Blog Archives - Robyn Sand Anderson Art

Painting-A-Day: April 30, 2013

4/30/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 1-1/2" Birch, 12x12" Ready to hang!

Scrumptious textures. Today I played with Crackle Molding Paste. I applied the paste to the gessobord with a palette knife and had to let that dry for at least three days, allowing it to crackle. The paint runs into those cracks to show off this aged look. You know how we like to show off our wrinkles whenever possible. Hey! We earned 'em...right? Right?!? Today I applied the paint, working in warm colors as the first layer. I put the board at a 45 degree angle, spraying with water so that the colors run together and blend. I used white and a really nice warm brown as the last layers. I loved working with the molding paste and
I can tell you right now, I have some more ideas for that lovely stuff!
Note: This one has a 1-1/2" birch side rather than the 3/4".

This painting has been changed!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 29, 2013

4/29/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12", Ready to hang!

How can I not be painting flowers? We are on our 4th day of spring! Our bodies are reeling from the heady scent of grass and dirt. It's primal. As you may have noticed, if you have been following my daily paintings, I like red. And so, poppies. I love them. Today I only used complementary colors...red and green. They are complements because when used side by side they make each other pop. They are across from each other on the color wheel, and together they are the three primary colors mixed (red, yellow, blue). Because all 3 primaries are involved, when complements are mixed together, they create brown (sometimes known as mud). Each of the other complements create browns as well, when mixed...but all of these browns are slightly different from each other (the other complements? blue/orange and yellow/violet). Red is difficult to photograph...it is very saturated but I want you to know that there are fluctuations of color within the red flowers that doesn't really show up so much in the photograph. The green, especially at the top, are a bit more of a yellow-green. Happy spring everyone!

This painting has been changed...

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 26, 2013

4/26/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12", Ready to hang!

It took me awhile to wrestle this one to the ground. Still not sure if I am satisfied with it. This painting biz is a bit of a roller coaster ride. Everything was going well, beautiful wet-in-wet blending of colors. As I added colors and layers, at a certain point, everything started to go south. There was a fair amount of exclamations coming from this studio. Not of joy. It got away from me. This happens. Not so very often, thank goodness. Before I was trying to do this daily thing, I would just throw this aside and start something else. But I am stubborn in this process. I decided to try one more thing. I used a neutral taupe color in the negative space, or background areas around the trees, which makes the vibrant color pop. Before the neutral addition, I had too many colors of similar value (lights/darks). I added a little burnt sienna over the taupe in the sky area. Tomorrow is another day!

This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 25 2013

4/25/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12", Ready to hang!

Balance. UH! Hmm. What is it good for? Absolutely everything! Struggling today to balance life needs and painting. It would be easier I suppose, if my studio wasn't attached to my house, if I had to go somewhere else to work. Then I wouldn't feel the war going on inside me to tend to the neglected household of two people who work a lot and have other obligations. When I am working on a commission under a deadline, I let the house stuff go to the back burner. Actually, I was pretty good about doing that no matter what my other obligation was...kids, friends, family. It's a gift I have. But, back burners can burn you in the end. Our portable dishwasher is kaput. Yesterday we drove about an hour to buy a used one (under 3 years old) from a Craigslist seller. It was half the price of a new portable dishwasher. What a find! So, we had to call an appliance guy to hook it up from the back, so we don't have to drag it out and hook it to the faucet each time we use it. Why am I telling you this valuable information? Because instead of painting right away this morning (which is what I wanted to do), cleaning up the kitchen, living and dining rooms, won. Avoiding embarrassment in front of Larry, the appliance guy, who I know from the local coffee shop, won. So here I am...writing this first...and it's noon and I am going to start the painting. More later...

This painting has SOLD~

Later has arrived. Here's the painting! I thought about balance in my painting today. Hmmm...wonder where that idea came from. One of the challenges of completing a successful painting is considering visual balance. For me it is a sense of comfort vs. discomfort. If something is bothering me, it oftentimes is an issue of balance. You can take care of balance problems with the repetition of one pigment around the painting....with the addition of vivid color vs. neutral, bright vs. dull, small vs. large shapes, textured vs. smooth textures, transparent vs. opaque pigments...among other choices. Go with your gut. I'm seeing some connections to finding balance in life (art is cool!) If your gut is telling you that your life is not in balance, if you are unhappy, feeling stressed and frazzled...hello! Something's gotta change! I wish that was as easy as typing the words. On we go! Let's do this.

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 24, 2013

4/24/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12", Ready-to-hang!

Today I am re-posting April 13th's painting...with a few minor changes. I am also changing the price from $150 back to $100. This was the only 12x12" that I had changed the price on since I began on Feb. 1st. I've decided that I don't want to start trying to discern whether one painting took more time than another, or used more supplies than another, or was one of my favorites and hard to part with. The truth is that pre-Painting-A-Day, I would have probably charged $300-$400 for this sized painting. Materials are expensive, and ya know, 30 years of experience. But the deal with this Painting-A-Day challenge is practice, practice, practice for me and more affordable original art for all of you. I like that idea. This April 13th painting is back to $100....with a few more tweaks. I may do some larger sizes at some point...16x20's and 18x24's. Those will be more than $100, but probably still lower than I would usually charge. There ya have it. You live and learn.

This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 23, 2013

4/23/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12" Ready to hang!

Back in the studio today. Feels good! I have always loved the lighting that happens when there are stormy skies, but the sun still shines through in places...especially, sun on golden rock or fields. The greens are fresh from rains moving through. Can you smell the rain? Well, it's the smell of dirt, actually, splashed up into the air. Love that. Brings back so many memories as a kid, splashing through puddles, watching my brothers hunt for night crawlers. I always felt sorry for all of those worms who ended up stranded on sidewalks. I wasn't so moved as to pick them up and move them to the grass...but I empathized.

I was surprised to notice that I missed doing these 12x12" paintings while in Durham for the last several days. While some paintings are challenging to bring to a conclusion, it is mostly exciting and invigorating. Other than when I was a stay-at-home mom, this is the first job I have truly loved. I am able to paint every day and make some money doing it. Nice. The project with Duke University Chapel was a dream come true. Interpreting music with paint. It fills something in my soul. So, I am thankful for that experience. Now? On we go, as my mom would say. Back at the daily painting. This experience has been a good way to experiment and try new techniques and textures. It is good practice. It pushes me. Keeps me at it. It's helpful to get almost immediate feedback. One of my goals now is to expand my social media connections.
Expand the audience. Spread the love! :)
(Any invitations to your friends to join my Facebook Art Page or sign-up with their emails to get a daily dose of art,
would be greatly appreciated!)

This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 20, 2013

4/20/2013

Day Three Durham, NC

When I was growing up, we weren't able to travel much, except to visit the cousins. Usually a 15-20 minute ride playing rock, scissors, paper in the backseat, vying with one another to claim "I see the water tower!" first (I called it the water bottle...seemed right.) My three older brothers and I in the back seat, no seat belts, watching the moon chase us home, pretending to be asleep so dad would carry me up to bed. Maybe that's why when I am able to travel, it seems like such a privilege. I treasure the experience of it. The sounds, smells, visuals...the people. At Duke Chapel, on Thursday afternoons at 5:15, there is a Vespers service every week. You can watch it livestreaming on your computer (4:15 CT). I did that a few weeks ago, to see the Chapel and to hear the Vespers Choir. Two days ago I was able to sit in the pew for this Vespers service, darkened sanctuary, silence. Only the altar area was lit. This experience, just a few people sitting in silence, lights laid low, was a holy experience for me. I sometimes feel that same sense of holiness when I am alone in nature. Maybe it is the silence, the quiet, the reverence. The Vespers Choir (far left picture) rehearsed in the side chapel and then entered from the back of the church singing with candles lit. Their second song had the words Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy. Their voices filled that enormous church with sounds so pure, the chords transitioning from dissonance to resolution, with certain chord progressions so beautiful that tears came to my eyes. What is it about certain sounds of the human voice raised in song that touches something deep, deep in our hearts....something so beautiful, that we recognize it as true. Sometimes we need time for silence... so that we can listen.

Painting-A-Day: April 19, 2013

4/19/2013

Day Two Durham, NC

I spent about 2 hours in Duke Chapel, talking to people about my art yesterday. There were many people from other countries. The first visitor I talked to was a young woman from Portugal. We haltingly tried to exchange some words, to no avail. There were gestures, pointing, smiles...and then I decided to let the paintings speak for themselves. Art, the universal language. I was struck by beauty today...coming from different sources. This woman knelt in prayer for quite a long time on the steps leading up to the altar. I hesitated to take a picture, but the artist in me couldn't help it. There was such sacredness in her pose, her slumped shoulders...and I wondered what weighed heavy on her heart and mind. I don't normally pray on my knees, but the few times I have have been powerful. Supplication. Humility. I walked by the Duke Divinity School's Chapel. The lighting was breathtaking, refreshing. The trees outside the window, a good reminder that it isn't about us, but it is about the world out there. After human-made beauty, I walked through the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, where this white iris called my name.
The setting sun hit it just so. It was so simple. So intricate. The white, so pure.
There is so much beauty around us. Usually in the ordinary things. We have but to notice.
All of these things will color my paintings to come...

Painting-A-Day: April 18, 2013

4/18/2013

Duke University Chapel Durham, NC

I am sitting outside soaking up the 75 degree weather here in Durham. Sorry all of you Northerners! Snowstorm back in Minnesota. Duke University Chapel was kind enough to fly me down here to experience music, word and art through Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri (see tab at the top of my website page to hear excerpts and view the corresponding paintings up close.) I am here to talk about my paintings with those who might be interested and to attend the concert on Sunday (livestreaming at 3pm CT at http://chapel.duke.edu/dukestream-video-fallback or http://www.youtube.com/dukechapel). Dr. Brian Schmidt, director, includes musicians using replicas of the original instruments used. I am very pleased with how the paintings look at this beautiful chapel. At times, I have my doubts and uncertainties regarding my finished paintings. There is a feeling of vulnerability when you lay yourself open to people. And there is a certain letting go that has to happen. It is what it is...I did the best I could at the time I did it. There is a verse in Mark 14 that reads "She did what she could..." essentially. I think I'd like that on my gravestone. A bit of grace for the journey.

April 18th, 2013

4/18/2013

Painting-A-Day: April 16, 2013

4/16/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12" Ready to hang!

Another adventure with the palette knife and thick paint. Teal, moss green, black and a dash of primary yellow. I am loving this process! My biggest challenge, though, is finding a balance with my life stuff and my art work. This, I presume, is common to most folks who are self-employed. Your earnings are tied to producing. When you are not home, or not producing, you are not making a living. Therein, lies the rub. I try to be at peace, when something comes up that I know I need to attend to, but I know that I have a deadline to create, paint, photograph, watermark, write and post everyday. I don't like missing a day, yet I know that I cannot realistically achieve that every day of the week. There are things in life that are more important than what I am painting. Namely, my relationships. So this is a lesson I am trying to learn. I stumble along. Sometimes I get it...sometimes I don't. I am working on it.
This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 15, 2013

4/15/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12" Ready to hang!

Today was a pretty exciting day! I painted with a palette knife...a tool I have only used for mixing paint on the palette. It was fun, and by that I mean, it was a riot! A riot of color and movement, my favorite combination. I do love dance, and you could say (if you really push it) that I am dancing with my hands. There's a lot of gesturing going on...which also happens when I am describing what I do when I am painting. Don't stand too close. I had to really hold myself back, though. I had to think "minimal"...don't overdo it, don't overthink it. A few gestures. That's it. This is a challenge for me, but I really like the result and so will be practicing more of this exercise in restraint. Deciding the third color was tough. I tried two colors before settling on the reddish brown Red Oxide. The top is the pure white surface of the gessobord with peeks of white elsewhere in the painting. I love the combo of black and yellow ochre, which when blended creates a brownish tone. Love this painting!

This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 14, 2013

4/14/2013

Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri: Seven Paintings for Seven Cantatas

Ad Manus: To the Hands
36" x 24" Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with Birch Sides

Today I want to bring to your attention the finished paintings inspired by the music from 17th century, Dieterich Buxtehude. I immersed myself in the music, read the lyrics, read the director's notes and these are the results. I tied these seven paintings together with a similar color palette and with the rectangle of blue which brings your eyes to the focal point of the body part the music is centering on. In the last painting, Ad Faciem - To the Face, the rectangle moves to the outside edge. Here's the link: http://www.robynsandanderson.com/membra-jesu-nostri.html to see all seven paintings or hit the Membra Jesu Nostri tab at the top of my Homepage at www.RobynSandAnderson.com. I have paired an excerpt of the cantata that matches the painting above each piece of art. You can hit the play button and click on the art to enlarge it as you listen and see, think and feel.

The concert will be Sunday, April 21st at 3:00 central standard time and can be live streamed at http://chapel.duke.edu/.

Painting-A-Day: April 13, 2013

4/13/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12", Ready to hang!

Today's painting has many, many layers. Most of my thinking goes like this...Wow! That is delicious color. I love starting with finger painting. Cool cobalt teal and Cobalt. No wonder kids love this. Dry, paint, dry! Now something warm. Burnt Sienna! Nice. Blue and orange are complements...so that looks really good together. Next, some geometric shapes to counter the wild and crazy movement. Something solid to stand on. Let's try a neutral opaque. Texture it a little. Wipe some away to show what is underneath. Now, for something completely different...red! And...yada, yada. On we go. Sometimes I feel sad, because I have to cover up some really beautiful areas for the sake of the whole piece. I used white at the end to make the colors really pop. This one definitely looks better in real life than the picture shows. So frustrating, but there you have it!

This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$150 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 12, 2013

4/12/2013

Acrylic and silk on 18x24" Gessobord with 2" dark brown stained birch sides. Ready to hang!

Today's painting was an experiment using torn silk cloth adhered to the surface of the gessobord with polymer medium, and then painted. That was really fun! A whole new surface to dive into. The silk areas are not shiny but a muted, matte surface. There are golds, browns, red orange, violet and cobalt blue. The birch siding is stained with a dark brown surface.

On the road today, people! Bringing some paintings up for a juried art show in Minneapolis/St. Paul and picking up some others from a different juried art show. I've entered 3 shows and gotten great feedback in the last two months. So a few trips with art cargo. The bonus is meeting with my daughter, Laura. I am writing from Chez Arnaud where Laura and I had a French pastry and Italian coffee. Mmmmm. What a treat, in so many ways.

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$650 for this original 18 x 24" painting, ready-to-hang, plus $25 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 11, 2013

4/11/2013

Acrylic on Archival Gessobord with 3/4" Birch Sides, 12x12", Ready to Hang!

Holy! If I thought today was going to be a leisurely day of painting, I was full of it! If you catch my meaning. Many, many life happenings with family that needed to be tended to. I am lucky that I can just go with it, when need be. I did manage to get this painting done, nonetheless...and I am liking it! The colors felt like the cool part of early spring, and by spring I mean a whopping big, heavy, wet snowstorm last night. Gotta love Minnesota! Cuz if you don't, you will go mad! Ha! Anyway, happy to be finished with the big commission I've been working on and have a bit more freedom to get these fun 12x12's done. Brother Kev suggested some bigger paintings, too. I might just bite on that one. I have a few 16x20's and 18x24's lying around here.
My studio needs a spring cleaning, let's just say. That will feel good!
This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 10, 2013

4/10/2013

Buxtehude Project: The Final Seven!

Oh, sweet relief! I have finished the seven paintings for Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri concert. I applied the finishing touches, protective coating and wired the backs for hanging. I wrapped them in bubble wrap and took off for FedEx about 30 miles from here to send them to Duke University Chapel, ahead of the approaching Midwestern snowstorm. As I left the FedEx lady, I sweetly said, "Take good care of my babies! " They feel like my babies sometimes, only not as easy to hug. It's hard to entrust them to other people, after all of that work. On the positive side, FedEx has special boxes for sending artwork. Extra protection as they float in the center of the box. I appreciate that, very much! Kudos, FedEx! I think I am finally feeling some relief, but will only feel completely free from worry when I hear that they have arrived, safe and sound. Tomorrow? More fun! I wonder what I will paint tomorrow? Back to the 12x12's....Stay tuned!

Painting-A-Day: April 9, 2013

4/9/2013

Acrylic on Gessobord, Triptych, each piece 12x12", 1-1/2" birch sides with dark brown stain. Ready to hang as three separate pieces
which hang as close together as you'd like.

Today's painting is a triptych, or three-part painting. It was inspired by an exhibit I did in November of 2011 entitled "Contrasts: Suffering & Hope". This painting was built on the text from Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” This verse gave me comfort in the deepest dark of my journey through the pain of rheumatoid arthritis and its chronic reality. It's always a delicate dance to speak about suffering, especially your personal suffering, because it makes people uncomfortable, you don't want to appear to dwell on it in all of your conversations...even though it takes over all of your mind space. I still believe it is important to name it out loud. Never was one to hide away from the hard stuff. Yet, I don't want to be a flag-waving sufferer. Well, so it is...I am sometimes painting through my own wrestling with this common human theme. Though this is a triptych, three 12x12's, I am listing the price as $225 total. (In this photograph, the brown appears a bit redder than it is in reality, especially in the far right 12x12")

This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
This original acrylic triptych is $300 total for the 3 pieces together. Plus $30 shipping and handling.

Painting-A-Day: April 8, 2013

4/8/2013

Buxtehude Project: Ad Faciem (to the Face)

It is finished. Last night I finished the seventh of seven commissioned paintings. Here are three paintings along the path to the finished product, which you will see soon. Today I took the last four to the printer to be scanned. I will post all of them soon for you to see!

Painting-A-Day: April 7, 2013

4/7/2013

April 7, 2013 Acrylic on Gessobord with 3/4" birch sides 12x12" Ready to hang!

I guess I am thinking spring! New life sneaking up through the earth, winter's tired snow disappearing. This painting is all about earth tones, deep browns, and different shades of green. That first bud that breaks through the dirt. The frustrating part of all of this is that I could not, after multiple tries, capture the actual greens I used. I tried playing with it in Photoshop to get closer to the actual color, but to no avail. The four corners are more of a warm green. On my computer it looks like a mint green. There are deep browns with touches of blue-gray in the background with a warm moss-green color on the leaf that is the main attraction, with hints of it in the four corners. So, I am asking you to use your imagination. In the meantime, I will try to take more pictures...until I get closer to the actual color. Sometimes it is a matter of whether it is a cloudy day or sunny day. As I tell my kids, ya do what you can, and that's all you can do.
This painting has SOLD!

If interested in purchasing, hit the Painting-A-Day Purchase tab and then hit the Etsy widget. It will take you right where you need to be to purchase the painting of your choice. Thanks!
$100 for this original painting, ready-to-hang, plus $15 shipping and handling.