Future projects

My next project - once I get all the Christmas gifts wrapped and the food prepared for the various Christmas celebrations this week - is to paint Lily and Sophie in Alaska. It would be a combination of a couple photographs - Lily and Sophie sitting on some rocks, inner arms around each other, and outer arms thrown up into the air, with the bay and snow capped Alaskan mountains behind them. I've attempted it several times - and have the paintings to prove it.  However, I don't like any of them.  I am going to try something new - painting it alla prima, all in one sitting.  Instead of agonizing over every little shape and shadow - just paint it.  That is the number one painting I want to have hanging on my walls.  Here are the two photographs that I have tried to merge into a painting.  Basically I want to paint the second photograph but with the girls' arms up in the air. 

Plus, I've promised Sophie I would paint something just for her.  I painted "Lily's Angel" for Lily, and I will paint Mickey for Sophie Grace.  Mickey is her horse.  So I've been trying to come up with something meaningful for Sophie.

I've put a Maine plein air workshop on Monhegan Island as one of my "Christmas wishes."  I'm hoping that will be one of my gifts on Christmas Monday.  Our trip to Maine in 2016 was such a fun trip, and I think it would be wonderful to spend a week on Monhegan Island painting en plein air.  I love taking workshops because I learn so much with each one, and they inspire me to paint more.

Ron's 70th Birthday Book

Here's my second big writing project for Christmas 2017 - a commemorative photo book for Ron's 70th birthday party in July 2017. 

The front cover

The following are just a few of the pages from the book.  The photo books is basically photos with a few captions.

Maine - Audubon Camp on Hog Island, Monhegan Island

In September 2016 - just a couple weeks before Lily was diagnosed with her relapse - Ron and I flew to Niagara Falls for a couple days, and then to Porland, Maine where we stayed a couple nights at a B&B in Damariscotta, Maine, and then spent a week on Hog Island which is an Audubon Camp.  We were there for the week of "Fall Migration and Monhegan" which was led by Scott Weidensaul.  We had met Scott at Camp Denali in Alaska in June 2016 when we were there for our Alaska trip with Lily and Sophie.  He led birding trips there, too.  He told us about Hog Island, and we were interested.

Ron has been a birder every since he was a little boy.  His Grandmother Pierce was very much into identifying birds.  Ron helped her with catching and banding birds, they kept a bird identification book near at hand and spent lots of time each day observing the birds at their many bird feeders and identifying them.

That trip to Maine was the first time I'd ever been, and I was completely entranced with it.  I loved being at Hog Island.  I went on some of the birding hikes and trips, but I also stayed at our cabin (the Eider Room) and did some plein air painting.  That was before I learned about alla prima painting, and so I labored over each painting I did.  So I only completed one painting while we were there.

The scene across the bay from outside our cabin.

The Eider Room is one half of the back this cabin.  The other back half was the Guillemot Room.  The front half of the cabin was something else (don't recall the name)  The week we were there, we were the only ones in the entire building - and it was the last cabin.  So we had lots of privacy.  Very simple lodging in our room - two twin beds, a bathroom with shower, sink and toilet.  

A view of the Hog Island dock as we approached it after our day trip to Monhegan Island.

I found a photo I took of my work-in-progress painting.  You can see how I was set up to paint.  This was right outside our cabin - the Eider Room.

I had a great learning experience with that one painting.  After I finished it, I propped up the wet panel against the screen window in our room to dry. I painted in acrylics, and so it wasn't really wet - I just didn't want it to be ruined since the room didn't have much space and I thought propping it against the screen got it out of the way and kept it safe.  Ha! Was I wrong!  It rained that night.  When we awakened the next morning, I realized that the cardboard backing to the panel was wet and warped. Although the rain hadn't come through the screened window, the screen was wet enough that the cardboard apparently sucked in a lot of moisture. After getting home, I spent a lot of time trying to salvage the painting.  I finally took the canvas completely away from the backing.  However, it was ruined, and one day after I'd worked with it trying to get it to look right, I finally tossed it in the trash can.  It wasn't that great a painting anyway.

I had painted while sitting in a chair outside our cabin, looking out over the bay at the islands and ocean beyond.  I liked it because it reminded me of a special time, but it wasn't worth the time I'd already put into trying to save it.

As I was painting, one of the birding groups camp up and stopped near me as they looked at some birds in a nearby tree.  Some of the folks in the group came over and looked at my painting and we chatted about it.  Throughout the day other hikers/campers walked past me - and each one at least said hi - and most stopped and asked to see my painting and we talked. It was very pleasant.

I did my own hiking each day. Each time I hiked the long way from our cabin to the main camp area, I'd pass the Artist in Residence cabin.  Now THAT fascinated me.  As much as I enjoyed sitting outside our cabin and painting en plein air, I could just imagine spending a week or two doing that.  What luxury!  Nothing to do but concentrate on my painting.  No dishes, no laundry, no errands - just doing what makes me happy for awhile.  Very cool!

One of the most enjoyable days during my time at Hog Island was the day trip to Monhegan Island.

On Monhegan Island, we walked up to the lighthouse.  There were plein air artists everywhere.  This woman was painting the lighthouse.  Breathtaking beauty all around.  And the most delicious clam chowder at a little restaurant right off the dock. 

This is the Franklin Island Lighthouse.  We passed it on the way back from our Monhegan Island trip.  I painted this lighthouse because I loved it so much.  It's one of my favorite paintings.

This was a wedding at a lighthouse on the mainland. The two women who were getting married seemed oblivious to the tourists milling about. I thought it was a beautiful setting for a wedding, but not private at all with all the tourists visiting the lighthouse.  Interesting that some of the guests are standing and others are seated.  

Great photo of somewhere in Maine -I think off Hog Island.  I need to be sure to caption all photos immediately after a trip in order to remember where each photo was taken.  

This photo and the next two are beautiful photos, but I'm not sure where in Maine they were taken.  See lesson learned in previous photo caption.  

Maine lighthouses fascinated me.  We visited at least five of them.  I hope to return to Maine to do a lighthouse tour one day.  I'd love to paint them all.

One of my favorite photos - a sunset on Hog Island.

Beach Houses

At the end of August and first of September 2017, Ron and I spent a week at Blue Mountain Beach, Florida.  I was in my rock painting phase at that time.  I'd gotten discouraged with painting, and so I'd put my oil paints, panels and canvases away, and for about 2 1/2 months I painted rocks.  It was quick, easy, and most importantly, totally stress free.  No great art skill involved - just coloring book type painting with acrylic paints.

However, on our beach trip, even though I was taking a hiatus from serious painting, I took photos of things I wanted to paint.  I did the abstract sunset painting using one of the photos I took during that trip as a reference.

One morning Ron and I were eating breakfast in a restaurant and as I glanced around I saw a painting on the wall that I loved.  It was of three beach houses.  From across the restaurant, I snapped a quick photo of the painting. In that photo (below) you can see the decor that was between me and the painting.  I have no idea who the artist is. I even Googled "three beach house, art, painting" to see if I could find out the artist so I could give him/her credit for the inspiration.  I was shocked at how many paintings there are of THREE beach houses together.  However, I couldn't find this particular painting.  So, I tried.  If I do this again (take a photo of a painting I like so I can try to do a similar painting), I will make sure to look at it closely enough to jot down the artist's name.   I definitely like the impressionistic look of the painting.

Weeks later, back at home, I was looking at my photos and decided to try to paint it - but to make it more mine.  Here (below) is my painting.  I made a few changes - I had a green house instead of the red one, added the decorative windows, larger and more distinct flower pots, a surf board leaning against one railing, and a beach chair in front of one of the houses.  I also didn't add the water.  I like the painting.  It would look good in a beach house, I think.  Maybe I'll give it to our beach house agent, Nancy, next time we go to the beach.  Right now it is framed and hanging on the wall upstairs.  

Looking at it now, I can see how I could make some changes.  All the white in the top photo makes it look bright and sunny.  My painting looks more like an overcast day.  I could lighten it up with some light color in the sky and sand.  However, it is done.  It was a lesson I learned in the Derek Penix workshop, and now I see the same principle here.  Next painting I will remember to use lighter colors to sunny-ify a painting. 

Writing Books for Christmas Gifts - "We Love You, Mary Bradley!"

Over the years I have published quite a few books - self-publishing at Lulu.com.  I've edited four books for my mother - all available on Amazon.  Then I've written books for my granddaughters, and I edited a family cookbook (available on Amazon). I did a photo book of my mother's 90th birthday party that turned out great, and I did a photo/memory book for our previous pastor when he was transferred to another church.  When Ron and I built this house - our dream house - back in 2006 and 2007 I photographed the whole process, and then put together a book about it.  Great memories and valuable information on where we got the house plans, paint colors, brick color and manufacturer, which subcontractor did each part of the house (foundation, framing, plumbing, electrical, brick, landscaping, painting, etc.)  So self-publishing books is something I've done a lot, and I am comfortable with the software and process.  These books aren't for commercial promotion, but for private enjoyment and use.

The genesis for my creating books actually goes back to when Larisa (my daughter) and Joey (my son) were little.  I hand-made books for them - writing with markers on construction paper about things they did and then using photos I took of them as the illustrations. I'd seal the pages with clear contact paper and either sew or staples the pages together.  I think they still have their books.  That was as high tech as I was capable of in those days - mid to late 1970s and early 1980s.

Now I create the books in Microsoft Word.  I cut/paste digital photos for illustrations.  Once the book is completely written in Word, I save it as a pdf and upload it to Lulu.  I create covers in Microsoft Publisher and save them as a jpg files.  The books turn out well and look like they were professionally done - which, since Lulu is a major book publishing business, is true.

For Christmas this year.  I created two books.  I will write only about the first one in this post.  I'll write about the other one in a later post.

The first book is for sweet Bradley - my four year old granddaughter.  Her book is way overdue. I had the book for her sister, Evey,  done before Evey was even one year old.  It was titled "Welcome, Evey."  I'll write about it in another post, too.  So here's Bradley's book:

This is the front cover.  It's a hard-cover book.  I designed the front and back covers in Microsoft Publisher and then saved them as high resolution jpg files which I then uploaded to Lulu's book cover program.

I wrote a catchy little poem - one that a 4-year old would enjoy hearing and reading again and again.  I repeated the main 4-line verse every couple pages to give it more rhythm and because children LOVE repetition in books.  After all, I was an elementary school literacy specialist the last six years of my teaching career.

 I copy/pasted photos to go with each page.  I put pink borders (Bradley's favorite color) on the photographs and added cute squiggly pink page headers and footers.

I tried to capture Bradley's bubbly and endearing personality via both the rhymes and the photos.

Then I researched her name and wrote about the origins of her name and what each part means - how her parents came up with her name and who she was named after (me!)  

Finally, I had everyone close to her - parents, grandparents, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles - write a note to her.  Each person had one or more pages.  I copied the notes and put photos of her with the person who wrote the note.

It's a sweet book, and it's one Bradley will likely always treasure.  With the first three granddaughters, I wrote several books with the three of them as the characters.  

And, of course, I wrote the book about Lily's first cancer journey that we use as gifts when Larisa and Lily speak at childhood cancer or Vandy hospital events.  When Larisa and I went to Washington to lobby for childhood cancer funding, we gave copies to each congressperson we met with.   The book is available on Amazon - Lily and Sophie, Sisters and Best Friends.  Several copies have sold on Amazon to people we don't know - which is nice.  I know when Lily was first diagnosed, I scoured Amazon looking for books about kids with cancer - especially leukemia - wanting to learn as much as possible - and looking for material for Lily to read.  She would've enjoyed reading a book like the one I wrote.  Of course she loves the book I wrote - but she lived it - she didn't have to read it to know it personally.

Up soon - the second book I did for this Christmas.

A class with Rachael McCampbell - Pumpkins and Lemons Together

Rachael McCampbell is a local artist.  She actually goes to our church.  Funny how our church is so small and yet there are so many people there who are known locally and nationally - and some even internationally - for either their music, art or other gifts.  Rachael is one of those folks.  She taught an acrylic class at Owl's Hill Nature Center.  It was just a one day class, but I really enjoyed it, and more importantly, I learned from it. We painted a still life, and we experimented with various Golden acrylic materials.

That was over a month ago (November 18, 2017), and I just now realized I have not written anything about it here on my blog.  I enjoyed working with Rachael so much that I signed up for a series of weekly classes she will start in January.  I'm looking forward to that.  My sister, Beth, from Georgia is coming up here for a couple months and plans to take the class with me.

Below is my still life painting.  It's acrylic on a 16 x 20 gessoboard.  As you can see, I already have it framed and hanging on the wall.  I like it.  The largest pumpkin in the actual still life that we used as a reference was a white one, but I'm not a fan of white pumpkins.  So I added orange in the creases of the pumpkin to give it more color.  I'm pleased with how it looks.

It was fun working with acrylic paint again.  I got right back into it fairly easily.  My only hesitation in loving this painting is that pumpkins and lemons don't really "go" together.  Pumpkins are a fall crop in cooler climates.  Lemons are grown in warmer climates.  While the colors are nice together, the combination of the two in a still life just doesn't feel harmonious to me.

"November Harvest" acrylics on 16 x 20 gessoboard

November Harvest

A trio of pumpkins

A quartet of lemons 

Orange and yellow and white

A cool weather vine

A warm climate tree

A sweet and a sour bite.

In writing the poem to go with the painting, I realized anew how writing poetry to go with a painting forces me to look at it more closely and to think about it more deeply.  Before writing the poem, I knew that the combination of pumpkins and lemons seemed off to me.  Writing the poem made me REALLY work through WHY the combination nagged at me.  It was because they don't naturally occur together.  However, through the poem, I could work through those nagging feelings.  Of course I realize in today's markets, one can buy at the same time a variety of vegetables and/or fruits grown in just about any climate in the world. So perhaps my "nagging feeling" is outdated.   

Baptism in Leiper's Creek

Back on September 10th, after our church service, the congregation as a whole walked or drove the few blocks from the church, through the Leiper's Fork business district - which is just a few stores - and down the road to the Leiper's Creek swimming hole where we also have creek baptisms.  Pastor Betty baptized two people - first a woman and then a man.  I am not using their names in consideration for their privacy.  In my photograph, I made sure that no faces were shown.  I took several photos.  This one was my favorite:

Baptism in Leiper's Creek (Leiper's Fork, TN), September 10, 2017

So my next goal was to paint the scene.  I love to paint scenes that mean a lot to me.  Here's my painting and poem (a haiku) for this baptism painting:

Baptism in Leiper’s Creek, #1

In a muddy creek

A soul repents; God blesses

A new life begins

As I have done a lot recently, I posted the painting on my Facebook page, and two different people asked about buying it.  So I painted the scene two more times.  Now I have three similar baptism paintings.  I love all three of them.  There are differences, of course, between them.  You can't exactly duplicate a painting.  I will keep one copy because it is probably my favorite of all the paintings I've done thus far. 

Abstract. Sunset

I decided to just paint - quick and easy.  I wanted to see what I would come up with if I painted without over-thinking it.   I used the photo below that I took when Ron and I were at Blue Mountain Beach in Florida back in September.  Here is the photograph:

And here is my painting.  I like it - a lot.  Really, it’s one of my favorites of the paintings I’ve done - something about the colors is so pleasing to me.  I didn't want people in my painting -so I left them out. The beach was so crowded, though, that it was impossible to take a photograph without people in it. I toned the panel with red before I started, and I like the way the red underneath comes through with all the colors. It provides an under-glow that gives the painting vibrancy. 

Blue Mountain Beach Sunset (Florida)

Day’s end at the beach

Burning sun in orange and gold

Fire, sea, and clouds merge

Mediocre and Bad Paintings - What to do with them?

I've been painting for about a year and a half now, and I have quite a large collection of mediocre and bad paintings.  However, although I don't want anyone to look at them, I really don't want to get rid of them either.

Last spring I burned some bad paintings that I had begun but stopped because they were awful from the get-go.  Probably all artists do that: begin a painting and don't feel it from the beginning.  It is similar to when I have an idea to write about, and yet when I start putting the words on paper (or, rather, typing the words into the word processing program on the computer) the idea just doesn't pan out. I realize my interest was in something not deep enough to expand on - or not really interesting once I got further into it.  With painting, I start with an idea and then realize that the thought and work needed to complete the painting don't match up with what I intended.  So I stop - and only rarely come back to it later. 

What I've learned is that I can't really get into painting something just for the sake of painting it.  My subject has to mean something to me.  Some of my paintings don't really mean anything to me - they're just something I decided to paint for some reason. And I didn't paint them very well either.  Yet, I can't burn them.  I wonder what other artists do?

Last winter I signed up for a couple of online art classes. The class paintings are good practice, but there's no personal connection to the paintings from those classes because they're someone else's paintings that I'm merely trying to copy.  I found Dreama Tolle Perry really good for learning techniques.  However, I'm not crazy about the paintings I did.  For me, the lifeblood of painting is from my own experiences. 

My current plan is to stack my so-so paintings standing up in a box and just save them.  LOL!  Basically, I am deciding to make my kids deal with them after I'm dead and gone.  I have no doubt they won't have my hesitation to toss them.

Red Barn on Bailey Road

I was driving down Bailey Road in Leiper’s Fork and saw this barn.  It is out in the country (no traffic), and so I stopped the car, rolled down the window and took some photos.  I used one of the photos to paint this yesterday.  I figure that since I didn't even have to get out of my car to take the photo, that I didn't need to get permission to take it or to paint from it.  I wonder what the protocol is for something like that.  I know you have to get permission to do en plein air painting on someone's property (of course) - but to take a photo from the road . . . I don't know.  I hope it's okay. 

As I looked at my painting, I realize that I HAVE to work on color mixing.  My greens are too yellow. I definitely need more blue in the green.  One of the artists I took several lessons from, Kay Keyes Farrar, mixes her colors before she starts painting.  That might be a good idea.  I tend to mix as I go - and I either don't mix enough and have to keep mixing more, OR I mix so much I have lots leftover at the end.  I've asked Kay and another artist about having a class on mixing colors.  I'm still waiting to hear back.

I went over the painting later and added more viridian based color (blue green).  There’s a glare in the upper left, but I think overall the color is better.  

Bailey Road Barn (Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee)

Along a backwoods road

A barn, red and faded

Lies nestled among the trees

Sunlight filters into the field beyond

Country life in Leiper's Fork

Visiting my Mother - and Painting

I visited my Mother for a few days.  I took my oil painting supplies and was determined to paint while I was there.  I ended up doing two paintings.

One day we took a 90-minute drive from Rome, GA to Ellijay, GA.  When I was growing up (4th grade) our family moved to Ellijay where my father was the pastor at Watkins Memorial Methodist Church.  Apples are a big deal in Ellijay, and I was eager to go there and buy some apples and to see Ellijay again.  It has been probably 15 or more years since I've been there.

We visited two apple barns - the Penland Orchard and Panorama Orchard.  The Penland Orchard is owned by the family of a friend from our childhood, Marty Teem.  The Panorama Orchard is owned by the family of a former church member from Ellijay, the Stembridges.   I bought lots of apples - and lots of apple-related products (dried apples, apple crisp mix, apple muffins mix, local honey, apple cider, fried apple pies, apple fritters).

To commemorate the day, I wanted to paint an apple-themed picture.  I looked online for inspiration, and found this photo which I THOUGHT was from either Penland Orchard or Panorama Orchard.  As it turned out, when I rechecked the photo online, I found that it came from the website of Reece Orchard in Ellijay instead. Oh well.  I thought it was a pretty photo and would be simple to paint.

However, I'm not pleased with the painting.  It is so-so, at best.  I tried to do some Derek Penix-style "fracturing" of lines.  LOL!  Derek definitely does it much better than I do.  And again, my colors are lacking.  I'm actively looking for some classes or workshops on color mixing.  I have trouble SEEING colors.  I tend to see the "local color" without really seeing how light and shadows change it. 

Then I went around my mother's house and took photos of things I liked.  In her family room, she has a long "camp meeting" table.  It's a table that was in their cabin at the Indian Spring Camp Meeting in Georgia.  On the table, she has a vase a yellow silk roses.  Yellow roses are my favorite, and so I thought I would paint that vase.  Here is the photo:

And here is my painting.  I have such a struggle with flowers, which is frustrating because I LOVE flowers so much.  I initially wasn't thrilled with the painting.  However, it has really grown on me, and now I'm on the verge of really loving it.

Yellow Roses on Indian Springs Table

Soft yellow roses

On a camp meeting table

In my mother’s house

Those two were my only paintings for the few days I was at my mother's.  Since they were wet, I had a dilemma about how to get them home.  I had driven to my mother's in my new convertible, and I wasn't about to risk getting wet paint on the seats or carpet.  I went to Publix, bought two cheap frozen pizzas.  Put the pizzas in a cooler to take home, and packed each painting in a separate pizza box. It worked well.  By the time I got home, the pizzas were totally thawed, and I cooked them for dinner.  LOL!  And the paintings are now on the drying rack in my studio upstairs.

Derek Penix - 3-Day Workshop

I’m two days into the three-day workshop with Derek Penix at On-Track Studios.  It is interesting.  He demos a painting each morning. He almost always paints from photos.  So as he paints, he talks about what he's doing and why - and generally keeps up some art-related chit-chat.  I've learned a lot.  I'm still not sure how I feel about some of his methods.  He's very definitely "out of the box" and does a lot of "fracturing" lines in his art.  After he's finished with his painting, we have lunch.  Then for the afternoon we seven class participants do our own painting with Derek’s guidance.  He walks around and talks to each of us, gives pointers, and will even, with our permission, take the paintbrush and show some strokes.

Derek’s Day 1 Demo painting:

I like it well enough that I’m considering buying it. ($400)  Later note: I DID buy it - and I love it.  Now I need to get it framed and hung. Even later note:  It's framed and hanging in the hallway upstairs at my house.  Here it is in my upstairs hallway (12/3/2017)

Below is my Day 1 individual painting.  It is from a photograph I took over at our property on Bear Creek Road - the old tobacco barn at the bottom of the hill and a wheat-looking plant at the top of the hill.  In class, I got it to the point where I considered it done.  Derek looked at it and said that the photograph shows a sunny day, but my colors made it a cloudy day.  He took the brush and with literally only three strokes, changed it.  He added the white to the sky right above the tree line on the left of the painting, and stroke of lighter green to the right of the barn.  And then a little stroke of the light green to the right of the wheat-looking plants.  Bingo - suddenly it was a sunny day.  I went over those strokes myself to make sure I had the "feel" of those changes.   I really like it  Once it has dried, I will frame it and put it somewhere in the house - Oil on 10 x 10 canvas panel.  

Bear Creek Road Barn and Grass

Old tobacco barn

Falling into disrepair

In a field of grass

Day 2 - Derek had a photo of a peach tree that he had edited with Photoshop.  In his editing he took out a lot of the background and substituted white space.  Here is his demo painting of it. 

I’m not a fan of that painting.  First of all, even up close, I can't tell that the reddish shapes are peaches.  Even when I initially saw the photograph before he started painting, I had to look at it closely to see that it was peaches.  I actually thought it was a bird when I first glanced at it.  (Note:  At the end of the workshop, Derek offered this painting for $600 - which is $200 more than the boat painting from the day before - because he said the peach painting was "gallery quality."  Even gallery quality, it just isn't my taste).

During our individual painting time on day 2, I worked on a chickadee from a photo that Derek had.   I chose it because we have so many chickadees are our bird feeders in the back yard.  I love black-capped chickadees.

Here is my painting - which I finished at home.   Oil on 6 x 6 canvas panel.

Chickadee on a Branch

Little Chickadee

Looking out from the tall branch

What scenes do you see?

At the studio I had the chickadee partially turned towards the front but by the time I finished reworking it, he’d somehow turned back to a profile - which I don't like as much. Amazing how a little change makes such a difference. I like the soft colors and edges of the background. It makes the chickadee itself stand out more.

Tomorrow is the third and last day of the workshop  It will be interesting to see what Derek does for his demo painting.  I have no idea what I'll choose to paint on my own.  I took some photos outside On-Track Studios today during our lunch break, and some of them are really pretty. There are some really gorgeous flowers called cosmos - which I love the name. So I may do one of those photos. Landscapes are generally easier for me than birds or other objects.  

Day 3 - this is what I ended up painting.  It is from a photo I took when we were at the Audubon Camp on Hog Island in Maine. We made a day trip to Monhegan Island, and on the boat ride there, we passed Franklin Island and this lighthouse. I liked the name since we live in Franklin, Tennessee.  Derek came over and showed me how to do more “fracturing” and smudging lines. I really like this painting. I worked on it more after I got home - added more white to the waves to make them stand out a little more.  I like the softened edges - the way its almost blurry.  

Franklin Island Light (Maine)

Weathered yet steadfast

The Maine sentinel still stands

Alone, keeping watch

And here is Derek’s demo painting for the third day.  It’s a city scene viewed from above.   It was fascinating to watch him - just values and shapes.   That was what he emphasized repeatedly. As we paint, we look for shapes and values.


So I completed the 3-day workshop.  It was really good.  I was WITHOUT A DOUBT the least experienced painter in the class. Yet, I felt at ease and not intimidated even though some of the other artists are quite well known and accomplished.  Amazing to me how taking a workshop can inspire me to paint more.  I've been painting so much the past couple months since I've been taking so many classes.

In one of the classes someone mentioned that an artist can get burned out by taking too many classes.  I'm far from burned out.  So far the classes I've taken have inspired me to paint more.

Labels for my art work

I ordered labels/stickers From VistaPrint to put on the back of my paintings to identify them.  The photo below is what they'll look like.  I like it, but I only ordered 100 (the smallest amount to order) because I want to see them in person and be sure they'll work the way I want them to work before I order more.  I like the design - artsy without being pretentious or cute.  And it is definitely "Mary Carol Art" - NOT "Mary Carol FINE Art"!  LOL!

Later note:  The labels work just fine.  And they definitely STICK.  After I'd put one on the back of a panel, it wouldn't come off without tearing off part of the backing.  So I left it.  Lesson learned:  Make sure the label has EXACTLY what I want on it before I put on the back of a painting. 

Leiper’s Fork Church

I have wanted to paint our little church in Leiper's Fork for a long time.  I started this months ago, and then felt overwhelmed at the idea of finishing it.  So I set it aside.  For months.

Now, I’m done.  The painting is really prettier in real life - as opposed to a photo of it.  I may keep this one - frame it and put it on the wall.  I’m not sure about the left part of the church.  I need to do more work on that part. However I’ve scraped and repainted and scraped and repainted that part so many times, it is just slick mud right now. The angle on that part isn't right - it makes it looks like it's facing forward rather than to the side.  I've looked and looked at the reference photo, and I still can't quite figure it out - other than starting over since the entire angle is wrong.  I like the clouds that I did.  For some reason they were easy this time.  Next time they might be difficult again, but I did the sky in just a few minutes.

I'd like to paint this on a different canvas or panel and make it more impressionistic.  I DO get bogged down with details.

So this one will stay as it is now.  I will paint it again someday, though.  I want a painting of our church that I'm proud of.

"Hillsboro United Methodist Church" (Leiper's Fork, TN)
Oil on 11x14 Canvas Panel

One online course finished! Once Upon a Time in Provence

I finished the last painting for the Dreama Tolle Perry online course "Once Upon a Time in Provence."  I think this is my favorite of all the paintings I did for this course.   Here's a link to the other paintings I did for this course. 

Now I've got two other online courses to finish - the Nancy Medina course and the other Dreama Tolle Perry course.

Now that I found so many good local artists to work with, I probably won't sign up for another online course.  However, I DO intend to finish each of the lessons in the other two courses.  I want to get my money's worth.  Then I believe I will stick to classes at On-Track Studios, Warehouse 521, and Owl's Hill.  And I likely will find some other local resources for workshops and lessons. 

Paint Out - Paint Not

This morning I went to the Chestnut Group's Saturday morning "Paint Out" at Warner Park in Nashville.  There were 5 or 6 people there.  I walked around looking for something I wanted to paint.  The only thing vaguely interesting was a little cemetery behind one of the houses near the Nature Center.  One of the houses serves as a museum, I think, and the other has some administrative offices in it.  They're old houses - apparently where possibly the "Warners" lived many years ago.  Who knows.  Guess I could read up on the history of the Warner Parks - there are two of them - Percy Warner Park and Edwin Warner Park.  I wonder if they were brothers?  Father and son?   OK, that's beside the point.




Back to painting.  I set up and started painting the little cemetery - only two grave stones in it, and they were so discolored with age and mold that I couldn't read what was inscribed on them.  There was a old rock wall around it, and a couple large trees outside of it.  Actually fairly picturesque - but dark.  So I blocked in all the main shapes.  But then, I looked at it - and my heart just wasn't in it.  It was blah and uninteresting - and I didn't want to paint it.  So I packed up all my stuff and left.  I'd spent almost 2 hours there - and that was enough.

There are so many things I WANT to paint, I couldn't see spending any longer trying to paint something I didn't care about.