Tag: landscapes

January Lineup of Projects

Painting

Quick painting of the front counter at “Rabalais Bistro”, Santa Paula, CA

In my zeal for setting a goal to complete more paintings this year, I began two large watercolor paintings and an oil painting. The 10″ x 26″ oil of a rainy day in Paso Robles, CA is just in the beginning stages and before I continue going any further with this, I plan to work on several smaller color studies, using different palettes to bring a little more ‘life’ into the final painting.

For the following painting, I began with a sketch, next, a black and white contrast study for this pumpkin patch scene, then began the watercolor.

Unfortunately, I overworked the background and have scrapped this project but still love the subject matter so have decided that it would come out much better done in oils.

Finally, I spent time drawing a complicated wine glass scene to be done in watercolor, but never did a value study to see if the final composition would work, so now I have a lot of doubts that this will be a successful painting and have decided to put it on the back burner for consideration at a later date.

So what began as an energetic beginning to 2019 has slowed down to a snails pace and with it, doubts and frustration. I welcome any thoughts or feedback.

Well, it’s back to the drawing board for me!

Have a great week🎨

Show Time

Painting

“Misty Morning In Napa”

Many artists I know have been working diligently as they create beautiful works and getting them ready for art shows all around the country and I have been doing that as well. In fact, I have been letting quite a few paintings stack up, thinking that I would just send them out to the framers one painting at a time when it was time for an art show or two. This Fall I was asked to enter my work into three different art shows and one of the shows wanted 9 paintings to display! Wow, 12 paintings going out was such a thrill but then reality hit me as I needed to get 9 of those paintings framed, eek!

The dilemma, paying to have 9 paintings framed. It is far too costly to have that many professionally framed so I drove out to a wholesale framing business about an hour away to get the supplies I needed to mat my work, but they tell me they won’t cut the frames without a resale license. So what do I do? I call hubby at work and asked if he could make the frames if I picked up the moulding and of course, his sweet answer was yes. HA! It was far more difficult than expected and we needed specialized tools. Argh, with only a few weeks to go, we were committed, so we drove over all of God’s green earth to purchase the tools needed, glass, etc. Now add in the gigantic learning curve “voila” the frames are done in just the nick of time! We both worked very hard and although it came at a time consuming cost (plus equipment and materials), the entire frame job for each painting was so well done. The big lesson learned for us is that there is a reason framers charge so much!

Above, “Vineyard Poppies”, is one of the many frames we put together.

My husbands’ father used to own a wholesale art agallery and my husband used to be a “fitter”. He matted and assembled the frames, so learning how to cut the frames was just another step for him to be proficient in. He taught me how to mat the art but he did all the rest. This was a match made in heaven!

Below is a sampling of my art in the different shows:

And last but not least…

“Misty Morning In Napa” (45″ x 60″ oil triptych) won Best of Show in the Thousand Oaks Art Association

As we approach Thanksgiving, take care and be safe.🎨

Upcoming Art Shows

Painting

I’ve needed to put my sketchbook and paints aside for a short period of time in order to mat and frame quite a few of my paintings for three upcoming art shows. Being an “empty nester” is a pretty exciting chapter in my life and I am able to pursue my art as well as be involved with so many amazing artists. Having 9+ paintings would be a pretty penny to send out to a professional framer so I’ve spent a lot of time matting the artwork myself, having glass cut and this weekend my husband will cut the frames for me., then the final stage will be putting it altogether. It is a lengthy project but I actually love being a part of this stage preparing my artwork for shows.

The Thousand Oaks Art Association is a wonderful group of talented people and I am so pleased to have two of my paintings in this show. If anyone is local, come on by to see all the beautiful work on display.

Nest In The Vine

Painting

11″ x 14″ oil on canvas

My husband and I have dear friends that own a small vineyard, Klender Cellars in Paso Robles, producing an amazing boutique wine. Throughout the year, we have had the privilege to see their vineyard during its many stages and have participated at harvest time. Owning a vineyard is hard work so it was easy to come to the conclusion that access is definitely better than ownership! Their vineyard is always fascinating and has been a tremendous source of inspiration for me with my painting. On one particular visit, my friend showed me a birds nest that was in the vines of the Cabernet grapes that were still green.

Shown below is my concept sketch and stages of my painting.

Focusing On Painting

Painting

12″ x 16″ oil on paper

In the beginning of summer, there was a question that I needed to ask myself, “How much time with social media is too much time?”. As I do my best to get my work “out there”, I realized that for me, it was taking over the already limited time I had to paint so I decided to just focus on my painting. I started by making a plan to finish a stack of paintings that I had set aside quite awhile ago before starting anything new AND before posting. I plan to stick with this plan in order to produce more work and post less.

Here are the paintings that I have completed:

“Poppies In The Vineyard” (22″ x 30″ rework/acrylics on watercolor paper)

“A Vineyard Row” (22″ x 30″ rework/acrylics on watercolor paper)

“Blueberries” (12″ x 16″ oil on primed watercolor paper)

Now that the stack has been completed, I feel much better about focusing on new projects. Until next time, take care and enjoy the last bits of summertime fun and warm weather!

Time for a few changes…

Painting

22″ x 30″ oil

“Poppies In A Vineyard” was started a year or so ago and although I placed it in my completed stack, I was never really satisfied with it and knew I would make some adjustments to it later. Instead of overworking something to death, it is better to set something aside for awhile. I finally pulled it out this week and was able to view it with a critical eye and see what was bothering me.

When painting, I always mix a tad of black with other colors for my dark darks but low and behold, I had areas of black that looked like a chalkboard plus I had some areas that were quite rushed in comparison to the rest of the painting. The changes have been made and I am pleased with the outcome.

Here is a recap of the process:

I prepared a 22″ x 30″ single sheet of 300lb watercolor paper prepared with gesso and then made my sketch.

Then came the layout of color

Chose to rework some areas on my desk instead of my easel. Sometimes I will work upside to better concentrate on some areas.

Finally I can call this painting finished!