DREAMSCAPE II

DREAMSCAPE II
Originally uploaded by rsconnett

his is a "MACRO - MINIATURE" Painting.

Acrylic on Board, 8" x 10" (20.3 cm. x 25.4 cm.)

This is the forth "Macro-Miniature" (BIG LITTLE) painting I've done. I'm able to complete my ideas in small spaces. I can only do these while I'm not working on commissions. It allows me to achieve a balance. I can keep a little more objectivity about my larger paintings when I go into these. (And I do "GO" into them!)

I have quite a collection of lenses now. Starting at 2.50 up to 700%. The smallest brush I use is an 18/0 script.

... Obsessive? Probably ;) Obsessive is okay with me.

These ( BIG-LITTLE) paintings are becoming more dreamlike. The ideas start with something simple like a cliff and a body of water. The other parts of the painting come to me in dreams or daydreams, or thoughts. Or, they just appear, and I capture them with the little brush, as fast as I can, before they elude me.

Maybe I'm sinking into this little "Microcosmic Universe", (Thank you, R. A. Heinlein!) ... like the "Incredible Shrinking Man", a film from the 1950's.

I do seem to be shrinking sometimes. Metaphorically speaking. My world is very small. If my computer crashes I panic and pray to the electronics Gods as I re-boot. "OH, PLEEEASE DO NOT CUT ME OFF FROM MY WORLD DEAR GOD!!!"

... Is that pathetic?

No, I don't think so ... ;)

Dreaming by the City of Glass

Dreaming by the City of Glass
Originally uploaded by rsconnett

Acrylic on Canvas, 11" x 14" Completed 4/2008

This is the number 2 painting in a series of small paintings I think of as my "Cities of Glass" or "Fungal Cities"

These paintings are small, but not "tiny"; 8" x 10" & 11" x 14". However, I consider them to be Miniatures because of the minute detail I put into them.

Some info for you Artists; I wear several different magnifying glasses when I paint these. I start with standard magnification glasses with a 250 power, and move all the way up to Jeweler's goggles with a magnification power of 700%. In between I switch from #3, #4, #5, and the #7's for the finest details. I used "script" or "liner" brushes, very slender and long. I go as low as size 0018! (made by Loew-Cornell series #7350)

These are also experiments in subtlety. My earlier work is well known for blatant imagery. Now, I desire to make some paintings that will allow the viewer to project their own interpretation into them. I no longer feel the need to bash people over the head with my art. I find it more challenging and satisfying to trigger imaginations.

This one is purely aesthetic. It is meant to provoke feelings of "other worldliness" and a little mystery as to what is actually going on in this microcosmic environment.

The idea for the sleeper in the bubbled top boat came to me when I dreamed that my bed was floating in the water while I had a fishing pole and my line in the water.