ISEA 1st Annual Members Virtual Exhibit

Inspiration by April M Rimpo

Last year I joined the International Society of Experimental Artists, entered and was accepted into their 23rd International Experimental Artists Exhibition. At that time I had just started pouring fluid acrylic and my painting Moving Up had been the result of my first poured painting. 

While doing that and other poured paintings I noticed that the painting started out as a very interesting abstract and gradually built to the image I wanted to portray.

This year, during the 30 Paintings in 30 days Challenge, I decided to create  some non-objective paintings as the starting point for a series of yoga poses that I planned to paint.  I used large sheets (40 X 50") when doing the pours so I could have a lot of variety to chose from when I later cut these sheets apart to make 8 X 8" wrapped "canvases" for the sections of the yoga poses.  My goal during the pouring was just to make some interest patterns and color combinations. I had not yet drawn the poses, so there was no masking intended to preserve areas for the final paintings.

After the backgrounds were done and I had drawn the poses, I selected sections of the non-objective, poured sheets that I thought I could use for the yoga poses.  When selecting the 8"X8" sections I looked for lighter areas that could be formed into the person and textures that would help accentuate the pose.  The next step was to draw the post across the segments and then add paint to help emphasize the human shape while still leaving each abstract segment as abstract as possible.  Until the four segments of "Inspiration", shown at left, were put together, it was difficult to see the figure. Even assembled it takes some looking to find her form in the painting.

Being quite happy with my result I decided to enter this pose (there are a total of six poses made up of 21 8" X 8" panels) into the ISEA Member Virtual Exhibition. I was so happy is was accepted into the exhibit. 

To see all the other experimental paintings by going to the ISEA website. I think the work is quite fascinating in this exhibit.  Do take some time to read the descriptions provided by each artist explaining why the piece was experimental for them, since being experimental is a personal experience.  I am so glad their is a group like this that honors each artist's personal experimentation. Two of my artist friends also have work in this virtual exhibit.  Please be sure to check out the paintings by Sue Marrazzo and Marilyn LeMay Patterson.  Sue Marrazzo also has a blog, so if you want to see more of her artwork check that out here.

Awakening - Day 23 of the #jan30in30 Challenge

Awakening IV an 8" X 8" Fluid Acrylic by April M Rimpo

Here we are at the last day of my last yoga series. I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have. On to different things tomorrow.

In addition to creating a montage of yoga poses, I have enjoyed this opportunity to explore abstract painting as well as working on my skill at drawing figures from different (foreshortened) angles. It has been a rewarding challenge.  I'm sure I'll be able to stretch my style in my more typical paintings by incorporating what I learned from this adventure.

Awakening quadriptych

The final quadriptych, Awakening, is shown at left. My favorite part of seeing the paintings brought together is to see how the figure appears, whether hidden and mystical or standing out boldly on a sea of stars. 

If you know the Sun Salutation, then you know there are 12 steps to this salute to the sun, eight of the poses are unique with four repeated once.  I chose six of the poses that to me captured the primary transitions. My intent was that if all six were displayed together they would be a tribute to the salutation as a whole.

My goal in combining several different poses in a single composition is to create a large presentation that holds together as one, yet helps accentuate the individual poses as well. On Day 10 I presented the first three poses together; today I show you the last three poses at the bottom of this post.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the combined presentations.

Awakening quadiptych

Fluid Acrylic

Composed of four 8" X 8" gallery wrapped and varnished paper panels

Dimensions as laid out about 35" X 18"

$625 with shipping within the United States

Available to Purchase Now

Links to posts with each completed yoga pose:

• Inspiration - Acceptance, expression, trust, supernatural (Sun Salutation - Salute/Mountain)
• Stability - Survival, self-sufficiency, stability, lively, and confident (Sun Salutation - Forward Bend)
• Perception - Emotional and mental intelligence, intuition, psychic, and super-natural (Sun Salutation - Lunge)
• Energy - Warm, personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy (Sun Salutation - Cobra pose)
• Devotion - Clairvoyance, psychic senses, selflessness, devotion (Sun Salutation - Downward Facing Dog)
• Awakening - Awaken, love, compassion, acceptance, trust, growth, renewal, and peaceful with inner strength (Sun Salutation - first and last pose)

Below is a combined display using the last three poses. 

The overall size of this three figure composition, titled Rejuvenation, is about 35" X 35"

Rejuvination combines Devotion, Energy, and Awakening by April M Rimpo

The value of Rejuvination is $1580

Devotion - Day 19 of the #jan30in30 Challenge

Devotion IV, 8" X 8" fluid acrylic by April M Rimpo

Final day for the Devotion series. At left is the fourth panel. This panel was the only part of the figure that had none of the blue pants, so I made sure to add a variety of blues in other areas to make all four panels balanced and feel like one when brought together into the quadriptych.

I really enjoyed working with violet in this series.  Violet and yellow look great together, but can turn to ugly "mud" colors if you aren't careful to let them dry before applying them next to or on top of each other.

Below you can see the full four panel painting Devotion. This yoga pose, Downward Facing Dog, has always looked a bit like bowing down, so it really fit in with the overall color of the chakra and the many interpretations of violet and purple that I found (as discussed in the Day 16 blog post. 

Devotion Quadriptych, 20 X 17" fluid acrylic by April M Rimpo

Now that you see the whole pose you see what appeared in Day 16 and 17 to be a bit like the earth and outer space, was really her "bottom".  Many of the lines suddenly outline parts of her form and are not just random, but I must say I loved the interpretations that everyone had for the lines in previous posts. They made me feel like I was definitely succeeding in making each segment an interesting painting while still communicate the broader theme. Thank you for the positive feedback.

Devotion quadiptych

Fluid Acrylic

Composed of four 8" X 8" gallery wrapped and varnished paper panels

Dimensions as laid out about 20" X 17"

$625 with shipping within the United States

Available for Purchase Now

Links to posts with each completed yoga pose:

• Inspiration - Acceptance, expression, trust, supernatural (Sun Salutation - Salute/Mountain)
• Stability - Survival, self-sufficiency, stability, lively, and confident (Sun Salutation - Forward Bend)
• Perception - Emotional and mental intelligence, intuition, psychic, and super-natural (Sun Salutation - Lunge)
• Energy - Warm, personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy (Sun Salutation - Cobra pose)
• Devotion - Clairvoyance, psychic senses, selflessness, devotion (Sun Salutation - Downward Facing Dog)
• Awakening - Awaken, love, compassion, acceptance, trust, growth, renewal, and peaceful with inner strength (Sun Salutation - first and last pose)

And thanks again to Leilie Saeta for sponsoring this challenge.  

#ShopSmall,  #jan30in30

Energy - Day 15 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Energy Part III by April M Rimpo

Half way through the challenge and here is the completion of my triptych Energy.

The composite painting is pose seven in Sun Salutation, the Cobra. I've learned the breathing exercise in this pose activates the sacral chakra (energy center) between the belly button and pelvis. Some sources associate this chakra with yellows and other with orange. I decided to focus on yellow and include some orange colors as well. The breathing exercise in this pose is said to radiate personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy. 

Energy Triptych by April M Rimpo

My goal was for my paintings to issue forth a sense of personal power and energy.

Energy

Fluid Acrylic

Composed of three 8" X 8" gallery wrapped and varnished paper panels

Dimensions as laid out about 17" X 17"

$450

Available for Purchase Now

Links to posts with each completed yoga pose:

• Inspiration - Acceptance, expression, trust, supernatural (Sun Salutation - Salute/Mountain)
• Stability - Survival, self-sufficiency, stability, lively, and confident (Sun Salutation - Forward Bend)
• Perception - Emotional and mental intelligence, intuition, psychic, and super-natural (Sun Salutation - Lunge)
• Energy - warm, personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy (Sun Salutation - Cobra pose)
• Devotion - Clairvoyance, psychic senses, selflessness, devotion (Sun Salutation - Downward Facing Dog)
• Awakening - Awaken, love, compassion, acceptance, trust, growth, renewal, and peaceful with inner strength (Sun Salutation - first and last pose)

And thanks again to Leilie Saeta for sponsoring this challenge.  

#ShopSmall,  #jan30in30

Day 10 of the 30 Day Challenge - Perception

 Perception IV finishes up the quadriptych, which is shown below  the image of the fourth panel.

Perception IV by April M Rimpo

When I first looked at Perception IV (above) I saw a triangle with a flag on top.  Not my goal, so like the Day 9 painting I added some "galaxy swirls" and the triangle seemed to receed into the background.  I am always fascinated how such a simple change can alter how some other part of the painting looks. I did nothing to actually mute or alter the triangular shape.  

I wonder how many other shapes people might see in these paintings. Taking another look at my own paintings, I now see musical notes on a staff in the middle bottom painting in the image below. What do you see?

Looking at the full composition below, you might notice that the panel above is oriented in a different direction compared to the complete Perception quadriptych. In fact the panel on the lower right was also rotated in the Day 9 post. I wanted to make the point that the individual abstracts can be hung in whatever orientation you like. You are not bound to hang them to form the figure in the forward lunge pose. I'm actually starting to think it might not be a bad idea to turn the panels in different directions when I paint them so I don't get too hung up on the figure.

Perception by April M Rimpo

Perception

Fluid Acrylic
composed of four 8" X 8" gallery wrapped and varnished paper panels

Dimensions as laid out above 17" X 25"

$625

Available for Purchase Now

_______________
In an earlier post I mentioned combining poses to create a larger composition. Here is one example how the first three poses could be combined. This montage is called Beginnings.

Beginnings combines
Inspiration, Stability, and Perception by April M Rimpo

  

Beginnings
34" X 38"
 $1580

Links to posts on each completed yoga pose:

• Inspiration - Acceptance, expression, trust, supernatural 
• Stability - Survival, self-sufficiency, stability, lively, and confident
• Perception - Emotional and mental intelligence, intuition, psychic, and super-natural (Sun Salutation - Lunge)
• Energy - Warm, personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy (Sun Salutation - Cobra pose)
• Devotion - Clairvoyance, psychic senses, selflessness, devotion (Sun Salutation - Downward Facing Dog)
• Awakening - Awaken, love, compassion, acceptance, trust, growth, renewal, and peaceful with inner strength (Sun Salutation - first and last pose)

#ShopSmall,  #jan30in30

Day 6 of the 30 Day Challenge - Stability

Here is the other second painting for the diptych, Stability. I've also included an image of the completed diptych.  Like my other paintings in the 30 day challenge this is also a fluid acrylic painting on gallery wrapped paper.  Each piece is 8" X 8" X 1.5" deep and varnished to protect the paper and the paint.

Stability II by April M Rimpo, 8" X 8" X 1.5" deep

So now the theme I'm using for the first part of January is probably obvious. I have selected six of the poses within the yoga "Sun Salutation." 

I've been wanting to work on figure drawings where there is a sense of depth and motion in the pose.  I thought yoga poses might be an interesting subject to use for this purpose. 

I first practiced yoga in my late teens through early twenties. I've periodically resumed the practice, however I never learned much about the philosophy of yoga or the meanings of the chakras (energy centers) that can be enhanced through yoga. 

As part of preparing for the series I researched the chakras and learned a little about the poses, colors, and meanings associated with each chakra.  I decided to use these colors as the primary color scheme for each pose. Many of the emotional interpretations of the colors that I have shared are based on the chakra.

Stability is the forward bend pose used as the third and tenth pose in the "Sun Saluation".

• Links to posts on each completed yoga pose:
  • Inspiration - Acceptance, expression, trust, supernatural (this post)
  • Stability - Survival, self-sufficiency, stability, lively, and confident
  • Perception - Emotional and mental intelligence, intuition, psychic, and supernatural
  • Energy  - warm, personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy (Sun Salutation - Cobra pose)
  • Devotion - Clairvoyance, psychic senses, selflessness, devotion (Sun Salutation - Downward Facing Dog)
  • Awakening  (coming soon)

Stability Diptych

Fluid Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Paper
about 17" X 8" 
composed of (2) 8" X 8" X 1.5" deep panels $300 

Available for Purchase Now

To see all of my 30 Day Challenge paintings click here
#jan30in30 , #ShopSmall

Day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge - Inspiration

Inspiration IV by April M Rimpo

Inspiration IV is the last of the first series. I held off on this painting until last since I thought it might be the most obvious of what is going on in this series.

Are you beginning to see something more than just abstract patterns of color?

Well the suspense is over. Below you can see the paintings from Days 1 through 4 assembled into a quadriptych. I've done polyptychs (paintings which are divided into sections or panels) with a linear or rectangular layout before, but I wanted a more free layout for this figure series.  The offset of the top two paintings was not an accident, but intentional to add some emphasis to the posture of the figure.  Can you see her now?

Inspiration by April M Rimpo

You might wonder how I achieved the consistent colors scheme across the four images.  I started by taking a very large sheet of watercolor paper, about 44" X 40", wet the paper, and applied the colors using a pipette. I tipped the paper allowing the colors to move around the paper and blend. A spray bottle of water allowed me to add water when I wanted the paint to move in a particular direction.  The end result was a large sheet with the desired color scheme.  

I had created a template of the size paper I need to create an 8" X 8" gallery wrapped painting.  It had an opening in the center that I use as a window to look at different sections of the full sheet, compare the section with the figure placements (drawings were already done) and select the sections for the quadriptych.

Before the challenge started I gallery wrapped the paper and was ready to go.  Each day I had to add to the underpainting to make the figure appear, while at the same time making her not so obvious so each panel could stand alone as an abstract painting.  I've done this before and enjoy the effect.

I hope you like it too.  I've set this up so you can buy one of the panels or the full quadriptych.  If you want the full composition you might want to consider a quick purchase since as soon as one panel sells the full figure pose will no longer exist.

Just to let you know the other series in this figure theme have been designed so they can be combined in  a manner where you have two or more figures in different poses making a larger composition. More about the overarching theme encompassing these series in tomorrows post. Here are the names of the figure series I've designed.  I'll add links to each completed pose as they are completed.

• Links to posts on each completed yoga pose:
  • Inspiration - Acceptance, expression, trust, supernatural (this post)
  • Stability - Survival, self-sufficiency, stability, lively, and confident
  • Perception - Emotional and mental intelligence, intuition, psychic, and supernatural
  • Energy - warm, personal power, self esteem, willfulness, and energy (Sun Salutation - Cobra pose)
  • Devotion -Clairvoyance, psychic senses, selflessness, devotion (Sun Salutation - Downward Facing Dog)
  • Awakening  (coming soon)

Inspiration: Full Quadriptych
Fluid Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Paper
about 34" X 10" 
composed of (4) 8" X 8" X 1.5" deep panels $625 

Available to Purchase Now