Watercolors by Liana Yarckin

Open invitation, Reception for Liana Yarckin, Fine Artist

2012-01-27T17:21:00.000-06:00

Alfresco with Friends

2012-01-22T11:00:00.000-06:00

RECEPTION DATE:
February 1, 6-8 at City Cafe, looking forward to seeing you!

The first in a new series of paintings - Cafe Scenes. I have been wanting to paint these cafe scenes for probably 10 years now, but, I have always been intimidated. The thought of painting each and every person in the scene has been so overwhelming to me. Finally, in Pat Kochan's class, (a studio class where you can work on whatever you want or apply what she is teaching to your painting), she gave me both encouragement and some tips to get me to paint the photo of the above.

Breaking the photo down into a very simple value sketch and then only focusing on values and large shapes of value, I was half way through the painting before I knew it.

I am working on my second cafe scene. I attempted pouring techniques. So far, no good. We will see how it comes out. Here I used juicy paint wet onto dry quickly over the large middle value shape. I like how the colors mingled into one another creating new colors and just implying what is going on.

This painting is framed and hanging in my show at City Cafe. I hope to see you at the reception! Please bring your smiling face and friends!

First Solo Show!

2012-01-13T14:38:00.004-06:00

More Gold Leaf

2012-01-08T16:29:00.001-06:00

10 x 10 gold leaf and watercolor

Sold.

Here is another experiment with gold leaf. I first applied watercolor using a lot of water and dropping in strong pigment. After the watercolor dried, I added the gold leaf. I posted this on Facebook asking what else should I do to complete it. I did get some great ideas, but, better, I got a buyer! She loves it the way it is. I am going to add just a bit more gold leaf in the watercolor area. So my point on this, art is truly subjective. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Like me on Facebook and say hi!

Oh, p.s., I have some good news. On Friday, January 6, I met with a local restaurant owner. He loved my art and agreed to let me hang my work in his restaurant and give me a reception! Details to follow. It will probably be in March.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T23:19:00.000-06:00

Untitled

12x12 acrylic on gold leaf

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I wish you all a great new year! I have been saving this painting for either a Christmas or New Year's post. Now that we are already 3 days into the new year....

This is acrylic on gold leaf. In person, it is bright with shimmering color. It was hard to photograph because the gold leaf would reflect the flash of the camera. I chose this photo because it best represents the gold leaf. Where it is dark, it is really violet, magenta and emerald green mingling along side each other with little sparkles of gold shining through. It is very festive and when I saw it coming together I thought of the celebration of Christmas and the New Year. These are by biggest annual celebrations I remember and look forward to growing up and all of my life. A time to celebrate, be with family, give, share and to look forward to what is to come.

This painting makes me think of the new year, too, because it makes me think of the excitement of what is to come, chance, opportunity, newness. I was not thinking of these things when I was creating this piece. I think I feel this way because my eyes never get tired of looking at it. The gold leaf and the variations of texture and pattern just keep my eyes moving. I have to say, I was very excited when working on this piece, fearless with no preconceived ideas. I only get to look at it on the screen, however. I gave the original to a friend for her birthday. It fits her personality perfectly.

This year I am setting a goal in my artist journey, but, I am not going to share it in case I don't achieve it. I just wanted to state that I am setting a goal versus all of the years past of just painting and cruising along. But, look at this cool list I found below. I can at least feel good that I can check off some of the rules below. The one that always works if you are down, #7, always create.

Abstract in Watercolor

2011-12-19T12:27:00.001-06:00

Abstract I

15x22

Here is an abstract in watercolor. I have been imagining something like this for the last few years. When I have thought about painting abstracts, I see these colors and pattern. I started with a pouring technique, after letting the paper dry naturally, I continued pouring, stamping and painting until I got this image. I plan on working on more abstracts. It is very relaxing as well as challenging. It makes me focus on design and composition in a more intense way.

Thanks for visiting! I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Peace and Joy this holiday season. Oh, I will be giving away Christmas cards on my Facebook page, don't forget to check it out!

Winning Christmas Sails

2011-12-09T09:38:00.001-06:00

Championship

11x14

I was thrilled with this commission! A sea of sailboats in action AND a red spinnaker! You know I love painting with reds and sailboats. My client had the idea of a watercolor of her father and brothers sailing. After receiving permission from the photographer, Tim Wilkes, I used one of his photos for this painting. This would be the first time I had such a great reference of beautiful boats moving at full force in the water. The father is the skipper and the other two figures are his sons. This was the 2008 J22 Worlds Championship Regatta in Rochester, NY. The father won The World's Master and the Grand Masters (50 and over). My client is giving it to her father for Christmas. I titled it Championship, not only because of the fact that they won, but, more for the fact of a championship of the relationship of father and sons. Spending time together, working together, winning in life together.

Thanks so much for your comments and sharing my blog with your friends. Check me out on facebook for the post current posts of paintings in progress.

An expression of thanks

2011-11-17T12:06:00.001-06:00

Colors of Fall

11x14

watercolor and acrylic

First, I just have to thank all of my blogger friends who helped me on my last post. You were so helpful and supportive with my first portrait of a child. Your support pulled me through and gave me courage to show the parents of the little boy. Luckily, they loved it and we are bartering services! If you receive my blog via email, please go online to my actual blog so you can check out my wonderful artist blogger friends' blogs. If you go to comments, you will see their names and comments, by clicking their name, it will take you to their blog. I promise you will enjoy seeing their art and learning about their journey them.

About the painting above, Colors of Fall. I did the above painting in Pat Kochran's class at The Artisan's Studio-Gallery. (See photo below). We were experimenting with watercolor, acrylics and stamping. Fall leaves were our subject as it is always a favorite once the leaves start changing color. Remember, as a child, did you collect fall leaves and then lay them flat between two pieces of wax paper. In kindergarten, we did this project. We also sprinkled red, orange, and yellow crayon shavings on the wax paper with the leaves, then our teacher and room mom ironed the two pieces of wax paper together. We got to watch the magic of the crayons melting and mingling together, holding the wax paper together to forever preserve our leaves. I am so thankful for my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gonzales (Martinez). Would she believe I am an artist now?

Ted Nuttall and me with his artwork on the cover of Splash!

Jane Jones, Naomi Brother, Pat Kochran, me

Above are photos from Ted Nuttall's workshop at the Artisan's Studio Gallery. I will still have to report more on Ted Nuttall's workshop later. As a person and a teacher, he is just wonderful. He takes time with each student and has great patience. If you get a chance to take his workshop, I highly encourage you to do so.

The second photo moves me every time I see it. Jane Jones was my first watercolor instructor, when she took a break from teaching, Jane referred me to Naomi Brotherton, whom I studied with for years. Naomi is a dynamo at age 95, still teaching classes, painting and winning competitions! I have known Pat Kochran since I have taken classes with Naomi and this fall I have been taking classes with Pat. I believe both Pat and Jane have taken from Naomi as well. Each of these fabulous women are such active powerhouses in the art world with their award winning art displayed all around the country. I am so lucky to know them and I truly cherish what I have learned from them as well as our friendships.

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving and as always, thanks for your comments, emails and friendship!

Like me on facebook to win a set of note cards of my watercolors. To receive my personal blog via email, sign up as an email subscriber in the upper right margin. Share my website with your friends. Last, if you need last minute hostess gifts, I have boxed sets on hand.

Portrait Artists, Help...

2011-11-08T14:13:00.000-06:00

Hello, I hope this post finds you well and at peace this fall.

I was so lucky to be able to participate in Ted Nuttall's workshop a few weeks ago. This darling little boy is my friend's son. The photo was picture perfect to start with. I decided to work with a photo of a child because if I was going to be in a workshop with a master like Mr. Nuttall, then I wanted to ask the best how to paint what is the hardest for me. I think it is so hard to paint a child's face because they have no wrinkles and fine lines. Their skin is so smooth it is hard to show the forms on flat paper.

I have shown 3 phases of the painting here. I was in love with the image before the first image on top. I don't have that photo. As you can see I layered in colors. I have overworked some areas and do not think I can show this to my friend now. Although, my goal was not to have a photo realistic painting, I was not intending for a sunburn look either. I am happy with some parts of the painting, but, certainly not overall. I do not know if I can save this painting or I must just start over. If you have any tips, I am all ears.

Photos from Greeting Card Reception

2011-10-15T14:28:00.001-05:00

Me with the CEO of Cards Direct

My friends showing their support at the reception

I am still catching up from taking a one week abstracts with acrylics and mixed media workshop. I will post those photos later. That same week was Cards Direct showroom party. They made a beautiful display of their note cards with my images on them. I was so impressed with the quality of the paper and the color match on the note cards. They look really good. I took two of my original paintings for part of the display. The printer said that he learned a new way to print multi-color tissue paper when he used my Love is in the Air painting to print tissue paper for a YPO event last February. Apparently, this is a break through in the printing world. After I saw the tissue paper, I have been wanting to get Love is in the Air printed as tissue, wrapping and gift bags. We will see what happens.

Thanks for visiting and a huge thank you for all of the additional follow ups on the last post! Love hearing from each of you.

2011-09-29T08:40:00.000-05:00

Mid-Day on Main

15x22 watercolor

I couldn't wait to post this. I have been hanging on to the photo that inspired this painting for about 10 years now. I have been too chicken to paint it. Finally, in Pat Kochran's class (I am taking a finding your own style class), one of the themes was a city scape with watercolor and acryllic. I narrowed it down to 5 photos. By taking a class, it makes my process more pronounced. It made me articulate out loud why I liked this photo and what was my goal (plan) for my painting. I wanted to capture the essence of the hustle and bustle of this main street in Holland Park, London. The crowd walking, people enjoying lunch, someone waiting for the bus, the cars moving along on the street is so energizing to me. I just love that city vibe. I am always drawn to umbrellas and awnings, which were in this photo, too. I am pleased with the outcome. Please don't take this as being conceited. If you follow my blog, you know that I rarely toot my own horn. But, in this case, since I was so intimidated (for 10 years) to paint it, I made a plan, took the baby steps and luckily, it worked to my satisfaction.

Thank you for your feed back. I love hearing your thoughts. Those are my most favorite emails! Have a great weekend!

2011-09-27T13:53:00.002-05:00

The most recent and interesting commission I have had. A new client asked me to do a home portrait of her friend's first home in a family Bible. I had never been asked to do this before. It was difficult to work in a large heavy Bible on the very smooth and thin paper. Clearly, little room for error. My client was happy with the end result. I am touched to be included in such a thoughtful gift.

Have a great week! Oh, I just announced the winner for the note card giveaway on facebook. Keep checking my facebook page for other giveaways.

Thanks for visiting!

Painting with Mom

2011-09-18T15:21:00.000-05:00

Roses for Mom

6x11

My parents were visiting this past weekend. I painted these roses with my mom. She does mixed media and acrylic. She wanted to work on her roses so we did a little painting session. I did this painting with her watching to show her how I paint roses. I started with a drawing created from photos of roses. Wet into wet I put down the first wash of color. Dried with a blow dryer. Then I layered in the darks to start shaping the flowers. I mixed several reds (I love working with reds) and layered in quickly so not to lose my mom's attention. I layered in the green washes quickly. Last, I added the darks using red and green mixes. I put these mixes in the center of the roses and behind petals to pop them out.

My mom ended up working on leaves on her paper. She showed me how she paints leaves and vines as I watched. I am happy with the painting, loose and free, but, I am really happy that my mom and I painted together. I will have to post some of her work next time.

Have a great week.

How Much Corn Can an Artist Shuck ...

2011-09-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Sweet Corn

7x11

...if an artist would shuck corn? I was asked to shuck corn for dinner. My sister-in-law's family was staying with us at the Cape. My brother-in-law is a fantastic cook and he always treats us to one of his specially prepared delicous meals. He gave me the simple task to shuck the corn. I went outside and as I began to shuck the second ear of corn, I noticed how nice this experience was. I could hear someone playing a wind instrument next door, nice breeze, the beach in front of me, the cold, damp feel of the corn silk. I saw my paints out of the corner of my eye and quickly started to paint. I had to hurry. Wet into wet, laying down the colors fast before I got caught. Well, I ended up getting caught and the corn was immediately taken away and the task passed onto someone else! So much for shucking corn....

The second photo is an amazing sunset. It turns out that there was a big rain and hail storm on the other side of this sunset.

Thank you for your comments, they make my day! Don't forget, check out my facebook page for a chance to win a set of note cards!

2011-09-02T12:15:00.000-05:00

Rose Burst

15x22 watercolor

This week I experienced a wonderful new thing in my life and the next day a horrible terrible loss. A woman called on behalf of a local art club in town and asked if I would do a demo and discussion at one of their meetings. I would be "the watercolor artist" in their program. Of course, I was thrilled and excited and scared. I asked her how she found out about me considering there are so many watercolor artists in Dallas. She said from "the book", CityArtCal. When she said, "the book" I immediately knew what she was talking about and I immediately also thought of Jennifer. Jennifer was the founder of CityArtCal and over the course of our 5 year friendship she always referred to the annual calendar featuring local artists as "the book". After I got off the phone I thought, "that Jennifer, (nodding my head) she probably suggested me to this woman just as Jennifer had just suggested a landscape company that was a sponsor in "the book" to me the week before. That is what Jennifer did, she was a connector. She connected people together.

Then yesterday I found out that Jennifer Lynn Culberston left this world on August 29, 2011. Jennifer united so many artists here in Dallas. She was forming a community of artists and bringing art to everyone by distributing these books to every house in the neighborhoods of Dallas. I cannot emphasize Jennifer's passion for art and art in our lives. What I can tell you about Jennifer is that she had time for you, for anyone. You called her at any time of day, she would give you her ear, her time, her heart without any interruption or distraction whatsoever. So many of the artists that knew her are grieving and sharing their sentiments with each other via email. Someone said, "she was our mother, our champion". Jennifer, you will be missed, greatly.

Cottage Gardens

2011-08-28T00:00:00.002-05:00

Garden Cottage

11x14

On Cape Cod, my other favorite scenery are the cottages with their overgrown, thriving, lush gardens. Since the climate is so mild, the flowers are so happy. Can you believe that they can grow these Stargazer Lillie's as in the last picture? They are all over the place standing tall. Even the Casablanca variety!

I would see the cottage I painted on Route 6A when we were driving by in the fast flow of traffic with no place to pull over (not the appropriate time to ask to stop and take a photo). You can only see the house at the opening of the driveway because it is surrounded by tall bushes, trees and vines. I loved the blue shutters with the pink roses in front. The blue was not the french blue shutter color, but instead a light cerulean blue. And the house was the faintest golden yellow. Of course, had the flowers not been there, I may have never really noticed the house.

Have a great week! Thank you for visiting!

Sail, Sail, Sail Away

2011-08-21T00:00:00.033-05:00

Waiting for the Tide

11x14

Where Ocean Meets Sky

7x11

Low Tide II

11x14

Yes, more beach paintings. What can I say. This is where I spent most of our days on vacation. I took several photos, but, there is nothing like painting right in front of your subject. Aside from photos distorting perspectives and making shadows darker, I find that when I paint on location, I capture the feeling and essence of the scene despite what the final painting may look like. If the feeling is conveyed to the viewer, then a connection has been made.

My personal favorite is Where Ocean Meets Sky. There are many days when the clouds are so thick and the ocean and air are so still that you cannot see the point where the ocean and sky meet because they are so close in color. Sometimes the colors are blues to lavenders or greens to lavenders. Sometimes you can see hints of pink or yellow in the sky which are then reflected in the water.

In all of the paintings, the boat, Bay Rose is present. I ended up meeting the owner of the boat on our last day. It turns out that this is the boat's first season in the water. It is a brand new boat, 3rd of its kind made out of all wood. The inside of the boat had the fresh smell of cedar. Bay Rose always stood tall and straight even when other boats sat at a slant on the sand. Bay Rose has been popular for her first season on the water. One night I watched a photographer hang out and photograph her for over an hour during the sunset.

Be sure to be checking by facebook page for a chance to win a set of notecards in the month of September!

Summer at the Beach

2011-08-14T09:00:00.002-05:00

Heart of a Shell

7x11

Memories of Summer

7x11

Alone on the Beach

7x11

Here are some paintings I did while in Cape Cod. I actually did Memories of Summer prior to the seashell in the last post. My niece was with us so we ended up having a painting marathon of seashells.

I went to an art show and a couple of art galleries while there. Lots of hydrangeas, boats, low tide, sunsets and marsh paintings. I learned that I don't need to be so hard on myself. There are so many different ways one can interpret, translate and express what they see or feel. What I saw was a common feeling of all of the artists loving and appreciating the subject. I felt connected to these artists because I love and appreciate the same beauties of Cape Cod.

Please check out my UPDATED website www.lianayarckin.com for original art and prints. All comments and thoughts on the website are truly helpful.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jean Haines' August Challenge

2011-08-07T09:59:00.000-05:00

Seashell

11x7 watercolor

I painted this in response to a fellow blogger's August Challenge. Jean Haines posted a photo of this shell and challenged artists to paint it in their own way. Here is my interpretation. I enjoy doing these challenges sometimes because I don't have a personal attachment to the subject I guess. This gives me the freedom to do whatever I want while painting. I really enjoyed doing the background and trying different techniques that I usually don't use.

Cape Cod

2011-08-03T09:07:00.000-05:00

Low Tide II

11x14

Waiting for the Tide

11x14

I had to include these photos of low tide and the sunset in Brewster, Massachusetts with my watercolors. The sunset has been absolutely stunning every night. We have had very clear, still nights and days so when the tide is in, the water is like a sheet of glass. Click here to see more amazing photos of low tide. Don't you just love the last photo of that uber cute garden house!!! It is so cute, if it was a painting, I think it would not be believed.

Low Tide II was painted in the morning from my balcony. The houses are set up on a bank with the beach below. The tide goes out probably over a mile. It is so peaceful to walk all the way out to low tide with nothing but beach all around you. There are shallow tide pools left between sandbars where minnows and hermit crabs hang out.

Waiting for the Tide was painted around 5:30/6 p.m. The tide was coming in and this one sailboat was standing so tall with its hull buried in the sand waiting for the tide.

Thanks for visiting and thanks for your thoughts. Have a great week!

Shady Garden Revisited

2011-07-15T17:49:00.000-05:00

As you could probably tell from my last post, I was not thrilled with my last painting. The image was in my head while doing errands, in my sleep, etc. There were a lot of things I liked about it, but, there was something that was bothering me. So I just redid it today. I was very happy with my pencil drawing. I focused even more on drawing only the shapes of light and dark and connecting these shapes. What made the biggest difference, I limited my color palette. I am much happier with this color palette for this painting.

Thank you to everyone for your comments on the last post. I truly appreciate your emails and your time. Have a great weekend!

Found Some Shade

2011-07-14T14:20:00.001-05:00

Tranquil Garden

11x14 watercolor

Here is a cool, shady spot to sit during this hot summer! This is inspired from a patio in France in the Provence region. When we lived in London, we would go to France a lot. I took so many pictures. Lots of blue doors and shutters as well as beautiful shady patios to enjoy dinner alfresco.

My camera broke so I am using a new camera. The colors came out much brighter than in the actual picture. The blues and the darks are more intense in this image than in the actual painting, too. I am not sure about my painting style. I don't know if I am subconsciously going in a different direction or subconsciously painting in my natural style. My paintings are having the more loose look I have been trying to achieve, however, I am wondering if they are lacking in technical skill. With this painting I recognized the shapes of light and shadow and tried to translate those shapes here. My darks are more vivid vs. dark in the painting. I did go back and darken them with the opposite call so that they would not be so bright. I am happy with the translation of the shapes and composition, but, I think the colors of the flowers in the foreground are too bright even though I went in with blues for shadows and to try to dull down. I will have to look at the painting over the next few days and see how I feel. What do you think? Any thoughts?

Flowers in the Morning Sun

2011-07-10T16:34:00.000-05:00

Flowers for Sell

6x9 original watercolor

Of course I was attracted to this scene because of the flowers, but, also because of the awning and the shadows. I took this photo in the morning in Paris long ago. The flowers in the foreground are wrapped in cellophane. It seems that every street corner in Paris has a flower shop. I have so many photos of different flower shops all laid out right now.

Sparkling City by the Bay

2011-07-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

Shrimp Boats

11x14 original watercolor

This was inspired by a photo my aunt took in Corpus Christi, TX. As I have mentioned before, my aunt spends a lot of time fishing and has plenty of tall tales. She also is a photographer and takes many photos of the bay in Corpus Christi. This Monday is her birthday, too, so Happy Birthday Aunt!

One of the benefits of living in Corpus Christi is the fresh shrimp one can buy right off the shrimp boats when they come in at the T-heads. I will explain T-heads in a later post. Anyway, my aunt often buys fresh shrimp to cook along side her catch.

This scene had a lot going on which I edited out if you can believe. There were many more posts for the pier as well as many more birds. I am not sure if those are pelicans or some kind of crane. Behind the boat is the seawall lined with palm trees and part of downtown Corpus Christi. Originally, I did not have the buildings in the background. They are present in the photo. I added the buildings after a day or so, just a hint. The painting seemed incomplete without them. I feel much more comfortable having them in the painting. If you ever get a chance, go to Corpus Christi and eat some fresh seafood at any of the restaurants downtown or on the t-heads, then after, you must get a snow cone with a scoop of ice cream on top and walk the seawall!!! The stories I can tell you that happen on the seawall.......

If you have already visited my website, thanks so much. Please let me know if you see any improvements that can be made. I am trying to decide if I should have a lot of paintings or just a few select. If you have suggestions on a strategy, I am happy to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for visiting.

Updated Website!

2011-06-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

I am so pleased to announce that many of paintings are now being offered as giclees on my website, www.lianayarckin.com. One of my highest requests for a painting is of the Highland Park Pharmacy, shown above. I found a printer that does amazingly beautiful prints on the most delicous watercolor paper ever. The color is so close and the paper makes it difficult to tell that it is a print. These are limited edition prints which are hand signed, dated and numbered by me. Please visit the website and as always, feel free to contact me should you have any quesitons.

Red Roses, Red Roses

2011-06-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have posted something. How is everyone? I miss your comments and painting!!! The kids are out of school and it has been busy, busy, busy with them. My 3 yr. old is just a darling right now. I am teaching him how to swim. He is the one that keeps me on my toes. Constantly wanting to paint and draw and "do something fun". I put his picture of his Power Rangers up for you to see. He makes lots of cards, too. Right now his focus is using one color.

I did see the most amazing roses at the grocery store. I went to take a picture and was told that photography is not allowed. They allowed me to take one photo so that I could reference the photo for future purchases. The roses were white with the darkest red outlines on each petal. I wonder how the petals would change colors over time.

Lastly, the new summer collection of note cards is here. Please go to www.cardsdirect.com to purchase or contact me. You can order just one image or make your own collection.

Now, I am going to go look at my fellow artists' blogs to see what they have been up to!

Pretty in Pink

2011-05-31T10:37:00.001-05:00

It has finally gotten hot in Dallas. No complaining, we had an unusually mild spring with cool temperatures, but, now it is is hot, hot, hot. One of the flowers that does well in this heat is the Echinacea plant otherwise known as Cone Flower. In our backyard we have a perennial garden that has some Cone Flowers. However, there are some that plant an entire bed of cone flowers. One home had the Cone Flowers line the walk. It was so pretty. They love the hot sun and do not require any work really.

I have wanted to paint the cone flowers for several summers now. Here is my first attempt. I am happy with the sky and the flowers. I think the foliage got a little muddy when I was trying to add the shadows and the darks. I will admit, one thing that lacks from this painting is the darks. I had good dark shadows in there, but, then it looked too spotty and lots of hard edges so I went back and softened and combined the shadows.

Happy painting! As always, thanks for your comments. They are encouraging and enlightening.

Sunflowers

2011-05-21T15:47:00.000-05:00

I am procrastinating. I need to get a painting done to submit for SWS, but, I am doing everything else, but, painting!

So I will tell you about Surtex, the art licensing trade show. It was fantastic! I made a lot of great contacts with both artists and manufacturers for potential licensing opportunities. I learned a lot. It was interesting that everyone liked different paintings for products that I never even thought of. There were some paintings that received interest from multiple parties. Florals and coastal were the favorite themes!

One of the things I learned was that everyone had an entirely different opinion. One person might say your work is too loose while the next said they liked how tight is was. Would you believe that one agent told me that my paintings were too dark. I want to run to that watercolor teacher from long ago and tell her, someone thinks my colors are too dark because she always told me my colors were way too bright.

With that said, I posted these 4 paintings of sunflowers done over the course of 10 years. My Surtex experience has led me to believe, paint whatever you want and however you want, someone out there will like it. Of course, it doesn't matter whether anyone else likes it or not, so long as an artist, we are fulfilled from the experience.

What's been on the drawing board

2011-05-05T10:05:00.002-05:00

Preparing for this trade show has been a lot of work. I have had to make a lot of new paintings that coordinate with existing paintings to make a "collection". It has been fun, interesting and experimental to create these coordinating all over patterns. Someone may not want to hang them on their wall, however, one may be perfect for wrapping paper, bedding, home decor, who knows. This has really freed my painting style up a lot. I love having the freedom of working with the colors just to make an interesting design versus my typical style of not straying far from the subject and local color.

I encourage the artists out there to put similar sheets together for a newsletter, post or mail to your clients/potential clients. I know many of you have beautiful collections of paintings that can tell a story. Some of you can make an entire book, even! Either way, it is a great sense of accomplishment and I think it helps viewers see your work in a different way.

The last is a pen and ink that someone commissioned to give to their PTA president. They wanted to do one of the school as well and make stationary, but, budget didn't allow for it.

Have a great week! Thanks for visiting!

p.s. for those that receive this post via email, you may want to visit my actual blog one day and look at the different pages I have added. The tabs are at the top and you just pick the tab.

Rose Garden

2011-04-27T21:08:00.000-05:00

I know I said I was going to paint something other than flowers, but, I just keep seeing all of these gorgeous flowers all over Dallas. This painting is inspired by a house that I have passed by on my walks. I drove by the other day with my kids in the car, stopped and snapped a bunch of photos. My kids were at first shocked and then said, "oh, are you going to paint this house?" I only embellished the flowers slightly. The house does have all of these fabulous roses growing in abundance. They even have some sort of column type trellis that the climbing roses go up in the center and then billow out of the top. It is truly a sight right now.

Do I like Pink?

2011-04-17T11:03:00.000-05:00

Pink Tulips in a Vase

6x9

Pink Roses

8x9

The spring flowers are all gone by now. We had lovely pink tulips in our yard this year. Luckily, because of our unusual cool temperatures, the tulips lasted a while. The Pink Roses may or may not be complete, yet. I like it like this and am too chicken to do more. What if I mess it up! So I am leaving it like this for now until I feel good about the next step. Any suggestions?

p.s. I think I have had enough of flowers. I am painting lots of other things for the card company and the trade show in May. Maybe I will posts some of those things next time.

And More Daffodils

2011-04-14T17:59:00.000-05:00

Here are some more daffodils. I am getting looser - I think.

Time to Give

2011-04-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

Friends, remember my post from the summer about my father-in-law having macular degeneration? Well, the fundraiser for Retina is coming up in 2 weeks. My husband is on the board and we have been involved with the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and the fundraiser, Racing for Sight for the last 6 years. If you are in the Dallas area, grab your hat and come join your friends at this fun and exciting day at the Races.

Racing for Sight

Lone Star Park

Grand Prairie, TX

April 17

1-5

Buy tickets or make a donation by clicking here

There are amazing Auction Items - Vacation House in Greece, Play with the Masters, an autographed guitar by every member of the Eagles, jewelry from Bock Jewelry, Mavs, Cowboys, Texas Rangers and Stars suites, tickets and such, Titos Vodka, Baron Estate, Tejanos Brothers, The Charter at Beaver Creek, Byron Nelson, play with a Pro on the PGA Pro Tour, Abacus, Shinsei, Capital Grille, Emmitt Smith, Tiffany & Co., El Phoenix, CardsDirect.com, amazing swag bags filled with goodies and so much more.

A huge thank you to the committee that has worked so hard on all of the aspects of making this event happen. A very big thank you to all of our Donors for your support and very awesome donations!

Tulips

2011-03-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

Pink Tulips

8x10

Tulips

8x10

Right now I am working on 4 small florals.

The two above are painted on yupo. This was my first time to work on yupo. Working on it's slick, nonabsorbant surface with watercolor is a very different experience. The most amazing thing is no matter how much water I put on it, the yupo stays perfectly flat and smooth without even the smallest ripple. The paint sits on top, it wipes off very easily, even unintentionally.

Paintings from Spring Break

2011-03-27T18:15:00.002-05:00

Free of Expectation

11x14

Sundance Run

6x9

My family and I were so lucky to stay at our friend's house in Telluride, CO. over Spring Break. The very lucky part is that my friend is a fellow artist!!!! In the craziness of packing, I forgot my paints. Luckily, my friend had an extra palette of paints that she was happy to lend me so that we could paint together.

My friend also paints in watercolor. She paints faces a lot. She showed me some pictures that she tore out of a magazine and sort of challenged me to paint one. Now I was painting a completely different subject than usual and painting with someone else's color palette. I was free of expectations of myself! We were painting for fun. That was how Free of Expectation came about. I had seen some masking tape in one of the drawers and with Flocking Together still being fresh in my mind, I applied similar techniques here. I really, really like the effect of masking. I like the crisp edges and sharp contrast and the accidental bleeds. I am trying to figure out how else to work masking into paintings at a more interesting level. I am not sure what I think of this painting, but, I did have fun doing it!

I painted Sundance Run simply because I was so inspired by the mountains, trees, bright sunshine and very blue sky in Telluride. Telluride is truly beautiful and my painting does not at all come close to representing the breathtaking surroundings.

Your feedback really makes my day! Let me know what you think, good or bad.

Have a great week!

Rememberance of Nana

2011-03-22T20:25:00.002-05:00

Geraniums for Nana

15x22

Nana

11x14

Photo of Nana and me

Nana, my great-grandmother

March 24, 1897 - September 28, 1997

Nana was a very strong and truly good person. She worked so hard all of her life. She was giving and a caretaker of everyone. Widowed very early in her marriage, Nana raised her only daughter with the help of family. This must be what gave her her patience and what made her have to be strong.

What I like to remember about my great-grandmother is her laugh, I can still hear it. She loved us all so much. She had all of the time in the world and appreciated the simple things in life. I remember her pointing out the evening breeze and how good it felt. She said, "This is my air conditioner," one night when we were sitting on the front porch.

Nana ended up living with alzhiemers for over 10 years. It was too long to live like that in my opinion. Below is a poem I wrote in 1986 when I was a senior in highschool (thank you to my teacher, Mr. Joseph Wilson) about Nana and her alzheimer's.

Requiem for Nana and Me

Once I laughed at you
Telling me I was a naughty girl
Pointing that finger at me
I climbed higher, swinging on weak branches to watch you yell and scold me
I knew you wouldn't be mad, though.

But no more can I run and hide from you.
You are too old to chase me
I am too old to play silly games.

Never again can I sit in your lap
You are frail and like dead tree branches for me

I never understood why you worried when I would be a big girl
Always wanting me to stay little.

Oh Nana, I want to spit againso you will tell me that is bad
I want to walk to the store with you holding my hand tight.

I hate the smell of this place
You can't even notice it
You barely notice me.

Nana, this can't happen
But, you can't do anything
Neither can I
Nobody can

Okay, Nana

I'll stop whining and be a good little girl.

Flocking Together

2011-03-09T13:52:00.007-06:00

Flocking Together
11x14

Here is a painting I had so much fun doing. I always enjoy painting, but, on this one I used different techniques than I normally use. I am going to show this to the card company. Similar to Love is in the Air and Butterflies which I did specifically with Cards Direct in mind, this image was born. The process of getting a new idea or image in my head is so exciting to me. During my day and talking with other people I am always seeing things to paint or noticing the colors or light on objects. A friend has suggested, " You have to do something with birds." It made perfect sense with the change of season to spring and migration. I used pouring techniques and concentrated liquid watercolor. I think I could do more on this in the ways of adding detail, but, right now I like it as is. Maybe later I will look back and think how naive of me. I have some other ideas that I can't wait to try. If you have an opinion, please let me know!

p.s. i found out who my admirer was and I am not the least bit surprised after the fact.

A Different Kind of Secret Admirer

2011-03-05T11:56:00.007-06:00

Friday morning someone left a page from a magazine (top pic.) for me. It is the hopeless romantic in me that has interpretted this kind gesture (obviously from a friend and supporter) as a secret admirer of my art work. The mystery person drove up to my house and asked my babysitter, who happened to be outside, to give this page to me. Who is this mystery person/secret admirer/wonderful supporter? And what do they want for me to do with this beautiful picture of camellias? Clues: a female, drives a tan SUV, has brown hair, they read Southern Accents magazine, they know I like to paint flowers. This pretty picture and thoughtful act was a great way to start my day. I was motivated, intrigued, excited, curious, felt loved and special.

In response to this mystery surprise, I decided to post this video of a painting of mine that is of similar colors and petals. It is of a peony.

I would love to know who this wonderful person is, so please reveal yourself. In the meantime, we can all be secret/or not admirers and offer encouragement and feel goods to those that we admire whether it be an artist, teacher, spouse, child or parent. I know if you are a blogger, you are a great admirer to many and often encourage and support others. I would be such a lonely painter if I didn't have my blogger friends. Have a great week!

Flowers, flowers, flowers

2011-02-27T17:11:00.002-06:00

Daffodils or The Daffodils on Mockingbird Lane
13x22 watercolor
The daffodils are blooming on Mockingbird Lane. I keep seeing them as I drive by and think, "Oh, I have got to come take photos", then I chuckle because one of my biggest supporters cannot stand daffodils AND they happen to live on Mockingbird Lane. The neighbors on Mockingbird Lane decided to make daffodils their street flower so the whole street and streets around it have daffodils lining the sidewalks. How can a daffodil be a flower that someone does not like. The architecture alone of a daffodil is so unique. With a center cup surrounded by 6 petals alternating in two different kinds of petals. Here I show two different varieties. I am not sure of the names. The white with orange centers are very ruffly.

Four pack of florals
The note cards are here!!! I am so pleased with how the note cards have turned out. I ordered some for myself to give to clients as appreciation gifts. I had mine printed on felt, which looks very similar to watercolor paper. The quality came out so good and true to color. They almost look like originals! A direct link for this 4 pack has not been set up just yet. I will post it as soon as CardsDirect puts the 4 pack on their site. In the meantime, if you want some, just email me.

Tissue paper and an old rendering

2011-02-20T19:48:00.006-06:00

Here is my painting, Love is in the Air, printed on tissue paper and bag tags!!!! The tags and tissue paper were used for the favor bags at a YPO Valentine Party. Cards Direct had the design enlarged on the tissue paper. I think the tissue paper emphasizes a special luminosity.

8x10 pen and ink in sepia
This was the first rendering I did as a gift for a friend long ago. I always loved the architectural style of this house in Northern Hills in Dallas. Northern Hills has a very interesting history which continues to twist and turn. It is just 4 quaint streets of homes mostly built in the twenties. There have been issues with the neighbors that are trying to preserve the beautiful architecture of this neighborhood with new home owners that are building homes without any regard to the surroundings. Look at this wonderful home, how tall and proud it stands with appropriate proportions to its site. I hope the fate of this house is safe.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T07:25:00.007-06:00

Rose Bouquet

11x14

Love is in the Air

15x22

Love Wins

11x11

This year has been so joyful so far, it makes me want to keep spreading the love. I am so thrilled with Cards Direct purchasing the license to use some of my paintings that it has really given me the joy and justification to paint more.

Because of Cards Direct, I painted Love is in the Air. When I painted this I thought that they could use it has a background. This was new freedom for me to paint in this style. It was experimentation with color and new techniques that I normally don't use. Cards Direct did purchase this one and asked me to do something similar with butterflies.

Love Wins was inspired after I went to a Southwestern Watercolor Society meeting. The artists bring paintings that are voted on. I saw two that were done with masking fluid and looked like batik. They had bright colors with the high contrast against the white. Our speaker / demonstration was by Carla O'Connor. She is one crazy artist - and I mean that in the most desired way! From her, I learned freedom in painting. She said crazy things like, "I don't know what it is going to look like in the end...", "oh, let's see what will happen if i do this...", "painting is not the painting in the end, it is the process...". By watching Carla paint and listening to her, I was inspired to be more free and more experimental. Question for you on Love Wins: Should I paint the background solid black with Indian ink so that the hearts and circles pop out?

Last, Rose Bouquet. I had a rough sketch made from several photos I have taken of roses. I added some white hydrangeas because I noticed the use of hydrangeas in the Valentine Bouquets around town this past week. I painted it looser than usual and also, you should have seen how dark the first stroke of red was on the wet paper! I love painting with reds and pinks. I literally felt "drunk" during this painting. I was not. My family had been gone for 3 solid hours, I had the music blasting, and not one interruption. It was blissful!

So whether it is Valentine's Day or some other day, spread the love!

Sweets for Your Sweetie

2011-02-13T22:05:00.005-06:00

11x11

This piece was immediately spoken for by both my 9 and 10 year old sons. There are some parts of it that are not perfect, but, when I saw how big my sons' eyes got and their huge smiles when I showed it to them, that is what I remember. They both said with total sincerity and enthusiasm, "Awesome, that's the best painting." My 9 year old said, "those are my favorite."

I did two paintings today, this being the second. I will try to fix up the parts that I don't like. This is on hot press paper, so it is very easy to lift, but, I am disappointed with the part you know I am talking about.

I have to tell you about the doughnuts. One of the mom's in our playgroup always pick ups the most adorable doughnuts when it is her turn to host. Needless to say, our kids eat about 3 each and love going to her house. This time I took my camera because I wanted to paint the doughnuts. Well, she surprised us with these heart doughnuts! Just in time for Valentine's Day! I took several pictures with the doughnuts arranged in different positions. I didn't realize how much I was handling the doughnuts and how unappetizing that was to the other moms. I don't think anyone ate these particular ones. I forgot the name of the doughnut place. If you live in Dallas, it is on Lover's Lane by the Drip.

p.s. thanks to MY sweetie for letting me paint all day!!!! what a treat!

The Lazy Life of the Well Kept

2011-02-11T17:37:00.004-06:00

Sassy
9x6

This is my aunt's cat, Sassy. My aunt is a photographer and is always sending me zillions of amazing photos for me to paint from.

First, I wish I could promote her blog or website, but, Aunt, you don't have one, yet! (hint, hint).

Secondly, this takes me back to: some photos are best a photo and would not make a good painting. Some of the great photos my aunt has sent are gorgeous sunsets over the Corpus Christi bay with the sailboats and bridge in silhouette with perfect reflections on the water. Now I am starting to think, maybe I should try painting that. I guess I am fine with leaving a great photo as a great photo. In any event, when I saw Sassy's fluffy tail and her fur "halo", I thought I want to try to capture that fluffiness.

I painted wet into wet on the backside of watercolor paper for added texture. I am proud to say that I did this painting a lot faster than my usual time. To me, that means I captured the esence (hopefully) instead of getting caught up in a bunch of tiny details. Next time when I do a people scene, I will try to remember this so I can just give the idea of a group of people rather than painting every detail.

Butterflies

2011-02-09T12:01:00.003-06:00

Butterflies I

15x22

For about 3 years now I have had an image of butterflies covering a page in a whimsical, transparent way. This idea has been coming in and out of my head but I was always trying to think of how I could do this as a painting for someone that may what to hang on their wall.

Using the technique above, I made one for Valentine's Day, which, the greeting card company, Cards Direct, has already purchased the license to use. Cards Direct asked if I could do something similar with butterflies!!!! So, voila, I finally got a client that my idea could work for. I have not shown this to them yet since we are having another snow day. I promise in real life the colors look much better. The colors are more yellow to citron, yellow to orange and aqua greens. In the photos above there is a blue grey overcast and the colors seem not to flow together as they do in the painting.

Please check back on Valentine's Day to see the Valentine painting!

2011-02-07T14:03:00.003-06:00

Orange Umbrellas
6x9 watercolor
I have stacks and stacks of photos I have taken of cafe/umbrella scenes. I do not know what it is that attracts me to outdoor cafes with umbrellas as painting subjects. Again, applying (trying to apply) what Andy Evansen taught us, I tried here. Andy paints on wet paper very fast. I think my paper was still a little too wet since the umbrellas bled a lot. Then the paper dried so fast I was painting wet onto dry paper. I do like the overall scene and the umbrella "dance"/"pattern" is interesting to me. I may try this on a large size paper. I do prefer painting with larger brushes and having more space to let the paint intermix.

My budding little artist painting on a snow day. His Auntie sent him that darling paint set.

Have a great week! Thanks for your comments, critiques and visits.

The Joys of a "Snow Day"

2011-02-01T15:04:00.003-06:00

The Market
5.5" x 15"

Thanks to our "snow storm" in Dallas, I got to paint today!!!! Almost everything is shut down so it is a surprise "free day".

I was inspired from a scene I saw of San Miguel in the Smithsonian magazine. I tried to apply the techniques I learned in Andy Evansen's workshop. If you are a regular reader, you know that I desire to paint "loose", however, as you know, I always end up going to my natural style which is tight and detail oriented. I tried to give the idea of the viewer being IN a crowded market. I decided to paint this on a page cut emphasizing the horizontal. I learned that this is what I liked about my sailboat paintings. I feel in those paintings that I am on a sailboat in the dance of boats. I found that this shape was also good for the mountain scene and A Secret Garden. I like this horizontal format a lot. I feel like it engulfs the viewer.

HAPPY New Year!

2011-01-13T08:20:00.004-06:00

Friends, Happy New Year to you! They say the first 12 days is an indication of how the rest of your year will be. (If your first 12 days were not the way you wanted them to be, just start today!)

Above are some of the paintings that were selected by the card company. The first two images are obvious how they would be used on a card. The last image they want to use for borders on invitations or by picking out areas for background. A lot of my florals were selected as well amongst some landscapes. Hopefully, soon I will have a link so that you can see all of the cards! Also, we are going to offer change of address cards/stationary for the clients that have commissioned their home portraits. The painting of their home will be on the card with their new address. I have learned a lot in the last few days about licensing one's artwork. Still, not enough to be an expert. Did you know that there are licensing conventions were artists and companies wanting artwork meet?

I have no idea what my next painting will be. We have been to the Turks and Caicos which was amazingly beautiful, but for a painting it would be the aqua paint right out of the tube for the water and then cerulean blue to ultramarine for the sky. Since Valentine's Day is coming up and I could not resist the very bright hot pink roses at the grocery store or the gorgeous white with red tips that my husband brought home, maybe I will paint those. Next post I will put a few Turks photos up. You will think they are postcards.

Have a great week!!!

Licensing your artwork?

2011-01-06T14:10:00.002-06:00

has anyone out there licensed their artwork? A local greeting card company wants to use some of my artwork and asked how/what I would charge. If anyone knows anything about licensing your artwork, i would love to hear from you. I have learned some on the internet, but, have not found actual rates/fees, etc. I am sure there is a wide range, but, right now I have no idea.

thanks so much.

A Gift from the Heart

2010-11-22T07:59:00.003-06:00

Here is one of the commissions that I have been working on. My client commissioned two of the same house. She grew up in this house and now lives in it with her husband and children. One of the paintings is for her, the other she is going to give to her parents for Christmas. Many of my clients have given a painting of their home or vacation home to their spouse for an anniversary gift, Father's Day or birthday. I love hearing the stories of how happy and surprised the recipient was.

Plein Air Painting with Andy Evansen

2010-11-03T18:58:00.003-05:00

Here is some of my work I did in a week long workshop with Andy Evansen. It was so wonderful to paint plein air all day for an entire week! We even had the most perfect weather, too. Andy is such a pleasant and humble teacher. He really tried to help each of us with our struggles to paint loose. He had us work on 4x6 or 5x7 paper in gray scale to practice capturing the values. Andy works very fast and makes it seem so effortless. My favorite quote from him that I will remind myself was "just indicate...". We do not need to paint every brick etc., just indicate it is brick.

My favorite piece is the value sketch in the middle photo. I feel like it has the eurythme I always want to capture. The darks, the movement, the hint, the looseness and the freedom. I did not finish the color image below it. This was all done on site. I didn't get the darks in as dark as in the value sketch. Notice one of the value sketches at top was from one of my plein air paintings from the Cape. The bottom photo is from the last day of the workshop. We painted in the trolley barn down on McKinney St. We did White Rock Lake, Farmer's Market, the West End and Turtle Creek.

This Saturday is the BIG day. The show runs through January 3. But, I would love it if you came by to see me at the reception this Saturday:

Where Texas Gets its Color
The Dutch Art Gallery
10233 E. Northwest Hwy (corner of Ferndale)
1:00-5:00

2010-10-27T08:26:00.002-05:00

Friends in Dallas, I hope to see you at the Dutch Gallery Reception. This will be a great collection of art in various styles and mediums from a select group of artists. Each artist is allowed to put in up to 7 pieces so if there is an artist you like, you will get to see several pieces. This will be a large show, so I am sure you will find something you like.

Apologies for having few posts. I have been working on commissions of home portraits for the Christmas deadline. I cannot post any of those paintings until after Christmas since they are going to be given as gifts. I do want to post my work from the Andy Evansen workshop as soon as I get a chance.

2010-10-15T06:58:00.002-05:00

Highland Park Village

11x14

This is a scene in a shopping center in Dallas. One can park their car and walk around to the various shops and restaurants here. I painted this last week in preparation for the Andy Evansen workshop I have been partipating in this week. I cannot tell you how great it is to do plein air painting with Andy. He is ovbiously a great artist, but, he is also a great teacher, too. We have been all over Dallas painting street scenes, landscape at parks, boats at White Rock Lake and today, trolleys on Mckinney St. I am very happy with my value paintings, but, the color ones are not so hot, yet. Maybe I will post next week.

Fair Day

2010-10-10T11:33:00.004-05:00

Cotton Candy

11x14

Photo of Big Tex

Yes, it is time for the Texas State Fair. This is my husband's favorite event. Although, he would never tell you that, you just know by how many times he says how great the fair is while we are there. For years I have taken pictures at the fair for paintings, but, I have never painted one, yet. When I saw the Cotton Candy stand, I was inspired. I specifically took the photo of Big Tex for everyone who does not live in Dallas. He is 52' tall, talks and makes announcements and has his picture on the cotton candy bags. Do you see the ferris wheel in the bottom of the photo? It is in my painting, too. P.S. my toddler HAD to have the beautiful cotton candy. When he tasted it, he started crying and saying, "Hair, hair, get the hair out of my mouth." I guess he will be scarred now.

2010-10-07T08:40:00.006-05:00

Fall Harvest

11x14

I have never really been one for painting holiday themed art, but, the weather was so amazingly gorgeous with beautiful, bright sunlight and just the perfect mild temperature I had to sit outside and paint this gorgeous fall display created by my friend, Richard. Richard relocated to Dallas from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. He and his family were actually considered refugees for a time when they first evacuated their home. They didn't bring much when they left and when it was safe to return to New Orleans, they found very little to salvage. They have been living in Dallas since. He is extremely creative in making the most beautiful garden scenes using flowers and plants one would not typically put together. This is just a part of the display. That pumpkin is so large, it makes the perfect seat for my kids. Every time my toddler sees this display he shouts out, "Look at all of those pumpkins!" Then he goes to sit on this giant pumpkin.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Alan Barnes Gallery
2011 Juried Exhibit
(I am in the show!)
Tuesday, October 14
5:30 - 8:30 Reception

Grapes in the Sunlight

2010-10-02T09:22:00.003-05:00

The photo that inspired this painting was an ad for Mexico on the back of the Conde Nast Traveler magazine. The way the sunlight was coming from the side/back creating interesting shadows and then even illuminating some of the grapes. Two other things came to mind, the Grape Escape which is a fundraiser for Heart House, coming up (my friend is chairing it, so I hear about it daily right now) and one of my favorite watercolor artist in the blogger world, David Lobenberg. He has been blogging about his vineyard experience. He paints with very clear, clean wild colors and has the best sense of humor.

Colors of Fall

2010-09-26T08:57:00.007-05:00

Fall Bouquet, 11x14

A Secret Garden, 6x14

Believe it or not, the colors of fall in Dallas right now are really what you see in A Secret Garden. Inspired by a real garden I found on a walk, this is a plein air study. The blooms are a little embellished, but, it is true, the flowers are much happier now with the high 80 degree days vs. the +100 temps. The encore azaleas are blooming, as are the crepe myrtles and the roses, hibiscuses, inpatients and perennials are all happy. However, the shadows are getting much longer. I walked out in the backyard the other day and noticed I was in the shadow of the house as it stretched far into the yard.

I wanted to share that gorgeous middle photo with the plant alive with the glow of the sunlight.

Fall Bouquet is painted from a bouquet I put together for a school coffee at my house. I couldn't resist using the pumpkin branches or the bright orange and magenta colors.

Thanks to both my blog readers and my email subscribers for your comments on my posts. I love that connection!

Art Therapy - You can still paint even if you can't see

2010-09-19T15:05:00.010-05:00

Meet my father-in-law, Grampy. He has had Macular Degeneration for about 30 years. That means he started to lose his vision in his early 40's and can no longer do the things he once could, like drive, for example. Imagine if your vision started to go away very rapidly and you could no longer do all of the things that require eye vision. Every summer we visit my in-laws. I use to drive my father-in-law around to antique shops. He would pick up a piece and have me look at it and tell him what the writing said and I would answer his questions about an antique he was looking at. Now with the economy and increasing loss of his sight, he is not in the antique business anymore.

Every summer I always encourage Grampy to take clay sculpture classes or pottery classes so he can use his hands and creativity. It never happens. I guess because I had just done our little impromptu painting workshop with my nieces and nephews, I talked Grampy into painting right at that moment! Of course, he resisted. He said he had no talent and his painting would be ugly. I told him who cares, we will paint on a paper plate and then throw it right in the garbage so nobody sees it. I told him that we were going to paint just for the experience, not for the end result.

I myself learned so much about painting. I would ask him, do you feel how much water is on the brush? Do you feel how the brush feels on the paper with this amount of water? Can you feel how much paint is on your brush? Then he would ask me questions like, "Were is green, I want to use green. How do I make it darker? I like how that looks, what color is that? How do I make it darker?" Grampy can see through his peripheral vision, but, I don't know how well.

Here he is holding up his favorite of his three paintings. Look at that smile on his face, especially the one where he is painting. I haven't seen him smile in a long time. Grampy had some great ideas for his first time painting. He said, why can't each color have its own tray/bowl so that the colors are not so close together (talking about my paint palette). I told him that there are artists that do that and I happen to have a book of one of those artists on the table.

I hope you find this story encouraging and that you may pick up a brush and paint on a paper plate one day, too. P.s. Grampy didn't throw his paintings away. I hope Grampy keeps painting.

To find out more about Macular Degeneration or to get a free screening, visit the Retina Foundation of the Southwest.

Temptation on the Kitchen Counter

2010-09-10T07:03:00.004-05:00

Cherries

11x14

When I first put these cherries in the bowl, they were overflowing and spilling out. Later when I went to take a picture, they were nearly gone. I had to embellish the fullness by putting cherry tomatoes on the bottom for the photo. The hydrangeas were green lavenderish because it is the end of the season for them. And yes, the counter was crowded with the books already there waiting to be put away.

I hope to see you at the reception tonight at

Artisan Style

2417 Mahon St.

Dallas, Texas

5:00-8:00pm

Stoli Doli and Friends

2010-09-07T16:33:00.002-05:00

Stoli Doli and Friends
11x14

I have been collecting photos of ice cold beverages during the 107 temps in Dallas. I saw this jar of Stoli Doli in a bar in Cape Cod. The bartender was already working on my martini, so it was too late for me to try the Stoli Doli. I have heard it is good. Pineapple soaked in vodka. In any event, I couldn't resist taking a picture of it to paint one day. Limeade has sold so I wanted to paint another jar of sliced fruit before I missed it. I couldn't believe how strong the local color influenced me in this painting.

DALLAS Exhibits Announcement - Mark your calendars!

2010-09-04T14:27:00.004-05:00

Three great shows in Dallas with wonderful art by local Dallas artists and by Artists of Texas. All works will be for sale! Yes, I have paintings in two of the exhibits and maybe even the third. However, I already saw a painting by someone else in the show that I just have to have!

September 10 - October 2

Fine Art in Dallas 2011: A Retrospective

Artisan Style

2417 Mahon St., across from the Crescent

Please join us at the opening on Friday, September 10, 5-8

This show will feature the art of over 50 Dallas artists that are in the 2011 CityARTCal book.

October 11 - October 24

Alan Barnes Fine Art - Juried Exhibition

1019 Slocum Street

Please join us at the reception, Thursday, October 14, 5:30-8:30

November 6 - December 31

The Annual Artists of Texas Show

Dutch Art Gallery

10233 E. Northwest Highway, Suite 420

The reception will be on Saturday, November 6, 1-5

This show will feature art from Artists of Texas.

Apples, Peaches, Plums

2010-08-31T16:03:00.004-05:00

15x15 original watercolor

Here is the painting that I have been working on. As I said before, it was inspired by a photo that I saw on PaperPumpkin. I saw the photo right after I had posted "Locally Grown".

I tried something new to me in this painting. I used a clear oil pastel to save some of the whites. I did not use it everywhere that you see the white because sometimes I like to go over the whites with a very light wash. Also, I wanted to be able to control soft and hard edges. The clear oil pastel is so clear that it was a little hard for me to control at first. It is an absolute great permanent resist. Some of you have noticed that my work is changing a little. I would love to hear your comments if you like or you don't like this new direction.

I have some great news, I was accepted to the Artists of Texas blog. Please visit me and other fine artists of Texas over there!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy.

CityARTCal Artists Party

2010-08-28T17:43:00.001-05:00

The above photos are from the 2011 CityARTCal Artists Party. CityARTCal is a calendar that features local artists and also sponsors several exhibits, a silent auction and other social events for the artists. The photos above are from the most recent social events for the artist selected to be in the calendar. We met at Painting with a Twist and had a little painting contest in acrylic. The winner, determined by votes of the artists involved, would get an extra page in the book to feature a second piece of work!!!!! It was such fun to meet other artists and paint together. Painting with a Twist is on Lovers Lane and teaches classes to ANYONE who wants to learn how to paint. They have great music playing and you bring your own bottle of vino.

This is a painting I am working on right now. It is inspired by a photo from the blog PaperPumpkin. I liked the photo so much that I asked PaperPumpkin if I could paint it.

Revisions, Memories and Friendship

2010-08-25T17:13:00.004-05:00

Thank you to everyone who immediately replied when I was in trouble with the above painting. I took your advice and I am happy with the mountain scene painting above. When I posted this painting last, I thought I had ruined something that I was very happy with. I am so thankful that my friends I have met through the blogging world came to my rescue.

Now I can tell you the inspiration for this painting. My friend who was pregnant with her third child insisted that she and I go on this 4+ hour hike up a mountain in Red River, New Mexico. It is not surprising that I would rather sit for 4 hours and paint vs. hiking up a mountain. It is embarrassing to say that I could barely keep up with her even though she was 3 months pregnant. She told me that at the top there was this glorious pond with the clearest water and giant rainbow trout. Well here it is. Although I was resistant to the hiking, my friend didn't believe me when I told her that I would indeed go swimming in the pond because I have an obsession with natural clear bodies of water. I told her to be ready with the camera and take a photo once I was in the water for evidence to all those that would not believe. The water was absolutely freezing, but, very exhilerating. I am giving this painting to her husband for his 50th birthday since he loves the mountains so much and he is taking up painting, too!

I truly appreciate your comments! Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

2010-08-20T09:57:00.004-05:00

I saw these sailboats from far away. It turns out it was the local summer camp sailing. The shapes of the white triangles moving about each other against the blue water and sky was so calming. I wanted to capture this dance and I wanted to be in one of the sailboats, too!

I had one piece of hot press paper left. I cut it in half to get these two very horizontal pieces of paper. Once I had these long pieces of paper, I was getting more comfortable with the idea in my head and how I would put it on paper. It made sense to have these very long pieces of paper emphasizing the experience of what I would see if I was in one of the boats right there.

I am starting to really like hot press paper. Because of my lack of experience using it, I feel that I have more freedom to experiment. These boats may look like it was very easy to do. But, for me, achieving a look that looks free and quick is so hard. The image at the top was the second painting. In this painting, I am pleased with myself for having the confidence to use my artistic license more. I kind of just imagined this one.

I posted these paintings because they make me happy. So Happy Friday. It is our official last Friday of summer. School starts Monday.

Thank you for all of your comments, they make my day!

WAS pretty... now?

2010-08-17T18:24:00.003-05:00

I was doing this mountain scene for a friend's 50th birthday. There was a point when I thought it looked so pretty. I don't think in person the sky looks as ugly as it does here. It is not so spotty in person. I know I need to darken and add detail to the trees on the left side. Should I lift out the darks in the water. I can also lift out the blue in the sky. I was trying to create atmosphere and distance in the mountains, that is that obvious line of nothingness in the middle of the mountain. Does anyone have suggestions? I did enjoy painting it up to this point so I guess I can start over, too.

Thanks. This is where I put down my brushes and walk away.

Boys want to Paint, too!

2010-08-15T12:29:00.009-05:00

How powerful an image on the computer screen can be. When my sons and nephews saw Rachel's painting (previous post) on my blog, they were thoroughly impressed and inspired! They asked, "who can see her painting? can everyone see her painting?" I told them that people from all over will see it, including my blogger friends from the other side of the world in South Africa and India and DR Congo.

They all responded with, "Can I paint, too! I want to paint, too! And can we put our paintings on the internet, too?" So we had an immediate impromptu watercolor workshop. I only had one sheet of watercolor paper left so we used paper plates to paint as our canvases. I just let them have fun with it. I did ask them to notice what happens when you have a lot of water on your brush vs. when you have very little water on you brush.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who commented on Rachel's post. She was so thrilled to receive comments and couldn't believe how fast they came. She asked her mom for some paints for herself!!!! And if you want to paint, try painting on a paper plate, it's just a paper plate, so it doesn't matter how it comes out. Make sure to stay tuned for my next post. It will be about a blind man painting!

More Cape Cod Scenes

2010-08-05T16:26:00.007-05:00

Seagulls at Sunset

Cape Cottage

Beach House

These are paintings that I have done over the last few days.

Seagulls at Sunset was inspired by a photo my niece, Rachel took, actually. I didn't get a chance to make a copy of the photo so I had to do this from memory. I thought that it was to my advantage to do it from memory because then I wouldn't be able to get caught up in the detail. I was imagining it to be more on the abstract side.

Cape Cottage is very typical of the cottages and gardens you see on Cape Cod. Some are really tiny and then others are made to look small. I saw this cottage in the morning. The picture here got a little washed out. I was most excited about the brilliant colors on the barn. I used 2 reds, an orange and a blue. In real life it looks just fantastic with these colors mingling together. By the way, I am not exaggerating the flowers. There are just multitudes of perennials in bright colors, giant blue hydrangea bushes and rows of sunflowers!

Beach House is inspired from the beach we are staying on. That is part of the cove I have shown in previous photos. I showed more of the house than one can really see through the foliage and added a few architectural details. This was done at low tide in the morning. The clouds were rolling and reflecting the golden morning sun.

Sunday at the Beach

2010-08-01T17:14:00.001-05:00

7 1/2 x 11

In contrast to the last post of the pristine beach on Martha's Vineyard, here is a scene from a Cape Cod Beach done plein air. I always love seeing all of the beach umbrellas on the beach whether in real life or in photos, posters or cards. I have painted many beach umbrella scenes over the years. On this one, I used my artistic license more to connect the umbrellas and figures for composition sake vs. having a bunch of individual "things" spread out on the paper. This painting does capture the feel of a perfect Sunday beach day on the Cape. Crowded, lots of umbrellas, kayaks, sailboats - everyone enjoying the weather. This beach has a lot of tall foliage between the beach and the houses compared to other beaches on the Cape.

Thanks for visiting. Your comments are always appreciated!

Introducing a Young Artist, Rachel, 12 yrs. old

2010-08-01T17:11:00.009-05:00

Looking Out the Window at the Beach

I wanted to paint in watercolor when I saw my Aunt Liana painting on the beach as I was playing on the beach with my siblings and cousins at the Cape, which we all go to every year in the summer. At first I thought she was tracing something, or just copying a picture, but then I saw her from scratch make something outstanding. I asked her if I could try, thinking I would be horrible, but whatever, I thought, I'd give it a try. Earlier in that week I had seen some flowers that looked like the ones in my painting when my family went out to lunch. I really liked them, so I decided I wanted to paint them. The rest, I sort of just made up in my mind. I really enjoy painting flowers and beach scenes. Also, I'd really recommend my Aunt's blog to everyone because it's pretty awesome!!!

Days at the Beach

2010-08-01T08:19:00.003-05:00

Vineyard Beach

The painting above was inspired by a beach on Martha's Vineyard on the Atlantic Ocean side. It was one of the most pristine beaches I have seen. On this day the water was very calm with small, friendly waves. It was such a contrast compared to the day before when the roar of the ocean waves was such a loud continuous thundering with giant crashing waves. In the distance was this curve of land jetting straight out of the water. I kept imagining how I could paint this sloping land with geometric shapes and layers of transparent color.

The photo is the sun setting on the beach we are staying at in Brewster, Ma.

Busted by the hubbie!

2010-07-28T09:06:00.003-05:00

Well, I didn't think my husband read my posts! He read what I wrote about him getting the "wrong apples" in the last post! Out of the blue he said, "oh, by the way, you didn't specify what apples to buy". I thought for a second and then smiled, "you read my post?!!!" Believe it or not, nobody has eaten the red delicious apples, yet. I even brought them on the plane with us to Cape Cod because I can't be wasteful with food. I received many wonderful suggestions on how to paint the apples. Thanks so much!

As you can see, from the photos above, we are at the beach now. The photos above are of low tide in the morning and in the evening. Notice the location of the sun in each photo? I have said before, low tide is my absolute favorite time at the beach. I just love how far the tide goes out on the bay side of the Cape. Does the tide go out this far anywhere else? Please let me know. The house we are in this time has a tide clock. It tells you how many hours until low tide or high tide. The beach is ever changing here, you can literally measure time as the tide comes in, hangs out for a while and then slowly goes back out.

About the two paintings. Cathyann suggested I darken the left side of the painting on the watering can one. Well, I darkened the "other left". Cathyann, I am sorry, but, I am so impatient that I did not try your suggestion on acetate first. Very good suggestion and I highly recommend it. I ended up giving this painting to our gardener. I think he tried to fake a smile. Oh, well.

The second painting is on hot press. Experimenting painting glass. I took this photo when I noticed the evening sun coming in across the table. The dining room was so dark in contrast with this bright ray of sunlight coming in the window. I had 5 different vases holding uneventful flowers and herbs. I decided to paint three since it was my first time to paint clear glass. The glass is not gleaming as I have seen other artists achieve. I do like the free flow of the paint in the background and on the table though.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here so despite a boot on my foot, I have been enjoying the beach. Maybe I will take my watercolors out there today.

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to tell me about your tides!

2010-07-19T11:10:00.006-05:00

Limeade, sold.

Limes in a Blue Bowl, sold.

With the heat now in Dallas, one is always trying to stay cool. That is how this jar of sliced limes came about. I worked on the bowl of limes at the same time while I waited for paint to dry or contemplated what was the next step. Limeade started out as one of those old fashion glass beverage dispensers with a little spicket at the bottom of the jar. The background ended up getting muddy so I cropped it on the computer. I really liked how the lime slices looked so I didn't want to trash the whole painting.

What I learned from painting the peaches is that I really like the light and shadow patterns on these round objects. Most of the time I am painting rectaliner shapes or if there are curved objects they are in the distance and the shadow and light just gets lost with all of the other information in the painting. I guess that is why I also like to do close ups of flowers. To explore the curves of the petals, the light and the shadows with paint. I don't know what I am going to paint next. I sent my husband to the grocery store to buy 5 apples. I didn't specify what kind. He came back with 5 Red Delicous apples. I don't like the color of Red Delicious apples or the shape. They look more like red bell peppers. Unless I go to the store with my broken foot.... any suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by.

Locally Grown

2010-07-14T14:48:00.004-05:00

Locally Grown
11x14

I really enjoyed painting these peaches! I have been wanting to paint peaches since last summer, but, peaches do not seem to last a day in our house. Especially local Texas peaches. They have so much peach fuzz on them and our slightly smaller, but so sweet. Whenever I see the shape of these Texas peaches I immediately remember when I was a kid and picking the peaches off of a peach "bush" in our backyard. I say a bush because the tree was there when we moved in and nobody ever seemed to do anything with it. Prune it/shape it or fertilize it. It wasn't an attractive tree/bush, but it produced a lot of peaches and we were free to pick them off and eat them without even washing them! My friend has a large peach tree here in Dallas. I will have to ask her if I can go by and take some photos of the peaches on the tree. Last summer she sent us home with a giant paper bag of peaches that my kids had the pleasure of picking.

Oh, back to the painting, I enjoyed this painting because I loved "playing" with the yellows, oranges, reds and magenta. I was inspired to paint the peaches in one of these little baskets from a drive we took to Tyler, Texas. All along the way there were stands on the side of the road selling "Locally Grown" everything. We were dropping my son off at camp so I couldn't ask if we could stop and take photos for maybe future paintings. I had one of these baskets at home so I set up my own little peach stand to paint. When I was painting (outside) every now and then I would get a whiff of the awesome fresh peach scent.

Enjoy and have a peach!

Dented but Still Works

2010-07-11T11:04:00.006-05:00

Old Watering Can
11x14

Well my watering can turned up with a dent right on top of it. I asked my 3 sons how did this happen and I got 3 "I don't know" answers with each one shrugging his shoulders and running off. Do I continue to paint the watering can with a dent in it in every painting? How can I buy a new one if this one still works?

In any event, I cannot complain about the perennials or the heavy rains that we have had. The flowers are just thriving. The tall pink flowers in the back are over 4 feet tall. There is a whole mess of this pink "bush" which continues up beyond the painting. It is like a wild tangle of Medusa's hair. There are so many blooms on the zinnias and they are just spilling out over the walk. The black salvia is spiking out tall and proud.

This photo has an overall blue overtone compared to the painting. The upper left corner is unpainted but in the photo it came out blue gray. I did use the auto correct on the computer, but, this is the best it came out. I think I may need to connect some of the darks to get rid of the spottiness.

Strawberries

2010-07-09T12:18:00.003-05:00

Strawberries
9x12
Here are some strawberries I painted outside around 4:00 in the afternoon that's why they have the long shadows. I set them up in two different bowls as well, but, I liked this composition the best. One of the bowls was cut glass which would be a good study and the other is the same silver bowl from the lemons. I really like the reflections of the strawberries in that bowl so maybe on another day I will try that.

4th of July in the Country

2010-07-06T13:09:00.002-05:00

Glen Rose, Texas
Above is a plein air painting that I did from the balcony of our hotel while my toddler napped. Because of my broken foot, we went to Glen Rose, Texas where the kids could do all sorts of activities and I could sit. So for 4th of July, we were in landlocked Texas. This turned out to be a wonderful experience. My family enjoyed the activities at the hotel and the fireworks while I got to sneak in some painting!

I did two ugly paintings and two decent paintings. I thought the one above was okay, but, my husband who is pretty honest and critical thinks it is outstanding. Everyone has their own opinion. This is however, a good representation of seeing land, land, land as far as you can vs. my favorite which is ocean side!

The highlight of the trip was a drive we took through a safari park. The wild animals are more like friendly house pets. I had to post these because I couldn't believe how the animals would stick their heads into our car waiting for treats (every car gets one bag of food). If one animal was being a bully and not allowing the others to get to the treats, the animals knew to walk to the other side of the car to get treats!!! To see more of these photos, they are on my blog.

More French Riviera

2010-06-28T22:23:00.003-05:00

Well, I broke my foot! Really. The only positive thing about it, is that I can sit and paint. So I worked on 3 paintings today. I painted outside with my foot propped up. Both of the above paintings are from photos. The other was a scene of giant Oak leaf hydrangeas. I will post that another day.

You have seen the black and white study of the Bike Race in Nice in a previous post. It is almost how I imagined. Still I would like to treat these cyclists as a single shape with colors mixing, just giving you the idea that they are cyclists. In the photo the cyclists are backlit so you really can't see as much detail as I have here. I did this on hot press paper. I sat on my back porch as the sky grew dark and thundered just before the rain came.

Beau Rivage was started a few weeks ago. Since I was so unhappy about my new status of being stuck with my foot up, I just finished this painting without being too careful. I liked how the finishing touches came out. Much looser than when I started. I also enjoyed the experience of "just do it". Because of that feeling, I started the Bike Race. Although I started Bike Race in a loose style, as the time went on, I got tighter, unintentionally.

Symbols of Summer

2010-06-21T15:12:00.004-05:00

Plein air painting in my sketch book.

9x12 on hotpress watercolor paper

I painted the lemons this past Saturday. Acting on a suggestion an artist friend made, "paint an ugly painting first". So with that in mind and no preconceived images in my head, I saw the lemons in my kitchen and thought I would even go a step further to insure it would be an ugly painting by using a scrap of hot press paper. I had no expectations of having a beautiful painting. How could I when I know I don't like painting on hot press. But, now, I am liking hot press. I don't know if I will buy any more at the moment. I will just use the scraps I have. I am happy with the way this bowl of lemons came out. As you know, my constant struggle is to try and paint looser than my natural style. This is a little loose for me. This has me almost in the groove to paint the cyclists.

The painting of the beach umbrellas brings such wonderful memories back to me. I took out my watercolor sketch book to paint in as another method to trick myself into painting loose. I ended up going on a trip down memory lane. Before I had kids I would always paint "a scene" of the place we were visiting in plein air style. I can only say, I wish I had taken my sketch book on more trips now. It doesn't have to be a great painting. Just a little memory of that place, painting and noticing all of the details. I can remember many details of the day I sat under my umbrella with my husband painting this scene. It was around 10:30 a.m., in Nice, we were the early birds on the beach. Many couples and families filled the chairs around us. One family had a boy and a girl. They came to the beach fully dressed, hung out for a while and then changed into their swimsuits. Lots of fancy sunglasses and cocktails. Someone ordered a Salad Nicoise, I remember because it was the first time I had heard of this before. I ended up ordering my first Salad Nicoise. Then around noon, a gorgeous model walked back and forth on the stoney beach of Nice barefoot showing off the swimsuits and wraps that you could purchase at the shop! She had long hair blowing in the wind. Never once did the stones on the beach seem to hinder her swimsuit strut. And they say a photo is worth a thousand words.

Bike Race in France

2010-06-01T19:45:00.003-05:00

Here is something I have wanted to paint for a very long time. We caught the end of this bike race when in Nice, France about 10 years ago. I was tired of seeing my flower paintings so I looked through my photos for another subject other than flowers. I saw these photos and the motion and blur in the photos makes me feel like it was just today that we fell upon this finish line. I am so overwhelmed with the thought of making a real drawing out of this. There is so much detail and we all know how I have a tendency to get caught up in the detail. The photo is not a good photo for photosake. The sun is behind the cyclists so everything including the cyclists are in shadow. Maybe this can help me simplify the painting. I will try to connect the long shadows and the cyclists as well as the crowd on the sideline. I think I will do a couple of more sketches to simplify before I try a watercolor of this. I am happy with the sketch. I would like to capture this looseness and feeling in the watercolor. All suggestions on how to do this are welcome!

Irises - the final

2010-05-20T23:55:00.005-05:00

Here is the completed painting of the Irises from the previous post.

Irises

2010-05-20T23:20:00.008-05:00

Here are some irises I have been working on. They are painted on a canvas that is made for watercolor. When I started the painting, I was imagining a very loose painting with the paint from the irises blending into the paint of the leaves. I will have to try for a looser painting on paper. Working on the canvas was interesting. There are both pros and cons. Pros, if you don't like it, you can wipe it right off with your brush or a napkin! This is great if you forgot to save a white or if you want to change anything on your painting. The negative is that you cannot really glaze or layer colors on top in the way that I am use to do on paper.

I apologize for having a big jump in progress from the first photo to the second. I was not originally intending to take progress photos. I don't remember why I took the first photo. When I took the second photo, it was to help me see what I needed to do next. Sometimes I will look at my paintings (when they are in progress) in a mirror. This really helps me to see what is missing or what I need to do next. I can get a similar experience when I take a photo of my painting and look at the image on the little viewer on the camera. I find that both of these techniques really help me to see where I need more darks, contrast, etc.

Miami here I come, not

2010-05-19T15:52:00.004-05:00

I just found out that our trip to Miami has been cancelled. I know, I know, WAH. If that is my biggest problem, I am pretty lucky. I was so excited to go because Miami is beach, city, walk around, people watching, great metro vibe. AND we were going to go sans kids. Because my mindset was so ready for Miami, I thought I would post this painting inspired by a photo I saw in Palm Beach so I could experience the trip vicariously through this painting.

Look at this lady's giant hat and her over the top pants. She is free and sassy. Just walking down those steps without holding the rail, but, instead gracefully holding her giant sun hat. I think she is walking down steps at a beach club. One day....

Wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-08T09:23:00.004-05:00

I heard Diane Keaton speak the other night. I noticed that when friends would ask what did she talk about, I would give a different point to each person depending on who it was asking the question. The talk started out as sort of a tribute to Ms. Keaton's mom, who has now passed. Ms. Keaton said she was SO LUCKY to have her mom. Ms. Keaton told stories of how her mom encouraged her that of course she would "grow up to be Doris Day, a big movie star one day." How her mom would let her wear and even make her very own not so mainstream fashion ensembles. Then it turned into Ms. Keaton's present joy of ordinary daily life with her children. She showed very "ordinary" photos of her kids in their daily lives, the audience smiled and giggled with Ms. Keaton as she told the stories behind the photos. Then, last, Ms. Keaton ended with the whole point of life (in her opinion) was to live a very vibrant life. Be vibrant, go for it, don't let anything stop you, keep at it, but, live life full and treasure every moment including the very "ordinary" moments.

As a mom, I am hoping to be a little more chilled out and fun with my kids and to only be so lucky for my own kids to say, "I am so lucky I had MY MOM." As a person, I am inspired to live a very vibrant life.

Now to my Mom who of course, like all mothers, aunts, grandmothers, sisters and friends around the world, thank you for the unconditional love, selflessness, encouragement, shoulder to lean on and all of the other countless things you do that often go by unnoticed.

Spring has sprung

2010-05-02T19:58:00.002-05:00

It feels so good to paint again! Here are some daffodils. I put these together from several different photos I took around the neighborhood this past March. I have more photos of other varieties of daffodils that I would like to paint soon. Now I am finishing a painting of red roses that I started in February. We are having a very mild spring for Dallas.

2010-04-29T22:54:00.003-05:00

F

Friends, friends, friends, please forgive me for not blogging in so long. I have thought of you often. I truly have thought of my fellow blogger friends who are always so kind to take the time and comment on my posts. I have thought of you and what you are painting these days or enjoying. My excuse is, Spring Break, then Easter, then, well, I got involved with our school carnival. During all of that, I would think of you and your dedication to your posts and your paintings. I have also been admiring all of the beautiful blooms around Dallas. First, the daffodils and tulips and now the azaleas and the irises and then an amazing show by the climbing roses all over town and now even the hydrangeas are starting to bloom. I didn't even name the anemones and poppies, dogwoods, pear trees and mexican red bulbs. How lucky am I! I have taken some photos, and although the weather has been amazingly beautiful, I have not sat for plein air painting. The irony is that tomorrow, my painting group is suppose to paint in Turtle Creek for a plein air painting session, but, it is suppose to storm all day.

The above photos are a sampling from the Dallas Arboretum and the Valley House Art Gallery (a must see, always fantastic art in a beautiful intimate garden/gallery). We went to Valley House for their "Garden Party". Great exhibit with hot dogs, lemonade and brownies!!!

The painting is of Highland Park Pharmacy in Dallas. I had painted this a while ago and I thought by now I would have done a more detailed pen and ink of the building. My friends showed it to the owner, who has since replied favorably. Either way, I still have a pen and ink on my list of this subject.

The last bit. It was our leader of our Bible study 40th birthday. I was thinking of various gift options. Then I remembered that she always commented on my paintings. I looked through my paintings and found one that I thought she would like. It always feels good to give, in the words of Mary Clayton, (Bible Study leader) give what you have.

Blogger friends, I can't wait to visit your sites and see what you have been doing! Much love and happiness.

Spring and Snow

2010-03-22T12:45:00.003-05:00

Geraniums in the Window, 11x14
I am still working on the oil of Mykonos which is coming along nicely. I put my oil palette in the freezer while I was out of town. While I was waiting for the paints to get soft, I finished this watercolor above. The oil palette came out nice and fresh and good to work with. In regards to this watercolor, I think I took this photo in California. There are geraniums and clematis growing on the wall. With all of the daffodils in bloom and the bright sunny days, I was inspired to make this painting really sunny. Ironically, the morning I finished this painting, Dallas was covered in snow! It never snows in Dallas, until this year, that is. I am happy with the light and shadow in this painting. I did take artistic license on this painting and changed the white shutters to blue and embellished the flowers.

Look at this beautiful planet we live on. These images were in Beaver Creek, Co. this past Spring Break. I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked. That is why I had to put the one of family up there. It was the only one that shows the blue sky and the mountains behind. Look at how tiny the people are down the slope in the distance. While we were there the sky would be clear cerulean blue and as the day went on it would go to deep cobalt without a cloud in the sky. I took a lot of pictures of aspen trees as well. In the Batchlor's Gultch the ski paths are heavily lined with bunches of aspens. When you are skiing through them there is warm glow all around. So many colors are reflected off of the trees, lots of grey green, gold, cool yellow, orange and brown madder (red brown). Some of these trees are so big around. A photo cannot depict the feeling of being surrounded by aspen trees. Something I noticed from the ski lift is that even in the shadows of the aspen trees in the morning, the main shadow would be a french ultramarine blue and as the shadow of the cluster of branches went away from the tree, there would be a golden color on the snow, sort of like a halo, then the white, white snow.

European Paths

2010-03-18T20:56:00.005-05:00

I have been working on this oil painting (second picture) of an alley in Mykonos. While I was trying to develop the foliage and plantings, I got distracted by this watercolor I had started (top photo) over a year ago. I had drawn and glazed the watercolor, but, at the time, I felt that I didn't save enough white, so I started over (Siesta in Cap-Ferrat) and put this one aside. Today, I liked the glazes I had put down. So I went back and forth between the oil and the watercolor on this day. I finished the watercolor and to my surprise, this watercolor came out much brighter than the one I completed first (posted in 2009). I will continue with the oil.

Someone asked when did I go to Mykonos. The last time was in 2002. Like many artists, I take lots of photos for inspiration and then organize them by subject. I have all of my Greece photos out right now because I really want to paint this photo of a woman walking with her donkey. Eventually....

Pears

2010-03-03T17:16:00.007-06:00

I did these pears in a plein air class on a rainy day. We met in the studio and made some simple still lifes. We were limited to two colors and the main challenge was the painting style/technique which I cannot recall the name. I searched my notes and the internet and cannot find the name. If anyone knows please tell me. It is the style / technique were every stroke is put down with intention. No glazing or layering. If it is dark, you put it down dark the first time. Susanne Kelley is the teacher and her quote constantly is "paint what you see, not what you know". That is how I was able to paint the glass. I would like to try this again with another subject.

OIL - Ignorance is Bliss

2010-02-23T22:28:00.007-06:00

Covered Bridge, 11x14 oil on canvas

Hot Summer Day, 11x14 oil on board

Recently I read an article about an artist that changed her medium to something else because her circumstances had changed (lost her studio, less time). I had noticed that I had been becoming even more impatient in my own watercolor experiences. I realized that I was trying to complete a watercolor in 20 minutes (my darling 2 yr. old) which is not at all the way that I have ever painted. I was not considering changing my medium, but, then I found these two oils that I had started long ago. I had taken an oil workshop from my watercolor teacher, Cecy Turner. (She is amazing in both mediums. In fact, she was just on the cover of Watercolor Artist, February issue). These oil paintings were far from being complete. The thought of completing them was daunting. There was so much canvas showing with very preliminary oil sketchings.

I started on Hot Summer Day first. This being my second oil painting, I didn't know what rules to follow. I don't even own an oil book to refer to. I had started this painting as a plein air painting with a painting group out at White Rock Lake. I started by applying paint with a brush to the sky. Painting the clouds and foliage on the tree were like playing with clay. I could move the paint around. Here, try there, no back over here, let's add some pink, what happens when you add cerulean, what about ultramarine? For the field I applied the paint with a palette knife which I had never used before. I mixed the colors right on the canvas. I loved using the palette knife. The white patches on the tree trunk and elsewhere in the photo is the reflection of the flash on the thick paint that is still wet.

For Covered Bridge (Vail), I basically applied techniques I use in watercolor. I saved my whites and I did push and pull. I think the shadows and the high contrast in the trees are what make this painting sing to me. Because I am not use to the qualities of oil, the shadows came out much darker than they would have if I were doing it with watercolor. For the detail on the aspen trees I used a red and green and applied with a palette knife which came out much darker than in watercolor. For the foliage on both paintings I mixed yellow and blue with a touch of red, "Nature's green doesn't come out of a tube," what Naomi Brotherton, another watercolor teacher use to always say. Even into her 80's, I am sure she still says that to her class. Again, it was such freedom to move the snow around and shape snow mounds, very different from watercolor.

Surprisingly, I didn't experience anything daunting while completing these paintings. It was fun, the time flew by, there were no expectations - ignorance (of your medium) is bliss! Try something new and leave your expectations at the door.

Stay warm! It's cold in Dallas, still!

Catch of the Day

2010-02-19T10:35:00.006-06:00

I am so excited to post this painting for two reasons. First, I am very pleased with the results. Just as in the guitar players, I wanted to capture the expression and feeling in a loose style. There is still room for improvement, but, my kids recognized their aunt and I feel that I captured her look of being proud of her great catch.

The second reason I am excited is because I have to tell you about my Aunt, otherwise known as Fishing Philly. My aunt has fished all her life and even when nobody else is catching anything, she does! Really. Here she is showing a Red fish (the big one) and two black specks or also known as speckled trout. Of course, she had to mention to make sure to tell my boys that normally she catches trout the size of the Red. Yeah, yeah, another fish story? These fish were caught in the Corpus Christi Bay, my home town. Behind her is a shrimp boat where you can buy fresh shrimp right off the boat!!!!

When I told her I was posting this in my blog, her fish tales went on and on. She wished that there was not a shadow from the cap on her face because she thought it made her nose look bigger. I didn't even paint the shadow in. On the first version, I did, but, it covered most of her face, which I ended up overworking. As you can see from the shadows of the fish that the sun is nearly directly overhead. The shadow from her cap went across her face at the tip of the nose so I left it out in this painting.

Now my aunt is looking for more photos of her catches and that are more flattering of her. I guess that means it's not that bad if the subject is looking for more photos of their self for me to paint.

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting!

A Mess of Curls

2010-02-13T16:34:00.006-06:00

I decided to participate in James Parker's February challenge since I had good luck with it before. I was attempting to do this painting in 30 minutes so that I could get a loose effect. The top painting is the first attempt that I ended up overworking the eyes. I tried a second time. The two bottom pictures are the same painting. Although I overworked the eyes on the top, I love the hair, the overall style and feel, the colors and the depth in the girl's face. Maybe I can fix the eyes later. I think I can lift out some. The second painting is probably not complete, but, I don't like how her face is looking older than what she is. So on the advice of some of my so sweet artist followers, I am done with this one and ready to move on. Thank you to my artist friends on blogger who were full of good advice and encouragement. I have already started another painting, one of a Nice Beach. A little more complicated than 40 min. But, I have wanted to paint it for a long time.

If you would like to see the other entries or the original photo in James Parker's monthly challenge, visit Windows to the Words ART.

Thanks for visiting.

Discovering what I like about watercolor

2010-02-12T09:47:00.008-06:00

At top are the guitar players that I have been working on / avoiding for so long. I have had a lot of questions for myself on this painting. Why do I want to paint it? Why is it taking me so long? Why can't I do it? Why am I having so much trouble with it? What do I do next? Normally when I paint flowers, landscapes, structures, it is a fun and short process. I don't always get a painting that sings to me, but, I never have the kind of trouble I am having on this painting. The reason why I first wanted to paint this is because I saw the photo and really liked the expressions and the body language of the band players. They are in an elevator, so the photo isn't a perfect photo, in my opinion. I truly believe that some photos are meant to be photos only and not painted. I am having trouble with this painting because I know one of the guitar players. I have been told it is much more difficult to paint someone you know vs. someone that you don't. So I have worked all around the painting avoiding the person's face that I know. Thanks to an artist friend, she encouraged me to go in with a dark background. I promise the day I did the background, it was really dark, although now it seems a midtone. I will go back with more washes. So now, I have time invested in this painting and I don't want to mess it up by ruining the faces. So I am avoiding them. Chicken!

What I have at least learned is that the way I like to experience watercolor is wet and loose. I find that painting on large paper allows for me to go wet into wet with colors side by side blending into each other to make a new color. I like clear, vibrant colors and I love high contrast - white as the white of the paper next to very dark.

I may not have achieved that in this painting, but, I have several ideas dancing in my hand where I can experience watercolor in this way. The subject matter is flowers, something that I am comfortable painting and that I love to paint because of the curves, turns and interesting shadows. But, I want to learn how to apply this technique to subject matters that I want to paint. My Friday painting group is not meeting right now and I am not taking any class or workshops so I feel as if I am in a rut, unless I paint, paint, paint and learn by trial and error. Also, I have been spending a lot of time looking at other artist's blogs. I have recently found several watercolor artists that I am so inspired by. Feel free to check out the artists that I follow on blogger.

On a happy note, everyone, look at our beautiful snow. We are actually snowed in today. This is so unusual for Dallas. I know in other parts of the country this would be nothing, but, for us this is a fabulous winter wonderland. If you go outside you hear this amazing sound of the snow melting and dropping from the trees. It is a peaceful whishing sound.

Thanks for visiting!

Flying Low in Santa Fe

2010-02-04T06:13:00.008-06:00

My husband and I went to Santa Fe this past October. One of the highlights was the Georiga O'Keefe Museum. I loved seeing so much of her work together and hearing about her life. We spent our time going from one gallery to another. The main highlight for me was going hot air ballooning! Unfortunately, this is an early morning activity. It is necessary to go in the morning before the sun starts affecting the earth's surface so that you have a smooth ride vs. experiencing a lot of turbulence. Flying low is because, we did contour ballooning which is flying low to the earth right along the contours of the hills. If you ever go ballooning, ask if they are contour flying otherwise, you just go straight up, maintain one altitude, then straight down. On our ride we went up and down, felt the ever so slight wind changes, touched ground a couple of times and glided right beside these gorgeous vertical ridges.

It is absolutely amazing when you lift up off the ground and right before your eyes the ground is shrinking away and you see a very fast changing perspective. It is so peaceful and like floating. It was almost like time stopped only because it was the quietest quiet I have ever experienced. I wanted to stay up there all day. To be gliding smoothly and quietly over the earth so close to see wild rabbits.

When it was time to land, the wind and changes in air pressure had already been affected by the sun. Our speed was high, it was pretty bumpy skimming the ground for so long and the balloon wanted to keep going although the land crew had hold of our basket. With this balloon company they always end every ride with a champagne toast to remember the first balloon ride in France. When the first balloon landed on some farm land in the country, the farmers were so frightened and wanting to protect themselves. The pilots proved that they were harmless and flying the king's balloon by sharing a bottle of the king's champagne with the farmers.

The painting, Santa Fe House is probably one of the most photographed houses in Santa Fe. I thought I had found some little gem. Painting the adobe structures is very similar to painting the Mykonos structures. Very thick walls that you can catch the light on or some creative color play in shading. I used several very soft, pale washes on the adobe. I enjoyed seeing all of the light blues, lavenders, oranges and reds in the wood shutter to the side of the door. The wood door had some of these colors, but, the shutter for some reason had so many more. As you can see, I found several colors including blue and lavender in the adobe.

11x14 original watercolor, sold.

Mykonos Revisited

2010-01-30T14:51:00.004-06:00

This was a villa down below where we were staying. The sun has already passed over the house and it is about 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. I love Mykonos' white and blue architecture. All over the island are structures made of thick white walls with bright blue doors and shutters. These structures are great to paint/draw because they are simple, yet, have so many different surfaces and the thickness of the wall gives an opportunity to play with light and shade. The white is really bright with the sun shining on it. I have only been twice, once in March and once in April. Both times just a tad too cold to thoroughly enjoy the beach. The water is the most amazing clear blue. Despite how cold it was, I still went swimming. It was not nearly as cold as a lake in Red River, New Mexico. That water was clear green, reflecting the trees.

11x14 original watercolor

Architectural Journey

2010-01-23T16:22:00.004-06:00

Here is a commission I just finished. For the locals, do you know which house this is? As you know, I love the architectural detail in old homes. This house was built in the 1920's, but, has been renovated recently. The architectural detail inside and out is amazing. Because of the trees and landscaping, it was difficult to get a photo. Also, I had to be discreet when taking the photos because my client was going to give it to her husband for his birthday. The first time I went to take photos, the husband came out to walk the dog so I had to sneak away. I went back on another day when I knew he would be gone and took several photos. I finally got a photo from an unexpected viewpoint which was perfect. I love how the trees in the foreground frame the entry with the trees that are in the center of the yard. This is the 4th house on this street that I have had the privilege of painting.

11x14 original watercolor by Liana Yarckin

2010-01-15T06:42:00.008-06:00

I found these cards from a Christmas past. Years ago, before I had children, I would paint individual Christmas cards. That was when I had all of the time in the world to meticulously tape off 50 plus cards and paint one for everyone on my list. It was a relaxing and rewarding time preparing the cards. Sometimes I would paint snow scenes, Christmas trees, holly branches, every year a different theme. The above are cards from the Christmas that I had just found out I was pregnant with my first child. I don't remember exactly how I got the image for the above cards. I always loved Michelanglo's Pieta. My mom even had a small replica in her room. I remember that was my inspiration. As always, I wanted to use lots of vibrant colors. Also, another favorite technique, wet into wet. With the above 3, you can see how the results are different as the paper was freshly wet compared to starting to dry. I would line my cards up and do several at a time. I tried different colors in different areas, as well as different techniques. It was always fun to see the results. For the first few years after children I would send a watercolor card along with a photo card. When I stopped doing that, a friend called and asked if she was off of the "A" list because she didn't get a watercolor card. I told her that I didn't do them that year. She told me that she always looked forward to getting her original little painting every year.

Snowy Days

2009-12-28T21:11:00.003-06:00

A tribute to our white Christmas in Dallas. It never snows here, so the excitement of a snowy Christmas Eve and then yards and houses covered in white snow on Christmas morning made me feel like Santa came! Some even made snowmen. Because of the holidays and also my latest project the guitar players, I have no new paintings. So I found these two to post just to say hello to you. The one on top was done years ago in Naomi Brotherton's class. She is known for her night paintings, so here I have not only a night painting, but, a snowy night painting. The second painting is not complete. I am working on a couple of house paintings, plus doing a lot of research on trying to find out what to do next with my guitar players. I found an artist that is highly regarded for his fantastic portraits. I love his work, and it is close to what I am imagining for the guitar players - just capturing the essence of their expressions, but, I am shocked that his work seems to be unfinished and sketchy, yet he is regarded as highly accomplished. Don't get me wrong, I do love his work. In the meantime, I found a book in all places, at my mom's house on our Christmas visit. This book posed the challenge for an artist to go beyond painting what you see. Create tension and vibrancy by purposefully selecting the appropriate colors. Right now all of the ideas are jumping around in my head and I have to either wait for them to calm down or just experiment to move on.

I will posts the name of the book next time (it is in the car right now). Hopefully, I will have something new to post for you soon!

Happy New Year!

2009-11-22T10:37:00.005-06:00

English Tea

Guitar Player

English Tea

The above painting is a still life I did in a class. Up until this point I have never liked doing still lifes. I didn't want a still life to look at. They are so boring or odd. A bunch of random objects, usually from the kitchen. What is the point. But, from this still life I learned that the finish product is not really the point. By doing a still life, one gets to experiment with the medium of their choice. An artist can chose to try to be realistic or take the painting down a different path with different techniques. Also, not to mention, still lifes can greatly improve one's drawing skills. Still lifes are a good way to practice and experiment with simplifying shapes, learning about color, finding patterns, understanding positive/negative space, the way the light falls on an object, relationship between objects and the list goes on. I don't know why I like this still life. It does not sing to me, but, something about it keeps pulling me back to look at it. It is clearly not my typical color palette, maybe that is why there is no song. Something about it is working though and I am happy about that.

Guitar Player
I told you about the guitar player I was working on. This is as far as I have gotten. I started it long ago, but, am chicken to continue. I don't want to mess it up. When I am working on a painting, I am always visualizing it in my mind constantly. Whether I am driving, cleaning the kitchen, watching T.V., I sort of daydream and imagine the finish piece and then when I go to paint, I know what to do. Most of the time it is so easy for me to see the finish product. On this painting I cannot see what I want for the final product to be. I can kind of imagine it, but, it is cloudy. It is so weird, like having a dream that you can barely remember. So I keep thinking of it and waiting for the image to appear in my mind. I am so happy with what I have so far, can you believe that with the way it looks? I want to keep the sketchiness and just the essence of the gestures.

All comments welcome! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-08T14:20:00.004-06:00

Girl on Beach

Here is the watercolor from the ink study posted down below. The photo was taken in Nice. The girl is a young Italian girl watching her brother play. I simplified the photo, taking out all of the people, beach umbrellas, the city in the hills and focused only on the girl and her dress. I loved the way her dress was blowing in the wind and how it seemed that she had absolutely nothing to do but, take small wandering steps and twiddle her thumbs.

I have good news in regards to the two art shows I posted. Both were a success. The Grape Escape raises money for Heart House, an organization that provides after school care and activities for children. Art works by several artists were displayed and for sale with 50% or the proceeds going to Heart House. The most touching detail of the event was all of the "postcards" made by the children. Each postcard was decorated by a child with a message from them and their photo. To read the messages was both sweet and heartbreaking. Of course, I immediately took out my checkbook. I am so happy that my Aspens painting sold as well and that half of the proceeds will go to Heart House.

Then Friday night was the Annual Preview Party for CityArtCal. Great party with lots of great art by local artists. A guest found Sunbathing Poppies for a Christmas present. It sung to her and she said that when she saw it she immediately thought of her daughter. There were a couple of bidding wars going on with some of the artworks. My husband luckily won the bid on a painting that sung to him. Would you believe, aspens, but in a completely different style than what I paint.

Have a fabulous week. All comments welcome!

2009-11-05T00:19:00.002-06:00

CityArtCal Party

Friday, November 6

1544 Slocum, Dallas

6-9pm

Great Art by local artists

Cocktails, Hors d'oeuvres, Live Music, Silent Auction