This shows the beginning stages of my next three paintings, themed with bees and blossoms.
One of my goals as Springtime approaches, is to incorporate bees into three collage/paintings measuring 11″x14″. Above, you will see the beginning stages of my work using my blossom sketch, bees I’ve drawn and cut out pieces of paper. I find as I walk outside and see beautiful pink blossoms on the trees and pink and yellow tulips popping, I want to incorporate those into my artwork.
detail of painted background applied leaves and beginning of painted blossoms
Shown above are the blossoms I painted this morning as well as the background color and the collaged leaves. While working, the thought crosses my mind, “do I want to apply any ink to these paintings, or just stay with embroidery for detail?” Time will tell!
I hope you are enjoying your summer! With the warm temperatures and cooling nights, my summer is very enjoyable. Much art activity has gone on during the past three months.
The Gypsy Cart this past Saturday at the Farmers Market!
Three times now, the gypsy cart of art has made it to our Farmers Market. I’ve been very happy with the response from people enjoy the cart and my artwork! On the cart I have smaller original paintings, prints, hand colored prints, floral garlands, notecards, bookmarks, vegetable bags, and pallet paintings (which are actually off the cart) for sale. The market is held downtown Iron Mountain, across from the library by the stage. If you get a chance, stop by say hello and you may the perfect piece of art for a gift.
Some of the art for sale on top of the gypsy cart.
A few weeks ago, I helped The Friends of the Braumart to put together the “framework” for the Inaugural Mostra D’Arte show, held during the week before Italian Fest weekend. It currently is the only gallery style juried art show in Iron Mountain. Sixteen artists, three jurors, and numerous hours of planning and setting up and striking the show, made for a wonderful exhibition of art. I was surprised and delighted to win the Third Place Jurors Award on my watercolor painting of The Three Graces which depicted three women stomping grapes. Sometimes hanging a show can be challenging, but I was so happy with the ease that two women and I had in curating it. We received many positive comments regarding the hanging!
Meanwhile, up in the studio I’ve been framing watercolor and ink paintings to hang in the gallery. This is the week I plan to rehang! During the week, feel free to stop by the gallery downstairs to see what’s new.
The Dig In and Bike On project continues to move along. Through Kickstarter, 3 racks have been funded and created. Outside of Kickstarter, 3 racks are ordered and a voice agreement for another. Ronnie Bradke is doing a fantastic job of fabricating the racks. Two have been installed in the downtown and I hope the third can be installed this week in time for the Labor Day weekend.
May the rest of your summer and the coming weekend bring you much delight!
Many times I’ll capture a photo of a beautiful place with the intention to someday paint it. Now as I write this, you need to understand that creating a painting from a photo is not the same as to make it look just like the photograph. If that is the intent, why bother in the first place, just use the photo.
I use the photo as reference for shapes and placement. If you look at the picture above you will see my original photo of Boulder Creek and the unfinished painting. The original photo is dark due to the overcast day. I love to use color and using brighter colors, especially compared to the muted tones in the photo, gives the painting more life and joy than the photo. The color gives me more of the emotion of how I feel when I think of Boulder Creek. I use the photo to get a general idea of placement, a starting point for a composition, not as a compulsion to put every single bush, branch and stone into my painting. The photo is a starting point only.
It is so much fun having this installation at Bay West. The ventilation system is blowing varying currents of air on each of the spheres, making each rotate at different speeds.
Thank you to Russell for his ladder climbing and line tying help, as well as Shelly’s, Jeff’s and Rick’s input.
The spheres will be on display for approximately two months, so if you get a chance stop by and take a look! Thanks to Vicky’s idea of making a booklet, new booklets are ready for viewers to help guide them around the installation.
Hello all! I’m very excited to let you know that the installation Catherine and I made for ArtPrize 2012 is on display at the Dickinson County Library in Iron Mountain. Thanks to Vicki the librarian, viewers can pick up a booklet to carry along to help interpret each sphere. It will be at the library until the 17th or 18th of January; from there, it will travel to Bay College West at the North End of Iron Mountain, where it will be on display for about a week.
Join us in celebrating nine women who changed the course of our planet through their environmental leadership.
Each woman and her impact are visually represented through a three dimensional wire globe with paper cut-outs symbolizing key points in her life. Explore the “recipe cards” for more information on the ingredients of each woman’s legacy.
These heroines include Rachel Carson, Vandana Shiva, Jane Goodall, Wangari Maathai, Lois Marie Gibbs, Julia “Butterfly” Hill, Dai Qing, Marina Silva, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
