Author Archives: mkfarr

About mkfarr

Rice University alum. Water media artist.

Gallery Talk

Recently I gave a talk to middle-schoolers of the Lone Star Leadership Academy at the Resh Gallery in Houston. The talk was through the outreach program of the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Art, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  While we walked through the exhibit of artwork (paintings and collages) by artist Linda Penrod and myself I talked about Process versus Intention. All artists have a creative impetus. As a generalization we can say that for the Impressionists it is light; for the Abstract Expressionists, emotion; for Pop Art, culture. The art on view for the talk demonstrated the differences between the impetus of each artist, though we had similar backgrounds and training. The following are several examples.

“Circut City II”, Mixed Media

Artist L. Penrod, “Midnight Sky”

Linda’s art begins with her process: a layering and printing and laminating of various very thin papers. Forms begin to emerge and what shapes the completion of the painting is her interest in primitive art and universal symbols. The finished art often looks like fabric.

My art begins with the intention of communicating about a particular subject. The idea of what I want to communicate dictates the process. In “Circuit City II” I was thinking about how computers are connecting more and more people, so I used circuit boards connected with painted lines. (Now the boards are much smaller–mine are 20 years old!)  Wondering what future communication would be like inspired me to take computer parts and paint them as if they are fossils being unearthed in my mixed media painting “Alpha Omega.” I also included symbols for Sumerian runes, the beginnings of writing,

“Alpha Omega”, Mixed Media

Both Linda and I believe that being close to Nature is in our genes. Humans need to be aligned with the rhythms of the natural world for optimum health. She lives on a ranch and can see the Milky Way at night; I garden. Her interests are the people who slept under the stars and their symbology. My interests are the growing things around me.

Artist – L. Penrod, “Stone River”

“Nature and Me”, Mixed media collage

For an exhibit entitled “Reflections of Myself” I painted and collaged images of things that appear in my garden. I called it “Nature and Me”. I added sand to gesso in the green areas which made it more absorbent to the paint. Straight lines always represent the man-made in my art (in this case my house) and the yellow square, my window.

The Resh Gallery had many more of our paintings and my talk lasted 30 minutes. It was fun to have the kids talk about what they saw in the paintings and to answer their questions about the processes.

 

Geoscape II

Watermedia Collage with rust, gray, blue and gold. Fossilized natural elements.

Creation Series #10

My Geoscape Series and my Creation Series are closely linked. In most of the Creation Series I was thinking of form (life) developing from a void, as in Creation Series #5. By Creation Series # 10, I was thinking about the remains of life locked in the earth and being used again for creation. This makes sense when you know that I worked for an oil and gas exploration company.

A commissioned collage made from seismic data logs.

Geoscape II

For a commission piece for a geophysicist’s office, Geoscape II, I used parts of seismic sections, contour maps, magazine photos, and colored paper. I used acrylic paint to tie it all together. The star images represent the building blocks of life from the universe and the picture of the Trilobite represents the remains of life locked in the earth. The seismic sections and contour maps represent the process of locating the remains. The other photos show parts of the drilling process to extract the remains so that it can be converted to energy.

In reflecting on what I was trying to communicate in Geoscape II, I am reminded of the exhibition I saw yesterday at the MFA-Houston, Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest and Worry Will Vanish. To me it represented the connectedness of all things.

Abstract paining with purple, grey, and turqoise elements

Creation Series #5

Synergy Art Show, Houston, TX

While I’ve been in Europe, two of my pieces have been hanging in the Synergy group art show in Houston, TX at the Northwoods Presbyterian Church on FM1960.

“Song” and “Song 2” are both 16” x 20” colorful acrylic paintings on canvas. The realistic brilliant song birds contrast with the abstracted swirling background. Both are part of my series entitled “Harmonics.”

Song-acrylic-on-canvas

“Song” from “Harmonics” series
16″x20″ Acrylic on canvas

Song 2 acrylic on canvas

“Song 2” from “Harmonics” series
16″x20″ Acrylic on canvas

Coming Soon! Prints for Sale

I will be posting prints of these works for sale on Society6 and Fine Art America in the very near future. I’ll let you know when I get those shops set up and where you can find more of my work.

I enjoy being part of the Synergy Art Group and I think you would enjoy the diversity and quality of their art. Check out our Facebook page.
Thank you!
~ MK Farr

Meaning of my painting “Friends 1”

Friends 1

Friends 1

Welcome to my blog — a place to try to put into words what I have already put on paper or canvas. I’d love to have comments from other artists or interested parties. A synergy of ideas would be interesting. By the way, “Synergy” is the name of an art group I belong to that has a Facebook page.

When ideas come to me, if the urge is strong, I don’t ask why I have the idea, I just start drawing or painting. When the work is finished I analyze it based on artistic elements, not subject matter. However, the world wants to know “why”, so now comes the hard part.

I think all artists paint firstly for the joy of painting. Next come color decisions if the medium is watercolor. In the painting “Friends 1” I wanted that red hair contrasted with the yellow green of the background – a basically warm painting. I love that Gibson Girl hair — a stylized female that I was using as a feminine element, which I really think represents me.

The cat is mine, but how many meanings can a cat as a symbol represent? Here she represents a contrast (opposite) to the rooster. And why a rooster? I’m attracted and amused by the variety of fancy chickens. However, all the crossbreeding and gene manipulation might not be a good thing. More on contrasts and opposites later.

The eyes in the painting are important; eyes are a window to the soul. I was definitely influenced by the Klimt paintings I was reading about at the time I was painting this.