Grape Time - And A Private Workshop!

 "Grape Time"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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I taught a private two-day workshop at my home studio this weekend, walking through my process from start to finish. Here's a look:

Thumbnail sketch on the right, 5-value study in the center, and the finished piece on the left.

My student's work, and a shot of her, painting away. It was a really nice weekend, thank you for painting with me, Valerie! 

Painting a Dead Horse

 

 "Dark Horse"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Available Here

My new project, Still Life Open Studio, is rolling along! It's a gathering where I set up a still life, and you come and paint it! Well, I paint it. You work in any medium you choose. 

This month's session was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe - skulls and flowers. I had the whole gang assembled - Bambi, Bessie, and Mr. Ed. Yorick was on an artist's residency and could not attend.

I'll be hosting two sessions in August: the 11th and the 25th. Come see what I concoct theme-wise! It's still a mystery to me.

The Little Violin: A $1 Auction

 "The Little Violin"

5 x 9 inches, oil on Arches oil paper
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I Run the Numbers

 "The Brown Dress"

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

Here it is completed: my first painting of the year. It always feels so strange to create a new desktop folder of paintings for a new year, and file away the first one in that vast empty space. I know it won't be lonely for long - it's time to start filling up that folder!

By my (most-likely faulty) calculations, I posted 81 still life paintings last year, 50-ish figure paintings or portraits, 15 plein air pieces, 2 self-portraits, and 3 portrait commissions. That's fewer still lives than in 2012, but twice as many figure paintings.

Here's an in-progress shot of my studio, my painting, and my friend Farley's painting on the left. See how much more paint he has down than I do? I struggled around with the drawing on this one for hours, but her luscious flesh tones flowed relatively easily.

Dark Dream

 "Dark Dream"

18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

$1000

Click to buy

Here's the third in my series of reclining women, and a new model for me. At nearly six feet tall, she barely fit on my couch! We made it work, though. I like that she feels relaxed, even with her legs bent so sharply - and I really like the fold of her legs against the many folds of the drapery beneath them.

I'm trying to move away from my usual obsessive interest in the face in these figure paintings. In each one I've focused the strongest light on the lower body, and where the face hasn't been averted completely, I've kept the eyes down and the brushwork loose.

For the second sitting on this pose, I was joined in the studio by my friend Farley. We always paint together on Tuesday nights at Maude Kerns Art Center, but this was his first visit to my place. It's always so great to have company - the more creative energy in the room, the better!

And here is the painting from start to finish:

Have a great weekend, all!

Tips and Tricks: It's Curtains!

 My contribution to this month's blog carnival, devoted to Tips and Tricks, is all about window treatments. It might sound a bit strange - this is an art blog and an art tips carnival, after all. Some of you, having witnessed firsthand my attempts at interior decoration, might be wondering what I could possibly contribute on the subject of tasteful decor curtains, but fear not! At the heart of this matter are two subjects I do know something about: problem solving the simple way, and shopping at the thrift store.

I've come to realize that people like to redecorate. They must, because there are tons of curtains at the thrift store. Weird curtains. Oh well, I don't judge. The more colorful, the better, for my purposes...

Those purposes include model backdrop, still life component, and (in moments of desperation), drop cloth. Hey, they're pretty cheap, these used curtains. 

One of my favorite ways to use any piece of fabric is to block out windows when I want to control a lighting situation. Our weather changes very quickly sometimes, and when I have a model in my studio, using window light, which can switch from cloudy grey to bright and sunny with no warning, is not a good option. Sun breaks make the general public happy, but for me, they are no good!

By putting two little nails in the wall, I can easily hang a window-blocker of any type with bulldog clips. Those round holes are so convenient.

 

 

If you score some of these funky grommet-curtains,  you can skip the clips altogether. I'm not sure how I feel about this type of curtain as an actual decorative element (although, it's already been established that I am no Martha Stewart), I love them for this:

 

I've got one more tidbit before I send you off on your carnival rounds. I get tons of questions about how I hang paintings in my studio, and the answer is simple:

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you enjoy some more tips and tricks from these fabulous artists:

Linda Nickles


Marla Laubisch


Jo MacKenzie


Joanne Grant


Taryn Day

Seeing Red

 

 "On the Red Table"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I think I love my new studio. What a relief! Especially because it would be awfully hard to take back my old one, already on its way to becoming a man-cave family room. Jesse wasted no time taking over that space! I didn't waste much time myself - there's no better way to settle in than to sling some paint, or, um, spray diet soda all over the room.

I didn't do it, for the record!

Today I started on a fabulous new commission, which I'll be sharing much more about soon!

Summer Break and a Vlog

 Here it is: my first Vlog - aka, video blog. Just a quick peek at my studio, all cleaned up for company.

I'm going to be taking some time off from bloggging - August will be packed with family, travel, and many other things, and my social-media-self is feeling in need of a general recharge, anyway. My plan is to do a lot of sketching and drawing, and paint if and when I can for the next few weeks, but my posts may be sporadic. Hoping you all are having a wonderful summer - there's plenty of summer still to come!