Marilyn Fenn Studio

These little 5″x 7″ paintings are what I would call representational abstractions based on the stuff of life seen under a microscope. I love knowing how things are made and how they look, and often I best understand how something is made by painting it. Microphotography allows us to see the tiny things that make up the world. These paintings are not strict copies, but are based on microphotographs of stuff like soap film, chemicals, silica and other crystals and crystalline structures.

Confetti
Encaustic on Panel
10″x10″
This one is very highly textured, and looks really amazing in person.
As promised, here are 6 of my new encaustic paintings — 5 of these were begun at last weekend’s encaustic workshop at Majestic Ranch.  I completed them and created one new painting (so far)  after returning home.

I Want to Move It, Move [...]

“My Alien Friend”
Oil on Canvas
6″x6″
©2008

“Planet’s Edge”
Acrylic on Canvas Paper, mounted on Masonite
6″x6″
©2008

“Painting on the Train…in Vain”
acrylic on canvas paper, mounted on masonite
6″ x 6″
©2008
We took the train to LA and back last week, and I brought some small art supplies, and tried doing a few tiny paintings on the train.
Nothing much great happened, painting-wise.  Ostensibly, one could say I painted 5 little paintings on the [...]

“Soaring”
Acrylic on Canvas
36″ x 36″
©2008
This has been a very busy month — the month began with transporting our paintings up to Fort Worth to prepare for hanging in the “Real and Imagined” show at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, which took two trucks to transport all the work for the five of us in [...]

“Asia”
Acrylic on Canvas
36″ x 36″
©2008
Now that I’ve finished my 7-month Succession Series project, I felt the need to paint fast and large, and with more control and precision than I can achieve using encaustics, so I thought I’d give acrylics another go. I headed out to Jerry’s Artarama for some supplies, and they had [...]

“Succession Series #42”
Oil on 20 Canvases
48″ x 60″
©2008
I finally finished my 7-month Succession Series project of 20 interrelated paintings, painted individually, but with connecting edges and related ideas. I painted these in oil, after spending the past 2 years painting primarily in encaustic.
It felt like coming home to paint in oil again, yet I [...]

“Crossing Over”
Encaustic on Board, cradled
12″ x 12″
©2008
I’ve been working on a complicated 20-panel oil painting for most of the year, which is getting close to completion (for an October show in Ft. Worth). On Friday, July 18th, I had the need to loosen up, so turned back to encaustics, which are just naturally a [...]

“Succession 01 #2-2 (Sandbars in the Sea)”
Oil on Canvas
12″ x 12″ (part of 20-panel series, O.D. 48″ x 60″)
©2008

“Succession 01 #2-1 (Floating)”
Oil on Canvas
12″ x 12″ (part of 20-panel series, O.D. 48″ x 60″)
©2008