Kit's Mug

4 x 4

oil on Ampersand panel

One more to go and we will finish our series of Hilton Head Gang mug shots.  I deviated slightly from the "official" mug shot of artist Kit Hefner because when I was ready to sit down and paint her, I couldn't open the file on my iPad.  The photo was a hoot and I thought, "Finally!  Someone made a face as goofy as mine - maybe just marginally goofier!" If I can retrieve it, I may still try to paint that one as well, but in the meantime I had this little happy face photo taken at our workshop that I really liked.  I think I smiled back at the painting the entire time I worked on it.

Allyson's Mug

4 X 4

Oil on Ampersand Panel

Wow.  I haven't painted for about 2 weeks and I really can appreciate once again, how much this like exercise.  If I don't keep at it - I really get stiff!  Regardless, this was a lot of fun and I'm pretty happy with how it came out.  Extra challenges like shadows, reflections, and glasses make for more interesting outcomes.  This is Allyson Schib, another alumni of Karin Jurick's workshop.  Allyson, if you should visit here, leave your website! 

Judy's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

Our Mug of the week is of talented and prolific artist Judy Elias.  We are so close to finishing all the members of the Hilton Head Gang Mugs now with only a month to go. This project has been not only a great exercise and way to keep in touch with this wonderful group of people, but has developed into a support group, and an ongoing educational forum.  I'm so lucky to count them all as friends. 

Diane's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

I've been painting a little thicker lately and I like it because it helps me get a little looser, but I find it hard to refine details a bit.  But I was happy enough with the outcome on this little mug of artist Diane Howard. 

Sheryl Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

Mug number 15 is of artist Sheryl Lott and this one almost outwitted me.  Sheryl is gorgeous with great expressive blue eyes and that beautiful mane of red hair, but the lighting and the tilt of her head made painting her tricky for me.  I kept thinking, no, she's looking more like Brenda Starr, famous comic book reporter.  

Brenda Starr, Reporter, by Dale Messick as seen in Wikipedia

  This is not what I was going for.  I redrew it and reworked it, changing her chin, her jawline, her cheeks, the shadows, the highlights, until I started thinking,  forget it, I can't paint.  Bedtime was closing in when I succumbed to my frustration and just got good and loose, globbing on the paint and pushing it around with a reckless "got nothin' to lose" attitude.  Finally, it began to work. Hopefully Sheryl isn't offended by the comparison to a glamorous cartoon. And besides, there are worse comic book characters one could look like.

Linda, the sequel

6 X 6

oil on panel

Last week's little mug shot was the profile of artist Linda Nickles.  This is another view but with her far more typical, joyous "happy face", painted with her permission from her profile picture. 

Linda's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

It is cold and snowy and gray outside today but I'm loving it because it's my day off and I'm having a wonderful time painting!  For a warm up - I just finished this little portrait, the 14th in our series of mugs shot of each other from the Hilton Head Gang.  This is the charming and lovely Linda Nickles, artist and gracious hostess.  Since she is a resident of Hilton Head, she graciously opened her home for a reception of the artists attending Karin Jurick's Workshop last November, giving us an opportunity to meet Karin and each other.  Please visit her blog here.

Cathy's Mug

4 X 4

oil on panel

The weeks are flying by so fast - I can't believe we're on our thirteenth little mug shot of the Hilton Head Gang.  Some of the portraits really click and on others, I just can't win.  Happily, Cathy clicked and this one turned out among my favorites.  Artist Cathy Engberg is from Chicago (my kind of town), which makes her practically a neighbor!  You can see her work on her blog Color Notes .  I was so blessed to meet Cathy and all our classmates last November in Karin Jurick's workshop.  They are an energetic, supportive, and talented group of women who have all become treasured friends.  All of their links that are available, are listed in the bottom right corner of this blog.

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.