Today I went down tot the Esquimalt Library and had the opportunity to set up 16 of my 30 Paintings in 30 Days works in the display case, to the right as you walk into the library. Thank you to Cindy and Tracy for making this possible. The show will be up from today until Saturday, March 28th. The three pears are sold, but the others are available for purchase at $36 each unframed, $50 each framed, plus shipping if required. If you would like to choose three to make up a set, the set of three unframed would be $90, set of three framed is $125, plus shipping if required.
These three little bears are part of a project dear to the heart of several women at my church, Central Baptist here in Victoria. We have a team: some women trace and cut out the bears, a few sew them together, several of us paint the faces on, then more of us stuff them and sew them up. Then the bears start their travels - some are shared around the world via people we know who are visiting other countries, others stay here in Victoria and are distributed to little children by the medical teams in ambulances. It's a wonderful ministry and they bring much comfort around the world.
Last night was Studio 30 - our demonstrator was Andy Lou of A & A Gallery. He gave us a very interesting demo of his Chinese brush painting. Rice paper is very inexpensive, versatile and he loves working with it. Some of wisdom he shared included putting a painting that looks pretty bad away for a few days. When we look at it later, we might find some redeeming qualities in it. He suggests finding a 'simple way' to stay with a painting even if it is not looking promising. He often paints four or five pictures at one time, flowing between them all and enjoying the process. Then, when it's time, he will finish each one individually, working much more closely on the details. He says 'Just keep going' - we don't have to make a masterpiece each time. Try to put life or energy into a picture, an abstract with a little representational spot in it works well, e.g. owls in a landscape. Very peaceful, enjoyable evening. Thanks for visiting. Just having a quiet evening at home, preparing my 3 paintings that I will be displaying in the upcoming Look Show at the Bay Centre downtown. I'm attaching the canvases to frames and putting on the hardware and wires. I discovered on YouTube that the best location for hanging a picture or painting is 60" from the floor, and the middle of the picture or painting should be hung at the 60" level. I've applied that to two pictures tonight, and they look good using those guidelines. Why do I learn these things so late in life? Ha Ha You can see by the date that this is one of my earlier pears - I love painting pears and people seem to love to purchase them! That's all for tonight. Thanks for visiting.
On the Beach is a 2014 painting, tissue paper for texture, framed in a white frame, though that can easily be changed. I think it needs three birds flying in it. Sorry the picture quality is so poor; will replace it if I can take a better one.
Yesterday I registered with the Scattered Artists' Studio Tour, which will occur the May long weekend, May 16 and 17, from 12 noon till 5 pm both days. An artist friend Marie Green and I will be on site to show our art work and share some light refreshments, here at my home. This painting is not new - but not many people have seen it as it was a commission from several years ago from a friend who wanted a painting of the Iris flowers his wife wore on their wedding day. It was fun to do and I had just finished a wonderful workshop with THE Keith Hiscock, 'dark into light' so I was able to practice some of what I had learned.
Tonight I was at our Studio 30 Art Club meeting and enjoyed a demo by Victoria artist Susan Baker, a very interesting, talented, down to earth woman who was happy to share tips and ideas and recommend some of her favorite artists with us. She mentioned Edward Potthaft, Suzie Baker, and Tom Christopher as artists we may want to look up. Susan is currently painting in oils and her palette is Cobalt Violet, Thalo Blue and Green, Prussian Blue, a yellow, white, and Burnt Sienna which she uses as a foundation to put in her shapes; she finds this a very useful color. (You may remember one of the things I learned in the 30 Paintings challenge was having a few 'go-to' palettes can be very useful.) A quote she shared was "when you DO, you DO learn." Other tips, some you will have heard before: reflections are what makes water look like water; warm beside cool, dark beside light; warm comes forward; fat over lean for oils or they will crack years down the road (thanks Gail); step back & look at what's going on with the painting; sometimes having a 10 minute break is good for the eyes; will use a cutout to try placing a person or a log in her painting; burnt sienna and white makes a pretty nice skin tone; shadows are very important, especially when painting people; use a shadow to anchor a figure; a painting needs 'something' in there, e.g. a log with a bird, people swimming; people love paintings of people walking in the rain with shiny reflections and umbrellas; burnt sienna and white are our friends. Thanks Susan (and Katherine, our program coordinator) for a great evening. And thanks to you for visiting! This little fellow (5x7, he really is little) was not as easy to paint as I expected! In real life he is a very adorable, shiny black stuffy; here he looks a little familiar ..... but I'm sure he is not a relative! It feels great to be posting again, and painting again. Although I felt quite spent when the 30 Paintings Challenge was completed, I'm ready now to get those paint brushes out before I forget everything I learned. One point I was reminded of today ... must practice my drawing skills. OPUS has a 'practice drawing for 28 days' event on, but I'm not sure I'm quite up to that much practicing. I am hoping to show my 30 paintings at a local Library, so have been working on getting hardware on to the paintings, then I'll need to make labels/cards, and compose an explanation of the endeavor. So lots to do. Someone once told my art club, it's 30% of our time painting, and 60% of our time marketing. But, I have been noticing that I've continued to have visitors to this Blog, and I must admit that was a major incentive to get me painting tonight, so thanks for continuing to support my artistic endeavors. Hope to see you again soon.
Day 31 - January 31st, 2015. Well how amazed am I at this collage. Another learning experience - Pic Monkey. If you would like to gather together a grouping of photos you have on your computer, Pic Monkey is the site for you. Choose Create a collage, choose a design or design your own, upload photos from your computer, then drag them onto the collage. If the res. is too high, resize till it works.
This was very easy, and looks quite lovely when completed. Thank you Leslie Saeta for organizing this wonderful accomplishment for us. And thanks again to you for watching. Please check back soon. Stonehewer is an abstract the foundation of which is a beautiful old mansion in Oak Bay. The palette in my mind was softer and more organic, but here she is - sometimes they paint themselves. Again, because of the size I could not scan so I apologize for the quality of the photograph. Maybe when I really retire we'll treat me to a mini ipad - they seem to take fabulous pictures for amateur and professional photographers alike.
And so we are done. What a wonderful experience this has been for me. Although I have been painting for 16 years, I have not painted a multitude of pictures, and completing these 30 in 30 days has been an opportunity for much growth, exploration, experimentation, and completion of unfinished works. I would say in the sixteen years I have painted less than 150 paintings, including these 30, so you can see there was a substantial increase in my output. My emotions during these 30 days roared between anticipation, fear, doubt, confidence, exhaustion and sheer determination. And my end emotion is deep satisfaction and admiration for the hard work artists dedicate to a full time artistic career. Thank you for watching, for your comments and words of encouragement. I hope you will keep checking the blog - I don't see myself blogging daily while I am still working but do hope to post at least weekly. Don't want to break such good habits and discipline. Cheers. Day 29 - Are we really that close? 'Poured' started out as a black gessoed, textured canvas. I poured my three liquid acrylic colours, Turquois (Phthalo), Quinacridone/Nickel Azo Gold and Quinacridone Crimson onto the black but of course they did not show up. So, I gessoed over the not quite dry paints which gave me a very soft, multi-coloured canvas. Then I poured my three colours, encouraged them to move a bit, added some shapes for contrast, and applied a final coat of gloss. Took about 2.5 hours, a bit rushed but great fun exploring and experimenting. Apologies for the photo but the size does not permit scanning of the full painting, plus it's still wet. I may scan a portion of it tomorrow and see if it gives a better idea.
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