The Dawning of a New Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

 Well we've come to the 12th mug out of our class of 18, and this week is artist Dawn Hartigan.  Dawn is not only an outstandingly nice person, she's one of the most prolific painters in our class.  When I was still dinking around three days later with the first day's assignment, she probably had finished a dozen or so paintings.  Maybe that's a slight exaggeration.  As always, you can view all of our interpretations of each other as they come in, on our Hilton Head Gang blog here.

I Yam What I Yam

4 X 4

oil on panel

Well it was bound to happen - last week was my turn to have my mug painted, an event I admit I was dreading because I just hate to have my photo taken.  I learned so many things while doing this one including:

     1. Mom was right.  Who hasn't been warned by their mothers not to make dorky faces because they'll stick.  Well I made a dorky face when my workshop classmate Maria was going around taking our mug shots and now it's potentially being painted by  the other 17 Hilton Head Gang members and might be posted on their blogs. For certain, all that are done will be on our new HHG blog, so check it out! 

     2.  I'm not a super model after all.

     3.  I currently approach art as a realist, and realism confronts truth in what we see, uncorrupted by personal bias. So I have to respect both the good and the bad, the holy and the profane, the beautiful and the dorky.

     4.  You don't have to be a realist to be realistic about your own self portrait.  Through history, artists have celebrated themselves in the most truthful ways.  Take for instance the 70 year old Alice Neel

sitting naked in her little striped chair, or  Van Gogh after he loped off part of his ear.

     5.  And finally, that we all see each other as we are, not in our self conscious moments with stomachs in, shoulders back, chin(s) up, and ready for our close ups.  So unflattering moments only surprise the subject, not everyone else who has to look at you.  In short, we are what we are and I yam what I yam.  

The Dixie Chick

5 X 7

Oil on panel

  My friend Mona is a bone fide southern belle from New Orleans.  She is here in her element, sitting in the sunshine at the water's edge in Savannah.  And thank you to her sis Carmen for letting me paint from her pile of photos from our trip last November!

The Jolly Sommelier

8 X 10"

Oil on deep cradled hardboard

     On our way to Hilton Head, my friends and I stayed over at a Bed & Breakfast in Tennessee.  At our hostess's suggestion, we went to a nice restaurant where we were beautifully served by this gentleman, with a radiant smile and a nice table wine.  He was a portly fella with delicate hands and I knew I had to paint him. 

The Sedona Arts Center is the organization that organizes workshops, classes, field expeditions, and more to educate and provide experiences in all mediums to artists and art students.  They are the organization that sponsers Karin Jurick's Workshops.  If you're new to my blog, first, thank you for visiting, and to bring you up to date, this series of mug shot paintings and many references to the "Hilton Head Gang" (HHG), is all born out of a workshop we took from artist Karin Jurick last November in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  Hanging out with Karin, learning so much from her, and meeting and forming friendships with the other artists attending was just an amazing gift.  

As if that wasn't enough!  Recently, the director of the Sedona Arts Center, Vince Fazio, extended an invitation to any artist who had participated in one of their workshops, to submit a painting that exemplified the area where the workshop was held, for an exhibition called "A Sense of Place" which will be part of Sedona's "First Friday Artwalk".   Ultimately, almost all 19 of the Hilton Head Gang responded with enthusiasm and if that wasn't cool enough, Karin let us know she would be sending a painting to hang with our group!  What solidarity!  


Gang member Regula Scheifele, made this poster to celebrate our excitement over, well, everything, but specifically that Karin is hanging with us once again, on the walls of this exhibition.   If you happen to be in Sedona, Arizona, please stop in and see our paintings.  The show opened yesterday with the formal reception on Feb.3 and stays up through the 14th.   I sent my painting "Bamboozled" which was of a bamboo weaver we met in Savannah.  This isn't the greatest photo but here it is, framed.   Good luck to all who are participating in "A Sense of Place"!

Betsy's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on panel

I'm having a run of frustration with my little mugs.  My last one didn't turn out as well as I hoped and will definitely be a do-over when I get a stretch of time.  I didn't post that one.

I looked forward to painting artist Betsy Stevenson and did indeed enjoy painting this one.  She is just so beautiful with wonderful color in her face, framed with her gorgeous grey and white hair.  But again, I'm afraid this just does not do her justice and I'm going to have to try it again, maybe smiling next time.  Betsy's website can be found here

Self Portrait

16 X 20

Oil on panel backed canvas

I just finished this today, 4 days too late to make the deadline for a self portrait exhibit at Artlink, our local art center.  Ah well.  The devil was in the detail, but so was the fun.

Nancy's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on panel

This one was definitely a challenge.  Last night, I was getting so hung up on details and ultimately frustrated, I decided to call it a night and tackle it later.   What happened next is probably something all artists can relate to.  As I was putting things away, I kept looking at the painting to evaluate where I was going wrong, then grabbed one of my freshly cleaned brushes and took a swipe here and there, then more, then more, then pretty much repainted the whole thing loosely, almost carelessly, and found I liked it.  So Nancy, I apologize for your blue chin and purple neck.  You can view Nancy's blog here.  And to see everyone's work on Maria's site, take a look here.

Roxanne's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

Happy New Year everyone!  Hilton Head Gang member, Roxanne Duke, has the distinction of being the first mug of 2012!  I loved the challenge of her rimless glasses and chose to not stay true to the photo in which her eyes were quite shadowed.  She has beautiful eyes that deserve to be accented.  Roxanne's paintings can be viewed here.

These mini portraits have been so much fun, and they're going so fast now, I'm thinking I may start doing family and friend's minis to be displayed together.  I'll add this to my "think about it" list.  I can't believe there was a time I suffered from painter's block - straining to come up with a subject.  There are so many ideas I want to get to, let alone the two projects on various easels right now.  I'm looking forward to posting more paintings besides the little mugs this year.  I better add resolutions to my list as well.

Sherrie's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

The last mug shot of the year is artist Sherrie Hilliard.  I must again point out that my Hilton Head workshop-mates were great sports about having their pictures taken with their best "perp" expressions so we could paint each other's "mug shots", and that Sherrie is really quite pretty.  And thanks again to Maria Hock who faithfully sends out these photos and posts them on her blog site.  To view everyone's interpretations, visit her blog here or her Picasa gallery here.

 

Kelley's Mug

4 x 4
oil on panel

I didn't think I'd get any painting in this week, but everyone was out of the house for awhile tonight, so instead of tackling the many little Christmas related things that need to get done, like wrapping and looking over the list for the gazillionth time, I finished another Hilton Head Gang member's mug shot.  This week is artist Kelley MacDonald,  and borrowing Kelley's mantra, sometimes "girls just wanna paint".  Visit Kelley's blog here.

Thanks to all who visited my blog and for the kind comments offered in response to the postings this year.  I appreciate all your support.  May you all have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and everyone be safe out there!

Golden Friendship

12 x 12

Oil on panel backed canvas

Sam's parents set out to find a therapy dog for him, but when they found Shadow, they knew he was going to be part of their family.  Shadow was just a puppy at the time but was already disfigured from untreated mange.  Still his incredible serene and angelic personality was apparent and to know him is to love him.  I just finished this last night, just in time for it to dry and be wrapped for my sister ( Sam and Shadow's mother ), for Christmas.  Hopefully this isn't the one time she looks at my blog!

I Left My Brain in Hilton Head

 Maybe that's overstating it a bit, but to say I left part of my subconscious is a little too obscure, and my heart is firmly planted between Indiana with my husband and cat, and in Texas with my boy Nick.  However, since receiving a disc of photos in the mail from one of my dear travel buddies, I've definitely been letting my daydreams carry me back to that lovely vacation in South Carolina.   And although it's been a month since we were there, I thought I'd share some moments.   And so here I am, supplies packed precariously in shopping bags, on my way in to the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina for my first day of the Karin Jurick Workshop.  I was crazy excited.

 And this is inside, actually into the second day there.  We had all abandoned our workstations to cluster around Karin and watch her paint, always a highlight of each day.  That's my spot in the foreground.  Later that day I bought one of Brett's Tabletop Easels and have been happily using it ever since. 

This was a typical moment in which we were held in rapt attention during one of Karin's demos which is clearly not only informative but highly entertaining.  The girl is hilarious.

The Three Graces

My posse, my travel companions, my friends - Carmen, Susie, and Mona.  Here we are on the beach in front of our condo.  It was a little chilly but gorgeous, which called for a toast. 

 In the Presence of Artistic Greatness

A statement that could apply to both, my friend, artist Susie Suraci and to Karin Jurick  who's paintings we're enjoying here at the Morris & Whiteside Gallery.   The week was incredible, filled with art, ocean, good food, good wine,with side trips to Savannah and Bluffton and wonderful time spent with wonderful people.  It exceeded whatever I had imagined to experience when I signed up for the workshop. 

Jennifer's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on Panel

This week the Hilton Head Gang Mug Shots spotlight falls on Jennifer Koach who was dubbed "JLo" by her classmates.  Everybody was a good sport to ham it up for the camera for the sake of this project and give their most distressed, "just been caught" expressions.  Again, everyone's interpretation of JLo can been seen on the right hand side of Maria Hock's  blog. 

I have this whole week off and am embracing the chance to do Christmas-y things, get ready for my son's visit, and enjoy time with my husband, family, and friends.  I'm also luxuriating in the time to paint ad lib, without having to squeeze it into life.  Maybe I will get a painting or two done for gifts after all!

Linda's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on panel

And here's another "mug shot" of one of my classmates from the Hilton Head gang.  Finding time to paint is always tricky but this week has been a killer, between my regular schedule plus mandatory extra shifts at my job, and Christmas decorating.  Tonight after work, I started in on this little mug of artist Linda Popple and determined to get it done no matter what.  I could have tweaked it a little more but here it is.  For all the mugs by all the Hilton Head gang, go to Maria Hock's blog site.  Maria's challenge has been to do a mug a week and I'm hoping to keep up with it although it's going to be a hectic and joyful month.  I'm looking forward to making up for lost time with my son who is several states away in grad school but will be home for Christmas.  And of course, nothing is more important than that!