New Painting-New Series-New Year!

"Face 1" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

While traveling in Romania in the fall of 2011, I met a young woman who had recently moved back to this country to help her sick mother.  During the Ceaucescu communist regime, her mother had to work three jobs, had little food and worked in a highly polluted area…and on top of that had to take care of her children.  Before that era, her parents suffered the horrors of war.  This painting evoked an almost faceless woman, tired, worn, burdened…one of many thousands who starved and slaved thanklessly for decades.  These struggling women labor incessantly  not only in Romania but around the globe. 

 

"Face 2" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

 

"Face 3" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

Inspiration for painting these sorrow-filled and pained faces came from a visit to holocaust sites in Eastern Europe.  Doing the artwork enabled me to begin a process of trying to comprehend the intense anguish I felt from seeing these memorials of terror.  Also, while painting, I kept being reminded of the seemingly endless struggle experienced by women and minorities against oppressive and destructive brutality.  With my art, I hope to bring attention to the purposelessness and viciousness of such unspeakable horrors.

"Face 1" and "Face 3" were accepted into a juried show by the WCA (Women's Caucus for the Arts) at 825 Gallery in Los Angeles (February 7 to March 2, 2012).

 

"Face 4" oil, graphite, ink on gessoed paper

 

"Face 5" oil,graphite, ink on gessoed paper

"Face 4" and "Face 5" paintings continue the series of women's faces  I had started in late 2011.  

Magnificent Alaskan Glaciers

Glacier 1, watercolor on paper, 14" x 11".
Artwork is copyright protected by the artist. All rights reserved.  Do not copy image without the artist's permission.

For one week in July we traveled the Inner Passage waterway of Alaska -- seeing magnificent glaciers, whales, fjords, millions of evergreens, eagles -- and marveled at the splendor of it all.

Our group consisted of 20 family members of all ages from different parts of the United States.

Upon return I started to paint the glaciers that I saw -- always reminded of the fact that they are receding at a rapid rate. As a matter of fact we witnessed a huge glacial segment that tumbled into the water with a resounding thunderous sound!

Here are two more watercolors that were inspired by this trip.

Glacier 2, watercolor on paper, 14" x 11".
Artwork is copyright protected by the artist. All rights reserved. Do not copy image without the artist's permission.

Glacier 3, watercolor on paper, 14" x 11".
Artwork is copyright protected by the artist.  All rights reserved. Do not copy image without the artist's permission.

To view more of my paintings please visit my website at www.maryloudauray.com

Summer, Painting and the Flip-flop

"Flip-flop #4",  oil on 300 lb. watercolor paper. 
The size is 27"h x 51"w.

This time of year is my very favorite because of the long days; beautiful blue-green twilights; and the realization that summer is just around the corner.  These thoughts bring me to the topic of those lazy, hot days of summer years ago when I relished putting on my simple, cooling flip-flops. Times have changed and nowadays one sees people all over the world wearing these thin rubber shoes not only in the summer but all 12 months of the year, night and day, and in hot or freezing weather!

Flip-flops, in most developing countries, are the least expensive footwear available and they are being massed produced in countries with low-cost labor.  As you can well imagine, that means lots of flip-flops are being worn..and then they are tossed, anywhere.  "Most of the soles of these flip-flops are constructed from polyurethane, which is yet another plastic derived from crude oil.  This means that they are going to be hanging around the environment for a very, very long time once discarded". (www.greenlivingtips.com)

As some of you may already know, I have been painting a series of trashed flip-flops using my reference photos taken during a walk on a beach in South Vietnam.  This current series is the latest in a multi-year process of illustrating, through art, my nervous concern about the very negative effects of global garbage pollution.

I am currently working on this oil painting on 300 lb. watercolor paper and titling this work "Underwater Flip-flop with Overwater Reflections"!

The size is 27"h x 51"w.

If you look carefully, you will see a lost, trashed and forgotten flip-flop under the blue water--floundering in the deep!  I have really been struggling with this painting, and it is not quite finished.  I chose to post it anyway because it is work in progress...and this blog is essentially about my painting experience.

One of my artistic wishes has always been to paint a water surface that reflected shimmering light -- a la David Hockney!  I feel he created some colorful and personal work, and I distinctly remember a painting he did of a person peering at someone swimming near the bottom of a turquoise pool in Los Angeles.  Light was bouncing all over the top of the water!  I thought it would not be too difficult to create the same sparkling effect.  Well, I was wrong!  Depicting an over-layer of moving water reflections, while at the same time showing something quietly submerged, has been quite the challenge for me.  I usually feel more comfortable working in an abstract style so painting these rays of light is slow and somewhat difficult.

What I would also like to suggest in the painting is the fact that sunlight on water can contain a surprise hint of magic rainbow colors. In this regard, I was inspired by a photo I took in my kitchen this morning of sunlight beaming through clear crystal.  Question is:  how can one render in paint such intensity and luminosity?  Mmmmm?


Here is the rainbow picture:

I wish you all a light-filled and fully creative summer!  

From Visits to Hawaii, New York and Montgomery, Alabama

Hawaii Visit

Bird of Paradise 

    Watercolor

During the last two months I have traveled to beautiful Hawaii, exciting New York, and experienced a memorable weekend in Montgomery, Alabama.  I decided to devote this blog to the paintings I did and photographs I took which relate to these three places.  I still continue to work on the paintings which reflect  my concern about global warming and pollution of the ocean (see past blogs).

While in Hawaii I painted three small watercolors (about 5" x 7").  The Bird of Paradise above and the water and tree you see below.  I have always wanted to paint a Bird of Paradise with its strong, intense coloration, so I really enjoyed layering the oranges, blues and purples while doing this beautiful flower.

Water on the Rocks 
Watercolor

This water scene was my first attempt to try to capture the feeling of  bright white spray surging up against the dark lava rocks in Hawaii.  Maybe someday I will try a more abstract version of the scene!

My Favorite Tree 
Watercolor

And, last but not least, the tree you can see in the painting is my favorite tree in all of Hawaii.  A natural umbrella,  I feel protected walking under it while being graced with the sweet aroma of hundreds of flowers decorating the leaf-filled branches.

New York City Visit

"Nut"

The hightlight of my New York visit was experiencing a Modern Garage Movement dance performance, "Nut"  at the Kitchen.   Please check out www.moderngaragemovement.com to learn more about the exciting work the group is doing.  This photo of the stage was taken with my iphone which now captures shots with a distinct blur.  I spilled some turpentine on the phone and consequently all the photos have a smudged look to them...rather interesting, nevertheless.

Montgomery, Alabama Visit

"until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" 

words by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
fountain by Maya Lin

Rosa Parks Bus Boycott Plaque

These two pictures were taken in Montgomery, Alabama.  I was fortunate to attend an inspiring celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Southern Poverty Law Center which is one of the most important and effective  centers in the United States, or anywhere for that matter, dedicated to "fighting hate and bigotry and seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society". (from the SPLC newsletter)  The beautiful fountain at the Civil Rights Memorial was designed by Maya Lin.  Please help contribute to this center's most admirable work at www.splcenter.org.

Continuing with the series!

As some of you may know, I have recently begun a series of paintings based on photos I took of trash washed up on a small section of beach in South Vietnam.  One of the purposes in my doing the paintings is to spotlight the disturbing accumulation of waste (most of it plastic) which is polluting our oceans and beaches.

The following image shows the second in this series.  I have not yet finished the piece.

                  

An idea came to me to create the third painting in the series with a background of different colored sand--with black sand.  I took one of my reference photos, played with it in photoshop, and created the following picture:   

                                       

This image was made one day before the occurrence of the devastating Japanese earthquake.  After I looked at the transformed photo, I realized that the flip flop appeared to have been made white with radiation--and the sand seemed dead.  

Here is the painting based on the above photo and it is not yet finished. As I work on this piece, I silently pray for the many thousands of people who have been traumatized by the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear disaster. 

                      

Another Step Forward

Yes--many are stepping forward right now--standing tall for what they believe in.  Step by hopeful step--and I return to working on my painting--wondering what can I do to let my voice be heard?
So I continue putting brush to paper--glazing, spattering and choosing colors.  This second flip-flop that I am doing steps forward...is moving on.  
Today, I began to read an insightful book recommended by a very perceptive art teacher, gail McDaniel.  The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri, was published in 1923 and his words are helping me feel as though I am part of a greater group.   He says "through art mysterious bonds of understanding and of knowledge are established..."
I recommend this book to all artists and I plan to include more of his comments in future blogs.

Another step forward on my second flip-flop painting--days four and five!

Starting Again!

First day of painting with color

Second day with burnt sienna oil color added

Reference photo

Here I go again, painting yet another flip-flop based on one of my reference photos (shown above). This work is the second in a series of paintings I am doing that portray some of the trash I found washed up on the beach near Hoi An, Vietnam.  

I started this new work by brushing white gesso onto a 55" x 55" piece of 150 lb. watercolor paper and did a first pass of color with thinned ultramarine blue oil paint.  Next day I brushed on (with a huge fun brush!) some burnt sienna.  The dark spots you see in the photos are areas that did not have much gesso and as a result the oil paint soaked more deeply into those places.  I like the added texture!

Yesterday someone remarked that they liked my first flip-flop painting (see my February 24 blog) better when I had barely begun the piece--about the third day through.  Well, I did mention in one of my earlier blogs that I welcome all comments and advice!!! and I do appreciate the thought given to my work.   So I pondered the remarks and ultimately came to the conclusion that I felt the early stages of that piece were too decorative and lacked inventiveness and mystery.  As I continued to add more layers of paint day after day on the first painting, two footprints in the sand quietly appeared--indicating to me a sense of going forward and a desire to overcome tragedy.  Maybe that work ultimately is not as exciting at the end as when I first started it?!  I do not have an answer to that question.
Now I am on a new journey with this second painting of another poor, deserted and trashed flip-flop!  We will see what happens.