I'm Thrilled to Announce...

                                                 Sweet Treat, $95 framed, Acrylic, 6x6"

...actually, I should say thrilled and honored to announce, that my work (including this painting) is now being offered through the Woolworth Walk, a gallery in Asheville, North Carolina.  The Woolworth Walk is a fabulous gallery, and I say I am honored because I am now in the company of so many of my favorite local artists!   Quite the range of mediums are represented, in addition to painting:  metalwork, fiber art, photography, pottery, jewelry, to name just a few. 

As I said in my January blog post, when I first got accepted to the waiting list:  "I am so thrilled.  I have loved going to the Woolworth Walk ever since it opened, and have envisioned my art there ever since I decided I wanted to have a place to show/sell locally, rather than just on-line.  The Woolworth Walk does a tremendous job with presentation, use of space, and lighting.  The staff there are always extremely nice, too."

Now that I have spent more time there, I think I understated what I said about the staff.  Not only are they extremely nice, they are friendly, helpful, upbeat, knowledgeable, and organized.  I know they will be a joy for me and my customers to work with.

From now on, my sites will let you know whether a painting is for sale through my studio or through the Woolworth Walk.  If you are interested in any painting available through the Woolworth Walk, please contact them to arrange sale and shipping at (828) 254-9234.  And check out their website.  I guarantee you will be impressed with the array of offerings there! 

If you are interested in a painting available through my studio and first heard of my art through the Woolworth Walk, please let me know so that I can give the gallery proper credit.  Thank you.

The cupcake painting was painted on Thanksgiving Day 2012.  And then it spoiled my dinner.  Yes, I blame the cupcake!  But I loved painting (and eating) it.  Coincidentally, I put that painting in the Woolworth Walk yesterday and then came home and read the local arts and entertainment newsweekly.  I learned that the bakery the cupcake came from, The Sisters McMullen, is no more.  Actually the bakery has been sold, and, I expect, will undergo some changes.  I loved The Sisters McMullen, including the sisters, and am so sad to see them go.  One of my Thanksgiving traditions was having pumpkin pie from the Sisters.  I also need a new source of gorgeous cupcakes (for PAINTING, people!) and am so glad I captured one in paint while I had the chance.  May both McMullen Sisters each be moving on to a new bright chapter in their lives...

And by the way, the cupcake painting is framed in a wood float frame with a gold finish and is $95 (contact the Woolworth Walk  at 828-254-9234).

Meeting Goals

With the holiday season approaching, I am thinking about end of year, reviewing my goal list, and considering what I hope to accomplish for next year.  One item that was high on my list for 2013 was to paint flowers, since they are always a challenge, and I wanted to understand them better.  I'm happy with what I have achieved and will continue to practice, practice, practice!

I would encourage all my artist friends to consider making a collage of your work--in our busy lives, we can cross things off our "to do" lists, but it's really nice to have visual evidence that we have accomplished something!

Thanks for looking...

My Trip to a Lake

                                      Plein Air Watercolor and Colored Pencil, approx 4x7"

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post.  I posted, then ran off to a fabulous vacation at a gorgeous lake, where I had all kinds of high hopes for doing lots of artwork.  Once there, I found it more important for me to enjoy the setting and my family and friends.  I did manage the above sketch, but mostly I have lots of photos to work from, much as I prefer to work from life.

I can't take a good photo of this painting to save my life!  The above was scanned and still doesn't represent my sketch the way I would like.  This was my first attempt at the combination of watercolor and colored pencil.  I found that once I had a layer of watercolor down, I could only use one layer of colored pencil over it, which seriously limited the way I like to use colored pencils.  I think in the future I will try to use the CP's first and put the watercolor OVER them.  But mostly, I am thrilled to be back home with my acrylic paints.  I have one on the easel....stay tuned!  I may actually have to try a version of the above painting in acrylics....I can see how dull this one looks compared to the acrylic paintings!  Although the actual sketch isn't this dull...

I am also excited to get back to your blogs.  Again, thanks so much for all your kind comments on the last painting--I really appreciated them so much.

(P.S.  if anyone in upstate NY or Western Mass is interested in renting a vacation house with its own private lake, contact me and I'll put you in touch with the owners!  Cannot say enough good about the beauty of this setting...)

30 Day Challenge (and what I never showed you)

Acrylic 8x8"  Unfinished

What happened to me during the 30 in 30?  Did I stop painting?  Yes I did, about a week ago, when I had to start getting ready for a trip.  But before I stopped painting, I stopped blogging.  I thought I would feel guilty if I didn't paint every day during the 30 Day challenge, as I said I would, but it turns out I would have felt guilty if I DID paint, because that would have left all the trip preparations to someone else.  But I thought in this post, I would tell you about my new challenge, show you what I never showed you (and for the unfinished ones, tell you what still needs to be done), and tell  you a bit about what my plan is for art during my trip.  Then I will send you on your merry way, until we meet again...

The painting at the top of this post is unfinished.  I need to bring more blue up into the bottom of the flower to work the edges more.  That's how we do the edges with fast-drying acrylics, friends!

My new challenge for myself is called 30 Paintings I Like in However Many Days it Takes to Complete Them!  And I invite any of my blogging friends to join me!

OK, art on my trip.  Sadly decided it was not practical for me to bring my acrylics.  I am going to be renting a vacation house and didn't think it was right to be cleaning acrylic brushes there or saving up the pigmented water.   I tried some palette knife paintings with acrylics, thinking that might be a way to avoid all the water.  With a palette knife, the waste in between colors goes on a paper towel rather than into a bucket of water.  However, my experiments showed me that that would be impractical.  Palette knife uses a lot more and a lot thicker paint.  Not practical to carry that much paint on this trip, and those palette knife paintings took three days to dry!  May as well bring oils!

So--my plan is to bring watercolors and colored pencils.  Watercolors to be able to do my block in and colored pencils to fill in what I want to make more detailed.  Watercolors because the plein air that was pure colored pencil below really starting hurting my hand (Terri!).  I mean, why hurt your hand and take 20 minutes to do a sky when you could do the sky with a watercolor wash?  The thing is, I am not very familiar with watercolor, although I do have some paints.  I am more familiar with gouache (opaque watercolor), but some of the gouache I have smells like solvents, which I don't want to deal with at all in the car.  So, it will be watercolor and CP!  Another art adventure.

                                                   Acrylic Plein Air with Palette knife

                                              Acrylic Plein Air wtih Palette Knife

                                                 Unfinished, Acrylic, actually 12x12"

The above painting is actually 12x12."  My scanner bed isn't that large, so had to just scan part.  This one is unfinished.  Needs her hands painted in, her feet finished with highlights, and a shadow underneath her.  

 

Plein Air Colored Pencil

Oh, and as promised, my "miracle" colored pencil paintings that I found again during this challenge after years of being missing.  Read about the "miracle" here.

Sorry the photos aren't that great for the last few.  Even the CP's are on boards too large to put on the scanner, hence the blur, I suppose.

Hope you all are having as beautiful fall weather as we are....enjoy!!!

30 Painting Days in 30 Days - Avoidance (and Painting 8)

                                                                       Acrylic, 8x8"

Now, my dear friends and Watchers, it is time for a profound confession.  All the paintings I have submitted to the 30 in 30 Challenge this time, all the florals, the sunsets (you've seen one, there have been more), the colored pencil landscapes, much as I have enjoyed creating them--in actuality, all of them, I mean ALL of them, have actually constituted one thing to me--AVOIDANCE.

Avoidance, because what I really want to paint right now is people, in motion, in their acts of living, although in a somewhat glorified manner.  And with the above painting, I move closer to where I want to be.  It's not where I want to ultimately be, but it's closer.  I'm now on the path...

I know the painting has flaws.  I see them and will possibly try to fix them.  But in the fixing, something else may become ruined/lost, particularly the spontaneity.  So, I will show this to you now, knowing that you are wonderfully supportive Watchers, after all.  And knowing in my heart of hearts that I must learn to paint as I envision, whether it ever pleases another soul on earth or not!

There is actually one other subject I am yearning to paint, and when I do, I will show you.  And I believe I will always want to paint landscapes and still lifes, as well.  I love doing them, and doing them is part of the whole learning thread.

Thank you so kindly for being here, dear Watchers.  It means the world to me.  I was very shy to start this blog, very hesitant to show anyone but a couple of trusted friends what I was painting.  At some point, though, an artist needs to be seen.  This is where you come in, and to some extent, I could not do this without you, Watchers, so I extend my heartfelt thanks to you!

FYI, there are several paintings I haven't shown from this month....I still may show them, but have needed to focus on other things.  I am planning a big trip at the end of this month and spent most of yesterday working on the logistics.  I didn't get to start the above painting till last night around 9 pm.  I was up till 1 a.m. this morning working on her.  So, I'm pushing myself to do the painting work and right now, the blogging and all that goes with it (visiting YOUR blogs and expressing my appreciation for YOUR wonderful work) has taken a back seat for a couple days.  Thanks for your understanding.  Hope to be back in the "reciprocation saddle" soon.

Proofreading this, I notice I have referenced my heart several times.  Perhaps moving closer to my desired work is also a heart-opening experience...

For those of you who read my intro to my challenge on the first day, you can skip the rest of this post and not miss anything.  I kind of consider what is written below to be my "full disclosure" and may post it every day throughout this challenge:

 

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again."

30 Painting Days in 30 Days, Painting 7

                                                                    Colored Pencil, 5.5x4.5"

Here's another Colored Pencil landscape, my third since finding my  long-lost (years lost) colored pencil landscapes (read about that "miracle" here).  Please bear with me as I remind myself how to use these things; as I paint with them, I have memories come back of things I used to do and tools I used to use.  And sometimes, it's too late because I have already filled the tooth of the paper, so I have to stow away my tips to myself for the next painting.

At the beginning of this 30 in 30 Challenge, I told myself I would be happy if I got 4 paintings done that I like.  I have already exceeded my goal (AND reunited with my colored pencils).  I think I will always be primarily an acrylic artist, but these CP's are helping me to keep up with the practice of painting daily.

Thanks for being here!

For those of you who read my intro to my challenge on the first day, you can skip the rest of this post and not miss anything.  I kind of consider what is written below to be my "full disclosure" and may post it every day throughout this challenge:

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again."

30 Painting Days in 30 Days, Painting 6

                                                           Colored Pencil, around 6.5" by 6.5"

Here's my second colored pencil painting since I had my "miracle" (read about it here, in yesterday's post).   As you can see, I'm not being very serious about the outcome, really just scribbling, reminding myself of what I can do with my pencils.  Most importantly, for me, I'm having fun with them.  It's another great solution for me for when I want to paint but am exhausted from working all day.  I find the colored pencils relaxing to use and almost meditative. 

My artist/blogging friend Cathy Engberg won an award at an outdoor art show for Outstanding Achievement.  Well-deserved, and I am so proud of her.  I hope I don't embarrass her too much by announcing it, but she really, really deserves the attention...if you have time, consider going to see her post and look at her wonderful booth.   Then click on the title of her blog so you can scroll around more of her blog to see more of her awesome art work!  Go, Cathy!  (oh, I know you artists know how to navigate around a blog, but I have people who read this blog who are not artists, and I want to make sure they don't miss anything).

For those of you who read my intro to my challenge on the first day, you can skip the rest of this post and not miss anything.  I kind of consider what is written below to be my "full disclosure" and may post it every day throughout this challenge:

 

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again."

30 Painting Days in 30 Days - Painting 5

                                                                               Colored Pencil,  5.5x3.5"

Miraculous things happen to me when I do the 30 in 30 Challenge.  Remember all the great things that happened to me last January during the first challenge?  Well, this time, it's sort of a different but equally wonderful miracle.  

My first love in art was colored pencil.   A few years ago, I was packing for a trip and decided to pack away two colored pencil landscapes and a half-completed cat.  I decided I didn't have room for them on the trip, put them away, and haven't seen them since.  I have searched my home and studio intensely for them on several occasions throughout the years, and even asked my mother to check her guest room one time in case I had actually brought them and left them there.  A few days ago, I was home and looked down and there it was, out in the open--a black zip-up pouch.  I picked it up and felt that it had something hard inside and KNEW what it was--the backing boards to my CP paintings I have been missing all this time!

Just try telling me this is a coincidence!  I think this is a whisper that it is time for me to revisit my first love.  So...I did the above colored pencil painting that day and then another one last night--which I will show in a different post.   And I'll show the missing ones sometime too...but...off to paint!

Goodnight everyone and hoping all fellow artists are still having fun with this challenge...

30 Painting Days in 30 Days - Painting 4

 Acrylic 11x14"

I think this is the best I will be able to do for photographing this one.  I've been working on it for quite awhile and it's time to paint!  This is the one I told you about yesterday that I was having trouble photographing.  I think it's a little better.  I still like the painting a lot better than my photo of it (probably a better situation than liking the photo better than the painting)! 

The biggest challenge for me on this one was making the green leaves stand out (but not too much) against the green mountain.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

For those of you who read my intro to my challenge on the first day, you can skip the rest of this post and not miss anything.  I kind of consider what is written below to be my "full disclosure" and may post it every day throughout this challenge:

 

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again."

Interlude to 30 Painting Days in 30 Days

I DO have a painting to show you that I completed yesterday.  However I do NOT have a worthy photo of the painting.  I started several posts, trying to get the photo right, and finally decided to go back to the drawing board tomorrow.  I can see that the above photo of the completed painting is quite blurry, too.  Not sure how I got better photos for the first two steps!

Anyhow, as promised, here's my step-by-step for the Sunflower Bouquet painting.    And please stay tuned tomorrow...  And as always, thanks for watching!

30 Painting Days in 30 Days- Painting 3

                                                                               Acrylic, 8x12"

Ok, here's a tip.  If you want to do a quick painting and REALLY do not want to overdo how much time you are going to spend...paint a sunset!    Yesterday, I got home from work quite late and wanted some family time as well as some painting time.  I decided to paint the sunset from my front yard.  Quite the challenge, but it met my criteria for a quick painting perfectly:  when you paint a sunset, there's an automatic cut-off.   I mean, there truly is a point where you just cannot see anymore.  That's what happened with the clouds.  I used LOTS of thick paint on the sky and then when it was time to put the clouds in, the paint was still wet.  Perhaps any oil painters reading this are thinking, "so, lay the paint over it."  Or, "you should have painted the clouds into the sky as you went along."  Well, with acrylics, I'm just so used to being able to overpaint DRY paint and not have it mix in with any wet paint underneath.  As you may be able to tell, my cloud color was mixing with the sky color underneath, and it changed the color and value and what I was trying to do.  Under normal circumstances, with acrylics, seriously, no problem...just wait awhile until it's dry and overpaint.  Fix it.  Well, this sunset wasn't having any of THAT.  The sun continued it's descent, regardless of whether I needed to see what I was doing or not.  The end.  End of painting.  Ready or NOT!! 

I do give myself a pat on the back for painting after working a very long, difficult day (boy did we pay at work for having Monday off).  And I like the idea of sunset paintings...paintings with a natural cut-off.  I think it would serve me to do more of these in the evenings.  Maybe I'll end up with a series.  It's a great exercise...try it!

(P.S.  I scanned this instead of shooting it with my camera.  It gave me good light, and I didn't need a steady hand.  It did change some of the values.  For instance, that hard edged line between the blue part and the fading yellow part is not really a hard edged line--it's got an area of lighter blue in between the darker blue and the yellow.  It's truly a gradual color change.  I don't know why it scanned this way.  Something else I cannot fix!)

30 Painting Days in 30 Days, Painting 2

                                                                        Acrylic, 8x8"

Greetings!  Here is my second offering for the 30 days challenge.  Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments from yesterday's post.   Doing this challenge in a group is really a wonderful thing.  

I took a couple of in-progress shot of yesterday's painting and forgot to post them.  I think I will wait for a day when I don't have a painting to post and show them to you at that time.

For those of you who read my intro to my challenge yesterday, you can skip the rest of this post.  It is part of my post from the first day, and I kind of consider it my "full disclosure" and may post it every day throughout this challenge:

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again."

30 Painting Days in 30 Days

 Acrylic, 12x12"

Notice I did not say 30 Paintings in 30 Days in my Subject Line?  Most of my artist blogger friends are doing a 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I'm along for the ride, but my intention is to have 30 painting days in 30 days, not to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.   I would LOVE to do 30 paintings in 30 days, but I quickly figured out last time that with my schedule, I would be placing myself under far too much stress to make myself do an actual 30 paintings.  After all, I don't want to come out of the challenge hating the act of painting! 

Leslie Saeta is once again the initiator of the challenge, and you can follow the challenge on her blog.  Over 200 artists are participating.  So many great things happened to me the last time I joined the challenge (read about it here), that I just couldn't resist saying "YES!"  again.  "Why don't you dance?"

 Leslie has encouraged us to have a theme for our paintings.  I have decided that my theme is "joy and learning."  I want to paint subjects that bring joy when I see them and be in joy when I am painting.  I hope to learn more about my preferences for applying paint, and maybe I'll even learn how to take better photos of my art.  If I do, I promise I'll replace the above photo!  I also learned I'm going to put a timed limit on each painting.  The above painting took a long time, longer than I have to spend daily.

What did I learn from the above painting?  I learned somethings about applying brushstrokes that I like, especially on the right side of the painting.  I learned that a different crop might have been better.  And I used a new brush style for some of it--a dagger!  I painted this yesterday, but it was too dark out to get a photo...and I haven't had time to blog it till this afternoon. 

Thanks for watching!  I'm off to paint....

Scanned

                                                                                Acrylic,  8x8"

For this image, I decided to try my scanner.  The good news was it was quick and it was totally square when I went to crop.  And I know by definition, the lighting was decent.  The colors are still not quite right, but the worst part was the SOUND the poor painting made as it was removed from the scanner bed!  Scary!   I thought I had left half the painting behind.  Strangely, the painting was completely unharmed.  I did the scan after the painting was already dry for a week, but apparently it still had some objections...

Today, two people I care about very much had surgeries.  Here's to knowing all is well again....
                                            

Bouquet

                                                                            Acrylic, 12x12"

Another one of my larger ones.  I offered to buy this bouquet, but then it was given to me (thanks John and Emily!).  I tried to paint my feelings about the bouquet rather than just how it looked.  I really loved this bouquet!!  Dedicated to my mother, who could use some flowers this week...

Studying

                                                                           Acrylic, 6x8"

I thought I would finally show you one of the studies I have been alluding to.  I am trying to learn how to paint people and abstract backgrounds from my own photos.  This study is part of the project I am working on with others on-line, limiting our palettes to learn more about choosing colors to interpret photos.  This study is the first one I did that went beyond monochrome.   I really didn't want to paint the parking lot that was behind the subject in the reference photo, so this is what I came up with.  New territory for me, and I had just about a half an hour to work on this one.

Thanks for visiting!

Plein Air - Sunflower Fields

                                                                      Acrylic Plein Air, 8x8"

This painting needed me to go out in the field two times to complete it.  The first time poured buckets on me before I even finished my block-in!  I went last Sunday and finished this past Wednesday.  It has taken me until now to find time and good weather enough to get a photo and blog it for you.

I may have bitten off more than I could chew on this one, and I may have overworked it, too.  However, it was a very good experience for me in that I had to deal with lots of people seeing me paint publicly for the first time.  The way I was set up, though, was next to a road, so people could only see if they were driving.  They could slow down, but they couldn't really stop to watch for long, so how self-conscious could I really get?  I was able to practically "paint like nobody's watching."  One woman did turn her car around, asked to take my picture while I was painting, and told me she thought the painting was beautiful, so that was tolerable!

My favorite part of painting this one was doing the brushstroke in between the tree trunks!  That one made me so happy!  That occurred the first day of painting.  I had the foresight to take a photo of my stage one, because I liked the block-in enough that I was afraid I would ruin it by going back to work on the painting.  So, for the first time, I can show you the bones of one of my paintings.  Not quite a step-by-step, but the closest I have come so far:

                                                                First step, plein air acrylic

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!!

Back Home, In More Ways than One!

                                                                                       

                                                                                       Acrylic, 12x12"

Home from where?  First, I am home from my workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry.  I urge you to check out her combo website/blog if you haven't already, by clicking on her name.  She is a wonderful painter, writer, and motivational speaker for artists and for everyone, because she speaks to life, not just to painting.  I wrote about her workshop in my post yesterday (click here to read my workshop review).

I am also home in another way--I am back with my acrylic paints!  I used oils in Dreama's workshop, which seemed necessary to learn what she teaches.  When I came home, I couldn't wait to dive into my acrylics.  Started Thursday and finished this morning, I had a blast painting this painting!  I made a point to not be too concerned about neatness, feeling ok with the paint intermingling at its own will.  I was so happy to be able to layer wet on dry, too, and allow some of the underneath layers to show.   For instance, the darkest parts of the vase have purple peeking through, and you can even see some of the initial magenta drawing.  Even though it doesn't make for a tidy painting, I really enjoy seeing the color vibrations (more than the photo can show) and levels of process in the finished painting.  This is how I like to paint, at least for now...

By the way, I am soooooo glad I painted this on 12x12" -- four times as large as I often paint.  I loved having space to move that brush more freely!  And I am quite pleased with this painting....

Thanks for being here, Watchers...

I am no Dreama!

                                                                                             oil, 12x12"

This week, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry in her hometown, Paris, Kentucky.  As an acrylic artist, I had to muster up some courage to attend an oil painting workshop, but muster I did.  Dreama has a unique style of teaching her method of using the paints, in that she will go through one stage of the painting as a demo and then the participants go back to their own easels to do just that part.  Then...more demo, bringing the painting closer to resolution...and, you guessed it, students back to their easels to do the same thing.  Well, I can't exactly say I did what Dreama did, but I did the above, to the best of my ability.  It was quite amazing to see how different all our paintings were, even though we all witnessed the same demo and worked from the same reference photo.  We artists truly do all have our own "handwriting," as Dreama talked about. 

My favorite part of the workshop was the musical easels.  Dreama gave us each a reference photo to work from--I think there were four different photos.  We were to start our paintings and move on to the next easel when Dreama gave the word., taking our brushes with us, and using the paint the last artist had put out in order to work on the painting THEY had started.  We had very little time at our own easels--I would guess just a few minutes.  And so it went.  We moved from easel to easel, just a few minutes at each stop.  Before the workshop, knowing that Dreama does this exercise, I had imagined I might have to apologize to people for messing up their paintings, since I don't know oils.  But, what actually happened for me is that I would arrive at a painting and could see exactly what I thought it needed next.  So, I was able to approach each easel with the mindset "how may I serve?"  How may I serve this painting?  I can't tell you how great it was to just see something and act on my idea.  I felt quite supported, knowing I was surrounded by a group of very good artists who could always come in behind me and fix up if I had messed up.

Dreama gave us a three brushstroke allowance when we got back to our own easels to make any changes or additions, then we were to bring our paintings to a spot on the floor for the group photo shot.  Here's the funny part for me...I took Patti Mollica's workshop in April, and she had us paint a complete painting in 20 brushstrokes, teaching us how to really load our brushes and really move that brush around to get maximum coverage and interesting brushstrokes.  So, when I decided the entire background in the upper part of my painting needed to be darker, I was able to make that happen in ONE stroke.  BY that point, most of the other artists already had some paintings up for the photo shoot, and there was grumbling that some of us were cheating.  However, I knew I had NOT cheated.  Dreama defined brushstroke the same way Patti Mollica did.  Touch the brush to the board and when it lifts up, that brushstroke is done.  So, I absolutely didn't cheat!

Being around Dreama Tolle Perry for a few days was hugely inspiring.  She has a way of uplifting her students and emphasizes the importance of enjoying/loving the process of painting.  It was a pleasure to meet her and the other students, as well. 

Other students kept asking me if I would be using oils in the future.  I am not sure.  I think I will probably play with them, but I was really happy yesterday to be back with my good friends, my acrylics!  One thing I did learn, though, is that I want to paint larger.  The larger board helped me feel more comfortable and free.

Last One Before Workshop

                                                                                         Acrylic, 6x6"

I enjoyed painting that mug from the last painting so much, I decided to paint it again.  I have spent a couple sessions on this one, too.  I labored over this one more than the other one.  Hmmmmmm....what did I say about the last one?  I painted "for the sheer pleasure of applying paint to board."  There might be something to that approach!

I am headed off to a painting workshop tomorrow with Dreama Tolle Perry.  Maybe I'll learn a thing or two about a thing or two.  I am looking forward to having some instruction.

Should Have Been Sleeping

Acrylic, 6x6"

Three nights ago, I started painting this when it was a half hour past my bedtime.  I had energy and basically took a notion that I wanted to be painting.  "Painting" as in verb.  I wasn't focused on product, just process.  I pretty much went to the kitchen and took the first few items I saw; didn't give too much thought to arranging the perfect composition or anything.  Just put the items down in a way that was pleasing enough to me and went at it.  For the sheer pleasure of applying paint to board, not thinking too much, just doing.  Two nights ago, I had a second short go at the painting, putting in some fixes I wanted to do, also past my bedtime.  Tonight, I took this photo and get to blog it for you!

Thanks for looking....

WC Friends, Don't look at this till the 21st!

                                                              

                                                                                         Acrylic, 6x6"

Hi Watchers, long-time no post.  Today, my sister made me promise that I would post my monochromatic studies, since I haven't posted to this blog in awhile.  I decided to post this one instead.  It's my first shot at painting for an on-line challenge.  We are all supposed to be inspired by the theme of pubs, and everyone withholds their painting until the 21st of the month, so no one is influenced by anyone elses' painting.  This is painted from a photo, which some of you know can be difficult for me.  The reference photo is my own, although gorgeous references were provided in case we wanted to use them. 

I am more pleased with the painting than the photo of the painting.  As usual.  You will be happy to hear I am going to invest in Photoshop Elements.  Then maybe you will stop hearing me complain about my photos of my paintings.  I know it doesn't become me.

I may make a couple of changes to this one, but I also think the learning for me is to use a larger panel if I want to paint something with so much intricacy.  

Perhaps I will show you those monochromatic studies soon.

Thanks for checking in!  I do appreciate your being here....

Three Confessions

                                                                       Acrylic, 6x6"

Confession #1:  I have been working on painting roses for awhile this year.  Did you notice this is the first one I am showing of the lot?  

Confession #2:  I have been painting quite frequently, almost daily.  I am pushing myself with a variety of subject matter.  When I get something worth showing, you will be the first to know.  I know my motto is "Paint Like Nobody's Watching," and to follow my own advice, I have to give myself permission to try new things and not HAVE to publish them!

Today's rose was painted from life on a Gessobord instead of my usual Aquabord.  I usually don't like painting on gesso, but have been a bit frustrated with the stickiness of my acrylics lately.  I used Gessobords part of the time in the workshop I took with Patti Mollica in April, and did find the paint more, well...slippery.  I decided to go for slippery today, and I used a medium in place of water.  Usually I like my paint to dry fast, so I had to trade that out, since I wanted slippery.

I really enjoyed painting this and am pleased with the result.  Which brings up an issue.  Confession #3, in fact:  I seem to have a totally different sense of my own worthiness when I paint something I am willing to show you.  Which probably is detrimental in general to my well-being, but I imagine quite common among artists like me, striving to grow.  So, other artists out there in Blogger-land, if you are willing to share, I would love to hear how you handle the difference in feeling you get when you paint something you like versus when you paint something....you would like to keep to yourself.

Another Plein Air

                                                             Plein Air Acrylic, 8x10"

 Here is another plein air.  It took me two sessions to do this one.  Luckily, the scene is the rock shed in the bank alongside my driveway, so it was very easy to go back again.  What a pleasure to be out yet still be home.

As usual, I am dissatisfied with the photo and may try to redo, but I did want to jump on the chance to wish you a good weekend...

Plein Air (and forgot to bring white!)

                                                                         Acrylic Plein Air, 8x8"

Yes, lesson learned--I forgot my white wasn't with my paints when I threw them in the car last night! Even though I was only 10 minutes from home, the light was getting good, so I didn't want to go back for the white. I decided to dull down some pthalo blue and use it transparently (washy, with lots of water)  for the sky and mountain. I know, scary color, pthalo, but these are the Blue Ridge Mountains, so I hoped the dulled pthalo could get away with it.   Anyway, it was the only option I could think of!

Perhaps lesson learned for me is to use less white. I tend to have difficulty with white anyway. I know abandoning white wouldn't always work...that hill wasn't really that dark of an orange, it was actually much lighter with a slight suggestion of orange, so I went with it. I know substituting colors won't always work in place of white, but seriously, I think having to do without it showed me that I can try to reduce my use of it.

I also forgot my paper towel, and I truly cannot paint without it...but luckily I had done a cat rescue transport recently, so I had a clean "puppy pad" that stood in for the paper towel.

Did any of my friends paint plein air today?

Thanks for looking!

Irises and Good News about a Good Friend (or two)

                                                                         Still life, Acrylic, 6x6"

My neighborhood abounds with irises at the moment.   I must remember the lesson I learned last year....since irises are so beautiful, in order to see any value in my painting, I have to walk away from the iris!  I wrote about it in this post.  Irises must have come earlier last year, because that post was from mid-April.  What is blooming where you are?

Oh, I wanted to mention, Cathy Engberg, my friend who is a terrific painter, was interviewed as the Spotlight Artist for Daily Paintworks this week.  I encourage everyone to check out the interview here.

Jane Doe Update:

I am thrilled to report that Jane Doe had her six-week x-ray and recheck with her surgeon on Wednesday and all is great.  The surgeon actually said that her leg looks better on the x-ray than most dogs' do at this stage in recovery.  He said we can move from the recovery stage to the rehab stage, and he thinks she will need less than the standard 12 weeks of rehab time before she can be released to full activity.  If  you are so inclined, by the way, check out this very cool article about Jane's surgeon.

Happy Mother's Day!

 Acrylic 8x10"

This painting was started during the 30 in 30 Challenge and was never finished.  I have worked on it a couple times since then, and am still not sure it is finished.  But it seemed appropriate for a Mother's Day wish, so here it is, in all its unfinished glory.

I know now that I have been blogging for at least a year, because I remember doing a Mother's Day post last year!  Of course, I could look in my archives and find out exactly how long I have been blogging, but it felt more interesting to be writing this and have the memory come to mind.

Hope you are with your mother today, or your children...

Much love to my mother and to my sisters and friends who are mothers!

Learned Something New!

Remember Leslie Saeta, the blogger and radio host extraordinaire who organized the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge?  Well, she is at it again, this time using her know-how and her generosity to inspire her followers in a 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days Challenge.

I am no-way, no-how in a position to do 30 new marketing ideas this month, with everything else I having going on.  However, I am taking notes and trying new things and even making some new friends along the way.  The other day, Leslie taught everyone how to make photo buttons for their websites and blogs.  So, instead of using text to invite someone to click to something, you use the photo button. I have always wanted to know how to make those photo buttons, so I am quite excited!  I made the one above.

I was able to figure out how to make it clickable in the right column of my blog (over there --->  check it out!  ----->).  However, I have not been able to figure out how to make it clickable directly from this blogpost.  I know my blogging friend Sharon Graves knows how, so I am hoping she will shine her light in here sometime and enlighten me.  Do you remember Sharon?  She is the one who does all the wonderful nature art and interviewed me for her blog a few weeks ago.

Jane Doe Update:

Wow, blogger is being weird tonight.  I had this update on my blog, and then I didn't...

For those new to my blog, my dog Jane Doe had a very serious knee surgery at the beginning of April and is now confined to a crate, except for potty breaks, for the duration of her recovery.  Five weeks down, three months to go.  Not kidding! The photo to the left is pre-surgery days, when she was free to walk without a leash and without a sling in front of her rear legs supporting part of her weight (and to prevent a fall).

For the update, I will say that Jane Doe is "making the best of it."  As are we.  Keeping my wildly active dog confined is one of the hardest things I will ever have to do.  I am still sleeping on the floor beside her crate, but I have a good piece of foam to sleep on.  Very comfortable, and Jane likes having me near.  Thanks for caring...

The View From My House (quick plein air)

                                                                                            Acrylic 11x14

Sometimes I don't know why I do the things I do.  I know why I wanted to paint plein air (outside).  It was morning (although a dreary, overcast morning), I had the day off, it was warm enough, and I was awake enough.  All I  had to do was bring my supplies to my front yard to paint this  But....why did I challenge myself with:  1) a surface I am not used to (multimedia artboard); 2) a larger size than I am used to; 3) a painting medium I haven't used in years (glazing medium, which as you can see, makes my opaque paints semi-transparent).  I also used a large brush, and this piece was painted very quickly!   It probably would make more sense for an artist to make one change at a time, but that's me....

I am aware that the result is not a masterpiece, and I can see things I would change, but my response to this piece is I am excited for the start of the plein air season!  I think if I keep this up this year, I will get better at it.  I have painted and drawn this view many times over the years, and I can see in this piece the benefit of all the OTHER painting practice I have had over the past year and a half.  For someone who knows this view well (me), I feel the painting gives a sense of what it felt to be out there on this grey day.  So for that, and for the mere fact that I got out and painted, I am grateful.

Coincidentally, I got a message that my blogger friend Cathy Engberg also went out plein air today.  I look forward to seeing what she came up with.  She said it was sunny where she is.  It's sunny here now, too.  Oh well....

Patti Mollica Workshop

                                                                             Acrylic, 9x12"

Those of you who know me, know that there isn't much in this world that could tear me away when one of my dogs is in need.  Currently, my dog Jane Doe is 2 weeks into a 12-16 week recovery from a serious orthorpedic (knee) surgery.  She is completely dependent upon us for everything, has to stay in a cage with an e-collar (cone of shame) except under parental supervision for potty breaks, and even has to have a sling under her belly when she walks anywhere.  Yet, for the chance to paint with Patti Mollica, I LEFT MY DOG! (in good hands, of course).   I didn't know until I actually left if I would really go.  I just kept packing until I was ready, acting "as if" I were going.  I didn't know after I left if I had enough energy to drive all the way to Cary, NC.  I gave myself permission to turn around at any time.  I gave myself permission to leave the workshop and head home at any time if necessary.  Turns out, I went all the way and stayed the whole time and am so glad I did.

The above painting was one of several timed paintings we did.  Patti taught us to first do a value sketch and then to work from the sketch, using big brushes, lots of paint, and confident brushstrokes.  Patti encouraged us at the beginning of the workshop to take the opportunity to learn her techniques without pressuring ourselves to make beautiful, sell-worthy paintings.  You can see I follow directions quite well--no beautiful paintings from me at this workshop, thank you!  But, there was so much wisdom in her words, because I allowed myself to literally see what would happen if I used a huge brush and loads of paint and didn't fuss with my brushstrokes.  In other words, I allowed myself to learn, to see what would happen when the paint was allowed to dance freely, without worries about appearances.

 I am very pleased with my results.  This is an image of my niece that I have played with/painted quite a bit.  I see something in this workshop version that I have been wanting to see in my work--a certain energy, a certain playfulness that I plan to explore more.   Since this was a timed exercise, I didn't get to finish, as you can see for yourself in the lower right part of the painting.   However, I happen to like the unfinished part and plan to leave it like that.

What a thrill to attend a workshop focused on my own medium of acrylics!  There were plenty of artists doing wonderful work in oils at the workshop, but Patti's demos were in acrylics, and just knowing I was in the hands of a teacher that understands acrylics meant the world to me.  I am used to taking a class in pastels or oils and then translating what I learned to my acrylics upon returning to my studio.   I felt happy to be with a teacher and some other students who speak my language!

For the artists in the group, YES, a workshop with Patti Mollica would definitely be worth your while.  She is a very good teacher.  She is an inspiration, as she often encouraged and reminded us to be "interpreters, not transcribers."   Patti takes the time to explain things well, to consider questions, to do thoughtful/helpful demos, and to teach us experientially through stimulating exercises....and just LOOK at her art!  Wouldn't you love the opportunity to learn from her?  I would go again.  If you want to read what Patti wrote about the workshop, check it out here.

 Now, a post from me wouldn't be a post from me if I didn't complain about my photo--The photo of the painting was very crooked, resulting in my having to crop out parts that should be in there, but I had to crop or the photo I presented would not be rectangular.  What was affected by this crop was the negative spaces around the figure.  I will try to take a better photo and replace this one sometime in the future.

Jane Doe Update:  Thanks so much to my friends and fellow bloggers who have been asking about Jane Doe.  She had a two-week recheck with the surgeon yesterday, who said she is doing very well (phew!).  Her staples were removed, and we are giving a chance for some remaining irritation to heal at the incision...then--OFF with the E-collar!  She seems to be adjusting fairly well to being stuck in a cage.  Maybe she's just getting depressed, although you wouldn't think so if you had seen how utterly excited she was to be at the doctor's office yesterday!

Interview and Dog Stuff

                                                                   Colored Pencil, 9x12"  (I think)

This is a colored pencil painting I did about 5 years ago that I don't own anymore and borrowed back for the show I was in at the Asheville Humane Society in January.  I never got a good photo of it before it went to its current home, so I photographed it on the wall of the show.  Shall we just say I still don't have a good photo of it?!   Excuse the glare--it is a big no-no to photograph art while behind glass, but I didn't think the owner would appreciate my taking the frame apart.  I'll explain why I am posting an old colored pencil painting, when I consider myself an acrylic artist, in a minute.

But first, I wanted to let you know that a blogging friend of mine, Sharon Graves, has me as a guest on her blog today.  Click here to read her post.  We decided we would interview each other, and she threw a great first question at me, so she decided to post my answer today.  I am not sure if that is the end of her interview or if she has any other questions for me.  She knows I will ask her more questions and post my interview of her when I am finished, and she also knows that may be awhile, because I was already in the process of interviewing another artist before she brought up the guest post idea.  Getting to know other artists through blogging is a such a bonus for me.  Check out Sharon's work.  She also paints in acrylics, focusing on the natural world.

I wanted to post something of  a dog today, because I wanted to let you know why no new paintings from me lately.  My dog just had an intense orthopedic surgery to correct a knee injury.  We are now 5 days into a 6 to 8 week strict crate rest/recovery period.  Very intense period of life.  We artists sometimes say "life got in the way" of painting.  I hope to paint soon, but for now, I'm pretty drained with just the day-to-day.  She has to wear an e-collar to prevent her from taking her staples out.  Poor thing, being in a crate most of the time with the e-collar on....so stressful.  AND I feel I must sleep on the floor next to her crate in order to be available if she needs to go out in the middle of the night (and she does).

I want to get back into my daily painting routine, but honestly don't know if I can expect that of myself anytime soon.  Art vs. responsibility--the dog comes first.  Check out the photo below....her "baby picture." How could I not put her first?    Any artist reading this knows of the sacrifices we all make in our personal lives to have time for our art.  This is the other side of the coin, in that I am sacrificing my art....

                                         Can anyone guess why her name is Jane Doe?  (for real)

Rose

                                                                               Acrylic, 7x5"

This is the one I mentioned that I did early in my recovery from the broken ribs.  The one I had so much trouble photographing.  This is the photograph I complained so much about.  But this is the best photo of the bunch I took, and I figured it's time to show this painting since I talked about it (to some of you by email and by phone).  I don't know why this photo is less representative of the painting than the apple photo.  They were both photographed in natural light.  Maybe it was the time of day?  Anyhow, in the interest of full disclosure, here is my painting.

I started a painting of some bananas this weekend, but to be honest, I think I am going to end up eating them before I finish the painting!.  They are just not holding my attention like the apple did (and I'm low on bananas).  They don't seem to make as interesting a painting as the apple did, I think because the spotlight on them doesn't really create any strong highlights.

Happy Monday....