Take a free ride to my New Website

Thanks for finding me here over the last little while. I have packed up my paintbrushes and moved to a new web-house called:

www.sunnymarlene.com

It's not too far from here, so just click the big red link and you will be there in no time. All of the posts and paintings from here are moved over there, so there's not much reason to hang around. Why don't you come over?

New Work: Six little paintings

Six Paintings Trying to be Formless

Share Love, Purple Angel, Blue Angel in a Pink Universe, Heart Centred Universe (sold), and Kitty Power (Sold)

Acrylic, mixed media on canvas

under 12 x 20 cm

Marlene Yuzak

Here are six small paintings that tried to be abstract but could not help themselves from representing something. Hearts and angels have a way of arriving even when I don't invite them. Tea cups fall into my paints. Cats walk all over me. I love to paint these things, but I think I would love to paint nothings too if I could only figure out how. You could say most of my work has a balance of representational and abstract forms. Or that I juggle recurring images into an abstract blur. Well, you can say whatever you want because it's a free kitty power country.

Anyway . . . I am going on a sabbatical. This seems like a change of subject, but it isn't really, you'll see. My man won some money betting on a pony and he's asked me to come with him on a trip. He's going to write, and I am going to paint. For three months. That's why its called a sabbatical. It's like the Sabbath. Every day is Sunday, until your money runs out.

So we chose a place on Long Island, New York and rented a cottage on Gingerbread Lane. As it happens Jackson Pollock (who gets a lot of attention) and Lee Krasner (who doesn't get enough attention) did very much the same thing. They bought their paints at an art store four doors down from ours. Is this a sign, or what?

As Frank Sinatra says about New York, if you can make it (abstract) here, you make it (abstract) anywhere.

New Work, New Exhibition

When I hear the words "New Exhibition," I think cotton candy and ferris wheels. Well, this one is paintings. The work you see in this post will be shown at Esteem for the Home, a retail gallery in Saskatoon, beginning in September. Scroll down to see more of the work, and get directions to the gallery.

You can find more information about the space at esteemforthehome.ca, and the street address is 106B - 3929 8th Street East.

New Work: Open Heart for Cloudy

Open Heart for Cloudy

Acrylic, mixed media on canvas

12 x 20 cm

Marlene Yuzak

This is the second of two similar paintings. It is small enough to fit in your hand. The first one I made for a friend who said she needed help keeping an open heart. When I showed that one to my man, something about it got him. He sees a lot of my paintings in progress and his feedback is very helpful sometimes. When it isn't, he doesn't mind if I ignore him. (This is very professional of him, because otherwise he doesn't like being ignored at all.) Anyway, you can tell when someone likes a piece, because they usually say something spontaneous like: "Oh, I wish you could paint me one of those." Which is more or less what he said. And so I made him this one.

New Work: Heart Angel Lantern Vine

Heart Angel Lantern Vine

Acrylic, mixed media on canvas

120 x 60 cm

Marlene Yuzak

Once in awhile, not often, I work on a piece for a long time, trying to bring it to life. Recently, I worked on a painting for three weeks before a friend patted me on the back and said maybe I should let it go. I don't like to leave work unfinished and almost never do. The main image I liked, but other aspects were giving me trouble. I threw so much acrylic paint at it that the canvas tightened up and the stretcher warped. Sadly, I admitted that the patient was dead and could not be revived.

The next painting — which you see above — I did in a few hours, using all the elements I liked from the previous one. Art is like that. When you go the wrong direction, it is a struggle. When you are on the right track, it is easy. I think this what Krishnamurti means when he says it is effort that defeats us.

New Work: Girl with Cherry Blossoms

Girl with Cherry Blossoms

Acrylic, mixed media on canvas

10 x 13 cm

Marlene Yuzak

This piece was created while I was teaching an art class. We were working on layering, and using found images — in this case the Japanese girl, and the red heart. The heart is actually a piece of a prayer string blessed by the 14th Dalai Lama, which was given to me by my friend, Linda.

New Work: Valentine 1 and 2

Valentine 1 & 2

acrylic, mixed media on canvas

about 10 x 20 cm each

Marlene Yuzak

2010

Here are two small paintings that someone you love might enjoy. They are available for purchase, $60 apiece. Happy Valentine's Day!