Making a painting out of your (future) dinner

I needed another try at avocados. They have become my favorite fruit (or are they considered a vegetable?) since I started the whole healthy foods thing in January. So here they are, presented with the fresh garlic and a lime, ready to be turned into my now favorite snack: guacamole! Sorry chocolate... I had to kick you out and I don't really miss you. Much.

Tex-Mex

8" x 10"

SOLD

Art Show at the Opera House

I am one of nine artists participating in the Beancreek Area Artists Exhibit at the newly restored Opera House, 105 East Main St., in Fayette. The show runs from June 2-July 2, 2012. The opening reception is June 2, 2012 from 6-9:00 PM and if you are in the area you're invited to stop in and view the shows and meet the artists.

Many thanks to Kristin Michalkiewicz and the Fayette Arts Council for organizing this event and inviting me to be a part of it.

We Now Visit the HORSE in the Landscape

Last week I talked about putting people into your landscape, and painting from life, which was a new experience for me. This week I worked on a very different kind of painting. I live in a rural area and although I'm a city girl I have grown to love it over time. Family farms are still a way of life around here. Farmers raise cows, chickens, pigs, and yes-- horses! I'm a portrait and wildlife painter for the most part, so I have a certain affinity for animals. They are beautiful and whenever possible I will include them in my pastoral landscapes. This painting is a hybrid. I used a picture that I took of a farm I drive by often for the background and the horse lives at an historic village near my home where he pulls carriages. I took his picture the last time I visited and I knew he would look awesome with this backdrop.

I have wanted to paint this barn for a long time and I have lots of pictures of it. What I didn't know when I started the painting was how much it needed to be placed in a 'context'. So what initially in my mind was to be a painting of a beautiful farm became a painting all about a horse. That's OK, because I've learned to live with this inner voice that pops up at some really opportune moments to tell me what I need to paint.

20" x 24" Spring on the Farm

Pastels Again

I switch back and forth between pastels and oils for my portrait work. These are the two mediums I am most familiar with and I enjoy working with the most. Occasionally I'll do a charcoal or pencil drawing and I have been know to create murals with acrylics but I love these mediums the best. Pastels are a more delicate medium but I can get more done in a shorter period of time than if I used oil paint, which is helpful if you are working from the live model and you are not sure if you'll get another chance to see the person. That's the case here, where I attend a weekly portrait group and I am never sure if i will be able to show up the following week. I think it's important to work from life as often as possible, especially if you plan to work from photographs at any point. The life sessions will inform your view of color and help when you have to make it up from those flat photographs.

Anyway, we originally had a different guy scheduled but he didn't show so this is Jake, a young guy who showed up to draw with us but who was promptly hired as a new model for $15 an hour! He has a very nice sensitive face and he was a pleasure to draw, paint whatever!

Painting the Figure in the Landscape

My second challenge at the Sauder Village paintout: a painting of someone who was actually moving-- and an hour and 15 minutes time to do it in. I always work better with a deadline so I looked at my watch and asked the man if he was going to be stirring the kettle of soap mush for awhile. He said he woudl be there until 3:00 PM. I needed to head back to the Museum for the critique by 2:30 PM so I decided to give it a try. I love trying new things anyway and I had never painted painted anyone outside before or anyone who was moving. On top of this I had a curious audience of four children who talked to me the whole time I worked on the painting. THAT doesn't bother me; in fact I enjoy showing kids what is possible with paint and of course their generous praise is always gratifying.

Challenges I faced with this painting included smoke blowing into my face, a constantly moving model, smoldering and sometimes crackling fire and figuring out how to paint the steam as it roiled off the soap. I enjoyed every minute though. A small painting that captures the movement well and it will serve nicely as a reference for a larger piece.

The Soap Maker

8" x 10"