Ampersand Gessobord

"18" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 16" x 20". For personal use only, not for sale. Copyright ©2012 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

The Superbowl has come to Indianapolis, and to commemorate it, I present my first football painting, ever! I’ve always longed to paint the game, but the NFL is extremely protective of their rights (as they should be), so that’s a line I’ve never crossed.  I’m able to take my camera into games, so I have hundreds of tempting references I can’t use. If you’re an artist, you know how frustrating that can be. Finally, this week, I decided I’d go ahead and do a painting, just for me. I think it’s okay as long as I don’t sell it. I hope. NFL lawyers, if I’m wrong, kindly email and I’ll smash it to bits for you.

Number 18 is the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks, ever. He’s more than just a sports celebrity to the city of Indianapolis. He’s a civic-minded hero who has done great things for our city. He won’t be playing in the Superbowl on Sunday, but he’s on everyone’s minds as he tries to regain top form after surgery on his neck. We wish you the best, Peyton, and hope to see you around Indy for many years to come.

"Portrait of a Parisian Waitress" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 14" x 18". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

I couldn’t resist painting  a portrait of this lovely waitress from a photo taken by artist/photographer/traveler/blogger Lee Brown. Lee generously lends some of his travel photos to artists in the context of his ADNW painting challenges. Participants get one month to submit their interpretations of his image.  There’s some cool stuff already posted. Go see it here.

I don’t know what I liked more – the quality of the light, or the shape of her hair and all those wispy tendrils. Both were tons of fun to paint.

"Holiday Road" by Lesley Spanos. Oil painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 5" x 7". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

Funny how some paintings grow on you. When I finished this one a few weeks ago, I didn’t think it was up to my standards. I was going to wipe it off and start over. But it had so freaking much paint on it. Wiping it would have created a toxic mess. So I put it aside, thinking it would be easier to deal with when dry.

Over the weeks, my revulsion mellowed. I started thinking maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe even I liked it a little bit. The warmth of the colors made me feel good, and the texture was pleasing. The day it was dry enough to test in a gold frame, I fell in love. Not the first time that’s happened to me…

"Life Becoming" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 6" x 8". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

This week I’m hosting the painting challenge on Daily Paintworks. It’s called “The Color Of Music,”  and you’re invited to play along! The idea is to paint a favorite piece of music, converting sound to pigment.

My song choice, “Life Becoming,” comes from a long-time favorite album by Michael Nesmith called “The Garden.”   This mostly instrumental album comes boxed with a short novel. The idea is to play the music while reading the book, allowing the written word to sync with the music. Sounds weird, but if you’re a visually-minded person, it’s almost like watching a movie in your mind. The album provides the script and soundtrack, and the user is free to create whatever mind-pictures they want. Be your own cinematographer. I like that.

As an artist, I also appreciate that the book is illustrated with paintings by Monet, and loosely suggests his efforts to bring water to his garden in Giverny. The main character is named Jason, and he’s not a painter, but the garden described is definitely Monet’s.

“Life Becoming” is the final “scene” in the story. Jason has returned home after his quest to discover that his once-dry yard is now a beautiful garden. Monet’s garden. He walks down the rose-arbor allée to the lily pond, where he is greeted by the woman he loves. They stand silently on the Japanese bridge, gazing over the peaceful lily pond.   The music is repetitive and graceful, almost circular, so painting a series of repeating round shapes – lily pads – was a natural choice.  The two lilies represent the man and the woman.

"Stripes, and Stars" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 6" x 8". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

Every year I pass this colorful little tent at my state fair, and have the same “gotta paint this” reaction. So I photograph it, and file it away. This 4th of July weekend seemed like the perfect time to finally get it done.

I’m experimenting here in painting on a metallic gold-toned surface. I was reluctant to cover up all that pretty gold! Also trying out my new favorite blue, indanthrene blue, in the sky. Here are a few images from along the way:

"Crinkle Fries" by Lesley Spanos. Acrylic painting on Ampersand Gessobord, 6" x 6". Copyright ©2011 Lesley Spanos, all rights reserved.

Here’s another painting of something I can’t eat. I loved these things when I still ate white potatoes.

These days I have a new love – sweet potato fries! OMG, they are so good! Much tastier than white potato fries, and they barely raise my blood sugar. I serve them with a garlicky dipping sauce made with Greek yogurt. Yum!

A few images from along the way: