With a Twist - Work in Progress

This piece started as a colored pencil piece but I soon got bored with it and put it away. So it has now become a pastel piece. It is 8" x 10" on Ampersand Pastelbord, with Nu Pastels.

The board has been completely covered except for the glass which will mostly be just reflections. Once the glass is finished, I will tweak the values on the orange and work some edges, softening some and clarifying others.

And yes, the glass stem has a twist in it!

With a Twist 8" x 10" Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

Finally Finished!

"Sunny Mexican Wall" 11" x 14" Pastel on sanded board

Sunny Wall in Mexico - Update

I worked on this today and I just have a little bit more work to do. The palm plant on the left still needs to be finished and then just some fine tuning.

The chair was a problem and it finally has taken it's proper place.....not the focal point, which allows the main flowering bush to be the center of interest.

Digging out the unfinished work!

I started this in August '08 and lost interest because I couldn't quite figure out the lights and shadows and what to do with them. But I'm back working on it today and feel confident that I will be able to finish it in a couple more days.

I've posted the two most recent pics of the work in progress so you can see what I have done.

One of the things I have learned in my pastel class is when the light source is warm the shadow areas are a cooler temperature (blues, purples, and some greens). So I have added purple, some cool dark grey, and black to the shadow areas.

I also wanted to push the left side of the foliage back behind the bush on the right....so to do that I need to cool them down and soften the edges. Then when I work on the bush I can brighten it up and tighten the edges and it should just pop off the page....well, we hope ;-)

The pots were a big source of frustration for me before but I now understand shadows and light a bit better, and was able to get them pretty close to completion.

The chair is also roughed in and probably will not be detailed much more as it's only purpose to be in the painting is to explain the shadow on the floor.

The above pic is from August 08

This is from today.... stay tuned and I promise I will finish it within the week.

From my pastel class here is the update on my "Cobalt Blue Perfume Bottle". Working on the blue hues and the ellipses of the vase.....I HATE ellipses.

And lastly, here are two new fiber art ACEO's. My lovely sister-in-law bought two from last week's post! Thanks!!

"Crimson" Fiber Art ACEO

"Spirits" Fiber Art ACEO - uses a vintage silver and turqouise earring.

Putting it Together....bit by bit...

The title of this post is a song from Barbra Streisand's Broadway album....I had this years ago and absolutely loved this song.

Yesterday was a wonderful pastel class. Deb did a demo on painting clusters of things without painting each individual thing.....she used a cluster of grapes, but it could be lilacs or other such florals that would send one off in a straight jacket if you had to paint each individual flower. It was so informative to see her work.

My head is always spinning when I get home.....there is a basket of chocolate at the studio and I take a couple of pieces to eat on the way home so I pay attention to the road ;-) Otherwise, I'd have one of those out-of-body drive home experiences...you know, where you can't remember any of the landmarks...you're just home and you don't know how you got there.

I started working on the vase yesterday and making some adjustments to the background. The blue on the vase is not quite "blue" enough yet...I will need to get some purple in it as it should be the same color as the cobalt blue bottle.

A few more weeks on the vase and then moving on to the onion and the cobalt blue bottle. I'm going to have to really get in gear as there is a chance we will be doing a student show this summer. I'd like to have more than one painting to show.

Cobalt Blue Bottle 12 x 16" pastel on Wallis paper

Off to pastel class in about an hour...thought we were going to have a big snowstorm, but it didn't materialize...at least not yet.

I'm working on finding some studio space for the summer...and sounds like I have found it. I will be painting in the Lakewood Arts Council classroom space. Woohoo! I just don't have room for painting in my house with all the dust that pastel generates. Not to mention it would have to compete for fiber art and colored pencil drawing space. There are some advantages to having a small house, studio space is not one of them.

This week I have been concentrating on putting some new smaller (i.e. more affordable) items in my markets.

Sea Foam 2.5" x 3.5"

Detail on "Dancing" 2.5" x 3.5"

Detail on "Meadow" 2.5" x 3.5"

These are so fun to make, using bits of yarn, some funky buttons, decorative threads, beads (I love beads!), coins, and wire mounted on acid-free foam core board.

You can find these at my Littleton Studio shops at 1000Markets and Etsy.

Pastel Class Update and Finished Quilts

Well, what an interesting two weeks it has been. I have a new granddaughter, Emma Kathryn Marie, born on 3-16-09. Such a gorgeous little girl!

We also had a huge snowstorm on Thursday of this past week. We had about 10-12" in our neighborhood. By Friday it was 50 and beautiful in the afternoon. Today the winds are fierce and I think another "something" is blowing in.

Yesterday was pastel class. We didn't meet last week as the Terry Ludwig Studio (where we paint) was being used for a workshop by Lorenzo Chavez. By the time I found out about the workshop it was full.

In yesterday's class I worked on getting some color built up in the background. Two weeks ago Deb had said my background was too bright, which made the light side of my vase have to be lighter and I had no room (valuewise) to get my highlights in. She also asked me to think about the color of the atmosphere???!!! The only thing that came to my mind was the little dust motes that float by your eyes in bright sun. I knew that's not what she was talking about.

Yesterday she said think about atmospheric perspective in a landscape. Landscape 101 students know that the further back in space you go your mountains, trees, etc get more blue/gray and less distinct. So even in a still life, although your depth of space is much less and may be only inches, you can still use atmospheric perspective to your advantage. The background would be less bright than it appears. I tried to create more of a neutral/gray color using a light olive green and a mauve-y pink.

I really like the texture (sans blending), but it's going to take more practice to get my shapes to look correct using the scribble-y stroke. For anyone who might remember my early colored pencil work I drew circles.....this feels more like that process....and I like working this way..but it's not looking very realistic at this point. Another challenge....it's a good thing I love challenges.

So grow along with me folks! Challenge yourself to go outside your comfort zone!

Two Quilts Finished

The above quilt is called "Old Town Star" and is 14" square. The quilt below is called "Americana Star" and is 13" square. The are both created using a folded design technique...I promise I will show how to do that one of these days.

After the binding was stitched down on these two quilts, I soaked them in a good long "aging bath".....a mixture of about 1 gallon of water and 1/4 cup of instant coffee granules. Make sure the granules are dissolved before you put the quilt in or you will have a more "spotty" look rather than an overall aging. I then heat set them in the dryer. They are for sale on my Littleton Studio shops on Etsy and 1000Markets.

Pastel class 3-14-09 and an ACEO

I missed class last week as I was in Portland, OR for a Colored Pencil Society of America Executive Board meeting. Portland was rainy and chilly but oh so beautiful and green! Coming from Denver which has become a dry desert area to the moisture and foliage of Portland seemed like such a relief.

Lots of productive planning and work was accomplished, good food consumed, and funny stories shared. It's such a great group and certainly is my "art family" across the US.

This week in pastel class I am continuing to build up layers of color with lots of texture and refining the drawing as I go. I also adjusted the shadow shape on the left...it was too diagonal for my taste before. Still lots of work to go, but I at least can see a few steps ahead of where I am....big improvement over where I began my pastel journey. I had no plan and no idea where I was going with any given painting.

Yesterday I continued using hard pastels (NuPastels)and also used some of my pastel pencils to give me a broader range of colors. I need to order a larger set of NuPastels.

Deb shared progress on a painting she's been working on, and we talked about composition and the need for space around your composition, particularly as it related to her painting. Such a big difference from her original somewhat cramped sketch to where the finished painting is going....same view, same subject....just more space and infinitely more interesting with a beautiful abstract quality.

I wish I had more space on the sides of this painting...but it's just paper and just a learning exercise.

Close up of cobalt blue bottle

ACEO

Many years ago I had a woodworking business and I had over 100 designs for wooden ornaments...I sold them under the name of Corn Street in various gift shops in Denver and Omaha. I recently have been considering repurposing the designs for ACEO's (Art Cards, Editions and Originals.)

This was my first using Stonehenge as the support and fabric, machine and hand stitching, embroidery threads, black quilting thread as the whiskers, acrylic paint, ink and buttons. The back is covered by another 2.5" by 3.5" piece of Stonehenge to cover up the stitching and provide a place to sign the ACEO.

I also will try a few with watercolor or acrylic....although the fabric is fun...the painting would be faster.

These pieces will be available in my Littleton Studio shop at 1000 Markets and Etsy.

Folded Patchwork in new Star Quilt

Working to stock my 1000Markets shop with quilts....traditional, cottage and art quilts....in between painting/drawing and traveling to Portland this weekend for the spring meeting of CPSA's Executive Board. (I hate packing! Can't wait to be just beamed to a travel location!)

This small quilt is approximately 14" square and was such fun to make. The patchwork is folded and in some places where you expect a seam, there is a fold! When I return from Portland I will try to show a little bit about how this was constructed.

The title will be "Old Town Star" and may become my icon for my 1000Markets' Littleton Studio shop. I'm working to get it hand-quilted right now, hoping to get it in my store next week.

The blue marks are from a watersoluble marking pen and will come right out when finished. I usually spray my quilts and block them on a towel. Love that puckered look of a "hand-washed" quilt.

Pastel Class on 2-28

Well, my mind is other places today...like the stock market and maybe having to find a job that pays more regularly than artwork and teaching. Ugh...

To occupy my worried mind, I would like to share my work in pastel class on Saturday. Up to this point I have been using very soft pastels, like Ludwigs, and have had some problems with too much pastel being laid down on the paper. I end up with little bumps of pastel especially in my light colors (white, yellow, bright red).

Deb recommended I try a harder pastel, like NuPastel. On this piece I am taking her advice and will try to do the whole thing with hard pastels and a more textured look so the different layers of color show through and are not obliterated by the top layer. I'm sure I will learn the best use of the really soft buttery ones as I keep learning and practicing.

While my colored pencil work is usually not this textured, it does make it easier to think of the application of color and how I would apply it in layers ala colored pencil. Keep in mind this is just the first layers. I have a few more layers on the background. I'm debating over whether to have some of the wrinkles and folds of the cloth in the background be in the painting.



I feel like I am showing all my warts and faults with this post, but if it helps someone else see the process of struggling with a new medium, new concept...then it's worth it.

The onion is not the focus of the painting but with that bright orange color right now it looks like it. The focus will be the cobalt blue bottle...I hope ;-)


A close up for a really good look at the warts!

Cheers!