BOOKS OPEN DOORS

 

I just won BEST OF SHOW with this mixed media piece!

After working on this project for a month, I finally completed my DOORS entry for the Turlock Library opening competition. I made 26 ink drawings from real doors around the world. Some doors are old, some new contemporary, some from countries far and wide, some quaint, some historic, some rustic, and some traditional. I discovered that doors are true works of art!

Then using the door drawing as a cover, I created a book to match a letter from the alphabet. For example A = ART HISTORY, B is for BOTANY, C is for CASTLES, etc. I tried to imagine a student doing research in the library and what fun things they might discover in those library books.

My display is an interactive display, meaning you can touch the books and open the doors to be surprised by what is inside. They are not in alphabetical order, so you never know what might be on the other side of that door! Some of the books feature paintings I have created over the last 20 years. I chose a frame that looks like a carved door. The covers are black and white like the letters on a written page. Inside is bright and colorful like the joy you find inside a book. And I wrote a short paragraph describing the alphabet letter subject. Each book has a cloth binding too and a black bead sewn in place for a door knob! There were lots of challenges making those 26 little books!

Title: BOOKS OPEN DOORS

Opening Doors is a juried exhibition sponsored jointly by the Friends of the Turlock Public Library and Turlock’s Carnegie Arts Center, celebrating the grand opening of the newly renovated Turlock Public Library. Artists from throughout the Central Valley were invited to submit work that is influenced or inspired by the many ways that libraries “open doors” and, as a result, enrich lives.

Plein Air Painting in a Classic Rose Garden

I was so fortunate to have been chosen to be one of the artists who got to paint in the garden of one of the homes on the Carnegie Art Center's Designer Home and Garden Showcase on May 11th, 2019.  The grounds around the house were so beautiful and they had a formal, classic rose garden which attracted my attention.  
You can watch the video I took while I was painting in the garden.
I was sort of nervous when I did this video from my iPhone, so have patience! 
This painting is now on Daily Paintworks and will be up for bidding in an auction starting May 23rd.

Painting in progress

PASTEL: Calla Lilies in Pacific Grove

Calla Lilies in Pacific Grove  pastels  22" x 26

Calla Lilies on the Coast  8" x 10"  oil 

My friend and I decided to paint along the coast in Pacific Grove, CA in Monterey County.  It was such a beautiful day and we were delighted to find a big stand of calla lilies which someone had planted near the water.  We set up our easels and painted. 

< Here is my plein air painting / study from that day.  The calla lilies were thick and in full bloom as was the purple Pride of Maderia.  The sea was brilliant blue and there were large black cormants sunning themselves on the rocks.

It was a lovely day and I never forgot those pretty white calla lilies on the coast.

So when a pastel show was announced at our Carnegie Arts Center, I thought I might try working from my plein air study and create a new painting from that day.  The finished painting is above and below you can see a few shots I took in progress as I worked on this pastel painting.

Study for the final painting

 

< Here is a small study I worked up to get ready for the larger pastel painting.   Now for sale on Daily Paintworks.  

 9" x 10"   Callas and Butterflies in Pacific Grove

Pacific Grove is famous for its Monarch Butterflies so I added butterfly stamps around the border and colored them with the Pan Pastels.  

I have been wanting to try out my new Pan Pastels so here was my chance!  I bought a large sheet of Uart sanded pastel paper and cut it to fit a frame I already
 had.  

My idea was to have a painting within a painting.  Like you might look out a window to the scene.  I wanted to try some mixed media techniques as well  using stamps and a Versa stamp pad with the pan pastels.  

I wanted the area around the central square to be soft and dreamy, mystical and magical surrounding the more in-focus center.  So I began by taping around the central square to form a frame.

<  This photo shows the beginning stages of working the outer frame with the soft pan pastels and the sofft sponges.  Sofft sponges are specially designed to use with the pan pastels.  They are in the shape of standard artist's paint brushes so are so nice to work with. 

< Here I am starting to work the central section.  I wanted some of the leaves and lilies to overlap into the border for added interest, so I needed to plan it out a bit.

Close up.  Working with large sofft sponges

Let me know how you like my pastel painting and wish me luck getting into the pastel show!

My painting was accepted to this National Juried Competition along with a 2nd pastel painting.

On display at the 
THE FINE ART OF PASTELS
March 28 - May 26, 2019
Carnegie Arts Center
250 N. Broadway, Turlock, CA  95380

Also accepted is my pastel
"Carmel Mission Sanctuary"
Which won an award in another
show (shown in photo)

"Sprinklers" Painting in Farm & Field show

"Sprinklers"    11" x 14"   oil

My painting "Sprinklers" has been juried into 

the Farm & Field show 

at the Carnegie Arts Center.   

The show runs through July 29th, 2018.  

The Carnegie Arts Center is located at 250 N. Broadway in Turlock, CA.  

This scene was painted from a photograph taken of a newly planted field near Snelling, CA.  
This area is beautiful with rolling hills and lots of fields.  

Getting Ready for the 2016 Art Studio Tour

Painting display boxes for prints 

I am getting my studio ready for the 2016 Stanislaus Artist Open Studio Tour in April.  Painting boxes, painting gesso on panels, matting work, and just plain cleaning too. Hope you can stop by my studio!

 

6x6 Daily Paintings in the sun to dry after varnishing

Painting gesso on panels for painting

Last week, Turlock artists met at the Turlock Library and put up a display of our work. Drop by the library and see our work.
Tickets / map are available at the Carnegie Center for the arts in Turlock, the Mistlin Art Gallery in Modesto. 

 

Orange Juiced!

 Day 12 Wednesday, March 23

ORANGE TOAST

I wanted to do a quick and small 5" x 7" painting and still had my red daisy from yesterday's painting.  I noticed a tall wine glass on my shelf and dropped the daisy in it with the piece of mistletoe.  Added the orange and voila!   "Orange Toast"  5" x 7"  This size sure seems small after enjoying the 6x6s. 







Day 13 Thursday, March 24

ORANGE JUICE

My orange tree is loaded with oranges so painting them has been a good practice.  I have painted them whole and sliced them, but what about juicing them?  So out came my juicer.  This time I added some scrap booking paper to the background.  A fun touch, don't you think?  "Orange Juice"  6x6  Yum!  Orange juice tastes so good.  One thing I discovered as I painted.... orange juice is not ORANGE at all, but quite YELLOW !

ORANGE MUG AND ORANGE JUICE

Day 14 Friday, March 25   I painted an orchid this day which was fading fast and I wanted to try a capture it now.  I will post that painting later.

Day 15 Saturday, March 26  Shopping at the Dollar store and discovered some very colorful mugs to try. Now if you don't think orange juice is really yellow, compare it to this bright ORANGE mug!  The little owl figure is from Mexico where I spent part of a summer.  He is so cute.  I think I will add him to more of my paintings!




 Trying to get ready for the  
Stanislaus Artist's Open Studios.
Hope you can drop by and see my Daily Painting progress.
Saturday,  April 23  and Sunday, April 24th
Tickets are available at 
Carnegie Art Center in Turlock and Mistlin Art Gallery in Modesto.