When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

impressionistic

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Asters

Sunday, February 26th, 2023


 

Asters, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper

Asters, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. I usually take photos outdoors, and like the previous drawing, it’s been difficult to get a decent photo of the piece as a whole. Details are best viewed in the following thumbnails 1. upper left, 2. upper right, 3. center, 4. lower left, 5. lower right:

  Asters, detail 01 upper left   Asters, detail 02 upper right   Asters, detail 03 center   Asters, detail 04 lower left   Asters, detail 05 lower right  

Waterfall Fantasy 03

Wednesday, November 22nd, 2017


 
Waterfall Fantasy 03, 6H x 3W inches watercolors

Waterfall Fantasy 03, 6H x 3W inches watercolors

Spring Garden Mix

Saturday, April 27th, 2013


 

Spring Garden Mix, 18H x 24 inches oil pastels on 80 lb acid free premium

Spring Garden Mix, 18H x 24 inches oil pastels on 80 lb acid free premium. Framed size 27H x 33 inches.

Branching Out

Friday, March 20th, 2009


 

  Branching Out, 6H x 6W x 2D inches, Encaustic  Conifer, 6H x 6W x 2D inches, Encaustic

Branching Out and Conifer, each 6H x 6W x 2D inches Encaustic, side surfaces also done.

Encaustic is designing/painting with beeswax. I’m not usually intimidated by trying any new medium, but wax is so unique and there are so many possibilities for it, I was a little overwhelmed when I took an introductory course with Deanna Wood. She offers her students workshop days where they can use her supplies to continue experimenting with the medium. Although I’d love to have my own supplies to work at home, the encaustic process is so messy, not to mention expensive to get started, so that is a generous offer.  Today’s studio work produced 4 small encaustic paintings, and 2 are successful. Compared to other media, wax is so versatile it can be scraped off to whatever degree, reworked, layered, carved and manipulated as much or as long as you wish. It’s a lot of fun!

Encaustic – painting with beeswax

Friday, January 16th, 2009


 

Windy Maple Leaves 8H x 10W x 2D inches encaustic

Windy Maple Leaves, 8H x 10W x 2D inches encaustics

Flamboyant Tree Seed Pods design, 10H x 8W x 2D inches, Encaustic Dahlias, Encaustic, 8H x 10W x 2D inches

1) design inspired by Flamboyant Tree Seed Pods, white beeswax inlay on black, and 2) using a print of an old painting Dahlias as a base, techniques were more spontaneous, each 10H x 8W x 2D inches encaustics


 

Encaustic Artist Deanna Wood offers her studio space and supplies to her students on days when she’ll be there working. It’s a bargain for $30 per day so I went yesterday and finished the two pieces above.  Painting with wax is a messy process, and Deanna’s studio is all set up for it, so it’s a perfect arrangement for artists who work primarily in other mediums, who don’t yet have their own supplies and wish to continue exploring encaustics. BYOS – Bring your own surface!

Encaustics work table: heat gun to fuse wax to surfaces, a piece I worked on yesterday, some scraping tools, and an electric frying pan melts naturally colored beeswax A heating tray melts the colored wax

With a FAQ page on her website, Deanna outlines a brief history about encaustics and herself.  Her most recent solo exhibition displays a portion of the extensive amount of encaustic works created around the theme of tornadoes. Including a few multi-media pieces as well, the show runs January 10th – February 29th, 2009 at the Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The Fourth Of July finished

Saturday, September 27th, 2008


 

The Fourth of July, central detail

The Fourth of July, central detail of 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas

Yesterday as I added a few final brushstrokes a blue streak showed up unintentionally from some color left in the center of the brush. It was one of those rare details that happen accidentally to change the course of the entire painting. There are similar angular strokes that were starting to build up from color washes, but that tiny spark of blue brought all the others to attention, so today I added a few more in different colors. It was exactly what I was searching for. Over the course of time I may see areas where more tiny streaks need to be added to balance out the composition, but it’s otherwise finished. I am so excited about the sparks of color idea!

 

The 4th of July on the 22nd of June

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008


 

The Fourth of July, 36H x 48W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress

Added darkest values, mapping out the composition more clearly, now will define a few blossoms in the foreground by washing off dark areas and paint with pure colors from the tube and bring back to the cheery lights and brights that were present at the start.

White Pine Bows

Friday, April 18th, 2008


 

White Pine Bows, 20 x 34 x 1.5 inches acrylics on canvas
White Pine Bows, 20H x 34W x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted. (sold 2010)

Some paintings take a long time and change dramatically from start to finish. Others have a clear direction and seem to flow out in a day, as this one did.

White Pine Bows, 20 x 34 x 1.5 inches acrylics on canvas, just started White Pine Bows, 20 x 34 x 1.5 inches acrylics on canvas, phase 2

Post-dated note: showcased in Visual Arts Society of Texas’ 125 Show July 24th – August 15, 2008.
Also, Debby Davis a local Denton TX poet wrote a poem inspired by the White Pine Bows painting
Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
finding my eyes uplifted; what a show!
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines.

Bouncing branch to bough within stiff white pines,
like the beat of an orchestra playing.
Violinist gently pulls; taut bow whines
raining harmonies; colors displaying.

Like the beat of an orchestra playing,
my thumping heart strings tug me into now!
raining harmonies; colors displaying,
I am an audience of one somehow.

My thumping heart strings tug me into now!
It is the secret that only I shall know.
I am an audience of one somehow.
Fragile notes fracture light into rainbow.

A New Day

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008


 

A New Day, finished, 20H x 26W inches dry pastels on scarlet orange charcoal paper, cream colored mat

A New Day 20H x 26W inches dry pastels on scarlet-orange charcoal paper with cream colored mat. This is a completely different style using materials I’ve never really tried before. Using pure color has an incredible effect on the mood, and hence, in the work. It feels like a brand new day!

Gold In The Mountains 01

Sunday, November 4th, 2007


 

Gold In The Mountains 01, 20H x 16W inches acrylics on canvas, antique frame 28H x 24W inches total

Gold In The Mountains 01, finished – 20H x 16W inches acrylics on canvas. Has 28H x 24W inches dark-stained antique frame with gold trim

Started late in 2005, Gold In The Mountains 01 has evolved through many changes to achieve the finished painting above. The first thumbnail shows the painting at a stage where I thought it finished so entered it into Artjury.com’s 2006 Spring/Summer online exhibition. It was accepted, and at the time I liked the larger areas of flat orange-gold, but about six months later I thought the work needed more depth, and the dark branch across the upper portion stood out, so I began a long process of scrubbing off, building back up, scraping and layering paint, repainting, etc. The piece reached a few different stages where it could have been called finished, but I was not entirely pleased, so kept searching. Here are a few stages in the transformation of Gold In The Mountains 01:

  Gold In The Mountains 01, Phase 1 - as it was when accepted in the American Juried Art Salon’s Spring/Summer online exhibition, 20 x 16 inches Acrylics on stretched canvas.   Gold In The Mountains 01, Phase 2 - During May 2006 I started the risky process of reworking the entire painting.   Gold In The Mountains 01, Phase 3 - portions were scrubbed off then rebuilt; explored a lot of different styles.
  Gold In The Mountains #1, Phase 3 - portions were repainted, scrubbed off and rebuilt.   Risking the ruin of a piece is always worth the effort; when I’m not happy with work, it is already inadequate, the best thing is to try and try again until it IS adequate enough to be called finished.   Gold In The Mountains 01, finished - 20 x 16 inches acrylics on canvas, in progress


Gold In The Mountains 01 with antique frame

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