Category Archives: Paintings

New Painting

"Acceptance" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2008

This is going to be a quick post as I am busy with holiday preparations in addition to painting. Aside from all the holiday madness, I am uber-excited about my latest painting. The title is “Acceptance” and it is yet another addition to my New Realm series. This is a large piece, 48 inches wide and 36 inches high, so obviously you don’t get the full feel of it from just a tiny little jpeg. Which is all the more reason to check it out on my website www.AmyGuidry.com, under the Gallery section.

The boar/fish creature featured is another character from the surreal forest which the heroine encounters. Every hair and scale is painted in detail on this, so you can imagine how time consuming this was. I think I’m a masochist… At any rate, I am happy to say this piece is finally finished.

I will be showing this piece in my upcoming solo exhibition at the Schepis Museum in Columbia, LA in March 2009. Of course there will be other pieces from my New Realm series, including more new paintings, so be sure to attend if you are in the area. More details will follow soon.

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

Craig working on his Lizard Man paintingAll this holiday stuff has me thinking of many things- deadlines, shopping, stress, and of course, family. For some, stress and family are interchangeable. Ha! Anyway, as promised in a previous post, I am sharing more about my artistic relatives that everyone seems to want to know so much about. So I give you my brother, Craig. Craig’s work is rather detail oriented and favors the style of comic books and pop surrealism. Yes, everyone wants to know if his work is anything like mine. On the surface, no, but I guess you could draw some sort of corollary if you know us each personally.  (Here he is working on his Lizard Man painting.  I’m not exactly sure of the title, but that’s what I always call it.)

Yes, it\'s meCraig’s approach is different as well in that he applies many thick layers of paint. He also does a lot of pen and ink work, which I have not done in awhile. Unfortunately, Craig does not have a website. After enough prodding, he may have one eventually, but just not right now. However, you can rest assured that I will post any information here about shows he may have coming up. His work is also a little on the dark side, as you can see by the painting at the left. And yes, that is of me. Apparently this is how my brother sees me. Or maybe I had a bad day. And apparently took it out on someone. Who knows? At any rate, it’s still a good painting… and an icebreaker.

Craig is trying to finish a drawing.  Abbie decided to join him.Craig also partakes of assistance. Here he is shown with his assistant, Abbie. Abbie supervises his work. She is also a lap warmer. Though they have not worked together long, they are very close. And though she may look like a cat, she is not. She’s just a very small and hairy person.

So there you have it. If any other family members draw or paint, I have yet to find out about it. And if I’m related to Van Gogh or Renoir, I have no idea. I have yet to do a family tree. But I can say that I’m related to some talented (living) people. So if this has piqued your interest, and you would like to see some of my own work, you can go to my website at www.AmyGuidry.com. Happy Thanksgiving!

You Oughta Be in Pictures

Recent commissioned painting. Copyright Amy Guidry 2008

I thought I should try something new and share a commissioned painting I did recently. I don’t have any posted here and I usually don’t post them on my website anymore since my portrait section is a bit overloaded. Well, on the verge, at least. But I always keep a photo of the work I’ve done even if I don’t have room for it on my site. So I’m taking the opportunity to post it here for the first time.

I was asked by a friend of another collector to do a painting of her three children. So she wanted to get a painting done of them at the beach. (Hence the background.) I think this was originally going to be a surprise gift, but ended up being an early gift instead. Anyway, this is a 20″ x 24″ painting which is more of a medium-size given the range I work with. The tutu, though challenging, was kind of fun in a sick way. I like to torment myself and fuss over every little detail, but it’s usually worth it for the end result.

If you’re new to my work, or just haven’t seen my portraits, you can check out my Portrait section of my website at www.AmyGuidry.com. And of course you can find the rest of my work there as well.

Drumroll Please….

"Lightness" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2008

Apparently it doesn’t take more than one comment on here to get me to do something (aka Zack). Which is why I am posting my new painting. Yes, as mentioned before, this is a new piece that I will be showing at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, TX next month. I was invited to participate in the exhibition since I am one of their newly represented artists. The show is titled “Twelve,” and there are twelve artists and it will be held in the twelfth month. In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a theme going here…. So amongst all the artists in this gallery, I was asked to show and was thrilled to participate.

So here is the big reveal! My painting is called “Lightness” and is 24 inches wide by 48 inches high. Kind of a different format for me, but it suited the composition the best. And these dimensions are divisible by….twelve. Anyway, in keeping with the theme, I used twelve butterflies in the piece. This is open to interpretation. For me, the butterflies represent change and metamorphosis, and represent the subject’s metamorphosis as well. This could involve twelve steps, twelve months, however you want to view the process of change. Regardless, this piece is another installement to my New Realm series, so again you see the heroine of my “story” in this painting as well.

Aside from the photo here, you can also view the piece on my website www.AmyGuidry.com. And if you’re new to this blog, you might want to check out the rest of my work while you are there! Just a thought….

Tranquility

"Tranquility" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2008

I wanted to share for those of you with bated breath (haha), my latest painting.  It’s titled…yes, you guessed it…”Tranquility.”  This is another large piece, 30 inches across and 40 inches high, from my New Realm series.  I had planned on finishing it sooner, but with two hurricanes coming through, my plans were thwarted a bit.  Probably an appropriate piece to be working on at that time since I could have used some tranquility myself, or a tranquilizer, whichever.  Anyway, here it is! 

One of the things I enjoyed about doing this painting were all the details.  Sounds crazy, but I am drawn to patterns.  All patterns.  Whether paisley or geometric, I have a penchant for them.  So you can imagine how delighted I was to paint the patterns on the butterflies.  In addition, the lace detailing on the blouse, which is a popular item in many paintings from this series, was also fun.  What I really love is how the patterns all play off each other.  The subject, the heroine of story, is as decorated as the butterfly wings are.

As a reminder, the remaining pieces from this series, or at least most of them, can be seen at my solo exhibition, New Realm, in Las Vegas.  The show is at Henri & Odette now through October 22nd.  And if you can’t make it to Vegas, you can view all of my work online at www.AmyGuidry.com

 

Blast From the Past

Early work from high school portfolioThis is one of my portfolio pieces from high school. I thought it might be fun to post work from my “early days.” I drew this from an ad for Ralph Lauren’s Safari perfume. I remember it being a hit in my art class. I actually still have it buried away in one of my many portfolios. You can see where the paper buckled from all my wear and tear on it as I was coloring in such a dark section. The small glass pieces were fun to do. I treated each one with individual attention.  I also liked drawing in the lions. 

I blocked in the length and width of the bottle in my original line sketch, and then filled in the squares of glass.  So actually, you can see how the piece is not perfectly symmetric, thanks to my freehand work.  Somehow I managed to squeeze it all in so the patterns still fit within the bottle.  And one side is narrower than the other.  Still, I’d say it’s not too shabby for a teenager. 

This was during my black and white stage- everything I did was in pencil or charcoal. Black and white photography was fascinating to me, so I used those concepts in drawing.  Now, obviously, I love to work in color. You can check out my new work at www.AmyGuidry.com.