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Tablecloth #6, 2014

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Tablecloth #6, 2014. Gouache painting by Chanan Mazal, Jerusalem. חנן מזל
מפה #6, 2014 ציור גואש 46 * 61 ס”מ
Autumn colors – though actually the palette was concocted by a self challange: I had several dried tubes of paint. Being of Polish Jewish origin, I must have inherited an ancestral fear of poverty, and aversion to waste. So I sliced open many of those hardened tubs, and crumbled the pigments into water. (Now this is NOT what artists should be publishing to promote their work!) And then asked myself, “What can you DO with this mess?
There is nothing that I enjoy more than finding beauty in a mess. Making harmony out of cacophony. Finding my directions on Paris’ confusing streets, without a map.

Five Persian Flasks

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Gouache painting by Chanan Mazal

Five Persian Flasks, 2014, Gouache on paper 46 x 61 cm.
חמשה בקבוקים פרסיים 2014. גואש
Contrasting wild, spontaneous and drawn undercoats, with the ornamental, painted over layers, continues to intrigue me. I find it cathartic to bounce between wild dance movements, usually created while standing up, and the very controlled leaves painted while sitting.
In this series, I search for a paradox: Either by unexpected colors or by subject matter and line, I seek to create, erase and recreate a feeling of depth and distance. These round bottles, supposedly with volume, can only be flat. Cutout. Motionless. The patterns behind them however, flapping in the wind, are anything but that.

Tablecloth #8, 2014

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Gouache painting by Chanan Mazal, ציור גואש של חנן מזל
Completing this one challenged even my patience and stamina. Getting the color balance right was hard, and many sections were repainted repeatedly, and new triangles added. The result is warm – perhaps less peculiar than I had intended, but still mesmerizing in its own way.
Gouache on paper 41 x 61 cm. Available

Two Vases 2014 by Chanan Mazal. Gouache 41 x 61 cm. Available.

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2 Vases, Gouache painting by Chanan Mazal, Jerusalem2014

Two Vases 2014 by Chanan Mazal. Gouache 41 x 61 cm. Available.
שני אגרטלים , גואש, חנן מזל 2014 למכירה

Artists and others desiring to promote themselves, are not supposed to invite viewers to participate in critiquing their works. But I shall:

I was very happy with the mixture of wildness and “prettiness”. I often use this color palette of complementary reds and greens, and then break the sharp contrasts into musty grays. This time, the pallette gained a new meaning by surrounding the windy central white band. The white also added a feeling of depth. The while was so far away, outdoors.

I was tempted to leave the painting at this lovely abstract/ornamental stage, but I was not completely convinced by the composition.
Rather than added a new decorative element along the diagonals, I took the risk of adding an old, old convention: Vases, balanced on their toes like plump ballerinas.

My goal as an artist is to offer the viewer a paradox. Aesthetics plus curiosity is far more satisfying. I realized that the vases would flatten the depth and flowing movement of the strips of pattern. All the more so since I chose to paint them in the same flat manner as the background. What I gained is a tense composition. Balanced against all of the rules.

I have been busy…

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"And I Saw a Cypress" Gouache painting by Chanan Mazal, 2014 I

I have been busy exploring the border between drawing and painting. Gouache over pencil, pastel, oil pastel, calligraphy ink…. and whatever else was within arms reach. 30.5 x 30.5 on Ampersand Clay Panels (Koalin – white clay on hardboard. An artist’s dream come true. Alas, they ain’t available here in Israel, and my secret source has run dry.)

Pine Grove at Hirbet Saadim

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Pine Grove at Hirbet Saadim

Ten minute sketch, with breaks. Grove near Hirbet Sa’adim. The gouache sketch was lousy… so I attacked it with oil pastels. And then gouache again. Sometimes the key to innovation, is just saying, “Don’t worry about wasting the painting, It’s only a worthless piece of paper.”

Something different: An exercise in exercising different functions in my brain.

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Something different: An exercise in exercising different functions in my brain.

Self Portrait, 2013
דיוקן עצמי, רשום בעזרת חוש המישוש, 2013
This self portrait was drawn using the information conveyed by touch. Instead of a mirror, I used my right hand to “see” my facial structure. The hardness of the bones, and the soft, malleable contours of my lips were emphasized. The very long sides of my face, (usually foreshortened in 2D translations) were given their full length.
Pencil on the back cover of a cheap, battered drawing pad. 2013