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!

Where's Mama?

24" x 18" oil on stretched canvas

We are back in Maggie Valley, N.C. for a couple of weeks opening the house, cleaning, etc. This painting of bunnies and field stones roughed in last season greeted me from the easel when we arrived. Still in a "fur-mode" from painting Mitzi and Daisy, I couldn't wait to squeeze paint and get busy! The trusty palette knife worked to achieve rough, hard texture for the field stones to contrast with the soft furry bunnies. The knife was also used for grasses and wild flower petals. There is color in the areas that appear black in the photo. I have portait commissions underway, but it was fun to relax with this playful painting using larger brushes and the knife!

Where's Mama" was inspired by a poem by James Cox entitled "At the Edge of the Unreasonable Forest"

"...along pathways of yellow and green

encroached by blackening shadows,

the pathways lined with luminous wisps

lifting slowly in the shadows..."

Thanks James!

Daisy

9 x 12 oil on stretched canvas

Another furry portrait commission! With this one I could see the eyes! Had a disk of photos to work from and wouldn't you know, Daisy always had those little front paws tucked under her. Wonder what that means in "kitty speak body language"? Such a pretty cat - and with those big yellow eyes - so paintable. Since this was a portrait of Daisy, the kitty beside her was given less detail. I'm becoming very fond of cats! Daisy is now in her new home in Pinellas Park and I'm missing having her and Mitzi in the studio where the two of them have spent lots of time looking at me from the monitor and the easel as I squinted back at them!

Mischievous Mitzi

12" x 9" oil on stretched canvas

This portrait of sweet little Mitzi was delivered yesterday and I'm happy to say the client loved it - no changes or adjustments! Yea! For this painting I found myself again mixing with the neutral warm and cool gray tube colors from the Sandin Pro Mix Color System for flesh tones! I would have preferred a reference photo with a more direct gaze since a cat's eyes are so amazing! At least the green color shows and a hint of her personality comes through as she plans her next "adventure"! I am told Mitzi is always "up to something", and that she's very affectionate.

Study for Mr. Howard's Mail

8 x 10 Oil on Canvas

Recently a lovely lady asked if I would compose a painting with these elements in the the following order of importance - A mailbox with her late father's name, roses, a rustic fence, a cardinal, a path and maybe a birdhouse! Since it was impossible to know what she was "seeing" in her mind's eye, a few pencil sketches were presented from which she chose this particular fence and an open mailbox...We decided the bird house was not needed and I tried to work in all her other elements plus a few glads for flower variety. She has now approved this composition and I like it too! Challenges such as this one keep studio days interesting! For her painting, the colors will probably be muted, but it was fun going bright and bold with this little one!

Big Bad Bruce Finished (or not?)

8 x 10 Oil on Canvas

The second Wednesday of each month our critique group, a number of serious award winning artists sharing helpful hints and suggestions, meets for an informal review of the each others works in progress. All intermediate artists are invited and newcomers are given more gentle positive critiques than those of us who want to be hit with all suggestions as to areas that are working and those that might be improved upon. Each artist must evaluate suggestions and decide whether or not he/she agrees and take it from there.

I was aware the circled areas were really bothersome before the critique group got hold of Bruce. First of all, the green is "foreign" to the painting but wanted that color reflected in the glasses. The shape of the green color lined up with and repeated the shoulder shadow shape. Baaaaad...however, I waited to change it until after critique in case there were other needed fixes I didn’t see. My solution - for the moment at least - has been to paint out the green and maybe that draws more attention to Bruce’s face? He enjoys riding in the country exploring back roads and I felt the green expressed that... so it’s still in the glasses. And, know what? Maybe I would like a little of it back in the painting ...so...you may see this one more time! I will be more careful of the shape and the color! Am thinking about painting this "larger than life" - 24" x 30" just for Bruce and for the drama!