Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Quilted
Monday, April 7th, 2014
Quilted, abstract art by Amy Crook
This piece started out life as a test for my new Zebra brush pens (in three sizes, woo!), something to doodle while I was on a conference call. I liked the progression of patterns so much I pulled out my travel kit of watercolors and played around long after the call was over, giving each section its own distinct color and texture, but letting them blend a little where they bordered each other.
It reminds me of a quilt, with the bright patterned sections that don’t match, but somehow go together. Thus, the name!
Quilted, 8″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Quilted, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the middle section, the two shades of red in a big swath bordered by orange fading to white on one side, and white fading to blue on the other. Below, I’ve temporarily put it in a frame — for these little odd-sized pieces, I think it looks nice to put it on a mat with transparent photo corners in a slightly larger frame.
Quilted, framed art by Amy Crook
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Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: doodles, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor
Yearning
Friday, April 4th, 2014
Yearning, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Yearning might actually be my favorite piece out of April’s Floating Gallery. Everything about it is subtle, delicate, and incredibly hard to convey with photos and pixels, but I love it anyway. There’s just something about the two shapes and the way they strain to cross the void, sending out waves of yearning like a corona surrounding the core.
What are you longing for, in your silent, secret heart?
Yearning, 10″x8″ duochrome watercolor on watercolor paper.
Yearning, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the upper left corner, turned to catch the sunlight and reveal the hidden treasures of color and light in its depths. Below, we have the lower right, cooler and more congruent but still sending those secret tendrils outward.
Yearning, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally, the piece in a frame, showing off the depth of texture in the paper, and hanging out with my iPhone for size comparison.
Yearning, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, iridescent, splash, watercolor
Telltale Heart
Thursday, April 3rd, 2014
Telltale Heart by Amy Crook
This painting is awfully bright and whimsical to be a reference to Poe’s famous short story, but the name somehow fit anyway with the way the heart is just barely defined by a few telltale strokes of the brush.
I really like the non-rainbow progression of colors, and the rich textures trapped in the transition. I imagine this piece brightening up someone’s work space, providing inspiration and a grounding in kindness.
Telltale Heart, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Telltale Heart, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a bit of the texture on the painting, a mix of granulation, brush strokes, and subtle color shifts. Below, you can see it in a frame, just waiting to go to its new home.
Telltale Heart, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, heart, watercolor
New Growth
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014
New Growth by Amy Crook
Spring is creeping out into the US despite the weather, with daffodils here and brave buds there. Here in California we’ve got lots of flowers and new leaves, though there’s a yellow edge to some of them with the drought.
This painting echoes those delicate new leaves and water-drenched old growth, unfurling after a life-giving rain shower.
Art can symbolize something you want in life, and be a talisman for your own movement in that direction. Is there somewhere you could use a breath of spring and a burst of new growth?
New Growth, 7″5″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
New Growth, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see how there’s a ghost of yellow even beyond the spray of new growth, like the mists of pollen floating on the page. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, washed bright in the spring sunshine.
New Growth, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, for sale, green, japanese watercolor, watercolor
Deepest R’lyeh
Saturday, March 8th, 2014
Deepest R’lyeh, abstract art by Amy Crook
“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn”
(“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”)-HP Lovecraft
Strange, tentacled things grow in the depths, with the horrible spheres of the ancient city of R’lyeh shining dim and strange through the murky waters. Colors shift and change, and objects seem to flow into one another in ways that the mind can’t quite comprehend. What strange horrors lie just out of sight, waiting for the stars to be right?
Deepest R’lyeh, 5″x5″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Deepest R’lyeh, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of one of the strange, multicolored tentacle creatures. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, a window into a world of madness.
Deepest R’lyeh, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: duochrome, for sale, iridescent, more cowbell, watercolor
Night Blooming
Friday, March 7th, 2014
Night Blooming by Amy Crook
Three flowers shine under the midnight sky full of silver stars or, as one person suggested, floating fireflies. The flowers change colors depending on the angle, pink to purple for the thistle, gold to green for the amaranth and gold to a richer orange-gold for the little wildflower down at the bottom, with the greenery going softly blue like moonlit leaves at some angles.
Gorgeous and ethereal, this painting makes the flowers seem ghostly as the bloom out of their normal cycle, bright against the blackness of the paper.
Night Blooming, 7″x5″ duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Night Blooming, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the thistle from two angles, purple-blue as it catches the sunlight on the left, and pink and green on the right under more normal lighting. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with a few more eternally blooming flowers from my bookshelf for company.
Night Blooming, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, duochrome, iridescent, nfs, sold, watercolor
Red Wedding Decoration
Thursday, March 6th, 2014
Red Wedding Decoration by Amy Crook
Some of the time when I’m working on abstract art, I’m just thinking about the visuals. Sometimes, like with this piece, I tell myself a little story while I’m working, so there’s this weird little mental narrative behind the art.
In this case, despite having never seen or read Game of Thrones, I’ve been made aware of the whole Red Wedding thing. When the garnet paint (made with real garnets!) looked so much like blood dripped onto the paper, it made me think of that show, which in turn gave me this idea of some poor scribe, tasked with turning the ruined parchment into a decoration. And he had better do a good job, since he obviously knows what happened to the last people that crossed Lord Frey.
Red Wedding Decoration, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Red Wedding Decoration, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the painstakingly detailed filigree pattern radiating out from each splatter of paint. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with the white circle emphasized by the way it intersects with the edge.
Red Wedding Decoration, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: filigree, for sale, game of thrones, red, spirals, watercolor
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