New Painting: Hortical Mambo
“Hortical Mambo”
Oil on canvas
16″ x 20″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
Another little breakthrough!
I worked on this until 2am one night last week, then evaluated and made more changes the next day. I ventured way out of my comfort zone in this painting, color-wise and otherwise, but in general I like the direction.
Ostensibly, this is a painting of flowers, but the idea of flowers is really just something to give a bit of shape to the stuff of the painting–the paint, the colors, the shapes, the interactions.
What I love about working abstractly like this is that I cannot know what my painting will look like when I finish. There’s no way I could make this painting happen except by painting it! I can make a few plans, but something in the work takes over and demands adjustments. In this case, the adjustments were major. I love all the beautiful little moments and the unexpected, unplanned color mixes that happen when I work this way.
Maybe it’s just because I tend to be so literal when I work representationally. When I begin a representational work, my aim is to make what I paint look like what I’m painting from. So I sort of know when I start what I expect my finished work to look like, and I know when I’m done.
This, on the other hand, is a journey into an unknown universe for me, and I love it! Onward and upward in 2012!
no actual flowers were harmed in the making of this painting
New Painting: Flowery Night
“Flowery Night” (working title)
Oil on canvas
18″ x 18″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
My husband brought me a flowers for our anniversary a couple weeks ago. I got enchanted with the idea of using flowers as a way into shape creation for continuing my abstract paintings, but I was seduced by the representation of the irises and alstroemeria. The vase in this painting is part representation, part abstraction; around the vase are some abstractions of some frog and snail toys (that you may or may not be able to discern), plus some shapes echoed from the abstracted reflections in the vase…and then there’s just some paint jazz. 
New Painting: Clobbered by Picasso
“Clobbered by Picasso”
Oil on canvas
12″ x 12″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
After copying a Picasso last week, I started seeing so many things differently! Palette, shapes, composition…my copy of his painting in among my own paintings made my work pale in comparison. 
OK, well, no surprise there.
I tried to return to what I had been doing before the Picasso copy, and started using colors from his palette to attack this work that was already in progress. Picasso kept interfering as I struggled with thoughts of the strength of his work.
A few days and many changes later, I finally got back into the rhythm of my own vision, and ended up here. FWIW.
New Painting: Beast of Burden
“Beast of Burden”
Oil on canvas
6″ x 6″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
This is kind of a goofy little painting that I was really just noodling around on. It went through several changes over about a week of occasional noodling, and this is where it ended up. I gave it that title because it reminds me of the little donkeys I saw in Morocco being led across the desert or in the medinas, stacked practically to the sky with all sorts of household goods, water, cans, people, rugs, etc. Mighty little fellows!
New Painting: Quest for Magic
“Quest for Magic”
Oil on canvas
12″ x 12″
2011 Marilyn Fenn
The greatest work of an artist is the history of a painting.
- Alberti
The title of this painting could embody a state of grace that many people seek throughout their lives. It could symbolize the wishes that most artists aspire to obtain through their creations. Or it could represent my recent series of abstract paintings. In this case, it represents another painting in the series through which I am beginning to achieve a long sought after enchantment with my process and pleasure in the final result.
Every painting, and perhaps especially abstract paintings, start out as a journey with the destination unknown. The thrill of exploration is a great part of the goal. What can I make my colors and brushstrokes do? How do I push the paint around in interesting ways? How can I make an intriguing composition out of nothing but colored oil paint and a few shapes?
These first few works in the series are small and slow, and I’m still finding my footing, but I’m really looking forward to more and larger and more confident works. I’m thrilled to have reached this part of my journey, and excited about the rest of the trip. I hope it is a long one!
New Painting: Strange Attractors
“Strange Attractors”
Oil on canvas
12″ x 12″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
This is one of my favorite paintings from my latest series of abstracts; this one is from last weekend. These new works are very process-oriented, though of course, I do aim for a final happy outcome. This series is primarily about paint: pushing it over, around, through, beside, until I’m satisfied with the composition, shapes, colors, brushstrokes and amount of paint. I do love the soft palette I achieved in this painting!
New Painting: Molecular Vibrations
“Molecular Vibrations”
Oil on canvas
12″ x 12″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
Of all the paintings I’ve done, this may be my favorite painting so far. I love the colors, the nice thick paint and the general happiness of this painting. It evolved from the work I did on the last five abstract paintings. I’m really enjoying pushing thicker and slicker paint into, over, around, and through previous brushstrokes, and the wonderful color mixing that happens on the canvas. Working this way is going to be fun!
New Painting: Escaping the Eddy
“Escaping the Eddy”
Oil on canvas
12″ x 12″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
I started this painting as a new work a couple months ago, but didn’t bring it to completion at that time. I was using a palette knife to apply oil paint mixed with cold wax medium. I picked it up again last weekend, leaving some of the original palette knife work in the center of this painting, and reworked the rest of it.
New Painting: Trial Separation
“Trial Separation”
Oil on canvas
12″ x 12″
© 2011 Marilyn Fenn
I have a few paintings from a couple years ago that never really worked, so I painted over one of them a couple months ago, but never got it to a finishing point. Last week, I reworked the painting one more time. It’s a bit rough, and looks slightly different and much better from a distance, so I may either re-work it (again) or paint what I like from it in a larger more intentional work. However, some of my friends like it just like it is, so I have decided to live with it for a bit first.
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