Croatia - Day 1

Virtual Paintout for the month of March 2014 is Slovenia.

This is my start:

I have some different textural acrylic stuff that I am trying out with this painting.

You can see it on the left and at the bottom middle.

Dad - Finished

Two Ages   oil on canvas    14 x 11 inches

My Dad. 

The little black and white photo was when he was about 4, I think. Right Dad?

I think this turned out pretty good. I have been wanting to paint this since taking the photo several years ago.

And here's the one of Mom (finished about two years ago):

xoxoxo

Dad - Day 3

Charcoal portrait class

Yesterday afternoon I was delighted to take a class from Juneau artist

 MK MacNaughton - held at our City Museum.

We were to bring a black and white photo of someone we wanted to draw.

I brought this guy. 

Of course there were no cameras back in Aristotle's time, 

so this is a photo of a marble statue.

Here is the progress.

The thing that I enjoyed learning was when doing the initial sketch, do so very quickly with straight lines to delineate your shape(s). It is also funny that in a sketch, even though there were no pupils nor irises to draw (because the photo was of a statue), the shadow makes it look as though they are there.

Here is a supposed quote by Aristotle:

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Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. (found on BrainyQuotes)

Thank you for viewing my art blog!

Dad, Day 2

Painting Dad, progression Day 1

Ever since I did Mom's portrait, I wanted to make its mate, my Dad!

 ...and finally it is on the easel.

Ok, here is the beginning - the sketch with charcoal.

Set with an alcohol wash. 

I like how the charcoal sketch sets the values for me...which I hope to follow with the paint.

Small detail

Here is a small part of the actual painting in a couple of stages:

New painting

I started right back into painting after the big hullabaloo ... (The opening reception for my first solo painting exhibit!  SO FUN!)

I have been wanting to do this painting for quite a while.

These two sketches are when I was in the first stages of planning the painting. They are just in my little 9 x 6 inch sketchbook, one above the other.

 

This one was how I kind of imagined the painting to go initially.

And this is how I finally decided placement should be.

I think the person who I am painting will probably guess - but we will see...

Final Silverbow Gallery photos

Here are the rest of the photos we took yesterday. 

I can't believe Matt and I both forgot to take pictures! I guess that is good...we were busy!

 (from left, then from top down) Mt. Shasta,    North of Lusk - WY,    North Platte, 

I See By Your Outfit ... ,    Peekaboo VW,    Missouri House

We Are Persimmons,    Tart Sweet Snack,    Orange and Pink,    Down Channel I

There are a couple of red dots!

Abnormal Summer (Peterson Lake),    Mustard and Storm

 Zoom-Ins (9 paintings),    Moonscape (Wyoming Winter),    Fireweed Field

I set up an interactive piece for this exhibit! To test their art history knowledge, people tried to match the Zoom-In painting to the famous artist's work.
Actually most were pretty good and got most of them right.
(the answers were on the back of the slip of paper ... I didn't want anyone to stress)

 Sentinel Tree at Eagle Beach,    Ruby Pipeline Series (6)

Martha's Tulips    (biggest painting in the show, oops...still a little wet!)

This show, so varied, is a record of what my art has been like since I began painting again. It has old work and very new work. I will never have another show like this again because I want to begin working on my ideas for series works.

Another look at the exhibit walls.

We completely forgot to take photos of the Opening Reception ... dang-it!

So we went back today and got some fairly nice photos of the paintings on the walls.

(Many if not all of these paintings have been on this blog at some point.)

Beginning at the left wall of the Silverbow Inn Backroom.

(from left, clockwise) Bright October,    Reading at the Lake, 

Late Winter - Amalga,    The Yellow Raincoat

The Standout,    Laundrymat

(center) Nan,    "Faces" series (circling)

Some of you prob recognize, or ARE one of these!

Good Day for Tea,    Lunch Spot

Innocent,    Dialogues With Myself

There are several more so I will post them tomorrow.

Thank you to all Juneau readers who go take a look at the show and thank you to all of you who bought paintings! I am honored.

Silverbow Gallery Opening Reception tonight!

Home from my first solo painting exhibit ever - at the Silverbow Gallery!

 I am completely floored and so pleased with how the night unfolded.

Matt and I both were so busy we did not have time for photos!! So, we will have to go back and try to take more of each of the walls.

A few paintings sold!

Dan Kirkwood played beautiful guitar music almost the whole 2.5 hours!

Thank you to everyone who came to look at my paintings. I loved that people enjoyed the interactive quiz with the "Zoom-In" paintings.

Here is the way the "Martha's Tulips" painting turned out. (I will also post on fb.)

Martha's Tulips   oil on gallery wrapped canvas   40" x 30"

Count-down begins

Yay! We got the show hung with difficulties
that turned out to be fairly minor...just a lot of fussing.
Things look like they might stay in place!

Here are a coupla pics to show how it looks in the space.
It is kinda neat to see the paintings hanging on the walls. It is a large space! And an interesting venue because there are people coming and going and having coffee, or lunch and sitting around the tables where we were hanging the paintings on the wall.
It did go well though...mostly because of my husband's hard work!

Oh, here is my bouquet from Matt's sister, Martha and her family ... Wow!
They delivered it to the Silverbow Gallery while we were working!
 Very surprised and pleased!
Thank you Mar, Bill and Robin!

My "Faces" series paintings look so great placed around
the portrait of "Nan" - the lady in red!

This is a shot from the back of the room towards the entrance to the dining room. If you look closely in the reflection next to the big painting on the back wall, you can see Matt on the ladder taking a photo and me taking this photo!

Hanging my Silverbow exhibit today!

Today Matt (my husband) and I took zillions of my paintings to the Silverbow Gallery 

(link photo shows the walls as red, but they are a neutral gray now

and MUCH better for exhibiting paintings!).

We found that the way they have to hang paintings are with wires that have hooks attached 

and the paintings have the tendency to swing about 

unless you "putty" them down or something. 

 

We think we might use some Command Velcro strips to really fasten them down. 

The putty is good for labels, but it doesn't really hold the paintings down.

 

Here is a fuzzy preview zoom-in of my last painting 

(it is still wet! and it is hanging in the gallery now)!

This is the big one I was working on and hoping to finish in time for the show. I did!

We have to go back tomorrow and finish putting up labels and Command Velcro!

I will try to remember to take photos of all and post.

Thank you for reading my blog!

March 2014 First Friday Exhibit - Silverbow Gallery!

Ok, now I am getting excited.

Here is the little poster I made announcing the exhibit of my paintings!

Six and Eight - final

oops, forgot to take in-between photos

The second 12x12.

 

 

...really am thinking of my beetle project...if anyone has dung beetle original photos, and wouldn't mind sending them to me for use in this painting series, let me know!!

ps the beetle above is NOT a dung beetle

Six and Eight sketch

For the second 12 x 12 painting, this is the initial pencil sketch, 2" x 2"!

Out on a Limb

Setting up

This is the first of two 12 x 12's I placed in the Juneau City Museum's fundraiser.

Tomorrow I will post the first sketch of the next piece.

Juneau-Douglas City Museum

For the month of February, 2014 the

 Juneau-Douglas City Museum 

held their 10th! annual fundraiser:

 the 12 x 12 Exhibit

This year the theme was

 Black & White

My next blog or two will contain photos of planning and executing my 2 entries.

Initial sketch.

Update note about the Silverbow show. 

I am staining and painting the frames Matt made (which are beautiful by the way)

and buffing the protective Dorland's Wax Medium "varnish" on the paintings I hope to hang.

Drawing session

Yesterday I was able to go to the life drawing session at

The Canvas.

We draw a model for three hours. Time flies by so fast!

This is my second drawing - the first one was me being a bit rusty.

Serene    12" x 9"    graphite & Conte on Strathmore paper

My large flower painting is going well, albeit slowly. Not sure it will be included 

in my exhibit of paintings for March at the Silverbow Backroom gallery.

The photos in that link show the walls as red, but they are not red anymore. 

They are a neutral light gray - good for displaying art.

Opening is March 7.

Gulp

Getting going

... without further contemplation, I have begun my new painting.

It is big.

Here are the first few sketches, with charcoal.

I have a bouquet 

but also took some photos ...

(because the silly flowers are real, and they keep blooming and stuff)

Wish me luck! (it will be fun)