My website and more...

I am very pleased to announce that I have finally finished my website.  Hoorah!!  Please check it out when you get a chance: http://www.lilianaalmendarez.com/Site/Painting.html 

Today I could not write. I'm stuck with my play and where it needs to go next because I know it's time to dig in a bit deeper so I decided to paint and work on my website instead.  You see it's too easy for me to stop working altogether when I get frazzled with writing and my inner critic.  A fellow writer suggested a brilliant solution of duct taping the critic.  That totally cracks me up.  That doesn't quite work for me tho'. I've spent too many years believing this critic so I shake her loose when I paint.

Butterfly Dawn << This link is one of three pieces I painted today.  One didn't turn out well at all so I'm not going to bother showing that one.  I have an easier time allowing myself to make mistakes in painting.  The critic's claws don't take huge chunks of flesh from me the way writing does.  And Joan Mitchell's abstract work really stayed with me all week.  I tried a different color pallet and looked at fields of color within the piece.  I lost myself in the process and it was quite wonderful.  * happy sigh *

The writing:
Here is my dilemma, I went to see this gorgeous film last week called CAIRO TIME with Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig.  It's a quiet love story that unfolds moment by moment.  It's so beautifully done that it made I realize I'm missing something in my play.  I know the mediums are different, movies are a visual medium so quiet is better tolerated in front of screen. But there must be a way to create a level of intimacy between characters on the stage without it feeling rushed or contrived.  I'm trying to figure out where those stolen moments are.  But I know it means MAJOR rewrites.  And I'm feeling lost right now and I don't quite yet how to break apart this play.

But the website work, which I've been procrastinating for the last three weeks, was a good place to hide myself in for early evening work.  It's a great big puzzle with pieces that I just needed quiet time to figure out.  I've had the house all to myself since 5:30 so work on it I did.  I am relieved that it's finally live.  I know I can go in and tweak it FOREVER but for now it's a good starting point.

All for now, I am maxed out and in need of a cold drink and a cool bed.

L~

P.S.  Forgive the typos, I am too tired to proof this entry.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Today was a productive day.  Yay!  Even with the remnants of a migraine, I still managed to work on my website and finally upload some images of a few paintings.  It took me longer than usual since I was working a bit more slowly today but I'm glad I finally spent some time navigating through FineArtAmerica and iWeb.

Yesterday, I was completely out of commission with a full-on light-sensitivity, queasiness, could-not-function migraine.  I ran one quick errand in the city and got back home in time to lock myself up in a cold dark room.

But today I managed to connect to a few people who I've lost contact with.  Yay!  Life sometimes gets busy and we move forward with our lives and sometimes our friendships go by the wayside.  Today I took a pause and reached out to a few people who I haven't spoken to in quite some time, that made a world of difference.

Let's see, I'm still moving on with my one act play Prodigal.  It's still in the writing and revising stage.  After seeing the movie Cairo Time last week I realized there is something missing from my play.  The movie revealed itself layer by layer in these small quiet moments and my play seems to be speeding it's way through.  So I have to look at the whole story arc and devise a way to slow it down a bit and allow the connection between the characters to happen more organically. Do I try to re-write huge chunks or do I write up new material altogether?  That is the questions that I'm currently mulling over.  I'm also having a hard time writing the monologue for the character Astrid.  You see, I like her the least in this whole piece.  My writing group suggested that I try not to vilify her so I'm trying a different approach with her BUT...the words for her monologue aren't coming through.

Yes, well that's where I'm at on this hot, humid night.  There is plenty of work to be done and I'm just taking each moment as calmly as I can manage.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Joan Mitchell

I went to Grand Army Plaza library to go work on my play for a couple of hours.  I'm not going to complain.  To be quite honest, I'm a little sick and tired of whinging about the creative process.

Instead, I want to tell you about how I started to skim the shelves in the Art Section.  I pulled out some books on Joan Mitchell.  She's this Abstract Expressionist artist from the early 60's and 70's.  A couple of postings ago, I mentioned that I'm interested in learning more about women artists.  It was pure chance that I found her books but when I opened up them up and took a look at the art plates, her work took me by surprise.

I love abstract art.  I mean I get goosebumps when I come across someone's work that I've never seen before.  And I know looking at art plates are NOT the same as looking at the actual piece in life BUT...
 
She has one named Salut Sally from 1970 oil on canvas.  She has this beautiful hue of dark blue in the upper top of the canvas and then the colors blossom around it.  The brush strokes are thick impasto but her use of white helps lighten the piece.  It adds an effervescence to the middle field.  She uses this dark green and brick red paint but these colors seem to stabilize the overall look of the piece.


Then there is a piece called Mooring from 1971.  A soft pink empty field, a place to rest the eyes, in the upper portion of the canvas. Then the purple lavender and oranges intertwine in the middle field.  I don't usually like that specific color pallet but she managed to make it playful.  I may play with that color scheme just to see where it goes. I think her use of greys and whites helped tamp down the brightness of the overlook of the piece and gave it a moodier feel to it.  It's lovely.


In La Ligne de la Rupture from 1970-1971, she uses a black square and on top of this field a gorgeous yellow hue explodes off.  The black square helps the yellow dance on the canvas.  The rest of the background is done in a neutral soft white pallet.


In all of these pieces she has paint dripping/flowing down the canvas which gives it a raw quality.  It gives them a sense of paint melting off the canvas which is quite stunning.  Seeing her work has given me a bit of license to play with paint again.  I think I've gotten into a certain frame of mind with the work that I've been doing and I've been so RESTLESS that I wonder if it's my inner artist wanting to stretch beyond the routine way I approach the canvas.  Sorry  I'm not sure if that last sentence makes sense...I re-read it and can't make heads or tails of it.  Let's try that one again.  I wonder if my restlessness has more to do with a part of me wanting to TRY SOMETHING NEW.  Hmmm.  I wonder if this will help me with my stink attitude. Hehehe.

Peace~


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.