Conglomerate

Today I am playing a bit of catch up. First, here is a photo from the August First Friday pop up show that I participated in with Cherry Creek Art Gallery.

Thanks to Larry Pritchard for this photo

This is me and my wall. We each had a section of wall and a post. As the sun set the lack of lighting became a problem as evidenced by the spotlight on the floor only shining on the bottom section of the wall. Still, there was a constant stream of people coming in for a solid 4 hours and I talked to a lot of people. I was fortunate enough to be closest to the windows on this side of the space so had more light than most. We picked our 'spot' by pulling a number out of a bag. There were 15 artists participating in this one night art show.

study in apple green, 6x6, oil on panel

Here is a little study I did this past week of this little apple I found on the ground while walking my dog in the neighborhood. It must have just fallen as it was still looking so perky. I set it up on the ledge of my easel for a study in apple green. We were hit with such hail this year that very few fruit trees in our area have any fruit on them so this was somewhat of a surprise to find.

And then shockingly, I went out to paint plain air last Friday. I really cannot remember the last time I did that. I went up to Evergreen and 3 of us painted this little cabin. It was a beautiful day. I did this profile facing North, Betsy painted it facing almost due East (ie the front porch) and Debbie was facing south, so on the other side of the cabin.

Here is my first sketch of the cabin. I painted it over another landscape (maybe from the last time I painted outdoors) of a tree with fall foliage. I turned the old painting on its side so the cabin is over the orange and golds of the tree. I was told to stop right here so I did.

This is my second sketch, again painted over another, much older plain air painting of church spires and a one way street sign. By this time the sun was getting to me so you can see, the cabin has lost some width! Both of the boards are the same size, 11x14.

Waterlily in progress

Here is where I ended up yesterday. I keep saying I really like the block in process and continue to hope that I can maintain the abstract quality and yet I rarely "succeed" in my own mind in doing that. It isn't that I don't like the finished product, but I can't seem to keep the under painting from adding that certain something that is in the block in. On this one the windows are showing through at the top giving it a grid pattern that continues here and there down the painting.

The image below is where I started to photograph the progress. I turned the unfinished painting underneath to its side so the the face wouldn't distract me.

Continuing to block in the greens around the water lily so as to get a better feel for the pattern I was wanting to get. ie a circular yet not a halo effect. Still leaving the orangish color of the figure's skin to help keep it from feeling too green.

Adding the darks of the water and more outlines of the lily pads to prepare for finishing the whites of the lily.

First Friday on Sante Fe Drive

First Friday Art Walk on Santa Fe

Our Cherry Creek Art Gallery artists are participating in the First Friday Art Walk on Santa Fe on August 2nd. For this event the street is closed down and food, drinks and entertainment are available throughout the area. Stop in and see us at Skylight, 833 Santa Fe Dr from 5-9:00, during this enjoyable evening. We'd love to see you at the event! By the way, many seasoned Colorado artists have recently joined our group. Visit cherrycreekartgallery.com to see what we're up to!

Cherry Creek Art Gallery Artists:

Jean Brodie Denise Dambrackas Mary Dunn Victoria Ekelund Carm Fogt Kris Iltis Anita Mosher Solich Rogers Naylor Lynn Nebergall

Jeannie Paty
Dena Peterson

Linda Petrie Bunch

Lawrence Pritchard
Melissa Renaud
Sascha Ripps
Christine Segal
Cheri Vilona

Weekend Warriors

Weekend Warriors II, 9x12, oil 

In an effort to keep clutter down to a minimum, I was thinking it was time to ditch these favorite pair of Birkenstocks. Because they have been such faithful and easy shoes, I thought I should do another portrait of them first. It was also a diversionary tactic to avoid working on any of my other paintings in progress too. In 2002 I painted them thinking it was time to toss them then. Forgotten by me until I just went for this photo of the first version, I called them Weekend Warriors back then too! The first version sold soon after I painted them and bought to hang in his office to remind him that the weekend was coming...

My father, 6 months before he died, bought these Birkenstocks for me while we were in Phoenix for my sisters  Master's Degree graduation. That was 37 years ago. My son was a babe in arms. When I painted the first portrait I was fairly new to oil painting and still very graphic and flat in my approach to painting. I still like the original and I am happy that they still look like the same pair of shoes if not a little more worse for wear now. They are only used for gardening or quick dog walks. They are still a very solid pair of shoes having been made with a heavy leather yet malleable enough to fit the form of my feet, horrific bunions and all. The sole was replaced in recent memory and still has many miles on them. But one of the shoes hurts the top of my foot now, which is a new development. Enough to be quite painful if I am not wearing socks. Who wants to wears socks in the summer to work in the garden? Not me, at any rate.
I had sent the new image to my family saying I was planning on tossing the shoes but how did they like the painting? Well, the uproar from them was deafening even though 2 were in Greece at the time and my sister in California. I am not, under any circumstances, to throw these shoes away. What is a little pain with such stalwart supporters of my feet? Even if I choose not to wear them they are a memento that they all were unanimous on keeping in the family.
So there you have it. I haven't tossed them yet, and I will keep them, for now. I enjoyed painting them again. The portrait will go into the next pop up show that is upcoming the First Friday of August. More on that soon.

A World to Discover Part 1

Recently, on a road trip, I made some discoveries I would like to share. These are little gems hidden in places I had not heard of before I did a little research. Well, that isn't quite true as the first place I want to talk about was at Bethany Lutheran College and I had heard of this museum before...Bethany Lutheran College is where Birger Sandzen taught. If you don't know who Birger Sandzen is, he was a Swedish immigrant who taught art at the college in the small Swedish town called Lindsborg. I wanted to see the campus and the museum there in his name. I was fortunate to have seen the collection of Birger Sandzen held by the college a few years back when it was sent to Colorado Springs Fine Art Center while the museum in Kansas underwent renovation. Or I might have been very disappointed. The front room was Birger's work, and some of the side hallways held his etchings and drawings. But that was the extent of his work on display. Prime examples to be sure. And the room did him and his work justice. It was to be left wanting more.

It was visually delightful. He handles color and thick paint with such ease. The textures he portrays makes you want to reach out and touch. The disappointment could have come from it not being ALL about Birger Sandzen as it was in Colorado Springs...however...in the second gallery was a Kansas artist. His name is Aaron Morgan Brown. I was quite intrigued by his work. The first one that caught my eye was the kid in the museum with all these huge ancient sculptures. In this painting there is a tea cup on the  half wall as if the horses head were going after it. On the floor at the base of the wall is a hammer. And the kid looking into the next gallery holding an apple. It just gets you thinking in a very different way. So I went back and started over and really started to delve into each painting a bit deeper. Every painting drew you in a very different way. Photo realism yet with a decided twist that all is not what it appears. On his website he calls it "constructed dreaming." I have included a few for you to see but please go to his website for a visual journey. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Lenten Rose

Lenten Rose, 9x12, oil on linen panel

Here is a painting I started this past spring. The other name for these perennials is Hellebore. They reside in my garden and they are a great flower for low light areas. These are on the north side of my house next to the sidewalk. They have great leaves that grow larger as the flowers fade. But as you can see, they do get some sun in the middle of the day. I did this painting for a friend of mine for her birthday. I will be celebrating it with her for the first time in too many decades to count. We went to Jr HS together in Munich, Germany and have been in contact all these years as we live in different parts of the US. I know she likes flowers and I do hope this will fit in the new house she just moved in to after selling the family home.

Lenten Rose in the beginning

She reads my blog so I am scheduling this post on her birthday.

Duckling and the Ripple Effect

Ripple Effect, 8x8, oil on panel

A friend of mine in Washington state likes to take lots of photos. I saw the image for this painting in one of her last uploads to Facebook. I felt compelled to do a small painting of this little guy, all alone in his bed of ripples. Interestingly enough, just this morning, a friend came over in distress. In our time together we talked about how our actions, even done when no one is around, still impact not only us but those in our circle, and ultimately in each of those individuals' circle as well. As she whispered, barely audible, "like the wind created by a butterfly's wing!" And that is why I was intrigued by this image.

Here is the block in. I took a painting I wasn't particularly delighted with and painted the duck on top of it. The painting was of three oranges in a deep blue bowl. You can see where I followed some of the bowls outline in the ripples. It was a fun little diversion for me.