A wonderful new show opened at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd this past weekend. The variety and quality of the pieces was so very good it was a joy to have two of my works included in the selection. These two pieces are quite small, only about 8x24. They are acrylic on canvas and are the first of that medium I have ever exhibited. I don't consider myself an acrylic painter and did these two atop canvases I painted in Germany and thought were just awful. They are greatly improved by this new painting! It was very interesting (and encouraging) to have several people tell me how much they love these pieces. Many people told me they saw an oriental influence in them, especially the tree piece. Both paintings have several layers of things under the actual art, giving them more depth and interest. The House with Sky piece I hope to recreate on a 22x48 canvas to hang over our brick fireplace. It will be the largest piece I've ever done so I must admit it is a bit intimidating to get started on it!
On this first day of the Daylight Savings Time, I was confused by how dark it still was at 7 a.m. I looked out the kitchen window for my morning bird feeder check and, in the morning light saw what I thought was something white all ripped up around the feeders. It soon dawned on me it was the clumps of newly opened daffodils popping with happiness over the spring weather! On my walk to the mailbox at the end of our drive, I startled a doe no more than 30 feet from me. We both stopped and stared. I spoke to her but got only a twitching ear in response. Her feet didn't move as I continued my walk. As I returned from the mailbox, there she was, rooted to the same spot, eyes still on me. Again, I greeted her and stopped to admire her wonderful, flower-eating self. I asked her to leave my yet to grow garden alone this year but knew my plea was nothing more than air on the wind to her. I continued on and even after I went into the house, she remained standing there in peace. The spring daffodils soon called me back outside to pick a few for the house (deer don't eat these wonderful flowers for some reason). While rummaging through the blooms to select my pickings, I poked around where I knew other things had grown last year and was happy to see signs of life around two clumps of bee balm. I will plant more of these inside the soon to be fenced off area because they were one of the few stars of last season. The artist in me loves looking at the deer. The gardener I want to be wishes they all would move elsewhere.
One of the many things that impress me about artist Robin Poteet's work is that her drawings skills are as wonderful as her painting skills. She tells us to keep the pencil on the paper as long as possible to draw confident lines and renderings of what we see. My habit before studying with her was to sometimes draw with a much more feathering sort of approach. In my twice-monthly drawing group this past weekend, I decided to make the effort to keep the pencil in touch with the paper as much as possible and see what happened. I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome.
I ended the evening with three pieces I was happy with and all had very good proportions. I think it forced me to truly look and see the lines of the body better than before and somehow that seemed to translate to the brain and the hand. When I first saw this pose, I thought it would be a bear to capture. In reality, it flowed well and was fun to work on. I really believe keeping the pencil on the paper as much as possible made a big difference to my work. Practice, practice, practice. Two years ago, figure drawing was very intimidating to me. With effort and practice I have come a long way!
A wonderful new show opened at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd this past weekend. The variety and quality of the pieces was so very good it was a joy to have two of my works included in the selection. These two pieces are quite small, only about 8x24. They are acrylic on canvas and are the first of that medium I have ever exhibited. I don't consider myself an acrylic painter and did these two atop canvases I painted in Germany and thought were just awful. They are greatly improved by this new painting! It was very interesting (and encouraging) to have several people tell me how much they love these pieces. Many people told me they saw an oriental influence in them, especially the tree piece. Both paintings have several layers of things under the actual art, giving them more depth and interest. The House with Sky piece I hope to recreate on a 22x48 canvas to hang over our brick fireplace. It will be the largest piece I've ever done so I must admit it is a bit intimidating to get started on it!
