Friday, September 28, 2012

September 28, 2012

Moving right along.....before I get into my limited landscape paintings I wanted to post this mural that used to be in a store in Friday Harbor, WA.....it was my first truly big piece....challenging and fun to do.  Unfortunately the store has been closed, or sold....I'm not sure which, but I doubt the mural is there anymore....maybe I will make it up into a painting on canvas one day.....

Okay....so that brings me to the landscapes....this one I did after taking Tim Horn's class Painting from Photographs in the Plein Air Style.......I don't think I quite succeeded but it is part of the learning curve.
Lake Bon Tempe
Oil on Canvas
12 x 16
This one followed
Bon Tempe Afternoon
Oil on Canvas
16 x 20
This  piece was done at a workshop with Tim in Petaluma last year on a huge ranch that Tim has painted many times so successfully.  It was very windy the entire weekend...but still we all had fun and learned a lot.  
Starting Point
Oil on Board
8 x 10
and this study....needs some work...but a good start I think.
The Barn
Oil on Board
8 x 10
And that brings me up to present time.......and paintings that I will post another day.....

Sunday, September 23, 2012

September 23, 2012

Continuing on to get myself...and whoever happens to be reading this.....up to current time.....the next painting was
this Bird of Paradise....which hangs in our living room....is oil on board...and started me wanting to get some help.  So the following summer I began taking classes through the Island's Art League in Friday Harbor, WA with and excellent instructor in Marsha McAllister.  Some of the best things she gave me were how to work with a limited palette...and mixing the tiniest speck of yellow into a glob of white so that when you used it with other colors they didn't go chalky.....and many more things that were liberating.  Her 100 drawings/30 paintings timed exercise is excellent as well.  During this time these paintings followed.....
Two To Love, Honey Crisp
Oil on Board
11 x 14
Which won third prize at the San Juan County Fair

Honey Crisp
Oil on Canvas
9 x 12
This painting was purchased by the woman who bought our cabin....and now owns the tree this grew on as well.  Honey Crisp apples are delicious...and I miss this tree. This painting was followed by a personal favorite.....
Annie's Table
Oil on Canvas
20 x 16
I sometimes wish I had kept this painting but happy that the person who purchased it loves it as well....and I get to visit it sometimes!

 But moving on this one came next......
The Warning
Oil on Canvas
9 x 12
which was auctioned at the San Juan County Fair for The Island Art's League....my friend and fellow artist Mary Ann Rock was the winner here....This one was a big hit and I had a lot of fun doing it.
After living in Washington for 14 years I moved back to California...my native state...and wasn't able to get to painting for a couple of years....finding time and space was difficult...as transitions can be sometimes....but finally got back to it by taking a workshop with Tim Horn...another wonderful instructor and great plein air painter.  Tim turned me on to Carol Marine's blog and the Daily Paintworks site which has been encouraging and invaluable.  The challenges especially so.  But first
The Garden Chair
Oil on Canvas
9 x 12
A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough, with my partner, to take another workshop with Tim....this time in Beaune, France, which was so much fun and a great help...I had never painted buildings before and there was a lot of that on this trip.  We did get out in the country but spent time in several villages as well.  Beaune is in the Burgundy region and we shared many bottles of delicious wine....the people were friendly, everything charming....a great trip.
A Country Lane, France
Oil on Board
9 x 12
and
Courtyard, France
Oil on Board
9 x 12
Both painted at Chateau de Neuf....I hope to return there someday....so beautiful!  Meanwhile my daughter started a business selling heritage and exotic chickens and that got me started on roosters.
Amy's Rooster
Oil on Board
9 x 12
and
Tom's Rooster
Oil on Board
9 x 12
These fellows inspired me to paint a bunting that I had photographed on one of my morning walks....
The Bunting
Oil on Board
9 x 12
followed by 
I've Got My Eye on You
Oil on Board
9 x 12
and finally...in animal world
Freedom
Oil on Canvas
16 x 12
This is a walk that I take with a friend of mine who has goats that live in a field across from her house....I decided to liberate this little fellow.....for the painting...at least.  They are quite the characters and it was fun watching them slam their heads into each other....like it was their idea of a good time. That's probably more than enough for today.......next time....landscapes.......

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Thursday September 20, 2012

Just to get going...something about myself.......I returned to my love of painting and the enjoyment (and frustration) of the learning process a few years ago (2005) after a very long and winding road.  When I was very young I received two working scholarships to the Laguna Beach School of Art and Design....now called....Laguna College of Art and Design....but life has a way of interfering....and in those heady...pardon the pun....days of the '60's.... sex, drugs and rock and roll became my focus, and then a baby was on the way and another curve in the road.  Being a single Mom, and all of the challenges that came with earning a living, I turned to textiles and for many years built a cottage industry doing piecework, cutting and bundling for small companies, and employing other women who found themselves in the same position.....and when my children were old enough to head out on their own I then moved into designing and producing my own one of a kind and limited edition garments and accessories.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with textiles....hand dyeing silk and velvet....and the tactile quality of that medium.  This eventually led me to start painting again....first in acrylic...but quickly into oil paint...which is what I truly love to do.  So here I am now, painting, participating in workshops, and wanting to move into the greater community of artists and aspiring artists.  

This is that first painting.....Stargazer....18 x 14 acrylic on board.....happily sold.  This is one followed


Sunflowers....14 x 18 acrylic on board, and lives with my son.  It took some time...I procrastinate....heheh....but eventually I finished my first oil painting....which was a big one...48 x 48


Casablanca, one of my favorite lilies...Oil on canvas, 48 x 48, lives with a very good friend of mine.  This was painted in winter with the heavenly scent of lilies overwhelming the equally lovely, to me, smell of paint and medium.  This was quickly followed by  


 Winter Pears....oil on board 16 x 18, which happily sold...and I could take you through every one but maybe I will figure out how to make a gallery......new to this....but this is a start.......