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!

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

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 ...

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!

 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.