Finished Paintings!

Well I managed to finish my painting of the Trail through the Birch. It took me a few days after I stopped painting on it to decide if I was really finished. While I was deciding on the completion of this painting I took the opportunity to experiment with the linen canvases I had purchased a while back. These are just one idea that I had and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. There are two and they are views of the horizon in southern Alaska.

I really like the texture and color of the linen so I wanted to do something that would utilize it while also letting the paint colors pop. They started out a little more fluid but I added a little more detail. I still have a few more of these canvases so I'm not sure how similar my next work on them will be to these. I still have a lot more work to do in order to be ready for the show in October. I also have entered in some other shows and will hear if I have been accepted soon. Which would be really exciting, but would also mean I have a lot more work to do...

Quick update

A quick post of some recent progress. Still have a bit to do but should finish soon.

Progress today before break

I've been painting for a few hours today. Oscar has informed me now that it is time to pay attention to him. We're going to take a quick trip to the doggy park. Hopefully running around will entertain him enough so I can get back to painting. Here's a picture of my progress so far.

Inspiration to get painting

I took a trip today into Nashville because I wanted to hit up Plaza Art Supplies for some new canvas (they were having a sale) as well as other painting items. I picked up some great colors that I am excited to add to my palette as well as a few linen pre made canvases. I'm really excited to see what I will do with the linen as it has a really special dark color. I think I will do something a little out of the box for me but I have a bit of a vision at the moment. I was really inspired by the work I saw in Nashville of artist Lela Altman she is doing really great abstract pieces that really utilize the color of the linen with her painting technique. I really liked this one which is grey bleed. Check out her site to see what other techniques she is doing.

 I promise I will have some actual painting progress to show you soon. For now I'll share some images I took to work from for my Nashville paintings. I enjoyed a trip to the Frist Center to view their current shows. I was really inspired by the collection from the Royal Victoria and Albert Museum of the work of John Constable (1776-1837). I was really inspired by the comprehensive collection spanning the career of John Constable. There were amazing drawings and watercolor studies, large full size oil sketches, and many paintings that illustrated his knowledge of clouds and experience in painting them. It was just what I needed to see to get a jump start to my own work. Getting into the process of painting can sometimes be slow but mostly for me it is about aligning everything up just right. It is like prepping for any big activity, I'm basically stretching, warming up, suiting up, watching play by plays as it were, except I'm not playing a sport or running a marathon. It's funny how much work goes into doing something I find so meditative. Here's an image from the Frist Center of John Constable's work. I really think that work needs to be seen in person, it has such a better impact than staring at a lightbulb.

I'm not used to painting architecture or urban scenes after so much time painting Alaskan landscapes. I think that it will be an interesting exercise for me and broaden my skills. I still want to apply color the same way that I do when I work on mountainscapes I just will have to focus on what colors are there. I also was fortunate to have interesting clouds in the sky and because the is an important feature of most of my works to date I wanted to make sure that I captured them. I think that will help the direction I take my work capturing Nashville. With that... until next time.

Life and Art

While I'm busy trying to get my act together I'm often distracted by all of the other things going on in my life. The creative process is different for everyone but being able to create art often is inspired by those things that are going on in ones life. I've decided to blog a little more often and not just about my artwork. I'm going to add a little bit more about the process of creating my paintings but that will include some of my other ventures. 

I recently drove from Tennessee to Virginia. The drive was long but beautiful through the mountains. Here's an instagram pic... 

Time and yummy food with my brother at a great restaurant AW Shucks  in Ghent (Norfolk) Virginia

A great summer is never complete without the Dave Matthews Band! They were wonderful as usual!

 I had an idea for artwork that is a painting in an embroidery hoop with some embroidery. This is a northern skyline and I'm embroidering the Northern Lights in green thread. I'm trying to do a japanese stitch with a stem stitch border. I'm going to add some more as well as some french knot stars. I'm pretty excited to start working in a new medium. I don't think I'll get to do too much of this in the near future but it was an idea in my head that I just had to start so it'd give me some peace!

 I love knitting and this is a baby blanket I'm making for a friends new baby. I am so close to being done with this! I will actually be done before the baby is born! A miracle since the way I complete knitting projects I would expect the baby to be in college before I finished... The pattern is Umaro by Jared Flood from Brooklyn Tweed.

 A recent trip in Nashville to Textile Fabric Store to view the new yarn section led me to this great Tracy Reese pattern and sale fabric! I'm taking a sewing e-course Home Ec that I'm really excited about. This project will likely not happen for a while but I couldn't resist!

 My doggy Oscar is my travel and studio buddy. He lets me know when I need to take a painting break with his toys or he'll bark at me.

Then of course I have actually done some painting recently. This is a new piece I started of birch trees at Creamers Field in Fairbanks, Alaska. I really need to get to working on this but I'm a little distracted right now by all of my knitting projects plus getting things ready for storage, moving etcetera... Well after the photo bombing it's time to be semi-productive whether it's a trip to the dog park or organizing supplies or adding another knit row...

Artist's Reception Reminder!

It's almost that time! This month sure has flown by. I learned so much participating in the First Saturday Art Crawl. Getting to chat with the other artists and gain feedback from the gallery owner Olga was especially helpful. I'm always learning and growing as an artist and the opportunity to meet with so many people from the local area was so amazing. I already love Nashville and everyone was so welcoming and encouraging of my work. I really enjoyed being able to talk about my work and why I paint.

Saturday June 30th from 2-4pm at the O Gallery in the Arcade Downtown Nashville (42 Arcade, Nashville, TN 37219) there will be a closing reception for the artists on display in the gallery. This is a great opportunity to meet with me if you are interested in commission work as well as an opportunity to purchase any of the paintings on display. All of my work that is in the gallery is for sale and you can take it home with you that evening! The Gallery is located on the second floor of the Arcade, there is stair access and an elevator. There are several parking garages nearby as well as off street parking. Don't forget to get dinner afterwards in one of the great restaurants nearby! I especially enjoyed Pucketts Grocery (it's BBQ)! If you made it to the Saturday Art Crawl I hope you can make it out again, and if you didn't make it then I hope you'll be able to join me! 

An Occasion for the Arts!

A couple of months ago I applied to An Occasion for the Arts in Colonial Williamsburg in October. I really didn't think that I would get in but thought I'd give it a shot because it's a really big local art festival. Well big surprise when I checked my email after getting to Virginia. I can hardly wait till the weekend of October 6th and 7th but I have so much to do to prepare for the event. I hope if you're in the area that you'll be able to check it out. Check out the website for www.aofta.org I'll write back when I know where my booth will be and will chronicle the work that I'm doing to get ready.