Demo and new painting starts

I got a call yesterday from Donna B. asking if I'd demo for the Coppini membership on Sunday (tomorrow). I'd been telling everyone to go to the meeting because John Michael Carter was going to demo. Well, his workshop didn't get enough takers, so he's not coming. Let me tell you, tomorrow people will be expecting to see a much more accomplished painter and it'll be lil' ol' me. But heck, I'll do the best I can. Anyone want to come? 2:00 at Coppini Academy, 115 Melrose Place.

Yesterday I drove up to New Braunfels to collect my friend Diane Manousos and we went downtown San Antonio to go to Herweck's big annual art sale/product show. I think I showed remarkable restraint. I got some of Ampersand's Claybords as surfaces for oil paintings. They're very smooth, so I'm curious about them. Also a a couple of Pastelbords and Art Spectrum's Colorfix sanded pastel papers. I ordered a package of the color I prefer, too. Pastel pencils, always. And I couldn't resist a case of new synthetic brushes. Short handled, but I do have to admit that I rarely move back to the end of a long-handled brush, anyway. I also got a wooden handheld paint palette and I've been applying several coats of waterbased polyurethane on it, hoping it'll be ready for tomorrow's demo. Diane gave me one of her Rembrandt white oils and I stopped and used her coupon for a new cobalt blue at Hobby Lobby on the way home. I get so excited over new supplies.

I've started a couple of new paintings and moved forward on another. The ballerina might work out for an entry to the portrait show at Coppini in a couple of weeks. The woman on the grass is a commission I'm doing from a black and white photo. May still have to shorten her forshortened legs... The woman and dog is something I've dawdled on, but think will be cute as heck when I'm done.

Mark Your Calendars!

Please come to our SHOW in November!

Three Points of View
Three painters, three ways of looking at the world.
Paintings by
Susan Carlin, Donna Bland and Kim Roberti
All of November 2007 at
Justin’s On Main
2512 N. Main Avenue
San Antonio, Texas

Please Come to the Reception
November 9, 2007
Friday 5:00– 8:30 p.m.

Refreshments, Art
and Scintillating Company

AFTERNOON TEA, 11 x 14 oil still life.

This was such a pleasure to paint. Karen's dishes, a napkin, knife and apple. Love that fat little teapot.

Alamo painting, "Remember", Auctioned at Gala

This is Bill Sartor, the nice man who won the painting I donated to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas for their Gala which was held on Saturday. I got to meet him and his wife, Barbara, before the dinner and the auction and then see them again afterward. I'm so glad the Sartors won. They were so delighted! So was I.

Karen went with me to the Gala and boy, did we sparkle up for the occasion! I teetered around on silly shoes all night and was really glad to step out of them in the car. We had a wonderful dinner, terrific entertainment and got to hear the author of The Gates Of The Alamo speak, and hear the director of the movie The Alamo speak, as well.

I signed posters and talked with a lot of other sparkly people. Good evening all around.

Demo portrait of Steve Talley

Boy, there's nothing that forces you to "stay loose" like too short a time to complete a painting. This is the very loose result of the demonstration for Die Kunstler last night. An hour of talking more than I painted, I'm afraid. Steve's a good looking fellow, so don't hold this portrait against him. He was a very good sport to sit for me last night. Here's a link to his website: http://www.cstalley.com/

Thanks, Steve!

Two demos this week .... and an award!

This has been a fun week. Two demos, two classes, two awards, and a new commission.
The first demo was set up by one of my students this summer, an art teacher at Brauchle Elementary School. They have an annual "Art Walk" evening where artists of all sorts are invited to come and demonstrate their work. I loved painting and talking with all the great kids and their parents.
The second demo was for Die Kunstler, an art league in Fredericksburg. ('Die Kunstler Von Fredericksburg' means The Artists Of Fredericksburg.) That was tonight. Oh my! Were they fun! Forty-five artists watching me do a quick oil portrait. No pressure. The president, Steve Talley, was gracious enough to sit for me. Nine artists signed up for a portrait workshop with me.... now we just need to find a place to have it!
I called on the way back from Fredericksburg to find I'd won "Second Place Oil" at Coppini with my painting of the little girl holding her dad's hand. That made me feel nice... and bit richer. It's the first oil of mine which has been accepted into a show, so it's nice that it won something.
The portrait commission is from a woman my age here in San Antonio who's having a painting done of herself at 18 in a bathing suit. Lake Michigan in the background. Very sweet, actually. The photo is black and white, but I'm told the suit should be baby blue. That'll be fun.
The DRT Gala is Saturday evening and I still need to buy shoes to go with my outfit. I'll be signing Alamo posters that night. It should be a wonderful evening. I can't wait to see what the painting goes for in the auction!
Sunday I'm volunteering at the River Art Show in La Villita. Last year I had a booth at the show, but this year the Gala prevented participating. I'll just go and help the other artists on Sunday. My friend Mary Shepard has a booth again this year. I love her work.
Nighty night, All.

Print of Alamo painting, "Remember" available

I had really nice 16" x 20" prints made of this painting (on good matte finish cover stock with a lithographic printing process) and will happily send one to you! I'll put a PayPal button on this post for anyone who wants to use their credit card, or you can mail me check. $20. plus $4. shipping. (Mailed in a sturdy tube.)

FYI: This image is of the painting, so you can see the light catching the palette knife strokes in the upper right corner. That isn't visible on the prints, of course.

The figures of the women in the painting are Adina De Zavala and Clara Driscoll, the two most passionate and dedicated of those who managed to save the Alamo. Here are some articles about them. Fascinating! http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/bios/zavala/zavala.html

http://www.texianlegacy.com/eckhardt.html

My Alamo painting on TV

As a portrait artist in San Antonio, this project was a bit off my beaten track, but very rewarding.
This morning the painting of the Alamo I did for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas' 2007 Gala was on KENS TV (CBS) on the local "Great Day S.A." show. Until yesterday I was supposed to have been on the show with the painting and the spokeswoman for DRT, Joan Headley, but they had to shorten the segment to make room for something that had been added to the show. I didn't know whether to feel sad or relieved. The painting looked GREAT on its easel there, though, and Joan said some terrific things about me and the painting, and it was very flattering to be on the same bill as the director of the movie "Alamo" and the author Steven Harrigan, who wrote "The Gates of the Alamo," San Antonio's 'one book, one San Antonio' this year.

My class was last night. Everyone's working on portraiture. I'm so proud of their efforts.

Tonight is the first meeting of the Austin Pastel Society after our summer break. I'm driving up with Sherrie Allyn, another member, and am looking forward to seeing everyone again. Jeannette Cuevas is doing the demonstration tonight. Should be good.

Oh! The daughter who commissioned the painting of her dad, sister and herself came on Tuesday and declared it wonderful. I even got a big hug. So now it dries until Saturday when I'll varnish it. She's going to have prints made for her sister and dad, so she can keep the original.

Possible finish of Dad N' Daughters

I got up at 3 a.m. and worked on this until 7:30 or so. I think it might be done. I've sent the image on to the client and will have a final session with her making any last minute revisions.

Went back to bed at 7:30 and woke again a couple of minutes ago. Today I need to frame the wedding painting in order to enter it in the Coppini Show. I found a great frame on sale at Hobby Lobby yesterday- just right for that painting. I'll try to remember to take a photo later.

Now back to my coffee and taped CBS Sunday Morning.

More "Dad N' Daughters "

I got to work on this only a couple of hours today, but am pleased with warming the dad's expression some, using a different photo for help with that. Still a lot of work to do on the clothing and background, but am hoping to finish up tomorrow sometime.

Hey, Ya'll! I need a title for the wedding painting. I was thinking of "Dreamer," but wanted to use the Spanish word. I think it's Sonador, but also found Tarabilla in the Spanish-to-English online dictionary. Looked like Sonador was the male version, and the female was Tarabilla. Does anyone know?

Tomorrow I'll be entering the wedding painting, plus two others, an oil portrait of a little girl holding her dad's finger- 'Holding On', and a pastel of a yucca plant landscape- 'Desert Dancers' in Coppini's Fall Exhibition, so need a title SOON!

Have a nice Saturday night, All.

Progress on Dad N' Daughters

Great day. I love spending time with Donna and Mary. Today we were out at Mary's gorgeous place in the Texas Hill Country. She and her husband Lee had really put in some effort on the garden around the house, especially the area that the studio looks out over. Hummingbirds, cardinals, a blooming bird of paradise which is blooming for the first time in the 20 years she's had it, purple dahlias so beautiful it made you gasp, pink roses so lush, a dinner plate hibiscus a foot in diameter.... wonderful. Then we talked. And talked. And told what's new in the last month, spoke of spiritual ideas, entreprenurial ideas, paint colors, family happenings. It's always good. Oh yeah, and we painted. I got quite a bit done on this painting. Still tons more to do.

Then I came home to treat a patient and then get the studio ready for my evening class. I'm impressed by how hard these folks work to learn. I respect that a lot. They each moved forward in some obvious way. Very exciting for me.

Now that class is over, we're having berry margaritas and telling about our days. Thought I'd take a moment and post this progress.

Sweet dreams, ya'll.

Second progress of Dad N' Daughters

I got to paint a little bit today and just deepened some values and modeled the faces some. Thought I'd post the progress. Tomorrow is my always-wonderful, once-a-month painting day with Donna Good and Mary Shepard, so I'm hoping to have lots of progress to show tomorrow night. Tomorrow evening is the second meeting of my painting class here at my home studio, too. We have a fourth person joining us this time. Today I had my Tuesday class here, too. Love that commute: One step through a door.
Tonight it's Biggest Loser and time with family.

I love painting. Does it show?

New start... Daughter bookends

This is a slap n' dash oil sketch I did this evening to get me started on this fun commission. I'm trying to change the women's clothing to the colors they're wearing in a different photo. We'll see how it works out. If it isn't believable further down the line I'll change it to their original clothes. I've done two other smaller portraits for the woman on the viewer's right. Now she's commissioning this one of her dad and sister and herself. I'll post the progress shots as I go.

Nighty night, All.

No Really. I'm finished.

Ok, I'm going to stop now. I thought I'd finished at 2:15 when it dawned on me I needed to be at the Coppini to watch my friend Kim Roberti do a demo for the membership meeting. (I broke a few traffic laws to get there.) But when I came home I had an email from a good friend and sister artist, Jo Castillo, who made a suggestion about the leaves of the little bouquets the women were carrying. Bless you, Jo! I quickly made some additions and have declared the thing DONE. These photos really punch up the blue. The dress isn't really quite so blue, I promise you.

Next painting is a commissioned one of a Dad flanked by his two grown daughters. I'll be diving in tomorrow.

Have a nice Sunday evening, ya'll. It's the finale of The 4400 for me, and we'll tape the Mystery movie on PBS tonight... an Inspector Lynley story. Already started on a glass of wine, and the chicken stirfry is almost done. Lovely.

Close to Finished

Ok, it's 1 a.m. I've been painting another 10 hours in a row. I'm inclined to think this might be done. I'll look at it again in the morning. I've suffered enough over the silly basket and ribbons. Of course, now I look over and see that the ribbons behind the basket should come down below it, as well. Sigh. I'll have to deal with that in the morning. This thing has to be dry, varnished and framed in a week, so I can't paint any more past tomorrow morning.

'Night All.

Many Hours later...

I've worked on this painting maybe 10 hours today. There's still so much to do. I'm feeling better about some little pockets of it. Of course, I took these photos under fluorescent lights, so the colors are wacky.
Last night was the first painting class at my home studio. Just three students, but we agreed there was room for a fourth. One of the students mentioned it to a friend of hers and now she'll be joining us next Wednesday evening. Funny thing, too- All four want to work on portraiture! Could I be any luckier? The first class went very well, I thought. Two worked in pastel, one in oil.
Ok, off to bed now. Thank you all for your kind comments.

Stroll on the Riverwalk

Karen and I saw a great one-woman play by Marga Gomez last night and then went on downtown to walk along the Riverwalk, then sat and had margaritas and watched the tourists and talked. I felt a little touristy myself and took a couple of pictures of the Alamo. After doing the painting of the Alamo for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas last month, it was interesting to see it up close and with all the dramatic night lighting. I'm looking forward to their Gala on October 6th and watching the painting being bidded on during the auction. I'm starting to fret over what one wears to a Gala, though. Help!

New Studio... in progress.

I've been working on my studio, trying to organize all the flotsam which survived the big clean-out. I'll have to keep on culling out the unnecessary to make room for the must-haves, though. I'm starting to give a new evening class on Wednesday. I'll just have three students since that's as many as will fit right now. I've called an electrician to install the additional lighting the room needs and I hope it'll be in by Wednesday. Karen gifted me with a great new Verilux lamp when I got home on Thursday night. Thanks, Karen! The thing in the corner may look like a coffee table, but its new life will be as a portrait platform. When I have a sitter, I'll take the finished paintings off, and put a chair on top and draping behind. Thanks Donna B. for suggesting its new use!Of course I'm not going to show the near wall with all the stuff jumbled against it, waiting for order to be created. When it's done, I'll show you. Promise.

I spent much of this morning assembling the new drying rack. I'm so excited to have it for the all the new paintings I'll be doing to list on eBay again. It's been a long time, but I'm getting jazzed about starting that up again.

Testing PayPal Button with a Teddy Bear

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Painted from the model today at Coppini

Donna B. invited me to return to the portrait group's session at the Coppini today- something I hadn't done in over a year. I had a blast. I'd mixed up my times and was supposed to be there for an earlier session where they had a dancer for the model. I did get to take some photos of her for reference at the end of her session, but in our session we had a woman who'd never modelled before. She was absolutely still and comfortable-looking the entire time, though. The session was three hours long, but I packed it in after two and a quarter hours. This painting is still soppy wet, so it has some shine on it from the overhead light, but I thought I'd post a photo anyway.

Diane M. joined me there, so I got to see her twice this week. She jokes about me "listening to Mother" (referring to herself), but I've discovered that if I follow her direction things go well. She's been responsible for me entering a couple of competitions where I won awards and she's passed on a few painting basics she learned from studying with Dick Turner that I use now.

I'll be flying off to Idaho Saturday morning with my sister to help my folks drive down to Arizona where they're selling a house. I'll be back late Thursday. Not sure I'll be able to post anything while I'm gone, but I'll appreciate any comments you leave.

Well, at least all the white canvas is covered!

It's late, so I'm not going to square up the image to post the painting's progress. It's starting to take shape now. So much to do, but I can almost imagine what it might look like at the end.
Nighty night, All.

Progress on the Wedding Party painting

I got to paint yesterday with Diane Manousos at her home studio and made some progress with this painting. Came home and painted another two or three hours here, too. Today I teach the painting class (now pastel AND oil!) at the Coppini Academy, so I need to make this a short post. Life is sweet when I'm painting. Oh, heck, life is sweet anyway.

Some non-art newsy stuff

Next Saturday Patty and I fly out to Idaho and help Mom and Dad drive their two vans back to Arizona so they can ready their home in Sun City West for sale.

I'm going to try to get a lot of painting done before I go. I have a commissioned oil of a dad and his two grown daughters to do by September 30th, and I'd like to have a good start on it by next Saturday. If you're reading this, I'd love it if you left a comment so I know someone's out there!

Commissioned shepard

This was a commissioned pastel for a very nice woman for her husband's birthday. I hadn't painted a pet in a while and enjoyed it very much. 20"x16"

Alamo painting, "Remember"

I was asked by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to donate a painting to be used for their Gala this October. It will be on their invitations, the cover of the program, made into posters and notecards and the original will be auctioned during the Gala. The painting was my attempt to represent the Alamo dramatically, and to honor two of the women who were instrumental in acquiring the Alamo for the DRT- Clara Driscoll and Adina DeZavala. I found photos of them on the DRT website and then not only put them together but painted them from behind, gazing on the Alamo. There's an anonymous cowboy and his horse painted unobtrusively in the lower (viewer's) left corner in order to acknowledge the men who've aided them, as well.

The portrait is a pastel sketch of Amanda, a wonderful girl my wonderful nephew Jake has the good fortune to call his girlfriend. Amanda spent her summer in San Antonio and attended my portrait workshop in July at the Coppini and also came to my pastel class on Tuesdays a few times.

Oils in progress

Yesterday I posted some starts in pastel. These are two starts in oil I've got going. I know the dog looks a bit like a zombie dog at this stage. It's 20"x16". The one of the figures is 36"x24". I'm hoping to maybe have it done for the Coppini Fall exhibition.... Maybe? The little still life is 11"x14" and isn't very true-to-color in this photo. The surface is more yellow and the pots less blue.

I'm back! No, really. Honest.

I think we've survived the move and have whittled the resulting tower of boxes down to what fits in the guest room. Ok, so the hallway is lined with frames and canvases, too. But the point is that I'm painting again. I've only managed to complete a couple of commissions in what seems like a very long time.
My friends Donna Good and Mary Shepard came to paint all day with me in the new studio Wednesday. I got to work on a large figural painting and it felt wonderful. I have one commission painting to do this month so far, but am holding my breath to hear about another I'd love to get.
Mary Shepard came back yesterday and we went through the process of listing her first painting on eBay. A lot has changed in the year and a half since I was selling paintings on eBay, so I learned as much as I taught. I'd like to start listing paintings, myself, within a week or so.
I'm still teaching the Tuesday classes at Coppini Academy, but am also considering adding a Wednesday night class here in the home studio. A very small class, of course. Three students. Four if they're super friendly.
I'll post some photos of starts I've made since my last post. The pastel starts are ones I did in class as demos and which I'll finish up sometime. If you're reading this, please post a comment so I know someone's out there, ok?