Pastel Portraits and Children...

Like all women I am many things...wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, friend. As I walked through a building today, I observed a 4 year-old happily shadowing her father - who she clearly adored. I remembered that time when I was that little girl. Later in the day, a family came into the studio. The preteen hanging on her mother enganging her in adult conversation, sharing a girls' moment. "Oh, Mom, look how lovely the dress is in that painting. She looks so beautiful." I remember being that girl, too. I hope that when all is said and done, that my paintings will help the families I paint remember those moments. This is a detail from a pastel portrait of two sisters...the younger one shown here was the flirty, precocious one. I hope that comes through...

Silverpoint drawings...

Today was full of arranging plane flights, preparing papers for classes, and pulling together some images as examples. I was working on two of the classes I will be teaching at Jerry's Art of the Carolinas in November in Raleigh. One is this great "Mr. Wizard's Color of Light Bounce Effects - Physics for Artists Painting Light 101"!! Okay so that's not really the title, but that will be the real point of the class... or show, in this case. I was also working on the class about drawing and painting hands and found one of my old silverpoint drawings that I will be including in the powerpoint explanation. Silver is used... Drawn on clay coated Italian paper 4 x 3 inches. This was done in Florence from a statue in the Medici Chapel.

The Perfect Day...

Today was the perfect day. The weather was at its very best. The sky was incredibly beatiful. I managed to study this morning, write a little, paint without a deadline, cook a great meal, and enjoy it leisurely on the patio over looking the lake until the sun finally set. Perfect. There have been few days like this recently. I am grateful for it. It reminded me of another day in Italy in Panzano near Florence... It was much like the day in this 24 x 30 oil painting. Can you feel the sunlight?

Splendid First Friday...

The evening started off very slowly. So all the artists thought that everyone had gone to the beach for the holiday weekend. Not at all. We had a stunning crowd by 7:30 and it never let down all evening long. Shoulder to shoulder, it was a massive group, all ages ranges. Great interest in the artwork, great questions, great fun. Here is an 11 x 14 pastel on Ampersand board to toss into the mix...

Italian Landscape - Vicino Panzano - the next step...

This project was begun by an invitation to do a show with five other artists for a gallery in Raleigh, NC. Judy Jones, the gallery owner and a marvelous printmaker, decided that it would be interesting to see the results of a show called "Painters under Pressure." This intaglio print that I posted yesterday is of a location near Panzano, Italy. The print image is 4 x 10 with the sheet size being 10 x 16. To hand tint them, I simply used a watercolor wash. Each print then became individual and unique. I did left a few untinted because I loved the pure simplicity of the print and the texture of the paper. Our show opens tomorrow night for Raleigh's First Friday Art Walk.

Italian Landscape - Vicino Panzano

This is an intaglio print that I created this week. The image is a location near Panzano, Italy were we stay frequently when we go - a serene location with lovely rolling hills and vineyards in every direction. The print image is 4 x 10 with the sheet size being 10 x 16. I used a rich chocolate colored ink on creme colored Italian paper...hmm, I must be hungry... Here is the full image and a closeup detail. Tomorrow I will take the prints and hand tint them.

Carolina Coast - One more time...

Here are a couple of closeup images from yesterday's post about the unusual restaurant at the coast of Carolina. Thanks for the calls and emails about this image. I agree with you - it was a most memorable place and it had to be painted. This is a pastel 20 x16 on Ampersand board, and here are two of the interesting areas.