15 Beats - MyPlasticHeart guest curates at Bunnycutlet Gallery

MyPlasticHeart guest curates at Bunnycutlet Gallery "15 Beats" opens June 21st in Brooklyn, NY.  The 15 artist line-up is a lovely collection of talent hand-picked by the folks at MyPlasticHeart - I'm excited to be a part of it!  

So far I've just been doing some sketches and color studies for possible images in the show.  Yes I'm very behind and will be painting my tOOsh off the next couple days! But I'm happy and excited to do it :P  Not sure what images I'll land on for the final paintings but thought I'd include folks in the process.  I've been focusing on this spring season and the idea that the show opens on the Summer Solstice.  Having fun with earth, flowers, mushrooms, and mud :) So far we have...

UPDATE! Adding this color study for Pushing Daisies - I've started a background wash for this on an 11 x 14 board so I'm pretty committed right now! 

Bouquethead or Unfurled - figure in full bloom

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - moving heaven and earth

Pushing Daisies

Mud bath, mushrooms, mud puddle

 Below are some color studies for the first sketch - I'm torn between more earthy colors vs more vibrant florals.  I'm sure the piece itself will dictate the final colors but it's always good to have a starting point.

These look super rainbow-esque but it's just because they are all together, I'm hoping for a much simpler result in the end.  Also depends on the color choices for the second piece which I have also not decided on yet.  It really is gonna be a lots-of-coffee-paint-sugar-and-no-sleep kinda week!  

Here is a list of the CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS (wow!):

Andrew Bell
Scott C.
Kelly Denato
Leontine Greenberg
kaNO
Aya Kakeda
Andrea Kang
Jeremiah Ketner
Abe Lincoln Jr.
Brent Nolasco
Lou Pimentel
Shawnimals
Matt Siren
Naoko Stoop
Tatiana Suarez

And here is a lovely write up from the gallery: http://bunnycutlet.com/15BeatsTheArtistsofMPH.html

National Donut Day!

Happy National Donut Day  :D
Show a donut some love, it will surely show it back!

Check out these weird donut flavors for donutspiration!

Chasing Rainbows - Post Show Update

 

This painting here is a favorite of mine (though scarcely mentioned by the folks at the show - I just never know what people are going to like!) It's called "Tangled Up in You" from the Chasing Rainbows exhibit at Bunnycutlet Gallery.  The show opened on May 3rd with great success - lots of wonderful faces turned out and lots of my little orphan art babies found new homes 

There are still some lovely pieces left :) For info on those visit www.Bunnycutlet.com (I also made a small set on my flickr )

I had an amazing time creating this exhibit.  My first solo exhibit, my first opportunity to delve into a theme and to develop a language to communicate it.  I created somewhere around 50 unique pieces and what was really wonderful was that,  even though at first I was very concerned about whether or not I'd be able to come up with enough work to really round-out a show on my own, but by the end, I was more concerned that I wouldn't have enough time to complete all the work I'd come up with! The more involved I got, the more there was to explore.  It was already a concept near and dear to my heart and now that I feel I can effectively communicate it, I will be revisiting this theme and this imagery very soon.

Next up, My Plastic Heart guest curates at Bunnycutlet Gallery! I'll be participating in the show along with 14 other awesome heavy hitters - I'm excited to be a part of it and to get back to work. It's already been a couple weeks since I painted - GASP!

Chasing Rainbows

Chasing Rainbows - Solo Exhibit at Bunnycutlet Gallery, Brooklyn, NY May 3 - May 27th

There's only so much I'm able to post before the Chasing Rainbows exhibit opens - which is in just a couple weeks! Some of this you may have already seen, but just in case...  Also I've copied the Bunnycutlet Gallery Press Release  below for you to have a look (it's just lovely, thanks to Liz of BunnyCutlet for composing it).  Be sure to follow the gallery's tumblr page! http://bunnycutlet.tumblr.com/

 

	Kelly Denato Chasing Rainbows Solo Exhibit Opening reception - May 3rd, 7-10pm May 3rd, 2013 through May 27th, 2013 BROOKLYN, NY (RELEASE April 16th, 2013) — Bunnycutlet Gallery is pleased to present Chasing Rainbows, a series of new works by Brooklyn-based artist Kelly Denato, in what will be her first solo exhibition at Bunnycutlet. The title of the show, Chasing Rainbows, came to the artist’s mind while sketching her flirtatious yet doom-laden subjects for her solo exhibit. To Denato, the pursuit of a thing that dissipates upon discovery is heart-crushing disappointment in waiting; yet she feels that such futile and cyclical endeavors define the human condition. Her paintings, which are marked by darkness as well as gleeful exuberance, are emotional expressions of an elusive pursuit for meaning and the simultaneity of ill-fated happiness. Denato’s painting technique is characterized by tiny brushwork meticulously layered on a textured background. Her colors are glistening and candy-like, often lifting her characters out of darkness as if they have been carved by lacerating strokes. Her genius is her ability to richly layer paint while still employing economy in her use of line, maintaining an empathetic sense of gesture. Her characters are often floating and tangled, drawn with a masterfully delicate illustrator's hand and an eye for the whimsically sardonic. Denato’s process speaks to the surreal and fluctuating world that her subjects inhabit. In the artist's words "Everything starts with drawing. I will draw as often as possible in a ‘stream of consciousness.’ As patterns, imagery, and symbols begin to emerge, a theme presents itself. Like a Rorschach test of my own doodles, I interpret meaning from those symbols. Then I develop from there, symbols feeding into meaning and meaning into symbols in an infinite loop."
	Music/DJ Nithya Rajendran

May Solo Show WIP - Nebulous

It's begun! I've started a painting based on one of the sketches I posted a few weeks back.  It's a 26 X 30"Acrylic on wood panel.  I don't normally work this large but there's so much going on in this drawing I thought I'd give it some wiggle room.  Now these WIP shots are showing some REALLY early stages of the painting but hopefully you still get the idea. More to come ♥

Here's a shot on the painting on it's flattened out easel on my work table.  Thought it'd be a good way to give a sense of scale and also to show what a messy workerbee I am :)

This is just a close up of the image so far.  Forgive the awkward perspective (it's like Star Wars scrolling type angle :P)

This is the original sketch from here

So as you can see - it's got a loooooooooooong way to go but I'm excited to be sinking my teeth in to these pieces and to finally really get rolling on this May show! 

Bunny Cutlet Solo Show - May 3rd, 2013

Bunny Cutlet Solo Show - May 3rd, 2013
(Still working on a title)  

Took a break from the hands series to work with some of my other brainstorm sketches for the show.  I've been playing with the idea of "oozing geometry" -  an extrusion, play-dough factory of your insides, both your physical and emotional guts.  I still haven't committed to these visuals or colors to encompass the final works for the show but I find the more you draw and experiment, the more likely inspiration is to strike. The image below is an 8 x 10in mixed media on cream colored paper. I have drawings to accompany this image also - I'll post a few later tonight.

Bunny Cutlet Solo Show - May 3rd, 2013

Bunny Cutlet Solo Show - May 3rd, 2013

(Once I have a theme name these blog titles will be easier to follow...)  

I've been working with some of the sketches from my previous post in an acrylic wash on blush colored paper. I've been looking to find a middle ground between painting and drawing so I can explore more ideas and create more pieces in the duration of my usual rushed show scheduling.  I decided to start with my "helpless hands" series...

These seem a little washed out on my monitor, hope they look better for you! I may try to readjust and repost.  I'll discuss the theme and thought behind these now or later if anyone out there is interested.  Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the imagery. 

Another update coming soon!