Day 29, of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge: Last, But Not Least.......

Day 29 of the '29 Faces in February' art blog Challenge.....! 

I can hardly believe this is to be my last post, and last Face...!   Well strictly speaking of the CHALLENGE, that is -- because there will still be plenty more 'faces' and posts from me to come.  After painting daily for an entire month, with all the focus and intensity that the Challenge afforded, I'm very much looking forward to continuing my full-time art studio ventures post-challenge.  I have all matter of concepts and ideas swimming round my head now, for which I have the Challenge to directly thank. It really was such a good exercise for me, not to mention educational and productive, and I wish to thank Ayala of Ayala Art, for initiating and launching such a great concept in the first place, as well as for all her behind-the-scenes organisation and promotional work.  A big thanks also to all my fellow Challenge participants for sharing and inspiring me with their fabulous art, and to everyone who followed along with my progress this month, and who took the time to contact me with such lovely comments and kind words.  Thanks so much, Everyone -- your interest in my artwork is truly appreciated.....!

And so, without further ado, my Face for Day 29, last day of the 

'29 Face in February' Challenge,
a Work-in-Progress entitled "Urban Currents":

"Urban Currents": 15 x 17 WIP on self-made support incorporating a salvaged old picture frame

One thing I am so grateful to the Challenge for, was how it provided me with the structure I apparently needed to finally get serious with so many hanging projects of mine (see my 'Pile of Shame' post), and this was yet another.   Using as I do old, found picture frames that I stumble across and salvage to create my painting supports, this particular frame is exactly the same size and shape as the piece featured for Day 16, 'Forgiving River'.  Therefore, as its default companion piece, I felt compelled to give it a somewhat similar theme,  yet also very different....

As many of you can probably guess, I'm a nature lover at heart, which I believe is often reflected in my artwork.  However, contrastingly  I also adore cities, even very large cities, having lived in the great megalopolis of Chicago for a time, as well as within the major metropolitan area of Milwaukee, WI, and finding as I did all their many cultural amenities highly stimulating.  Both Chicago and Milwaukee, like most big cities, have large, fast moving rivers that wind their way through their city centers, and so I decided to go with a more urban flavour here in contrast to the natural setting of its companion piece, using the shape to help dictate my design.  Thanks to my canvas-building technique, this piece is loaded with  texture, which adds a lot of depth and dimension, and while I can't yet officially add this to my list of completed works, I did get a heck of a lot farther along it while painting today than it had been ever been before the Challenge.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
My usual statement regarding my incorporation of old 'found' frames into my artwork:

"...have recently begun painting almost exclusively on supports I create myself utilising the old, salvaged wooden picture frames that cross my path from time to time (usually for free). I feel good about giving these unwanted homeless items a second life, not only because trees were cut down at some point to produce them, but also because by the time I get my hands on them they are usually destined for the landfill. The process of recycling these vintage frames into painting supports/canvases is a lengthy one, typically involving stabilizing the frames (which can be quite rickety), cutting thick paperboard to fit, securing it all and pasting and building up a painting surface with layers of overlapping scraps of paper. The end effect is a highly textured surface that adds dimension and depth to my paintings, complete with a built-in frame (onto which I often extend my painted images, incorporating the frames into the overall piece) into one cohesive, ready-to-hang whole...."