I was extremely nervous to be in front of "my people" and doing a portrait from a sitting so quickly again, but Libby Peters introduced me in very complimentary terms and everyone made me feel appreciated and at ease. Jan Frazier agreed to sit for me and did a great job of handling all that focus. The room was packed and I don't think everyone had chairs! I asked for them to keep the questions coming so my brain was working as fast as my fingers.
I totally forgot to get a photo of the portrait when it was done (or as done as it could be in that short a time...) If anyone was there who took a photo of it, I'd love to be able to post it here- hint, hint! I did put it in a simple frame under glass at the end and Jan wanted it to give to her husband. Nicest compliment ever. I love her work so much.
Sherrie Allyn and Morgan drove up with me and helped carry everything in, along with Johanne Morin who met us outside. Holly Trap helped us carry it all back out again.
I'd gotten very lost on the way, so raced in moments before the meeting started. I'd been feeling so smug, too, about getting up to Austin early enough for a visit to Jerry's Artarama before the meeting. Got a couple of frames and a fine weave 18"x24" canvas in order to start an oil portrait commission of two beautiful children. As soon as I complete the Caldo pastel, I'll get started on the oil.
If anyone reads this who was at the demo, please leave a comment to assure me I'm not just talking to myself, will you?
Good night, All!
Susan
Demo tonight in Austin was fun!
Pastel Portrait Demo in Austin tonight
http://www.austinpastelsociety.org/ I'll be doing a demonstration tonight at 7 pm in Austin for my favorite group. If you're within driving distance, come on up! (Or down or over!) Best Western Atrium North, 7928 Gessner Drive, Austin, Texas, 78753-6506 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Johanne Morin is our exhibition chair and has images of all the paintings in this year's exhibition online: My three are the second row of images.
http://www.austinpastelsociety.org/6thAJME2006.htm
Hope to see you tonight!
Caldo for Lunch
Well, this is as far as I've gotten tonight. Just sort of blocked in values and some color. Will likely not get to work on it tomorrow since it's my day to work at the River Art Gallery, but maybe a little in the evening.
'Night, All.
Sketch of new painting.
Hmmm. Well, after pondering much and arranging, then rearranging possible elements, I've sketched out a new painting to be done from photos I took in a Mexican restaurant in October. I felt like a spy taking these photos but was afraid that if I asked permission, the fellow with the hat might change his posture. I was so taken by his classic look. The fedora, the beard, the cigarettes in his pocket, the eating lunch from the huge serving-bowl type caldo bowls. The backlighting and the contrast of the young couple to the workers in the foreground, all made it interesting to me. In taking the photo, I got a close-up of Kim Roberti's plate and crumpled paper napkin and think it might be interesting to just include them. Anyway, this is the next project. Will post images as I go. This will be a pastel on 24"x18" Kitty Wallis sanded pastel paper.
Sweet dreams, friends.
Susan
Finish? of painting of Mo.
I think I'm going to call this one done. I'll look again at her foreground fingers later, though. Something may not be right there, not sure.
Now on to the next one.....
I got word today that all three of my entries in Austin Pastel Society's annual member's exhibition got in!!! I'm doing a pastel portrait demo for APS on Thursday evening.
Tonight I worked more on the little 12"x12" oil-on-canvas painting of Morgan which I'd started during a portrait demo in Seguin last week. The camera sure does odd things to the colors sometimes. The pink of the lips shows up far brighter in the photo than the painting, for instance. Still have lots to do on the hands and the book, but the face is fairly far along. I'll look at it again tomorrow and see what needs tweaking.
Watched History Channel's program on Lincoln while painting tonight. Well, listened, mainly. Fascinating stuff.
The big brush pick up for our neighborhood is Monday, so I worked long and hard this afternoon cutting back all the dead branches and old growth on salvias and coneflowers and, well, anything that needed cutting. The pile by the curb is enormous. I'd gotten indoctrinated in the "wisdom" of replacing lawn with native plantings with the thought of reducing the use of water and energy. HA! The plantings have taken far more water and attention than I ever gave my grass. What a crock. Chopped down an ugly tree, too, while I was at it.
My sister sent an email today from Africa on her first day there. I'm so proud of her for going and reconnecting with her childhood friend, Sandow, there. What an adventure!
Will work more on the the little painting of Morgan tomorrow and maybe start on a larger painting for entry into San Antonio Art League's annual exhibition. I have an idea for it. Will see how it goes.
'Night all!
Two finishes... Providence RI's Roger Williams Park
These are two plein air pastels I did while visiting my friend Joan in Providence RI this summer. I rarely paint outdoors. I do try to be a good sport when folks are getting a "Paint Out" together, mainly because I love the company while I paint. But I did these sitting in the grass, warding off geese, bugs and the sun. Joan was good company, though. These have been sitting under waxed paper in my studio since then. I'm doing a big declutter excavation (Flylady of Flylady.com calls it a Super Fling Boogie) of all the surfaces of my home. My house looks Mahvelous and half-finished projects are either getting tossed or finished. I decided to finish these, for better or worse.
I went with Becky (www.BeckyHicksArt.com) to the New Braunfels Art League Gallery last night for the artists reception for all the artists-of-the-month for that organization. Becky was December's and also got First Place for Pastel in the annual members exhibition. I got to catch up with a few artist friends there and spend time with Becky there and at her home studio. We should all have studios like Becky's! Overlooks the Guadalupe river through a huge window in the brightest, happiest studio ever.
Sure would appreciate a comment when you drop by. Feel like I'm talking to myself.
Enjoy your day, ya'll.
It's Done! It's been submitted! Yea!!!!
Done!
I've sent the file on to the exhibition chairperson who will forward them all to our judge this year- Susan Ogilvie
http://www.susanogilvie.com/index.html
We'll be notified which paintings got in to the competition and those we deliver to Austin on March 5th. So I have time to get these framed. I submitted this one- "Morning Flight", the one of Libby's living room I call "Her Grandmother's Chair", and the one of my nephew Jake swimming underwater, called "Submerged Dreamer." I submitted that one in reaction to it being rejected last year by our judge, Doug Dawson. Nice man, flawed ideas. He told me to only paint young beautiful women and old grizzly men, as that's all that really sells. In reaction to that I painted the large, 'ordinary' woman reading in the library and got first place in Pastel at the Coppini in October. So there! (Did you see the fists on hips and the stamp of the foot?)
Well, now I need to put my house back in order. I have a stack of dishes in the kitchen, laundry on the sofa and a guest room to excavate in order to welcome an overnight guest on Friday. This painting took over my life the last week or more. Anyway, thank you all for cheering me on. Kisses and hugs to you all.
Decided on the title of this one... "Morning Flight." Thanks for all the great suggestions!
Ok, I'm getting closer. Time to start on the 'outhwest sign. Think I'll leave out the No Smoking sign... just to keep it all as positive as possible. May have to turn it upside down to keep the rain of dark pastel from leaving tracks on the people. Small prayer: Let me remember what sort of time this painting is taking when I consider anything else so detailed.
Amen.
Oil portrait demo
This is a a little 12"x12" oil on stretched canvas start of Morgan reading which I did during an hour and a half in Seguin yesterday as a demo. I worked from a photo I printed off from some shots we took the night before. It's just sort of blocked in.. lots more to go, but it makes me want to get back to it sometime soon. In the meantime I'm still working on the airport painting.
Linda, you asked the dimensions of the airport painting. It's 24" x 18" on Kitty Wallis sanded pastel paper. Back to painting!
Many more hours later.... Still many more to go, but it's shaping up. Worked on the group in the left background and refining the foreground group.
Tomorrow morning I'm doing an oil portrait demonstration in Seguin and need to spend some time putting my supplies together and deciding what image to paint.
The gathering in Marble Falls was very nice. Met some good people and got to spend time with Kim and Bob. Got stopped for speeding on my way back through Bulverde. Sigh. But the nice copper gave me a ticket for my expired vehicle inspection sticker rather than for speeding. Ain't that sweet? Got my inspection yesterday and will clear up the matter this week. Been a long time since I'd seen those bright lights blinking just for lil' ol' me. At least I don't have to sit through defensive driving school. Whew!
Nighty night ya'll.
Still more
I liked the look of this last fellow in the row right from the first time I saw the photos, but there's very little in the way of detail in the photo, just posture and gesture. There's someone on his far side, but all you see of her is hair and jeans. Getting the podium and strap barrier in was long hard work surprisingly. Also worked on the hand of the woman holding the red cup. More to go. Much more. I think I'm saving the young woman on the far left (not shown in this crop) for last because I think I'll enjoy what her hands and the bag do for the overall painting.
Today I painted in oil at the Coppini. That's it for me. Yet another painting of a woman posing with a flower. There's quite enough of that stuff in the world. It's always good to practice painting from life, but the subject matters. I'm self-important enough that I feel responsible for what I put into the world. So, I'll arrange my own models or share with individual artists.
I'm going up to Marble Falls tomorrow evening at Kim Roberti's invitation to check out a new surge of interest in art there spearheaded by an architect there. They're starting out with a "First Friday" monthly event with music and visual arts. I'll let ya'll know what I discover.
'Night folks.
More on the Airport Gate painting....
Tonight's work on the painting. It's going slowly, but I'm liking what's happening. Let me know what you think.
First day of color on the airport gate painting.
It feels so good to take my time. Well, I do have the deadline in mind, but the old imperative to have a painting done in the same day it was started is not present. I've come to have affection for these people I'm painting. They seem so patient, it's rubbing off, I suppose. I've rearranged a couple of things from the photos to make a better composition. A lot of the intensity of color of these first strokes will reduce as I go along, FYI.
Today I took 22 paintings to Seguin to hang at the community center there. What a nice space! And the woman who invited me to be their artist of the month, Ann Leithead, is just terrific. Feel like I made a new friend. I haven't seen so many of my paintings hanging in one place since my last Garden Party Art Show. Next Monday at 10:30 a.m. I'll be doing a demonstration portrait painting there for at least two hours. Not sure what or who my subject will be. If anyone out there would agree to sit for that time, speak up. Otherwise, I suppose I'll work from a photograph.
Thanks for posting comments, Ya'll. I appreciate it! Nighty night.
Beginning of a pastel with multiple subjects
First, further refinements on the painting of the living room. Then....FINALLY decided on the subject- actually, many subjects- of a new pastel painting. 24"x18" on medium-toned Kitty Wallis sanded pastel paper of a scene I took photos of in the Phoenix airport, Sky Harbor. I was waiting for my plane to arrive and noticed these people arranged so appealingly in their wait for the plane. I admit I didn't ask permission, but just took a series of four photos as though I had. I did ask permission to take photos of a woman sitting alone reading a magazine. But these were more interesting, I thought. I've never painted this many people in one painting before, so will just have to see how it goes. I'm racing a deadline, so will know soon enough. I'll post progress pix as I go. This is the rudimentary sketch. Will sketch a bit more until I'm sure where everything will go, then will dive on in.
Sure appreciate it when you leave comments!
Happy New Year, Ya'll.
