustic Edge is my attempt to evoke that effect that the elements have upon a surface. Wind and rain upon a corrugated roof or the gradual corrosion of a rusty car in some forgotten field. I love that worn look as metal corrodes and a myriad subtle shades are released as the light hits it from a dozen angles.I was also really lucky with the light when I photographed this one. Sometimes, no matter how much you prepare, you just can’t seem to capture your ‘labour of love’ to its best advantage. (Very disheartening) but here the Gods smiled and the light caught the surface perfectly…well, as near perfectly as modesty allows!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Acrylic
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Mystic Glow (Acrylic on box canvas 24x30 inches) 2007-10-18 08:42:00 Hi allIt’s no use. The urge to produce another sunset simply proved unstoppable (not that I put up much of a struggle) However…This time I thought I’d try a different approach? Much as I love to slap a paint loaded brush against a pristine canvas (well, we all have quirks) the urge for a more, eh delicate approach, sometimes beckons.Recent experiments with the airbrush have so far yielded some rather promising results. The latest of which is Mystic
Glow (above)Not only can I achieve some incredibly subtle effects using multiple glazes but I also use substantially less paint (No mean consideration for the jobbing artist!) I also find I can therefore achieve a luminosity which perfectly enhances the subject matter.I also loved the idea of playing with reflections; light shimmering upon a silky smooth surface. There’s nothing quite brings a painting to life like light reflected off water. It’s another piece of the jig-saw; an added dimension which when combined with all the o Read more:Acrylic
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Shattered(Acrylic on box canvas 39x16 inches) 2007-10-16 14:08:00 Hi allThe other evening I was driving home from a friend’s house (yes I was shattered!) it was dark, wet and flecks of drizzle were trickling down the wing mirror. A car pulled up quickly behind me, nose up my behind, lights dazzling (brain obviously on vacation..thank you Mr Dazzle man) before screeching past and off into the night leaving me to ponder as to why such imbeciles inhabit the roads….Except on this occasion said Mr Dazzle had offered me more than a glimmer of inspiration. As soon as I got home I started to work on the image in my head. The image of a dazzling light reflected from distorted glass. Shattered shards streaking outwards. The multi-coloured light pulse emanating into the surrounding black abyss.It’s not often that I am gifted the muse of inspiration by one of the worlds road jockeys. In this case his negligence and lack of courtesy yielded me the precious nugget of a good idea. So, thank you Mr. Razzle Dazzle man!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Acrylic
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This Ear Art Stuff is Getting Silly! 2007-10-13 17:33:00 Hi allSo, here we go again. Another in the ‘you just couldn’t make it up’ series! This month’s loon of the month award goes to (drum roll please) Australian philosopher and performer Stelios Arcadio (above) who (in the true spirit of art) has had an ear surgically implanted into his forearm! Yep, another superb example of insanity perpetrated in the name of artistic expression. (I thought the Aussies knew better) As if such an act of infantile proportions weren’t enough he also plans to (ready for it) fit a microphone inside the said ear in order that the audience might…listen to what it hears!!! Oh, wouldn’t we all just love tickets to that performance (so long Avril & Christina) can’t you just see the mile long cues around the block for that one?Says Stelios… “I think art should be more than simply illustrating ideas,"ummm, like simply going out of your freaking head and wiring your third ear for sound! What’s next in this ‘sincere’ quest for artistic t Read more:Silly
Tequila Sunset (Acrylic on box canvas 24x30 inches) 2007-10-19 14:26:00 Hi allDo you remember your first impression of a Tequila
Sunrise? (umm, of course you do) That tall, beautiful, multi-coloured cocktail that both seduced our eyes and befuddled the senses. OK, so the next day we might well have cursed the very thought of the stuff, but…We never ever ever forgot either its name or the way it looked! So, when scratching my head for ideas to stretch my newly acquired airbrush skills this beverage inspired image (don't ask me why?) simply splashed back into my mind. Add a tall canvas, a simply setting and presto…a perfect setting for a simmering (tequila) sunset with that eh, definite twist of the exotic.As I said in my last post, the wonderful thing about using the airbrush is its ability to create subtle effects by building your surface in fine layers. I was really thrilled with the effervescent quality I captured in the sky by using multiple glazes of ultra marine and Cerulean blue. An effect enhanced by the complimentary use of the yellows and red Read more:Sunset
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Wheels 2 (Triptych, 20 x 16 inches each canvas) 2007-10-25 14:36:00 Hi all This was a commission requested by a woman who had seen my original Wheels
. However, here they requested me to do it as a Triptych
rather than in the original Diptych design of the original… So, what do ya think? Well, I have to admit the design really suits the three canvas format. The composition has acres of breathing room whilst those intersecting circles really hold the whole painting together. Ah, but most importantly the lady in question really loved it…and that folks is what really matters! Catch you later Shirley Read more:inches
Serengeti Sky (Acrylic on box canvas 20x30 inches) 2007-10-22 14:33:00 Hi allI have my other half to thank for resurrecting this one! Believe it or not it had been laying around my studio for the last couple of months simply begging for that finishing touch of…TLC (poor neglected thing!) Alas I was all too busy indulging my eh…abstract appetite, as well as getting to grips with the delights of my new (ish) airbrush.So hubby appears waving this canvas frantically under my nostrils with that…”Aren’t you going to finish this” look! (Thank you Darling) Hmm, well I have to admit that my first love is painting skies. Especially an African sky. Extra especially when it’s a scorching African sky of sizzling crimson hues. So, it’s really quite a mystery as to how I could have neglected my creation for quite so long?... (Artists hey!)I do like a story. That’s why narrative paintings have always held a particular fascination for me. You know, that one moment in a drama caught in an immortal stillness. Who is that man on the brow of the hill? Is he Read more:inches
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Elephant Walk: Triptych (Acrylic on Canvas 183x76cm /72x30 inches) 2008-03-05 05:17:00 Hi all,Yes I know my posting has been a little hmm, erratic of late but please guys…don’t take me to task as I have been slaving away to produce all manner of creative goodies such as the one you see here!Let’s call it a reawakening of my ethnic period!OK so I’m pretty smug about Elephant Walk. It started as a commission by somebody who wanted a variation of one of my other pieces Journeys End plus elephants (I so love elephants) in a triptych format (as you do)This was an absolute joy to paint. A chance to evoke everything I feel about Africa in a single image. Its visual beauty, nobility and sense of timeless wonder. Don’t you feel you could just walk up to those elephants and experience that sunset as another day fades on a faraway continent…ahh, we can but dream.Catch you l Read more:Triptych
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SkyBlaze (Acrylic on Canvas-24x30 inches) 2008-01-28 15:19:00 Hi all,Doesn’t it just…blaze! Red and fiery, yet moody with a brooding sense of unease?Umm, perhaps a brewing storm ready to…unleash it’s all!This one really made my day…following on from the focus on movement I had hitherto explored with Sunset Swirl, I again used loads of heavy texture combined with a frantic brush to evoke a somewhat Turneresque sky!I’ve deliberately used some darker tones both to accentuate the hot reds as well as helping to evoke that ‘uneasy’ turmoil present in a sky during that prelude to a storm.Again, this could so easily be an abstract piece. Take away the knowledge of subject and we are left simply with a riotous display of colour upon a tactile surface! All of which creates yet another level of interest adding to the overall enjoyment of the pie Read more:Acrylic
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Sunset Swirl (Acrylic on Canvas 24 x30 inch) 2008-01-28 15:16:00 Hi all,Well…it’s been a while! Enough to say I’ve taken a few months away from the blogging treadmill to eh ‘rejuvenate that creative id’...phew!So, with a reinvigorated palette....Let me introduce Sunset
Swirl…pure expressionist painting from head to toe. An unrestrained outpouring of colour (my humble opinion) in a style I simply relish! I love the whole semi-abstract feel about this picture. Yes it’s a sunset (a subject I simply just eat up) but it might just as easily be a playful display of swirling colour! An abstract array of blending forms.The sense of movement is suggested not only by the composition but also by the riot of surface layers building into an extremely effective impasto both of which give the painting it’s ‘breath’ of life.I was so pleased with thi Read more:Acrylic
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