Tuesday in Georgia

Meetings all day today...who knew there was so much business to discuss around a colored pencil.

At 4:15 we all piled into our assigned cars and took off for a private showing at the gallery, Jacqueline Hutchens Art Center in Duluth, GA. The show is amazing. My artist friend, Dorothy, is representing the Denver District Chapter at the President's Forum. We just stood in awe at being selected to hang in the exhibit.

After a tour through the exhibit we had dinner at the Loafing Leprechaun....I kid you not, that was the name of the restaurant. The name was more entertaining than the food, but it was good company! Sat at a table with Toni from AZ, Beth from AR, and CJ from WA.

Tomorrow is the second day of Board meeting and then the horde starts to arrive with the Hospitality Suite opening tomorrow afternoon. Always love Wed nite when you see old friends and the bidding starts on the Silent Auction! Great fun.

CPSA Convention

I'm in beautiful Duluth, GA (north and east of downtown) at the Marriott for the Colored Pencil Society of America Convention and Exhibit.

I'll be in Board meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, then the actual convention begins...which is just a hoot.

I've got my flash card so I'll try to get some pics...

Returning home on August 2nd. Wish you all could be here!!

Update on Blue Glass & Lemons

Blue Glass & Lemons, Pastel on Wallis, 12" x 18" (unfinished)

You can click on the photo to see more detail.

I have been working on this piece in class, where the lighting and setup are consistent. This project has been about training my eye to see in real life...not from a photo. So much more difficult than it sounds. Some of you know...move your head an inch...and the reflections change.
The painting can be classified as a "study" rather than a "finished painting", althought it will be finished at some point.

Also learning to edit what I see...I don't need to record everything...see it and decide if I need it.

The majority of my work for the last couple of classes has been on the blue glass and it's relationship to the clear glass cruet...as well as every other color, object, edge in the still life.
It's like balancing and spinning plates!

You may think my lemons look pasty and white...they are. Once I get all the glass done, the lemons will be the last thing I work on...especially the two on the right.

Been reading David Leffel's exerpt from his new Self-Portraits book found in the July/Aug 2009 issue of American Artist Magazine. It's an excellent article, a lot of info about edges..my main focus of study right now....as if you can study just one area...not!

Thru Emma's Eyes

Moon Flower ACEO Sized 2.5" x 3.5" Hand Beaded and Embroidered

Thru Emma's Eyes ACEO Sized 2.5" x 3.5" Hand Beaded and Embroidered

Two new ACEO's that were inspired by my newest little granddaughter, Emma, who is 4 mos old. Her little face just lights up when she sees you and this last Friday I started teaching her to howl...so we can howl at the moon when she's a little older. She really was trying!!

In Emma's world everything is clear, bright, colorful, full of contrast...she hasn't learned to filter out so much of the noise we live with on a day to day basis.

I'm working on a new one, also with a moon in it...maybe I need to howl at the moon?

White Pitcher...Still on the Easel

"White Pitcher and Apple" 9 x 12" hard pastels on Colorfix sanded paper (Work in Progress)

This is a painting I have done outside of class with a still life set-up at home. As I mentioned in my earlier post, this is lit with warm light therefore the shadows will be warm (relative to the lights). I had to stop this afternoon as I needed to stop and think about it logically.

I have worked on the foreground, darkened the background, worked on the apple light side, and pecking away at the drawing of the pitcher.

I love to study the work of my pastel instructor, Deb Bays, to see how she uses color and edges in her work.

Cool Light, Warm Shadows..White Pitcher

Work in Progress "White Pitcher, Red Apple" 9 x 12 Nupastels on Colorfix sanded paper

I started this today, set up the still life in my black box with all the shades drawn. I'm using an Ott light to cast shadows which is a much cooler light than the incandescent bulb I most often use for still life.

Since I've been studying Light and Shadow painting with Deb Bays, I've used the incandescent lighting which makes the highlights and lights very warm and the shadows cooler. With this set-up the lights and highlights will be cool with the shadows being relatively warmer.

I always begin with establishing the structure of my darks, most times in cool dark values plus black. With this setup I am laid in my dark structure with the warm dark browns, and black. There is alot of green bouncing around in this set-up so I will probably add some Hunter Green to the shadow mix.

This is just the beginning layers, and I have already noticed that I need to get darker on my background a bit. It's still in the light but it needs a bit more value. With values, as most of you know, change one value you most likely have to change most of them. It's like a giant puzzle.

While I'm a very creative person, my art...colored pencil and pastel...is all very methodical for me. Figuring out the dark shapes, attempting to have it be a pleasing abstract form even though its realism. It's a mental process for me almost which makes me very happy!

I will keep you posted on the progress!

Two New Fiber Art ACEOs

"Daughter of the Moon" ACEO Fiber Art

Broadcloth, hand painted batting, beads, metallic embroider thread, and yarn provide the backdrop for the "face". I just imagine that you might see this face, the daughter, on the far side of the moon!


"Offerings..On a Good Day" ACEO Fiber Art

This ACEO was started this morning, and with the hands I felt like the were upstretched in thanks to God. On a good day, I am full of thanks, on a bad day...well, let's just say I'm not full of thanks.

Batik fabric, wool felt, beads, metallic embroidery thread, silver charms in the shape of hands and two repurposed opal stud earrings express my offering on day when I feel blessed to be alive.

Rest in peace Farah and Michael. My prayers are with the children, family and friends left behind.

Lemons and Blue Glass...A little progress

"Lemons and Blue Glass", 12 x 18", pastel on Wallis (not finished yet!)

My camera has been without a charged battery for the last week. Finally got myself to Walgreens for a new one.

I worked on this piece in class on Saturday, refining the drawing, constantly seeing new colors, reflections and specifics.

I work with NuPastels on sanded paper, not blending with my fingers, but rather letting the sticks of pastels blend colors and soften edges. My stroke is more like a scribble stroke. There is a fine balance between just plain scribbling and adding texture without destroying the structure of the painting. Even the impressionists, as loose and free as their work may appear, were very deliberate with the color selection, the shape of the brush stroke and the application of the paint to the canvas. This painting should be finished in the next couple of classes.

Painting at home with pastel is always so dusty and finding a space to paint tricky. However, I need to get some of these things solved so I can start painting (rather than working in colored pencil) and be more productive.

Thanks for following!

Blue Glass and Lemons Work in Progress

Happy Monday! Took my class piece to my Monday paint group as I had a drawing problem and wasn't sure how to go about fixing it. Turns out I had the blue vase, the clear cruet and the lemon all occupying the same table space. Not enough room for them all to exist on my two dimensional plane.

The solution was simple. Draw the complete blue vase shape, then the complete cruet, and then the lemon. That allowed me to see the drawing problem. I still have a few to correct, the perspective on the tops of the two class pieces for one. But I will need to see the real life set-up to make any more changes.

So in addition to making space for the 3 items, I have also been working of softening edges. I don't blend with my fingers so it takes alot of blending strokes varying the values.

It's coming together but lots more work to do.

Blue Glass and Lemons, 12 x 18" hard pastel on Wallis paper

Close up of right bottom

Close up of left bottom.

I'll be working on it again on Thursday night in class with the still life set up and lit.

Movie Queen Series - Ava Gardner

This weekend I posted about my Movie Queen series of ACEO's. This fiber art piece is my offering for the most glamorous wife of Mickey Rooney, then Artie Shaw and finally Ol' Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra.

I found a lovely piece of vintage gold jewelry and once I put it together with the other components Ava popped into my mind's eye. I can especially picture her living with Sinatra in their ultra modern home of the 50's. The house has been featured a couple of times on reality television, most recently "The Bachelor".

"Glamour" Fiber Art ACEO 2.5" x 3.5" - broadcloth, felt, rayon thread, yarn, beads, and jewelry



Ava Gardner Click here to read more about Ava and her sometimes hard-knock life. But, mercy, she was glamourous.