I HAVE A FRAME SO NOW MAKE A PAINTING TO FILL IT!

It is a nice 24" x 28" simple gold frame in good condition so I need to fill it before it gets damaged in my cramped studio. My Beach Babes caught my fancy so I tried it over and over but it never developed so; "off with its head"!

Instead a vision of a mixed media drifted into my imagination. I covered the whole beach scene with gesso and began taping off black and red with gold designs. In China I picked up a newspaper thinking I could use it in some future mixed media painting.

Good News 1

Good News 2
Large sections of newspaper are hard to glue down smoothly and I felt the  design needed some softness so I added some origami papers that I had on hand. Should I add painted designs in the background, should I ditch the pink, too much white looked boring were some of my questions.

What was I thinking? This has been a difficult process and I'm not sure if it will be a success.
Next step is that I think there needs to be some linkage between the opposing black panels.

Good News 3

Good News 4
I added the neutral gray to focus the attention on the  Chinese newspaper articles. Just awful!

Adding the black to link the side panels did help but now I feel the right hand side newsprint to too detailed to relate to the left side of the painting. On the positive side it is just another problem to be solved, on the negative side; creating art shouldn't be this difficult.

Now I find it boring and too fragmented. To balance the left hand side red I felt some red on the right would be in order. Searching the internet images I found a red tomb tower which proceeded to meticulously trace. I am trying for an old document over laid on the newspaper print.

Good News 5
This is no where near completion and I am really struggling. Not so happy with my comment; "Oh, just another problem to be solved". In frustration I ripped off the newspaper page and will attempt to draw a Chinese handmaid that I found in a brochure I brought home. I will use red to balance the red found on the left side of the collage.  Oh, I added some red color to the flower to give it more punch.

If, per chance, you never see the final product you will know that it died a slow agonizing demise.
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ARTIST GUILD GALLERY "CINCO de MAYO" EXHIBIT

                                                                 

GOOD FORTUNE

     It was a busy week last week; I took my seven abstracts over to the Emerson Foyer Gallery and delivered my 5 x 5" gallery wrap to the Artist Guild Gallery. Every couple of years the AGG puts the call out to artists to enter one or more works of art into their special show lasting the month of May. Anything goes as long as it is presented on a 5 x 5 gallery wrap format.

     I went with an Asian theme because I visited China in September of 2014. While traveling I picked up a Chinese newspaper and some coins. On the right hand side I placed the newspaper clipping covering it with matte gel medium. The left hand side has a red square ( representing good luck) with a lacy rice paper over lay. The square was to repeat the shape of the whole canvas and the left was painted with a glossy gel medium to give contrast to the right side.The coin was applied last with the gold painted strip balancing out the metallic bronze color of the coin.

I enjoyed doing this piece and the idea came to me as I was falling asleep.

EMERSON FOYER GALLERY EXHIBIT

Art Deco

Gold Illusions

Let me brag a little bit.

I have seven abstract paintings hanging in an art show at the Emerson Foyer Gallery. (1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach) Three other Vero Beach Art Club members; Rita Sprague, Doris Hill and Pat deRobertis share the wall space with me.

I would be tickled pink if someone were to stop by and see my visual rendering of my inner imagination.

Entrada

Yellow Flowers

A Single Red Rose

Confluence of Color

Last but not least Splash of Color, this one was listed on Allposters.com to be purchased as a poster.

Splash of Color

MY NEW PALETTE GARAGE

     A fellow student at a workshop suggested I get a palette garage to reduce the amount of tubes of paint  I had to carry (especially for plein air), to save paint and to have all of my colors out while painting. I do love my gadgets.

  Acrylics do dry up easily so this little tube case has sponge filled end caps that can be kept moist with water.  I know it has been stated at workshops to have all your colors out while you are painting so you don't have to pause, find the color, squeeze it out and resume painting. My stubborn Scottish nature kept doing it "my way" but now I realize the value of having my limited palette out and available. 

 I think it is the coolest thing ever!

P.S. Twice I have forgotten to put my palette trough back into the moisture sealed tube, had to scrape off and waste paint and get ticked off at myself.

PLEIN AIR VINE COVERED ARBOR

This was my first time to Rock City Gardens and I was very impressed. The trails throughout the  gardens were colorful with many painting sites to pick from. After a quick walk about I sat myself down under a shelter to stave of the full sunlight on my painting. I was told not to have the direct sun on a painting because it will mess up your color choices, not too good for me either.

My past experience with plein air painting was one of time wasting anguish trying to find the perfect site to paint. By the time I set up to paint I was in a negative doubting state of mind so of course the paintings were always horrid.

My small canvas was toned with a pink background; actually it was the paint left over on my palette from the last canvas I was working on. I used Crimson Red to paint the negative space around the vine covered arbor, next I put a white/yellow warm tone to give the illusion of sunshine.  The shadows on my canvas makes it a little difficult to see my first stokes of color.

Stage 2

ROCK CITY ARBOR

Here is my final painting. Think I prefer the drama of stage 2.

I am wondering what you think of it.

THE VERO BEACH ART CLUB PRESENTS A STEVE ROGERS WATERCOLOR WORKSHOP

Rogers Class Demo Painting.

I may not have mentioned it but I am the co chair for the Art Club's workshop committee. My dear friend and co chair is Karen Leffel Massengill and we make a great team. She secures the art instructors and I am "logistic lady" in the background.

Our last workshop of the season was with Steve Rogers doing three days of watercolor demo's and individual instruction. Steve put his heart and soul into presenting so much information and "secret tips" as he calls them. I liked his sense of humor and go with the flow good nature.

 Steve had a detailed sketch on his paper prior to class on which he began painting in intense darks in the background of the boat scene. I was amazed at how he varied the colors and the intensity of the colors he put in. Steve stated that he uses 5-6 colors in his skies.

He was deliberate in preserving the white paper of the watercolor painting.

Pink Bandanna Man

Steve is an oxymoron of loose painting and deliberate detail in his shadows and  color changes. I learned to go bold or go home so here are some of my tries at boat scenes with color changes, temperature changes and bold loose color.

The first two we blamed on the paper and the fact that I was still using a flat brush the way I paint with acrylics. Steve said I needed to let the paint flow onto the paper not cross hatch paint it on. 

Steve critiqued my dinghy as the only one in the class that had managed to make mud on a white boat. The good news is that I learned that I can push the colors to cool or warm and get rid of the mud. No need to chuck the whole piece of paper. 

This was time well spent and I had fun.

BIG DOG PARK DONATION

Whew, the company has left and I was finally able to complete my thank you to our local off leash dog park by painting the big dog fire hydrant. This time no one peed on the hydrant as I was working and there were two huge Great Danes that could have put me out of business! Actually they were gentle giants that just leaned on me as I petted them.

You might gather that I am a dog person. My son tells me that my therapist has doggy breath and he is spot on!