Bamboozled

8 x 8

Oil on panel

After class on Wednesday, we were set loose to get photos in the area.  My friends and I took the opportunity to visit Savannah where we met this gentleman weaving flower bouquets and crosses from bamboo.  Employing the economic strategies of every good capitalist,  he offered his goods for a hefty price but eventually bartered down to a reasonable sum plus photo rights.  He was charming and I came away with a workable photo plus a lovely bamboo flower.

Day Two

On the first day of the workshop, Karin walked us through examples of her work from the original photo to fully realized paintings and what a enlightenment that was.  It's so easy to be constrained by what we see literally instead of allowing our creative imagination to bring life and one's own personality to our work.  Of course there was so much more shared that day, including her first demonstration.

The second day, we set to work painting the same image from her demonstration and this is my exercise.  How to paint water remains a daunting mystery to me but I'll get there.

Karin's groupies

Being in Karin Jurick's workshop brought with it the extra bonus of meeting this wonderful group of artists.  I only wish I had the time to get to know each one better.

Living the dream

This past week, I had the amazing experience of being in Karin Jurick's workshop in Hilton Head.  Just watching her paint would have been enough to satisfy me, but along with her wonderful demonstrations came great advice and tips about everything from how to take pictures to marketing your work.  I can't say enough about how awesome and inspiring this week was. 

Last night I received the Elizabeth Yerks Memorial Award at the Ventures in Creativity Show here in Ft.Wayne  for my painting "Movie Night'.  I'm excited to receive the recognition and totally motivated to improve my skills.  I pulled a couple of good friends into my picture as my husband took this shot because I'm terrible about cooperating for photos.

Plant Manager

Oil on Canvas

15" X 30"

My husband Scott is a teacher so in between the school year and his summer school schedule, he throws himself into creating beautiful flower beds and gardens for our yard.  He loves to snatch up bargain flowers that have been poorly tended to at the store and bring them back to life and color with his TLC.  So this is for him.

Facing It

Oil on Ampersand

8 x10

The latest Carol Marine painting challenge  was to do a self portrait which was great fun but takes a big of courage to spend that much time critically looking at yourself whether it's in a mirror or a photo.  The last time I did one was nearly 30 years ago and whoa - thus the title of this piece.  The fun part comes in using a little discretion and poetic license in deciding to include each wrinkle, sag, bag, or whatever.  And I employed the classic "chin in hand" stance used almost automatically by women (once we've accumulated enough life experience), in order to do that little instant face life maneuver.  But again, the main thing was it was fun.

Movie Night

Oil on Canvas

20 x 16

A friend took this picture of her husband and daughters, caught in a moment of watching television.  I was so impressed with the balance and composition, I asked to paint it.  All I changed was the cropping and some of the background detail.  Once again, I learned some management techniques to deal with the challenges of reflective light and shadows.  And her kids are just perfect little models.

Nick

Oil on Canvas

18 x 24

This portrait of my son Nick is finally finished, or at least as finished as it's going to be.  It's been sitting in my workspace for awhile and I've modified it several times.  That's what I love about oils - they're perfect for someone who's never quite satisfied with her own work.

Guilt Free

Oil

6 x 12 inches

On two gessoed panels, each 6x6

 

I'm so happy that wonderful artist Carol Maine has started a new challenge site on her blog, Daily Paintworks.   This week the challenge was to do several small studies of the same subject and allow only 10 minutes for each one.  This was one of those great exercises that I need to do often, to limit   time to grasp the image, light, and color and transfer that information to the surface without overthinking and over working the painting.  I was lucky to get an extra day off this week and get a chance to get my painting ya-ya's satisfied, at least today!

study of Nick

Pastel on Pastelmat

     Another attempt at using PanPastels, highlighted with stick pastels.  Loved the surface and tooth of Pastelmat.  I could work it further but thought I'd leave well enough alone for this study.

     I've spent too much time away from painting and other artwork which is made apparent by the great gaps in postings on this blog.  So I'm going out on the limb with an early resolution to be more artfully productive, grow and practice more in this discipline,  and to make regular postings in 2011.  One thing I'm tremendously excited about is a workshop scheduled for early November but more on that later!

Christmas Present 1

Stained Glass

12 x 16

     Forgive the poor centering but how do you take a photo of a mirror without being part of the picture?   This is a gift for my husband, a stained glass, mosaic framed mirror.  There are bits of dichroic glass that add a remarkably pretty highlight.

Just Waiting

 Pastel on Strathmore paper

12" x 18"

      After reading about Pan Pastels in  Kari Tirrell's blog, I got curious and bought some to try.  I'm pretty under experienced with this medium although I love a well rendered pastel painting.  So this is the first crack at trying Pan Pastels along with traditional soft sticks.  This is Priscilla,who was featured in my very first posting in oil.  It's from a perhaps awkward perspective, looking down on her while she was waiting for a flight.  She is remarkably petite, but it does appear that her hips are a vanishing point.  Actually, at size 0, they sort of are.

Waiting Room

Oil on Panel

15.75" X 7.5"

      Taking our cat to the vet and seeing all those anxious pets with their hovering owners was the impetus for this painting.   I thought it would be fun and kind of easy to paint animals but it certainly wasn't for me, easy that is.  But it was indeed fun and I'm going to try it again.  This was done on a scrap of panel I found in the garage, thus the weird size.

Nick (detail)

I'm trying on this detail of a portrait I'm doing of my son. It's actually a large painting with a head/torso shot and a lot going on in the background, but he has very strong features and I like how his face has kind of a Statue of Liberty look going on. That's the huge advantage of painting on panel, you can actually crop a painting if you choose. This, however, is on canvas. It's not finished so I'll just see where it goes...