Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

A Thank You Bird


Watching

6x6in  watercolor on paper
Gift

What do I paint for someone who loves realism?
Why, something I love to paint, of course,
 but with more detail than usual.
A month or so ago
a friend's husband went WAY out of his way
when I was experiencing a rather painful
situation, and he donned a Knight's
attire and rode to my rescue.
Bless you, Wiley, and thank you.

Artist Note.
My hijacked email account was apparently
one which has been around
a while. It made me very upset and hope
everyone changed their password
IF
they opened it.
Thank you to those of you who quickly
let me know about how to deal with it.
It was my first experience with one.

A friend expressed the desire to
super glue together
the fingers of the hacker. 
Loved that thought!







Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Ancient Pitcher at Thanksgiving


Ancient Pitcher with Pomegranates 

12x9in oil on canvas  $700. framed On HOLD

For sale in M.Phillips Fine Art Gallery


Happy Thanksgiving to all.
May your day be filled with Love
and many blessings for which to be grateful.

I truly am grateful for all of YOU!



Monday, November 24, 2014

Watercolor - Pansy Study


Pansy Study
8x7in watercolor on Yupo paper NFS

Artist Note
I have been trying to figure out how to do '
the pansies on this slick Yupo paper. 
For those of you who do not know what it is like,  
visualize a thin sheet of smooth,
white, flexible plastic. 
The stuff is great for abstract and 
non-representational art because 
the paint floats on the surface. 
The mingling of colors happens beautifully.
Flat areas are quite doable and 
 neat edges are formed where a puddle ends, 
but try to do a more impressionistic style 
of layering and it looks pretty messy 
right off the bat because
the darn paint lifts off when you don't want it to.
BUT 
that is also exactly the beauty of using it
...to be able to lift the paint cleanly off 
to get back to the white.

Here I slightly stained everywhere but 
the main white pansy first and lifted off 
smaller white areas - trying make sure 
that nothing 
competed with the focal pansy.

Anyone with any hints out there?




Thursday, November 20, 2014

Pansy Pleasure... continued




















Pansy Pleasures - continued
8x6' oil on canvas  Sold..

What's not to like about pansies? 
They are sturdy, colorful and
have a happy face. Best of all 
they provide visual pleasure
throughout the winter months. 

Artist Note.
One of the advantages I find by 
using the Fracturing technique
is the ability to suggest something by color, 
without rendering it perfectly.
In this case, I first painted the focal point 
with the correct form of a pansy.
Once this had been established I could 
then make any shape, and as
long as I repeated a color or used 
the very distinctive yellow center,
it would read as a pansy.
Here is a close up to show you how abstract 
the one above and next to the focal pansy is.


The mind makes it a pansy 
because it is next to a pansy of 
the same color.
Also the little touch of a yellow center 
is code for pansy.


I am experimenting with painting the pansies
in watercolor on Yupo and regular paper. FUN.
but hard to get what I want. 
P.S.
This is a repeat of a post I did back 
a couple of years ago. I am busy wrapping up 
the classes for the year, One more week!











Monday, November 17, 2014

Pansy Pleasure


Pansies and Purple

6x8in oil on canvas SOLD

The colder weather means the pansies 
can now be planted.
My friend Sharon has a lovely new
area of them, bringing a bit of sunshine
warmth to a cold day.




Artist Note.
I am posting an old painting at top.
One I really like. 
I am going to try one in watercolor 
and use it as a reference.
Stay tuned...


Friday, November 14, 2014

VINCENT VAN GOGH'S PETS!


Vincent's Pets

8x8 gallery wrap SOLD

What could be more fun than to know that 
Vincent took his pets along to watch him 
paint Starry Night!

Artist Note

This is for a fundraiser to support the 
Humane Society here in Las Cruces, NM.
Lots of wonderful paintings will be sold
Click on link to see the full exhibit.
Maybe you will see something you would 
enjoy owning at a very reasonable price.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Dryer Lint Nest.


Dryer Lint Nest
6x7" watercolor on Yupo
Sold

I was given this wonderful nest last week.
The eggs were still in there - never hatched.
Lots of dryer lint was attached by strands
of horse tail hair and stuffed between twigs.
Quite amazing how those birds are such
good engineers...
BUT
they do not know dryer lint is bad for
them if they use it.

Chemicals 
From the soap and dryer sheets.
Dust
Dry, loose lint causes respiratory problems.
Scent
Attracts predators right to a vulnerable nest

There are other serious problems too,
 but the thing I hope to pass on
 is not to put dryer lint out for
the birds during the nesting season.
I used to, but not anymore.

There had to be a reason these eggs
did not hatch.







Monday, November 10, 2014

Grateful Thanks


Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day

 6x8" watercolor on paper. NFS


This is truly the National Holiday
which effects us all. 
I am grateful for the freedom we enjoy,
but brought at such a cost. 
With great respect
I honor and thank the living military and 
 and give thanks to all those families 
who make the sacrifice and especially
those who have lost their loved ones.

Proudly a US citizen,
originally from England (a long time ago)
and have watched the 
ceremonies from London...a day ahead because 
of the time difference. It is called
Remembrance Day there and everyone 
wears a poppy. 
For Great Britain, it is 100 years ago
that World War 1 started.
A small but valiant island.
Helped to survive by a strong and 
loyal ally - the USA.





Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Fall at Ghost Ranch, NM


Fall at Ghost Ranch
10x12"
Oil on crappy paper
NFS

The cottonwood trees turn a brilliant gold 
in the fall and when the sun illuminates 
them they look like 
they are alight with flames. 

Artist Note.
This was a demo of painting trees with
a palette knife.
Underneath was first done with transparent washes 
applied with a fan brush using the 
chisel motion shown in my utube short tutorial
 - link below.
Starting this way gave the edges of the 
trees a more natural shape by blending
effortlessly into the other colors/values 
around them.











Monday, November 3, 2014

Late Summer in Santa Fe



Late Summer in Santa Fe, NM.

6x6in oil on canvas panel  SOLD


Late summer walks along on Canyon Road
cannot be beat. This was on a side street and
the light fixture caught my eye.

Artist Note

A neat couple saw this painting and liked it.
 We started to chat and I enjoyed some interesting
conversation before they returned another time
to buy it.
I really appreciate getting to 
know people through my paintings.
For a start, it has occurred  to me that we must 
share a liking for similar places
and types of beauty.

Computer fixed. What a pain when
they misbehave.