I loved the relationship between this young girl and her baby goat. The goat was so trusting and the girl so loving. It was a perfect photo for our current class focus on painting figures. I really enjoyed the attempt, finding it less frustrating than buildings.
Recently I met some high school friends in Maysville, Ga for dinner. The restaurant was charming, the food good, and seeing old friends again after many years made me quite nostalgic. To add to the mood, I found this scene behind the restaurant; it's been many, many years since I've seen clothes hanging outside to dry. I can almost smell the sunshine and fresh air and hear sheets flapping in the breeze.
I started this second painting from a photo taken in Canton, Ga a few weeks ago. Our class focus last session was on buildings, town scenes, etc. They require a lot of preciseness, perhaps more than I'm willing to give! It's a great exercise and learning experience, but I'm ready to focus on some other things for a while.
Our class has recently focused on painting street scenes; since this is not a topic I normally paint, I had to make some photos. This one is from downtown Canton, Ga. It looks crooked in the post, but that's a result of the photography, not the painting! This one was a real learning experience.
I've been very remiss in posting for the past few days. This landscape is the result of a class exercise in painting only with our non-dominant hand; in my case, that was with the left hand. It was really difficult not to use the right hand at all, but I did manage to complete the painting without doing so. It was a fun exercise and MAYBE I'll try another one in the future. I've been working on the study of shells off and on for a couple of weeks and completed it this week. The photo was taken on one of Karen's, Holly's and my trips last summer. I'm sooo ready to take another trip to the beach.
I've always loved this photo of my great-nieces and drew it once before in pencil. Today I decided to complete it in pastels. This is my first attempt at painting figures.
Last year this male bluebird and his mate raised three families in a box at the front of my house. They quickly "trained" me by flying up for the mealworms I provided each day. They provided me with many hours of fascinated pleasure. "Daddy Boo" did almost all the feeding of the young after they fledged; "Mommy Boo" seemed to think her job was done at that point. I think the same couple will nest in the same box this year, as they flew up to me a few weeks ago and asked for worms. And who could say "no" to a request from a bluebird?!?
This one was a learning curve. This close-up of a yucca is on velour matboard. I wasn't very successful in achieving straight lines as a result of the surface nap; I think it would have worked better on Wallis and will probably try it soon, as I like the photo. Oh, well........
My friend Elaine gave me a copy of a photograph she made of a storm at sea. It was a perfect reference on which to try out the new set of Thunderstorm Gray pastels by Mount Vision. The set is wonderful, but I did wish for a darker yellowish green; so, of course, that meant going outside the set. Overall, though, I really like the set. Thanks, Elaine, for the reference photo.
I just had to try another painting on suede paper. I photographed this rooster in downtown Blue Ridge and love the way he seems to be looking out for the traffic before crossing the street.
This is the time of year I'm torn between watching the birds migrating through Marietta and painting. Since it's raining today, I'm free to paint and chose this little Phoebe. I took the photo last fall through my living room window. This is my very first painting on suedeboard (Thanks, Holly!); I decided to try it, as it seemed appropriate for this sweet-faced little bird.
Most of my friends consider grackles a nuisance bird. And of course, in a way, they are - emptying feeders, frightening song birds away, noise, etc. But this "black" bird is truly beautiful up close, reflecting all sorts of iridescent colors which remind me of raku pottery. I snapped this photo through my living room window one morning as the bird arrived to raid the feeder.
I was afraid my Lenten Roses wouldn't bloom well this year due to last summer's drought. Apparently they are quite tolerant of those conditions and are blooming beautifully. This little bloom was from a new variety which I bought last year; of course I can't remember the name! It's a small plant and seems to like growing in a pot rather than the ground.
Since I haven't had time to paint recently, I decided to post his loggerhead turtle I painted a few weeks ago for my great-niece. She's very interested in and concerned about them and asked that I paint one for her. I hope her interest in the wonders of our world continues to grow with her.
We played with paint and papers like pre-schoolers, having so much fun and learning lots of new techniques. The only element missing was our VIP partner, Karen! These are the 3 collages which I finished; now that I have had some practice and inspiration, I will be completing more, hopefully using the little bits of paper, flotsam and jetsom I've been hoarding over the years.
This mother-daughter duo seemed to pose for a photo together; they were a handsome pair. Both have unruly hair, and I'm going to tell my brother (who owns them) that he has to comb their hair before the next photo session! I plan to repaint them again in the future and try to use a looser approach.
I've been working on this study of donkies for a couple of weeks now; for some reason, they're more challenging than cows. And I even know the donkey personally! Changing the backgrounds to a complementary color seemed to help. They will be picked up tonight for donation to the Cobb County Democratic Party where they will be part of a fund-raising auction. I hope someone wants them!
Yesterday I drove a friend to a medical appointment. While waiting, I sketched this ACEO with pastel pencils. I really like using the pencils but find the colors rather flat and dull and without a good variety of values, so I did add a couple of accents with Giraults.
Holly and I were anxious to see the Celebrating Georgia Women Artists show at the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, especially as Karen won first place in Pastels! We arrived to find the Museum not yet open, so we had time to spare. Naturally, our first thought was of coffee and food. So we went to Sugar Cakes, a wonderful Patisserie on the Marietta Square. The pastries were so beautiful that we had to photograph them for painting and did just that today. As you can see, I love Bran Muffins! Check Holly's blog to see her favorite.
I started this painting of lily pads in class on Tuesday night and finished it on Wednesday when Holly and I painted together. The photo was taken at a wildlife preserve in Florida. It looked like the little Iris had chosen the lily leaves to showcase it's bloom.
When Holly and I get together, we like to experiment with different art techniques. These little trees (3" x 3") are the result of one of our "play"sessions. We used acrylic and dimensional paints; it was so much fun that we can't wait to do more! Holly's are the bottom two, while mine are the ones on top. We could only have had more fun if Karen had been with us!
On a garden tour a couple of years ago, I took this photo of the garden's owner. At least in her own mind. She graciously allowed us to visit and accompanied us on the tour. I loved this shot of her vigilantly guarding her garden.
Another study on a prepared gator board. Holly and I played today and had fun using pan pastels on the board; it's a totally different experience. There was no photo reference - just going with the board surface.
I took this photo of a grackle last summer when Karen, Holly and I traveled to Harbor Island. Since Karen painted a beautiful cedar waxwing today, and Holly painted a lovely bird nest, I had to paint something avian as well. I liked this bird's stance.
