Poms From A Friend.

Pomegranates

6"x 6" oil on canvas panel  $110. SOLD

Artist Note

I really do enjoy the 

pomegranate time of year.

These are in a glass bowl

in case you cannot figure

it out.

A fellow artist passed these 

on to me - thanks, Chris.

I apologize for not getting 

round to answering the 

comments on my previous post.

I truly appreciate them all,

but I am at the hair pulling stage

and berating myself for 

agreeing to do a solo show.

I know it is normal - 

well, for me anyway,

and, yes,  this too will pass,

but until it is all at the framers

and invitation done I 

am out of my 

comfort/ routine zone.

Wishing you all a wonderful

painting week.

Clementine Glow

Clementine Glow

6x6in oil on gallery wrapped canvas   $100.  SOLD

It must the color orange against the blue cloth that made these
clementines appear to glow as I was painting them.

Artist Note.

This is a painting I did a couple of weeks ago for my blog when I knew
I would be busy with my workshop.
I have painted these before, but in a different arrangement.
I cut the slice out instead of tearing the peel. I wanted a bit of a sharp edge.

The workshop was fabulous -  the way it can only be when everyone
clicks as a group. What a joyful experience and the work accomplished
was amazing.
The next one starts on Wednesday and I am looking forward to it.
After that I go on vacation!

I have a neat app to share on my next post. If you do not have it yet
I promise you will love it.

Wisteria Shadows

Wisteria Shadows

6x6in oil on canvas panel $100. SOLD

A friend's house has this wonderful wisteria vine they have trained to
go across their front windows.
It is breathtakingly beautiful when in bloom and the leaves provide shade
after the flowers have gone.

Artist Note
Wisteria is like painting huge lilacs!

Today was the last day of regular classes at the Guild until August.
I give two workshops in June and then I go on vacation
to visit our grandchildren...fun!
Summer starts right now and I will have more time to paint for myself
and that makes me happy, but at the same time I know I will miss all the
other artists. So to compensate I host an "open studio" all of July and the
guild members are free to come and paint with me four days a week...lots of fun!

Avian Architecture

Windblown

9x12in  egg tempera   For sale through the gallery*

Phew - it is over. Life will resume its normal flow.
First, I need to thank some people.
I had a wonderful friend drive 500 miles RT to come and
take care of the meals for several days. Her name is Pam Cox
and she deserves a friendship gold medal!
She happens to be a gourmet cook so good food
was plentiful. Thank you very much, Pam.
Another friend made me some fabulous postcards with images on them
to hand out. This was managed during a difficult time for her.
A big thank you to Marjorie Van Dormolen.
Lindy Bridgers made 4 dozen nests from chocolate covered rice noodles
and popped a little candy egg in the center. What a wonderful friend.
Lisa Kubiak gave me a gorgeous necklace made by a local artist of a
silver nest with three pearls. Perfect for the opening and lots of
admiring comments were given. Thank you Lisa.
My wonderful daughter who gave me valuable critiques drove in
as did son #1 and my darling goddaughter.
A huge thank you of course to Gail, Mark and Max at the gallery. They
had wonderful refreshments and champagne. The show was hung beautifully.
They kept their cool right up to the last minute delivery of
a huge wet painting. Great people.

Thursday, May 2nd was my opening reception.
The invitation was large at  6x8in  (first class postage!)
I used the photo (below) of some of my nests and you can see a
couple of my paintings - in both the top corners.
I did a large ard so it would get noticed between the junk mail.

Artist Note

I had no idea how the public would react to a show strictly on bird nests,
but it turned out that it was a very popular theme.
The show was a collection from three years of painting these amazing
avian structures, strictly for personal pleasure. I enjoy building them
with paint the way the birds do using different materials. It is a puzzle
why I respond to nests so emotionally, but I truly do. I can clearly remember
trying to draw one I could see from the window when I was about 6.
The bird was not as fascinating as the nest and it is still the same today.

Some of my first paintings on this blog were several
of the nests included in the show.
Below are a few wonderful nests from my collection - the one in the
painting above them is a Sandhill Crane Nest. 48x36in

Tomorrow I will show some of the watercolors I did.

My last thank you is for my supportive group of blogging friends.
I have missed you and I am looking forward to trolling
to see what you all have been up to.

*M Phillips Gallery phone number
575-525-1367

Little Tin Birdy

Little Tin Birdy

6x6in oil on canvas  $100.


Day 16 in the 30 in 30 Days Challenge
My personal goal  for this challenge - to paint only
what I have never painted or thought of painting before.


This was a fun little gift a friend gave me for Christmas.
It never occurred to me that I would paint it.
This Challenge is making me see all kinds of
paint-able things.

Petunias in a Costa Rica Mug.

Petunias in a Costa Rica Mug.

8x6in oil on canvas SOLD

A friend went to Costa Rica and brought me back this tall, bright
yellow mug. No handle showing because I turned it so I could
get the heart in.
I remember in the 70's when the now famous, I love New York logo
using a red heart instead of the word love, became so popular.
NYC Logo
The man who came up with it (Milton Laser) got the idea from a Canadian
radio station promotion - Montreal, the city with a heart. (so true)
The magnitude of its popularity can be seen the world over and
I particularly enjoyed seeing the heart on this mug.
It makes me happy!

Blossom Study

Blossom Study

6x8in oil on canvas   SOLD

This was a quick demo to show how to work on a color
study for a large painting.

Artist Note.

Here I am exploring warm and cool overlays for vibrations.
You can see them bouncing around. I scumbled a lot of this
using the side of the brush. It gives a broken brushwork effect.
The final painting lost a lot of the looseness and vibrations
of this study and this is where personal taste comes in.
Knowing what you like and don't like about a painting is very important.
Libby Fife and I had a neat blog discussion on taste in art.
See comments Libby Fife
She was kind enough to respond. I really enjoy hearing
other artist's viewpoints.

On the Edge

On the Edge

6x8in  oil on canvas

We have all seen this...a thriving tree right on the edge of a cliff
growing out of what appears to be solid rock.
I can plant seeds with tender care into perfect soil...
only to see some survive better than others... and weeds leap out
of places where there has been no water.
Mother Nature continues to astound.

If this appears familiar - good eye and good for you!
It is a repeat of a painting I did back in April but I went back to
where it was and made some changes to fit how it looks now..

Hydrangeas and Part Demo

Hydrangeas

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  $125.

Hydrangeas with sprigs of coffee bean plant.
These  hydrangeas have a lot of a creamy color in the center
with pale blue edges to the petals. I got them at Trader Joes
in Albuquerque at weekend. They are not perky!

Artist Note.

This was a demo done in class today.
I had a lovely set up using the the reds of the strawberries from
yesterday to move the eyes around from the coffee bean buds.
I blocked it in like this.

Then I realized I would not be able to fit it all in in time.
So  - off with the strawberries heads!

Using my wonderful, handy tool.  Love this part!
If interested in seeing tool and how it is used, go to
(May 2nd, thru 5 or 6.)
 http://juliefordoliver.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-05-12T19:58:00-07:00&max-results=10
You have to scroll down to get to the correct dates.

I then had to change the vase. Why? To link to the blues of the hydrangeas
I had used a dark green vase first to link with all the leaves,
and the design on the strawberry bowl
had blue in it to link with the flowers.
See how changing one thing can lead to rethinking the other areas.

All these decisions are made with the class watching and
I give the reasons why... and it can lead to some lively discussions.

Study of a Lavender Rose

Study of a Lavender Rose

6x6in oil on canvas Not for Sale

This is my first ever try at painting a rose this color.
I was trying to see the nuances of blues from the sky and warmer purples
here and there. I will do a few more studies and then do a painting,

My hubby and I drove to Albuquerque this past weekend to see a play
our Goddaughter directed in Community Theater.
 (Doesn't everyone drive 550 miles RT to see a play?)
The play was hilarious - received a standing ovation -  and we returned
the next day full of laughter and pride.
She is quite young, working on her masters and managed to do this too.
So what has that got to do with this rose?
Well, it was blooming in her parent's garden where we stayed the night.
When I left England, I gave my mother a gift of a lavender rose bush
and this brought back a lot of memories.


Another bounty from a friend's garden. Talk about a green thumb!

Strawberries and Roses

Strawberries and Roses

8x6in oil on canvas board   $125.

This clear blue, glass vase is one I have had for a long time.
It has a heavy base and is perfect to hold long stemmed
flowers.

Artist Note.

What is the difference between this type of rose and a peony?
The peony has more petals, but as I was painting these roses
they sure reminded me of peonies. Both have a full
bulb shape with many petals and both have pink centers although the
peony is more of a dash of red in separate areas.
I deliberately made these have more of center shape than what
they really had
As an impressionist painter I have to ask myself if it is all about
capturing the essence of the flower or a perfect rendition.
Easy answer - that is why it is called impressionism!!!
Give the impression of a flowers by colors and shapes

Sunrise and Apple

Sunrise, Las Cruces, N.M.

How about this for a view to wake up to?
( from our deck.)

Artist Note.

It was my first day of classes in the new studio.
The focus was on testing memory against reality.

Everyone had to draw an apple from memory.
With every one's eyes closed I first led them through imagery
with shape, volume, details like stem, base, surface, etc.
Next step was to draw the apple created in their imagination.
The results were excellent and surprised the ones who thought they
could not draw anything unless they had something to copy from.
I then gave everyone an apple to paint as realistically
as they could. As they had already learned to fully explore
the essence of an apple, the results were pretty dramatic.
I then did a small demo of an apple with the emphasis on edges.
If I had done the demo first they would have been trying to
duplicate what I had done instead of being truly original.
The final step was to freely paint an apple in any color and style
they chose. It was fine to use the inspiration of the demo brush
and knife work to add to their previous accomplishments.
 It was a great session and I get a genuine high
seeing how well all the artists do.

This little apple demo was on edges.
Notice on the photo of the apple
below how the wall background color
was pretty even.
In the painting I varied the colors
and values to give a more interesting
and painterly effect.

Moonlight Reflections

Moonlight Reflections

8x6in oil on canvas  $125. SOLD

Pretty moody wouldn't you say? I realized that my feeling of loss
over my daughter leaving, had an effect on my painting.
After they had driven off with the cat meowing and two dogs barking,
I reflected back to my earlier years of moving and it was always
a big adventure. I can only imagine what my mother felt about
my move to America!

As if by magic, two nice things happened today.
All the supportive emails and comments wishing my daughter well
and giving lots of hints to make it easier - Skype being number one.
I thank you all.

And then I received this lovely Giclee I had won in Deborah Elmquist's drawing.

 I never win anything so I was thrilled.
Here is a link to her site where she is selling it
and you can see a better image it
Her paintings are amazing and she has a great blog.
Sign up for her newsletter and you may win too!

The Grand Prismatic Pool - Yellowstone

Grand Prismatic - Yellowstone

6x8in  oil on canvas panel  $125.

If you are wondering what on earth this is besides color, you will not be alone.
This is abstract by nature and execution.
It is a composite from memory. One of the more difficult pieces I have done with
the fracturing technique...no scumbling the mist on here!

Of all the spots we went to in Yellowstone, this is the one which
made my heart beat
faster and my eyes and mind go into orbit.
Words seem inadequate to explain the surreal experience of walking in
and out of
mystical mists exposing gorgeous blues and turquoise
next to brilliant rust, orange and yellows
...only for them to disappear again.

If you have never been there, then check this video our friend and guide, Dave Hon, made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSYalb-tmq4


Huge crowds gather to watch Old Faithful blow a plain white blast into the sky,
but it has nothing on the emotional level of this misty beauty of power and color.
In my humble opinion of course...