Posing

Ah the elegant lines of a cat. Here she is, my girl

waiting for another drip from the tub faucet.

I need to do some more paintings of her. She is

quite the poser (poseur?).

O Beauteous Moon

An artist's eye never rests. So last

night, after having a lovely T-Day

with friends, I went to bed. Got up

around 4, looked out the window and

there, through the newly bare branches,

was the moon shining its light on the

lake. You cannot see the lake in summer

as it is a tree-house effect here. So I

look forward to this sight.

I went back to bed, and then

started thinking about how it would

be to do a painting of such a scene with

beauty, but oh so little light in it. Hmmm,

where is my camera? I scanned the house

and low and behold I recalled it was just in

the next room, not in the far reaches. I

got it and propped it on the window sash

and there you have the best result I got.

Meow!

OK, so here is my caption for this photo of my

Lucy sitting on my studio desk. "I've already

read this one."

Isn't that the look of sheer boredom?

The Art Show

Here was the view I had as I was

doing the demonstration in the post

from yesterday. These two lovely

girls had just greeted each other and

were catching up. You can see the

free-standing wall behind them that

makes it possible to show the work

of over 40 artists that participated

this time. We do this show twice a

year.

Check out The Art League

of Germantown for more information.

http://www.alog.org

Demonstration

Today I did a demonstration for an art group I

started nearly 25 years ago. We hold our shows

at BlackRock Center for the Arts and it is a

gorgeous space. You can get a bit of the feel of

the large gallery and its light in this picture.

The art behind me and to my right are by fellow

members. It is always so enjoyable to talk to

people about what I love to do.

Banner #2

Here's the second banner for the school

I spoke of a few posts ago. Here you see

it in my workroom where it was drying.

I am doing these in acrylic and varnish

them with polyeurythane (sp?). I am

trusting that they will stand up to the

elements over the next few months as

they are being displayed on a structure

outside the school.

My early work, VERY early

OK. Now this is to inspire anyone who is

just starting out. Persistence will pay off.

Just keep doing what you love and you

will get very good at it. Maybe I was 8

when I did this? It was part of a card I

sent my Grandmother. There are more

things to see in this card. I will post them

in the next few days, then I really have to

get back to being a grown-up artist....

Color chart of my paints

I decided to make a new chart of all the oil paints

I own. I did this a few years ago but now have

a lot of new brands and colors, so I have begun

the task again. Here you see the beginning of

the new one. It is 18" x 24" and I am not yet

certain if all my paints will fit! I am applying the

colors with a small painting knife and blend them

into white so I can tell the subtle differences better.

With the raw full strength colors, it is not always

easy. This is especially true of the reds.

Banner!

I have had a soft spot in my heart for

many years for this small private

school in Springfield Virginia. Years

ago I actually taught art classes there.

Every year I donate artwork to their

fund-raising auction and with this being

their 30th year, I "cooked up" the banner

idea with a dear friend on the staff there.

So here is the first one. It will go on a

structure built by the parent of a student

there and I can't wait to see how all the

banners will look. There will be 7 in all,

one put up every month....

Drawing from Life

Drawing from a live model is something

I haven't done for a long time. I'm not

counting portraits I have done over the

past few years. What I mean is going to

a session where there is a model and folks

like me work earnestly and quietly, hoping

not to embarrass ourselves with our quick

two minute sketches, then the longer ones,

and so on.

This was the last pose, the 40 minute one.

I decided to do just his head and marvelous

hat and was happy with the results. Yes, and

I know who he looks like....

Currently I am working on banners for a

private school that is celebrating its 30th

Anniversary. So the 'art' is on hold for the

moment.

Oh and good news! A gallery has invited me

to show! We're still in the talk-it-over stage,

but nevertheless, it is a happy thing for me!