Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a very Happy Holiday!

The idea for our Christmas/Holiday card this year was 

stolen borrowed from Matt's gorgeous Loon carving.

 

 

I decided to make a block print and didn't have any linoleum block left 

(well I have some large sheets that I am saving for another use) 

so I asked Matt if he had any wood I could use.

He gave me a nice board of Yellow Cedar!

This is the wood cut block and piece of glass I used to spread the paint.

It turned out fairly nicely, a little messy when I printed the cards, and to fit in a legal-size envelope, the size of the cards made me have to cut off part of the whole-bird print, but it turned out ok (you can see some of the cards printed in the middle photo).

Just wanting to take this time to thank you for looking in at my blog. I always love to hear your comments and have a chat.

Cheers! Happy painting, or carving!

Clouds, podcasts and more Working Birds (Loon!)

I know you guys or some of you anyway, listen to podcasts while you paint. Me too. One of my favorite podcasts is Savvy Painter.  That link takes you to painter/host Antrese Wood's latest one - her interview #2 with Tony Peters. It was a fun interview with discussions of how to stay focused, and working out (i.e. exercise) to help with that (of which I am in favor, because it works! I was actually working out -biking- while listening to it).

They did discuss painting clouds and I had just finished a quick little cloud painting!

This is the painting underway on my easel and the newspaper photo that inspired it:

Gold Dust Clouds     oil on Arches Huile paper     6 x 8 inches

 

The interesting thing to me about this painting was that I had been working on a frame with some Iridescent Gold acrylic and I, on a whim, put a bit on some Arches oil paper ... 

... so while painting my clouds, I allowed a little of the gold (dust) to peek through. 

The half-inch frame for this is painted with some of that gold, too.

Clouds are good things to paint and I will paint more of them.

Ok, on to more Working Birds! (That link is Matt's WorkingBirds facebook page ... check it out!)

Common Loon + chick       carved from alder wood by Matthew H Robus

 Isn't this JUST FABULOUS???  Oh my gosh, I love it so much. 

The chick is actually held on by a magnet that Matt embedded in the back of the adult loon!

 

Thank you for checking in on this little blog. 

Enjoy your holiday season! 

Busy Gallery Walk December First Friday - Juneau!

Before talking about First Friday ...

I had mentioned that I wanted to show you
 my studio painting Reading at the Lake (I renamed it Solitude) in situ.
So! - here is a photo of it

on my dear friend Julia's Pilates studio wall.  With the frame it is now about 32" x 44".
I am very happy with it! (She loves it too!)

The poplar frame is beautiful, made by my hubby 
and the canvas is set flush with the molding (kinda floating) with no rabbet.
 I put honey pine satin over a honey satin stain (both Minwax Polyurethane); 
we backed it with some brown paper, put the wire on it and voila!

 Ok, so this past Friday in Juneau a huge happening happened! The December Gallery Walk is the biggest First Friday Art Walk of the year. Juneau's Front Street was closed to traffic and people were dancing in the streets and everyone was out having fun looking at and buying art. What could be a better gift than a piece of original art?

My two plein air paintings (below) will be hanging the month of December in the 
Juneau Arts and Humanities Council Gallery 
along with all the other calendar entries in the Plein Rein 2016 Calendar Exhibit.

My painting Gruening Cabin Beach is the May calendar entry, and I must admit that it is stunning to see all the original paintings after viewing the small versions in our calendar. 
The calendars, several notecards and a few prints are available 
at the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council front counter.

Gruening Cabin Beach + Fisherwoman      oil on linen panel    8 x 10 inches

Incoming Tide at Eagle Beach      oil on Arches Huile paper   8 x 12 inches

 Last check, the Eagle Beach painting had a red dot!

And one more thing before I go. My husband Matt's Working Birds small bird carvings are available (for purchase and commission)
at the Juneau Artists Gallery and here are a couple of photos for you.

Hmmm....thought I cropped them, but oh well. This Rufous Hummingbird (female) sold on Friday! And of course you know the second little carving is a Black-Capped Chickadee.

His little bird carvings are so great 
but I also have to brag on him a bit and show you more of his larger work next time I post!

Thank you for checking in - happy painting and viewing!