In the Arms of Yoda

This is one of the twin daughters of Usha Patel, the young woman who handles all of my shipping. Usha has been spending most of her time the past few months at home enjoying her twins. I happened to catch her in her shop a few weeks ago . When she showed me pictures of the then three month old girls, this one caught my eye. The stuffed version of Yoda protectively holding the bright-eyed baby was a "must paint". I call this painting "In the Arms of Yoda".

Melanie

This is Melanie when one and a half years old. She is the daughter of longtime family friends, Richard and Anne Compton, who make the long drive from Florida to Tennessee a couple of times a year to visit us. I look forward to their visits and like to observe the development of Melanie and her two brothers. Next year there will be another litle Compton. I hope the new baby will be a little sister for Melanie.

Splish-Splash!

This painting is a full sheet, 20" x 28". It shows my twin grandchildren when they were a year and a half old. Kimberly and Kenny are now teenagers enterng high school as freshmen. An older Kimberly can be seen in an earlier painting, "Puppet Play", posted February 17, 2010.

Yellow Hibiscus

A new rendition of the Yellow Hibiscus

Several years ago I painted a similar image of a yellow hibiscus. It had a different format, being longer and thinner. This painting is like my other half-sheet paintings, 14"x 20". The other difference is that I exaggerated the color. The greens are brighter , the yellows are more yellow-orange, and the background is darker.

The original yellow hibiscus was purchased years ago in Northern California. The painting pleased me and I was happy that it pleased someone else. I did not intend to copy it. I just wanted the fun of giving the image a new identity.

Trenton Reception

This painting, "Strawberries", was one of three of my paintings that were selected by John Salminen to be in the Gibson County Visual Arts Association 2011 exhibit. It was a special treat to meet the juror and to hear his critiques of all the paintings he had selected for awards.

When he spoke about "Strawberries", he pointed out the importance of the background in a still life. He said that a still life is a collection of "stuff" put on paper. The success of presenting the "stuff' is dependent on the background. In the case of the "Strawberries" the pattern of the "cut-work" cloth winds through the still life, unifying the composition. He also pointed out the care given the negative painting in the cloth. Recognition of elements of a painting is very gratifying for an artist. I am grateful for John Salminen's words.

The planning for this still life began with the "cut-work" place mat. I was looking for an interesting cloth for a painting. I found it several years ago in Solvang, a touristy Danish town in California. When I finally decided to use the cloth I selected strawberries as the focal point. The design of the mat uses appliqued fruit, including strawberries. The placement of the glass bowl of strawberries on the mat was carefully planned. The cloth was lifted at one corner to reveal the design. When I was pleased with the set up, I sketched, transferred, and painted. I did not use any resist on the intricate cloth patterns. I did negative painting in the cut out areas. I did use a couple of spots of resist on the glass bowl.

Featured Artists in May

Two easels are outside the glass doors of the Art Market Gallery this May. They display the work of the featured artists of the month.



Inside the gallery are seen the floral watercolors of Genie Even and the jewelry of Cynthia Patrick. Frequent viewers of this blog are familiar with these floral paintings. They have been shown on earlier posts as they were completed.

On the sixth of May, the first Friday of the month, the gallery was filled with visitors who came to view the art and enjoy refreshments and music.

Iris Tete a Tete

The composition of this painting is the same as one I did a few years ago. I like the grouping of the irises and decided use the original tracing , but try a slightly different color scheme. I call this painting "Irises Tete a Tete" because the blossoms look like ladies in their finery having a head to head conversation.

Tulip Magnolia Preparation

Background of Tulip Magnolias

Frisk Film Preparation

To have freedom to do successive layers of color in the background of this painting I used Frisk Film to protect the blossoms and branches. Frisk Film is used by air brush artists. The film is cut to cover the area to be protected. When using it with watercolor, the film is cut about an eighth of an inch inside the outer line of the blossoms. The black line seen in the image is the black sharpie pen line inside the blossom. That line is the guide when cutting the film. The edges of the Frisk Film must be sealed with liquid Frisket. The Frisket is applied to cover the area between the edge of the Frisk Film to the outer line of the blossoms. If there is a spot that is not covered completely, watercolor may seep through when applying a wash on the background. I learned this method from Elizabeth Kincaid several years ago in Santa Cruz, California. Elizabeth is the master of this method. Her work is very special. Check it out.

Tulip Magnolias

Here is the latest painting, Tulip Magnolias. The background was done with repeated light washes of cobalt blue, French ultramarine blue, and a bit of the quinacridone rose that was used in the blossoms. These delicate pigments do not show up as well in this image or in a print as they do in the original painting. Check out Tulip Magnolia preparation to view the Frisk Film method of protecting the blossoms while applying background washes.

One Yellow Rose

Another painting! So far, 2011 has been more productive than the last few months of 2010. I am thankful for each painting I am able to finish.

I saw this rose while visiting in Los Gatos last year. I cropped the photo to focus on the one blossom. Yellow is difficult to paint because it has such a limited value range. There are many different yellow tints in this painting. Those yellows were hard to capture with the camera. Nothing came close to the actual painting.

Camellia Garden

I call this painting "Camellia Garden" It is a full sheet watercolor, measuring 28 inches by 36 inches framed. The image is 20 inches by 28 inches. It was an ambitious undertaking for someone who has not painted for several months. Now that it is finally finished, I am pleased and ready to go on to the next challenge.

Nasturtiums

After far too long a time, I have a painting to post. It is very hard to return to painting after a prolonged period of interruptions. I have discarded several attempts, but will continue to paint until I get back on track.

I chose to paint this image of nasturtiums because I like the leaf patterns.