Whew! The Holdiay Exhibition is history for another year! It was great fun, if you didn't get there you missed a good party. This was my first ever, so I have nothing to compare, but there were lots of positive comments about the show, from artists as well as guests, which I'm very glad of! I sold a handful of small pieces and prints, which is more than I had expected. When will this economy be better for the arts??

Holiday Exhibition

Come see me and the rest of my Stutzie friends to begin the Holiday Celebrations!!

Mosaic Mirror

Been creating mosaics lately. Hoping to sell some at the upcoming Stutz Holiday Exhibition on Nov. 19th. There are 2 more blue tile mirrors similar to this one that can be hung together. Haven't done mosaics in almost a year, forgot how relaxing it can be!

White Mums

Finally, a new painting! This is pastels, done from a still life I set up in the studio. I kinda like it, it feels happy! Last week I put down a deposit on a new studio space! Vicky and I are going to share a great spot on 3C at the Stutz. Since the classroom is closing, we're going to move Open Figure to our studio. This should be a fun and exciting new venture!

Creativity Cycle!

So long since my last blog...

Creating art is such a cycle, currently I'm in the phase where I try something different each day. Nothing is turning out very good, I'm throwing a lot in the trash. Yesterday I started something that MAY turn out good, a largish pastel and charcoal still life of mums in a pitcher. I quit when it seemed like each stroke I made on the paper was a mistake! The trick to starting this one was to think about it before I went in to my studio. I needed to bring something to do a still life of, so I spent a few moments in my garden. Also brought in some Christmas bulbs and strings of beads. Hopefully this will lead to Holiday Show items!

Speaking of the Holiday Show, AAggghhh! It's coming up fast, I'm in charge of it and don't know what I'll exhibit myself. Lots of preparation work to do yet, but have had some volunteers, so that takes some of the pressure off. Thank goodness there are FRESH artists as well as SEASONED ones willing to pitch in!

Admitedly this pastel painting has nothing to do with the rest of this posting, but is something I did a few weeks ago from a live model. Sometimes it's good to look back at what you've done in order to see where you're going!

"Shades" has a new home!

I'm SO excited to announce that one of my latest pastel paintings has found a new home with Mike Perigo, whose wife Julie is also a Stutz artist. Mike and Julie were at the opening reception for "Voices, Women of a Certain Age", where Julie also has art exhibited. Shades State Park is a favorite spot of theirs, and Mike said he just had to have this. Lucky for me!

Going West

More fun with pastels! I'm enjoying this experiment. This time I "fixed" the underpainting with turpenoid, a little risky on a light wt. drawing paper. It was important to let the turpenoid dry completely before moving on. I tried a few of my new Nupastel brand, and I really like them. Maybe a large set for my birthday? I need a better way to store all my pastels, looks like a job for yard-saling.

Now that the weather is getting nicer I need to pack up a few things to do some plein aire pastel painting. I found a painter's tripod stool at a yard sale, it needs to see some action!

Model Lying

Yesterday four of us met at Michelle's house to draw from this live model. He is one of the best, interesting poses. I used smaller paper than usual, 14x17", so made the composition close in to the subject, which is so much more satisfying to do. Also, played with mixing compressed charcoal with charcoal pencil for hatching and detail work, and used pencil eraser for hatching as well.

Oct. First Friday

This should be a really good show! I'm planning to do gesture sketches for donations to the St. Margaret's Hospital Guild. Come one and all!

Approaching Glacier

Started this pastel painting today on a large sheet of drawing paper. It started as a pen and ink sketch done 2 years ago while in the car driving to Glacier National Park. The landscape through Montana and Wyoming was awesome! Talk about your wide open spaces, something a city girl like me doesn't see very often. The mountains really are purple!

Central Park

My newest pastel work is from a photograph I took last year while visiting NYC. It's a view from Central Park. Although the buildings in the background are an important piece of the compostion, I didn't want them to be the focus, so made them very sketchy. It was a bright day, and the front of the buildings were very light against a gray-blue sky. This is why I used a gray-blue sanded paper. It's small, 9 x 12 inches, so I used a lot of hard pastels that I had more control over.

Gallery Representation!

For the first time ever! I am now going to be represented by a gallery! This is something I've always thought would mean that I've "made it" in the art world, I guess I have! Kathleen O'Niel-Stevens is the owner of this new gallery in Carmel's Arts and Design district. Please stop in to see my art, and that of a whole lot of terrific artists. Her Grand Opening is coming up, so should be a lot of fun!

More Practise with Pastels and Charcoal

Yesterday was somewhat productive. It's always a good day whe I get to draw from a model! The bottom image was done in open figure, and was done over 3 20 minute sessions. The first 20 minutes was spent on the body, the 2nd session was spent on the face. At the break after that I realized the face looked too small for the body/head. Thank goodness for fellow artists who pointed out that the only thing wrong was the placement of the eyes. In the 3rd 20 minute session I simply moved the eyes and finished off the hair and top of the head. I'm pleased with the result.

The top image is done in pastels, 20 x 16. I tried a landscape in pastels for the first time. This is done from a photograph taken at Shades State Park years ago. It took 2 days to complete. I'm pleased with this as a first attempt, it is on charcoal paper, which I haven't used much, and feels different than the drawing paper I usually use. With this I did much less blending with fingers, only a little in the clouds. With this paper more of the ground shows through. I will look for orange charcoal paper to use for landscapes, but not too confident of finding any.

Opinion Needed!

Today I did a still life (Thank you, Susan, for the porcelain teapot!) using mostly hard pastels. The bottom photo was taken when I stopped for a break, then I returned and proceeded to put in more color, as you can see in the top photo. I'm not sure if I've overworked the piece. I'm still having a little trouble with muddy colors, but I'm getting a feel for why this is happening. Mostly, I think I tend to get mud when I'm putting cool over warm or vice-versa. I love the rich colors I see in other artists' pastel paintings, but I seem to have better results using a very limited palette. I just can't seem to resist adding more colors!

Franciscan Roses

This is a little different for me, brighter colors. It was fun to work on, because I was experimenting with different ways to blend pastels, vs not blending at all. Because I kept re-doing parts of it, I think it's a bit over worked, but was a good "LE". (learning experience). I still need to work on getting proportions right, esp. for symmetrical objects like vases.

Short Sketch

This is a charcoal sketch done in open studio a few weeks ago. We usually start with short poses, this one was 5 minutes, before moving on to longer poses. The short ones are nice because the model can sometimes get into some very twisted shapes which would be impossible to hold for very long. But a positive thing for me is that I can't overdue the drawing, which I am sometimes apt to do. I also try to impose the rule on myself, once the pose is over, STOP WORKING ON THE DRAWING. When I'm able to follow the rule, the result is always better.

More Fun with Pastels

I've been playing with pastels some more. Last Friday some of us hired a model, and this is one of the results. I actually just did this in charcoal from the live model, and added the pastel coloring in my studio later. I'm not entirely happy with the actual colors I used for skin tones, but am happy with the process. It would be preferable to add the color with the model there, but this was done at the end of our session! Also, did the facial features in my studio, without benefit of seeing the live model, and I think it shows. Anyway, I'm having fun with it!

Broken Pottery

Just finished this today after starting it yesterday. It's charcoal and pastel, about 3 1/2 ft tall, on paper. Thanks to Michele Soncini for the paper and the encouragement, and thanks to Susan Mauck, the new Hoosier Salon ribbon winner, for the idea for this series. This will be the 1st of hopefully a series of large pastel paintings/drawings? of broken pottery. I'm really having fun with this! On another note... After going to the Hoosier Salon Artists reception last night, I'm once again more excited about painting, and will soon take up brush and palette again. More to come...

Seated Nude, Profile

This charcoal drawing was done in figure drawing open studio a few months ago. The glare is from the glass, as this one is matted and framed. It's amazing what a nice frame with wide mat will do for a simple drawing! This is one of my favorites.

New Drawings, Open Studio

In the spirit of "Returning to Drawing", here is one of my latest charcoal drawings from life, done in our open studio. We have gotten some different models lately, and it seems to be helping me improve my technique. This drawing was done after preparing the paper with a coat of cold wax medium. It lends a "raw" quality to the drawing, as it is not possible to fully control the charcoal on wax. I kind of like this effect.

Charcoal Drawings

What an incredible month! My son was married to his lovely bride 2 weeks ago in my backyard. Last week I was elected president of the Stutz Artists Association, and now I am trying to get back into not only doing art, but posting it on my blog. I was feeling the need to go back to my origins as a drawer, so over the weekend I changed the art hanging on my studio walls. They are now covered with charcoal and pen and ink drawings, most are nudes done in Thursday's open studios. This picture is of a charcoal drawing that I did today. It was the first art I have done in a week, and felt really good to do something! I do enjoy a good drawing session! I tried adding a little color, not much, with pastel pencils. Hope you enjoy it!

Butler Pond, Another Version

This is a 24 x 20 oil painting done in my studio, using my smaller plein air painting as a reference. I wanted to try adding some colors not seen on site, and I wanted to see what I could do in the studio over several sessions. Instead of the usual orange underpainting I covered the canvas in an earthy red tone, since I have a lot of it. I think it works as a background color, but definitely darkens the painting as a whole.

Pink Roses, reworked.

Based on some advise, and my own dissatisfaction, I've reworked the previously posted painting, Pink Roses. I like it better now, anyone else have an opinion?

Butler Pond, June 2010

Completed this 16x12 painting during my plein air class yesterday. One lesson learned is to make sure I'm comfortable, in the shade, or I get too flustered and frustrated. It takes a while to realize that my rising feeling of frustration comes from not being able to see my canvas when the sun moves over it. I'd like to try the water again in another painting. It was very green-brown, with really no blue sky reflections within my picture frame. Next time I'll try a different composition to include sky reflection, but this time I was focused on the tall pine tree that looked like it was dripping pine needles. I don't think I really captured its majesty, but the painting is pleasing overall, I think.

Pink Roses

My "New Dawn" roses were in full bloom last week, so I cut some branches and brought in to the studio. This 20 x 24" painting was done in 3 sittings. I found that the roses did not last long, so was difficult to go back to them in the 2nd sitting, still, I tried to keep the style loose. It is a fun painting, I'll try to do more floweres.

Study in Greens

Last week our class met at the IMA's Lilly House again, and, once again, it was ghastly hot! Standing under the portico and looking directly toward the river, there is lots of greenery, so the challenge was to make it look interesting by varying the greens. Hopefully, I've accomplished this to some extent!

Indiana Landscape

This painting is from week one of the current session of oil painting classes. It is from the beautiful IMA grounds, near the east entrance. I'm pleased with it and anxious to improve on it in coming weeks. It will be available for purchase at Friday's "En Plein Air" art show opening. If you're available, come see it!

Portico

This painting is also from the IMA, done while standing in the shade of the portico at the Lilly House on a 90 degree day! I think it has an "Old World" feel, something I'll try to capture more often.

To see this one and lots more, come visit me at the June 4th show, "En Plein Air", at the Stutz Gallery from 5-9pm. Many of our studios at the Stutz will be open to the public from 12 to 5pm, just before the show opening.

En Plein Air

Last week was a big one for getting outdoors to paint. Several of us are preparing for a plein air show on June 4th. This painting was done just outside the Lilly House at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. What a charming garden area!

TC Steele Grounds

I was able to save the rained out plein air painting today. It's not exactly plein air anymore, but I hope I've saved some of the spirit of it. Did a lot of scumbling, added some shadows that weren't there on site. I think it improves the compostion. Hope it's not too busy!

Rained Out Paint Out

This was the result of my first Plein Air Paint Out, not exactly what I was expecting. It started out to be a beautiful sunny day at the Flowers of T.C. Steele paint out in Brown County. Jerry Points, Susan Mauck, and I had come together. For my first attempt, I set up my easel to paint the "Big House" amidst its blossoming garden. Unhappy with my painting, I decided to move on to a different spot with a clean canvas. I chose this view from below the house looking up from the woods. Just as I was beginning to put some thicker paint on my canvas it began to sprinkle, softly at first, but becoming more insistent. I packed up my things in a heavy downpour and headed back to the cars. When the time for judging was near, Jerry, Susan, and I set up our paintings alongside the others. The rain had let up, but not for good. Soon it was pouring again, and my painting began to show interesting orange speckles. People asked me with interest, how did I get that effect? I had to confess it was by accident. I started with an orange ground. Since there was so much "thin" paint still on the canvas, it came off with the rain. After an hour or so of heavy rain, this picture is all that was left. I hope to save some of it and re-post when it's finished.

These three sketches were done along the Pacific Coast this past week. My husband and two daughters and I were there enjoying the sun and surf. I did several sketches of water and rocks before feeling comfortable with them, although, "comfort" is a strong word to use in reference with sketching water! Can't wait to turn some of this into paintings, as it was the colors of the sky and water that were spectacular!

'Stutz Artists Association- Romancing the Paper'

'Stutz Artists Association- Romancing the Paper'

Tomorrow evening's First Friday will feature my artwork along with nine others from the Stutz, please join us for a great time!

Early Spring

Sometimes a painting turns out totally different from the original vision, this is one such painting. I set up a still life of spirea branches in a glass vase, but everytime I tried to paint it I didn't like the compostion, but I liked the still life when I looked at it, so what was the problem? I asked myself what it was that attracted me to the still life I had set up, and the answer was the flow of the lines the branches took when sitting in the vase. So I painted that, without the vase or the table it sat on. I kind of like it, but it's very different from my usual. A case of art in "the eye of the beholder".

Waiting

This is a larger than my usual size painting, 30 x 24. I started it a couple of weeks ago in open studio, when Marla was posed at a TV tray table with this hat and dress. In open studio we made up a whole story about how she was waiting at an outdoor cafe for a blind date, who hasn't shown up yet, but her real true love is the waiter standing in the background. (Yes, we were all women in open studio that day.) I didn't want to try to include the waiter however, so I've re-worked this painting a couple of times, and I think I like it better now.

First Attempt at Plein Aire for the Season!

The forecast was for fabulous weather, so I packed up my box easel and lunch and went to Holiday Park. I forgot, it's spring break, so the park was PACKED with kids! In order to get some solitude I hauled my equipment (15 - 20 lbs?) down to the river bank, about a 15 minute walk, which wouldn't have been too bad except I had also done my longest run for the season this morning, and my legs are killing me!
Spring at a riverbank means MUD, and lots of it, which is what I set up my easel in. When I started I was in the shade, but within 30 minutes I was in sun, and could hardly see my canvas anymore from the glare. I forgot my Liquin, so used terpenoid as my medium, and forgot my sunscreen, but at least had water. After about an hour of painting I'd had it. I packed up my load and headed back, or at least what I thought was back the way I had come. After climbing some unfamiliar looking hills, and scrambling in more mud, I finally found another human being who pointed me in the right direction, which of course was not where I was headed. By the time I got back to my car I had been out over 2 hours, but only painted for one. I finished my first plein aire painting of the season in my studio.

This is the event for which I'm preparing my studio. Everyone who's Anyone will be there, so see you there!

No Art Today

If I were to post a photo of what I painted today, it wold be totally white. I painted the walls of my studio in preparation for the upcoming big Stutz Open House. After the art is hung on the walls I'll post a photo of it!

Tropical Sunset, finished?

I think this is an improvement over the previously posted tropical sunset. I extended the beach, changing the composition. Also changed the color of the sand, and some of the sky became pink rather than orange. It's a little less glaring. I still wish I could have kept it a little "looser", but am working on that.

Henry County Stutz Show

Last night a group of Stutz artists traveled to New Castle for the opening reception of our first traveling show. The Art Association of Henry County very generously offered to host this show of Stutz artists' work, timed just right... before our annual Open House. Edward Jones Investments sponsored the show. Despite the less than perfect weather, and the success of the Butler Bull Dogs happening simultaneously, we had a decent attendance. I was especially excited to see a few people stopping at my paintings to take another look. Who knows, maybe more "traveling" is in our future!

Yellow Roses

Did this 11 x 14 painting in Jerry's last oil painting class of the season. I kind of like it, I think it's one of those paintings that worked well, and I feel I learned something from it. Now if I can only capture that lessen consistently in future paintings!

Rocky Creek

I did this before studying Scott Christiansen's rocks, and then tried to go back and fix my rocks. Somewhat succeeded. It's a pleasant painting anyway.

Study for Rocks

This is a small, 9 x 12 (unfinished) painting of rocks just to paint rocks. I was studying a book Jerry leant me, art of Scott Christiansen, who does terriic rocks!

Tropical Sunset

I thought I was done with this painting, until I see it photographed. I think I'll work on it some more, some of the color needs to be muted, and the beach needs a little work. It's one of my larger paintings though, 30x24.

White China

In a recent painting class we were challenged to paint all white objects on an off-white background. My painting from that class didn't turn out so well, so I tried again with pieces I've been saving in my studio to break into mosaic tesserae. These bits of china are a little beaten up, but looked nice on a sunny day. I like the darker background, and enjoyed playing with the border. It's a little unexpected, but I kind of like that.

Cupcakes!

This 11 x 14 was done for my class, the cupcakes really did have that swirl on the top, but I wasn't able to get it quite right. After looking at it a few days I've decided it's still a pleasant painting.

Avery

Avery is my 2 1/2 year old grandson. He slowed down long enough to lay on the back of my couch to watch cartoons, but just long enough for a very rough sketch. This is the painting I did alla prima from the sketch. That little foot in the air just kept bouncing up and down, up and down...

Cabin Fever = March in Indiana

OK, Here we go again... After 3 trips to the computer hospital, I am able once again to post on my blog! This pencil drawing is one I started on site and finished from a photo. This was my view sitting on Smather's Beach in Key West. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my favorite place in the world, and I haven't been there in almost a year! I'm really having withdrawals, but am so busy I can't possibly travel right now. So I get out old photos and sketches of the beach, and sigh...

A quick pen & ink sketch of my grandson Avery laying on the back of our couch. Did a painting from this sketch.