Moonlight at Yellowstone

Moonlight At Yellowstone

6x6 oil on canvas WIP
(work in progress)

Artist Note
This is for the
Daily Paintwork Challenge
this week.
ONLY three colors -
red, yellow and blue, plus white
allowed for oil and acrylic painters.
This one has
Transparent Red Oxide
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White.
It is unfinished deliberately
for the Challenge,
I will add another couple
layers of colors
when it is dry- maybe.

Check all the good paintings
using three colors
HERE


Sorry about the light catching
the ridges of paint,

Off to do a Fracturing Workshop.

After Fracturing

The one below is obviously BEFORE

Taste is subjective, and I know

some people would

 like the realism above 

while others prefer the fractured

version.

BUT I know I prefer the eye interest

and energy of the fractured one

and it has turned out to 

have a much wider appeal.

Sometimes I go a little more

detailed and others I do not.

That is the beauty of 

this technique. You can use a 

little of it or a lot.

One thing I am sure of - 

fracturing totally holds my interest

and I am hoping that the artists

taking the workshop 

will enjoy it like I do.

So...where am I going?

WICHITA, KA.

I have never been there so I am very excited.

Hosting the workshop is

Teressa Singer at her beautiful gallery

see here  GALLERY

For the last several years I have stayed 

 in Las Cruces to do my 

summer workshops, but the 

chance of visiting my 

dear friend, the one and only

drum roll...

Miss LISA GRAHAM

was too good an opportunity to miss.

Lisa came out to visit here last year 

link below if interested to see what we got up to.

here

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!

Watercolor Weekend - Feather Study

Feather Study

 6x4in  watercolor on Arches paper

Artist Note
This is the first study I have done
of an Eagle Feather. I want to try
painting it in oil.
It is such a long feather at 11 inches
I feel I need to find a way to show
the scale of it. I understand now
why an inkwell is usually shown
with a quill.
Any ideas - or do you think it really
needs to show the size?

Watercolor Weekend - Cactus Wren

Cactus Wren Study

8x5in watercolor on paper  NFS

Continuing my exploration of nests and feathers.
I had a Cactus Wren build a large and wonderful
nest very close the house. The opening is on the side,
very protected among the spikes of the cactus.
A large 'something' attacked the nest and tore
it apart. I found myself rather upset when I saw
lots of feathers on the ground.
We have Roadrunners here which are
large enough to do the damage, but they usually
stay away from cactus. Maybe a hawk from above?
Can anyone enlighten me?

Artist note.
These Strathmore sketch books (I have mentioned
before) come in beige and gray paper as well as white..
I used the beige one for this sketch.
They are adequate, not great, for watercolor as
they buckle a bit, but still very satisfactory for just
the simple enjoyment of piddling with ideas and concepts.
I do not usually paint the bird, but this one happened
all on its own. Maybe in memoriam?

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

Deli Delight

Deli Delight


8x6in oil on canvas panel  $125.

I love my cold cuts with red onions and Dijon Mustard.  I was making a
really yummy sandwich when  I looked up and all of a sudden
I saw the set up on the counter as a painting... and yes,
the sandwich was forgotten.

Petunia Progression

Petunia Progression

4x5in  pencil on linen card   SOLD

Here are the buds all opening up and the first large petunia
is starting to wilt. I now have four flowers and another
bud is starting to grow in-between the two
middle trumpet shapes.
It amazes me that a cutting can keep growing and
blooming  in the water...dark water now!
Petunias are beautiful and hardy flowers, but I never
appreciated their beauty until I drew them.
Now - back to oils!

Egg Tempera - My Daughter!

My Daughter

20x 16  egg tempera  NFS

It is an older painting but I am showing it because I have not done
a painting today - or yesterday.

I am still missing my daughter. She used to model for me all the time.

This painting is very special as my daughter is reading a love letter my father
sent to my mother when he was courting her.
She is wearing my mothers pear earrings. The shawl is the one I paint a lot -
my aunt gave it to me for my first child's christening.
The vase belonged to my grandmother and
the three calla lilies are symbolic of the three daughters
my parents had.
The background is an homage to Vermeer. I put his floor on the wall!

Egg tempera consists of many layers with little specks of color peeping through
here and there. I know it had a huge influence on helping me develop my
fracturing technique...even though the outward appearance is so different.


On First Friday's, Las Cruces enjoys an evening Art Walk and I opened a new
teaching space including a small gallery where I can show my daily paintings.
My regular gallery is one block south and we both hope it will work well for clients.


My new gallery pics.
ART STUDIO las cruces
                                 
The entrance leads in from
from another gallery - which is great - and it was the gallery
of a wonderful local artist for 10 years. It is on our Downtown Main Street.

The classroom is behind
this longer wall

This is a 20 foot wall and
I placed the unframed
paintings on easels.
My husband and I made the
wooden pedestals from
wood we had cut to sizes.
My favorite wall fountain
adds a little bit of interest.


Next month will be the Grand Opening and I will have the bugs worked out by then
but we had lots of well wishers and quite a few sales with fabulous comments.

A Little Watercolor

A Little Watercolor

6x6in watercolor on Arches   SOLD

A quick little study of three Roman glass vessels, painted for a friend
who likes my watercolors more than my oils.
These are very old pieces and covered with a mica type film - which I find beautiful.

My lovely daughter is moving to another state with her job. (sob!) Tonight
is our last night together for quite a while so it will be special.
We will miss her and her companion, Eric. They follow my blog so
I am wishing them a safe journey and wonderful new adventures.