Reminder: End of Spring Challenge June 6, 2011

Just a reminder!

Hi all you creative types! Last year we did three virtual paint-outs here on WordPress and boy were they fun. I am issuing the call for our first paint out of 2011. I am a devoted reader of Oprah magazine and this month I was captured, I was enchanted, I was gripped by six words from a poem by e. e. cummings. I am a farm girl who grew up among the green fields and forests of Indiana. The words that captured my imagination are “the leaping greenly spirits of trees”. I would like to offer these as the inspiration for our first paint out. I hope everyone reading this realizes that the “Paint Out” is open to all artists whether you paint with a brush, a needle, a word processor.

On the last day of Spring, Monday, June 20th, please post your creation on your blog and leave a comment on my post. If you are not a blogger and would still like to participate, email me your creation and I will do a follow-up post with your work.

Thanks to all who join the community and accept the challenge.

May 31, 2011 June 4, 2011

Yikes! I recently realized that I did not have a single new drawing that I could enter in The Indiana State Fair fine art competition. The fair is near and dear to my heart because I was a long time 4-Her in my youth, because the people that run the fine arts area are incredibly nice and because I sold a drawing and a painting two years ago. Over 100,000 people tour the fine arts building. What an oppotunity to have your work seen!

While I was doing research for my American Modernism tour I became familiar with the B&W cloud photographs of Alfred Stieglitz (primarily titled Equivalents). During summers at his family home on Lake George, Stieglitz would go “a-skying” and that’s when he took most of these photos. They are beautiful and very special and after his death O’Keefe gave 19 of them to the Phillips Gallery in Washington DC. Duncan Phillips had been trying to buy them for years. I found the photos in the catalog for a show called In the American Grain: Marin, O’Keefe, Dove, Hartley & Steiglitz at the Phillips. I decided to see if I could draw clouds with graphite. My first drawing included a sunset – very hard to work with in graphite, dumb me – and was a mess but my second drawing came out better. It’s just a start and I may have to divert to get something ready for the fair but this is challenging and a great oppotunity for me to learn.

February 5, 2011 February 6, 2011

I am still working with eyes and where they take me so I thought I would show you the drawings that started all this. Back in 1986 I took a big book of phtotographs from the public library. I don’t remember who the photographer was but I know I was fascinated by several pairs of striking eyes. During this time period I had very little time to draw or paint so I sat down with my sketch pad and drew the following…I think you will recognize at least a couple of the sketches.

Eartha Kitt's Eyes

And…

Mia Farrow Eyes from the Great Gatsby, Bette Davis Eyes and Bertrand Russell Eyes

I have always been fascinated by eyes that are topped by eyebrows that go up as they reach nose..that look like they’ve been lifted at the end by a fish hook. Brian Williams of NBC News has eyes like this and so does Colin Farrell. Here is my attempt at capturing the eyes and eyebrows of Farrell with his scepticism and tentative nature.

As one of you said “The eyes have it!”

December 27, 2010 December 28, 2010

gbc Gallery Show, November and December, 2010

gbc Gallery Show

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday everyone. I hope your holiday was safe, enjoyable and that we were warm and cozy if you were caught in the blizzard that hit the east coast. Today is my husband’s birthday so  (once again) I will not have much time to paint. But I do have something to share.

I finally have a few photos of my solo show to post . I have 40 paintings in the show and they range from realistic to abstract and include drawings in ink and charcoal and paintings in watercolor and acrylic. There is even a little use of pastel thrown in.

gbc Gallery Show

gbc Gallery Show

The show ends this weekend so I wanted to post some of my photos for you to see before it ended. This has been an excellent opportunity for me to obtain feedback and I believe I may have sold  three or four paintings. The three little black and white paintings have sold as a group and one of my little florals has probably sold.

gbc Gallery Show

December 14, 2010 December 14, 2010

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary and Ken and I are going to plan our day. The weather is frigid and the wind is gusting…hmm dinner by a fire maybe? We’ll see.

Recently Leslie and Stephen have both posted paintings about Sentinels that offer a view of nature’s sentinels. I have always seen trees – usually large, old ones – and associated them with human strength and fortitude, kind of the best of human characteristics. I have done two works over the last few years called The Sentinel so I thought I would share them.

The Sentinel 12" X 16" Transparent Watercolor 140# Arches

 

This painting was done in 2007 shortly after I started painting. It is a sycamore that stands at the bottom of the sledding hill at Ft Benjamin Harrison State Park in Indianapolis. It has always struck me as a tree that is watchful and protective. This is my third attempt to paint the tree in order to capture its strength and grandeur. You don’t want to see the others!

The Sentinel #2 15" X 22" Watercolor and Charcoal on Rive Paper

 

Sentinel #2 is a work I started in a workshop given by Peggy Brown in 2008. We soaked Rive Printmaking paper in water and then shaved vine charcoal onto the wet paper. When you let the paper dry, the charcoal acts like watercolor and doesn’t rub off the paper. You then look at your gray design and decide what to do next. I drew what I hoped was a strong, bold tree limb from an ancient tree. I wanted to communicate a feeling of history, strength and watchfulness. After I rapidly drew the limb using charcoal, I used watercolor to add interest and texture.

 

 

March 27, 2010 March 28, 2010

And the evolution continues…I just spent the last two days working on the detailed drawing for the Cowgirl painting I want to do. I made several changes but now I am to the point that I am ready to make the drawing on my watercolor paper.

Cowgirl Detailed Drawing

Just a few questions for those who are willing to comment.

1. I think the neck is too long. Should I shorten it?

2. Is the hat right? I changed the style to more of a Mexican / Southwest style. Should I go back to something more tyipcally western?

3. She looks a little stiff and forward leaning. Should I remove the rope? Maybe put it in her hand at her side instead of the cup? Tilt the shoulders differently? I am using the cup because I want to convey the beginning of her day.

Please be critical…one thing I have noticed about the process I am following is that I get tired of working on one piece so long so I may do some Sumi-e or something before I start to paint this. Each step yields improvement so I don’t want to get bored and not finish the process or the painting.