This blog is devoted to the work I create when I just need to cut loose and have a little fun. Some of the pieces below are paintings and some are mixed media assemblages. Prints are available of all of the paintings. Please contact me at lorikgordon@gmail.com for prices and availability of both originals and prints. For my more serious work, please visit my other sites at thekatrinacollectionbylorikgordon.blogspot.com, gordonmixedmedia.blogspot.com, and sixdegreeswesttoeast.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Father Sebastian 18" x 24"
I have portrayed Father Sebastian of St Rose de Lima Church in Bay St Louis in front of a stained glass window which features a medieval symbol of the Holy Trinity. The lines of the design were allowed to run into his vestments, becoming a part of his portrait. I incorporated three St Thomas crosses in the design to honor his birthplace and childhood influences in southern India. The richly textured chasuble he wears was styled after one which his parishioners have seen him wear. Both chasuble and the background point to the opulent fabrics of priestly vestments. The colors of the painting are those which have symbolic meaning for the church; red is symbolic of the holy blood of Jesus; green denotes the hope of eternal life; violet symbolizes sorrow and penance; gold denotes majesty and splendor; rose indicates joy.
The Father has an intense gaze which indicates the depth of his faith. The strong directional light illuminates the man of God known and loved by so many people in his community; the side of his face that is in deep shadow hints at the man from a different culture, a mystery whom we will never really know.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
"New Day" is a 22" x 28" acrylic painting on gallery wrap canvas. I created this piece for a local celebration in Bay St Louis, which is planned for the third year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. All of us here on the coast wanted to mark this anniversary in a special way; we are excited about our future, and gladdened by the progress we have made in our recovery. When the call for new art came out, I decided that I wanted to concentrate on the incredible beauty of our natural environment. I began with the two oak trees, which point to our abundance of plant life in this semi-tropical setting. I then added land, air and sea creatures. I indicated that the human touch upon our world should be light, as indicated by the almost invisible hand print. I am attempting to get children involved by having a contest for kids 10 and under; the first child who can find all of the critters will win a framed print of the painting for their room.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The Beverly Hillbillies
This series of work came about as the result of an invitation to return to the beautiful city of Rome, Georgia. I have shown there a couple of times, and am especially fond of the wonderful old Desoto Theatre. Over the weekend of July 25, 26, and 27, I will be exhibiting several paintings of the Beverly Hillbillies characters, in conjunction with a performance of the play. A portion of the proceeds from sales of prints and the original paintings will be donated to Icon Theatre Company and to Rome Little Theatre.
I was born in 1958. The Beverly Hillbillies debuted in 1961, and was seen weekly across the country through 1972. I grew up identifying with Elly May’s love for animals, and scoffing at Jethro’s idiocy. Jed was not just the patriarch of the Clampett family; he was the paradigm of the simple, honest man. Granny tickled and amused me, and Mr. Drysdale’s obsession with money helped form my political views and social consciousness. Mrs. Drysdale helped me know the kind of person I did not want to be; I shun her type even today. In short, I was as affected by the Beverly Hillbillies as were most people of my generation.
When I was invited to exhibit my work at a theatre production of the famous sitcom, I was dumbfounded as to what I could show. Nothing I had ever done, I thought, would fit with the theme. So I decided to create a series of paintings and as is so often the case, the execution of the art led me to understand my connection with the subject. As I researched the project and watched old episodes online, I was transported back to a time and place which had been living, unknown to me, in my subconscious. So, come listen to my story about a man named Jed….
I created these pieces in a fashion which was completely new to me. I knew that I wanted to portray the characters in a 60’s psychedelic fashion, kind of Andy Warhol meets Peter Max while listening to Donavan. I really didn’t know how to do it, though. I had been messing around with Photoshop for several years, always marveling at the wonders of digital manipulation (the computer kind, I mean). Likewise, I have been painting since I was a kid. The twain had never really met in my work, however, until this series. I began by designing the pieces on the computer, using Photoshop to manipulate images of the characters. I used a combination of filters until I had something I liked, and started plugging in colors which I rarely use. Lime green, day-glow orange, and deep turquoise all had me itching to go read The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test once again. Once I had what I thought was a good start, I sent the images on to a local print shop. The good people there printed the images in grayscale on canvas, and I had my schematic ready to go.
Once I began laying colors on the canvas, I discovered that the brush had ideas of its own. Some of my planned images were changed, some were nearly completely concealed, and others were discarded. What was left were portraits of America’s First Family.
I have had great fun creating these portraits of the characters from the television series. I watched many episodes online while I was executing the paintings, and I laughed as hard then as I had several decades ago. The Clampetts and their kin are a part of the American experience of the 1960s and 1970s which won’t be forgotten for a few more years, I am sure.
Both the original paintings, approximately (20" x 26" each) and prints on canvas are available for sale. Contact me at lorikgordon@gmail.com for prices.
Lori K Gordon
July 2008
This series of work came about as the result of an invitation to return to the beautiful city of Rome, Georgia. I have shown there a couple of times, and am especially fond of the wonderful old Desoto Theatre. Over the weekend of July 25, 26, and 27, I will be exhibiting several paintings of the Beverly Hillbillies characters, in conjunction with a performance of the play. A portion of the proceeds from sales of prints and the original paintings will be donated to Icon Theatre Company and to Rome Little Theatre.
I was born in 1958. The Beverly Hillbillies debuted in 1961, and was seen weekly across the country through 1972. I grew up identifying with Elly May’s love for animals, and scoffing at Jethro’s idiocy. Jed was not just the patriarch of the Clampett family; he was the paradigm of the simple, honest man. Granny tickled and amused me, and Mr. Drysdale’s obsession with money helped form my political views and social consciousness. Mrs. Drysdale helped me know the kind of person I did not want to be; I shun her type even today. In short, I was as affected by the Beverly Hillbillies as were most people of my generation.
When I was invited to exhibit my work at a theatre production of the famous sitcom, I was dumbfounded as to what I could show. Nothing I had ever done, I thought, would fit with the theme. So I decided to create a series of paintings and as is so often the case, the execution of the art led me to understand my connection with the subject. As I researched the project and watched old episodes online, I was transported back to a time and place which had been living, unknown to me, in my subconscious. So, come listen to my story about a man named Jed….
I created these pieces in a fashion which was completely new to me. I knew that I wanted to portray the characters in a 60’s psychedelic fashion, kind of Andy Warhol meets Peter Max while listening to Donavan. I really didn’t know how to do it, though. I had been messing around with Photoshop for several years, always marveling at the wonders of digital manipulation (the computer kind, I mean). Likewise, I have been painting since I was a kid. The twain had never really met in my work, however, until this series. I began by designing the pieces on the computer, using Photoshop to manipulate images of the characters. I used a combination of filters until I had something I liked, and started plugging in colors which I rarely use. Lime green, day-glow orange, and deep turquoise all had me itching to go read The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test once again. Once I had what I thought was a good start, I sent the images on to a local print shop. The good people there printed the images in grayscale on canvas, and I had my schematic ready to go.
Once I began laying colors on the canvas, I discovered that the brush had ideas of its own. Some of my planned images were changed, some were nearly completely concealed, and others were discarded. What was left were portraits of America’s First Family.
I have had great fun creating these portraits of the characters from the television series. I watched many episodes online while I was executing the paintings, and I laughed as hard then as I had several decades ago. The Clampetts and their kin are a part of the American experience of the 1960s and 1970s which won’t be forgotten for a few more years, I am sure.
Both the original paintings, approximately (20" x 26" each) and prints on canvas are available for sale. Contact me at lorikgordon@gmail.com for prices.
Lori K Gordon
July 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
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