Roosting

Roosting

11 x 14

Pastels on Wallis paper

I love art that's evocative.  Comments of visitors to my booth are so interesting.  "That looks like Africa."  "Are those vultures?"  "Love the dead tree."  Truth is, I just thought the roosting birds on a dead tree would look cool against the colorful sky.  It's not anywhere in particular, and they're generic bird shapes.  Visitors often ask where a scene that I've painted was, but I love hearing what the painting brings to mind for them.

 

Available at $55.00 plus $20 shipping

Prophetic?

Storm's A-comin'

24" x 36"

Acrylic on canvas



This painting was the most commented upon offering in my booth at War Eagle's spring show last weekend.  People walking by stopped and came into the booth, drawn by this painting.  It was amazing.  However, I sold a few others, but not this one.  It is a fairly large painting.  Anyway, about an hour before the end of the show, a thunderstorm moved in.  It was my first rain at a show.  Loading up in the rain was not fun!  Was this painting prophetic?

Which is it?

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Sunrise, Sunset

8 x 10

Pastel on Wallis paper

Sunrise?  Sunset?  I don't know.  I guess it depends on which way you're facing.  West = sunset;

East = sunrise.  A new day dawning or an old day ending.  As is so often the case, it depends on your point of view.  I suppose if I were asked which it is, I would have to respond, "Which do you prefer?"

Two weeks from now I should be packing up to return from War Eagle, Arkansas.  Last year the Arts and Crafts Fair was flooded out.  Hopefully, God willin' and the creek don't rise.....

Another bird...

Pretty Boy

7 x 5

Pastel on Wallis Paper

I have inventoried my frames with glass and mat material, and I'm determined to fill them with pastel until I run out of paper.  I'm kind of liking birds about now.  I work in fits and bursts of industriousness, followed by laziness.  This guy is a painted bunting, a species that travels through the state.  They are sooooooo pretty!  We had one last year that was in some sort of territorial dispute with his reflection in the patio door.  He would perch on a branch, giving the evil-eye to his rival, gather himself, and hurl himself at the glass.  I tried to scare him away, but he kept coming back for a couple of days.  Wonder why he couldn't figure it out....Bird-brain!  



Pastel Blue

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Post Sitter

7 x 5

Pastel on Wallis Paper

I've got a show coming up in a couple of weeks and plan to have 8 feet of pastels on one side of the booth and the other two sides acrylics, since I have some larger work in acrylic.  I have a bluebird in acrylic ( in an older post) and decided to do one in pastel as well.  Last fall I sold about the same number in each medium, so I need to restock.  I really enjoy both media.  I'm messier in pastel, but I don't have to wash brushes or worry about paint drying out.  Acrylics don't have to be behind glass, and I like the ease of transport.   Just can't choose one exclusively over the other.  Might cause me to stay mediocre in both.  Time will tell....

In an "Eagle Phase"....

Raptor Stare

8 X 10

Acrylic on canvas

I seem to have developed a fascination with bald eagles.  Something about their intensity....  They are still seen around the lake, actually fairly easy to spot because of their size and coloration.  I need to get back to some other things I have started, a spring stormy landscape and a sunset in pastels.  Hate to lose my "Queen of Unfinished Projects" designation....









Something different....

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In Memoriam

20 x 16

Acrylic on canvas

My son called last week to ask me if I would do a painting for a benefit fundraiser this weekend.  A young man was killed in an automobile accident and had no life insurance to cover final expenses.  His friends were organizing a Poker Run and Auction to raise funds.  I'm not a big motorcycle fan, but Jason was.  I was asked to paint a motorcycle.  Hmmmmmm....not my usual thing... I started sketching.  Not my thing at all!  But in searching images, I thought about cropping out a part of a 1938 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead.  I noticed lots of Bald Eagles, logos, and flames in motorcycle images soooooo........  This is what I came up with.  I hope it helps out some.  RIP Jason Hughes.

Pastel on Black

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Southern Welcome

10 x 8

Pastel on Black Art Spectrum paper

Low country architecture is fascinating to a flatlander such as I.  In the low-lying areas affected by tides, the entryways must be elevated, making for some lovely stairways.  This one in Beaufort, South Carolina, was beautiful on a lot filled with live oak, pine,and some Spanish moss.  This actually was only half of the stairway that continued to a mirror image stair to the left.  Maybe next time I'll go for the whole thing.....

Local color

Lavender Skies

24" x 36"

Acrylic on Canvas

To paint colors as I see them or to paint as I feel them......  I have used local colors as I see them the majority of the time, but I want to choose more expressive colors.  While many have appreciated this painting at shows, my husband just wanted to know why the sky was purple.  How many others had the same reaction, but were too polite to say anything?  I liked the complementary colors.  Although it would be nice to sell paintings, I paint for me.  Art is such an individualized medium.  An artwork will speak to some, but not to others.  I certainly have definite likes and dislikes, and this one's a like!

Watering Hole

Watering Hole

8 x 10

Acrylic on canvas panel

There are a few bobcats around.  Every once in a while, one of the trail cameras will catch one, and we have occasionally spotted a young one when out deer hunting.  There are some folks with furbearing trapper licenses around, and those who keep a flock of chickens aren't too fond of them.  Their numbers are down, and bobcats are pretty secretive.  Some people claim there are cougars around, but we've never seen one.  Don't want to either!

Available at $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping

Morning Catch

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Morning Catch

15 x 30

Acrylic on masonite

Most of the time I see herons and egrets on the river.  Occasionally, however, there's a flash of white, and it's a fishing eagle.  Never happens when I have a camera ready though.  With river memories and some reference photos, it's still possible to try reliving the moment.  One of the things I love about making art!

Frame and All

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I found this little, flat-surfaced frame at a resale shop.  Its outer dimensions are about 8 x 10 with a 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 insert.  There was a little piece of acetate to protect an inserted  picture.  I cut a canvas panel to fit the opening and gessoed the whole thing with a few coats.  This little robin, which I had painted in a small, square format, seemed to be a good fit.  I'm pleased with this little bit of recycling :)

Paint or Pastel...

I enjoy both media, but I tend to do more acrylic painting.  Why?   Not sure....  I did this little 11 x 14 to practice painting snow, which is lots of fun.  Building layers and making "snow" appear on a base of darkness is magical.  Is it really any different with pastel?

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The process seems much the same.  Yet there is a difference when viewing the two similar works side-by-side.  I'm not sure what it is...some kind of different quality to the color and light.  I haven't done many pastels lately.  Both acrylic and pastel painting have the sort of immediacy that I like.  I think that the reason I am less inclined to work the pastels is the fragility of the work, the need to keep the piece protected.  I can so easily pop an acrylic piece into a frame, no matter what its size.  When I find an odd-sized frame that I want to use, I can cut a piece of hardboard to fit, prepare it and paint away.  To put a pastel in that same sized frame, I also have to get a mat and a piece of glass, both of which require a 60 mile drive to the nearest Hobby Lobby.  Dealing with glass-covered work at craft shows also makes me nervous.  I'm just not good with "fragile."

Soooo....paint or pastel?  Mostly paint these days.

Painting at School

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Bluebird

12 x 9 Acrylic on Panel

I had the chance to substitute teach high school art.  So, being in a room all day with room to paint and a sink to wash brushes and a few students interested in painting.......Yep, I'll take materials and do a painting.  I retired from this particular school, where I taught English.  Several students asked why I didn't teach art.  Well, grading papers of any kind was never my favorite activity, but I could never get my brain wrapped around the concept of grading artwork.  Student submissions are so much more personal, not responding to questions, not repeating facts.  So many more students that really don't feel capable....  Wouldn't have been a good career choice for me.  As a substitute, I could just offer opinions, praise, and suggestions.  A good time and a new bluebird!