Cinderella and The Brain Drain

Ahhhhh! The vacuous stare into space. This painting speaks of the romantic dreams of a young girl as she plans her glorious wedding to her knight-in-shining-armor hunk, her 2.4 well-behaved sparkling clean children riding in a brand new Ferrari van (hmmm) and their fairy-tale life they will all have.

Brain Drain addresses reality. While sleepy Cinderella is dreaming her life away, the "hunk" is passing her by scholastically, and when he's not thinking about sports or fighting imaginary wars, he's obsessed with, shall we say, physical conquests.

This painting has lots of texture built into the many layers of acrylic paint on this 8 X 8 X 1-inch canvas which is painted on all sides.

I Haven't Disappeared

There are other facets to the art biz besides making art, and although that's what I'd rather be doing right now, the fact is I'm working hard doing some matting and framing for a couple of exhibits.

Although I haven't finished a new painting today, I thought I would put a new one up on the blog anyway. This one is called Can You Hear Me Now? It is an acrylic, marker and watercolor mixed media on watercolor paper. I started by using an acrylic heavy gel and just creating some texture on the paper. At this point I had no idea what I would be painting, and I let the paper dry and sit for about a week. The next time I looked at it, I just "saw" banana leaves, so the parrot seemed a natural fit for a subject. I drew these things on with a pencil to use the drawing for a roadmap before painting.

When watercolor goes on top of acrylic, it is very slick and moves around a lot, so the result is a nice loose painting. I love the colors in this painting. At the end, I did some outlining with a black marker to define form. There is a huge amount of texture in this painting that you just cannot see in the photo, but it's there -- all over the place.

Jumpin Grande Joe

This collage came about as the result of my testing a new product I had bought a few months ago. The store demo of Pinata Colors I saw, with these denatured alcohol mixed colors, was done on a very small scale. The clerk had a small piece of wood on one end of which had been applied a piece of felt. She dropped a few beads of a couple colors onto a card, wiped around with the felt dauber, and presto there appeared some beautiful stained-glass appearing designs on the paper which were enhanced by applying the Pinata extender. She also made it look even more wonderful by using a gold metallic marker.

An inherent issue with this media seemed to be the fact that the little bottles of color seemed too small to use in a larger project , so I decided to use some thinned out red acrylic in addition and add the extender to all of them. My additional red color didn't react the same way as the Pinata colors which the bottle said are indelible in water, transparent, permanent and acid free, but I did like the way the white Pinata color worked especially well.

The project turned out to be a collage of cut up watercolor coffee cups added. I called the painting Jumpin Grande Joe, because when I decided to enhance the rhythm of the composition by angling the coffee cups and sugar bowl. I used repetition in the figure 8's and the curves of the cup handles, and I varied the line width of the calligraphy. The mostly-warm composition is enhanced by the cool and cooler blue coffee cups. The black coffee cup, as center of interest sits adjacent to a larger light which with the white calligraphy takes up about 25 percent of the mid-value background. The yellow string adds another point of interest and texture variation.

Find out more about Jumpin Grande Joe in my Etsy shop by clicking here .

Abandoned in the Fog

Today was my opportunity to gallery sit in the Artists' Guild Gallery of Anna Maria Island. It was apparent that the legions of tourists that frequent the island in "season" have abandoned us for the summer. Quiet would be an understatement.

I brought my travel watercolor kit just in case. This includes a small palette of Yarka watercolors (which are more than adequate for the job), some Viva paper towels, three watercolor brushes, some pencils for sketching, an eraser, a sketchbook and some watercolor paper. I also brought one of my packets of photos that I want to paint.


After an initial sale, there were some other guests numbering in total 15, and then it got very quiet, so I got out my stuff and began to paint a watercolor of a sailboat in total fog. Actually I think the picture might have been taken last summer when there were a number of fires in Florida and it was really smoke and fog, but it might have been just fog. Anyway the background of the photo was pretty much totally white, which I thought was a really cool effect.

I am calling this painting Abandoned In The Fog. The sailboat, moored on the lake near where we live, has obviously seen better days and is a stationery object, loved by birds as a roost. I kept wishing I would see someone come to love it, but after a year in that position, someone moved it closer to shore, and we can't see it any longer. Actually I loved having it in my line of sight, but oh, well.

I will put this painting up on my Etsy site. Click here.

Workshop: Something Else To Do With Yupo

Today at Studio 1212 Gallery we were treated to a workshop featuring Carole Rosefelt's Yupo Creations. This very creative artist showed us some of the things she has done with acrylic paint on Yupo paper. The imagination is the sole barrier, it seems, to what can be created using this versatile medium.

According to www.TreeHugger.com, Yupo is a synthetic paper which was originally developed in Japan, is produced in Chesapeake, Virginia in the U.S. The company touts the eco-effectiveness of YUPO, saying that synthetic paper enters the waste stream at a far slower rate than conventional paper. They point out that, since it is polypropylene (PP) plastic film, it is fully recyclable."

Yupo is thought of as a slippery canvas, but artists who paint on it regularly have learned to use its characteristics in developing their own style. However, today we weren't particularly interested in the composition on our papers, but in the colors and textures that we had painted on the papers.

We were using a heat gun to melt the pieces of Yupo we had cut from our "paintings" into objects that we could combine and make into wall hangings, pins, earrings, angels, and a couple came up with pieces which could be collaged onto paintings. These are a few of the ones I made today.

Beach Finds Look Like Art

We found things like these on the beach yesterday in a number of locations. Aren't they beautiful and strange? They are a work of art in themselves. They obviously contained seeds belonging to something; however, none of the ones we saw were attached to anything, like the one in the picture is. At the time my friend, Nancy, thought they might be egg casings of perhaps the rays which are so common on Florida's West coast. Upon further research she found a website and conversed with them back and forth by email, and through that exchange, determined that they are egg capsules deposited most likely by the Pear Whelk.

Here's the website to find out about such things: http://www.jaxshells.org/eggch.htm

What is fascinating to me it is that almost every time I'm at the beach, I find different things among the debris deposited by the tides than were there previous times. Nancy grew up in Florida, and has much more beach knowledge than I. Yesterday we poked along and looked at these things while our group walked ahead, determined to set the land speed record for the mile. My artist's soul is thrilled by these small discoveries, and delving into them was just wonderful.

Today's Painting a Day is entitled Rose and Lace. I started by laying down a lace pattern in blue watercolor, then drew the rose in and painted it in shades of red and green. I thought it needed unifying, because the top half had basically nothing going for it other than the texture, so I proceeded to spatter and spray to provide a solution, which seems to satisfy me, at least for the moment. This painting is 6 x 9 inches on Arches Cold Press Watercolor paper and uses 100% watercolor paints. Find it here.

Henrietta and The Drewster - Paintings A Day

This afternoon I find myself writing my 100th post to this blog. Should be some celebratory thing happening, like the celebration of the 100th episode of a TV show or something?How about a red carpet, fancy new dress, bouquet of flowers or a bottle of wine? I'll be waiting.


Anyway, today I have two paintings. They fit nicely together as a pair. They are Henrietta and The Drewster, a pair of colorful chickens done in watercolor and black marker (Sharpie). They are pretty cute, totally unrealistic chickies. They already found a home on Etsy in my shop DreamON, and I would sell the pair for $10 less if someone wanted to buy them both. Just convo me on Etsy, and I'll gitterdun!

Today's Twisted Tree

What a twisted web we weave into a Limber Pine tree on 12 X 6-inch canvas with the sides painted. Yes, it has the staples on the side, but it still looks quite pretty and could just have a wire fastened to the back and hung. Of course, it could be framed as well, but then we couldn't see the pretty sides.



Today's Painting A Day, Twisted Tree

http://dreamon.etsy.com/

Another Dawn, Another Chance

I just love sunrises and sunsets. I used to say that sunset was my absolute favorite time of day. Situated where we are now, I see many more sunrises than sunsets, and I am equally in awe of them, but the mood set by dusk strikes a melancholy chord; whereas, dawn is hopeful. There is the hope that with the new day, perhaps I can get it right this time.

This painting, Another Dawn, Another Chance reminds me that we serve a loving God who gives us chance, after chance to show love instead of indifference, impatience, selfishness, shyness, busyness, anxiety, and a bunch of other not-so-pleasing qualities we use to not be bothered with our neighbors on the planet.

This beautiful watercolor painting resides on a piece of 11 x 19 inch Arches 140 lb. Cold Press Watercolor paper. The sunrise which occurred sometime this week, was embedded in my memory to paint for this Painting A Day today. It will be available on Etsy, in my shop there: http://dreamon.etsy.com/ .

Painting A Day, Kitty Daze

Kitty Daze is an acrylic collage which measures 16" X 7" on Arches Cold Press Watercolor Paper. It features Art Deco colors, pretty oranges and soft greens and is highlighted by burnt umber. The shapes come from one of my favorite stamps, and a cut-out sandpaper kitty which is collaged onto the paper. The shadowing and outlining combine to add depth to the shapes.

Over the weekend my husband and I headed north to Tarpon Springs to the art festival there along the banks of a lake. It's always been one of my favorite shows, considering the lovely surroundings and fine artists who show there. This Sunday the weather was cool and rainy, and we enjoyed the show, but hurried through. Then we stopped in at another favorite of ours, Santorini's along the Anclote River for a late lunch.

Kitty Daze if available for purchase in my Etsy Shop, DreamON

Painting A Day = Feline X 3

New Math rule is Painting A Day = Feline X 3. Oh, I forgot to mention this is Feline Math. You have to have gone to Feline School to understand.
Having not gone to Feline School, you simply need to enjoy CATS. Ever since I touched my first baby kitten, I have been a cat person. I just love kitties.

I've been painting all day at Studio 1212 working on a couple of new paintings and enjoying the company of other painters. Our opening reception for the Designing Women show on Sunday was well-attended and a great success. Thanks to everyone who attended, and a special thank you to everyone who bought from me.

Everyone loved the Shooz assemblage that we all created on 5 x 7 canvases. My Red High Heels painting is just one of the bunch that have been bolted into a wonderful piece of art which we are raffling off on June 1st at our next show and reception. Every one of us would love to win this, but hopefully we'll be selling lots of raffle tickets, and the lucky winner will be thrilled to add this piece to their collection. (I blogged about this once before a few days ago, and showed the poster with the Shooz).

This painting has been created with many layers of acrylic paints. There are textures below the surface to explore. The photo doesn't do it justice, because once again it was too dark to shoot without the camera's flash going off. The title of this 10 x 14-inch painting is Feline X 3. (THIS PAINTING HAS BEEN SOLD IN MY ETSY SHOP.)

Painting This Afternoon On My Deck

This afternoon was lovely, and I decided I wanted to be outside and paint out there, so I did. Painting outside presents all sorts of challenges to the artist. First of all, we just naturally want to paint everything we see, and it's harder to narrow our focus. The light changes rapidly. The wind blows and dries our paint much faster. At least on my deck, there are no bugs, flies and bees. But given all the distracting conditions, it's just nice to be outside, so why not paint?

This is the way the palm trees look. I can't see the bottoms above the railing of my deck, but I decided to put the ducks in the second they landed. This one's called Iffy Afternoon On My Deck. It looked like rain was a possibility with the little dark clouds up there.

This one was also fun to do. I put a yellow wash down and painted into it with a few colors while it was still wet. Then I began to describe the outside edges while the inside dried. It's called Palm Fronds From My Deck.

These paintings are both very close to 11 inches square and painted in watercolor.

Go to http://DreamON.Etsy.com to buy any of my Painting a Day offerings.

On The Spot

Producing a painting a day does tend to create some perplexing moments for me. There are paintings of size and complexity that cannot be finished in a day. So then I start another, smaller painting. There are other paintings which do not turn out well, so I either push ahead and continue working, or I put them aside for another day. (Sometimes that day doesn't come for months. It has to talk to me.) Of course, there are days that I shouldn't even begin to pick up a paintbrush! In any event it challenges me and has a tendency to make me want to produce more, and that is a good thing.

On the Spot is the painting of the day. I was going to call it Left Behind, but I discovered I had already titled one by that name. This painting is on a 5 x 7 x 1-inch little canvas. The sides are painted, and it does not need a frame. I will take some additional photos to show 0ther views tomorrow, but I have sent this painting up to Flourish Boutique, a new shop opening June 1 in South Bend, IN. Look for it there.

Today I made some changes to another painting I've had on the blog for quite sometime, Babette from the Fashion Divas Series, and I will put them, before and after, side by side. I had had a critique on that one, and the consensus was to stop. It was done. I was never pleased, and my husband had made one of THOSE remarks, so after a couple of months had passed, I decided to change it. I think I like the new version better. (I did have to use a flash on the photo, because it was after dark, so the photo quality is not quite as good this time though.


What do you think? Before, or after?

Fashion Diva Cards

No new painting today. Instead I'm going to show you some of the Fashion Diva cards that I've been making. Have to create a new supply, because they've been a hot item around here. So I thought I would create a few more for tomorrow's Studio 1212 opening reception.

These are all hand-drawn and handcrafted images. The ladies are stylin in their chic, new chapeaux. (Don't know the plural of chapeau.) So I guess I should just say, "hats."

Old Time Light

This is an artistic depiction of Heceta Head Lighthouse which is named for Don Bruno Heceta who in 1775 was sailing for the Royal Spanish Navy en route to the Arctic Circle claiming territory for Spain. Once he reached the Columbia River, the expedition turned back due to many of his sailors being sick with scurvy, but he journaled about this headland formation which is named for him. The lighthouse was constructed over a century later, the light being automated in 1963.

The painting is a watercolor I began some time ago and put aside unfinished, only to pick up today to work on it again, and so it became my offering for Painting A Day. It is now a mixed media piece with the addition of some acrylics over the top to add interest. On a quarter-sheet of Arches Cold Press Watercolor paper, it measures approximately 11 x 15 inches.

It can be found in my Etsy shop: DreamON . (Yes, you can click on it.)

Studio 1212 Opening Reception for Designing Women Show

Sunday, April 3rd from 2 to 5 pm. will be the opening of our Designing Women show. Today we were there hanging the show and noticed many more brightly-colored paintings will be hanging in this show than in recent shows. This gallery of some 20+ women exhibit a large number of abstract paintings, but recent newer members are adding more representational work to the shows. There are a number of florals and even some human forms in this exhibit.


The exhibit runs until the end of May and features an assemblage of paintings on 5 x 7-inch canvases of shoes which will be raffled off and will be a real coup for the winner to be announced June 1st at the opening of our next show, Canvas and Some More. Raffle tickets sell for a mere $2.00 apiece, and the assemblage is stunning.

Members were given a 5 x 7 inch canvas and were told we were each painting shoes. Not everyone complied, but we ended up with an amazing variety of little paintings which have now been joined together and are hanging as one assemblage at Studio 1212.

The assemblage to be won is shown in the center section of the poster at left. We also will be selling posters like the one at left, without the raffle ticket information.

Studio 1212 is located at 1405 Cleveland Street in Clearwater, Florida.

Catch us also at http://www.studio1212.org/ .

Tropical Vision - Painting A Day

Had a busy day today, and didn't have as much time to paint, so I got a late start on my daily painting. I switched back to into watercolor mode to create this Tropical Vision. This wasn't for any particular reason, other than it had been a little while since I had painted in watercolor.

There is not too much to mention about techniques, because there is nothing that departs from a pretty traditional watercolor. The sky was painted on a wet surface. The palm trees were painted with a palette knife and a rigger brush. the water was painted with a dry brush technique and then glazed when the first layer dried.

The dimensions of this piece are 10 x 15 inches. Materials used are watercolors and just a bit of gouache.

This painting is for sale in my Etsy shop: DreamON (Click on the image or the highlighted name DreamON to be automagically transported there.)