Red Roses....at last!

Red Roses was one of those tough ones. It is a larger piece at 24" x 18" which means it took more time simply because of the size. However, when I had completed the painting......the first time....I was not really happy with the results (image on the left). I was happy with the fruit in the bowl and the pitcher....but I felt the roses looked flat and the whole piece just didn't meet my expectations. I knew something was wrong....but wasn't sure what to do. So I called a good friend who is an excellent artist as well as a great teacher. I sent her the image and we brainstormed. Her first reaction was not one I wanted to hear since I had labored over it. She felt my shadow competed with the actual pitcher of roses. She suggested I think of presenting the shadow as on a wall much further back so it wasn't so "in your face". I didn't want to let the shadow go....but as I digested her comments I realized she was right. When I talked about the roses being flat we talked about adding more contrast to the roses themselves....but also the possibility of darkening the background.....hmmmmm.....hadn't thought of that! Maybe I could address both issues with a change of the background. Another thing she pointed out to me was that she was confused about the rose on the table.....but it was because she couldn't see the stem as it was in the shadow of the bowl. That would be an easy fix. I left the painting to work on another piece while I continued to think about how to address the background. I looked on the web for pieces by still life artists I admire to see how they did their backgrounds when there were reds in their setups. Finally, I was ready for the redo! I completely changed the background, spent a lot of time adding more contrast to the roses and ended up changing not only the stem of the rose on the table...but the cloth itself underwent a transition. A lot of work.....but now I am happy!!!

Art Challenge 2010

I once again signed up for the Arizona Pastel Artists Association Art Challenge. Last year's experience was a career changer for me as shared in previous blogs. This year the objects for the challenge were two creamy white ceramic bird salt and pepper shakers. I had a lot of ideas for paintings around the objects....but decided to go with a little sense of humor. My son and daughter-in-law gave us a wonderful handmade wooden birdhouse a few years ago. It is beautifully decorated with greenery and pine cones. It was so cute we kept it indoors as decoration instead of putting it out for possible use by real birds. I decided it was the perfect house for my newly obtained salt and pepper shaker birds! I set the scene up and added a couple of rocks from the yard and some additional greenery. I changed the name on the mailbox from "The Birds" to "Mr. Pepper & Mrs. Salt Bird"........and that became the name for the piece as well. I can't wait to take it to the November APAA meeting to share and to see what the other participants chose to do with their set of salt and pepper shaker birds!!

APAA Artist of the Month

Each month the Arizona Pastel Artists Association holds an Artist of the Month Competition at our monthly meeting. The winner of each month's competition is eligible to have their winning painting compete for the Artist of the Year honor at the end of the meeting year. At the October meeting I entered my most recent painting, "Ripe Strawberries". I was excited to have the painting bring me the Artist of the Month award. I am now eligible for the Artist of the Year competition.....as long as the painting does not sell in the meantime. Oh well....a good home for my painting is more important than an award.......right????

Taste of Cave Creek 2010

Wednesday and Thursday of this last week I participated in the Taste of Cave Creek. The Taste of Cave Creek has been an expanding event over the last few years. This year the town decided to add an art exhibit and sale. They approached the Sonoran Arts League of which I am a member to provide the exhibit. I coordinated the exhibit as well as exhibited my own work. Considering it was the first year for the art exhibit, the event was a great success. The artists participating were hoping for sales of course, but realized that as it was a first time event getting additional exposure was the big goal. However, many of us sold artwork to our surprise. I sold my landscape piece, "Bulldog Cliffs" to a couple from Illinois who have a second home in the Cave Creek area. I also have a couple of follow-ups that may result in additional sales. This was the first event of the art season in the Valley of the Sun for most artists....and if this event is an indicator.....this year should be a much better year than the last couple for selling art. Above are a couple of pictures of my setup.

Ripe Strawberries

I have been working on a 24 x 18 painting of a still life setup that is giving me problems. I conferred with a painting buddy who gave me some insights and made me think about the piece. I think I have decided what to do to fix it....but also decided I needed some time away from it to let my ideas "percolate" a little more. I set it on an easel at one end of my studio to look at every now and then. In the meantime I decided to paint a piece that I have had waiting in the wings. I decided to do this piece in a smaller format and ended up with a 9 x 12 size. The blue towel was fun to do but the strawberries took a little longer than I thought they would. I wanted them to be painted in warm, luscious colors. As a result I struggled with the highlights....what color to use for the highlights. I ended up using a light warm yellow and then an almost white warm yellow for the final highlights to get the look I was after. Enjoy "Ripe Strawberries"!

Excitement, Excitement!!!

I just received notice that all three of my entries were accepted into the 19th Annual National Exhibition of the Pastel Society of New Mexico. The show will be hung from November 5th through the 28th at the Hispanic Arts Center at EXPO New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. The selection judges were Patti Andre', Aaron Schuerr, and Sally Strand. The judge of awards will be Clive Tyler. The three pieces are: "Vine Tomatoes"; "Artichokes"; and "The Line Up".

Time to Think and Reflect

This week my husband and I rented an oceanfront condo in Carlsbad, CA to celebrate our 36th anniversary. It has been a very relaxing and peaceful week overall. We spent some time in antique shops looking for still life objects and in general driving around checking out the area. A highlight for me has been my daily walks on the beach. It is definitely cooler here than in Scottsdale, AZ so even in the bright sunshine in the first half of the week the walks were quite pleasant with the breeze off the ocean. However, the second half of the week we have been pretty much socked in with marine layer (fog) all day or most of the day. This made for very interesting morning walks as I found I even needed a jacket. But.....a plus has been the fact that such an environment of few people, inability to see very far in any direction, and the sound of the ocean leads to introspection. I found myself doing a lot of thinking this week. I thought about how I came to painting after retirement totally enthused about plein air painting. I thrived on being outside with friends painting the landscape. I have worked with some of the top plein air pastel landscape artists in workshops. My inner soul thrived on being out with Mother Nature......but my frustration with my painting was a constant. Although I saw great improvement and I certainly learned a lot.....I never felt that I had met my potential for a painting. Interesting enough I had done some still life in classes....but saw them only as a stepping stone for better landscapes. I also was not driven to paint in the studio....only to be out with friends in the field. I was collecting a large number of unfinished paintings begun in the field and never finished. Then I signed up for the Art Challenge with the Arizona Pastel Artists Association. In previous blogs I talked about how you receive an object and must somehow incorporate it into a painting. My object was a glass goblet.......how do you incorporate a goblet into a landscape meaningfully??? I didn't......I set up a still life to simply fulfill the task......and this has changed the direction of my art totally. It came out so good I wanted to enter it into a show....so I did a second one for the challenge. I loved that one.....and it got into an International Association of Pastel Societies show. Suddenly I found myself planning my next painting as I was working on one. I found myself eager to get into the studio and paint. I think I have found my niche. I still love being outdoors....but I am not driven to paint it.....I am driven to paint setups that I create. I have total control over setting up a still that speaks to me and calls for me to paint it. I think part of it is the fact that I like to paint realistically and to a level of detail that creates problems in landscapes. I was constantly working to paint more "painterly". But I am a "type AAAAAAAAA" person (that is not a typo)....very organized and detail oriented. This is an asset in still life. I do not have to try to change what I am but apply my innate way of operating to the principles of a solid painting. Thus the comfort level and inner satisfaction. Yes....reflection and thinking is good....it helps you to see where you've been, where you are.....and provides goals for where you are going. I am going to miss the foggy walks on the beach as I head back to my beloved Scottsdale, my 2 little Italian Greyhounds (Emily and Jasmine), and my studio with a half done painting calling for me.