A CUP OF COFFEE AND A GOOD BOOK . . . .

. . . ESPECIALLY  PAGE 79!

Yep - the new AcrylicWorks book is here - and my "Peekaboo Bear" resides on page 79!

This is (obviously) the 3rd book in the acrylic series and I'm thrilled to be included once again.  By my tally there are only 10 artists whose work has appeared in all three of these books - and I'm one of the 10!

The book is available at Northlight Books - if you are interested in purchasing a copy.

SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP

On September 18-19 I gave a workshop in fluid acrylics titled "Painting Silver and Lace" for the Southeastern Indiana Art Guild in Aurora, Indiana.  I know most of these ladies, some for years, so I knew they were all good painters, and suspected that the 3 I did not know were also good painters.  Turns out I was correct!

Since I was being photographed during the workshop, I just turned
the tables on "the photographer"!

Whenever I teach a workshop - unless I'm teaching beginners - I always think "what can I possibly teach these people?".   But it turns out that there is always something they didn't know.

I was asked to teach this painting in fluid acrylics, a medium some of the ladies had never used and some had used, but in a different way.  Since this was a project based workshop, we all painted the same painting for which I supplied the photo and tracing.

Long story short, a good time was had by all, and most were able to complete the painting in the two days allotted.  For those who did not complete the painting that weekend, they will be able to do so at home using what they have learned.

Here they are, all holding up their paintings for "show and tell".  (You may recognize this painting!)

Over all their response was positive, and I really enjoyed the experience.

ACRYLIC ARTIST MAGAZINE, SUMMER 2015

Next up, I'm featured in the Summer issue of the new Acrylic Artist magazine.

I'm one of several in the section on "color".

QUICK REVIEW OF 2014

At the end of each year I usually take a look back at what happened in the prior Art Year.

This past year my artwork was accepted into:

• 121^st Woman’s Art Club Juried Exhibit – The Anniversary Clock won the Winsor & Newton Award
• Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibit - Swirls
• Hoosier Salon – Japanese Tea won the Outstanding Watercolor Award and sold that evening!
• 46^th Annual ViewPoint National Juried Exhibit – Swirls and Daisies on Daisies
• The Artist’s Magazine 31^st Annual Art Competition: Still Life/Interior (Finalist) – “Oriental Roses” (Acrylic), “Yin Yang Mums” (Watercolor)
• Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s 35^th Annual International Juried Exhibition (received Signature) – Flights of Fancy
• Watercolor Society of Indiana Annual Juried Show (received Signature) – Industrial Revolution
• Two of my paintings have been published in the book Artistic Touch 6 – Red Paisley Scarf and Flights of Fancy

In addition, I held two workshops.

My plan for this year is to take time to simply produce more work, so I may not be entering as many shows this year.  It will depend on what I have available, and I’m not going to put myself under that “deadline” pressure.  We shall see!

My best wishes to all of you in your artistic endeavors this year.

CHROMA PAINT TEST - 12

Here is the completed painting.

Josie's Tomatoes, 16x20, on Ampersand board, Chroma Free Flow and Classic Acrylics

CHROMA PAINT TEST - 11

Here is a gentle progression of the painting, showing the building up of shadows.

CHROMA PAINT TEST - 10

Color has been added to the tomatoes and more to some of the leaves on the napkin.

Color was added to the lace, and a light shadow added to the tablecloth and napkin.

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 9

Next I began adding some pink/magenta to the flowers on the napkin.

 All of the colors were deepened, and some of the stems and other dark areas were added to the tomatoes and leaves.

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 8

I applied yellow washes to the tomatoes and the leaves and flowers on the napkin.  Some greens were added to the leaves.

This layer was followed by some oranges and reds over the tomatoes and some darker washes over the tablecloth.

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 7

 For the next painting using the new Chroma paints, I chose an Ampersand cradled panel.

I drew this one onto newsprint the size of the panel (16x20) and then traced it onto the Ampersand.

I applied a wash of yellows and beiges using both the Free Flow and the Classic. 

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 6

Here is the finished painting.  I added some gold leaf to the vase.

Gardenia in Blue Vase, 30x22, Chroma Acrylic (Free Flow and Classic) on Arches 140# CP

I'm not unhappy with the final product, but would probably have been more careful with the gold leaf.  Putting that glue on is like putting on miskit, and you have to be very careful with the placement.  In fact, in hindsight, it would have been better just to have painted in the gold but, that's what experimenting is all about, isn't it?

I liked the products.  The only difference I thought I noticed was that the fluid paint dried out a bit quicker than the Golden and DaVinci fluid acrylics do, unless that was my imagination.  I should probably do a comparison to the G and DaV paints, but don't think that is really part of the paint trial.

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 5

More shadows were added and more color added to the gardenia.

Here is a close up of the gardenia with a second layer of color added . . . . . 

and here with even more color added . . . . . 

Then the background was added. 

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 4

Once the paint dried, I put tape around the edge of the vase and edge of the doily to protect them as I darkened the table area. 

 Some of the lace areas were darkened, as was the shadow area below the doily, and the creases of the doily were added.

The vase and shadows were darkened. 

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 3

Here is what the painting looked like when the first layer of paints had dried.

I then added some more of the reddish and blues to the flower and vase, and added the dark leaves.

A mix of browns and yellows was added to the doily and the table. 

Once the doily dried, I added browns in the lace areas. 

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL - 2

I began the paint trial by using the acrylics as I normally do, as though they are watercolor.

I created a simple still life from a gardenia in a beautiful blue and gold vase brought to me by one of my students using a doily that she had also given to me.  This was traced onto Arches 140# CP and taped to a board.

I miskited the areas of gold on the vase. 

Then I put out some "dots" of the fluid acrylics and one "blob" of the cobalt Classic, and I was ready to begin.

I added some colors of blues and reddish to the flower and down the vase, and then more of the blues in the shadow area. 

That was all I could do until the paper dried, so I sprayed some water on my paint and covered it with some cling wrap. 

CHROMA PAINT TRIAL

I was asked to participate in a paint trial for Chroma paints, way back in the winter.  Of course I said yes, thinking that it would be a great time to play and experiment, since not a lot was going on due to the horrible weather that so many of us experienced.

Well, there were delays galore for shipping due to that awful winter weather, so by the time the paints were delivered, I was busy.  But I finally got a chance to begin using the paints in late May.

Turns out that, even though I had requested only their Free Flow - liquid acrylics - they also sent me tons of their Chroma Classic paints.

Above are the paints and mediums they sent me - a full box!  The jars are their Classic, the small bottles on the right are the Free Flow and the 3 tubes on the left are Atelier Interactive - something like the Golden Open.

The next few blog posts will show the paintings that I have created so far.

ACRYLICWORKS BOOK

Oriental Roses, fluid acrylic on 300# Arches CP
Featured in AcrylicWorks (pg. 46)

Sometimes when it rains it pours.

First a painting was accepted into Watermedia Showcase and featured in the April 2014 issue of Watercolor Artist.

Now one of my paintings is featured in the new AcrylicWorks book - edited by Nancy Raynor and published by FW Media - Northlight Books.

How happy am I???  VERY HAPPY!!!

My painting “Oriental Roses” is featured on page 46 of the book. 

That painting was also in the 2012 Ohio Watercolor Society show and travel show, and was sold! 

Every now and then we catch a break and have a good success!

If you would like to order AcrylicWorks, here are the links to Amazon and NorthLight Shop.

FEATURED ARTIST!

I’m happy to let you know that I’m featured on Carrie Waller’s blog “Carrie’s Creations”.  So hop on over there to see my interview!

Carrie had a lot of great questions that made me think before I answered, but if I were filling out the interview today, some of those answers would be different. I don’t always do the same thing. Even as I reread my answers on her blog I realized that I’m not painting exactly that same way right now. But I might on my next painting!

Art – there really is no “cut and dried” right answer!

We can probably all agree that our art evolves constantly. Hopefully we are all making a progression to better pieces in the future, with that elusive “best” piece always our goal.

Thanks to Carrie for inviting me to participate in her Friday Feature Artist!

And - be sure to check out her "guest blogger" - my good friend Rhonda Carpenter!  Check out Rhonda's blog too!

Happy painting!

ACCEPT AND REJECT . . .

The good news is that my painting "Farmall" (fluid acrylic) has been accepted into the Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibition!

On the flip side, the bad news is that, once again, I've been rejected from another national show. 

Oh, well.  I consider that my entry fee is my contribution to Art, and it will help fund an award or workshop there, so it's going to a good cause.

Art gets a lot of my cash throughout the year.  Hope "he" appreciates it and spends it wisely!

ABSTRACTED LANDSCAPE - FINAL

I had meant to get more photos in between beginning and end, but forgot!!!

You can see here the vibrancy of the colors I used, but there really isn't much punch in this painting.

After I added in black lines to outline each shape, you can see how different and vibrant the painting looks.  Certainly not my usual colors (what's up with that!). 

I probably should not be so dark in the orange part of the sky area, but, oh well.  This was a demo.  Overall I'm happy with the outcome and I think the students impressed themselves with their final results!