Radishes

"Radishes" is the latest artwork to leave the Budan easel. I planned to leave fruits and vegetables for awhile.....but I had this piece in my mind and decided to bring it to life before moving on! This is the first painting of vegetables that I included any of the grocery store labeling....but I thought it added a little interest to this composition. This is an 18 x 24 piece....and required the use of a lot of red pastel!! Good thing I had just gotten all my new Ludwig pastels won in the Pastel Society of New Mexico national show. Now I am headed back to my new series called "Fun and Games". "Marbles I" was the first in this new series....but there is more to come! Enjoy "Radishes"!

Festival of Fine Art

My first art festival of 2011 is just around the corner. I am participating in the Sonoran Art League's Festival of Fine Art the weekend of Feb. 18th through the 20th. Stagecoach Village in Cave Creek is a great location for an art festival and I have my fingers crossed for good weather! If you are in the area please plan to come and enjoy the festival. I will have some of my newer paintings with me that I would love to have you see. As you can see, my painting "Artichokes", was one of the pieces chosen for use in the advertising for the festival.....always a compliment! I hope to see you there!

Marbles 1

I have always been fascinated by some of the pieces people have done with marbles.....so I decided I wanted to do one. I loved the colors of the marbles themselves and even more I loved the reflections in this setup. It is a small piece....6" x 6". I created it with an upcoming miniature show at a gallery in Scottsdale in mind to possibly enter. It came out to my expectations so I think I will enter it and see what happens!

Chile Peppers

Chile Peppers is the second painting that I started during the Hidden In The Hills Open Studio Tour and Sale. I had fun with the reflections on this piece. For me the paintings come alive when you start adding the highlights and the lights in general. This is a 12 x 16 painting that I wish I had done in a larger format. Maybe I will still do that at some point. Enjoy!

Exciting Night!!

In a previous post I had mentioned that I had both of my entries successfully juried into the Scottsdale Artist's School Best and Brightest Show. I had applied for the last two years and did not get in. At that time I was doing landscapes. Since then I have switched to still life which turned out to be my genre! Last night was the opening reception. Bob and I arrived to a crowded reception to find that my piece, "Market Colors" won an Honorable Mention! To top it off.....both of my pieces had red dots on their labels meaning they were both SOLD! They sold during the VIP preview for the reception. "Market Colors" was purchased by one of the Scottsdale Artist's School Board of Directors.

Definitely an exciting night!!!!

Final painting of 2010

I know this is January.....but I did not have time to do a posting prior to leaving for our Hawaii trip over the holidays. I was running around getting last minute things done.....one of which is getting this piece to the framers to take advantage of their sale pricing on framing. This is my final completed painting for 2010. I have another piece that is close to completion but will be finished in 2011. Both the pieces were paintings I worked on as a demo of pastel painting during the Hidden in the Hills open studio tour and sale. It is fairly easy to do the initial layers of a painting with constant interruptions, but when I get to the point of final layers and bringing the painting together I need to focus. As a result I planned on starting a piece each of the two weekends. This piece is titled "Apple Slice". I had a lot of fun painting the cut portions of the red apple.....it was easier than I thought. The slight browning effect was actually achieved with a yellow green color! I was pleased with the results.

This piece and the next piece of chile peppers, which I plan to finish in the next few days, may be the closeout of my "fruit and vegetable" period....although I can't say fruits and vegetables may not be a component in future paintings. I have a hankering to paint some still life pieces that are southwest themed. I have a few ideas floating around in my head that I am excited about. Stay tuned to see where it goes.

Sonoran Arts League Small Works Show & Sale

Each December the Sonoran Arts League holds a juried small works show in their office/gallery. Again this year I had a piece juried into the show. I don't usually paint that small as the maximum size for an entry was 35 sq.inches which is basically a 5" x 7" piece. However, as shared in a previous blog I painting a color study of a single pear with this show in mind. The show includes over 200 entries in a variety of mediums. If you live in the area and have a chance....stop by the show. You may find the perfect gift for several people on your gift list. There is no better gift than original art!!