Freshly Painted

I finished a very random, colorful, spunky (not my style usually) sort of painting. It was messy (literally, my hands were caked with paint). Want to know the secret to this fun texture? I used toilet paper rolls for the big circles and bubble wrap for the smaller circles. Thank you Pinterest for the toilet paper roll idea and the birthday party art class for the bubble wrap idea. It was one of those paintings in which I had no set goal in mind as far as placement of colors or circles. Purely spontaneous. I thought it deserved a title, so I set out to make one.

 8×10

I am really bad with titles. I even struggle with titles for my blog most often. This painting was no exception. My initial thought was “Candy buttons.” Have you ever tried those candies? Little clumps of sugar on paper:

timelesscandy.com

You lick the back of the paper until the droplet falls off. It is like mastering an art really–too much saliva and you get a soggy paper mess that stains your hands; and too little saliva means you eat the paper and it does not taste good. I remember first being introduced to Candy Buttons when I was in the fourth grade. We were on a family vacation and stopped into a huge candy store in Chicago. I thought they were the coolest thing! I did not see them again until I was a college graduate shopping at Hobby Lobby for painting supplies.

“Oh wow! Candy Buttons!!!” I remember being so excited that I bought a few bags. Spontaneous. Then I bought more with the purpose of sharing my candy joy with the kids at the after-school street church I volunteered for on Thursday evenings. As I demonstrated the process of how to eat them, I was a bit timid about how the kids would react. Their faces were priceless. So eager to try this new candy. We rationed out all the Candy Buttons within minutes.

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Something about this painting also reminds me of cotton candy ice cream (which is one of my favorites, probably because I can actually taste the flavor.) Almost all other flavors, besides chocolate, taste like vanilla to me. That gets bland. Cotton candy ice cream has a taste of its own. It is unique. And it leaves your tongue blue.

I think this painting creates a fun theme, but felt stuck in the “candy box” of boring titles. I thought of all these bright-colored and fruity flavored candies coming together: Skittles, Nerds, Starbursts, Gummie Bears (plus the Candy Buttons and cotton candy flavor) and my title said what I was thinking: Candy Fusion. 🙂

Not all my canvases get titles, but it is an interesting process when they do get titles. I am finding that abstract art often does not need a title. Maybe that is me being too practical. “It is not a painting of anything,” I often say; “Anything” meaning concrete form. And yet, how is it that art at museums have the best fitting titles on abstract pieces that leave you looking deeper into the canvas in search of how the title was formed? It is as if the title should grasp in one profound statement, the essence of the work and still leave a window of opportunity for the mind to expand upon. I don’t think like this. I find that I sit stumped…at a loss for being able to group words together.

And yet other times, the title is what inspires the painting:

Fire and Ice (16×20)

Then there are those that I just leave as No Title:

 8×10

 11×14

 16×20

I am currently working on my smaller canvases for the month of June’s display at Beans-n-Cream. But I also have big ideas forming in my mind for my BIG canvases!! I am excited and can’t wait to get started on a few of those as well. In brainstorming, I realized that I need to branch out by creating or trying new abstract techniques. It is a challenge; I think that is why as silly as Candy Fusion may seem…it was different and I enjoyed trying something new.

I entered an “art moment in thought” while at my grandparent’s house. It caused me to stop and really question my motive for painting. When I first started painting, I painted gifts. Gift giving is my passion; it brings me sincere joy and my beginning paintings reflected this. I think over the past year, I have lost sight of that until now. I may not be painting with a specific person in mind, but I get to share my paintings with you here on my blog; to those who dine at Beans-n-Cream or the art show in Yellow Springs. I looked at the painting I did for my grandparents and I resolved that I can still paint like that–with thoughts of gift giving and joy. I was given a gift…to paint…and share my story. That brings me sincere joy. And that is why I will keep painting. 🙂

More to come…