blog-an-artist-journal

May 10,2013

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:35:36 +0100

Spring is here. At least my tulips are up. They are timid though and have not shown their colors yet. I don't blame them for it is still chilly today. I don't know if I have any news at all. But I did have sketching in mind at the beginning of the year with an absolute ridiculous resolution to sketch every day. This is a warning about resolutions. Resolutions promote failure. However, to help my sketching block, I decided to take a sketching class. It is very interesting. This class is with the artist instructor, Greg Lipelt, who recommends that drawing lessons will be a great benefit in the development of one;s art journey. I find the class inspiring and the whole process helps me see new possibilities. I'm being vague because I am only on class number 3 but I am encouraged. Now, I did sketch from a photo myself at the age of ten. It was a little photo but as I was drawing, I thought to myself that I would love to paint her. And I did and you can see my new painting that I have already framed and hanging in my bedroom. Also please come to my demo at the Art on the Line show next weekend Friday at 1 PM at the Fine Arts Building in the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. This is a great show with over 100 artists displaying original watercolor art. I will have a small wall there too. The same weekend is Art A Whirl in the NE district of Minneapolis. Come visit Studio 321 where we can talk and enjoy.

April 12, 2013

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:50:18 +0100

Here we are, almost in the middle of April and let me tell you we still have fresh snow. The good news is that the snow is mixed with rain and the rain is named "April Showers!"!!!! April showers brings May flowers and the tulips are anticipating a break out soon. Yesterday as I drove to Roseville for open painting, I thought "now what do I paint today. Hmmmmm" I imagined the tulips under the ground complaining and having a coffee bitch party but when I got my paints out, i couldn't do it and started painting tulips already sprung. Here's my rendition. It is one of the worst paintings i've done but it did feel good pretending that the tulips were already here. last night I had a big surprise. I won an honorable mention at the MNWS Spring show at the Minnetonka Art Center. When I saw my painting's slide appear I was so surprised and felt totally honored. This is the painting that won the award. "The living room" is in the home where I grew up in Pennsylvania. And my other painting of a "Small Town" a memory of my growing-up town with the hills practically in your backyard, also was juried into the show. It was a fun night, and through the snow and rain we made it to the reception.

March 17, 2013

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:18:31 +0100

Unbelievable, this lingering winter's effect on my psyche. I'm now painting paintings that I have done before. This is an activity that I have rarely resorted to, but the prolonged winter has stifled my brain. I did choose a favorite photo of a time that I was invited to sail on lake Michigan. We had cantaloupe for breakfast and the blue glassware made a lovely photo with lovely memories. I hope all is well with you. We continue with ice mounds of snow and temps dipping into the single digits. We are planning big things in the future though. The Plein Air committee is starting to plan ahead, organizing Wednesday morning paintouts and Art on The Line with Northstar Watercolor Society is gearing up for a big time in May as well as NE Mpls famous Art a Whirl the same weekend. Surely I will see you then. Happy Easter!!!!

February 23, 2013

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:16:55 +0100

I'm still getting used to writing 2013 on papers that need to be dated. It seems to me that the impossible view of the future that existed always in my mind, has crashed now into the present time. It continues to startle me. I heard yesterday that soon "apps" will be on your wrist watch and the Dick Tracy cartoon of the fifties with Dick checking his watch for information relating to solving mysteries, has now come to be. I am grateful that my painting process grounds me as I focus on the intricacies of painting. I love that. Time flies and I am relaxed as in a quiet meditation. Painting is good for my health. My resolution to sketch everyday has fallen by the wayside but painting is still happening weekly and it is energizing my happiness. Here's one that I did just this week. There will be a number of Spring Shows coming up. Minnesota Water Color Society Show in April at the Minnetonka Art Center, Minnesota Artists Association show at Frameworks in March in the Highland District, Art A Whirl in NE Minneapolis in May. I hope to talk with you soon about art. Please come on March 7 to the First Thursday at Northrup King Building and visit the Studio 321. Let me know if you see this blog.

January 29, 2013

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:09:34 +0100

To report on the failure or success of my resolution conclusion for my first month, I have painted three times a week, but I ave failed horribly in my resolution to sketch everyday. I must start this new month and do daily sketches to see if I can at last be successful. This month has been very fun, however. I have tried to paint snow and snow related subjects. This is new for me and it has been interesting. ;I like the coldness of the blue and white with the warmness of burnt sienna and yellow ochre. It is a stretch for me not to use predominantly reds and yellows and greens. This challenge was suggested by a critique grou[ I have been attending consistently. Critique groups are very exciting. They differ from open studio gatherings where you mostly work alone for a couple of hours in a room full of people. I have received lots of help and suggestions from the other artists but contrasting this to a critique group is interesting. Critique groups look at your painting and really study it giving gentle suggestions and encouragement. It helps me define what I am doing and it inspires new ideas. Here are a couple of my snow, cold etc paintings..

January 5, 2012

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:04:39 +0100

Resolutions. yikes. I do resolve to continue painting, but that is all the further my mind has gone. I ordered paper from Cheap Joe's an art supplier by mail and internet. I'm ready to go. Now proceed with 1.) daily sketch something, anything from what I see out my window to what I remember I did yesterday. Sketching from memory is fun for me and it is where i find a wealth of ideas. Oh, I need to get to 2) painting at least three times a week Ha that's stretching a bit but I will try. After all, it is only January 5th and my imagination is jumping around, 3) continue showing my art at any possible opportunity, Northrup King Building Studio 321, currently some paintings are being shown at Jules Bistro on St Germain St in St Cloud, great food there too and soon I will have some paintings at the UCare Skyway Senior Center on 950 Nicollet Mall suite 290 in Minneapolis, and the rest of my paintings take up residence in my house. So there you have it. Three painting resolutions. I think the hardest one to keep, but also the most fruitful for my growth, is the number one, sketching everyday. Wish me luck!!!!!!! Oh, by the way, the painting next to this blog is from Christmas Day Painting excursion at a friends home. She invites all guests to paint and we all do just that. this is her living room with the white Christmas lights twinkling on the deck.

December 6, 2012

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:57:47 +0100

I feel the winds of Christmas, the bite in the air, the beginnings of Christmas Card greetings and the music on my car radio. Gratefully there have been no snow and ice hassles and life goes on. My biggest joy at Christmas is sending and receiving greetings from friends and for years I have created my own cards somehow, someway. This year's possibility is the image I will post next to this Merry Christmas blog. A friend told me of a talk she heard recently that gave the message from Angels that wait beyond for our prayers, ready to help, she said, if only asked. I loved the image that popped into my head and here is the painting done the next day.

November 17, 2012

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:44:39 +0100

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone, Every year I paint a Turkey painting in celebration of Turkeys. This year I decided that the White Turkeys might like to get their feathers dyed so as to appear Wild. So the painting is of the Feather Salon. Hope you enjoy your time with your families contemplating thankfulness. I'm thankful for all things that allow me to exist joyfully and to appreciate deeply my beautiful world, family, and friends.

October 29, 2012

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:47:18 +0100

I have arrived back from Baltimore, having enjoyed painting in a workshop with Skip Lawrence for five days. I am praying that the hurricane that has arrived there will not be as devastating as predicted for many of the people at the workshop live on the East Coast. Here are some of my paintings. We are getting ready for Art Attack at Northrup King Building and I hope that I will see some of you there over next weekend.

October 13, 2012

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:10:06 +0100

Here I am again, just reporting on what's happening. I'm getting ready to go to a workshop in Baltimore in a few weeks and am planning the details as to what to take. Will it be chilly or warm? Will I have enough paints and enough paper? This is a Skip Lawrence Workshop and I go most every year. His teaching has helped me slowly through the years to grasp some understanding of the art that is speaking to me from inside. So I'm excited about the trip. I did get juried into the Bloomington Art Center Member Show and I was most happy to see my painting, "Luncheon" among the most beautiful paintings in the show. Until Later, everyone take care, and support the arts in Minnesota.