View From Mission Ranch

Painting the view from Mission Ranch in Carmel, California 

My patron enjoys staying at Mission Ranch in Carmel.  She and her husband especially love looking at the view from their porch of the field of sheep and the ocean with Point Lobos in the distance. So she asked me to create a painting of that view. I have painted that scene a number of times at the ranch and my plein air painting was helpful to make that happen for her. 

 Here are some progress photos for her painting. 

Making sketches of the sheep at Mission Ranch

Toning the 11x14 linen canvas

   

Working from my original plein air painting

Sketching the composition

Blocking in some of the larger shapes

Adding more color areas

My mixing palette

Adding more details

Working on the grassy areas, sky, sheep and background

After more corrections, refining values, colors and some shapes,
I think I am at the finishing point.
"View From Mission Ranch"  oil  11" x 14"

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.

Afternoon Walk in Pacific Grove

Testing the finished painting in a hand carved gold frame

Finished painting still on the easel and wet

 My painting is finished, pending approval from my patron.  It now needs to rest and dry before varnishing it.

Testing another frame in the finished painting.

Side view of this frame

Afternoon Walk - day 2 progress

Day 2 work on the painting and I am about half way through.  

The weather was nice enough to get out to my studio and paint today.

Blocking in the green ice plant areas

Working on the path

Blocking in the cliff rocks

Refining rocks, blocking in the fence, figures,
refining grassy areas, water & distant hills, adding sail boat

Mixing palette

So the painting is coming along and about half way finished.

Painting from Inside My Car!

"Pacific Grove's Point Pinos Lighthouse"    4" x 6"  gouache

It can get pretty cold and foggy along the California coast at Pacific Grove.  When I had a chance to go there I naturally wanted to go painting.  This day was so cold and windy, setting up my easel was not a good idea.   So I tried an experiment ... paint from inside my car!  

Now painting with oils inside a car is not a good idea, but I came prepared!  I bought my gouache paint!  Gouache is opaque watercolor, so I figured if I got some on my car seats I could wash it off.  I was lucky none spilled.  Check out my setup!  I have one of those trays that you can put over your lap.  I have not seen those in the stores in a long time, but when I bought it I thought.... "Hey I can use that one day!"  So the day finally came.  It is great as it holds my water, brushes, paper towels, ceramic palette and a wet palette too.  I was able to straddle it over my console in my new Subaru Outback.  It fit perfectly!

my painting and value sketch on my steering wheel easel 

<  I made a gizmo to fit over my steering wheel and clipped my 4" x 6" piece of archival mat board to it.  It all worked out great!

Point Pinos Lighthouse from my car

My scene was of the old lighthouse in Pacific Grove called Point Pinos Lighthouse.  It is currently closed due to the virus, but a few years ago I toured through it.  It is a wonderful piece of history.  The light still works and it shown bright yellow in the tower.  You might be able to see it from my photo.  

The scene was pretty far away and there is an old wooden fence which I felt blocked the eye leading to the lighthouse.  So I eliminated the fence and added a path.  There are lots of native grasses and some off-white flowers blooming which I enjoyed putting into my scene.  Three hours later, I declared my painting finished!

This little painting is up for auction on Daily Paintworks.

Check it out on my gallery page at

www.RhettsStudio.com

Sloshing Around in an Almond Orchard

 What a fun day sloshing through the almond orchard!  When my friend's family irrigates their almond orchards I come running over with my paint box!  Sam had the sprinklers going and there were large puddles of water under the rows of the almond trees.  Luckily, I was able to set up my paint box on the driveway and saved my shoes from getting soaking wet.  I couldn't wait to get out my paints!  The reflections are wonderful... almost magical under those trees!  I can see so many colors in the water, soil and grasses on the ground alone!  The trees bend here and there in different directions and the soft green leaves on the branches hang down loaded with the almonds.  It is late July and soon the almonds will be harvested in the Central Valley of California where I live.

 Here you can see my paint box.  I started out in the shade, but soon the light dappled through the tree behind me and I had to put up my umbrella.  It is important to see the painting in even light as I am painting it. 

When I got home, worked on the painting a little more, refining some places, adding more color, etc. using my photo references and my memory.

Scroll down to see the finished painting in a frame.

Here are some of the photos I took that day to help me finish my painting. 

Look at those reflections!

"Time To Irrigate" - oil on linen panel - 9" x 12"

Here is what the painting might look like in a frame.

Available for purchase on my gallery page at

www.RhettsStudio.com

 

MY FAVORITE BIRDS SERIES

Scrub Jay  8" x 8"  acrylics

I have watched and admired birds for as long as I can remember.  When I was in high school I had to stay at home after a minor foot surgery.  We had a pair of binoculars and I noticed something out the window.  It was a scrub jay!  I was blown away by his beauty and antics.  Now that I am hearing about the loss of so many birds around the world I am so saddened.  So I decided to paint a series of paintings of my favorite birds. 

I have been exploring gelli plate printing and mono printing lately, so decided to see if I could combine my love of birds with the fun of this kind of printing.  This is an 8" x 8" cradled wood panel which I had a lot of fun pouncing acrylic paint colors with sponges, stamps and foam stamps which I made myself.  I then painted this Scrub Jay and traced around the leaves.  I then painted the negative space around the leaves with white acrylic paint. It seemed too plain so I filled in the bottom spaces with stripes and dots here and there.  I am pleased with the way it turned out.  Available on my Daily Paintworks Website  $150 + shipping & tax

California Quail    acrylics   8" x 8" cradled panel

When I was in high school, we lived in the country.  I used to watch the quail wander around our two acres.  They would chatter and scamper through the redwood trees.  There was always a male on guard bobbing his head with that black feather on top, watching for danger.  I miss seeing them.  I painted this quail on top of a stencil design sponged on the background in acrylics.  Available on my website $150 + shipping & tax

side view of the Quail painting

Come back again to see more in MY FAVORITE BIRDS SERIES or visit my website at: www.RhettsStudio.com

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Notice: Only the artist has the right to reproduce her original work.  Please do not copy without permission.  Copyright protected. 

Red-Eared Slider Turtles

I stopped at Casa de Fruta on my way to Monterey (CA) a few weeks ago and decided to check out the pond and take photos of the ducks.  Low and behold there were NO ducks anywhere!  But the rocks along the edges of the pond were filled with turtles basking in the sun on the rocks!  Boy did I have fun taking their pictures!  Naturally, I just had to try my hand at creating some art too.  So I got out my Pan Pastels and started in.  I discovered they were actually pretty difficult to capture their many details and especially the stripes!  But here they are all framed up and in the Tracy Grand Theatre Artists Co-op gallery.  Watch the video at the bottom of this blog!

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

Farmer's Market Bouquet with Panpastel

 I bought these lovely flowers at a farmer's market and was amazed how fresh they stayed as I was painting them with my new set of Panpastels.

I worked on a pale blue sanded pastel paper and loved the way the pastel looked on it.

Watch the video to see how I worked this.  This is my first video, so please bear with me on this.  I hope to get better doing this technical stuff.  

First stages of working this painting.

Adding the background,
but I did not like the color and changed it later.

Final finished piece.  12" x 9" framed with mat under glass. 

I will be bringing this new piece framed to the Stanislaus County Artists Open Studio Tour, April 6/7th, 2019 in Modesto, CA.  We are at #23 on the map.  

$350 framed  Message me if you wish to add this pastel painting to your collection of fine art. 

2019 Artist Open Studio

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)