Faith

For some reason the issue/theme of faith is still holding strong with me. I suppose it has always been in my sub conscious only now I'm much more aware of it's effect on my work.
This is a piece I started at the workshop with Mary and that I have come close to resolving. I might make some further adjustments to the fish image - perhaps fade it a bit more but first I will set it aside for a few days.

unable to access!

I haven't been able to get at my blog since December and it took this long to straighten everything out - partly because I'm lazy and it seemed like too much trouble!
Now that I'm back, I can start getting caught up. GRRRR and I also need to learn this new setup.
                                                                                                              

After the spring show; An Event Apart, I didn't paint again until October, when I attended a workshop with Mary Todd Beam at Arrowmont in Tennessee with 3 of my good friends; Lauren Everitt Finn, Patty Henderson and Tom Powell. This was my third workshop with Mary. I find her incredibly inspiring. See her work at: http://www.marytoddbeam.com

It was a great week and I painted up a storm. 

Some of the results:

a few new animals as a respite

Once I finished those abstracts, I had 2 commisions, a bday present and a xmas card to create.
here they are

commission #1
a trio of spaniels - the ones on the left & right are departed
watercolour10 x 16



a xmas present - had some trouble with the photos so painted 2 and forgot to take a photo of the second before they were picked up
watercolour, 8 x 10
,

and then the birthday present - 10 x 14, watercolour - "crooner cat" for Leo


last, my Xmas card - my cat sitting in my garland also 10 x 12

continuation of a theme

Prayers

I decided that my original concept have merit for continued exploration. This time I wanted to enhance the stained glass effect of my original drawing so I used heavy black lines to break up the picture plane. I also kept these vertical as another contrast to the 1st series.
here are the 3 results

this one is 21 x 34 acrylic on canvas


16 x 30 acrylic on canvas


16 x 30 acrylic on terraskin

and another one

This is another one in the series I'm doing but it's a huge departure in terms of the colour. I am and have been struggling with it all week - it might be close to resolved now so I will let it sit for a few days and see how I feel then.

24 x 48 acrylic on canvas

continuing the series

2 more

and continuing the series ....

This is the next one - 24" x 48" Golden acrylics and gels
Again I find myself wanting to stop here ... not really convinced that it's finished but will let it rest for now.

some revisions and titling problems

The more I kept looking at the vertical painting I posted last, the less I liked the purple! Today I tried some over painting with blue - didn't work; orange - ugly; Payne's grey - didn't work and finally burnt umber with a touch of black to deepen it. This time I think it's better - still letting it sit.




I also worked on this second one to resolve composition issues - I had split the bottom area into 4 fairly equal sized areas - merged 2 and like it better.



Now to the naming/titling of these! I have been feeling really energetic and high on life so all these paintings share that connection. I have been tossing around the following title ideas:

Dances with a Brush
Brush Dances
Dancing with Life
Brushes with Life

These would be a series numbered from 1 to however many I get done! I hate coming up with titles!!!
Any suggestions?

a very unusual last few months!

Well, after the rains cleared and I got back to golf .... health issues interfered and I ended up in hospital for emergency surgery! 3 weeks in hospital were followed by another 3 weeks gaining back some strength - not the weight though - that was the good part - lost 24 lbs and am keeping it off.
Interestingly, I became quite energized and started several canvases. I do have a large commitment for the spring so it's a good thing I seem to be inspired.

the next 2 paintings are complete and await titles .... groan - the hard part.

this one is 27" square, acrylics, pastels and gel mediums


24' x 30"; same materials



and now shots of my studio with the rest of the prepped canvases.

No 2 in the series

I decided to re work the second one - the colours just didn't work - too peach/beige
I added further texture mediums and tinted it with white gesso. I had already decided that the colours I wanted were copper and turquoise so once everything settled - including the rain therefore no golf - I went back to work on this. I am liking it so far but will let it sit for a few days before I sign & varnish it.

continuation of a theme

This all started because I have a beautiful piece of glass hanging in my family room window. The shapes and lines have always intrigued me so I did a somewhat loose sketch of it - planning on using it as a springboard for a painting.
I often work on top of previous paintings that I am not fond of and that's how the first one evolved. (posted Tuesday)

the glass piece & the sketch



the second one - today

I wanted to continue working with the original layout and see what moods variations of colour
would give me. I had wanted to do warm red/browns & coppers with turquoise
accents, so to start (this was very blue underneath) I put in some of the colours very wet! I decided it was too messy - particularly since the original painting still showed - so I used watered down gesso to calm it - instead I got this muted combo and now I'm somewhat baffled!
Another issue is that I was so far into the doing of it, that it didn't occur to me to change the composition!!!



and to add to the confusion - I have 2 more set up - vertical comps this time

2 done - I think!

I think the both of these are resolved, but now I will wait to see what my critique buddys Lauren & Patty have to say about that ...... lol




I took them outside to photograph - it is really bright and sunny today - amazing how they look different in sunlight. Now the top one looks just a bit garish ........

another begining

22" square acrylic on canvas

Another square canvas that I needed to revise - I added some linear texture elements; wiped back most of the under colour with thinned gesso & nickle azo gold and added some compose blue to highlight the linear bits. Now it needs to sit for a bit while I analyze the current condition. Already the large bluish top left is bothering me.

new take on a previous start

22" square, acrylic on paper

I had started a loose macro of a double hibiscus about a year ago and pulled it out again last week - needing inspiration. I decided to add some strong linear contrasts after reading Jan Sitt's book titled "TEXTURECOLORFEELING". I had some subtle textures going on already and wanted to see what increasing the darks would do. Now I'm letting it season - I might increase the hue saturation on some of the petals eventually - but I will let it sit for a bit.

very happy client!

finished!

the client is satisfied and so Emma is done. Turns out she wanted the name off to the right side - so another scrub and change. Good thing this paper could handle it!
Finished portrait; 9 x 11 watercolour on Fabriano Artistico 140lb

chchch changes ......

After the client viewed the progress photo, she had some changes to suggest
- smaller, greyer nose - I think the grey is okay - but I couldn't get it too seem lighter and smaller
- close up the mouth & lighten it up
- no tags
- some apricot notes on the body
- add her name at the bottom
changes made - we'll see if she approves

next steps

I worked a bit more on the areas I had mention - added the dog tags; changed their positioning; added and altered the background - the client asked for beige/rose - I will need her take on this before it counts as done.

I will have to take a good look at it since it looks a lot more pink/warm then I thought ..... hmmm

the beige dog

This is Emma so far - I'm having a bit of trouble keeping her light - her mom wants a beige/rose background and I'm afraid she will disappear.
I still need to complete the nose, refine the eyes, paint her collar and tone down some of the values on the left.
I probably will mute the tags too - don't want them to be in conflict with the eyes.
So - did I get the smile?

next on the easel ....

It's time to get back to pets. I have a new commission for a cockapoo named Emma who died recently and I hope to have tomorrow to get going on her. My favorite pose is not the one the owner picked. Not surprisingly she wants an upbeat look - a smiling Emma - so I will do a composite of the different photos I have to work with.

this is Emma in my favorite pose - she looks adorable here


This is the smile I will use


and this will be the pose