Support System 2... work in progress...


"Support System 2" work in progress (not nearly done)
15 x 15
Acrylic on paper

Sort of a frustrating day of painting.... don't know why... just couldn't get out of my own way.
Have another couple of paintings going at the same time... some more promising than others.

Gorgeous weather today here in Michigan.... 50 degrees and sunny! wow! Snow is melting at a rapid pace.

Circumventing Obstacles...


"Circumventing Obstacles"
8 x 8 inches
Acrylic and pencil on paper

Still working on small compositional "sketches" ...Playing with colors, shapes and ideas. This is my favorite part of painting. I've started some of the larger canvases using these smaller studies as road maps (so to speak) We'll see how successful I am at sticking to the small study.... :)

Sanctuary


"Sanctuary 2"
watercolor and ink on paper
8 x 8 inches
Another watercolor class sample for the auburn hills JoAnn's store.

A study in glazing and mingling color.


Going with my gal pals to the Snowflake Ball at Addison Oaks ballroom this evening. My husband has a hockey game (he's an assistant at Lake Orion Varsity Hockey) so I bugged my friends to make it a girls night out. I'm sure we'll have a great time. It's the Orion Art Center's big fund raiser... so we'll have fun, and support a good cause.

It's almost 50 degrees here... The air smells so good!!!

Brainstorm....


"Brainstorm"
5 x 5 inches
Acrylic, colored pencil, ink, varnished

Input...output.... The swirling excitement of a brainstorming session.
Exciting and a bit dangerous sometimes with the wacky ideas we come up with. This painting really doesn't fit with my current work... but it came out anyway. :)

Quote of the Day:
"Everything that is worthwhile in life is scary. Choosing a school, choosing a career, getting married, having kids- all those things are scary. If it is not fearful, it is not worthwhile."
~ Paul Tornier

Support System....


"Support System"
7.5 x 7.5
Acrylic on paper

(used to be "lil help")

I have a whopper of a cold... the mushy headed kind... So around 3pm, I left the studio, made myself a cup of tea and sat in the recliner with a blankie and my library book.

I chose the book because of the cover. (I am so predictably VISUAL) I was looking for light reading... an amusement for when I'm too tired for thinking and don't want to watch TV.

It's called "In the Land of Second Chances" by George Shaffner. I really enjoyed it. (Now remember, I am very easily amused) It turned out to be a philosophical exploration which I found fascinating, but done in a very entertaining way. One of the things he talks about is that there are 4 kinds of people. (I'll be paraphrasing here...)

One kind are the people who need assistance to survive... the very young, the very old, the sick.

The second kind are those who take care of themselves.

The third kind are those who take care of themselves and care for others too.
"The lifeblood of society: giving parents; genuine leaders; people who devote their lives to medicine, law enforcement, fire fighting, national defense, and charity," Shaffner says.

The fourth kind are the people who take from others for their own gain. (Leaders who end up being this fourth kind are especially bad)

Man.... how clear cut is that? There are some religious elements in the book.... talking about reincarnation... God.... life after death. There are some amusing parts though too. It isn't really DEEP.... but it's interesting, and entertaining. I give it 3 of 4 stars. :)

New Favorite Artist: Sheila Norgate


"Adult Dogs Change their Coats Once a Year"
By: Sheila Norgate (with permission)
Mixed Media
40 x 30

Available at the Diehl Gallery

I just love Sheila Norgate's website.... (I stumbled on it through Robert's Genn's newsletter) Her work is just wonderful too... But what struck me about her website is that she really lets her personality shine through. I'm guessing that I probably would really like to hang out with Sheila. She has a great sense of humor which is very important in my friend selection. :) I clicked through just about everything there... And was lingering on the small works for sale.

I guess my point is that...

  • If I hadn't found her site so charming... I probably wouldn't have looked at the whole thing.
  • If her site wasn't so charming... I wouldn't have lingered over the smaller affordable works for sale...
  • If her site wasn't so charming... I wouldn't be hoping for a few more sales of my own, so that I could buy from her!

Makes me realize how very much my site needs overhauled. Ah... so little time...so much to do!

"Stay the Course" Work in Progress



"Stay the Course" Work in Progress
8 x 6
acrylic on collage paper

Working on more compositions in my "High Road" series in this smaller format, then if they work out...I'll paint them again larger. This one isn't finished...but I like some of the things that are happening.

Some of the titles I worked on today are:
"Cross Purposes"
"Circles of Influence"
"Divided We Fall"
and
"Lucille Was Finding it Hard to Be Taken Seriously While Wearing a Float Tube"

Stay tuned! :)

Sunnyflowers



"Sunnyflowers"
7.5 x 5.5
Acrylic on collage paper

Been working on the February newsletter ALL morning and then into the afternoon. Once the template is all set up, it SHOULD be a piece of cake to get it written. Look for it in your inbox come February 1! (with any luck at all)

Striving for Luminosity...


7.5 x 5.5 inches
Acrylic on collage paper

I was reading "Color and Light for the Watercolor Painter" by Christopher Schink this morning. He has devoted a few pages on achieving luminosity that were inspiring to re-read.

Schink suggests that; "To create the illusion of glowing areas, paint your subject using light to mid-range values only --no pure whites and no darks." There are a lot of inspiring illustrations to motivate you in this wonderful book.

So here's my attempt, but in acrylic..... It was so very hard not to reach for the darks!!! This was really a stretch for me. I included the black and white photo to show that I really didn't go past mid range...



When might you use luminosity? When trying to paint lanterns, glowing windows at dusk, maybe candlelight... When the light is emanating from something, not shining on something. It would be a great skill to have in your arsenal... I'm going to keep practicing. :)

Art Critique Group


"Blast Off"
10 x 11
Acrylic on Paper

This morning I met with my critique group. It's just so much fun to see what everyone has been up to. (Though they usually know what I've been doing because of this blog.)
We bring our paintings that are finished...and the ones that we're stuck on...and even paintings that we absolutely are sick of. It's always an inspiring morning with creative ideas swirling around.

Dinner at the Whitney....yum!



"Dessert First"
12 x 12
Acrylic

This painting was done in 1999...I did a series of these with my favorite quotes surrounding them...I still sell the image on note cards, even though the painting sold right away. :)


Last night, Don and I met 3 other couples at The Whitney...a gorgeous restaurant in Detroit. Delicious and beautiful....even if I did have to wear "big girl shoes."

Valentine Bouquet in Watercolor


"Valentine Bouquet"
10 x 8
watercolor class sample (at JoAnn's in Auburn Hills)

This class will be available next week. Come join me and we'll splash some paint around!

I had the best time with my beginning watercolor class on Wednesday night. The ladies were just so much fun! I must say, all 3 of their projects turned out just great! (It was the Winter Trees class)

Have a great weekend!
I get to wear my "big girl" shoes tonight....Don and I are going out to dinner with 3 other couples...Wow! A date night!

Quote of the Day:
"The real study of an art student is more a development of that sensitive nature and appreciative imagination with which he was so fully endowed when a child, and which, unfortunately in almost all cases, the contact with the grown-ups shames out of him before he passes into what is understood as real life."
~Robert Henri (in "The Art Spirit")

Newest favorite iTunes buy:
"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

Back to Warm-ups!



"Teal and Golden Bouquet" (catchy title! LOL)
5.5 x 7.5 inches
Acrylic on fabric glued to watercolor paper.

I am still working on the High Road series...but did a few warm-ups today. This one has very unusual colors for me.... I really like painting on the batik quilt fabric (glued to the paper) What a dynamic under-painting! I would be more pleased if I had left just a bit more of the fabric on left side of the bouquet...oh well... I guess that's why they are called "warm-ups!"

Quote of the Day:
Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere.
~Erma Bombeck

Twin Climbs


"Twin Climbs"
Acrylic and pencil on paper
8 x 8 inches

Newest small experiment in my "taking the high road" series...
Unusual colors for me.....

Twin Climbs... sounds like Twin Pines.... A milk company that was in Detroit... They sponsored some kind of kiddie show on tv featuring "Milky the Clown." I think my sister was on that show once.
I was WAY too young and couldn't be trusted to sit still. he hee he.

i'm so glad I was a couch potato.



Last night I had decided not to go to Don's hockey game ...It was just too snowy...and the couch and a good movie were just too attractive to pass up. (He's an assistant coach @ Lake Orion Varsity Hockey...Go Dragons...they had a terrific victory last night)

Thank God I had decided to be a couch potato!

Around 8:30 our house alarm started going haywire! The keypad was telling me that
A window had been broken in the family room...
Our house was full of carbon monoxide...
And there was something wrong in the garage too...
Armegedon!

My pass code wouldn't shut off the horrific blaring of the alarm. The alarm company was trying to call...and our cable phone service decided to be intermittent ..spazzing out when i tried to answer.
...And to be quite honest...I had know idea what was going on!

And could i find my cell phone? Of course not! I had conveniently left it in the car.
...in the garage
...where the alarm system was telling me that something was wrong.

The house phone got it's act together, and I finally got hold of the alarm company. They informed me that the fire dept. was on their way....

By the time i got to the front door...the huge fire truck was there, lights blazing, along with all the pick-ups from the firefighters on call....The alarm company had sent all the big guns...

After asking me what was happening...They came in and checked everything...making sure the carbon monoxide detector was indeed malfunctioning.(it never quit beeping) Their carbon monoxide level reader told us that we were fine...so they disabled the detector for me......

And then.... of course.... the house alarm started going off again.
...and the alarm company was sending the signal to 911 again..
... luckily the firefighters knew to call and let them know not to send any more personnel.

After all...it was a bit crowded.

When everyone left...I sat down to calm our panicked dog....and realized that if i hadn't been home...they probably would have had to break into the house to see what was what.
Ewwwww.
I'm SO glad I decided to be a couch potato last night.
Occasionally it's a very good decision.

By the way... Our Oxford Fire Department is awesome...very professional and arrived here lickity split...even in a snow storm. Something that's good to know.... I'm also thankful that there wasn't something serious happening in the area while they were helping me with a spazzy alarm and a faulty Carbon Monoxide detector....That would have been awful.

Hoping your Sunday is a lot less eventful than my Saturday night. :)

Finding my way back to the High Road


Work in Progress ("Lil Help")
8 x 8
Acrylic and pencil on gessoed paper

I gathered my unfinished "high road" series paintings...and started back full steam... I have about 15 paintings going on at once... Some canvas and some paper. It really felt good to get back to what I want to paint. I'm thinking about neutrals against brights and how loud the brights sing against quiet color.... I like working things out in this small size...then trying to paint the same feeling on a larger support. It's quite a challenge for me to keep the same spontaneity when I'm painting something over again.

Have a great weekend!
We'll be having a heat wave here... might get to 17 degrees! whoo hoo! Party on Garth!

Sunflowers!


"Sunflower" (what a catchy title, eh?) 10 x 8 ~Watercolor class sample

I'll be teaching this class @ JoAnn's in February. I used a photograph from WetCanvas (taken by ottwork), in their copywrite free reference image library. (It's worth joining for the library, let alone the inspiration from all the great artists that post there)

What I learned today.... -10 degrees F is way too cold to go out walking in. (duh) Thank god for heaty thingy's for my mittens...or the 20 minutes I walked would have been even worse!

CD cover....


CD cover art for my son's new album.
(I put the black line around it so you could see the boundary)

I really like collaborating with other artists... and when it's your own kid, it's even more fun.

Quote of the Day:
"When you have a taste for exceptional people you always end up meeting them everywhere.
~Pierre Mac Orlan

More Valentine Patterning


Hearts Galore 5 x 7 mixed media

Just playing around with valentine motifs.... As I look at this on the screen...it would have been fun to hide a red and white striped heart. Then we could have played "Where's Waldo." :)
I framed 5 paintings today too....and worked on CD cover art for our youngest.
Quite the productive day!