Silvia Williams Workshop

Last weekend I was happy to be one of six artists participating in an experimental mixed media workshop taught by Silvia in her bright well equipped mountain top studio. As a realist painter, I can’t tell you how delightful it was to be pouring paints and ink through coffee filters, gauze, cheesecloth, etc. onto various supports from watercolor paper, foam core, mat board and even my choice - primed unstretched canvas, to watch the magic happen! Various collage materials were used - cheesecloth, plastic screen, tissue paper, etc. Silvia was amazing as she worked on at least a dozen designs while we watched in total awe before giving it a go! I am somewhat reluctant to post my efforts since it’s obvious they are a bit color-wild and somewhat lacking in design. Just fun, fun, fun!

Thanks Silvia! You make it look so easy! Will see what I can do with these “starts” and post them later.

Goodbye Peanut

16" x 20" acrylic on canvas





When we lost our mother five years ago, her faithful and adored little Peanut joined our sister's household where she continued being a sweet spoiled prissy little princess. This week Marcy had to make the painful decision to let her go at fourteen years old. It was time.

Mama was known for her beautiful quilts, so when I painted Peanut’s portrait for her it was fun placing a special quilt in the foreground. She loved this painting which has been posted before but I felt the family might enjoy seeing it on the blog again. The idea for placing Peanut on pillows came from a favorite reference book, “Paint Radiant Realism” by Sueellen Ross.

Mama was thrilled when Florida Artist Wanda Carter known for her portraits of people and pets also celebrated Peanut with a portrait in pastel and even used the image on her brochures and greeting cards!

Goodbye Peanut and thank you Marcy!

Morning Stroll - Kristin and Madison

8" x 10" Oil on canvas

How I enjoyed painting this beautiful young mother and Baby Madison! Little Madison, so animated with ever changing expressions, made selecting a photo reference difficult! The family is delighted with the portrait and so am I! At the moment there is still another baby/parent commission in the works so stay tuned!

Autumn's Shy One

30" x 24" Oil on Canvas


This painting was one of five that went to Susan Livengood’s Sleeping Stones Gallery for next weekend’s county wide Annual Artists Studio Tour sponsored by the Haywood County Arts Council. Susan’s big, bold, energetic art is so exciting as is her gallery and I am honored to have been invited to participate. Thank you Susan! The address and a map may be found on the above websites.

While this piece was started a while ago, turning leaves outside my studio window, a brisk fall nip in the air and Susan’s invitation provided the inspiration needed to get it back on the easel. Seems I can’t get away from painting horses!

Susan and Ella

10 x 8 Oil on Canvas

This mother-daughter portrait was commissioned by an aunt as a gift and painted from photographs. I couldn't resist the bow and frilly dress in this pose. Capturing Susan's personality in her lovely dark eyes and rendering her beautiful teeth were the challenge!

What a joy it was to paint another young mother and her baby! Susan has now received the painting and I am told is thrilled with it! That makes me happy! And - in the meantime, there is still another commissioned mother-daughter portrait on the easel! Life is good!

wip - Starlin and Skylar

10" x 8" oil on canvas

The completed photos and scans of this recently delivered painting are deeply buried in the hard drive of my crashed computer. This one was taken nearing completion - probably about 80 percent. I am so pleased with the finished painting and with the client's positive reaction to it!

Wispy hairs blowing across starlin's face were added at the end and not in this photo. More work was done on precious Baby Skylar's face and the skin tones of both color corrected, blended and softened.

This pose was so unusual making it a thrill and challenge to try and capture the sweet gentle face of this beautiful new mother with her tattoo and piercings in a mysterious woodsy setting! I love being an artist!

The dead computer is going to Florida where a tech-y friend can hopefully retrieve the data from the hard drive and I will post a photo of the finished painting this winter.

Wouldn't a large variation of this portrait make a great competition piece? I may request permission to paint it larger for myself!

Stampede

4" x 20" - Acrylic on Illustration Board

Here is the completed painting...I'm pleased with the way it turned out and feel this is what the client has in mind. These horses were fun but a challenge to say the least! I am soooo ready for larger brushes!

The old computer could not be revived (at a reasonable expense) so brought home a shiny new desktop and I'm a happy blogger once more! It's been about two weeks since I've visited your blogs so can't wait to see what you've been painting/creating while I was "unplugged"!

WIP - Stampede

4" x 20" - Acrylic on Illustration Board



Stampede is a commissioned piece I've been putting off starting because the reference photo is poor quality, and because it's so small and because I procrastnate! It's starting to be fun and I hope to post the finished piece soon. It is to be picked up September 3rd and there's nothing like a little deadline pressure to light a fire!

This post could just as well be titled "August Woes" - since it was one week ago today my computer crashed and was rushed to a tech for emergency treatment. Because I wasn't sure if I wanted to repair the four year old desktop or shop for a new computer was slow giving the go-ahead to order the necessary part (power supply gadget). Maybe it will be home by mid-week! In the meantime my sweet hubby is sharing his notebook - with Windows 7 - a whole new ballgame that I think I'm beginning to like!

So sorry I'm not making it to your blogs with comments but will try and catch up next week when "Old Trusty" is back in the studio! Soooo lost without it...need the monitor to zoom in on details with these horses - not to mention needing recent files for two other commissions! Everything was backed up to July 1! From now on, daily back up of art and photo files will be the norm!

Our local newspaper's WEEKLY GUIDE gave Jean, Silvia and me some much appeciated publicity in Wednesday's edition! Woo Hoo - We are enjoying the comments from family and friends! The show comes down tomorrow.

Happy Me!

"Collecting"
24" x 36" watermedia on illustration board

The Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League 43rd Annual Juried Members Exhibit at the Tyson Library, Black Mountain, NC will hang through August 15 showcasing 73 pieces representing 40 artists. When we arrived for the reception Sunday afternoon surrounded by misty mountains and a hazy sky, it seemed the perfect setting for an art show! Exhibiting artists are not given advance information as to awards - so - I was surprised and totally delighted to find my watermedia painting "Collecting" had been honored with a second place ribbon! This show is extraordinary with brilliant pieces in all seven categories! Judge was Asheville, N.C. artist Sharon Trammel.

Silvia Williams had two pieces juried into the show as did Beth Dix. Jean Baldwin took a second place award in the drawing category, and Karen Paquette a second place for her fabulous mixed media piece! You can just imagine how much fun this reception was for me with so many old and new friends! Family members also showed up and the perfect afternoon flew by!

Yesterday two commissioned portraits left my studio going north! I am happy with both and trust (hope) they will be well received. A bit nerve wracking in the meantime!

Win or Lose

20" x 12" oil sketch on canvas

When our performing arts theater, HART, presented GUYS AND DOLLS local artists were invited to enter paintings incorporating this theme to display in the lobby for the duration of the show. What fun! I did a number of small oil sketches toward working out a composition for a 30" x 24" oil painting. The mat area in this piece is painted.

Currently working on portrait commissions, I'm not at liberty to show the works in progress... so will show you these small pieces and then the completed painting which was my entry for the show.

Celebrating Friendship

Very Rough Watercolor Sketch
4-1/2" x 9"


A life changing event occurred in 2004 when I joined a small line dance class with an awesome instructor, Carol, and met Marlene and Nancy. Marlene and I discovered we lived in the same neighborhood and the four of us became close friends as we continued to dance, travel to line dance events and have great fun! Our husbands enjoyed each other's company but had their own interests that did NOT include dancing! Line dance was keeping me out of the studio and the urge to paint was ever present - so - slowly my dance slippers came off and I began to make up for lost time with the brushes. However, dancing or not, we four had formed a strong bond and have remained close getting together for special occasions and for our annual days at the beach. Two have health issues at the moment - so - this post is let all three know how special their friendship is to me. This little watercolor sketch was done in preparation for similiar watercolor paintings for each of them a few years ago. Nancy is wearing a bracelet since she designed and created friendship bracelets combining our four birthstones, Marlene is reclining, Carol's bag holds step-sheets for practicing on the beach ! I am under the big hat...

These strong women light up my life and I wish them well and happy!

Just Kids

20" x 16" Pastel

Last week I received a call from a collector who had purchased an early pastel quite a few years ago from one of my very first shows. She was redecorating and wanted to move the painting into a room with lots of light and wondered if I would help her reframe it using non-glare glass. I can't tell you how excited it was to find this piece not only still exists but is valued! It was a bit emotional seeing it again - like running into an old friend. Resisting the temptation to grab a few pastel sticks and go back into the piece was quite a challenge since improvements (corrections) could easily be made and the work strengthened with just a stroke or two! A reminder by my husband that this lady is enjoying her painting "just the way it is" kept me at bay. (Actually he was a bit firmer than that... like... "Don't you dare!") I didn't. With fresh mats and a lovely new frame it's back on her wall without the glare and she's coming back to select another painting to hang along with it!

Tears of the Innocent

24" x 18" Oil on Stretched Canvas

A few days ago watching an aloof but determined pelican dive into the canal to proudly bring up a small catch, I was reminded of his relatives elsewhere along the oily Gulf Coast. He might be crying if he knew their horrible plight...an "a-ha" moment of inspiration! I was recently touched by Sherry Massy's painting depicting an oily beach also created with a heavy heart. We want to hit someone or scream but... instead we make our statement as artists often do, passionately applying our feelings of helplessness to canvas or paper.

I used a "distressed canvas" - on which I had earlier glued tissue and/or rice papers for wrinkles and texture. I knew I could work around the wrinkles for the feathers and texture would add character to the beak. The crinkles are great for water by dry brushing across the darks and letting the light bounce off the raised ridges. Horizontal waterlines somewhat offset the stark vertical of the big bird. The water is brown and black with only blue to explain the "dirty"...The tear drop is larger than the eye - because this disaster at the moment is larger than most of us can imagine. It is most doubtful pelicans (or other birds) have tear ducts? I didn't research - just painted as I listened to the news that tar balls were washing ashore in Florida's panhandle and a dead whale had just been found in the area of the flow....when and where will it end?

Wanda's Pitcher

16" x 20" oil on stretched canvas

Portrait commissions are still taking most of my time not to mention traveling back and forth between NC & Fla! We are back in Florida now dealing with a roof issue - not serious - must have ridge vents replaced before leaving for the season.

I'm showing you another older but special piece. A print of this painting hangs in our kitchen and brings back a happy memory of one of our group's painting sessions at Wanda Carter's studio. She set up this still life and four or five of us painted our versions in acrylics, oil and pastel. I completed the painting back here in the studio using the above photo reference. That little flat pitcher is adorable - but it was difficult to portray as flat and not as an askewed round one! We didn't take time to paint together as a group this past winter and I missed it! "Wanda's Pitcher" is sold and hangs somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Frank's '49 5-Window Chevy

16' x 20" oil on canvas

My husband has a passion for classic autos. Right now we do not own one but he's always on the "look-out". This old truck from his past (before me) was really special to him. Except for this one photo, all pictures of the truck were lost during several moves and a divorce. A few years ago, a watercolor painting of an old truck with flowers in the bed adorned the cover of a Cheap Joe's catalog. That lovely painting was my inspiration to try and capture Frank's truck to make up for his lack of photos. The catalog is long gone and I'm sorry I have no idea who painted the watercolor. I'm glad he enjoys his oil painting as it hangs in his office and is quite a conversation piece!