Personal Art Blog

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

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Orchids

                                                                                   
Orchids
6"x12" oil on canvas panel  $200. SOLD

Artist Note

This was a demo for
 the last class of the semester
at the Artist Guild SNM
It was painted on a surface 
already colored
by a previous wipe-off.

I started with the transparent
darker areas first, adding
the colored opaque areas bit by bit
as I gradually moved into
the whitest areas,

I used a photo I had taken
at Trader Joes of the
tops of the orchids through
the  clear wrapping.
Purple, yellow and white flowers.
Beautiful together.

This is an unusual size but I like
how it flows
and do not want to crop it.
It will need a custom frame.

Thank you for all the
great comments on my last post.
I am sorry I have not had time
 to answer them.
Busy, busy with Thanksgiving
and fun company.
Plus...
the house still on the market!!





Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Blessings Are Everywhere.


Blessings Are Everywhere

watercolor on Yupo
Sold

First, let me wish you all 
a grateful and peaceful
Thanksgiving
Every 7 years it falls on my birthday
and this year is THE one.
My daughter will be doing the cooking!

Artist Note
I painted this one in the car going
to and from the dentist. 
A trip of an hour each way.
It was almost finished 
by the time I got home
(as you can see in the car photo.)

I spent another hour tweaking it
in the studio. 
I really, really like it,
partially because it is 
totally from my imagination.
Pulling on my memory of shapes
and movement of the birds, etc

It is larger than 
my usual daily paintings 
and when matted and framed
I hope it will continue to please me.


Steps
to start...
I deliberately used a staining blue
and took it right across
the page and then lifted it off leaving 
a light blue foundation.
Next, using a big brush I 
placed puddles of 
yellow pale
transparent orange oxide 
and transparent brown oxide
then fractured into them.
I lifted off the shaped of the birds 
with a paper towel and water.
I then began the details...
the fun part, but also what takes
the longest and is the most absorbing
with all the decisions to be made.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Great Blue Heron


 Great Blue Heron
Bosque del Apache NM

8"x 6" oil on canvas panel  $150. SOLD


Artist Note

I joined other artists at
New Mexico's amazing
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
where we
hoped to catch the fall colors
and see the cranes.

We left in the dark
for the two hour drive
and was rewarded with
Wow -
a gorgeous sunrise

This beautiful refuge has a long loop road with
bird watching sites and boardwalks at regular intervals.
Our cameras were busy clicking away
and I wrote down color notes.


Lots and lots of Snow Geese

The Blue Herons
are usually on their own so we
were looking for them along the ditches.
which led to us finding
this extra stunning ditch
with the green weeds.
 I cannot wait to paint it.

There is a photo/video link below
of a  Blue Heron
eating a HUGE fish at the
Bosque del Apache.
And I mean HUGE

I found it pretty fascinating
(seeing is believing}
but only because of the
stubborn nature of the Heron
...who obviously was
determined he wouldn't have to relay
the traditional fishing story
to his mate, when he got back to the nest.
You know the one...
" the one that got away!"
Heron eating fish


Thursday, November 2, 2017

Aspen Colors


Aspen Colors #1
8x6" oil on canvas  SOLD


Aspen Colors #2
8x6 oil on canvas panel  SOLD

Artist Note

It's the Blue Sky 
Gold and Scarlet leaf time.
  I always try to paint an aspen
or cottonwood
every year.
 I did two this year -
experimenting with the different light 
on the same group of trees.

I am quite sad really 
because it reminds 
me that the clocks go back
and I drive home
 from work in the dark!

Does anyone else dislike that?