The Butterfly Frog: Lois Primeau

More Rust Removal

2012-01-17T15:22:00.001-05:00

I'm still working on knocking the rust off. I've never done much with pastels, that is working loosely with them. I've always admired pastel artists and love the way they can layer the colors. So, what the heck, why not? Eventually, the rust removal should be complete and I may learn something new along the way.

Knocking the Rust Off

2012-01-12T20:08:00.001-05:00

I'm still getting back into the swing of being in the studio. I played around with my conté crayons, trying to "knock the rust off" my "art brain" for a bit, this afternoon. I worked from a photo in one of my books and made the face up. I think I might be getting the gears moving again ☺

Procrastination Central

2012-01-06T16:18:00.001-05:00

One week into the new year and I'm having trouble getting "back in the saddle, again". I've done all the procrastinating I can do - I've taken down Christmas decorations, I've cleaned up my studio, I've made lists of goals and exhibitions/competitions I want to enter this year... I even found my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project - which by the way, has to be postmarked by January 31st. Yikes! So what's my problem? What keeps me glued to whatever flotsam that wafts by and away from actually starting my work? I even know what I want to start on! It's almost like my brain doesn't remember how good it feels once I start working on my artwork. I need a swift kick in the rear to get moving! Anybody wearing some steel-toed boots?

Okay, that's it! Back to the studio and see if anything starts moving...

The Purge Urge

2011-12-31T12:18:00.000-05:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few days. I think most of us do, as the end of the year approaches and the new one begins. Why is that? Why are we wired in such a way that we're always looking for a new beginning, a fresh start? We're always trying to reach some pinnacle of perfection.... Or is it just that the storage containers and bins go on sale and suddenly we're all struck to be "Martha Stewarts" and have our lives perfectly organized and labeled? Heck, even her life isn't perfection, remember that little jailhouse stint of hers? But seriously, what is it about the new year that brings on this sudden nesting urge? Is it the word "new" and therefore we want everything to be shiny and bright? Or is it the clap-trap trimmings of the holidays have by now lost their luster and excitement and we're getting tired of the tinsel from the tree showing up in every room of the house and stuck on our socks? It's funny because yesterday our tree and Christmas decorations were perfectly safe. The thought had even crossed my mind that perhaps we'd leave it up for another week. Today, I'm planning how tomorrow it all comes down so the tree can be picked up on Tuesday's trash day! What happened in that 24 hour period that flipped the switch in my brain?

And don't even get me started on my studio! For those of you that have followed the perils of my studio the past year know that I just put it back together in September after having it torn apart for many months. Guess what? I'm ready to tear it apart again! Not in the same sense, but this time a purging - a new year's purging. I think it's all part of "the thinking" I've been doing. You see, yesterday I went out art supplies shopping. Now as an artist, that's fantastic, right? I mean, an artist can never have too many art supplies. Guess what? Yes, they can. That little shopping trip made me realize a few things about myself and also the direction I want to go with my art. It made me decide I really need to focus. Oh sure, I can do lots of creative things and I paint and I can draw, but I don't think I'm the best I can possibly be at anything in particular and therefore, I need to focus. So, the first thing I did was say buh-bye to my Two Frogs Studios Facebook page. I don't do that anymore, haven't done it for some time, so why was I hanging on to it? Stuff... hanging on to "stuff"... time to purge. I'm tired of hanging on to bits of Frogs' flotsam. That'll be the first stuff purged from the studio. Then I'm hitting the bookcases. I've got to have a real honest conversation with myself on my books.... The rest of the supplies are safe, since they were recently purged. But no more Mooney B. Finch's eraser stuff (Google "The Magical Drawings of Mooney B. Finch", it's a great kid's book), nah-ah, I'm done.

While my Lizzy is home, I'm doing a "stuff" purge of the house. I'm going to get my Sarah and Lizzy together to go through Grandma's tea cups and whatnots and decide who wants what because it drives me crazy every time I open a cabinet door in the dining room. All the "stuff"! Oh, and my closet - not that I'm a clothes-horse, I tend to buy art supplies before I buy clothes - but I do hang on to pieces because I like the fabric. I've got some great batik-like "stuff", but I need to figure out how to re-purpose them.

Throughout the past year I've done mini-purges here and there, in this closet and in that closet, but Lord have mercy! There's still too much "stuff"!! I tend to approach things now as, "if I were moving tomorrow, would I take this with me?" It works pretty good. You really has to be honest about the question though and that can be hard because justifying why you have decided to keep the hobnail glass slipper with a chip in it, given to you by your Aunt Selma, when you were a little girl many moons ago, that you only ever find when you're moving around "stuff" in the cupboard, looking for other "stuff" just isn't working. Yeah, that slipper is outta here... right after the Christmas tree comes down.

Reality Check

2011-12-29T13:59:00.001-05:00

Oh, I don't know... It's been nearly 3 months since I last posted anything on my blog. Of course, I do have some really good excuses. We went to Spain for 10 days in late October - yeah, I know! Awesome! When we returned, I started working at English Gardens, a garden center during most of the year, okay, ALL of the year - but a Christmas decorations bonanza during the holiday season. I was the Porch Pot Princess - a title I gave myself, although my name badge just read "sales associate".... My primary job was to create custom seasonal porch pots, which was great because it fed my creativity "jones". Oh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Anyone who is creative has this "itch" they just can't scratch enough - it's our "jones". Anyway, on top of that, I'd sprained my right wrist with my new "spinner" suitcase, my first day in Spain. I know... no one is shedding a tear for me. I get it. I've been dealing with the wrist situation since late October because I've never given it the time to heal completely (i.e., rest it, ice it, wrap it, whatever) and I'm probably the "worst patient ever" at taking care of myself when it comes to injuries - I've got things to do! If I can keep going, I do, like a idiot. And fugeddaboud going to the doctor's. It's not that I have a fear or anything about doctors, etc. Heck, I worked in an emergency department for 13 years! Nothing freaks me out. I just figure if I can function, it's not broken... it did squash my typing ability, though. Even now, it twinges a bit. It's gotta be a ligament....

But that's all neither here nor there. That's just where I've physically been. And now, my birthday is less than 12 hours away and the start of the new year is less than 36 hours away. I realized today that this birthday and year's end mark an interesting place on my life's time-line. It will mark the beginning of the end of the fifth decade I have spent on the face of this earth. What will I do this final year of my fifth decade? I have lots of ideas of where I'd like to be. What I have to do is figure out what I truly want and how to go about getting there and that's a toughie. I have this general idea, but I've never put together a real game plan. Why? Because, truth be told, I don't know how exactly. And, quite honestly, I've not put in the needed time and effort. Part of that last statement is because I'm at a loss as to what exactly I should be doing and I tend to allow other things - such as "life and it's distractions" get in the way of my creative progression. I guess having been a daughter/caretaker, wife, mom for so many years knocked "artist" off it's track and I'm still having trouble getting back on the rails. One would think it would be so simple to jump back on track, but when the "train" has been derailed for so many years, so many times, it isn't that easy. The train has forgotten it's schedule and not sure where the destinations are anymore. But it's time for no more excuses, no more hesitation, time to re-write that train schedule and get back on the track, right? I'm sure once that happens, the destinations will become much more clear.

We always have such high hopes for a new year. The trick is to turn those hopes into realities...

Alright Already!

2011-09-30T12:48:00.000-04:00

Okay... okay... I know...! Some of you have been asking... Yep, I'm finally back in my studio (everybody do a little happy dance - you won't have to listen to me bitch and moan about no studio anymore!) There's still a closet to build and I have to figure out what I want to do about a baseboard and ceiling, but I'm back in and settled. Just gotta bring the fish in from the pond for the winter :) Some of you asked me for photos of the space, so here ya go. It's not the fanciest studio or the biggest or the prettiest, but it's all mine and I can do as I please in it. Heck, Bailey even came down yesterday - twice! - and hung out with me.

Remember? this was my office area... Everything piled it.

Here are a couple of old photos to refresh your memory.

And this was the lovely paint wall area, before the waterproofers came in.

Ugh! It was awful... couldn't function at all in it.

Now, here's the "new, improved" space:

This is the drafting table area.

This is the larger painting area. There used to be a loveseat here.

Willy and friends aquarium awaits their arrival from the pond...

My robots hang-out...

My bookcases behind my desk, which create a divider between the office and paint area

The easel area

The paint wall. Note, in the left back corner is where a tall storage closet will be built.

And that's pretty much it. The old studio upstairs is now a sewing/craft/art journaling room. No pictures just yet.

Alright, gotta get back to work... doin' a little happy dance....

Sigh...

2011-09-13T12:07:00.000-04:00

It's been a month now since the studio wall was waterproofed. It's been a month of s-l-o-w forward progress to rebuilding the wall, i.e. figuring out how to frame out the walls with studs, without damaging the thermal barrier or the drain under the floor; the actual construction of that frame; reattaching the luan panels; filling the seams; endless sanding; more filling; more sanding.... I did have plans to put in a new baseboard, since the other one was destroyed during "demo day" and I did plan to finish the edge of the carpet where I cut it away to create a larger painting and work area, but somehow today those things just don't seem important anymore. Oh sure, it would be nice, it would look more polished and complete, but would it make me paint any better? I don't think so.

Maybe someday, if I'm feeling ahead of the game and want to tackle those additional finishing details, I'll do them. But I've absolutely lost any and all patience with it all today. I want to put my studio back in place. I want to be able to get up in the morning, grab a cup o' joe and go to work in the studio - with paintbrushes and pencils, not hammers and nails, not spackle and sandpaper. So, you're probably wondering why the heck I'm sitting here, instead of putting everything back together in the studio. Well, I'm waiting for spackle to dry. That's right, one more round of sanding. I'd already done the filling before I "hit the wall" of patience. Waiting... something that I'm so tired of... waiting.

The Day After Yesterday

2011-08-17T17:59:00.000-04:00

Funny how I actually feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel now....

Yesterday, my good friend and fellow artist/sculptress, Ann Smith came over to my house and helped me think through the rebuild of the studio wall. After a fun trip to Home Depot's lumber aisles (yes, it was fun... we both agreed we'd rather be there than at a mall.) and the obligatory Starbuck's Drive-Thru order of two venti coffee frappacchinos, with a shot of espresso, we were armed and dangerous - literally! Upon the advice of a tool maven at HD, I bought a hammer gun :) I know! Oooo- ooo...! But it turned out after reading the directions, I suddenly realized we might be puncturing the new WaterGuard drain, if we used it. I called the company and sure enough, the answer was "No, do not use it. If you puncture the drainage system, the warranty will be null and void." Whew! Man, am I glad I called. So, that changed our tactic a bit. We couldn't use the hammer gun, but we still had Ann's chop saw! And my power drill... and my circular saw... Haha! Power tools and espresso... love 'em.

Since we weren't going to be shooting fasteners into the cement floor, we changed the 2 x 4's to be vertical instead of horizontal on the floor. We didn't get terribly far with construction, but we got enough going on that our thought process is complete now for the rest of the construction. It's a little unorthodox, but then the house was built in 1926, so nothing is put together in a fashion that would be used today or that you might see on HGTV's home improvement shows. Besides, when we get done, it'll be way better than anything that had been done previously! Also, it's not like we are building a real wall, just a wall to support the luan plywood that I staple my canvas to when I'm doing a large painting or mural.

Yep, it's amazing what a day and a good friend can do to lift one's spirit.

Forever and a Day

2011-08-15T18:26:00.000-04:00

It seems as though it's been forever - forever and a day to be exact. The pain of not having a proper studio for three months now has definitely taken it's toll on my psyche. I have felt, not necessarily lost, but in limbo. It's like I'm in a waiting room, a never ending waiting room, where I have all my "stuff", piled along side me... waiting.... The seeds of paintings waiting to be sown, all smooshed into a compartment in my brain, where I'm afraid cobwebs are trying to take hold. I've tried to stay optimistic. I've tried to stay "engaged", giving myself pep talks and pats on the shoulder saying, "You can do it... not much longer... they'll (the waterproofing company) be here soon...". Meanwhile, emails, this blog and on-line artist groups have been pushed aside, rarely ventured into because my main computer is in my studio and only recently have I gotten this one, of which I'm still trying to get totally comfortable with the way it's set up. It's been an incredibly frustrating spring/summer for me. So when the waterproofers came last week and did their work, I was feeling pretty happy, knowing that the studio would soon be up and running again.

Whoa...! Not so fast, lady! First, there's waiting for the cement to dry - which it is not, in the pantry down there still and that means delay on getting that put back together, so I still have our wine in the workroom, hoping no one kicks over the bottles on the floor, as they reach for the light cord. Why isn't it on the workbench? Because that's all covered with supplies and whatnot from my studio, along with 90% of the floor as well. Then in the laundry area, that's where the real pantry fun is! You see, my husband unloaded the pantry shelves without me, so I have no idea what is in what box. They're stacked, unlabeled - and that's where they'll stay until the pantry's ready to reassemble. I'm not touching them.

As for the studio area, OMG... it looks like a baked potato, the wall is covered in a foil thermal barrier. I decided today I would start reassembling the studio area, but I have to figure out how to frame out the wall so I can attach the paneling to it, first. Okay...that brought me to tears - literally. I know how to frame out a wall, but our house was built in 1926. We don't have "pretty ceiling lines". There are 2 x 4's nailed to floor joists in one area, that creates a grid on the ceiling where there used to be ceiling tiles, but part of the ceiling doesn't have that. It's a whole different ball game. It's covered with something that I assume is attached to the floor joists, but I can't see them. And I'm NOT tearing that all down. Besides, even if I wanted to, I couldn't, because more of my studio furniture and supplies are all stacked in the way. I can't do anything down there until I get the wall sorted out, because I have all the paneling stacked against my drawing table and bookcases. I can't sort out the floor - where I'm removing carpeting and painting the floor, etc. - because all the paneling is on top of the carpeting. So once I realized all this, I had a "good" long cry. That realization broke this camel's back.

After I got that out of my system, I went back to this blog - why, I don't know... looking for a distraction, I suppose. I noticed in my last post, I had posted pictures of the chaos in the studio and lo and behold - there are photos showing that the old wall was attached directly to the wall's 1 x 3's, no framework. So, that's what I'm going to do - tomorrow. I've waited forever for this studio to "come back". I guess I'll wait one more day.

Queen of Chaos and Her Realm

2011-06-21T10:24:00.000-04:00

I laughed yesterday as I looked around our house - chaos everywhere! I told the story of my studio in the basement and how it's all torn up due to water seeping in and how we're evaluating waterproofing companies. Finally met with the last one last night. Let me just say, hahahahahahahahahaha...yeah, right... um, no. At least now we can move forward on the project. BUT, that's just one room. Oh, honey, I've got it goin' on everywhere!

Okay, I finished my brick project for the Scarab Club's Garden Party auction last Saturday, so I was able to remove all the gilding supplies and paint from the dining room table and take them back to the abyss in the basement. I quickly replaced the detritus with a lamp, the TV, and other assorted knick-knack nonsense from the TV room WHICH is being recarpeted BUT the installer could only lay the tack strip yesterday and the padding (long story, never mind...) so he's coming back today to complete the install. So therefore, ALL the furniture is in the living room from the TV room. Yeah, it looks like a warehouse, pretty much. Oh, and of course, I decided to change the wall color and treatment in that room as well, once he's done with the install. I managed to get the base color on the walls and ceiling yesterday. Today the "pretty" happens. Just sittin' here in my "happy pants", waitin' to get in there.

But that's not all, folks. If you step out of the back door, you'll be amidst the restoration of the breezeway, which consists of burning all the old paint off (house is c.1926 so it's has many layers of paint that have now "alligatored" down to the original wood.) In order to have a new and proper paint job, we have to remove the old paint. We had hired it out for the exterior portion of the house. It was a two year job and way expensive because it intailed restoration of the orignal wood windows and wood storm windows and glazing of over 500 panes of glass. I got to help out as much as I could because the painter is a dear friend of mine. He taught me to glaze windows and restore the frames when needed. I then did faux touch-ups on the brick where painters over 84 years had dripped and where the English ivy had left "footprints" on the brick. The exterior looks like a million bucks! And I loved working on it. But then again, I'm "twisted" that way. We're about 2/3 done with the burning and then I get to repair the old clapboard where needed, sand, caulk and paint. Steve (my husband) isn't a painter, but he has proven to be pretty darn good with a heat gun! Okay, so anything that we keep in the breezeway is piled into the screened-in porch (which also has to have the paint burned off...) on one side so I can still sit on the wicker settee on Sunday mornings and plan my attack on the gardens after breakfast. Normally, the cushions for the patio chairs aren't on my settee...

The second floor is pretty "safe". The only chaos up there is in my old studio, which I have to "set up shop" in while I wait for the basement to be fixed. But that should be pretty easy to organize quickly. The third floor is fine. That's Lizzy's old room and I haven't been up there. So I guess what I'm saying here is "chaos" follows me? Haha! No, not really. I just like to stay busy and this house certainly provides the oppotunity to do so! Just call me the Queen of Chaos! My sceptors are a paint brush in one hand and a heat gun in the other. My crown is my respirator.

And poor Steve... not Mr. Handyman, is glad when the weekends are over so he can escape the clutches of the Queen! Haha!

When Will It All End?

2011-06-17T09:23:00.000-04:00

I'm just checking in with a short post because I'm still in chaos and mess in my studio. I'm waiting for company two to come out and tell us how they're going to fix the basement wall. Nothing has changed - except no water in the studio anymore, but it's a long way from being usable. I've managed to complete "Sarah and Annie" by taking the minimal amount of supplies and a field easel up to my old studio. Bailey, my wheaten terrier, likes me better up there - at least he'll come and visit me - and it doesn't require food! But I'm feeling "homeless". I have another project going on the dining room table. Gold leaf is drifting around the table... *sigh* It's just not comfortable.

So anyway, here's the completed "Sarah and Annie" and I guess I'll go back upstairs and try to "corral the kittens" of gold leaf fluttering about.

Just When I Thought I Had It Made...

2011-06-01T20:07:00.000-04:00

"Sarah and Annie" WIP

What a difference a week can make, huh? A week ago, Monday, I was feeling pretty good about my "artist life". My studio was humming along - I had three projects underway: one on the "paint wall", one on the floor easel and another "Stuffed" piece on the table easel. I even managed to get a plein air piece done in my garden. And then it happened... I discovered water seeping under my interlocking floor tiles. I thought it was another situation where the outside drainpipe had gotten dislodged and the rain water was running down the foundation wall. It had happened before, no big deal, all I had to do was put the drainpipe back on, right? Oh no... that would have been easy.... We discovered water was in the pantry as well and it wasn't coming from the notorious corner culprit. It wasn't coming from the drains because the drain in the laundry room was dry and that's the first drain that would overflow. Where the heck was it coming from? Ugh... behind the "paint wall"... and there's only one way to find out what's going on behind it - demo the wall. So, that's what my husband, Steve, and I did today.

Before we could start the demo, we had to move the love seat out of the studio. I had moved every possible thing I could out of the way and the love seat was simply taking up too much real estate. It was never meant to stay in the studio anyway. We removed anything that could impede the path of the love seat on it's way up the stairs. The idea was to take it to my old studio space, off the second floor master bedroom. Ha! Hahahahaha! Yeah.... that didn't work out. We got half way up the basement stairs and that baby got wedged. Steve, at the top end, kept trying to pull and I could see, from my end, that the feet were not going a-n-y-where. Ladies, you know how that goes, don't ya? I made the decision we should smash it apart with a sledgehammer and take it out in pieces. After all, I said, it really wasn't worth saving. Our Lizzy had wanted us to save it for her, but her memories of it's condition didn't match its reality. I think Steve thought I'd lost my mind. It took a bit of convincing, but I won out and went and got the sledgehammer. BAM! BAM! BAM! Okay... forget that. Let's saw this baby in half! And that's what we (mostly he) did.. So much easier to get it up the stairs!

Behind the "paint wall" - YIKES!

Now for that wall demo... Living in a house built in 1926, with a number of renovations in the basement, over the years, led to a hap-hazard mish-mash of paneling, mouldings and 2 x 4's. We managed to get enough off the foundation wall to see an old wall, damp footing in spots, but nothing that was obviously the problem. So, now it's time to call in the professionals. I've placed the call, I'm awaiting a callback.

Needless to say, studio work is not happening right now. I guess I'll do some more plein air work in the garden and maybe start a new anatomy and figure drawing notebook. I'll think of something...

"Jack"

2011-05-23T18:10:00.000-04:00

Just as I promised... "Jack". I started "him" en plein air, but the sky clouded over and thunder started rumbling and rolling, so I figured I'd better get my butt out of the metal chair I was sitting on, grab Bailey and get back inside! Fortunately, most of the painting had been completed. I just had to "smoosh" around the background a bit.

Spring Plein Air in the Garden

2011-05-23T11:03:00.001-04:00

I've started a new routine for the studio today. I have to be in the studio working by 7 A.M.... I always wake up before 5:30 A.M. anyway. It's a time that has been hard-wired into my brain due to my wheaten, Bailey, who gets up around then, to go out and then have his breakfast. First peep of a bird's chirp and he's at my bedside, flapping his ears - that's how he wakes me up... seriously. (Maybe I should have named him, Dumbo.) Thank goodness there's no roosters in the area! Anyway, during the winter, I tend to let him out and then tell him to go lay down while I snuggle under an afghan on the sofa for another hour. I mean, after all, it's dark out, it's cold, why bother getting up? But now? IT'S SPRING! The garden is filling out, the weeds are sprouting, the pond needs cleaning, I'm creating a new garden and revamping the back of yard. There's too much to do to be just a weekend warrior in the garden, so... I've got to revise my schedule to accommodate my gardening addiction.

As I was working in the yard yesterday, I was noticing that there's not a "bad" view of the shade/water garden side. This is exciting news because it will allow for lots of time spent in the garden doing plein air painting in my own yard. Since I don't have lovely mountains, rushing rivers or expansive vistas nearby, my own Eden oasis will do just fine!

I was even able to get the "ladies" outside. Isn't she magnificent? Twelve blossoms open! Three still buds!!

Behind her is the orchid that produces "Laughing Cheetahs". You don't believe me? Check out the next photo...

See?! Look at those centers. I think they're smirking at me...

I know I said I'm not doing any photographs of my flowers this year - only capturing them in paint. But I wanted to give you a sneak peak of the beginnings in the garden. And I am keeping my word. There's a Jack-in-the-Pulpit hiding under the Azalea bush I'm going to try to paint en plein air. So, I'm off to hang with Buddha while I peek under the azalea to capture "Jack".

Let's Hear It For The Boy...

2011-05-14T17:52:00.002-04:00

I've been "sitting" on this news a while. I didn't want to "jinx" it, you know what I mean? I know... silly, but I always hate uttering the words before an event happens. As if some little gremlin of back luck is going to sprinkle poo-poo dust on my good fortune and make it disappear!

A while back, Alyson B. Stanford, Art Biz Coach and phenomenal "cheerleader" for artists, commented on my post "Amongst The Heroes" and asked about the back story on "Nick". I answered her privately for a couple reasons, one being, at that time, the whisper of a sale had been expressed and I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of the bad luck gremlin possibly overhearing what was afoot. So, before I continue with the good news, I'd like to tell the story behind the creation of "Nick".

When the Scarab Club announced their Call for Entries for their exhibit: Working Class Heroes: A Tribute, I knew what I wanted to do - I wanted to do a portrait of my son-in-law, Nick Scarmeas. Nick is an electrician - a union electrician. As a matter of fact, he is his employer's union steward. He is a very strong supporter of the unions and comes by this staunch support through his love and admiration for his maternal grandfather, who was also a union man. The Call for Entries had gone out before the turmoil started in Wisconsin.

I'd been trying to get Nick to come over and pose for me for a couple of weeks. I knew I'd be working from photographs because there was no way I'd get him to stand still and pose! As the weeks passed, I was starting to get nervous because the deadline for the CFE was looming. (I can't remember the exact date, but I didn't get Nick over to the studio until Feb 22 and I had the portrait finished by March 10 because it was executed in oil, it had to have time to dry, just in case it got accepted into the exhibit. The exhibit opened on March 29.)

In the meantime, Wisconsin was "happening" and the unions were "under attack". The day Nick showed up, he came directly from work and on his hard hat were the words "GOV WALKER = RAT". He apologized to me and said, "all of us wrote that on our hard hats today with Sharpies... You don't have to paint it." I said, "Are you kidding?! It's perfect!" (I even traced his writing directly from an enlargement of the words so it would be in his writing, in the painting.) As I took the photos of Nick, I still wasn't sure what exactly I was going to do. I took over 30 photos, in various poses, I knew the expression I was looking for and I knew I'd eventually get it. He did a variety of poses for me and as he got more comfortable, it started to crystallize in my brain. I wanted a man, an honest man without bravado or machismo. No frills, no pomp... I wanted to capture that in his stance. To show a man who knew his job and was proud of the work he does - and yet knows that when he goes home at night he still has to "take the trash out". I wanted to see a man who was confident in himself, sure and steadfast in his beliefs, one who believed in the brotherhood of the unions and believed the union stood behind him. This is the true description of my son-in-law. I knew I had to portray that on canvas.

And that's exactly what I did. When I finished "Nick" I knew I'd accomplished what I'd set out to do and I hoped that others would see that, as well. What I wasn't expecting was the reaction and emotion that "Nick" evokes. I had no idea whether it would be juried into the show since I have very little experience with showing my work. So, I waited on "pins and needles" to see what would happen.

First, "Nick" was accepted and I was told by the gallery director, Treena Ericson, that the juror, Jerome Ferretti, was really moved by it. Second, Treena asked if they could use it for their postcard for the show! Third, I got another call, from Treena, telling me I'd won first prize!! All this was wonderful news to me, considering I hadn't entered anything, in any juried show in about six or seven years because I haven't been operating as a "fine artist". The night of the opening, I was told by Treena that she was having people come up to her, some with tears in their eyes and telling her how much "Nick" moved them. As the night progressed, I had people come up to me and tell me the same. I had one older gentleman shake my hand and hold it in his and tell me, with tears in his eyes what that portrait meant to him. It was really quite humbling for me to have touched these people so deeply with "Nick". (Unfortunately, Nick was unable to attend the opening because he was working. Although he did attend the following week's blues and poetry reading and was "recognized " and applauded by the attendees and emcee.)

Shortly after the exhibit's opening, I got an email from Treena, telling me that the former president of the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) had been in to see the exhibit and was deeply moved by "Nick" and was interested in having the union buy it. The woman wanted to talk to me, so I gave her a call. We had a very good conversation. I told her the back story and she told me how she wanted the painting to travel to the upcoming International Conference in Vancouver and to six district meetings. We discussed how "Nick" is really a public piece, not one to be unseen in someone's home, but shared by the public because it has such emotional power and touches people so deeply. She told me how much it touched her and I told her it was my honor to have been able to paint this tribute. She ended by saying she'd have to hang up now or she'd start crying...

I have since been down to the Scarab Club and Treena has told me how she will walk into the gallery and find people just standing silently in front of "Nick", looking at the painting with their hands folded...

I had no idea "Nick" would be so powerful, but "he" is a piece that is a statement of the times.

"Nick", award and red dot!

Oh! What's my news, you ask? "Nick" has been sold! Through the efforts of the former president, Elaine Crawford, of Local 58, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, "Nick" will be where "he" belongs - with Local 58. "His" first stop is in Indianapolis, a week from Tuesday.

I will miss "Nick"... I painted him so quickly that I barely had time to get to "know him". If you are an artist, I think you'll understand what I mean. I visited "Nick" in the quiet of the Scarab Club's gallery Thursday evening, as I took a break from the life drawing session downstairs. To see "him" hanging there evokes a peace within me, not as a sense of pride, but a "knowing" that "Nick"gives others comfort and pride in themselves somehow. I didn't paint "Nick" for me. I painted it for them.

"Separated by Birth"

2011-04-24T16:40:00.001-04:00

I've been working on a couple of gouache ink resist pieces this week. The first go-around was a disaster. I don't know why, but the India ink would not wash off in some areas even though you could tell there was gouache underneath! The final blow was the watercolor paper started to slough apart from rubbing. Whoops! That's the beauty of the technique, it's not really that big of a deal to start over. Annoying, yes. Difficult, no.

In the second attempt I changed the images slightly by cropping in closer. Sometimes I wonder if my artwork has a mind of it's own and knows what's best, hence, the mess-up in the first try producing a better image in the second. This time everything worked just as I'd hoped. I titled the piece, "Separated by Birth" since they are really meant to be hung together but, when I posted them on Facebook, individually, it bothered me that each one didn't have a name on it's own. So, as I was driving down Woodward Avenue (it seems to be a place where I get good ideas - that's where I got the idea for "Winston". Check the archives...) it occurred to me that the wire one should be named, "Moses" and the real one should be named, "Ramses"! You can probably tell what I watched on television last night!

In case you don't know the story of Cecil B. DeMille's, The Ten Commandments, Moses was a Hebrew that had been raised as an Egyptian prince, in line to the throne of the Pharaoh. Ramses was the prince of the Pharaoh's true blood-line. It worked for Hollywood and it works for my peacocks!

I'm Mr. Lonely... woo, woo - woo - woo...

2011-04-18T12:46:00.000-04:00

It's the beginning of a new week in the studio, one that should be filled with lots of flying paint and brushes, making up for time lost during last week's "sicky-ickies". It's still feeling a little "lonely" down here without "Nick" hanging on the paint wall, but lo and behold! Check who's come to hang out "wit da mom" - it's my Boo! Bailey! Of course, you may also note that if he were any closer to the stairs he'd be half way up them. hee hee...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this phenomenon, my Bailey will only come downstairs into the studio if there is potential food involved. He has also proven he will come downstairs if there is company in the studio. Like any child - I call him my furry four year-old even though he's almost ten - he likes to prove his "mother" wrong.

I guess he got used to my company upstairs last week and now he's feeling lonely. Aw, poor Boo... c'mere, let Mom scratch your ears...

Amongst the Heroes

2011-04-06T16:22:00.001-04:00

"Nick" amongst some other heroes


Explaining to Nick's parents, Bill and Jackie, how I designed "Nick"

It's been a few days since the Artist's Reception at the Scarab Club, in Detroit, MI, for the Working Class Heroes: A Tribute exhibition. I've been waiting for the photos from my daughter, Sarah - Nick's wife, since I didn't bring a camera. I knew she'd bring hers, she's a shutterbug.

It was a wonderful evening, seeing friends, meeting new people and other artists, talking about "Nick" and of course, the artwork... all the wonderful pieces paying tribute to the working class.

I am blessed and honored to have been able to paint "Nick" first of all and to be able to portray him exactly how I wanted to, so that the viewer could look at the painting and see this man for who he is, what he stands for and understand him immediately. No frills, just a hard working, forthright, honest man who has the IBEW union supporting him as he supports the brotherhood of the unions.

An interesting side note is the day Nick came to pose for me, his hard hat actually had that writing on it. It was something all the electrical workers on the job had done that day, written with a Sharpie, "Gov Walker = Rat" on their hard hats.

What Was I Supposed to Do...?

2011-03-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

How many lists of goals and "to dos" have you ever made and then not followed? Or have forgotten all about and then had an, "Oh, yeah!" moment when you found the list, again? Too many? More than you can even remember - or will admit to? Yeah, me, too...

In the beginning of the year I made lists of goals for the year: daily, weekly, monthly, and for the year. I figured what I had written down was fairly doable and I wouldn't be sabotaging myself by making lofty goals that end up being "pie in the sky" type goals. Overall I think I've done pretty well. I did miss a couple of exhibits that I wanted to enter, because I simply wasn't ready with anything, but that's okay. There are plenty more this year and I did enter a new one at The Scarab Club, which I have been accepted into, so that's all good. The goals though that are making me nutty are the daily goals. They've actually become laughable because if I manage to remember to do one in a week's time, I'm rockin' the list! LOL

The one daily goal that really bothers me though, is the "Do at least one pencil sketch per day." I really wish I could remember that one...

Sometimes I write things on my left hand with a permanent marker, if it's something I simply cannot forget to do that day or the next. Did anyone see the movie, "Memento"? I'd been using this method for years! It works great because all day long, it's right smack dab in front of my face! I've also had people "remind" me throughout the day with the comment, "What's that on your hand?" I just tell them, "It's my day planner."

Monday Morning Trouble

2011-03-21T16:03:00.001-04:00

I kept my promise to myself and Trouble... a petting and sketching session was in order, since last week was devoted to "Nick" and replacing ANOTHER rear truck window - the second in five weeks time - but that's different story of trouble. My Monday this week was devoted to a furry kitty Trouble. Once again, she greeted me in the kitchen, purring and rubbing her head against the spokes of the chair. She's got the routine figured out now: Human with black bag and small black book has come to rub my head and talk to me! Purr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r... twirl... purr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r... rub... twirl... purr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r...

This week I decided I was going to try to get some full body sketches. HA! Ever try to sketch an entire cat in less than 7 seconds? I managed to get a number of them done, miracle of miracles!


First up, Purring and Twirling - she always looks like Batman's kitty	with her black mask...

Front view, still purring and twirling

Okay, she's been presenting me with her rear for weeks now...

Tough one, all bunched up in a purring ball. She's in constant motion.

Sweet face kitty

And finally, she got annoyed with me and turned her back to me, but her ears kept turning around.

"Nick"

2011-03-18T13:53:00.002-04:00

How does one define a "working class hero"? For me, the definition is embodied in my son-in-law, Nick... honest, hard-working, a man of principles, willing to stand beside his fellow workers and fight for what he believes in. A man of integrity, Nick.

My portrait of him has been accepted into the upcoming "Working Class Hero" exhibit at the Scarab Club, in Detroit, Michigan, March 30 - May 15.

"Nick", oil, 34" x 64"

I've Returned to Trouble!

2011-03-08T15:04:00.008-05:00

Have you missed a little Trouble lately? Yeah, me, too... I've been feeling guilty about the amount of time since I last saw Trouble. It's been over two weeks, I think. Damn snow... kept me away from Trouble and then other days I'd think, " Man, I've got to make sure I see some Trouble today!" And the next thing you know, I'd get to painting in the studio and totally forget about Trouble. But, not today! I decided I would get my fill of Trouble in the morning BEFORE I started in the studio. And I did...

It had been a while and I was a little "rusty". I captured her hind feet first. Her profile, that leads this post, was done second. I like the way she tucks her head into her chest.

A couple minutes after I arrived, Trouble stopped her usual twirling and butting my hand and looked toward the back door. I looked outside and saw that another friend, John, had arrived. Oh, man! Trouble was going to be in heaven! TWO cat petters! Hot diggitty dang! Trouble was happy as a cat in a patch of catnip! She paced between the two of us as we chatted and I sketched. If one person stopped petting her, she walked over to the other one - purr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r... one happy kitty :)

I realized as I was sketching I hadn't brought a sharpener and my 3B pencil was dull and my 4B was MIA. Hm-m-m... digging around in my pencil bag, I came across my water soluable graphite pencils! And a traveling watercolor brush AND even better - a wet sponge in a small bottle! Cool! I've only used them one other time. Now I can "play" with them again. I used them for more "Purring Toes". She was facing me this time, but it was hard to catch her form because she would alternate feet so quickly! What I found amusing is that on the paw, on the left, that's raised, one of the toes looks like a thumb, like she's giving a "thumb's up'!

One thing I did notice with the water soluable pencils is that I can get a little shadow in here and there. In this last sketch, she had her head down, lower than her shoulders, which I show as the lighter graphite wash.

John had left by now and I spent a little more time with Trouble until I figured I'd better wipe down my coat and hands and head on over to the allergist and get my weekly shot. Ha, ha!

Don't worry, Trouble... I won't stay away so long next time. Promise.

Sharing My Studio Space

2011-03-06T18:17:00.009-05:00

I've spent the whole day cleaning and reorganizing my office area in the studio. Since I've occupied this space now for about 5 months, I'm finally figuring out what I really need and what needs to to go away because it's just filling space and not of any purpose. I've gotten my phone/fax machine finally up and running after wrestling with the coils and "snakes" of power cords behind the desk. I reconfigured the desktop a bit, got rid of a couple items to make room to actually be able to work on the desktop, if I want. Wow! What a concept!

I bought and assembled a small, two-shelf bookcase to tuck back in what used to be "junk corner". You know, that corner of your office where your desk ends and the wall is still a little bit away, so you pile "stuff" in there. Now that corner will house all the notebooks filled with art related articles I download (yeah, I'm "old school"... I like the printed word as opposed to always looking up file on the computer.)

What I'm actually getting around to with this post is, as I was putting the finishing touches on the desk and surrounding area, I picked up the little, blue photo album that has the photo of my mother that I used in my last post. As I started to close the cover, I looked at her standing there, all dressed up, with her artwork, looking pleased and I felt like she was looking at me. Like she was pleased with me, for putting together the life she wished she could have led. So, I guess instead of tucking her away in a drawer upstairs with the other photo albums, I'll buy her a little frame and she can share my studio with me. After all, two of her best paintings hang on the walls down here.

"Transparent Boxes", acrylic, 20" x 24",
by Gertrude Scott

"Requiem in Verse" Revisited, For My Mother...

2011-03-03T11:22:00.007-05:00

Gertrude Scott with her art, "Color Trek" on the wall, an untitled piece on the bench
and her wild flower hand-drawn and then embroidered quilt on the left.
This photo must have been taken at her church.

I'm about to get real serious here, folks....

I pulled out a journal that I'd bought years ago. It's beautiful, red leather bound with a stamped Celtic-type design on the cover, held closed by a strip of the same leather and a wooden bead on the end that one draws tight to keep it closed. The pages are lined and of good paper stock with a red ribbon to mark one's page. It's really quite lovely. I've held onto this journal for years thinking it was "special" and I should save it for a - well, lack of a better word - special purpose. I decided to use it with my "Artist Conspiracy" free writing and focus this month of "Words and Writing". (In case you're wondering what the "Artist Conspiracy" is, it is a program that Alyson Stanfield, the art coach of Art Biz fame has put together. More info can be found at http://www.artbizcoach.com if your interested.) Afterall, this is the year I really am getting serious about this "artist's life" that I've slowly been crafting, so what could be more "special" than that, right?

What I found tucked inside that journal is even more poignant than I can almost describe here. It's a yellowed, battered, some edges and sections missing, held together by Scotch tape, fragile piece of a newspaper. A column written by Phyllis Battelle, I'm guessing maybe in the '60's or '70's judging by the portion of a car ad on it's tattered back. Hand written in pencil, by my mother's hand, is "Beaumont 2250". Obviously, this is a room number at the local hospital, but who was in the hospital at the time, I do not know. But knowing my mother and reading the words of this column breaks my heart a little because you see, my mother was also an artist. An artist who never fully followed her passion for art because "life got in the way". She lived to be 92 and painted for herself. This column must have touched a part of her soul and that's why she preserved as best she could.

I want to share this column with everyone - artists and creative souls of all genres, but especially with those who don't quite "understand" the "why" and the "need" of these souls... If I could, I would try to get permission to post this column, but I have no idea where it was published. There are a couple spots where, as I stated before, the newspaper is literally missing, I think I can surmise what the missing words were and I will put those "words" in italics. And with that I give you:

Phyllis Battelle

Requiem in verse

NEW YORK - a boy student in the 12th grade, starved for attention, parched for understanding, handed in the following poem to his teacher:

"He always
He always wanted to explain
things.
But no one cared.
So he drew.
Sometimes he would draw and it
wasn't anything.
He wanted to carve it in stone or
write it in the sky.
He would lie out on the grass and
look up at the sky
And it would be only the sky and
him and the things inside him
that needed saying.
And it was after that that he drew
the picture.
It was a beautiful picture.
He kept it under his pillow and
would let no one see it.
And he would look at it every
night and think about it.
And when it was dark, and his
eyes were closed, he could
still see it.
It was all of him.
And he loved it.
When he started school he
brought it with him.
Not to show anyone but just to
have it with him like a friend.
It was funny about school.
He sat in a square, brown desk
Like all the other square, brown
desks
And he thought it should be red.
And his room was a square, brown
room
Like all the other rooms.
He hated to hold the pencil and
chalk,
With his arm stiff and his feet
flat on the floor,
Stiff,
With the teacher watching and
watching.
The teacher came and spoke to
him.
She told him to wear a tie like all
the other boys.
He said he didn't like them.
And she said it didn't matter.
After that they drew.
And he drew all yellow and gold
the way he felt about morning.
And it was beautiful.
The teacher came and smiled at
him.
'What's this? she said. 'Why don't
you draw something like
Ken's drawing?
'Isn't that beautiful?'
After that his mother bought him
a tie
And he always drew airplanes and
rocket ships like everyone
else.
And he threw the old picture
away.
And when he lay out and saw
looking at the sky,
It was big and blue and
everything,
But he wasn't any more.
He was square inside
And brown
And his hands were stiff
And he was like everyone
And the things inside him that
needed saying didn't push
any more,
It had stopped pushing.
It was crushed.
Stiff.
Like everything else."

The teacher couldn't help but be surprised. Such creativity. Such flavor. Could this 12th-grade boy really have composed such a poem?

It is not known today whether he actually wrote the poem by himself, all alone, or not.

It is known, however, that he committed suicide shortly afterward.

Nothing needed saying any more.

For my mother...

Trouble on Friday

2011-02-18T16:49:00.012-05:00

I was long overdue to spend some time with Trouble, so I made sure I went to "visit" today after my trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts. When I arrived, she greeted me again, almost at the door. I think she had been enjoying some "rays" on the back of the sofa, in the den. We set up, in the kitchen. Trouble on the table and me seated on the end with my sketchbook and pencils.

After scratching her head for a minute I thought, "I wonder what she'd do if I didn't scratch her head ..." Well, this is what she'll do! She kept trying to climb down onto my lap - her left paw is on my knee....

Of course, the non-scratching lasted for only a New York minute! I resumed the head scratching and kept drawing.

I do try to make our sessions more than all about the sketching. Trouble whirls and twirls around and I scratch her head and stroke her back. She purrs and nudges. God forbid I should stop even for a moment! She'll stop and turn and ram her head back into my hand. Sometimes she'll look at me for a second with half-closed eyes like she's saying, "Excuse me... but we're not done yet..." So I'll continue on. When I feel she's not as needy and relaxing a bit, I'll resume drawing.

Per usual, I could only do "pieces parts" of her. I concentrated on her front paws.

The first sketch is with her two front feet planted together, her back is arched in this stance.

I also did "Purring Toes" - that's when she alternatively picks up each front foot and curls the toes of the lifted paw.

I really tried to get a "front on" face of Trouble,
but that little cat is in constant motion!
This was the best I could manage:

After more head scratching and petting, I decided I better not push my luck - I am allergic to cats, after all and Trouble's hair was getting pretty thick on my pencil case and on my sketches. That's when I know it's time to pack up - when there's so much hair on my sketch I can't tell if it's pencil lines or cat hair! Haha!

The final sketch I did of her was after I'd wiped off the pencil case and my hands. She was still on the table and I was standing across the room from her. She wasn't moving much so I thought what the heck, let's see if I can get a full body sketch done.

This is what I managed to get accomplished. She did keep moving her head, but I was able to work fast enough and I kept changing her ear positions.

Who knows, maybe next time she'll actually "sit" for me... but I'm not going to hold my breath!!

You know, I have these labeled as "5 minute sketches" - HA! If I work more than 20 seconds on any of them I feel like I've gotten all the time in the world! It's a great way to discipline oneself to get the gesture down quickly. Maybe I'll try two year-olds next. That ought to be as difficult as corralling kittens, but my pencil sure would get a workout!

Brain Freeze

2011-02-15T16:11:00.004-05:00

Has anybody figured out where last week went? It's already TUESDAY of this week and I can't figure out where last week went! I think my brain had gone into a deep freeze. I'm not tolerating the cold very well this year - not that I did last year or the year before. Those of you who know me, know I hate being cold, so I'm not a fan of winter.

I do recall finishing "Lemon Lime Buddha" (not the best photo, here...) and starting a new painting. Oh, and I did and still am working on a monogram for a client. Plus, I've got some kitchen tiles, for someone else, I'm getting ready to paint on. Remember, I'll slap paint on anything! But the day to day of last week eludes me... dang, that's right, there was the broken rear truck window fiasco! That messed up two days and the rest of the week is a blur. Hopefully our little warm up that's supposed to happen this week will thaw some brain cells. I don't know who's more stir-crazy - me or my dog! God, how I miss summer!

Better Late Than Never

2011-02-06T16:30:00.006-05:00

So, here I sit, printing out photos I took in Florence, Italy - four years ago!!! I know, I know... but with this new age of digital photography that's where our photos tend to linger - in digital limbo. What has prompted me to print them all - along with about 3,000 more - is the fact that we're giving my daughter and son-in-law our present printer, which is a very nice printer. I love this printer, except for when the paper jams on those occasions when I'm in a hurry.... My printing marathon has begun because the new printer is a laser jet printer and this one is an ink jet, so all the photo paper that I bought for the Italy pix, won't work in the new printer.

Anyway, the purpose of this posting is not to discuss my photo paper dilemma, it's to post my Blind Contour Friday (albeit Sunday) drawing. I don't know why, I simply could not keep it in my brain on Friday to do my contour drawing. So, as printer chugs out page after page of photos, I decided to draw my coffee mug. Not just the shape but the image that's on it, as well. Ha, ha! Yeah... kinda crazy :)

Can you guess who it is? It's Tigger!

Bits of Trouble

2011-02-02T10:38:00.017-05:00

I wanted to make sure I got to spend some time with Trouble before the "blizzard" came barreling through. (We didn't get nearly what was predicted, in the metro Detroit area and I feel bad for those who did and are still getting blasted by this winter storm, but I'm glad we dodged the blizzard bullet.) I figured I'd go "hang out" with her in the morning, that way I wouldn't feel rushed. Although, I usually like to stop in on my way home from my favorite Starbucks, I'd just finished about four cups of coffee at home and figured I'd better not arrive with a grande latte. There is such a thing as too much caffeine at some point!

Per usual, Trouble met me at the kitchen table, purring and pacing, round and round, while I got seated and situated. Happy, as long as I kept scratching her head, she purred and spun and purred some more. If I dared to stop, she'd look at me with her beautiful jade green eyes and ram her head into my hand again. Having learned my lesson last time, I kept her to the left of me, so there wouldn't be any awkward crossing over of hands while I sketched.

I think Trouble was feeling a bit more lonely - or maybe she'd figured out, "Hey! It's the one that just pets me and scratches my head!" Whatever the reason was, she was much more actively spinning and nudging so I ended up with many sketches, but little pieces parts of her. I figure at some point I might gather enough "parts" to actually "assemble" a complete drawing of her!

Last Laugh?

2011-01-30T18:27:00.008-05:00

Laughing Cheetahs, oil, 30"x 40"

Laughing Cheetahs? Hm-m-m... not so much... Or maybe so, in their own way. I imagine you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about. By all means, let me explain. This painting of orchids is derived from a photograph I took of one of my orchids in bloom. In the photograph, the centers of orchids look like laughing cheetahs, honest! But in my rendering, no matter how many times I painted the centers, because of the technique - using palette knives to paint with - every time the centers came out a confused, hot mess. All form was lost and they simply didn't work. Every time I scraped them back, I liked them better. So, I compromised by leaving the centers not so busy and full of "spots". I think it worked out. Sometimes the K.I.S.S. method works the best. And the "cheetahs" got the last laugh... ha,ha!

What a Tool I am...

2011-01-28T22:21:00.003-05:00

Oops! I almost forgot! It's Blind Contour Friday, everybody! So here's my contribution today...

Double Trouble

2011-01-24T17:38:00.005-05:00

I managed to do a couple sketches of Trouble today. This time I sat to her left - big mistake. Being right-handed I couldn't do the "hold her semi still with my left hand" trick. My left hand was always in the way. Doh! I managed to get an interesting quick gesture sketch done as she would walk away from me, to the end of the sofa, slightly hunched and waiting for my hand to scratch her. There would be a momentary pause that I quickly rendered. I then waited for her to do it again and tried to add her black fur in. She's a medium-haired cat, so she tends to look a bit fat when she's really not. Her profile sketch was trickier because of the problem I stated and plus, I had an odd angle that I was looking at her from. I never quite got the chin right. All in all though, she was happy for the company and I enjoyed the challenge.

Daily Sketches

2011-01-24T07:52:00.006-05:00

Sunday was a lousy day. A migraine kept me on the sofa the whole damn day, into the night. As a matter of fact, I can still feel the remnants on the top of my skull. Ugh... I hate that! A perfectly good day ruined - lost, gone. Needless to say, no sketching was done. I did manage to finish a book very early on in the day, when I was still trying to deny that the headache I had was more in line with a migraine.

The two sketches here are from Friday (the apple) and Saturday (Bailey's eye). The apple I spent approximately 10 minutes on while my husband put the finishing touches on dinner. Bailey's eye was done moments before we left the house, to go to dinner at our friends' home.

Per usual, Bailey was staring at me, trying to get me to read his mind, so I figured I'd put his effort to good use. I actually had about a minute to get the basic drawing done and then spent the next couple minutes shading in the eye. I'm not sure if it took a whole five minutes, but it filled in the time before we left. Whatever it was that he was trying to get me to do with his "Wheaten mind meld" didn't work, but I do like how his eye turned out.

I have to admit limiting my sketching time to five minutes is a bit frustrating. I try to note the time when I start and limit myself, but as one can see, so far I'm spending more time sketching the object - unless it's an animal. In the case of Trouble and Bailey, I take what I can get! The animals tend to be quicker and looser and therefore, more exciting to see if I can actually pull it off. Therefore, living within a mile of the Detroit Zoo and having a membership, certainly brings about some fun ideas! I think I'll be going to the zoo soon. Penguins and polar bears, butterflies and birds... I wonder what else I'll find in the dead of winter. I'll let you know!

Five Minutes of Trouble

2011-01-21T09:48:00.006-05:00

Another post this week! It's just that I've been trying some new things that I want to commit to, so I figure if I write about them, then I'll have to continue to do them, right? And, yes... Peggy Stermer-Cox inspired me on this idea, too. Between Peggy and Lauren Everett Finn, I'm constantly motivated to try new things!

My next adventure is five minute sketches. As I mentioned I was planning to use my friends' cat, Trouble, if she graced me with her presence when I was going to check on her. Well, "grace me" she did! Poor little thing is feeling kind of lonely. She met me in the kitchen and proceeded to purr and rub her head on my hand as I took my coat off. She followed me to the living room, purring all the way and we settled onto the sofa, me with one hand trying to get my sketchbook and pencils out and scratching Trouble's head with the other. She was definitely going to get her money's worth out of my visit. There was no way she was going to let me stop petting her and scratching her head!

After about ten minutes of pure delight on her part, for the human touch, she slowed down enough with her twisting and nudging at my hand to continue scratching her head, for me to actually get my small sketchbook balanced on my right knee. So with my left hand scratching the back of her neck, keeping her semi still, I quickly got out my 4H pencil and started to sketch out her general profile. I soon realized this may not even be a 5 minute sketch so I'd better hustle! I took out my 3B pencil and used it to block in her black fur. Five minutes? Maybe... but it was fun trying to sketch a live cat, in motion.

"Blind" Leading the "Blind"

2011-01-20T15:23:00.007-05:00

Today I post my first blind contour drawing! It's so much fun to do this type of drawing. You know, right off the bat, it's going to turn out as some strange wiggley line drawing. You just hope you can recognize some sort of reference to the object you've decided to draw. As I stated yesterday, Peggy Stermer-Cox is my inspiration for my participation in Blind Contour Friday.

So here it is, my "Rock 'n Roll Chicken alarm clock. "Wow... yeah... Hey, Baby wake up. Come 'n dance with me... Wow...yeah...Hey, Baby wake up. Come 'n dance with me..." Haha!

Double Your Pleasure?

2011-01-20T09:57:00.006-05:00

Two, two, two posts in one (week, that is.)! Okay, so maybe that's a bad take-off on the DoubleMint gum commercial from way back, but that's what popped into my head, so your stuck with it. (no pun intended... gum? stuck? got it?) I hadn't planned to post every week, let alone twice in one week, but I've been inspired by a couple of bloggers, Peggy Stermer-Cox for one, that I'm going to try for once a week from now on. It's all part of my plan to live the "artist's life".

So what has Peggy written about that inspired me? Well, I've been following her blog for a while and I'm always intrigued by "Blind Contour Friday" drawings. I haven't done those in years - not since high school, and that was a life-time ago! I've been itching to try it again and yesterday I finally sat down and did my first one. Fun, fun, fun! I'll be posting it tomorrow - on Friday.

I also was intrigued by her post "It Starts With Five Minutes", where she takes 5 minutes to do a quick sketch. I had promised myself to start doing a pencil sketch every day this year and here it was the 19th of January and I'd only done one! After reading her posting, I said, "I've got 5 minutes! I can certainly do something in five minutes and not get bogged down in it..." Of course, by the time I actually sat down and did my sketch, I couldn't remember the time limit and thought it was 15! So my first sketch I worked on for 15 minutes, not 5. Oh well, my bad... I figured I better include a photo of the goofy thing I was sketching. I don't know exactly what it is. I bought it in an antique store. I'm a sucker for hand-carved anything! I use it to hold a couple pens or pencils because that's all it can hold. It's about the size of a hand grenade. The photo is actually taken from a better perspective than the angle I was viewing it, but you get the idea.

I haven't done my 5 minute sketch yet today because I'm going to do it when I go over to friends' house to check on their cat - they're out of town. Depending on whether Trouble graces me with her presence today while I'm there, I may (I hope, I hope, I hope!) start a sketchbook dedicated to just her.

Alright... Who did this?

2011-01-16T12:35:00.009-05:00

I'm sitting here waiting for paint to dry - literally. Since I've decided to blog very other Monday, which would be tomorrow (I set this goal on the 3rd of January) and I really don't want to get into something else in the studio today until I get the present task at hand completed, I decided to do my posting now...

Something I've been thinking about today is my signature - the one I use on my artwork. I don't remember if I've ever addressed this on my blog before or not and I'm not going to look through the archives to see if I have... so, here's my wacky thoughts about my signature, no one else's - just mine.

I've rarely, and I mean rarely, signed murals. I usually only do it when the client absolutely insists, and even then I've talked my way out of it a few times. Why? Okay, get ready to enter my weird and wacky world... Because the signature turns it into a "painting". Huh...? Wha...? Told you it was weird and wacky. You see, many of my murals are entire environments - when you enter the room, you enter a "place" . It may be artificial, but for the time you're in the room, it's a "place" where a playful porpoise peeks through a porthole or a fairy princess and her unicorn watch over the little girl as she sleeps at night. See what I mean...?

Okay... so that's why I don't like to sign murals. It breaks the moment of magic. But if you insist, I mean really insist, and I can find a place to hide the signature, I'll do it.

Now, for my easel work, that's a different kind of wacky. Years and years ago, I used to sign my name with a small "L" (lower case "l"), just "lois". I got this idea from a movie I saw with Ida Lupino. All I remember now is that she was an artist who signed her name, "rae". Why? I don't remember. I just liked the idea and besides, at that time I hated the capitol, cursive letter "L".

Plus, my most awesome artist aunt, ena grant, signed her name that way, too. In my world, my ena was my idol, my bestest, best-ever anything, ever. If I recall correctly, she said she signed her name that way because she was not more important than her artwork. A thought that I admired very much because it makes perfect sense to me.

I can always put my name on the back of a canvas, I don't need to authenticate it by signing the front. But, I had developed a signature for my artwork over the years, it's kind of a monogram - an "L" and a "P" that swirl together. I would still try to make it as unobtrusive as possible, sometimes "hiding" it. Today, though, I got to thinking (as I was deciding whether or not to sign a drawing...) why not just go back to "lois"? Since I've been married twice, my surname has changed 3 times in my lifetime so far, but I've always been "lois". I'm not distinguished by my maiden name and the marital surnames only distinguish me as the mother of each daughter from each marriage or the wives I've been. But I've always been "lois"... "lois" is who I am and who I'll always be. I guess that settles it.

Rut roh...

2011-01-07T09:54:00.004-05:00

Stuffed 4: 5" x 7", oil on panel

Stuffed 4 is complete! I know this photo isn't the best, but it made me laugh when I saw it because the camera "fish-eyed" a bit causing the edges to bow, which really made it look like Dumbo was pushing the limits of the box.

I'm also not sure what I'm going to call this painting, but "Rut, roh" came to mind since he does look a bit concerned about the space he's in. In all, these paintings have been fun to execute - yeah, yeah... there was some frustration with my Chinese doll, but it got worked out sufficiently. Painting such a small panel is definitely a challenge and trompe l'oeil has always fascinated me since I was a child. I don't really want to paint in a photo-realist way, that's too tight for me. I'm not disciplined or driven enough to attempt it. I like to fool the eye just for a moment, yet look like a painting. Does that make sense?

I do intend to keep on stuffing things into the cigar box and see what I can come up with. For now, though, I have to move on to some pieces I want to do. As "Aw -nald" said in The Terminator: "I'll be back..."

Mojo Moving Quotes

2011-01-04T14:48:00.005-05:00

Hm-m-m... As we can all see, the quote above my profile pic is one that I'm quite fond of and have used to spur me on my artistic quest every now and then:

"How does one become a butterfly?" "You must want to fly so much you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

But, in "cleaning up" my desktop, I ran across another quote that has given me something else to ponder:

"There's nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly."
-Buckminster Fuller

So, I guess when the two quotes are read together, what becomes clear is, just because you want to be a butterfly, doesn't mean you're going to be a butterfly.

As Jim Rohn says:

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."

Which brings me to my all-time favorite quote:

"Do or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

"Precious" Birthday Gift

2010-12-30T12:24:00.004-05:00

Stuffed 3: Zhēnguì, oil, 5" x 7"

Okay, it's my birthday and I decided I was going to do what gives me joy today. Since it's December and there's snow on the ground, gardening is out of the question, so I'm in my studio, painting. It's been a while since I've been in here actually painting. Some "frog" work kept me elsewhere in November, then came Thanksgiving and a mini-vacay to Toronto and then the Christmas Express started rolling through my days. It was all wonderful - don't get me wrong. I've had a great time the past six weeks! But my poor studio and artwork were kind of like the Little Match Girl... cold and alone over Christmas. I figured I needed to "get back to it" before my artist spirit "froze".

I really didn't want to start on the orchid painting first thing today because that would require some rearranging and cleaning up in that area of the studio and I just knew I'd end up doing that all day instead of painting! And I couldn't start anything else because Zhēnguì has never been finished... aaargh! So, I finished her.

Still Tiny Trouble

2010-11-12T12:07:00.003-05:00

I know... She's still "under construction". I just couldn't stand looking at the "bad" face... I've finally gotten the face all blanked out so that I can start again.

Actually, in this state she reminds me of an art installation we saw years ago, in Toronto. It was a video installation. The room was dark and bare except for this one chair upon which a small, faceless rag doll was lying on the seat. When one walked into the room, the motion set off the projector which projected a human woman's face onto the blank doll's face and she would start talking to you. It was really cool! A little freaky... I remember our girls didn't like it much. Ha, ha! I wonder if they remember that?

Tiny Trouble

2010-11-03T20:24:00.005-04:00

I'm still working on "Stuffed 3: Zhēnguì". I'm still struggling with her face, it's so small - 5" x 7" - which makes her face about 2" wide, if that and my brushes seem SO big! (At least she doesn't look like a Campbell's Soup Kid anymore!) I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I hope I can finish her tomorrow so that I can move on to another painting - I've got some orchids I want to paint.

Rosie

2010-11-01T13:40:00.003-04:00

I finished "Rosie" today. I just have to frame her and deliver her. I hope her "mom" thinks I've done Rosie justice.

Addendum: I delivered "Rosie" tonight. I'd sent her "mom" an email with an attachment of the portrait. I said, "I think I'm done... Is this your Rosie?" To which she replied, "If you could see the tears, you would know. Yes. It is my Rosie. Thank you so much. It's beautiful." I was so happy I'd captured Rosie. It was an honor. Rest in peace, Rosie, rest in peace...

Tough Times and Tears

2010-10-23T17:09:00.006-04:00

Man, I've hit the wall (for the time being) with "Stuffed 3". Working on a 5" x 7" panel doesn't give you much room to move around when you start to get bored! I wiped her face off this morning so I've got to allow the new paint to dry enough to work on. Besides, I've got another project that's got to be moved to the front burner of my brain.

I have to do a portrait of a miniature schnauzer that's not doing so well these days, she's twelve and a half and in renal failure. When I went to her house to take photos of her, she was not feeling "perky" as she once was. It was evident in the way she was holding her ears, rather than being upright, she had them kind of flattened out. I took a bunch of photos, but I didn't want to stress her out under the circumstances, so I'll do what I can with what I have and then just "correct" the ear position in the drawing. The "mom" said Rosie hasn't eaten since Tuesday so things are not looking very good. Poor little thing. It's a heartbreak that every pet owner faces at some point - the loss of their beloved pet. I don't want to imagine the day my Bailey and I have to say good-bye... it will break my heart in a way that will never be repaired. Bailey is and will be my one and only.

Addendum: I just opened an email from Rosie's "mom"... Rosie passed away this afternoon. A little bit of my heart broke... R.I.P. Rosie.

Stuffed One and Two, FINALLY!

2010-10-22T10:01:00.010-04:00

Well, waddayaknow! Finally!! It took all day but I was finally able to add the images. Yay!

Stuffed One: U Talkin' To Me?, oil on panel, 5" x 7"

Stuffed Two: Going Up?, oil on panel, 5" x 7"

Stuffed

2010-10-21T20:47:00.005-04:00

I was just finishing up a different post and was about to post it when I realized unless you are a Facebook friend/fan, you would have no idea what I was talking about when I referenced "Stuffed". (All this social networking can get confusing trying to remember and keep everything current on all sites!) So, here's the low down, if you've never heard of "Stuffed".

I have a small cigar box, it is 5" x 7" and about 4" deep. It's a great little box for keeping thing in. I had used it in a small painting - same size a 5" x 7", Ampersand panel - where I placed two small pots with frogs on them inside it. It was kind of a tongue in cheek sort of painting - two frogs... get it? Okay, okay... I know! Anyway, it turned out well and I wanted to do another something with the box, so I put a couple little vases I had in the box and painted that set-up. Then it got to be an idea for a series: what can I put in the box? What will fit within the box's 2-D, 5" x 7" image? It can protrude beyond the depth of the box, but it cannot break the "frame". And that is how the series got started. I have completed two pieces and started a third one - today, which is what the next post is about.

Well now, isn't that just jim-dandy... once again, Blogger isn't letting me download images. Did I miss a memo somewhere? Bear with me, I may not post the photos tonight, but I'll post photos of the first two "Stuffed" the next time. Sorry, 'bout that...

Zhēnguì

2010-10-21T20:23:00.007-04:00

I started a new "Stuffed" piece today. It's my little Chinese doll that I got in Los Angeles' Chinatown, when I was thirteen. She's one of my few childhood possessions and is dear to me. She's so old that all her stringing has long since rotted limp and her head hangs down to her chest while her little arms flop, unattached inside her silk kimono and her little legs sit akimbo as they try to support her chubby torso. Her hair is an odd shade of red due to sitting too near a sunny window, but her sweet face is still the same with it's smooth almost white "skin" and little red lips slightly parted and her almond eyes that gaze downward. It just occurred to me - I never named her! For forty-four years she has been nameless... I guess I never gave it any thought that I should name her. Tonight I change that. Her name shall be 珍贵, Zhēnguì which mean "Precious".

And So it Begins

2010-10-19T17:06:00.004-04:00

Untitled, 8" X 10", oil on canvas
I've done a few paintings here and there since last spring. So, where shall I start? I guess I'll start with the latest, hot off the easel, painting. It was inspired by my brother's photography. Since it's a painting, I could make my own final composition. It's 8" x 10", oil on canvas. It doesn't have a title yet. One that has come to mind is, "Showoff...", but one needs to be able to have a little sneer in one's voice when saying it so I don't know how effective that works as a title. Any suggestions? I'm open...

MEtamorphosis in Progress

2010-10-15T13:07:00.004-04:00

I've been (to use a phrase my father used to say) pussy-footin' around living the artist's life for way too long. I've finally reached a point in my life where I am able to focus completely on developing myself as a fine artist. WOO HOO! I'm no longer bound by being "the mom" or "the daughter/caretaker". I don't have to think about being "Two Frogs". I'm not restoring and painting the house's exterior. I can solely focus on "being an artist". I can focus on "me". Okay, yeah, I still have to take the dog out or face the consequences, but still...

It is weird to know that when I get up each morning all I have to do is work on becoming a fine artist and I can paint every day, if I so desire, without distractions. I've finally gotten all my "stuff" in one space - no separated studio from the office. One large space - okay, I wish it was larger, but this will do for now and it feels good. I still need to sort out lighting and a few minor details but, it's working! And speaking of work, I'm going to share a couple things I did during this transformation. If you are a Facebook friend, you may have seen these already - or maybe you didn't. Either way, I hope you enjoy seeing them now.

This was the first thing I did in my new studio space. I just couldn't stand it anymore. All the moving and organizing - I just had to DO something!! So why not try a new technique, gouache ink resist? This was something I'd learned from Lauren Everett Finn, a fantastic artist with more creative energy than anyone I've ever met!

I got such a big kick out of the first one turning out, I did another!

This is the other gouache ink resist piece I wanted to post the other day. Both pieces are of my wheaten, Bailey. He's such a good boy...

I'm enjoying this new life: All art, all the time! It's a foreign feeling, to say the least, for me and I'm still trying to get comfortable in my new role, but wait...!

Hark! Is that a butterfly wing I see?

Brody, Riba's buddy

2010-05-13T20:05:00.003-04:00

I'm such a bad butterfly... I avoid posting to my blog. Please forgive me, but right now, at this point in time I feel like I don't have much to share. I'm certainly not doing enough of my artwork or should I say easel work (that's how I distinguish my mural/decorative painting from my other artwork)?

I was all ready to start a new painting today, had my happy pants on, got the canvas ready, had my subject matter at hand... and then I got started on the computer, on another project. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, I did want to share with you my portrait of Brody, who is Riba's buddy. He's a dear sweet, old boy.

Riba!

2010-02-23T17:48:00.005-05:00

I know... I just don't post as often as I probably should, but with all the "social networking", the Twitter, the Facebook, the Linked IN, email - it gets a bit daunting! I mean when does one find the time to post on their blog AND do laundry? (Okay, forget the laundry...) AND paint? I'm really trying to figure out my time management. It's tough! So many distractions... Wait. Was that a bunny? No... It's Riba!

"Riba" is my latest pastel dog portrait. She's a sweet, old girl. A Portuguese Water Dog. Her "mom" had the winning bid at a charity auction.

One Thing Leads to Another

2009-08-25T20:13:00.005-04:00

Okay, I was lazy... I didn't post my progress every day as planned. Actually, the problem was more like I didn't bring my camera every day, so then I would take photos with my cell phone, which in turn would languish in my cellphone because I didn't want to bother forwarding them to myself. So, yeah, I guess that's lazy... but it's done! It's been done for almost a week and I finally went over to the school this morning to take a proper photo before the sun came over the building. I still want to take a photo with all of Katie' Kids standing in front of it, so I have to co-ordinate that yet.

Painting this mural was fun because of the kids and their interest in the process. Usually on their play time outside, a few of them would venture down to where I was painting. I created a barrier with my paint gear boxes so that they couldn't invade the space I was in, but they could watch me from the other side. One day, when I was about two thirds done with the mural, my little peanut gallery was busy watching me as I was stirring the brown paint. I was getting the usual, "Hi, Miss Sarah's Mom!" and "Watcha do-ing?". I was talking to them as I was stirring the paint when little boy came up behind the others and said quite matter-of-factly, "You need to be done!" Which made me snicker to myself and think of the Pope and Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, "When will it be done?", "When I am finished!"

It was taking longer than expected, not in hours, but in days because I could only work before the sun came over the building. Therefore, I only worked 5 or 6 hours a day. A few times I tried taking a break for about 4 hours until the sun sank behind the parking structure across the street, but soon realized that the building I was working on had absorbed the heat from the sun and would radiate the heat back on me as I tried to work. Once I got down to the last panel, I tended to be shaded enough that I could work all day.

The original plan for this mural was different. I had actually designed it so that there were 4 flowers and they were all similar to the one on the far right, in shape. The color palette didn't include blue. The day I was planning to start, I started fiddling with the composition because there was just something that was bugging me. Even though the owner had already approved the initial sketch, the artist in me was just not quite satisfied.... The next thing I knew, I had changed all the flowers, except the one on the far right, to be all different flowers because I started thinking of the children and how each one is unique. I then smiled to myself because I realized the bees were like the school's teachers, helping the flowers/children to grow. (I don't know how visible the bees are to you, the reader, because the photo is rather small. But there are two bees, one on the pink rose and one flying over the blue flower.)

I sent the Katie a text message with what I had done and the reasons behind it and explained the new concept to her. She replied with an, "I love it! and I trust you..."

It's so nice when your client trusts you... :)

A Foray into Urban Sketching

2009-08-10T20:41:00.010-04:00

A couple of days ago I ran across "Urban Sketchers" on Facebook. Wowzers! I am smitten! I absolutely love, love, love the idea because it's so much simpler than plein air painting. Granted plein air is wonderful, fabulous, marvelous, gorgeous, etc., etc. But, I have yet to figure out how one would do it in a city and since I'm not located near fabulous vistas of mountain ranges or vineyards or woodland streams, well... Urban Sketchers kind of fills the bill. Sure, I could go and take photos and come back to the studio and work up a painting, but that doesn't get me what I want - the immediacy of on site observation. Don't misunderstand me, I will do the photo thing, because there are incredibly interesting places in Detroit - ones of decay, that I find fascinating and their locations aren't going to lend themselves to "urban sketching" either. The camera does have its uses...

Anyway, since the weather today was not predicatable with its "scattered thunderstorms", I decided to forego the mural work and do some urban sketching instead. I grabbed a sketchbook and some pens and pencils - I couldn't find my travel watercolor sets. I only have three! One of them I left in Maui, last March. (I left most of my art supplies that I took, with my brother. I specifically did that so I wouldn't have to pack them ever again.) The other two are somewhere in my studio (?), a knapsack (?), a drawer (?), a coat pocket(?)... I don't know! I've actually been looking for them for about a month, but I can't find 'em. I have the travel watercolor brushes, but no pan sets. gr-r-r-r.... My straw hat, a power bar and my waterbottle completed my gear. So-o-o simple and out the door I went.

I decided to go to Bell Isle. I figured it was a hot day, being near the water would be nice. Besides, Belle Isle has lots of interesting and beautiful things on it. I drove Woodward Avenue down to the river. I much prefer Woodward Avenue to the expressway. The expressway is so boring. It's just a big concrete canal. Woodward is full of life. It may not always be pretty, but it's real! I contemplated going to Hart Plaza for a moment as I reached Jefferson Avenue and saw Joe Louis' fist, but decided to stick with the Belle Isle plan.

The island was still fairly quiet. Not a lot was going on. Some cars had arrived and people were starting their day of fun or going through their morning jogging session. I wanted to park in the shade since it was going to be another hot day. There was a nice patch of shade across from the Conservatory, so I thought, "Oh, I'll do the Conservatory roof. I can sit on my tailgate in the shade."

Oh, naive child of urban sketching... What the hell were you thinking?! Hello-o! Conservatory? Many, many panes of glass? This is what my muse started thumping me in the head with. "Okay, okay...", I argued back. "I can do this. It's just a sketch. Not an architechural rendering. Relax. It'll be fine..." And so I muddled on. I didn't want to get myself freaked out or bogged down so I gave myself a half an hour to complete the sketch.

This is what I came up with. Not terribly accurate, but it works for a sketch.

I then got up and walked over to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum building. On the grounds, near the entrance is the anchor of the Edmund Fitzgerald. To the left of the anchor is a large propeller. I don't know what the propeller belonged to because the bronze plaque is missing (removed by a scavenger, perhaps?). I don't know if it was from the the Edmund Fitzgerald, too. I don't think so, but I don't know. I found it to be quite interesting, sunken in cement and weed-filled cracks for evermore. Kind of run aground in an odd, permanent way. I did this sketch standing, which had me juggling my drawing tools and wishing I had eight fingers on my left hand so I could hold and manipulate everything easier.

And there you have it - my first foray into urban sketching.

Katie's Kids and Happy Pants

2009-08-07T10:11:00.013-04:00

Day One: the Big Blank Wall

Day One of my mural project for Katie's Kids, a nursery/preschool, in Royal Oak, MI (where my daughter, Sarah, is a teacher) was quite an amusing one. I had forgotten what is like to be around little munchkins! They're so much fun and so-o-o inquisitive! Number One Question: Waddaya doo-ing? Number Two Question: Wats dat?! Number Three Question: Wat's your na-ame? Number Four Question: How come you got paint all over you? And so on, endless questioning. So much fun!

Number Four Question was probably the most fascinating for them because they get in trouble if they get paint on their clothes. I tend to keep it simple, "Because I'm very busy painting." It's too much for them to comprehend that the reason why there's paint all over my clothes is because I don't bother with paint rags much. If my brush has too much paint on it, I tap it on my pants or my t-shirt. If I need to wipe paint off my fingers, I use my pants. I can't be bothered looking for a rag or even keeping one in a pocket. I've tried aprons, but I find that they still make me overly cautious about not getting paint on the rest of my clothes. You see, it's my belief that if you're subconsciously concerned about getting paint on your clothes, then you're not fully engaged in your painting. Therefore, I tend to have quite an array of color on me when I'm painting! I call my paint pants my "happy pants" because when I'm wearing them I can do anything! I can paint, I can garden, I can do anything and not have to worry about "getting dirty".

I told one little girl about my "happy pants" and she was fascinated by the concept. She then began to tell me about her pants. One of the little boys said to my daughter, after they went back inside the school, " Miss Sarah, your mom is awesome!" So Sarah asked him, " Why is my mom awesome?" To which he replied, " Cuz she looks cool!"

Yep, my "Happy Pants" were a hit!

End of Day One: Blocking in Color

The pink center panel is proving to be a pain to paint, the aggregate is incredibly bumpy!

Plein Air Pencil

2009-07-19T22:40:00.006-04:00

Back in early June, I had been invited to an art critique by an artist friend of mine, Patrice Erickson. She also suggested that afterward we could do a little plein air work together. I heartily accepted the invitation and looked forward to it with much anticipation! The day arrived and I eagerly packed up my gear - I had decided to work in pencil as Patrice was planning to do so that our efforts and time involved would be better matched. I drove out to Patrice's, a little worried because I was running a bit late and didn't like the idea that I was going to be making a tardy first entrance. Well, as it turned out I wasn't late at all. As a matter of fact, I was a day early, to my chagrin! Patrice, ever the sweet and polite one, was most genial and accommodating. Since I had already made the trek, she suggested we carry out our plan to work plein air.

We ended up in downtown Rochester, at the municipal park. It's a lovely park with river that flows through it. It is also the location of the Arts and Apples Festival each year in early autumn. We walked down to the river and set about with our sketching.

Now, this was an interesting experience. First of all, I'd never rendered moving water and second, I'd never done any landscape work in pencil! As I said it was interesting, interesting because with graphite pencil one is working with only a greyscale to render with. I found it intriguing to try and render layers of leaves and depth of trees. And to render moving water? Holy moley! That's a whole 'nuther ballgame!

We worked for a while and then moved on to another location which had a small water fall and rapids. Oh! As if the first location wasn't challenging enough! But nevertheless, it was a fun endeavor. I feel as though what I did was "okay" but can certainly use a lot more experience working with pencil. There's got to be a better way to render landscape than what I did! I feel that I tried to draw too much of the scene before me and could have done a better job if the focus had been smaller. I'd also like to work more on creating texture with line work instead of shading and smudging. So I guess, I'd better get back out there, eh?

A Week of Plein Air Painters, part three

2009-03-20T16:00:00.030-04:00

Part of the reason, aside from wanting to see all the artist's working, for going out on the breakwater, was to find Ken Auster, CA, to see his work again because I was so taken with it the first time I saw it at D.T. Fleming and the Kick Off Paint Out. I didn't find him, but I did see Betty Hay Freeland, Maui, working with her palette knife again. I stopped to watch her paint and told her how much I loved the fact that she used a palette knife to paint with. It's certainly commendable how tolerant of chattering fans these artists are! We hang on their elbows and watch every stroke, ask questions, take photos, crowd about... Of course, they've likely been under public scrutiny for years as they paint, so I'm sure they're used to it. Or, most likely, is that they go to "Paint World" - the place I say my brain and thoughts go to when I'm painting, so they are probably answering the questions with one foot in reality and the rest of their being is in Paint World, oblivious to anything besides their work. That would be my guess.

As I stated in part two, of these posts, Darrell Hill had been finishing up his painting and as I came off the breakwater and started past the boat slips again, he had completed painting #2!! I swear, I wasn't out there that long!

A short distance from Darrell Hill's spot, another artist working on his own painting of the harbor's promenade where all the ocean excursions and tour booths are located. It was a scrumptious painting, full of color and excitement.

Once again, I have to apologize for not knowing the artist's name. I looked through all of my photos of him and could not find his name tag in any of them.

Crossing the street, toward the Lahaina Court & Custom House, across from the Pioneer Inn, I spotted Randall Sexton, CA, painting a vintage automobile parked in the street.

And lo and behold, past him, in front of the courthouse pillars, was Ken Auster! I hurried across the street to see what he was working on which turned out to be a view of the Pioneer Inn.

As you can see, I wasn't the only fan of his - Carleton Kinkade had sought him out and was taking his picture, too.

Oh, and by the way... Darrell Hill managed to paint a third painting before the two hour session was over!

At 5 P.M. that night, the Maui No Ka 'Oi Gala Reception, at the Village Gallery, in Lahaina, began and as you can imagine the gallery was packed and spilling out onto the lanai with eager art patrons and enthusiasts wanting to view all the paintings selected by the artists for the unveiling and talk with the artists once more. (Each artist had selected three paintings out of the ones they had done that week to show.) Awards had been given out and ribbons were hung next to the chosen pieces. I never did get to view all the paintings as long or clearly as I would have liked due to the crush of the crowd - it was like trying to see Sistine Chapel in July! The show was only hung for 24 hours and being halfway up the mountain in Makawao, well... I have to admit I never made it back down to Lahaina on Saturday. Although, I did get to see a few of the paintings that remained at the gallery, later in the week. I did manage to get a few photos of some of my favorites that night, but they really aren't good enough for posting. This is the best shot I got of all the artists when they gathered outside for the "official photo". I didn't want to get in the photographer's way. Besides, they weren't looking at me, they were looking at her, of course!

It was absolutely a fun and fabulous week watching all these talented artists, never knowing when you might run across one painting somewhere on the island because they were out and about painting all week, not just at the scheduled events. It was also a learning experience for me, seeing how they set up and work. Fun. Educational. Inspirational. I hope I can do it again next year.

A Week of Plein Air Painters, part two

2009-03-19T18:41:00.022-04:00

During the Pacific 'O Sunset Paint Out I spoke to Darrell Hill, an artist from the Big Island, whose work I admire greatly. By the time I reached the spot he was painting in, he had completed his painting and was signing it. It turned out that he had already completed one painting and this was his second, while everyone was still working on their first! I managed to get a photo of his set up with completed painting, but not him.

The last scheduled painting event was the Pioneer Inn Lahaina Harbor Quick Draw, on February 20th, starting at 9 A.M. and going until 11 A.M.. The Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Gala Reception was to start at 5 P.M. so they needed time to let the paint dry! The artists had taken up positions around the harbor and inn, with many of them out on the breakwater, so of course, that's where I headed. As I walked along the boat slips, I saw Darrell Hill again, who once again, had nearly completed his painting!

He was nearly ready to sign the painting and was already figuring out where he would set up for his next painting. I really admire his work and his ability to edit the imagery and told him so. His painting was of a couple of boats and their reflections in the water. What was so wonderful about it was that he didn't put in every little ripple in the water, like many artists would be tempted to do. He put in what was necessary to convey the image of these boats, sitting side by side, on the water.

As I recall, he gave it the title, "Sisters". Perfect.

I ventured out onto the breakwater wall, where, as I stated, a number of the artists were set up: Carleton Kinkade, of Maui, was seated on the rocks, painting a view of the beach where the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy takes their surf lesson participants to.

I got a bit distracted because I started watching the surfers, too, since that's where my daughter, Lizzy had taken her lessons when we were on Maui, last September. There were a couple of young children taking lessons this day and they were being cheered on from the breakwater. One of them was Lydia, who was doing great!

I love her arms' pose!

I walked out across the rocks of the breakwater, to the end where the last artist was set up. Unfortunately, I don't recall the name of this particular artist. All the artists did have name tags, but often they were being blown about by the wind or quite frankly, I tended to get caught up in their work. Not only was this artist's work impressive, but it was impressive to watch the patrons walking out on these huge rocks to where he was, in flip flops! I was surprised no one twisted an ankle or two.

A Week of Plein Air Painters, part one

2009-03-19T15:48:00.025-04:00

It just occurred to me as I was looking at the newest issue of International Artist, I should post some of the photos I took of the plein air artists at work, in Maui! Afterall, I only took about 1500 photos while I was in Maui, I'm sure I have a few hundred of the artists!

The first day of the event was February 14th - a great way to spend Valentine's Day. Like the song says, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with..." and since I wasn't with my husband on Maui, I was spending Valentine's Day with my other "love" - the pursuit of art. (I did wear the beautiful earrings my husband had sent me for Valentine's Day.) Anyway, back to the painters. They were starting at noon and were participating in a "Kick Off Paint Out in Kapalua". The twenty-five of them were divided between three beaches: D.T. Fleming, Kapalua Bay, and Honolua Bay. My brother, Dano, with whom I was staying with on Maui, and I went to D.T. Fleming. As I recall, there were eight artists at D.T. and it was quite windy. A few were tucked safely under a building's awning, painting a view of the lifeguard tower. The braver souls tended to be located along the beach. My favorite photo from this event is the one of Ken Auster, an incredible artist from California, painting against the wind.

As one can see from his hair and the woman's hair, who is leaning over, watching him, the wind was quite strong. What one may overlook is that his easel doesn't have four legs - look closely - it was taped to a tree root to keep it from blowing away! Now that's what I call being dedicated to the cause!

What I loved about Ken's work is the vigor and texture of his work. His work tended to be amongst my favorites.

On Monday, I happened to go to Lahaina, planning to do some painting of my own, but instead I stumbled upon the Lahaina Arts Society artists holding one of their art fairs under the Banyan Tree. Now, this being my third trip to Maui, in two years time, having never caught this exhibit before - always missing it - I wasn't going to miss it this time!

You really can't get the magnitude of the size of this tree (it takes up a whole city block!!) by looking at this photo, but it truly is a sight to behold! Artists, twice a month, on weekends, gather and sell their artwork. So, it was a surprise for me to catch it on a Monday! I thought perhaps the scheduling change was due to the plein air painters. As I wandered around, under the tree's canopy, I ran across another one of the plein air painters, Larry Moore, from Florida, working on a figurative piece.

One the the next scheduled events was the "Pacific 'O Sunset Paint Out", on February 18th. It started at 4 P.M. and continued to 6 P.M.. There was a model available but not everyone was using the model, many were doing landscapes/seascapes. I arrived shortly before 4:30 and the model was taking her first break, walking around and seeing what the artists were doing.

The most amusing part of the Sunset Paint Out were two little boys, about 10 years-old or so, that were posing and mugging "body builder style" in front of artist, Saim Caglayan, who was actually doing a landscape piece, that included the boys in it! Unfortunately, by the time I realized what was going on, the boys "broke" their poses to run over and see what the artist was doing. I did manage to catch one of the event's patrons amused by the boys' antics. As for Saim, he was indeed most tolerant!

Hurry Up Summer!

2009-03-19T12:21:00.003-04:00

Yes, that's right... I don't even want to "hurry up spring". I'm pushing for summer. That's because spring in Michigan is an iffy prospect. Sometimes we have one and sometimes we don't. As of right now, it looks as though Mother Nature may grace us Michiganders with an actual spring, but I never trust her. She's too fickle when it comes to keeping us in her graces and warming embraces before June. Spring may only be a couple days away, according to the calendar, but here, it could still be a moot season. As I sit here in my studio, overlooking the yard, the prospect of a spring looks pretty good - grass is starting to "green up", there's been a robin or two hopping around the yard, trees are starting to bud, and the temp is starting to rise - too slow for my liking, but nevertheless, it's rising.

What I'm really looking forward to is getting out and doing some plein air painting. The Maui Plein Air Painters Invitational really inspired me. Living in the urban area of metropolitan Detroit doesn't lend itself to much in the way of landscape work, but I hope to be able to do some painting "around town". I may have to resort to photographing what I want to paint because I don't know how well received a plein air painter might be in the middle of Royal Oak or ssome other locale. I wonder if I should check with local authorities first... Does anyone have any input on this matter? I'd appreciate advice.

Maui Back to Michigan

2009-03-12T19:07:00.015-04:00

Okay...I've been back almost a week. Maui was wonderful, of course. How can it not be?! It's Maui! Anyway, I want to post my paintings. I had expected to produce more, but it was Maui! I mean, after all... I wanted to be out in the sun, seeing and doing things. Which I did. Which was good. I took an enormous amount of photos - I figured I can always use them for reference to create paintings back here in Michigan. I only did one plein air painting. I know... I should have done more... but I was seeing and doing things! I followed the Maui Invitational Plein Air Painters around the island here and there and watched them paint. That was interesting and educational.

Oh! And I did get to indulge in my other obsession - gardening! Do you have any idea how wonderful it felt to pull weeds and plant plants in February?! (Is my Michigan winter withdrawal showing?) It was wonderful! Sun, soil and willing hands - love to pull those weeds!

But I digress, back to my artwork. I had mailed my paints ahead so I wouldn't have to deal with airport security. Eventhough the paints were water-soluable oil paints, I didn't want to take the chance of them being taken from me. I also brought along a half box French easel, canvases in various sizes, pads of watercolor paper, drawing paper, watercolors, pencils, brushes - everything I could possibly think that I might want to dabble with while in Maui. The beautiful part of all this schlepping of supplies is that because my brothers live in Maui, I only brought back my brushes and pencils! Everything else stayed so that the next time I go, I only have to pack my brushes and pencils :) I really only had to buy the medium for the oil paints at the, and pretty much only artist supplies store on Maui, Upcountry Fine Art, a wonderful store/gallery in the town of Makawao, but, of course, I bought more paint, more colors. I mean, afterall, there were so many new colors... I had gone into the store so many times the first week I was there I started to worry the proprietress, Pamela (Aloha, Pamela!) was going to think I was stalking her!
I had never used the water-soluable oil paints before so I started out with a "test" painting:

"Rainbow Plumeria", 8" X 10", oil

My next painting was my plein air piece:

"Japanese Garden", 8" X 10", oil

The next two paintings are my beach paintings and they were the first experiments with palette knives:

"Wave Watchers", 12" X 12", oil

"Beach Buddha", 12" X 12", oil

The two beach paintings were a combination of brushwork and palette knives. The next one was done completely with palette knives:

"Lahaina Sunset", 8" X 16", oil

I have to admit, using the palette knives was a blast! I love the layering and texture I can achieve so I will definitely be exploring the technique more.

The final painting that I'm posting is the one I did for my brother's birthday, before I left. On my first trip to Maui, my other brother and I were out, on one of our photography adventures and we found this awesome, old truck on the side of the road. It had a "Free Truck" sign on it! When my other brother saw the the photo, he thought it was the coolest truck so this is the painting I did for him:

"Dano's Truck", 8" X 10", acrylic

So there you have it - the paintings I did in Maui. Along with the 1500 photographs I took, this is how I kept myself busy. Not a bad vacation from the snow, eh?

No More Turtle Time

2009-01-18T13:11:00.004-05:00

I love the quote an artist friend of mine posted in her comment about my "Raindancing" post: "Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out."--- James Bryant Conant.

It certainly speaks to what I've been up to these past months - holed up in my "turtle shell"! It's been a good place and a bad place to be for me. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say, major changes happened in my life two years ago. The quick version is: I had a major health issue, the studio that I and four other artists had been operating out of for many,many years suddenly closed, we all had to relocate here and there, which destroyed our artists' community and to top it all off, my mother died the same month we were forced out of the studios. And if it couldn't get any more depressing, my absolute favorite aunt/artist (my mother's sister) died in the following months. Needless to say, my life was suddenly in a turmoil.... and that's the Cliff Notes version. I tried to stay connected to my artist-self, but I couldn't. It felt like I was scrambling on top of marbles, trying to get some sort of foothold but didn't know what to "step on". It's only been recently that I've started to feel "human" again, to tell the truth. Separating myself from my art and hiding out in the garden I think has been therapeutic to some extent, but I feel like I've "lost" something along the way and it worries me a bit.

So, it's time to poke my head out of this shell and look around, see where I want to go and plan how I'm going to get there. My first stop is Maui. Not a bad place to get started from, eh? I intend to produce something everyday. I don't know if I'll be able to post my work, but maybe I'll be able to... we'll see. I'll be there during the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational - a week long event that brings together 25 of Hawaii's and the mainland's top plein-air painters to paint the beauty of Maui. It culminates in the Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Gala Reception at the end of the week. During the week, all of us visitors, tourists, and locals will be able to watch them as they paint around the island. I'm so excited! What an opportunity!

Raindancing

2009-01-08T15:04:00.006-05:00

I've been clearing out duplicate files from my computer and just cleaning it up in general. It's been a long time since I've taken care of this task. Actually, I've been actively avoiding it for a while now! But, I realized that this avoidance was also stagnating my progress toward becoming a "full-time artist" and keeping me from moving forward. My files were getting confusing - too much duplication in numerous various files. I think it's a feng shui thing... Clutter creates stagnation. At least for me it does!

But that's not what this posting is about.

I ran across a bunch of quotes that I had collected over the years. The first one on the list struck me and that's the one I want to share:

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass,

it's about dancing in the rain."

I don't know who to attribute the quote to and I can't remember where I ran across this quote, but I think it's quite apropos for the times we are facing right now economically, not just artist, but everyone. I have an artist friend, Rich Nelson, who is tremendously talented and has worked very hard to reach his professional objectives. He has gained national recognition with his art and his "star" just seems to keep on rising. He had a vision and pursued that vision. I am so proud of him! He won't be just sitting under an umbrella waiting for the storm to pass. He'll keep dancing in the rain and he'll come out of this storm, stronger and better for it - because he has a vision and faith in what he does.

Rich is such an inspiration. He is generous of spirit and always encouraging. As I get back on track with my artwork, I hope I can stay focused. I have not lived up to my favorite quote from Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try." Or actually maybe I have, because for a good long while I have not been "doing". And so, with that, I leave... to "do"... I am off to my studio.

Forever

2009-01-08T11:12:00.006-05:00

As I have confessed to all of you earlier, I did not produce much these past months, but I did do a painting that I'd like to share with you. I painted it for my nephew and his new bride for their wedding this past May. I call it, "Forever". It's done in acrylic and I tried to stay a little loose in my brushwork. I don't remember the size because I neglected to make note of it before I gave it to them! For that matter, I had forgotten to take a photo of it and had to contact my nephew to have him take a photo of it for me. That tends to be a recurring problem for me: I forget to photograph my artwork!

Before I was Interrupted...

2008-12-31T10:08:00.006-05:00

Just to finish my thoughts from yesterday... I was trying to post a detail of the old woman's face because it was such a great face to work with, but my ISP has been acting up lately and randomly connecting and disconnecting. AARGH!

Isn't she a sweetie?

As I Was Saying

2008-12-30T11:26:00.013-05:00

Okay, so here I am again... as I said in the previous posting I haven't done much artwork since April. I really withdrew into the outside world - the one where my artself doesn't exist. I've been there before, during my first marriage when for 9 years - that's right 9 years - I didn't pick up so much as a pencil and do anything! Since I've been there before, I know how easy it is to slip back into that "abyss". It makes me sad to think of all the time in my life I've wasted not doing any artwork, so I try not to dwell on it. I try to stay positive and now I have to refocus my artistic energies back into my artwork and get my butt back into the studio on a day basis.

I'm posting one of the few paintings I did recently. It was a commissioned piece. I had to work from an old B & W photo of the old woman and child and I found painting the old woman's face a delight! So much to work with!

"Old Mrs. Austin and Roxanne", 18" X 24", oil

I'm Ba-ack...

2008-12-29T20:44:00.020-05:00

Yes, hello, it's me... long time no posting, right? Sorry, I've been occupied with other things - mostly warm weather which allowed me to participate in my second favorite past time: gardening. Yeah, I know it's way past "playin' in the garden time" but, you know how you put off doing something for so long that you don't really know how to begin again? That's kind of been my dilemma. I've sat down a couple times over the past few months and composed a posting, only to delete it, without ever posting it. So here goes, the weather is cold and crappy and I'm stuck in the house once again. Therefore, I'm going to foist myself upon you innocents once again :)

When I last left this blog, I was in the process of working on a couple of children's rooms. I had posted a couple photos of elements in the Pirates' Room. I'm going to post a few more now. Unfortunately, the family moved in before I could get proper, uncluttered photos. (they were under a crunch to get in...) I'll post a few of the

Pirates' Room but none of the "Groovy Girl's" Room because the girl's room is way too cluttered with her old furniture and belongings.

So back to my Pirates' Room madness. As you may recall, the pirate's are coming in to the room to find their

treasure map which is what the walls appear to be: a giant treasure map.

The boy requested a cannonball to come into the room so I made one ripping through the canvas, being fired from the Black Pearl, moored offshore.

Capt. Jack Sparrow

And that's all I'm going to post showing this room. It turned out quite wonderful all around with the map elements but to show them all won't give you the feel or experience of standing in this room. It really is quite fun.

Now, getting back to my absence... not only could I not bring myself to stay inside blogging during the warm months but I also worked at a garden center, English Gardens (perfect for feeding my addiction to plants!) over the spring and summer and fall seasons. I've now been layed off for the winter months, which was expected and I've been looking forward to so that I could return to the easel full time. I've only completed a couple paintings since April because I was so busy working and playing in my own garden. I also made another trip to Maui, in June, with one of my daughters. We had wonderful time. How could we not? It's Maui!

Daily Paintings?

2008-04-12T09:02:00.007-04:00

Wow! It's been so long since I've posted anything I almost forgot my password!

I just want to let y'all know that I haven't fallen into the pond completely. I'm posting a few of my "daily paintings" from the mural project I'm working on.

These images are inspired by The Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Like many little boys, the child that will occupy this bedroom is gung-ho for pirates and loves the movie. So this is his desire - to be surrounded by all things "pirate". I have a "Capt. Jack Sparrow" inspired image done but apparently didn't any photos of it so that one will have to wait... My creative concept for the room is that of a giant pirate's map which covers the walls being torn down as the pirates have come to reclaim it. The pirate that's coming in, under the map is actually looking for his wayward parrot, which mocks him from a safe perch on top of the closet doors. Meanwhile, the pirate monkey is ripping down the "map" as he sits atop the windows.

And that, folks, is my current "madness" in my mind as I work on this mural.

Back in the Pond

2008-03-25T10:01:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted anything of late... I've backpedaled a bit. I'm working on two children's rooms for an old client of mine. Yes, I know I want to give up the mural business and essentially I have. But the circumstances surrounding this job are special and I always liked this client anyway, so it's okay. Besides, I've always said, depending on the circumstances or client, I'd still do "Two Frogs" stuff. I just don't want it to be my focus anymore. Once I get the rooms done, I'll post photos of them. In the meantime, my blogging time has turned to frogging time.

Another Paint Break...

2008-03-13T15:13:00.008-04:00

"Logan", 20" X 20", acrylic

I've realized that I won't be done with the woodwork today, dang it! So, during this coffee/paint break I was poking around in my old "stuff". I ran across, "Logan" and thought you might enjoy this spunky little guy, since I haven't done any new painting this week. He's a little boy that lives down the street from us. It's over a year old, but I still love his expression! He has a little sister, Francesca, that I'll have to paint when she gets to be about the same age. It's always so much fun to do a child's portrait and try to catch the essence of their spirit.

Sigh...I miss being in the studio! I'm going to take a couple days off from being a house painter and get back to the business of being an artist, dag nabbit!

Found: Awesome Artist

2008-03-13T11:01:00.014-04:00

Aargh...! Bad news: I'm still in the paint fumes, still wielding the paint brush - Good news: I should be done today. Painting woodwork is not a "fun" job, but it's one of those "must do" jobs to finish a room. Painting walls is much more satisfying, much more along the lines of instant gratification. I don't know about you, but for me there's something a little thrilling about what color can do to a room. And a fresh new color is always a kick.

But that's not what this post is about...

What I am writing about is what I do during my "paint breaks" - I surf around the web, looking at various artist blogs and websites. It just amazes me how many artists' sites there are and all the wonderful artwork and postings and resources and organizations and help and, and, and... geez-o-pete! How does one sift and sort through it all? One link leads to another link, leads to another link, leads to another link... I get so overwhelmed!

I ran across a wonderful artist yesterday that I want to share with you. Her name is Marsha Robinett. She works in pencil and her drawings are exquisite. She has made me fall in love with the power of the pencil, again. She refers to her style as "creative realism". Her attention to detail is tremendous and the depth of values in her drawings is just scrumptious. So rich. Being a painter primarily, I tend to forget about how wonderful working in pencil is. Pencil was my first love and Marsha's stunning work has made me want to revisit that medium. There is just something about graphite and charcoal that you can't get with any other medium, in my opinion. And no one does it better than Marsha. I've added links to her website and blog to this blog. Give your eyes a treat, check out her work.

Break Time/Play time

2008-03-11T13:55:00.003-04:00

I was just taking a break from painting - not that kind of painting, house painting. That's my daily painting right now! I realized I needed to get the woodwork in the guest room done before my brother comes for a visit and I have a bit of painting to complete that got started in late December, in my Lizzy's room before she comes home on Spring Break. I still have to do some floral graphics inspired by her snowboard. (Remember, I was a muralist/decorative painter in my "before life"...) These are the kinds of little paint jobs in the house that are easier to do when it's basically just the dog and me around the house during the day, until my husband Steve, comes home from work. Theoretically one would think summer would be the optimum time, but not around this household! It gets way too busy. So for right now, we're living in the paint fumes (I use oil based paint for woodwork). I think I'll haul my air cleaner upstairs for some relief since it's too cold out to open windows...

Anyway, as the old saying goes, " An idle mind is the devil's workshop." Apparently, so too are idle hands! I changed the "look" of my blog. I thought I'd like to see a softer background so I shuffled the colors. I think I like it. It seems a bit easier on the eyes. We'll see... Anybody else have an opinion?

In, Out... No, In

2008-03-10T09:30:00.005-04:00

I'm kind of "stuck" on this idea/concept of daily painting. And I realize that not every "daily painter" produces a painting per day, but somehow that scenario just keeps reverberating in my head. As I've stated before, I believe it's every painter's dream or goal to be able to paint every day. It's good discipline to make that commitment because otherwise it can become too easy to say, "I'll get in the studio later...", which can become, "Okay, tomorrow for sure...", which then becomes, "Man, I gotta get in the studio!", which has the potential to become, " Now, what the heck was I doing in here?" when the artist finally gets back in the studio!

So, new week, new Monday, new painting - but it won't be completed in one day. It already has a title, "Piccioni!" It will be the first painting from my series to-be called "The Italian Works".

Hm-m-m...maybe what I can do to "keep myself honest" about my daily painting is to post the painting's progress each day until it is complete. Otherwise, I'm afraid I may find a "reason" to be out of the studio, instead of in the studio.

Two Day Painting?

2008-03-06T15:39:00.007-05:00

"Ena's Rose", 6" X 6", oil on canvas

Well, let's see... Monday I prepared panels to paint on, so I didn't paint per se, I gessoed panels. Tuesday, I went through the "what shall I paint" frustration syndrome again. Although I did manage to settle on something - a rose, up close and personal. Yeah, like we haven't seen that before! But it happened to be a rose that was in my aunt's garden, when I visited with her last summer. She has since passed on, so I felt that this rose transcended the triteness of subject. Anyway, I'd been playing in iPhoto with cropping and liked the abstract feel of the severe crop, but of course, painting it was a whole different thing!

I was in the process of checking the original photo on my computer when I discovered that the snow melt was causing water to seep into the basement! Aargh! So that took care of finishing the painting! I spent the rest of the day and night sucking up water as it would seep in and started demolishing on the cabinet that was covering where the water was coming in.

So, long story short, it became a two day painting instead of a daily painting.

I've also decided along the painted path I'm traveling, that doing "daily paintings" is not really working for me. I have found what I suspected before I even started, that the venture would be too limiting for me. It keeps me from doing other paintings because I'm so involved with trying to get a daily painting done. Also, I've never been a still life painter, so for me to set up a still life, no matter how simple, just never feels comfortable. I still love and admire the daily painting genre. It's just not working for me, personally. Will I continue to paint every day? Certainly! But will I produce a painting a day? Not likely. But maybe.

My Own Parade

2008-03-04T08:44:00.008-05:00

"My Own Parade", 6" X 6", oil on canvas

I'm back to my daily paintings. I know, it's "daily" painting... and my reason for the lapse? Getting ready for the exhibit, tired/burning eyes and basically, just not mentally prepared to commit over the weekend, apparently. But those are all poor excuses. It's a commitment. And when one makes a commitment, it's sometimes easier said than done. I think, in my case at least, it's more about the studio set-up. I need to get a system in place. One that I can just step into and do my work. As it stands right now, I don't feel very organized for this endeavor. So, that's my goal today. Get myself comfortable in my studio for doing these paintings AND do a painting today.

The painting I'm posting today is the one I did yesterday. It's of a little wooden figurine, from a set of "The Pied Piper" figurines. They were made in East Germany, (remember that?! Before the fall of the Berlin Wall?) over twenty-five years ago. I used to collect these little figurines for my oldest daughter, Sarah. I chose the little boy, blowing his horn. I call it "My Own Parade" because sometimes that's how I feel being an artist. Aside from "marching to the beat of a different drummer", I sometimes feel that I'm in a parade of one. That I have to "blow my own horn".

Opening Night

2008-02-29T11:16:00.015-05:00

Tonight is the Opening Reception for the show and the area is under a "Winter Weather Alert"... hm-m-m. Oh well, it is February in Michigan. I hope the roads are plowed and clear. I spent nearly five hours yesterday, along with Patrice Erickson, hanging the show. Patrice is experienced in hanging a show, I'm a novice. Therefore, Patrice suggested some options and we decided on color as being deciding factor for the hanging. It turned out quite well. There is a total of eight artists and 28 paintings, as I recall.

The top painting is the painting I was saving to post as my "show surprise" piece since I had already posted "Aberdeen Dreams" and " Sh-h-h..." This painting is called "Out of the Rain".

"Out of the Rain", 9" X 12", oil on canvas

Last summer (summer... remember that folks? sigh...), after a nice rain, I went into the garden and was taking photos of raindrops on my flowers, when I discovered a little caterpillar hiding inside a day-lily. The little caterpillar was my inspiration for the painting.

Dream a Little Dream

2008-02-28T07:05:00.002-05:00

Do you ever wake up and immediately have the "solution" to something that's been troubling you? Of course, you do, we all do! The mind is a busy place as we sleep. Well, my daily painting from yesterday was the first thing in my head as I was waking up. There it was - this wonderful little painting, the only thing remaining was the background color and the technique... but remember, I don't know exactly know how to do the technique! So, when I get back to this little painting I hope I can figure it out because the painting in my head was quite charming :)

Hm-m-m...here's a thought. Since I "painted" in my sleep, can I count that as my daily painting? I don't know if I can get in the studio today. Too much to do, too little time.

Bummer

2008-02-27T21:21:00.006-05:00

Okay, so that didn't work out! I did paint but, I didn't finish it... First, after setting up a simple still life, I decided I didn't like it, so I started altering the elements. Then I started trying other items. Nothin' was workin' for me. I must have spent nearly two hours just trying to find something to paint! Mini vase and strawberry... nope. Two strawberries... nope. Two small wooden figures... nope. One wooden figure... nope. A dog biscuit... nope. A wrapped candy... nope. Nope! Nope! Nope! There were other things, but I don't want to bore you. I finally went back to two strawberries. I bought HUGE strawberries this morning with the intention of using them in a painting. They're bigger than golf balls. I ended up painting with a palette knife because I couldn't get the brush strokes to look the way I wanted. The trouble with doing that though, is that I've never painted with a palette knife before!! I like the look so far, but the paint is too thick to continue considering I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I'll keep at it, but it's going to take more than one day.

There were too many things stacked against me tonight. Too distracted. I wanted the darkness so I could create more dramatic lighting. The problem with that is I'm not used to painting that way and was uncomfortable with the light on the palette. The clock was ticking away and it was getting later and later, and time shorter and shorter. My eyes were getting tired, I wasn't happy with what was going on... blah, blah, blah. Not a happy camper tonight. BUT, nonetheless, I did paint today! And I learned that I'm not a night time painter unless I've already started painting during the day. So I guess I accomplished something and learned a thing or two after all.

Better Late Than Never

2008-02-27T15:49:00.008-05:00

"Indifferent", 6" X 6", oil on canvas

It took a while for me to be able to post my second venture into daily paintings. Just about the time I was going to post it yesterday, I discovered our phone service was down, thanks to the work AT & T had been doing on the lines behind the houses, on our section of the street. And of course, I didn't discover this lovely fact until the trucks had all left for the day!! AARGH!!! But now the phone has been restored and here's my daily painting from yesterday. I call it "Indifferent". Using vintage salt & pepper shakers again as my "models", these two seals, with their noses in the air have always given me the impression of them being quite indifferent to the presence of each other.

I haven't started my daily painting yest today for a couple reasons. The first being, I needed to make sure I had all my pieces in order for the exhibit that opens this Friday. The second being, I want to try a little more dramatic lighting so I need to wait until nightfall because my studio is quite sunny and I haven't had a chance to properly set up a staging area for still lifes.

Actually, come to think of it, I'm not sure I'll be able to do one tomorrow. I'm helping to hang the exhibit. I wonder if I can squeeze two in tonight... oh dear, and "Lost" is on, too!

The Daily Duo

2008-02-26T09:26:00.003-05:00

I'm still abuzz with the "daily paintings" venture... I've been checking out the bios of the artists that form the Daily Painters Guild and getting a better handle on how it all seems to work. It appears some do just a small painting a day, some paint everyday - not necessarily one small painting, some do both. I think my personal choice would be the latter. As much as I enjoyed my little "Secrets" painting, I was left with wanting to do more. So I guess that would be my solution. To start the day with the daily painting and then continue on to something else, perhaps larger, if the creative juices are still flowing.

The concept has opened up a world of painting for me - not the concept of painting daily, because isn't that something that as artists we all want or strive to do? But the daily paintings - that's the idea that's got me so excited. I just love these little gems! As for my take on daily painting, if you've read any of my other postings, I have a list -. And that list has sometimes perplexed me in terms of how to attack it. There are many "paintings" not even on "The List" because I didn't want to overwhelm myself with "obligations". I see by being able to combine daily paintings and painting daily, the daily duo, I may be able to tackle the list with a better focus. I guess coming from a muralist background where all my paintings were large, room size pieces, the idea of doing paintings like these little gems of daily paintings hadn't crept into my brain. Maybe it was the paint fumes from all those years...

Well, gotta go! Gotta paint!

Daily Paintings

2008-02-24T17:23:00.013-05:00

"Secrets", 6" X 6", oil on canvas

I have become infatuated with the concept of Daily Paintings! I ran across Justin Clayton's name and the reference to daily paintings somewhere on the web the over the weekend, as I was surfing about. Intrigued, I checked out his blog and website. I was smitten! His paintings are beautiful little gems of everyday objects, for the most part, although there are some portraits and landscapes. His handling of the subjects is quite wonderful. My favorites are when he takes everyday objects and gives them a sense of importance, whether it's simply a light bulb resting on the table or a slice of lemon illuminated from behind or a sake cup with a blue interior.

I watched his videos and loved the immediacy of the process. It's rather like plein air painting, on one hand. I e-mailed him and he responded, answering questions I had. He also directed me to his FAQ's, which was extremely helpful and he was quite encouraging. Thank you, Justin :)

So intrigued by the process and as I explained to him, I'd really like to loosen up in my paintings, I decided to give it a try. I thought about it all night last night and wondered what I would use for my first daily painting subject. As I sat, reading the newspaper this morning, still wondering what to use, I saw the perfect thing. My funny little, vintage salt and pepper shakers that I bought years ago sitting in the china hutch telling each other "secrets" - or at least that's what they appeared to be doing.

My format is slightly larger than Justin's because I happen to have a box of small canvases that I've collected, liking the size and shape and waiting to find something to inspire me to use them. Which now I have! This piece is 6" X 6" and a gallery wrapped canvas. I certainly enjoyed this foray into the world of daily paintings and intend to keep it up. I love the challenge of it.

Rembrandt

2008-02-21T09:39:00.008-05:00

Wow! What else is there to say?

That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this Rembrandt "Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, aged 62". It is absolutely stunning! I just wanted to share it with you. It's now on display at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass. It's from the collection of Rose-Mariend Eijk van Otterloo and considered to be "one of the finest Rembrandts in private hands". Wow...

One, Two, Three... Fini!

2008-02-20T20:57:00.008-05:00

I completed my last painting "Out of the Rain" for the upcoming show. I literally spent the day painting raindrops! Well, okay... maybe not the entire day, but most of the day! Talk about tedious! I can't say much more. I would like to have a surprise piece left for the show. I'll post the painting once the Opening Reception is over. It's unlike anything I've done, but I must say having been well schooled in trompe l'oeil painting with my murals certainly helped depicting the raindrops.

The List

And, now that I've completed my "obligations" for the show, I can start on my list. Yes, my list. It's a very important list, one I started keeping a few years ago. You see, when I was doing "my mural thing", I had no time left over for doing "my own thing" so, I started keeping a list of ideas for paintings that would pop into my head. My list has reached 25 items on it! Some of those ideas are for series of paintings - multiples!!! Of course, there are still the commissioned pieces that I have to do as well... but, at least I can get started on my list. Hm-m-m... which one shall I start with?

(Oops! make that 26. I know I'll think of more items that I forgot to put on the list. I've actually had the list written down numerous times, in various places, but now I have what I guess I'll call "The Official List" on my computer desktop. Trying to be more organized, know what I mean ?)

Aberdeen Dreams

2008-02-11T21:23:00.002-05:00

"Aberdeen Dreams", 20" X 24", oil

Remember the post about the new painting I was working on? Well, here it is... Once again, Lizzy was the model. It's from a photo I took of Lizzy when we went to visit her last year, while she was on her Study Abroad Program through Kalamazoo College, in Scotland, at the University of Aberdeen. It was about 4PM on a late January afternoon, as the sun was getting low in the sky (yes, in Scotland the sun goes down even earlier than in Michigan in January!) The light was soft and grey, a typical Scottish day.

Come One, Come All, the Show's About to Begin

2008-02-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

Our exhibit is coming soon! Above, you'll find the list of participating artists. Patrice Erickson has been the driving force to get this exhibit "off the ground" and I imagine it's been no easy task for her when trying to corral so many artists into an organized manner. To borrow a phrase from someone I knew long ago, it must be " like corralling kittens!" I must say, she has been remarkable. Thank you, Patrice.

Although I have mentioned this exhibit under my "Upcoming Events and Exhibits", I do wish to remind those of you who may be in the area to please join us for our Opening Reception.

Details: Opening Reception, Friday, February 29th, 6:30PM - 8:30PM

Waterford Cultural Council's de la Ferriere Gallery

2303 Crescent Lake Rd, Waterford , MI - off M-59, about a mile east of Oakland County Internat'l Airport. Phone # 248.618.7529

If you're unable to make the opening but would like to see the exhibit another day, the gallery hours are M-F, 8AM-5PM. The exhibit will run through April 3, 2008

I'm sure the exhibit will have quite a variety of artwork to enjoy with so many artists participating. And I can't think of a better way to brighten a winter's day than to be surrounded by art!

Please, come and enjoy.

Smoke and Mirrors

2008-02-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

I'm just curious... I've started a new painting and whenever I start a new painting (or drawing) at some point I look at it and think, "Ohmigawd, this is crap!" But a little voice inside says, "just keep going..." Invariably, it turns out fine, but there's always that beginning critique given by my inner self. Does anyone else go through this? And if so, why? Why does this happen? I'm just curious...

I'd love to hear from others on this.

Something Different

2008-01-31T20:54:00.000-05:00

I completed a new painting today - well, at least I think I've completed it. I had posted it earlier today but I have since changed it, tweaked it here and there. It's different from anything I've ever done in terms of technique. I was inspired by the colors used by the Italian artist Nicola Simbari. After completing the other paintings of the greyhound, Kent and the two family portraits I needed to do something different, something loose and colorful.

So may I present to you, "Maui Dawn".

The Detroit Institute of Arts, a Sparkling Gem on a Winter's Day

2008-01-30T11:10:00.000-05:00

For those of you in the metropolitan Detroit area, if you haven't been to the "new" DIA, shame on you and get yourself to the museum! My husband and I have been there twice now. The first time was for the advanced opening for members. It was a wonderful experience. The galleries are gorgeous and it's new layout is very user friendly. It's almost indescribable how wonderful it is. Really. It's fabulous.

The second time was this past Sunday. We had spent the morning doing the usual: hangin' out, drinking our coffee, reading the paper... and it would have been lovely to just stay holed up in the house, snuggled under afghans, reading - but we had decided on Saturday to visit the DIA on Sunday and we were sticking to it. Boy, am I glad we did! It was just as wonderful as before. I had said to my husband that I didn't want to "do" the entire museum. It just becomes overwhelming and a chore, rather than an enjoyable experience. We decided to visit some of the galleries that hadn't been open at the grand opening or that we'd missed the first time and of course, revisit our "favs". Speaking of which, I have a new "fav": the Prints and Drawings Gallery. There's an energy in drawings that isn't present in paintings, but that's a whole different blog entry... When you go, look for the small little Ingres drawing of a woman. It is just exquisite.

To tackle the DIA in this manner is really the way to enjoy a museum and being members allows for such a leisurely visit because you feel like it's "yours" to enjoy on your timetable, as many times during the membership period as you like. Of course, living within a reasonable distance helps, too. But, you know what I mean... think about the times you've been to a museum (or zoo!) that you're not a member of. There's the tendency to go on a "forced march", to go to all the exhibits, all the galleries, (all the animals) - to make sure you get your ticket's worth. No wonder children tend to roll their eyes when you say, "Let's go to the____ museum!"

We've always been members and when my Lizzy was around 4 years old, I was a student at the College for Creative Studies, which is located behind the DIA. I used to go there much more often and knew where all the galleries were located within the building. I would take Lizzy there on occasion - which one of my professors thought was absolutely amazing that I would take a 4 year-old to the DIA. I explained to her that we didn't go for an extended period of time, we just went for brief visits to a couple galleries for my fulfillment and to acquaint Lizzy with the museum and hopefully build an appreciation for art in her, but there were always three things on Lizzy's "must do" list: go up and down the "roundy" stairs (the spiral staircase); get white cheddar popcorn in the Kresge Court; and visit her favorite room: "The Pink Room". It was a gallery that was filled with Fragonard paintings, Louis the somethin' or other gilded furniture, pink walls, pink satin bedding, pink upholstery, pink, pink, pink... a little girl's idea of heaven. This was during the same time that the DIA had to cut back on hours and close certain galleries on certain days due to budget cuts.

On one particular day, we were on our pilgrimage to "The Pink Room" and when we arrived at the particular spot where it should have been. It was "gone"! I remember standing there, holding Lizzy's little hand and turning around, looking and looking - certain I was in the right spot since I knew the layout of the museum so well. A guard spotted us and asked me if he could help us. Puzzled, I explained to him about "The Pink Room" and how it was her favorite room and how I thought that this was where it was. He said, "Well, you're right. It's over here." and led us over to the wall where lo and behold! he opened a concealed door and let us into "The Pink Room". He opened the gallery just for the two of us, for Lizzy and her enjoyment of "the Pink Room" and explained to me that due to budget cuts, this gallery wasn't open on this particular day. Now, how cool was that? I'll always remember that the act of kindness. He could have just turned us away, but he chose to brighten a little girl's face instead.

"The Pink Room" is gone now due to the renovations and revamping of the museum. I don't imagine it'll be missed much. It wasn't my favorite gallery - too frou-frou for me - but it will certainly remain as a fond memory of time I spent at the DIA with my Lizzy.

Winston

2008-01-29T10:40:00.002-05:00

"Winston", 84" X 24", oil

"Winston", detail

This is "Winston". Kent's "bro". The much more laid back, dignified dog. Sweet as can be - "Winston the Winsome".

The spark of inspiration for Winston's image came as I was driving down Woodward Ave. one day. The entire painting just popped into my head from nowhere. I "saw" just the top half of a greyhound depicted. One always sees their big chest or their long legs. I saw length. The image tucked itself away in the recesses of my brain where I keep my other "paintings". I ran into my friend, Robert one day and mentioned it to him - fortunately for me, they had Winston which would work for the dog in my vision. Robert said he'd think about it...

Robert called me a few weeks later. Now I had never thought of the size of it, just the image. Robert came up with the size: 7' X 2' - to go over their mantelpiece. Zoikes! Alright, cool!

And that's how "Winston" was created.

Kent, the Clown

2008-01-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

Kent, 48" X 48", oil

And now for your enjoyment, I give you "Kent". I completed his portrait this past weekend. Kent is a rescued greyhound that rehabilitated by inmates and then adopted. I refer to him as Kent, the Clown because that's what his personality conveyed when I met him and it is my understanding that that is a good description of him. He's a happy dog. A big, gangly greyhound with a heart as big as he is.

Kent is the second rescued greyhound adopted by my friends. This is the second portrait they have commissioned from me. The first portrait was of Winston, who is much more "dignified" than Kent. "Kent" also presented an interesting challenge due to the sheer size of him - 4' X 4'. His tongue is as long as my forearm and his eye is the size of a dinner plate!

It's a Family Affair...

2008-01-28T12:38:00.001-05:00

Whew!... I just finished this family portrait. It was a surprise for the family so I had to work from two photographs provided by the mother/grandmother. I changed the clothing to make it more cohesive and timeless.

I also reworked a portrait for another daughter and her son that the mother/grandmother had purchased from an internet portrait company. She was unhappy with what had been delivered to her. I don't believe I'll be showing that portrait. But I will say I did improve the final image.

Doggie in the Window

2008-01-22T19:35:00.000-05:00

Aside from collecting quotes, I collect "funnies" - you know, the comics from the newspaper. Some are just too good to send to the recycling bin! Often I find one that is apropos to a given circumstance or something will remind me of a family member. I keep a file on my computer of my favorites. Occasionally I go through the file and have a good laugh all over again. Here's one that I saved the fits my Bailey to a tee!

The thing that is so funny about Bailey is that on a leash, on a walk he never ever has barked at anything! Not a car, dog, squirrel - nothin'! He doesn't even try to chase a squirrel or bird. I've always said a chiquaqua could kick his a_ _, if Bailey's on a walk. He's the biggest baby dog there is. But in his own house? He's Sir Bailey of York, Protector of All He Sees.

Sibling Rivalry - It Never Ends

2008-01-17T10:29:00.000-05:00

"Pigtails", 30" X 50", acrylic

I got a nice e-mail from my Sarah yesterday congratulating me on the new blog and how it looked but, she did say, " I am hoping to see "Pigtails" grace the computer screen or the "Love is..." series." Now the back story on those two paintings is that they are about her and I appreciate her suggestion to show them on the blog but, I also suspect a little sibling rivalry there since Lizzy, her sister is so prominently displayed... like I said, sibling rivalry - it never ends.

So here you go, Sarah, these are for you. I love you...Mom.

The "Love is..." series is something I have started for Sarah and Nick. Starting with this painting given to them at their Engagement Party, I intend to do a series for them that will be little snippets from their life together. Sarah is a shutterbug. She probably has hundreds of photos of them together. I ran across one that just had a little bit of them in the frame and they were obviously laughing madly. That when the idea for the series popped into my head with this one being "Love is... finding someone you can share laughter with."

It's Raining Cat and Dogs

2008-01-16T16:57:00.000-05:00

Yes, folks, only one cat... one measly little kitty...out of all the animal portraits I've done - just one itty, bitty kitty, Oscar.

Can someone explain that? I have a hard time believing that only dog owners are likely to have their pets' portraits done!

Of course, that should all change now since my daughter, Sarah and her husband, Nick - the newlyweds, got a little, itty, bitty Siamese kitty shortly after they got back from their honeymoon. Their kitten's name is Maggie, after Magglio Ordonez. (Did I mention they're big Detroit Tigers fans?) The biggest trick will be getting Maggie to stay still long enough to have her picture taken!

Now I'll share some of my favorite dog portraits.

This is my Bailey. He's a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier.

He's the "son" we never had... we have two daughters. He also believes himself to be The Protector of our street as he sits in the window scrutinizing each person, dog, truck, car, stroller, roller-blader, jogger, squirrel, cat, chipmunk, etc. as they pass by.

The sanitation workers call him "Doggie in the Window".

I call him, Sir Bailey of York.

This is Cody.

These pet portraits are all done in pastels. I also do painted portraits. Really I do! But it's taken me so long to get these posted, in a fashion that I like, I can't spend any more time on them. Will this blogging ever get easier for me? Oy!

Tank George

Don't Tell My Dog, Bailey!

2008-01-16T16:13:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce you to "Libby". This is my favorite dog portrait (sh-h-h-h! Don't tell my dog, Bailey!). I was commissioned to do this portrait by a lovely woman, as a surprise Mother's Day gift, for her daughter-in-law. You see, her daughter-in-law was a "puppy raiser" for the Leader Dogs for the Blind, in Rochester, Michigan and Libby was the puppy she was raising - her first puppy. Libby was to be turned over to the Leader Dogs for her training shortly after Mother's Day and the mother-in-law wanted to do something special to commemorate the bond between Libby and her "Mom". I met Libby at her "Grandma's" house, where she had arrived on the sly (remember this was to be a surprise gift), with her "Dad". I took some reference photos of her and we chose the pose we liked the best for me to work from for the pastel portrait. During her photo shoot it became quite obvious she was a remarkable dog. Her ability to comprehend commands and behave belied her young age (the puppies return to Leader Dogs as one year-olds). Libby is a beautiful specimen of a Yellow Labrador and it was my honor to capture her spirit.

Same Day...Later...

2008-01-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

I have so much to learn about this blogging thing! I now realize that when I introduced myself and my art to you I failed to tell you more about "Lizzy's Locks of Love". It was juried into the Third Annual Michigan Portrait Show at the Orion Art Center, in Lake Orion, Michigan this past September. The judge for the show was Kathleen Van Ella, founder of Portraits/Chicago Inc. "Lizzy's Locks..." was awarded a Juror's Merit Award. Also juried into the show was "Sh-h-h...", a pastel portrait of a sleeping baby, Eleanor Genevieve.

January 15, 2008 - Musing and Muttering

2008-01-15T17:21:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is - my first posting. After spending a good portion of my allotted computer time ( I try to limit my time for working on the computer before I head for the easel. Otherwise, I'd never get anything done!) trying to figure out how to "blog", I managed to get something up and posted. I certainly hope I get this all figured out rather quickly because right now "blogging" takes way too much time! I'm amazed at the size of some blogs I've seen and now that I've actually started my own, it's hard to imagine how much time some of these blogs require! And honestly, how many people will truly be interested in reading my musings? Is this really the way to keep in touch with everyone? I guess I'll find out...

The Butterfly Frog: Lois Primeau

More Rust Removal

Knocking the Rust Off

Procrastination Central

The Purge Urge

Reality Check

Alright Already!

*Sigh*...

The Day After Yesterday

Forever and a Day

Queen of Chaos and Her Realm

When Will It All End?

Just When I Thought I Had It Made...

"Jack"

Spring Plein Air in the Garden

Let's Hear It For The Boy...

"Separated by Birth"

I'm Mr. Lonely... woo, woo - woo - woo...

Amongst the Heroes

What Was I Supposed to Do...?

Monday Morning Trouble

"Nick"

I've Returned to Trouble!

Sharing My Studio Space

"Requiem in Verse" Revisited, For My Mother...

Trouble on Friday

Brain Freeze

Better Late Than Never

Bits of Trouble

Last Laugh?

What a Tool I am...

Double Trouble

Daily Sketches

Five Minutes of Trouble

"Blind" Leading the "Blind"

Double Your Pleasure?

Alright... Who did this?

Rut roh...

Mojo Moving Quotes

"Precious" Birthday Gift

Still Tiny Trouble

Tiny Trouble

Rosie

Tough Times and Tears

Stuffed One and Two, FINALLY!

Stuffed

Zhēnguì

And So it Begins

MEtamorphosis in Progress

Brody, Riba's buddy

Riba!

One Thing Leads to Another

A Foray into Urban Sketching

Katie's Kids and Happy Pants

Plein Air Pencil

A Week of Plein Air Painters, part three

A Week of Plein Air Painters, part two

A Week of Plein Air Painters, part one

Hurry Up Summer!

Maui Back to Michigan

No More Turtle Time

Raindancing

Forever

Before I was Interrupted...

As I Was Saying

I'm Ba-ack...

Daily Paintings?

Back in the Pond

Another Paint Break...

Found: Awesome Artist

Break Time/Play time

In, Out... No, In

Two Day Painting?

My Own Parade

Opening Night

Dream a Little Dream

Bummer

Better Late Than Never

The Daily Duo

Daily Paintings

Sigh...