Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Sienna Strutter

It seems like a while since my feathered friends came
out to say hi! Thanks for all the lovely comments...
I'm in the studio getting ready for various shows and
matting prints, making cards and cleaning up...the last
part is my least favorite! I'm finding that the studio is
getting a bit full and the walls are closing in on me..so time
to sort, sort, sort and dump, dump, dump! We asked Charles
Reid during the workshop if he ever has any "dogs" and what he
does with them...he said, yes he does and takes them to the dump.
Someone wanted to know which one he goes to!

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Yellow house

Since this week is ending with a holiday...I found the one and
only painting I've ever done with the U.S. flag in it! I did some
sketches last year in my journal of a flapping flag and maybe
I'll photograph and post those some other time. You can also
see from the photo that I clip my paper to a board and I'll
stretch it and re-clip as the paper gets wet with pigment. I tried
my hand at soaking the paper and stapling/taping it to a board, but
that's fairly labor intensive...plus with the rain and humidity it takes
forever and a day for it to dry!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Pansies and tomatoes

Today is my 300th post! How is that possible? Where
did the time go? I must say the blogging world has put me
into this whole art community that is so supportive and
encouraging and filled with so many talented people...
It's alot of fun...okay a few words about the painting...
this is again an older piece and I photographed it through
the glass, because it was already framed..so you see this
weird reflected texture on the upper left side. Makes me
want to go out and look for new fabrics to use in my work.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Still life

This is another still life done during the workshop..one
of the first ones..see I've omitted the decoy in this piece..okay
I admit it, I was a little scared of the duckies...just afraid to
paint them at first... Charles actually said if something is too
difficult, just leave it out..very sage advice that I'll remember!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Duck a la Reid

Another workshop piece..this time a still life
a la Charles Reid. He loves his duck decoys and
ofcourse I had to give it a shot...managed to get
some flowers in there, though. He called this a
"masterful" duck..I really enjoyed it, but I don't
think I'll rush out and pick up a variety of decoys
to start using in my set-ups..I'll stick to fruit and
flowers.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Follow the Sun

"Follow the Sun" 22" x 30"
For those of you on my (snail)mailing list..you should have
gotten a postcard with this image on it announcing all
my upcoming events. I haven't done a full-sized painting
in a while, so this was really fun to do. Break out the big
brushes...actually I did this painting with a size 12 round.

Monday, June 22, 2009

By the window

This will be my figure painting of the week.
I did this during my workshop with Charles
Reid last week. It was a great time in a very
nice setting at the Southern Vermont Arts
Center in Manchester. I've been a member there
for over 15 years and have my solo show coming
up this August/September! Workshops are such a
great experience...you always come away re-energized
and with a new outlook on your creativity!
Plus you get to meet fellow bloggers...click the link to see
who else was there...

Friday, June 19, 2009

knife and orange, take two

Another teeny still life..the size of this one is approximately
3"x5". They are great practice. Divide your full or half sheet
of watercolor paper with masking tape and just paint a bunch
of these using different color combos and slightly different
views or angles. Use different sized brushes, new to you pigments
and a "loose" attitude. Just for fun.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

orange segments with knife

Small, close-focus still life...I did a whole series
of oranges with blue-ish backgrounds..working with
the complements. I'll post a few of the others later.
Another exercise I did was with oranges and then a green
background...oh the small challenges to keep our brains
entertained and s t r e t c h e d. . . .

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

veggies 4 dinner

The latest dsfdf challenge...I didn't take a really long time
to commit to this week's assignment..treated it more like
a quick sketch, but that happens sometime. Overall I'm happy
with the vivid tomatoes and the texture of the corn...the grey
background shadows leave something to be desired, maybe
it's the paper in my new sketchbook that is reacting differently...
yeah blame the tools!
P.S. If you want to see what I'm up to this week click this LINK..
so much for staying anonymous! Blogger unmasked!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Quebec City sunset

This is a sketch from my travel journal of
the view from our hotel room of Quebec City's
skyline at sunset. It always amazes me at how
relatively fast you can capture an impression
of your environment. Unfortunately taking the
time to just do it is what takes up the most time
and keeps you from spending the time! Do you
know what I mean?

Monday, June 15, 2009

Workshop demo

These are the peonies I did as my demonstration painting
for the peony workshop last week. I worked from a photograph
and put in the darks after lunch when everything had a chance
to really dry. I find that if we don't practice patience...we can end
up with mud quite fast...I also work all across the painting and
compare that to "spinning plates"...staying ahead of drying washes
and being able to scrape back or drop in more pigment at the right
time before the "plates" crash to the floor...or in other words
the washes dry.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Bucket full of blooms

"Bucket full of blooms" 11" x 10"
After my last workshop someone mentioned that they've
been steering clear of Payne's gray lately and trying to
incorporate Indigo Blue instead...might be something to
try...I do find myself going to the "dark" side every once
in a while and not being too happy with the outcome..so
maybe a switch in pigments is in order...any other "dark"
favorites out there?

Thursday, June 11, 2009

House and Barn

I did this painting on site during a Garden Tour in Southern
Vermont. They had used my watercolors for their posters
to advertise the event and in exchange I could come and paint
in some of the various gardens on the tour. It always made for
a nice weekend, meeting people and enjoying beautiful surroundings.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Peonies

"Posing in Pastel Pink" 15" x 22"
Had a very fun painting day yesterday at my peony workshop.
Mother Nature didn't want to play with us, so we were inside with
lots of bouquets of peonies and photographs. Had a great group
of painters and they really pushed their pink pigments on paper!
Perfecto!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Color and more color

"Tulips wet and loose" 24" x 18"
Texture, texture...saran wrap and bubble wrap, maybe
even some salt? This painting is a study in colors. How
many different mixes of purple, greens, teals and pinks
can you put in one piece? Keeps the eyes bouncing around
don't you think?

Monday, June 8, 2009

Tall tulips

We'll post this week with some tulips! All of them
are pretty much done for around here. I didn't
see too many great displays this year, although
I did snap some pix of a nice gathering of purple
and pink tulips. This is another piece from the earlier
years...tulip shapes are so satisfying to paint..those
lovely colored "bowls" with spiky greens and sturdy stems.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Sunflower textures

I guess I played with texture more than I thought. Here
you can see some bubble wrap pushed into the wet washes
down in the olive green part, lower left. Experimenting is
something that can only help you figure out how things will
work for you. Different papers, surfaces, brushes, palette knives,
paints, different brands of paint etc..etc.. I have tried Yupo, but
couldn't quite grasp that...maybe it's time for a retry...sometime.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

more, but different

"Peony within peonies" 10" x 14"
I painted this piece as a result of being a demonstrating
artist in the gardens of Hildene, the summer home of Robert
Todd Lincoln in Manchester, Vermont. They have beautiful
gardens in a fantastic location. I did this a number of years ago
when they sponsored a peony painting contest for a festival
and corresponding art exhibit...this painting won the award.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Peonies poppin'

"A view on Peonies"
Another oldie from the vault! I have peonies
on the brain, since my peony workshop is coming
up next week. I just went to the site and they are
pop, pop, poppin' out all over! The weather has been
a little cold and might have slowed progression a bit, but
they promise to be quite spectacular! I'm digging in my
paint piles and pulling out all my pinks...

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Iris time is now

"Iris Abstraction" 11" x 15"
As promised another floral image...great comments on
my DSFDF entry everyone! Thanks so much. I am eagerly
anticipating what the next challenge will be. It has certainly
made me more diligent in keeping a sketchbook, which was
definitely a goal of mine. I can see the steady improvements
it has made in the way I put down lines and color.

Monday, June 1, 2009

DSFDF latest

"Protecting the Farm"
I really wasn't going to start off another week with a rooster..
but since this is my latest entry for the Different Strokes blog,
I kinda had to. I'm returning with flowers tomorrow. This image
was based on another white rooster in front of a landscape that
I did two weeks ago...when the assignment came through for DSFDF I
thought I'd incorporate the landscape from the picture with one
of my crowned cluckers!