Table Setting

I painted this small piece this afternoon for the August project of  Watercolor Workshop.  The theme is to paint something shiny and so I selected a royalty free photo from Bing Images.  This is 4" x 6" and is painted on 140 lb. Strathmore watercolor paper.

I also wish to share a photo I took about 15 minutes ago of a beautiful double rainbow I saw from my front porch - so inspiring and lovely.

The Ware Family Farm

I have not posted for a week because I am in the process of finishing up on this painting of an old family farm just outside of Jackson Center.  It is no longer standing.  Thank goodness we have an old photo (2 1/2 x 4") to go by.  I scanned the photo into my computer and printed it out as 8"x10" to work from which was very helpful.  The finished painting is 24" x 42" and is painted on a gesso coated masonite board.  I still plan to work on the trees some, but otherwise the painting is finished.  It has taken a couple months to complete because I was also teaching a mixed media class this summer.   It is a shame that this home is no longer standing.

Watchers: Textural Design/Magazine Collage

This is the final project for the mixed media class at Riverside Arts Center.  It is basically magazine collage with some added acrylic paint, Sharpie marker, and window screening material.  These are both 11" x 14" and are done on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  We had a lot of fun and I will post the class results tomorrow, even though the photo was less than desirable.

The Watchers

These are two examples I did for my watermedia class this afternoon - the red was done ahead of time and the blues were the demonstration.  The technique is done by squeeging acrlic paint which has been arranged in a specific manner - in this case to form figures when squeeged in a specific direction.  After the paint dries, I added detailing with Sharpie markers and gold glitter paint. These are done on chips of mat board 8"x 10" and 9" x 12".  We had a lot of fun this afternoon doing this project!

Trees and Cliffs Collaged and Painted

The watermedia class projects continue on...this was the project for last Tuesday afternoon.  The concept for this project came from the book, "The New Spirit Of Watercolor" by Mike Ward and the painting "This Good Earth" by Carole Barnes.  I did my own composition, but the concept is hers.  The watercolor paper was collaged with tissue paper using mat acrylic medium and then painted in watercolors.  I will post the student work in a coming post.

Antique Bleach Bottle With Grapes.

This is the latest in the series of still lifes in oils.  It is painted on a 12" x 9" canvas panel.  I started it a couple weeks ago,   got back to it yesterday afternoon for a while and finished it today.  The grapes are a little too tight for my taste (sour grapes, you know) but this will have to do.

This week's lesson at the arts center was one of watercolor texture.  The project was inspired by an article in the recent "Watercolor Artist" magazine in which the topic was abstraction and various artists told how they use the creative process to create a painting.  The students were given the following instructions: 1. Their painting was to include 2 birds and 3 circles; 2.The painting should have the following textures - salt, lifted and stamped (we used original stamps created from art gum erasers.  The composition could be either abstract or realistic. 

The 4 painters did  wonderfully creative  paintings - abstract, semi-abstract, impressionistic, and realistic.  I am so proud of them.  I am also including my 2 paintings - the first is my example prepared ahead of time (more design and realistic) and the 2nd was done along with the students (the abstract approach.)