Where you can find my art

My art is available to admire and purchase currently at three locations.  I have encaustic paintings and cards at Paint Creek Center for the Arts.  I have paintings at Fieldstone Winery in downtown Rochester.  Also I have a painting in the "Think Small" exhibit at the Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale.   Lots of choices! 

Happy Halloween

My family and I love Halloween.  Every year we all carve our own pumpkin.  This year I carved one a little differently.  I bought some small pumpkins and I put one in my larger pumpkins mouth.  I thought it turned out great.  Take a look! 

Encaustics

I have been painting with my encaustics this week and loving it!  I have to set everything up in the hallway by the back door because I need good ventilation and I have none in my studio.  This particular painting is of a sunset from Washington state.  The colors are so vibrant.  I painted the encaustic on the clayboard and then heated it up.  I work the melted wax around until I get sworls  of color  like you would see in the sky. You can't get an exact replica like you could with oil paint  but I think it makes an interesting painting. 

Art Prize

I made it Art Prize this year!  It is a city wide art competition in Grand Rapids that runs for 3 weeks. So far the winners have been realistic pieces and I am curious to see what type of art wins this year.    I can't say I saw any paintings that really blew me away but then again I didn't get to all of the venues. You can download the Art Prize ap and you can see all of the art.  I did see some outdoor sculptures that I thought were great.  I also saw a 4 panel quilted fabric piece that was amazing.   I am considering entering next year.  It would be terrific to put on my resume. 

Let the Shows Begin!

After a hiatus from having art shows I will be several art shows!  This week I arranged two shows for the Sisters of the Brush.  The first will be at Dessert Oasis, a coffee and dessert house in downtown Rochester.  The show will be there for the month of December 2013.  The second show is going to be at Fieldstone Gallery , also in downtown Rochester for the month of December 2014.  The Sisters of the Brush will also be at Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale for the month of May 2014.  I  also had a  painting accepted into a show at the Birmingham Community House in October called the Our Town show.   You can also go to the Sisters of the Brush website www.sistersofthebrush.com to get more information.  Time to get painting!

To Take Classes or Not Take Classes?

I have taken art classes on and off for at least 10 years.  I have gained knowledge and experience from these classes.  It can also be motivating.  My beloved teacher died last year and now I need to see if there is someone else out there to take classes from or do I keep going on my own?  I also need to take some computer classes to keep me up to date for job hunting.  How many hours are there in the day?  Does anyone have suggestions for an instructor in the Detroit area to take exploratory watercolor classes from?  Any suggestions are appreciated. 

New Etsy listing

I listed this painting on etsy today!  It is a painting that I started by drawing the hydrangeas with wax.  I painted over the top of that with watercolor paint.  Later I poured paint onto tissues to get the watery look.  I like all of the interesting textures that resulted.

A Farmers Toys

My sister and I have been cleaning out our Mom's house.  Our Dad passes away 10 years ago and now our mother can't live on her own.  We came across some farm toys that my Dad had.  I would like to incorporate them into some paintings.  This is a photo of a till ( I think I remember that correctly), a toy version,

which is what would be attached to the back of a tractor and used to work the earth so it would be fresh for planting or to dig up weeds. 

Workshop

I took a Marilyn Dewenskus workshop last week. Marilyn is a mixed media artist that is a former Ball State professor. She used to live in the Detroit area and comes in for workshops every so often. She was a fantastic teacher! I learned about pouring which is where you mix up a cup of watercolor paint and water, pour it over different papers- like paper towels, kleenex, fabric- and then let it dry. When its dry take off the paper and see that you have! Sometimes there was no paint left behind and sometimes it looks great. Marilyn adds into her paintings images of things that have meaning to her life. She makes it look easy but it really is not. I have included a picture of one of Marilyn's paintings. The second photo is of Jazz, our mascot for the week.  Also at the workshop were four of my fellow members of the Sisters of the Brush.  The art group that I am joyously a member of.  If you go to sistersofthebrush.com  You can see our posting of our week together painting. 
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Unfinished work

I have been given a few paintings that were started by Mary McCarthy Anderson. Mary was a friend who we (the Sisters of the Brush), started a scholarship in her name at Paint Creek Center for the Arts. I wanted to try and finish one of her paintings, sell it and donate the proceeds to the scholarship. This painting I am calling "Whats the Point?". Mary had put the pencils and shapes of pencils in the painting. I am adding squares and glazes of color on it. I am not finished yet but wanted to share.

New York New York

I recently went on a trip to New York City. I was a chaperone on a high school band trip. I didn't get to visit all of the fantastic art museums and galleries while I was there. What I did do was visit some spots that I had never been to before. We went to the top of the Rockefeller Center or Top of the Rock as the locals say. We visited the 911 Memorial which was quite moving. My favorite had to be visiting Lincoln Center. We had a fantastic tour guide and he told us stories as we walked through all of the separate buildings where you can see ballet, opera, theater and the orchestra. The building where the ballet is held was constructed to look like a jewelery box with a ballerina inside. Very clever! I am posting a photo that I took of Central Park. All of the trees were in bloom. Can't wait to go back again!

Art Studio time

I started taking a studio art class this past year. I get together with other artists and we paint and talk for three hours every Friday. It is a chance to get other opinions on what we are painting. Plus we get ideas and its a time to connect. This particular painting I created by staining the paper with flavored teas. Then I added shapes of flowers and painted around them. I wanted to create a tropical feel. I used turquoise blue over layers of quinaquidine gold to end up with the teal like color.

Time to start again

I has been quite a while since I have written in my blog and I have to leave the house in a few minutes so I have to make it fast! It is a new year and it is time to make some changes. I am starting an open studio class on Fridays soon at Paint Creek Center for the Arts. I have to miss the first class because I will be out of town. But it will be great to get together with other artists and get some new ideas. I can get in a creative rut trying to work out of my house on my own. I did visit the Faberge' exhibit at the DIA recently. I thought it was very interesting! I had read about the Faberge' eggs for years but had never seen one. The design is so intricate and they managed to create these designs so that the eggs could fold out flat or open with a treasure inside! It isn't at the DIA for much longer so go see it soon!