Friday, November 27, 2009

Wednesdays Life Drawing session


Gerrie my friend who is also an artist is a blessing for me. To be able to have someone who understands and shares the same interest is a great treasure. Wednesday evenings from 6-9:30 we go together to the Art Barn to do our Life Drawing sessions with a few other serious artists. This is such a cute place. It's out in the middle of nowhere. An old farm converted to an artists haven which carries several art shows every year. The stools, easels, tables and floors are coated with layers and layers of paint while paintings hang along the walls. Big windows to look out over the sunflower and corn fields. Trees with small painted hanging bird houses throughout. It is totally adorable! I'll have to take a picture and post it so you'll know what I'm talking about.

I watched my friend Gerrie on our 30 minuets sketch since I was curious how she started her pastel sketches. Normally I just do graphite and my approach is very rigid. It was interesting as she just scribbled color down in a block and then her hand was in a rhythm, moving around until her marks created spaces that she kept refining. The finished product was loose and beautiful! So next week...I'll give it a try.
p.s. You can obviously tell this is my drawing since it isn't loose....I messed around with it later. I look forward to trying Gerrie's technique next week.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Chicago show



An opportunity to show in Chicago came up quickly and I seized it. Someone in Chicago had an empty building they were willing to give us to show our work as long as we paid the utilities for the month. Not bad!

It was amazing the way we all descended on this empty quiet building on a 6 way intersection on Lincoln Avenue and transformed it into a decent looking Art Gallery in a matter of about 2-3 hours. My daughter who lives in Chicago god bless her helped out along with my grandaughter of 4 and several other artists. Assembling the folding screens and numerous other little duties was a learning experience for me.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Christmas Painting for contest


I started this a couple days ago for a contest in Michigan City. I always wanted to do my own Christmas cards and always never did...so I thought this would motivate me. Last year I posted some pictures of the ornaments on my tree I just loved and Bill another artist from another blog encouraged me to paint one....so Bill....I did finally! Any way...it's hard to believe that Christmas is almost here....I still feel like I never got summer...and now the year is slowly closing on me.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Quote of the Day


“Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

-Pablo Picasso




A shot from the show at Miller Beach at the Lakefront Gallery last month.


Vegetarian and Three Graces


Friday, November 13, 2009

Quote of the Day

"When we discovered Cubism, we did not have the aim of discovering Cubism. We only wanted to express what was in us."
~ Pablo Picasso

Ode to Klimt


Yes, Klimt is one of my favorite artists. So when I decided I wanted to just PLAY around with a little with collage I picked some of my old calendars I'd saved with his work, and intuitively worked on this piece. Sometimes It's fun to just "mess" around.

So here is my "just messing around" piece.

I wonder how someone would interpret this since It's done intuitively???? Maybe I don't want to know!?

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Art Quotes

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is
taking the risk to be alive.. the risk to be alive and express
what we really are.
::: Don Miguel Ruiz :::

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle
of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.
::: Paulo Coelho :::