White and Blue

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I was awoken early this morning by the school systems "connect ed". I guess there is so much snow out there  (cmon-it's a dustin'!) that they implemented alternative bus routes for this morning. pfft. What, do we live in Virginia? Throw some chains on those big yellow suckers and toughen up! Can you tell I don't like to wake up to the sound of the telephone ringing first thing in the morning? I am so not a morning person.
You know, when I was a kid I walked 2 1/2 miles to my junior high (what they call middle school nowadays). Seriously, 2 1/2 miles. That was the cut off. And our walking route actually included walking through a cemetery. If I had to stay after for any activities, there were times I was walking through the dark through the cemetery…Scary! But, We were tough. I actually remember a blizzard that was not predicted to be as bad as it was, so they had to let us out early from school. Back in the day of dinosaurs they didn't have the sophisticated weather predicting resources our weather men have nowadays. Although, here in New England that sometimes does not seem to help. Anyhow… I was wearing a pair of loafers, not boots, since they hadn't predicted this Nor'easter and the wind was howling and the snow was coming down sideways and fast. I had to squint my eyes to stop the stinging of the piercing snow as I tried to see where I was going as I plodded through the deepening snow. It seemed to take forever to finally get home and my feet and hands were numb and my face bright red. When I finally fell through my kitchen door my mother turned, glanced at me and cheerily asked me why it took so long for me to get home. We were tough. No alternative bus route for me. No bus for me. We were tough. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…I know. The alternative bus route is for our children's safety. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. (wimps)
The picture above I actually took last year around this time when we did have a nice big storm that would have warranted an "alternative bus route". I am too grumpy to go out this morning and take photos this morning. Plus it's too dangerous out there.

Happy Christmahanakwanzika

Available at Expressions

I know that the next few days are going to be super fun busy so while I have the chance-

Happy Christmahanakwanzika to Everyone!

Silver Bell and Degas

Silver Bell- Available at Expressions

The ribbon was an interesting area to paint in this little piece. The red was opaque in parts and transparent in others with the green background reading through. The little glitter lines on the red ornament were fun to paint and translate how they were raised above the ornament. I accomplished that by the subtle shadows and highlights on those lines. And speaking of red...

A group of us artists went in to the MFA to see the Degas and the Nude
Exhibit the other day. We were guided through the show by Lili, from the MFA, who was a wealth of knowledge and fascinating tidbits. (And also a wealth of patience herding 16 exuberant artists throughout the show.) Along with our questions regarding process and history, one item that was noticed was the fact that so many women in the paintings had bright red hair. Well, we learned from Lili, a lot of the ladies of the evening back then, which we all know that Degas used as models, all dyed their hair red. There was some question as to whether they were forced by authorities or whether it was by choice. I am tempted to google search the answer, but I am afraid what will pop up. Plus, I don't want that in my search history…I can just imagine the headlines now if I am ever arrested for anything, (which I can assure my kids I won't be…) and the authorities find "red haired prostitutes and their history", in my search engine files on my computer. What was this lady doing in her spare time. Jeesh. ANYHOW…as a tribute to these redheaded women of the evening who posed for so many impressionist artists, I photo-shopped our groups hair. (Hope you don't mind, ladies, Tis the season for red anyway.)

Glitter Ornament

Here is my 2nd ornament painting and below is the tray that I made using prints I made of the originals. I should call the glitter ornament a Seurat ornament as I used the old pointillism method.

Both available at Expressions

Silver Ornament

I thought it would be fun to be festive and paint some holiday ornaments and ribbons. And during this busy time of year why not paint something not overly complex. Our lives are involved enough right now. So in my next few blogs will be the results. They were good, back to basics pieces that reviewed values, hard and soft edges and color. And were just plain fun to do. I loved this disco ball type ornament. It was complicated, yet simple. I do admit I started getting a little cross-eyed trying to keep my place as I was painting. I reminded myself not to draw every square, but to simplify. The paintings themselves are at Expressions, along with a holiday tray using the same images.

5"X7" Pastel available at:
Expressions

Mary's Landing

I was cleaning my studio last week and found this piece laying with some others. I painted it this summer when I had met Cecilia and Joan, wonderful artist friends, over at Mary's Landing and we had perfect painting weather. I kind of picked a bad spot, though, because as I progressed the sun was dropping down lower and lower and I was getting blinded. But I couldn't resist the way the sun was dappled on the water. I finally had to quit at one point, cause I kept seeing spots just like when someone shoots a flash camera. Lesson learned, but still had fun.

Smokin' Old Tractor-Don't ya love when that happens.

Sold

This painting was much more of a challenge than I expected. The hardest part was creating the effect of the smoke graying down the background areas, but still seeing the background through that smoke. I actually used no gray to create the effect, but varying colors which enabled me to "mute" the tones without dulling down the picture. I purposefully kept the foreground loose so your eye is drawn to the tightly rendered tractor and, of course, it's red color brings you right to it as a center of attention. So you don't get stuck in the center, the bright yellow flowers purposefully keep you moving around the picture. I wish I could have made it a scratch and sniff picture, though. The tractor kept breaking down as the farmer was plowing down the field right next to the house. Cough, cough. So he was there for quite sometime. Good subject!

I was lucky enough to receive an award at the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod's recent FPO juried show. And it sold, also. Don't ya just love when that happens!

Demo at Expressions

The Arts Walk last weekend in Scituate was real fun. Expressions was packed on Friday night with lots of visitors and then Saturday afternoon I did a demo at the shop. I worked on a man made paper. This paper has always been one of my favorites and this scene really allowed me to let the paper read through to keep an overall tone, but use heavier coverage in some areas, too.

Unmasking the Firehouse Celebration

We, at North River Arts Society, are watching the Firehouse Building near completion. It has been a long road of conceptualizing, fundraising, planning, tweaking and it is all coming to fruition. So exciting. We, of course, have to have a Ribbon cutting ceremony, party and dancing to celebrate this exciting accomplishment and what better time of year than right around Halloween. 

Click on this link to get all the details- 

Firehouse Celebration lising of events.

My lovely and talented daughter was kind enough to design the postcard we mailed out (and that you see above) for the event, pro bono-Thank-you so much Rachael, we love it! 

You can actually cut out the mask and wear it to the event, if you like. So cool. Or if you want to get even more creative, we are having a mask making night. Again, click on the link for details.

Come help us Celebrate! We would love to see you there.

Dribble Castle

This is the piece I entered into the "Pastels By Invitation" Show for all of you who cannot get down to the Cape. I cannot believe how fast this summer is going. These lazy hot days of building dribble castles will soon give way to shorter days, cool nights and changing autumn colors. Go grab some beach time while it's still here!