New Works in Two Shows

                                                                          Emma'sView
                                                                                          Oil on Canvas
                                                                             20 x 24

This Friday night is the opening for the faculty show, "Water" at BAYarts in Bay Village in the Dianne Boldman Education Gallery.   The painting shown above, Emma's View will be one of the works on display.  When I was asked by the gallery director to contribute to the exhibit with the theme being 'water', I thought...Great, this will be fun, a challenge, something new to paint--I don't often include water in my paintings.
It was a challenge.  Over the last few months, I was looking at water in many ways.  Water in a vase, glass, pond, rainwater, streams, rivers, lakes, ice.   I settled on this view of the river from my neighbors yard. The challenge was painting in cold weather, painting at the same time of day-- morning for this one, painting in good weather and finding the time.  Painting by the river became a peaceful experience.  Paint, birds, water, the sound of water, light, color, the warmth of late winter sun on my back.  It is titled after my husbands grandmother, Emma.  She lived in the house that is now my neighbors house.  Apparently, she would sit on her side porch and enjoy the view of the river; its' birdlife and plant life.  Many of my paintings of barns have paid homage to her husband Yaro, who built the barns.  Now it's Emma's turn.

                                                                           Light Behind
                                                                                           Oil on Canvas
                                                                                               30 x 40

This painting was accepted in the BAYarts 2012 Spring Juried Show.  Yay!  I'm happy and pleased that it got in.  The judges are people I respect, it's a boost to the old artist morale when your work is accepted in the eyes of people you hold in high regard. 
The opening for this show is also Friday night at BAYarts from7-9 in the Sullivan Family Gallery. 
It'll be a busy night at BAYarts, for any of you reading this who are in the area, stop in and see what promises to be two nice art exhibits.

Landscape, fits and starts

no title

oil on canvas

24 x 36

This painting started as something different; eventually evolved to this.  It changed because I didn't like where it was going.  At all.  Unfortunately Fortunately I don't have the beginnings painting documented.  I was so frustrated with how the painting looked that I was going to put a coat of color over it and start fresh with an entirely new piece. 

Instead I took a lithography pencil, palette knife, cut up credit card, an oil pastel, an old stiff paint brush and started drawing and scratching into the painting.  Which felt very good.

I began to like what was happening.  Energy was entering the piece. 

I rode the coat-tails of that energy and kept painting, feeling right about the new direction.

In the end, I find myself looking at the painting often.  Enjoying the layers of color, the leftover scratches and pencil marks. 

Here is a close up which shows detail and the subsequent layering of color and texture that happened after I almost scrapped the painting.

Title ideas anyone?

Dabbling with abstraction...Paintovers

Well, it had been so darn cold and snowy here for such a long time that it was...just sapping our energy. 

While it was cold, I had the desire to paint but no particular subject in mind.  But there were colors all jumbled up inside my head.  I took some old landscapes and did a few paintovers.

oil on canvas

12 x 16

love the colors here, the shapes too.

oil on canvas

16 x 20

I left some landscape elements in this one.  When I started this, the colors were driven by a new color I bought, Van Gogh, Azo Red Light.

 Oil on Canvas

20 x 20

Not sure about this one.  I plan to draw into it more, might change some color.  Might paint the entire painting over!  Who knows? 





Yellow Sky

 

I painted this about a week and a half ago, it seems like another lifetime.

The days have been full since school started.

Once the routine settles in, I'll get out and paint some autumn scenes. 

For now there's this.  A sunset over a pond at Orchard Hills Park.  The sky started as a pale blue, but as the light changed it morphed to yelllow.  So beautiful.

A Peak at the Exhibit at The Flying Monkey Pub~New Landscape Paintings

Last Friday was the Tremont Art Walk.  I have 19 works on exhibit at The Flying Monkey Pub.  What's fun about the Tremont Art Walk is that every business is open for the event.  Art is everywhere, restaurants, pubs, galleries and shops.  It was a warm, beautiful night and Tremont was packed with people.  A bunch of us got together to see my work, have some fun and walk around a bit.  Here's a sampling of some of my work that is hanging. It will hang until August 10th.  If you're in Cleveland, or already live in the area, stop by and see the show. 

New Puppy, New Painting

Larry the Dog Sedivy

Last year in February we said goodbye to our best dog,  Woody after spending 15 wonderful years together.  It took a year or so before we began to think of  having a dog around, although we still missed him.  So much.

My daughter and I have been visiting the local shelters for a few months. Nothing grabbed our hearts.  Then we met Larry.  (His siblings were Curly and Mo). 

He's been with us for a week and he is working his way into our hearts and home with all his puppy cuteness and personality.  I've got a big space in my heart where Woody rests, but its funny how hearts work.  Ours have opened up with ease and made space for this little guy. 

Soft Morning

36 x 42

Oil on Canvas

Last year I worked on a commission which I struggled with the during the entire process.  Nothing ever rang true, although I tried to convince myself otherwise.  So, after the buyer wasn't interested in it, I covered it in red and waited for inspiration.  Which came while I was out birding one soft morning.  The day was foggy, soft and gorgeous.  I took lots of reference photos.  

This is what I came up with.

It's leaving tomorrow to hang in a solo exhibition in Tremont.  (nice arty area in Cleveland)

And on that note, gotta run.....so much to do for the show!

Loosening Up

Orchard Hills Park

6 x 8

Oil on Panel

Since summer vacation started I've gone out to the local parks to do some Plein Air painting.  Each time out has been totally wonderful.  I try to arrive around 7:30 or so and spend a few hours painting.  Last time I painted two panels, with this one being the better of the two.

Last year I painted this:

I liked it for a while.  Then I didn't.  The composition really started bugging me.  I loved the colors, the brushwork, but otherwise...blech.  So I decided to do a paint over the other day.  I zoomed in on the Orchard Hills painting.

Orchard Hills

Oil on Canvas

24 x 24

Now this, I really LOVE.  Loosening up is soooo good.

Some details:

This is color I could just Eat!

Summer Vaca has started and I've hit the ground Running

                                                                Orchard Hills 6 x 8
                                                                                          oil on panel

Where to begin?  It's been so long since I've posted and there's so much to share and say.  For now I'll share a few pics of some little paintings I worked on this week.  The scenes were painted in a few different parks within the Geauga Park District.  What has been intriquing and of great importance to me lately has been negative space.  How it is used in an artwork.  I love the abstract shapes that negative space creates.

                                                                                        Orchard Hills  6 x 8
                                                                                            Oil on Panel

It was fun to mush the sky up against the trees and to paint the pinks behind the trees.

Swine Creek Park  6 x 8

Oil on Panel

This started as a demo piece, waterbased oils on panel.  I reworked it a smidge this morning (the demo was on Monday night) putting regular oils over the waterbased oils.  Which works just fine.  I also turned the painting upside down when I worked back into it.  (I revisited this idea courtesy of a friend who often paints her work upside down--she's not standing on her head, the work is upside down :) ) 

                                                                    The Rookery 6 x 8
                                                                                               Oil on panel

This is a painting from last summer that I was never felt was complete.  So, since I was turning paintings upside down, this one was flipped and worked into.  It's more intense than before, the colors and paint is getting nice and juicey.

Likenesses

As we're settled deep in the heart of midwinter; the red Hibiscus is blooming against the backdrop of white.  It struck me with its likeness to the canvas I was prepping for a new life.

(the hibiscus is one I brought in for the winter, its leaves are a bit scraggly right now, but it just started blooming one flower at a time.)

Art Show Openings are Fun!

Last Friday night BayArts in Bay Village, Ohio hosted the opening to their Faculty Exhibit.  My sister and daughters (shown here) along with other friends came to see the show.  The exhibit featured works in a variety of media from faculty who've taught there over the years.  Although I haven't taught a class yet, I will be this summer; it was great to be included with this wonderful bunch of artists.  We had a great time!

Continuing the story of the commission painting, the buyer wasn't interested in the painting for all the reasons that I knew in the back of my mind.  She felt that something was lost in the transtlation from small to large.  She loves my work, but this wasn't it for her. 
About halfway through painting it, I had considered starting over.  But I pushed through, kinda started getting "it", but never to my satisfaction.  When I brought it to the gallery and I was looking at it, I could see plain as day that I wasn't happy with it.  For the sake of integrity, I'm glad it went this way.  I love the diptych, which I'll try to sell.  The other.....GESSO and a new life!

Woo Hoo! The commission is done!

Commission Painting

42 x 36

                                                        Diptych version of Commission Piece

                                                                             42 x 36

Finally!  The top painting is the commission painting I've been wrestling with for the last few months.  I'm fairly satisfied.  I'll send the image to the gallery owner, she can show it to the buyer.  After that, who knows, either she likes it or not. The background trees are more purple than blue.  I made some value adjustments in the sky and in the background trees.

I love the diptych, which I'll send along with the other.  Again the blues are more purple.  The center horizontal line is a vivid pinkish orange--melon.  It is bolder line than the photo depicts.

On a weather note, it has been snowing all day and night.  Snowing to beat the band!  I measured at 11:00  and there were 13 inches on the ground.  5 hours later, I'm guessing 18 inches or so. 

Painting from a Dream

About a week ago, I dreamed of a landscape somewhat like this.  It had a mauve sky, and a dark green treeline.  I don't recall the foreground so I improvised.

(In real life this painting's sky is more of a mauve, the camera doesn't relay the color accurately.)

oil on panel 8 x 16

Gray Day

After spending an hour or more working on this; the commission piece that is taking its good old time reaching any sort of resolution, I switched over to a fast painting over an old painting. 

(a side note about the commission:  the buyer saw one of my smaller paintings (8 x 10) that is soft and moody.  She wants a larger work, about 42 x 36--soft and moody.  At this point, I'm beginning to get the softness, but its been a challenge to take what is so easy to capture in a small piece and bring it to a large format.  There are some compositional kinks I'm working on, and I'm struggling with the trees in front.)

Today was a Gray Day.  Rain, rain and more rain. 

The fast painting over the old painting is below. I plan to work some lighter grays into the sky. 

I like to paint Gray Days. I find it a good challenge to capture just the right colors for gray sky.

(my camera hasn't captured the colors with accuracy)

We were driving to a Christmas dinner at dusk. The white barns in sillouhette against the white sky were striking. After painting for several hours today, my seeing eyes were charged up. I wanted to turn the car around and go home to paint the white on white.

Beginnings

the show in tremont this fall  led to a commission work.  the buyer is interested in a large work.  i started with some sketches, the first sketch was done this summer while sitting on the beach on Lake Erie.  i didn't choose the sketch for the commission piece but i plan to use the sketch in for a painting in the future.  i settled on the sketches done at a local park in here in geauga county.  i toned the canvas in purples, usually i tone in reds.  i thought this might lend an interesting effect.  i sketched the basic shapes in reds.  colors were then added in a broad, general way.  next week i'll work into the paintings further, softening the brushwork. 

the funny thing is, i don't intend to sell the buyer this painting; i don't think it's going in the direction she would like (weird how a painting assumes its' own identity)  i have another one started, which i'll post soon, that i think will suit her tastes.  right now its a poor sketch on canvas, i got so involved in this diptych that my art energy went solely into it, neglecting the other. often i work on two things or more simultaneously, in this case, the energy went where it needed to go!

Landscapes~~Oil Studies

When the Geode Gallery sent out the flier regarding my art show, within twenty minutes of sending it, the gallery owener received a phone call from an interested buyer regarding one of the works on the flier.
Wicked Cool and Wow!!
I met the prospective buyer at the opening. She had decided against the one she saw on the flier; the size wasn't right for where she wants to hang it, but expressed strong interest in a commission piece.
Sooooo...
The pieces below are oil studies for a larger work. Which I'll do regardless of whether or not the buyer decides to buy one or not.



TOGETHER



TOGETHER II



LONE


Each piece is smallish; about 8 x10 to 10 x 12. They're oil on panel and I used photo references after a visit to a local park. I know the park well and stayed for an hour or so taking shots. I prefer plein air painting, but for many reasons these had to be painted in the studio.

I came across an interesting article in The Artist's Magazine (Sept. 2009)about composition and design. The writer and artist; Ian Roberts, has outstanding reminders and pointers about achieving strong and dynamic compositions. I thought about the article as I worked on my thumbnails--working with value.
I worked on simplifying the compositions and for these pieces the buyer is interested in a 'dreamy' look; so I worked more with glazing than I normally do.
I enjoyed tinkering with the figure/ground relationships and found the areas where the light shows through the row of trees really captivating. This has always intriqued me, the abstract shapes made by the holes between trees; how the shapes are indistinct..the way light glows through from behind.

The opening at the Geode Gallery Friday night was lots of fun. Lots of people came, the night was warm and clear with a full mooon. The moonlight reflecting off St. Theodosius church next door was glowing.
The Geode Gallery is the building that was featured in the scene of The Deerhunter in which Meryl Streep worked in the market.
Most exciting is that the large painting I'm standing next to in the photo above sold before the show opened. A great way to start an exhibit!

Who does she think she is?

Opportunistic cat. With the studio in a state of preparation for an upcoming show, sweet little Junior Kitty, a.k.a. "Schnook" used the canvas that is being flattened (I hope) for the perfect napping spot---for the last few days!

(Isn't it annoying when canvases warp? Darned humid Ohio weather!)

What have I been painting lately... on a cloudy August morning and sketchbook inspiration.

okay, so there's plenty to look at here.
it was one of those clouds hanging heavy over the trees and earth kind of misty mornings.
i was hoping to go out and do some plein air painting but the weather kept me in. i was staring out the studio back door wishing i could go out to paint.
just looking out.
it started with a quick study (not shown) then led to another.



then another.



then this big one. 36 x 48. it's striking in real large life. i wish the digital photos conveyed how they feel like the atmospheric cloudiness of the day.



this is a sketchbook scribble paint drawing which



led to this.



i bought this canvas at a yard sale when i was in Chautauqua earlier this summer. it was already painted on and heavily textured, 36 x 36 in size. i had some fun messin' around with the surface texture--scraping away areas and adding my own lines, shapes and textures.

i call it Flight. i think of my mom and dad, not that they fled but are in flight, beautiful flight.

Paintings in an Art Show

ORANGE IN MORNING 16 x 20


LATE GLOW 20 x 24

These paintings were entered in the BayArts Inspired by Nature Art Show and both were accepted. Late Glow received a Juror's Award! I went to the opening last night, it was jam packed with both people and lots of great paintings.

The funny thing about Late Glow is that I had difficulty with the bottom right corner of the painting. Couldn't resolve it to my satisfaction; which interestingly is the spot from my photo reference that was blurred by my finger. When I dropped off the painting, I discussed this with one of the employees at BayArts (who is also a painter). Last night she told me that during the judging, the juror's discussed the painting. They felt the painting was strong especially the area where the light comes through, but they felt there was something missing or unfinished or not right with the bottom right corner. Hmmmm. There are times we don't see what's going on with our own work..and times we do.