Pear I and Pear II

I did something a little different with my latest painting....I mean, paintings. I wanted to create a painting to possibly enter (if it came out good) in the Sonoran Arts League Small Works show. Paintings for this show are limited to a maximum size of 35 sq. inches. I set up a still life using a pear with rich red and orange gold colors. Once I set it up and took some photos I decided I would really like to add it to my upcoming open studio tour. So I painted two paintings of the pear in two different sizes ( 7 x 5 and 12 x 9) at the same time. I did the two backgrounds at the same time and then moved to the pears. They came out pretty much the same except for the scalloped edges of the cloth they are setting on.....not sure how that happened....but I ran with it. What made it even more interesting was that I painted them on two different pastel papers. Pear II (the 7 x 5) is painted on UArt paper in 400 grit. Pear I (the 12 x 9) is painted on Wallis paper. I found myself becoming very aware of the difference in the two papers. The Wallis paper has a coarser texture with a touch of variety in the texture across the paper. The UArt was very consistent and felt finer even though it is the coarsest grit they offer. I found I leaned towards the UArt....although I certainly plan to continue using Wallis. Here are the two paintings on the easel, then Pear I (12 x 9) and last is Pear II (7 x 5)

Talk About Being Thrilled!!!!

I received a phone call today notifying me that my piece, "Artichokes", won the 5th place award in the Pastel Society of New Mexico's National Show! The award for 5th place is a gift certificate from Terry Ludwig for $500 in pastels! I have truly died and gone to heaven!!!! Ludwig pastels are one of my very favorite pastels and I use them extensively. Life is good!

Limes

I am continuing to work hard to get pieces ready for this year's Hidden in the Hills (HITH) Open Studio Tour which takes place the last two weekends of November. You may recall that I had entered three pieces in the Pastel Society of New Mexico National Show with the hopes of getting one piece in. I never dreamed all three would get in in! I was excited about that success......but also concerned about losing three of the best pieces from my inventory as opposed to one piece for the upcoming HITH. Aaawwwggghh! I have been painting every chance I get! I just finished "Limes" this morning. It is 24" x 18", a size which usually takes me a couple of weeks to complete. "Limes" was finished in one week! It helped that it did not include as much detail as my previous larger pieces. I am pleased with the results......but have to move on to the next painting! Enjoy!

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.