Two Sheep

Here's my latest painting of two sheep. I tried to make them look illuminated from behind but I wasn't 100% successful.

I've been working in my studio this afternoon instead of cleaning house but I tend to do what I enjoy most instead of what I need to do. I did wrap all the Christmas presents before I started painting so I'm not totally neglectful!

Blue Bird

I found a photo of this blue bird on Pat Velte's Bird Cam website http://www.backyardbirdcam.com/gallery/gallery.htm so I asked her if I could use the image to paint a picture. She is such a sweet and gracious person.....she actually felt honored that I would want to paint it and granted me permission!

As a child, I remember having a birdhouse in our backyard near our clothesline that was inhabited by blue birds.
They are such beautiful little creatures and I loved to watch them.

smART Exhibit

I entered my three bird paintings into a little juried art show on Paseo called smART Exhibit. They wanted only small pieces (10" maximum on any side including the frame) and they had to be priced between $25 to $199. I enter my fiber work in shows all the time but I had never entered an oil painting. All three were original paintings so I thought what the heck it's time to give it a try. I received an email from them this morning notifying me that the Chickadee painting was accepted! It's the first one pictured in the previous post that's 4" x 6". I thought that was the worst one of the three.....so you see I can NEVER guess what the juror will pick!

The opening reception for the exhibit will be January 2, 2009 from 6 - 10 at the Paseo Art Space on Paseo in Oklahoma City.

Better photos

I finally got some better photos of my little bird paintings. It helps when you figure out how the camera is working, lol!

Here are a couple of oil paintings of Chickadee's and a better photo of the Cardinal painting that I uploaded before. This Chickadee painting is a 4" x 6" on a gallery wrapped canvas so at least I won't have to frame it.

The second Chickadee is on a 6"x6" panel and will need a frame. The Cardinal is on a 4"x6" panel.

Cardinal Painting

I've always loved to watch Cardinals. We have lots of them in Oklahoma and they are one of my favorite birds. I've taken several photos of my painting and they all seem blury to me. The painting doesn't look blury so I don't understand why my camera is having problems with this one painting. It's only 4" x 6" so maybe it doesn't like the small format.

I have another painting of two sheep that is almost finished so I'll post it later. This is going to be a busy week because of Thanksgiving Day but I'll finish it this weekend.

Eddie the Egret

Carla and I went to Will Rogers Park a few months ago and took some photos. This egret was standing by the water and not moving so he was an easy subject to photograph. There were several turtles swimming in the water but I didn't include them in my painting.

This was painted on a recycled canvas board. I have many unsuccessful paintings since I'm a beginner and I hate to throw them away so I'm recycling by painting over them. A lady on the Oil Painters Yahoo list suggested painting over them with an earth tone color so I tried it and it worked!

Cute Baby Lamb

Here is my latest sheep painting. I just loved this photo with the baby sheep (or lamb) looking back at me. The momma sheep (or ewe) is ignoring me but the baby is curious. Isn't that typical? I feel really silly because when I posted this yesterday I forgot that a baby sheep is called a lamb so I had to edit!

Knotting Class

I took a knotting class yesterday that was sponsored by the Fiber Artists of Oklahoma and taught by Stephanie Grubbs (she's the one standing in this photo). I have always admired Stephanie's work and I own one of her lapel pins that she made from knotting threads. I was curious about the technique so I took the class and now I have a greater appreciation than ever for her work! I would have to spend hours and hours practicing before I could make anything halfway presentable!

The other ladies (seated) pictured are from left to right are Karen, Collier, Marie Miller, Shirley Conaway, and Barbara Klein. I'm sitting next to Karen but you can only see my hand up in the air above her head.

The sample photo of knotting is something Stephanie is working on......it surely isn't my class project!

My Plein Air painting

Well I guess I'm feeling brave since I'm uploading my pityful attempt at plein air painting! This is a photo that I took at Tina's farm and below is my little painting (8" x 10"). I'm still working on it but I think it will become a 'study' and will never see the light of day!













I should have turned off the flash when I took the photo because it is distracting......the center of the picture isn't that bright.

More about Plein Air Painting

This is Mary, one of the plein painters that I met Saturday at Tina's farm. There were 7 of us that showed up to paint out in the country between Shawnee and Meeker. This was a new experience for me and I can tell you now it won't be the last!





















Here are Tina's rooster and hens. I'd love to paint these guys in the near future. I took several photos that I can use later.














Another view from the farm. These horses will be in my first painting but they moved before I could add them! That's the trouble with painting animals they don't stay put long enough. I have photos of them so hopefully I can successfully add them later.

My paintings didn't turn out very good but I'll post pictures of them when they are finished (if I'm brave enough!).

Plein Air Painting Day

Carla and I joined other Plein Painters of Oklahoma on an outing this past Saturday and had a wonderful day painting outside at Tina's farm. We had great weather, great company of other artists, great views, and a great time!
















I painted two pictures and this is a view of the second painting. Neither of my paintings were great but it was only my second attempt at plein air. I'll improve.
















Here is Carla on the left and Dana in the foreground. I was painting down by Carla under the tree next to the chicken coop.















Here is Carla...smiling and having a great time in spite of all the knats and other flying insects. There were donkeys in the field behind Carla but we didn't attempt to paint them. They wouldn't stand still long enough!

Rejected

I didn't get accepted into the Oklahoma Centerfold exhibit, sob! However two of my friends, Carla and Stephanie got their fiber pieces accepted so that's exciting because this is a national art show not just a fiber show. I plan on attending the opening reception of the exhibit in Lawton at the Leslie Powell Gallery because I like to see what the juror selected. Of course the gallery director said she liked my work but they were limited by space and had to reject many, many good pieces. Nancy, the director, is a very nice and gracious person but I'm still disappointed.

I got a notice in the mail today about another exhibit to enter so I'm moving on and looking to the next opportunity. I don't get discouraged enough to quit!

OVAC 12 x 12 Art Show and Sale

I attend OVAC's 12 x 12 Art Show and Sale Saturday night. They were expecting around 1000 people to attend and I would guess they met their goal because it was crowded. The food was great, as usual, and they had several nice musical groups that provided entertainment.

All the work on display must be 12" x 12" or smaller. They displayed the work from 150 artists on movable panels as shown in the photo. Each piece has an envelope (with the artists statement printed on it) in which to deposit your silent bid. The bidding start at $168 so the highest bidder at the end of the evening wins unless someone pays the 'buy it now' price. I stayed that night until my piece had a bid. I always worry about it not selling so I like to stay long enough to find out.

In the photo above the painting on the far right at the top is by my friend Carla Houston. It's a landscape with an adobe house with orange flowers. I couldn't talk her into standing in front of it so I could take her picture.

Entering Art Shows......

Entering art shows can be stressful! Making the work is only the beginning of what can be a lengthy and expensive process. Only after spending months and even years refining techniques, finding your 'voice' in your chosen media and developing a body of work are you ready to enter jurored art shows.

Let me stress, this isn't a course for the faint of heart! If you are going to enter art shows you must have professional looking images of your work. I’ve actually seen people enter images of their work that had been taken outside in their driveway. The landscape painting was propped up against the tire of their car! If you feel the need to take your own photos then learn to crop! You also must be aware of different venues that you feel is a 'fit' for your work. This can take hours and hours of time browsing the internet and buying art magazines that list calls for entries. Then you must fill out the entry forms correctly and try to second guess some of the instructions that aren’t completely clear. Now it’s time to pay the entry fees, which are too high in my opinion, and the postage. If you waited until the last minute to mail in your entry (I’m sure I’m not the only person that does this!) to meet the deadline you must pay for overnight postage. Once the entry has been sent off you try to forget about it because sometimes it takes a month before you hear the verdict and you don't want to spend that much time in agony wondering about the results. You try not to get your hopes up too high. You tell yourself you won't be accepted all the while you hope deep down inside that you will be. Then comes that fateful day when you receive the notice about the show. You get all excited and your heart is pounding in your chest as you open the letter to find out if your work was accepted or not. If you receive good news you are floating on Cloud 9 for weeks, if not you do your best not to cry and tell yourself the idiot juror must have been blind! Unfortunately, you must be able to accept rejection time and time again and not let that deter you from your goals. The only way to get in a juried exhibit is to enter. You don't have a chance otherwise because they are not going to come knocking on your door!

Sometimes I ask myself, why? Why do I enter shows? Why do I spend the money on photography, entry fees, shipping cost (if applicable), and insurance? Why do I put myself through the agony of being rejected? I don't have the answers. I'm not a competitive person by nature but it's just something I'm compelled to do. Maybe the 'high' I receive when I'm accepted or if I'm lucky enough to win a monetary prize it's all I need to carry me through the numerous rejections.

Are you wondering why I'm pondering on this subject? I just mailed my entry to the Oklahoma Centerfold exhibit. I probably don't have a chance on earth being accepted in this national juried art exhibit but I did it anyway and I'm hoping for the best. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

Mixed Media Winners

I mentioned the Mixed Media Collage exhibit earlier that was sponsored by the Oklahoma Watercolor Assoc. but I didn't post any photos of the exhibit.

Karen Kirkpatrick won Best of Show with "Nature's Corset". This is an lady's corset that zips up the front (I'm thankful we don't have to wear these tortuous things anymore!). She has embellished it with all kinds of fiber, yarns, and found objects along with painting the bra cups with faces.

I didn't get a good photo of one of the Equal Merit Award winners but it was "Ode to Peach2" by Bob Curtis.

Brenda's Reflection" by Janice Mathews-Gordon won one of the Equal Merit Awards. Of the three pieces that received monetary awards this was my favorite.

One of my favorite pieces in the show was "Ruff" by Diana Smith. The piece is 12" x 12" and the little dog face is so cute! I really wanted this piece but I couldn't afford it right now.

Wild Tahr

This is a painting of a wild Himalayan Tahr, which is a close relative to the wild goat. I think they are beautiful agile animals!

I don't like the very green background in this painting but I couldn't decide what color to use. The photo that I used for reference had the green forest in the background so I painted it that way but I'm not happy with it. I may paint another one later and change the background. You know I must keep adding to that tall stack of paintings!

Sheep Painting

I'm still at the easel painting two or three nights a week. I've accumulated quite a large stack of paintings that will never see the light of day! They will either end up in the trash or forever be hidden in a dark closet. It's all part of the learning process and is to be expected (thank goodness my husband realizes this and is supportive!).

Here is my latest endeavor, a painting of three sheep. Since I work with wool for my fiber pieces I thought it would be appropriate that I paint some sheep.

New 12 x 12

I'm sure glad women are allowed to change their minds! I decided to make a different piece for the 12 x 12 exhibit I mentioned earlier. The other piece was nice but as one of my friends told me it wasn't equal to my best work so I made another piece.

This is about 9.5" square and will be mounted on a 12" square black canvas. The background is a felted piece of Merino wool batt. The other pieces in the design are also made from Merino wool and have been needle felted then I added beads and hand embroidery. I'm still working on a title....4-D Intellator is what my husband suggested. That's a word he made up that stands for intellectual translator. The symbols on the left are being translated into other alien languages through a 4th dimension device. I know, I know.....I watch too many Sci-Fi movies!

Fiber Christmas in July

A couple of friends, Shirley and Dorothy, went with me this past weekend to Kellyville, OK to the Fiber Christmas in July event http://www.fiberchristmas.com/. I took my camera but forgot to take photos! It was a small wool festival but we all had fun, met new 'fiber people', and spent money. They had some really nice wool available so I couldn't resist bringing a sampling home with me.

Mixed Media Collage Exhibit

I entered a local show, Mixed Media Collage, sponsored by the Oklahoma Watermedia Association last week and had all three pieces accepted into the exhibition. The show is on display until August 22nd at the Norick Art Center on the Oklahoma City University campus. My "In Kandinsky Time" received a Judge's Mention so I was very pleased!

I admire Wassily Kandinsky's abstract paintings so that's what inspired this piece. Kandinsky was also a musician and since I'm working on a Time Series the title (In Kandinsky Time) seemed to fit. I made the black felted background from Corridale wool then added the other pieces of the design by needle felting. Then of course I had to add beads and hand embroidery. This is mounted on a thick gallery canvas that I painted.

Paintings in progress

I'm still working on oil paintings. I think I'm improving but it seems like a very slow process. It just takes a lot of practice and you end up with a lot of bad paintings! Here are my latest two paintings that are still in progress. I have more work to do on the turtles but it's almost finished.

Current Works In Progress

I've been invited again this year by OVAC (Okla. Visual Arts Coalition) http://www.ovac-ok.org/ to participate in their fund raiser event called 12 x 12. I love this annual event so I'm honored to be included. They supply a 12 x 12 canvas for the artist to use so this felted piece will be sewn to the canvas once I have painted it purple.

I belong to Yahoo group called abstract challenge and this piece was originally made for one of their challenges. I changed the face and added a couple of borders and unless I change my mind, which I'm allowed to do, this will become my 12 x 12 submission. I still have time so I may make another piece before making my final decision.

Fiberworks 2008 Photos

Here are some photos I took of Fiberworks 2008. The exhibit was over on June 27th and now we are starting to work on Fiberworks 2009........it's a never ending job! IAO Gallery has invited us back again next year so at least we have the location and the date so now we are searching for our next juror.

Critique Night at Fiberworks 2008

I've been neglectful and haven't taken photos of the Fiberworks 2008 exhibit this year. This is the only photo that I took and it was taken at Critique Night when the juror went around the gallery and talked about each piece she had chosen for the show. The juror, Erica, is at the far left standing next to the wall. Critique Night is one of my favorite events of the year. I don't always agree with the juror's statements but it's interesting to know her/his thoughts. No one ever gives harsh critiques and this juror was particularly nice (almost too nice) about it. I like to hear good constructive critism about my work because I'm always striving to improve. If someone has a suggestion or a comment I want to hear it. Like I said, I may not agree but I keep an open mind and try to digest the information.

Fiberworks 2008 Award

I had two pieces accepted into Fiberworks 2008 this year and this one, Another Place In Time, won an Award of Merit for $250! The opening reception was June 6th on my birthday so that made a wonderful birthday present. Time Tracks is the other piece that is in the show.

Fiberworks 2008 had 132 pieces entered out of which 68 pieces were accepted so I was thrilled to have work in the show much less win an award. They presented $4000 in awards this year which is outstanding for this type of exhibit.

The show will be on display at the IAO Gallery until June 27th. You can see other photos of Fiberworks on their website. http://www.iaogallery.org/

Working on Fiberworks 2008

I'm a member of the Fiber Artist of Oklahoma and we are gearing up for our annual juried exhibit, Fiberworks. This will be our 30th anniversary! You can read about it and download the prospectus on our website at http://www.fiberartistsok.org/. Our juror this year is Erica Spitzer Rasmussen who is an incredible artist that creates mixed media and handmade paper garments. She has been featured on the pages of FIBERARTS, Surface Design Journal, Hand Papermaking, Craft Arts International and SpinOff Magazines. We have photos of her innovative work on our prospectus.

Erica will be giving a free lecture on June 4th at the Belle Isle Library in OKC that is open to the public. Thursday, June 5th will be Critique Night at the IAO Gallery downtown OKC. The exhibit will be hung and Erica will talk about each piece that she selected for the show. I love Critique Night! Fiberworks is the only juried show that I have entered that has such an event. Friday, June 6th from 6 to 8pm will be the opening reception at the IAO Gallery http://www.iaogallery.org/, 811 N. Broadway, OKC. The exhibit will be on view until June 27th.

It's an execellent show of traditional, contemporary and innovative work primarily made of fiber so if anyone is in the area I hope you will stop and see the exhibit.

Photos of flowers

It's Spring here in Oklahoma City and the azaleas are in full bloom along with the tulips and the blue pansies. I took this photo on the Chesapeake campus at N.W. 63 and Western. Chesapeake has a beautifully landscaped 50-acre campus! It's an energy company that has grown by leaps and bounds and now employees over 1800 people.

On to Landscapes

Now I'm painting landscapes. I've purchased a couple of how-to books so I can learn some new techniques so these aren't original. Carla and I plan to take a field trip soon and do some plein air painting. Right now I don't have the right equipment to paint outside but until then we can take photos and draw sketches.

Fruits and Vegetables

I'm still consumed with oil painting and I'm hoping that I will improve one of these days! I'm still learning but I can see a little improvement.

When I paint still-lifes the fruit and vegetables have to set out until the painting is finished and since I can't paint everyday the produce gets old before I can finish a painting. I know it's a waste of good food but I can't help it! I think of them as my models. Anyway I used the same onion for several paintings and the poor thing started to sprout! I didn't know onions would sprout but it was very cute and interesting to me so I painted it along with a couple of peppers.

Time Tracks is framed

I'm really pleased with Time Tracks. Pirates Alley did the framing and PhotoFactory took the digital image for me.

Too Many .coms now framed

Here is the photo of "Too Many .coms" that PhotoFactory took for me today. This photo shows the mat and frame.

Time Tracks

"Time Tracks" is my latest felted piece. The red background piece is a wool blend felt. The black is felting fabric that was needle punched and then wet felted. The off-white is a piece of wool batt that was needled felted and then wet felted. The 'tracks' are a combination of rovings that were needled felted on a piece of black felt, cut out, and then needle felted on top. Yes, it is thick and I broke three needles in the process of needle felting (I added this comment for my needle felting friends because I could hear the question coming!). The little tracks are hand embroideried with pearl cotton.

All the 'tracks' are going up or forward because that's the direction I'm headed in life. I don't believe in looking back or back-tracking because that would be a waste of time.

Today is my husband's birthday (Happy Birthday, Honey!). We have been married 30 wonderful years.

Still Life with Basket of Pears

I saw this painting pictured in a book and loved it so much I wanted to paint it myself. The original was painted in 1872 by Camille Pissarro and the title is "Still Life: Apples and Pears in a Round Basket". Of course my painting is inferior to the Pissarro painting but I could never afford the orginal and coping it is a way for me to improve my painting techniques.

Once again the photo isn't centered. I guess I'll have to dig out the tripod.

More Magnolia Paintings

Here are two more oil paintings that I have finished. The photo with the yarn and knitting needles isn't centered very well but it's hard to do without a tripod. I have one more painting with the magnolia's. That still life has now been retired and I have moved on to painting fruit and vegetables.

Too Many .coms

I worked this weekend on a couple of needle felted pieces, cleaned my studio, and painted a little. I jumped from one project to another but I had fun so who cares?

This is one of the needle felted pieces that I worked on and I've temporarily named it "Too Many .coms". I started with three layers of brown felting fabric and added vertical strips (approx. 1" wide) of blue felting fabric. This was all needle felted together and then washed and dried in a hot dryer. Then I cut up a pieces of polyester fabric and randomly needled felted with my Embellisher. I'll have this piece mounted and framed once I decide it's finished.