New Painting: Nap time!!

(c) Michelle Hunter 2011
(you can click on the image for a larger view)

Zzzzzzz (Sleep)

20" x 20"

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

Now if you know anything about me, other than I'm an artist, you would know that I LOVE sleep. Sleep is awesome and one of the best things in the world. So doing a painting on the brain and sleep was particularily interesting to me.

The Concept
We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping,so this is a topic we all can relate to. Sleep not only feels good for its relaxing nature but it is crucial for brain development and dealing with what we encountered while awake.

Detail: Zzzzzzz (Sleep)
(c) Michelle Hunter 2011

Hippocampus (yellow) - Stores our short term memory. So when we sleep, that information is transfered into our cortex which holds long term memory.

Prefrontal cortex (front of the brain) - Ever been awake for too long? Brain feels heavy and screaming for sleep? If you pay it a little attention, that screaming may feel concentrated at the front of the brain. The prefrontal cortex is sensitive to sleep deprivation. It is also highly active while dreaming.

Thalamus (middle of green) - In order for our brain to proceed processing information taken in during the day, the brain needs to shut off outside stimuli. That happens thanks to thalamus. If someone doesn't respond to what you may say or do to them while they are asleep, they are busy processing...so stop bothering them.

Pineal gland (back middle of green area) - produces melatonin. When produced, we get sleepy. Light reduces the production of melatonin so if you're trying to fall asleep but a light is on or TV, good luck.


Hypothalamus (front middle of green) - is what naturally signals us for when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up.

Brainstem (bottom of green) - those wakey wakey signals from the hypothalamus travel through the brainstem to the rest of our body to get us moving (and in some cases, we may just move into another position to fall back asleep).



The Colors
Well I took a picture of my bed with the lights out so I can try to get a sense of how the pillows and sheets looked in the dark. I put some free weights on the pillow to see how impressions were made as if ones head was laying on the pillow. That resulted in most of the painting being blacks and blues.

Since the focus of the painting is the brain I decided to have the brain fairly 'bright' since it's still very active while all else is calm. The colors used, orange, green, yellow, red were a nice complement to the blacks and blues used for the rest of the painting.


No Face! WHY?
Well of course the painting isn't about the face; we all sleep so it doesn't matter who the is person that's in bed. No need to try to guess who it would be, who they may remind you of or try to critique their face. So, no face. Yet I wanted to show that it is human being in bed, so I show some shoulders and the neck which then fades to the pillow s/he/it is resting on. It then resumes at the brain.


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Check out pictures of this painting while it was forming by visiting this blog post: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/05/wip-brain-painting-no5-on-brain-and.html

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ALL feedback is welcome, there are tons of ways to reach me. Also feel free to share this with others you feel would want to see it.

Thanks for reading!! Until next time....

~Michelle

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/

info@hunterart.com
Hunterart Line: 646-504-5034
Twitter: Artcoholic
GTalk: mkh9781 or uniqueh

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Brain series (so far):

Painting 1: Past, Present, Future or Dreaming

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-painting-which-image-matches-your.html

Painting 2: Caffeine Headache

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/10/caffeine-headache.html

Painting 3: Don't You Remember?

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-painting-dont-you-remember.html

Painting 4: First Aid

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-painting-first-aid.html

New Painting: "First Aid"




(c) Michelle Hunter 2011
(you can click on the image for a larger view)

First Aid

20" x 20"

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas 

Hello everyone....can I get you a drink? It's on me ;)

I'm pleased to share with you my latest painting titled "First Aid".

Want to see pictures of this painting from beginning to end? (7 new pictures added) Click here to view my previous blog post: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/03/work-in-progress-shots-of-first-aid-20.html

While some titles for paintings don't come to me pretty easily, this one came into my head before I was done with painting the outline for the composition I scrapped.

Most of the time, getting a drink feels like putting on a band-aid on to help cover up whatever is going on. Whether you:

• Had a long day and feel like you want to unwind,
• Are dealing/coping with something personally,
• Wanting to avoid something (emotionally or physically),
• May feel out of place without a drink in your hand,
• Want the courage to do something you wouldn't typically do while sober
• Feel free to add to this list based on your own experience

What's a quicker fixer-upper than a drink?!

Having the setting for the painting within a bar seemed natural. I chose to use a shot glass instead of a regular glass because a shot gets straight to the point - nothing to sip or savor here. 

The label on the bottle was a clear place to put a red cross. 

As your liquor of choice is being poured into the glass, certain parts of the brain imprinted on the glass are becoming activated:



(c) Michelle Hunter 2011
(you can click on the image for a larger view)

• Cerebral cortex: This is the outermost part of the brain where you process thoughts and where consciousness resides. When alcohol is introduces, it is here where processing of information from the senses like your eyes, ears, touch, etc become inhibited. Here is also where you become unable to think clearly and start to think more slowly.

• Cerebellum (round part at the base of the brain): Here controls out center of movement and balance. Alcohol leaves us off balance and/or staggering.

• Hypothalamus and pituitary: This region coordinates automatic brain functions and hormone release. As you drink, the nerve centers in the hypothalamus that control sexual arousal become pressed down and strained. So while your sexual urge may increase, your sexual performance declines. It's a little hard to see but there are clutters of gender symbols in the shadow of the  glass.   

• Medulla (lower part of the brain stem): The impact of alcohol on this area of the brain results in sleepiness, perhaps you feel a chill and/or notice your breathing slowing. The medulla controls such automatic functions like breathing, consciousness and body temperature.

Source: http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/alcoholism4.htm

Now my most difficult area for me of this painting was painting glass (the shot glass and bottle) especially since both are clear. That's what delayed me the most because I didn't want to mess it up. Through some help from Twitter, and me getting out of my head, it only took me a couple of days to finish the piece. I'm very proud of it. 

 

So, with all that said, CHEERS!

Regards,
Michelle
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Brain series (so far):
Painting 1: Past, Present, Future or Dreaming
http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-painting-which-image-matches-your.html

Painting 2: Caffeine Headache
http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/10/caffeine-headache.html 

 
Painting 3: Dont' You Remember?

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-painting-dont-you-remember.html