An evening of Ballerinas

I have been ridiculously busy since the Fall. We placed 28 piers under the house and releveled the foundation. With all of that jackhammering, cutting down beautiful hibiscus bushes and relandscaping, there has been little "peace" for painting. An irritated tendon led to "trigger thumb" and I rested the hand for a month. Needless to say, painting has been few and far between.

I recently took a 3-session class where we had a group of ballerinas pose for painting "in motion". This was the first piece I did after an evening of charcoal and pastel sketches.

Fiesta de los Muertos

Fiesta de los Muertos

(Dead Party)

6"x8" transparent watercolor

I am totally thrilled to be one of the invited artists to join organizers Chris Beck and Pablo Villicana Lara for a Halloween Painting Challenge. Chris and Pablo (with whom I share a birthday, by the way) have been doing fabulously whimsical challenges for Easter, which showcase their famous "peeps" and I have been big fans of both of their work. These two amazing artists have now extended their fun challenges to a small group of artists for this ghoulish season.... and here is my entry. Living in Corpus Christi with such a huge Hispanic influence, Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is a big deal. Everywhere one can find skeleton cuchinas in bright colors. Even my wooden art mannequin had to get in on the act.

To view the other artists's works, please check out both Chris and Pablo's blogs where they will be showcasing all of the paintings for All Hallow's Eve...

Chris Beck:  http://chrisbeckstudio.blogspot.com/

Pablo Villicana Lara:  http://www.mylittlepaintbox.blogspot.com/

An Arwenian Christmas

I have this fabulous tiny dashund-terrier rescue dog that I got last year who is now my constant studio mate. We named her Arwen and I've decided she needs to be my Holiday focal point. I kept telling myself I was going to paint a Holiday card this year... so Arwen became my model. I haven't done a lot of painting lately. Since my September exhibition, I've been doing more traveling and teaching than painting. But with the "winter" months coming (such as it is in Corpus Christi), I'm hoping to do a lot more painting.

Going, Going, GONE!

My solo exhibition in Baton Rouge was a success... these paintings were sold at the opening, and a number of giclee prints were ordered of Tiger Country, Grapes Durand, and Shoot for the Stars. But most of all, I enjoyed having my highschool reunion the same weekend and sharing my love of watercolor with my old classmates.

Tomorrow I take off from Corpus Christi with stops in Oklahoma City, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, Nashville, Birmingham, and finally going through Baton Rouge and visiting the family before heading home. I'm hoping to get just a little painting done, but I'll pretty much be in the car most of the way. At least I'll have my brand new camera to take reference photos of the beautiful fall color that we do NOT have down here in Corpus Christi! When I return, two days later, I will be teaching a three-day workshop at the Art Center here. I will certainly be exhausted after all of that!

Tiger Country

Tiger Country

28"x20" transparent watercolor

I am finally back in the studio after taking off late June through mid August for carpal tunnel surgery on both hands. It is amazing to be able to hold a paintbrush and not have my hands go numb. In September, I will be having a solo exhibition in Baton Rouge, the same weekend as my 35th high school reunion. Since I'll be back in "tiger country" (LSU Tigers are the rage) I decided I needed to honor the inner tiger and paint one. This will be hanging in the exhibition. It was a nice piece to kick off post-surgery painting.

Ice Iris

 

I have not had much opportunity to paint since beginning the carpal tunnel process late June. Finally the hands are healing. I didn't get a chance to post this last WIP painting prior to surgery. I promise to get back and finish this piece soon. I did decide to change the name to Ice Iris, though.

Iris of Lavender - WIP

I'm currently working on a painting of these lovely blue and blue-lavender iris' that I found at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago in their outdoor gardens. I don't know why I'm so drawn to the bearded iris. Maybe it is all the movement that I find there, the six fabulously ruffled petals that curl ... or maybe it is the dramatically opposed bud before its opened and the spent blossom as it curls within itself. I love all the stages of this flower and have painted it for many years. In painting this piece, I prefer to "ease" into my darks so that I can balance the soft and hard edges. I wan to to punch the deeper, darker values at the end to keep areas clean and crisp. I find when I try to glaze over dark values, the pigment lifts and moves around, clouding up the areas I'm trying to preserve. I believe taking my time layering is important for organic shapes like this one. I want this painting to look as clean up front in person as it does from far away in a digital image.