TRICIA TOONE

Searching for "Peace"

I just installed this painting in a client's home. She has very striking, bold decor and wanted a painting to compliment and brighten a darker area of the room.

I enjoyed working with the silhouette of a cherry tree in my in-laws' back yard. The butterfly, which creates a focal point and color accent, has personal meaning to the client. There are red bud accents matching the red furniture and art throughout the room.

As for the title of this blog, maybe you can figure it out.

Kyle Progress

Here's another Kyle update. I'm really trying to loosen up a bit on this painting and have fun with color. I've done some more work on his face, although it's not quite where I want it to go, yet. Kyle has very fair skin with some rosy patches that I would love to accentuate. At this point, I think his skin is looking too dark.

I've gone through a couple different background colors, until I decided on this one. The first one was a white background with various shades of violet and ochre. I liked the color vibration that it created, but the end effect was too "pastel" for Kyle's personality. He is a strong and determined Taurus. I think the darker blue-green is much more fitting. I am also hoping the the color contrast will help bring out the red of his cheeks and lips as I lighten his skin tone.

Monster Eats Orchid

Check out this video of Rick's newest guitar design, Orchid, in action. Although I'm not a musician, I can certainly appreciate it for the piece of sculpture that it is. Monster clearly appreciates it for its playability. (Like all skilled artists, Monster makes it look so "easy" — now I almost want to learn bass).

By the way, Orchid was designed for Halie, a budding musician. Of course, the smaller design doesn't seem to slow Monster down the slightest.

Kyle...you're on my website!

So, I got a call from my 14 year old nephew a couple weeks ago. Had a great hour long conversation. He filled me in on the good and bad of high school, things he's been excited about and involved in, the girl-friend status, family drama, etc. It was great to have a conversation where I forgot I was talking to my nephew and instead I was just talking to a friend.

Then he says, "Aunt Tricia, I was checking out your website the other day and I couldn't help but notice that...I'm not on it."

I took that as a "subtle" hint.

I drove down to the shore to visit, get some sketches, photos, and a color study. He very patiently sat for me while he baby-sat his brothers and sisters. Somehow, we managed to get a pretty good drawing despite three year old Jeremy determined to get hold of my charcoal and Power Rangers blaring on the television. (I do recommend to anyone drawing from a live model...no matter how determined and focused the model, the TV is irresistible and they will turn their head every 5 seconds)

Anyway, here he is... a work in progress.

This is the charcoal drawing that has been inked in. Notice the faint remnants of a few failed drawings, especially the huge ghost head. For some reason, I naturally draw huge. (The canvas is 24" x 30") I have to really work hard to shrink my drawings down.

The underpainting.

In this image, I've began to rough in the background and build up the right side of the face.

To be continued...

Free Climbing

The vows are complete. Like the George Washington project, this project had many challenges due to the variety of materials involved. Projects like this always keep me on my toes. No matter how much you know about your medium of choice and how you would like something to look, different mediums allow different levels of control and have certain limitations. I have to say, I love paint. Paint is comforting. You can make mistakes, paint over, try again.

The most frightening aspect of George Washington and the Vows was the limited room for mistakes.

George: Ink calligraphy on goatskin parchment that was hard to find and very expensive. (Besides the fact that a goat gave his life so I could commemorate George in a historically accurate way). The whole time I was writing on the goatskin I thought, "What if my pen leaks? What if I accidently misspell a word? If I make a mistake, there's no going back!"

Vows: Everything fixable and replaceable except the middle. The center was signed by everyone at their wedding. They will never have another wedding day. When will they ever have that assortment of family and friends together again? I feared the moment when I had to cut the circle or glue it to the final paper. What if I slip up? Glue it crooked? Change my mind about the final paper?

I can't help but have that anxiety when I work on projects like these. But then I think of people that do things I would never consider...like Dan Osman climbing with no ropes. Does he have that anxiety before he sets out for a climb? I'm sure he does. Maybe it's the anxiety that teaches him think through the problem thoroughly and make the right choices each time.

Wedding Vows

I'm currently working on a plaque inspired by the Jewish tradition of the Ketubah. This interpretation will be constructed from paper and masonite and painted with acrylic paint. Masonite is a good support in a mixed media project involving paper because it is stable and resists changes in temperature and humidity. The outer tiles represent the values of the married couple. For the tiles, the couple has combined the Buddhist concept of the Noble Eightfold Path, the eight practices that lead to enlightenment, and the Victorian use of flowers to convey meaning. They selected flowers to represent each of the 8 practices. In the center of the plaque, will be a circle that was signed by each guest at the couple's October wedding. The wedding vows will surround this circle of signatures.

Here are some pictures of the progress. The first image is a concept sketch of the final piece. The second  is of the masonite construction, built by Dick Toone of Living History Shop, with multiple coats of primer. The final image shows a corner close up with the light blue base coat. In this image there is a removable center tile which I've pulled up slightly so you cans see it. After the tiles are painted, I can attach the paper of vows to the center panel. This will allow me to get an exact fit. More images to come.

Santa Fe

NOTE: This is Rick. Don't tell Tricia I'm here. Webmaster privilege.

:)

When we camped in the Sangre de Cristo mountains outside Santa Fe, I was inspired to paint the absolutely beautiful mountain light: in particular, one evening as dusk fell. The lights of the city were just visible in the distance, and the moment was poised on the edge of my eyesight failing to detect detail in shadow. The sky was luminous at 12,000' of elevation.

I took a series of photographs but a camera does not perceive light as a human eye does. Cameras can only capture the average amount of light in a scene, at a given moment. Our eyes are more sophisticated, constantly adjusting aperture (light sensitivity) and focus as we move them: we can look at sunlight reflecting on water, then into the shadows of the woods...seeing detail in both instances.

Astonishing tools, really.

So, five months later, I am painting partially from photographs, and mostly from memory. My memory of light — of the feeling — from that moment.

I have a very capable instructor, although she will not let me call her one. This is my second oil painting — Cabinetmaker was my first — my first landscape, and I have no other word for: "Tricia...how do I build the underpainting? What is the paint/thinner/varnish ratio again? Do I optically mix colors on the canvas or do a modulated blend?"

Except "teacher".

The photos are snapshots of the painting, early in the process. Photo on the left is mostly underpainting. Right photo has a second layer of paint: mid-ground mountains are gathering mist, the near mountains are growing conifers. There will eventually be a foreground layer of aspens mostly obscuring the left and lower left of the scene. Details as they happen.

ECOLIFE Foundation Fundraiser

Tommorow night at Birch Aquarium: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California, my recently completed painting, Still Life With Jet Fuel, will be auctioned for charity.

Rick works for ECOLIFE Foundation and through his efforts and our discussions my interest in conservation has become more of a passion. It's unsettling to realize that much of our food is transported distances of 1,500 miles or more, because our farmland is being swallowed by urban sprawl: how much fuel was burned to get Canadian tomatoes in my salad, while I live in an area with ideal soil for growing tomatoes?

I bought the "models" for the painting in my local grocery store. The selection criteria was: travel distance of at least 1,500 miles. Avocados from Mexico. Asparagus from Peru. An apple from New Zealand!

ECOLIFE Foundation is a worthwhile nonprofit, because they look at conservation differently than most: by first helping humans meet our needs through ecological sustainability, we will help the environment.

Have a look.