Friday, November 29, 2013

Small Work to Big Painting

While some artists who paint outdoors consider their plein air pieces to be finished works of art, many others use these studies only as inspiration for larger pieces.

In the past I have rarely used a plein air study to create a larger painting but, because I am a member of a plein air group that is planning an exhibit of larger paintings done from small studies, I have been challenged to explore this further.

I chose a small painting, The Dairy, to begin with. I was fairly pleased with this painting, but I knew there were things I could improve upon.

Black and White Sketch
I did several black and white sketches to see if I wanted to make changes to the composition. I decided to move the buildings to the left a little and to increase the slope of the distant mountain to make it more interesting. I also lowered the trees behind the buildings, showing more of the mountain and allowing the tree on the right to appear larger and more dynamic.

Plein Air study with grid applied
Wrapping the plein air study with cellophane allowed me to draw a grid over it for easier transferring of the image to a larger canvas. Notice that the center point is to the right of the center. This is due to my decision to move the buildings a little to the left on the canvas. Before beginning to paint, I drew a corresponding grid onto the larger canvas with pencil. Using the grid as a visual guide, I lightly sketched the large shapes of the composition onto the canvas with vine charcoal.


18x24 painting blocked in
Using thin paint, I did a block-in of darks and lights using local color.  In the image above, I have also begun to add thicker paint to the dark and medium dark areas of the building on the left.


18x24 painting with more detail added.

My next step was to continue painting the darks and medium darks, adding the fence and other smaller shapes.  This is still a work in progress; the light values will be addressed next and then I will add smaller details in some key areas.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Three Chances to Support Local Art

This is a busy time of year for everyone – and it's the same for we artists. Local artists and craftsmen are busy preparing for events to entertain you and to offer unique gift choices. Art is a great way to support local artists and your local arts organizations. Here are three good choices: 

Art in the Village
Art in the Village is Associated Artists of Winston-Salem's all-member exhibit and fine art sale. It will be held at at 113 Reynolda Village in Winston-Salem, NC (in the former Casanova’s location or the historical “corn crib” near the Village Tavern).

Opening Reception will be held during Reynolda Village’s “Holiday Stroll” on Saturday, November 23, 2013 from 5-8 PM.  Show will be on display from Saturday, November 16 - Monday, December 23, 2013.

This painting, Belcastel, will be on display at the show in Reynolda Village.

 

Deck the Halls

Deck the Halls is the Sawtooth School for Visual Arts' largest fundraising event and generates proceeds that help support their organization's operations and arts-based programming. Beautifully displayed in their gallery and gift shop setting, Deck the Halls features a unique variety of work from Sawtooth faculty, students and regional artists. Deck the Halls will be open to the public from December 6 - December 21, 2013 with the Preview Night celebration to be held Thursday, December 5th.


I will be selling some of my pottery and clay ornaments.

 

Germanton Gallery's 21st Annual Miniature Art Show

This is one of the finest art shows in the area and beyond. The list of nationally known artists is impressive and the work is outstanding! All paintings will be 9" x 12" or smaller.

Opening reception will be held Friday, December 6 from 5 - 8 PM. During the reception, Germanton Winery will be offering wine tastings. Local wine is another great gift choice that supports local business!

The gallery will also be open Saturday, December 7 from 10 AM - 4 PM and Sunday, December 8 from 1 PM - 4 PM. Many artists will be on site over the weekend. The show will hang through January 1, 2014.

Gallery located on Germanton Road, 9 miles north of Winston-Salem, NC.

Green Tea will be one of my paintings at the Germanton Show.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Collage is a Big Hit!


I have been volunteering at the local Assisted Living Center for their art sessions on Tuesday afternoons. At first we worked in pastels and some people really loved this, but we wanted something that more people would enjoy - an idea popped into my head. I always loved to work with cut and torn paper and so I decided to give that a try. It's so much easier to do this now with glue sticks available - no messy dishes of glue or acrylic medium to deal with.

This past week we did a pot of flowers starting with a line drawing that I had drawn on the computer and printed out. To expedite the process, I cut leaf and flower shapes from colored tissue paper, textured paper and plain colored paper and gave each person the parts. Of course, as soon as they got engrossed in the process they were asking me to cut out special shapes and colors they needed to make their flower pot complete. I loved that! They were thinking about what they were doing and getting lost in the moment.


Everyone started with this drawing plus flower and leaf shapes cut from paper.
 The best results were the comments about how addictive and fun this activity was and the fact that people got totally lost in the process. They were so interested in what they were doing that they forgot their troubles for awhile. They were proud of their work too.

Here are some of the masterpieces:


Some had orange pots with plain stripes.
 People started adding
their own touches.

"I always wanted to be an artist"

Handles on the pot!

Petals dropping from the pot!

This one was done by the first guy
to have the courage to attend.





Tuesday, October 22, 2013

New Works at Hampton House Gallery

Yesterday I delivered two large pieces to Hampton House Art and Framing (Coliseum Drive, Winston-Salem, NC). I had just signed one of the, and the paint was still wet when I got Jackie's message asking me to switch out some artwork and bring some larger pieces.  Hanover Park Vineyard, the other one that I delivered to them, is an older piece. If you are in the area, stop in and take a look at the gallery - they just rehung things yesterday after taking down their "Summer Memories" Show.

The Porch at Ciener Garden  18x24 Oil

Hanover Park Vineyard 24 x36 Oil
No upcoming events for this weekend.

Next weekend I will be in Raleigh taking a workshop from Lori Putnam - getting excited about that! Friday, 11/1, Lori will be exhibiting her work at Nicole's Studio, Person St., Raleigh during First Friday Gallery Hop.


Sunday, September 8, 2013

ARTSfest 2013

This coming Saturday, September 14, 2013, I will be setting up a booth to display and sell my paintings at the bi-annual ARTSfest in Winston-Salem, NC.

I haven't done an outdoor show in a long, long time so I am feeling kind of overwhelmed.

Today I got out tables, easels and some shelves that I plan to use when setting up my booth and arranged them in my driveway to see how it would fit into my space.  My neighbors are accustomed to my strange ways and don't even ask what I am doing.  Of course, now I have to find a way to disguise this stuff to make a good looking display, but at least I have the skeleton.

My findings, which will serve as my display "skeleton".  




Along with larger, framed paintings, I will have many smaller pieces to sell, including some small, unframed studies for under $100. I try to keep these to standard sizes so a reasonably price ready made frame will work. Nothing worse than finding a nice piece of art at a good price, only to find the framing will triple what it costs before it makes it onto your wall!

Here are a few of the studies that I will be offering for sale:

David's Farm

The Artist's Garden


Tanglewood Stable


If you are in the area, come out to view the art and have some fun at ARTSfest.




Saturday, July 27, 2013

Existing With Your Subject

Yesterday I painted at a spot near my home where I often walk. It is a simple place which became beautiful in my eyes only after walking there many times.  When I told my husband where I had been painting, his response was, "there's not much up there, is there?"

This is what I saw the first time I went to this place - the only thing
of interest to me was the crunch of gravel under my shoes.

If you walk there often, at different times of day, and take the time to experience this little stretch of gravel road between two sub-divisions it becomes an oasis in the middle of suburbia. Every time I walked there I would find something beautiful that I hadn't noticed before. There are soft breezes and a morning mist that softens the trees in the distance, creating the most beautiful atmosphere.

Notice how the trees become lighter and cooler (more blue) in the distance
and everything is softened by the morning mist.

The land is higher there, you can see the sky and some beautiful sunrises.

Today I read a blog post, The Power of Slow Art,

.... the act of slowly walking around in our subject and changing our point of view can do wonders. As we move, the brain adds in the new visual information and builds a more informed three-dimensional picture of our environment..."

 Here are a couple of very quick studies I did before the light changed into the harsh, bright summer daylight. Hopefully I will find the time to paint larger versions of these:

Trying to capture the sky and the bright green weeds along the foreground.


Gravel Road with shadows.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Less Thinner, More Color

Last Saturday my friend, Arlene Daniel, and I headed up to Galax, North Carolina to participate in a plein air paint-out at beautiful Mount Vale Vineyards. We left early so we could scout out a good spot to paint; we succeeded in a big way. We found shelter from the sun while overlooking a gorgeous mountain vista that was still under the cover of a morning fog.

Perfect spot to paint at Mount Vale Vineyards; shade,
fun people and lots of lovely views to paint



I noticed that the church to our right was in a veil of soft fog, which is one of my favorite things to paint. It is hard to paint fog as it lifts quickly and you are left with a lot of bright color and detail, none of which you wanted to see until the painting was completed. The trick is to get the colors and values you see onto the canvas right away, take a mental snapshot and keep painting what you saw before the fog lifted. This is not an easy task. I also took a photo in case I needed reference for later. This painting came about quickly and with less effort than usual, but I wasn't sure why.

Painting of early morning fog at Mount Vale Vineyard.

Now that the fog was gone, I chose another view to my left and began to work on that. Same thing happened. The painting went quickly and I was pleased with it. I had to figure out why!

Painting of distant farm after the fog lifted.

I took stock of how I had been painting that morning and I realized that I had not been dipping my brush into the Gamsol (mineral spirits) nearly as often as I usually do. I had been cleaning paint from my brush with a dry paper towel and avoiding the Gamsol. This kept my paint thicker and stronger in color. I was able to lay the color on without blending it in, which gave a cleaner look to the painting. I was forced to mix the in between colors and paint them on the canvas rather than creating a muddy mid-color with a brush full of paint thinner.

This week in the studio, I continued using this new method and was very happy with the results. I finished two paintings that I had started months ago. One had been going well and I was a bit afraid to start work on it again - the other one had problems. I finished both and am pleased with both, but that's not to say I won't find something to fix later!

Traveling with Family - 11x14 Oil

Three Dancers - 12 x 16 Oil


Sunday, May 26, 2013

Goat Lady Dairy - Tate Family Art Collection

The Piedmont Outdoor Painting Society (POPS), of which I have been a member for over 12 years, has had the privilege of painting at many unique farms due to our collaboration with the Piedmont Land Conservancy.


POPS Members with Steve Tate at The Goat Lady Dairy
Keeping Watch - pastel

It was in 2005 that I first painted at the Goat Lady Dairy, founded by Ginny Tate, in Climax, NC.

Two Red Barns - plein-air painted at the Goat Lady Dairy in 2005

We held an exhibit of paintings we had done en plein air at Piedmont Land Conservancy sites and also studio pieces done from photos we had taken. The Tate family members bought several of our pieces. The fun part was that they were buying them as Christmas gifts for each other! The artists knew who bought what, but we had to be hush-hush! Ginny Tate later told me that this was the first time her family had become interested in collecting art and she was so thrilled with the enjoyment it had brought to them.

The Kids at Goat Lady Dairy - Tate Family Collection

Chicks at Goat Lady Dairy - Tate Family Collection

On a later visit to the farm I spotted Mrs. Tate on the deck, potting some plants, and snapped her photo. When I delivered the painting I had done of her to be exhibited at the Dairy's dining hall, she said she wanted to purchase it. I was so thrilled and flattered.

    
Mrs. Tate - Spring Planting - Tate Family Collection
 

Sadly, Mrs Tate and Ginny have both passed away since then. The latest piece I did of someone at the farm was this pastel that I painted of Ginny, walking through the yard carrying two of her kids!


Ginny Tate, founder of the Goat Lady Dairy.
Many thanks to Steve Tate for his permission
to paint from this family photo.

You can experience tours of the farm and a gourmet dinner of fresh, local food at the dairy's dining room. Details can be found at their website: www.goatladydairy.com.

Goat Lady Dairy products can be found at the NC Farmer's Market at Sandy Ridge Rd. exit off I-40 west of Greensboro.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Pastels: Get You Hands Dirty

The past two weeks at the Assisted Living Center, where I am volunteering, we worked with pastels.

I sat and drew with them rather than teaching.
The first week, I took an assortment of old pastels and let everyone just choose a few out of the box. I sat at the table and drew with them, rather than attempt to teach. It was more fun for me and they just did their own thing, asking questions when they needed to. I realized quickly that I didn't have enough stuff when they started to ask for specific colors, including black and white, and something with a smaller point for details.

Although many pastel artists never pick up a pure black or white stick and they don't paint every detail, I didn't think it was the time to tell these folks any of this!

They had to use these in place of black and white
 I dug around in the box for the darkest and lightest thing I could find and they had to make do. As for details, they had to use the pointed corners of the square sticks.

The other mistake I made was including some soft pastels in the mix. Way too messy! Everyone was clamoring for paper towels and I had to run around the halls looking for someone to find some and dampen them for me.

I decided to go back to watercolors the next week, until the Activity Director told me how excited they were about working with pastels. One lady who had moved in recently was thrilled with her drawing and had a good day, which is something to cherish in this situation. Good thing I got that piece of news before the next class!

We needed more colors so I took this box to class the next week.

The following week I filled a bigger box with more colored sticks and a box of pastel pencils for details. I took out the messier soft pastel and added wet wipes for our hands to my gear. It was a hit again. People left the room telling everyone they met in the hall how much they loved pastels.

Pastel pencils for the details.
Next week they will wear their oldest clothes, those who watched from the sideline may join in and I will bring wax paper to cover the masterpieces. Each time is a lesson for them and for me.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Four Planes

After a three day outdoor landscape painting workshop with D. Eleinne Basa, my friend and I headed to Kure Beach to create some plein air paintings for the annual Painting North Carolina show at Germanton Gallery.

 I had taken Eleinne's workshop two years ago, but I managed to retain a lot more this time. She presents a wealth of info and refers often to Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting by John F. Carlson which is a great reference.

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, 1958





One of the princples he adheres to and that Eleinne emphasized in her teaching is the four planes of the landscape. To create a believable landscape, the following value relationship should be retained. The four planes, from darkest to lightest, are uprights (trees), slanted planes (mountains), ground/water, and sky. 

The sky is lightest because it is the source of the light, the other three are based on their angle to that light source. Possible exceptions are snowy ground and man made structures. I finally understand this!

A second truth is that to create depth in the scene, you must lighten and cool the colors that are in the distance and warm those closer to you. Often the scene you are viewing while painting will not follow these guidelines. Photographs are even less likely to conform. 

That is why we need an artist. The artist must create this relationship in the work to make a believable painting.


Here is a photo I took before I began to paint in case I might need it as a reference later. Notice how the trees in the distance look almost as dark as the trees in front and almost everything in the photo is too dark?

Photo taken before beginning to paint.


To paint this piece, I had to lighten and cool the trees in the distance by making them more bluish. The ground plane had to be lightened and made warmer. I exaggerated the angle of the trees to emphasize their attraction to each other and left out the distracting yellow gate to make sure the tree on the right got most of the attention.

The finished painting. Opposite Attraction.

I now need to practice so it becomes second nature when I go out to paint.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

First Day Out

Friday was my first day painting outdoors in 2013. It was a nearly perfect day as some friends and I set up our easels at a farm in Quaker Gap, NC. The first day out is usually a practice run and a waste of paint, but this time I came back with 2 paintings that I really liked.

I happened to pick up my copy of Hawthorne on Painting before I left the house and glanced quickly at a couple of pages. Charles Hawthorne was an American painter who founded the Cape Cod School of Art this book was compiled by Mrs. Charles Hawthorne and contains notes taken by his actual students.

I found purples, greens and oranges and exaggerated them

I took a few of the words from that book out with me that morning. I held on to three ideas that appealed to me. Find the colors you see in things and exaggerate them, use a large brush or a palette knife, and get the spots of color in their proper relation.

Using a 1" brush and a palette knife allowed me to keep it simple.




One last piece of advice I took from Hawthorne was to stop painting when you no longer know what you are doing. This might be the best one. This time I came back with two fresh little paintings because I stopped in time.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Through the Eyes of a Beginner

Helping seniors learn to paint

Last week I began volunteering at an assisted living center near my home. They have tons of activities but only one activity director who relies on volunteers – a lot. When I first met the director, she handed me an 11"x17" calendar showing all the programs and asked if I saw anything that caught my interest.

I was overwhelmed and said, "Well, I am an artist if that helps." Bingo! Her art class was about to be cancelled due to her lack of time, so now I am to be there Tuesday afternoons to help people enjoy painting.

The residents at the assisted living center where I volunteer use
small trays of watercolor like the ones we used in elementary school.

Of the five ladies that showed up, one just wanted to watch, one was a fairly accomplished painter, one was really excited about learning to paint better, another wanted to paint inside the lines on a pre-printed drawing and the last was a total beginner.

The beginner had a hard time seeing, but with the ONLY big brush we had and a little guidance, she painted an impressionistic painting of a robin sitting on a golden branch of flowers.

Since she had no previous knowledge, she had no reason to question what I told her. I asked her to look at the photo she was working from, find the big shapes, notice how dark or light they looked to her and put the paint on the paper to show that.

Since her eyesight was poor, she asked me what color would work best. When she was unsure about what to do with the background, I told her to define the shape of the bird by painting around him with the color of the background.

I was pretty excited about what she was able to create with no past experience in painting and an open mind. She had already learned about values, colors and negative shapes in less than an hour even though she doesn't realize that yet!

I hope all the ladies come back next week and bring a friend. But we really do need more paint and some BIGGER brushes!

The activity director told me I could request more supplies–
one order of brushes and supersize that please!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Did you go to school for Art?

This is a question that people ask painters, including other painters.

Did I go to school for art? Well, I thought I did but I didn't find much. Thanks to the fact that I chose design as my major, I found good beginnings in color, design, and drawing. As for painting, I did not learn much. Illustration was a part of our program, but a very weak link with an instructor who had a narrow view of what illustration should be. People who had a strong start in a good high school art program did well, but I lacked that too!



I wanted to paint realistically which just wasn't in favor at that time. In my art history class I discovered paintings by artists whom I admired and I knew where I wanted to focus but I didn't know how to get there. I was drawn to Vermeer, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel and most of all, Edgar Degas. I have different favorites now, but Degas is still top of my list.

To learn to paint the way I wanted to, I "took art" from anyone who would give it to me. I took recreation center classes from local artists, Alice Bess and Dot Nowell, who gave generously of all that they had learned and encouraged me with no limits. This is where I learned basics about materials, how to mix color, find the light source in the painting, and to keep trying. They also gave me the courage and taught me how to enter shows, frame my work, display my work at art shows and, again, to keep trying. Don't give up if you are rejected from a show - just keep painting until you get good enough and you will be accepted. 

Later on I took workshops from nationally and internationally known artists, who often told me things I wasn't ready to understand. I kept hearing the same things over and over from many wonderful artists and eventually I was ready to hear them and it clicked.

Susan Lyon - a fantastic artist and great teacher - with whom I have been fortunate enough to study, taught more than I could absorb at once. I think I'll need a refresher course with her!
Here are some photos of demo by Susan and the still life set up we worked from.



Now I understand more than I used to, but have to keep reminding myself to make use of the things I have learned, which is pretty difficult. I am still learning and don't intend to ever stop going to school for art! You can learn so much in a week long workshop - way more than you can absorb in that amount of time. Then the hard part comes; go home and paint, paint paint til you perfect it.