bio/artist statement revision

"early morning storm" 12"x16" pastel on Uart 500  $125

As I grow as an artist, it's important to understand my artistic intentions. I'm more comfortable expressing myself visually, but I understand the need to have an artistic statement in writing. So here is something that I have been working on. Comments are welcome.

Why am I an artist - I have always had an interest in the arts. As a child always drawing, coloring and painting. As I matured, painting became something that totally absorbed me. I feel I express myself better visually, rather than with words.

What inspires me - Nature inspires me. I have a great love for images of nature, in particular, birds, flowers, landscapes and the sky. The Impressionist painters, with the way they interpreted what they saw, and Vermeer, with his use of light - inspired an interest in painting.

How I paint - I went to college as a fine arts major. I wanted to experience many of the fine arts and chose to focus on painting. I started painting oils in college, later on working in watercolors, and currently working in pastels. What is wonderful about these three mediums is that you can use an oil stain and watercolors as an underpainting for the pastel. My paintings are combinations of oil stain/pastel, watercolor/pastel, and all pastel or watercolor.

What you should understand about me - My paintings are of images that I connect with. I, visually, tell you about these connections with color and light. I refer to my paintings as "pieces of me"

I grew up in Connecticut and attended Chamberlayne Jr. College and Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA, graduating with a B.F.A. , majoring in painting. My work career was in floral design and retail management. After getting married and raising two children, I now live in Marietta GA. I sell my work privately  and through local art shows.

"my quiet place"

"my quiet place" 12"x16" pastel on Uart 500  $125

It has been really hot here in the South! Most of us just stay inside or try to find a cool place to sit. My brother-in-law has designed and planted a beautiful garden around his home. When we go over to visit, I always take a walk through the garden and take photos. I took a couple of photos of this stone walkway. It was in the shade, cool and peaceful.

I went back another day and stood there and took in the space….. it felt good to me. So I did a quick 5"x7" study to see how I felt about painting the pathway. 

5"x7" pastel study on Italian Clay Pastel Premier paper

 I went home to my studio and pulled out a piece of Uart 500 paper, did a sketch and then an oil stain underpainting. 

sketch on Uart

oil stain underpainting

I needed to let it dry over night, so I decided to go ahead and pick my pastels and test them on scrap paper. I used all Terry Ludwig pastels, I love the square edges.  I did add a few more as I worked on the painting. 

I worked on the painting for several hours today and then went out to do an errand, came back and put the finishing touches on it. I'm happy with "my quiet place"

"Art For The Park"

"pumphouse" 11.5"x15.5 " pastel on Sennelier La Carte  $125

I've been asked again to participate in a local art show (Art for the Park), this fall, which benefits McFarlane Park, a local park nearby. It runs entirely on donations, so a portion of our sales from the show go to the park.  Last year I did not have any paintings from the park, so I thought I should get working on doing some now. It's been SO HOT here in GA, so I went over there early one morning to check it out and take some photos. I would love to have set up en plein air there, but with this heat, I was happy to work from photos in my studio. When it cools I will go back. 

rudbeckia

asters

oak leaf hydrangea

the pump house, original to the property

I chose these 4 photos to work from. I liked the angle of the light and the color in the flowers.  The pump house was my first painting. It took a couple of days to get the light and color right, but I was happy with the end result. I used Sennelier LaCarte paper for this one and decided to use it for all the paintings in this series. I love the soft edges I get with this paper.

"rudbeckia" 9.5"x12.5" pastel on Sennelier LaCarte  $80

"asters" 8"x10" pastel on Sennelier LaCarte  $60

Next I did the two florals, working just one sitting on each of these about 2-3 hours. I love the color in these two paintings and of course , flowers , one of my favorite images to paint. 

"oak leaf hydrangea" 11.5"x15.5" pastel on Sennelier LaCarte $125

I struggled with this 4th painting. I almost tossed it! I wanted to capture the angle of the light hitting the blooms and keep the painting soft. I didn't give up, I had an image in my head and worked on it for 2 days numerous sittings. I finally got to a point where I said….ok this is done. Sometimes you just don't know when the painting is done, you work on it too much and over work it. I didn't let myself get there!

If you are in Marietta GA Oct 1-2nd, 2015, the show will be Atlanta Country Club. I hope you will come see all the wonderful local art being shown and sold there.

"beauty in the sky"

"beauty in the sky" 9"x12" pastel on Uart 500 $80

The sky never stops amazing me! I see beauty in it every day - rain or shine, daytime or nighttime. Last week we had a beautiful sunset. 

I took a couple of photos, but put the photos aside because I was focused on another painting project. Looking at FaceBook today , Mary Bentz Gilkerson posted a link she wrote about the" 7 Keys To Using Color"

 Sorry it's not a link but you can google her. I need to get better at my blogging!.Anyway, she is an oil painter and I really admire her work and use of color. So I thought , why not try to take her 7 keys and apply it to pastels. I wanted to have fun, loosen up and I had those beautiful sky photos sitting there.

I decided to do an oil stain underpainting, two 5"x7" 15 minute studies and one larger 9"x12" that I would spend more time on. 

 3 oil stain under paintings

 I did the oil stains this morning, so they would be dry later for me to work on. I had about 30-40 minutes before I headed out for dinner, so I decided to do the two 5"x7" studies, spending just 15 mins on each , simplifying my pallet and getting in the color.

5"x7" studies  $35 each 

When I came back from dinner I worked on the larger piece , spending maybe 30 minutes or so on it. I wanted  to just have fun painting the sky, not worrying about getting it perfect and having fun with the color. I think I like my 2nd 15 minute study the best. To me , I captured the essence of what I saw. This is where I am trying to go with my pastel work. I just love my boxes of pastel colors! 

a little bit about me….

"a little piece of me" 8"x10" pastel on Uart  $80

As I try to get myself noticed out there in the art world, I need to write a bio and an artist statement. It amazes me how hard this is for me to do.  It's all about WHY I do what I do. I worked on the bio last night and thought I would test it out here on my blog, so comments are welcome.

I grew up in Newtown, Connecticut and attended college at Chamberlayne Jr College and Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, graduating in 1978 with a B.F.A. majoring in painting. My work career was in floral design and retail. After getting married and raising two children, I now live in Marietta, Georgia. Trained in the fine arts, I had the opportunity to experience many of the fine arts - drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography and all the different mediums. I love it all, but painting has always been my focus. Starting with oils in college, later on working in watercolor, I am now currently working with pastels. What is wonderful about these three mediums, is that you can combine them, using the thinned oil paint and watercolor as under paintings for the pastel! I am nature inspired, so most of my images come from nature ( ex. birds, flowers, landscapes). I sell my work privately and through local art shows.

Here is my watercolor underpainting for my Connecticut landscape

my feathered friends

5"x7" pastel on Sennelier LaCarte  $35

I really need to go out and do some plein air painting or at least get out and get some new landscape photos, but I have been busy during the day with other things. I try to paint everyday, so the last 2 nights, I have been in my studio painting birds. It's one of my favorite things to paint. I wish I could say the bird reference photos are mine , but they are from the internet, so I can't claim them. But it gives me good practice with painting the birds.

5"x7" pastel on Sennelier La Carte "wren" sold

I painted this little wren last night and sold it right away when I posted it. So off in the mail it went today.

5"x7" pastel on Sennelier LaCarte  $35

When I work on these bird pastels, I like to get some detail, not too much, but just just enough to suggest. So I pull out out my pastel pencils along with my Terry Ludwig pastels. I think I will be heading to the art store tomorrow to buy some more pastels pencils….. there are some colors I am missing……...

"pretty in pink"

"pretty in pink" 12"x14" pastel on Uart 500  $100

It's late….. I've been in my studio painting..... Wishing I had gone to the IAPS convention in New Mexico........Playing Pandora (Mumford and Sons Radio) and the time has just flown by! On one of my recent walks with my siberian Husky, Kobi,  I saw some beautiful oak leaf hydrangeas in  my neighbors garden. Usually the flowers are white, but these were pink! and so "pretty in pink"

I took several photos, they were just perfect. Yesterday I pulled out a piece of Uart and just went straight to drawing a quick sketch.

 

I didn't want to think too much about it, I just wanted to get down on paper what I had in my head. Then I pulled out my watercolors and did an underpainting, thinking it would be fun to let some of the underpainting show through the pastels.

  

I had to let the underpainting dry and block the paper, so I couldn't get back to painting it until tonight. I just wanted it to be loose and have fun with the pastels. I think I accomplished my task. I have lots of photos of the hydrangeas to work from so I can always do another painting. Tonight it was just about having fun!

"walk with me"

"walk with me" 11.5"x15.5" pastel on Sennelier LaCarte $125

I am really enjoying painting on the Sennelier LaCarte paper. I love the soft edges I can get with the pastel on this paper. There was one piece left in my pack, so I used it. I'm going to have to buy some more! I still had some photos from Gibbs Garden that I wanted to use for paintings. I did some black pen sketches.

my reference photo

my black pen sketch

There is a lot of green in this photo…… and the reflection……. I decided to use my plein air box to paint this. It is filled with Terry Ludwig's plein air landscape set and Marsha Savage"s southeast landscape set(also from Terry Ludwig). I love all the greens Marsha has in her set!

my plein air box

It was a challenge for me to paint this one. I worked on it off and on for a couple days. In order to make the greens work and have some excitement in the painting, I used more reds. The reflection is probably darker than it should be, but I think it is a good entry into the painting. 

So on to my next painting!