Bromeliad

Here's my Bromeliad. It was fun painting in the beginning. I really enjoyed the three dimensionality of the painting. But then there were so many petals. (I'm not even sure if they are called petals.) They all need to be differentiated from each other and have some light and shadows and whew they we alot of work.

I painted this for the Norfolk Collegiate Art Show later this month.

My paintings are going to be in three indoor Art Shows this month. The first is with the Chesapeake Bay Watercolorists and it runs from Tuesday January 11th with an opening from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm at Runnymead at the Towne Bank building in Virginia Beach at the end of the interstate. The show runs there until March 23rd and can be seen from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. The next show is Artist's Alley at the Virginia Beach Coliseum's Home and Garden Show from January 20th to January 22nd. The Arist's Alley exhibit is in the lobby and is free to view. Then the Norfolk Collegiate School's Off the Wall Art Show is from January 27th to February 1st at the lower school with an opening on January 27th from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The show can also be viewed on January 28th from 10:00 am, January 29th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and January 30th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Now I understand why I have been so busy painting!

Summer Lovin'

This is my latest painting. I took the photo a couple years ago when Bob and I were on the Outer Banks for a wonderful little retreat. He blew the photo up and framed it for a Christmas present that year and it has been up in our home ever since.

Recently I was having a hard time trying to decide what to paint next. I wanted to use it to send in with my application for the Virginia Watercolor Art Show and I wanted it to be special. That's what made it so difficult to decide what to paint. There are certainly many paintings on my list of things to do but I wanted it to be a little different. So I took photos and put together some still lives and thought up some unusual topics but nothing really motivated me. I was starting taking up too much time and was not any closer to making a decision.

I had always wanted to paint this photo and when I first thought about doing it at this time I was a little hesitant. I was afraid to go out on a limb. Or to step out of the safe little box that I keep myself in where I feel oh so much more comfortable. When I realized this I had to paint this painting. I did not know how it would work out but it needed to be done. So I finally decided what I was painting.

When I first started painting I kept thinking of that day and the time we spent together. I enjoyed the little trip down memory lane and then I moved into feeling so familiar with the subject matter. I visually knew the subject that I was painting and grew to know it better. It was like when I'm painting a portrait and I begin to feel so intimate with the subject. I get to know the person so deeply from seeing so many details in their features and emotions in their demeanor.

This was a wonderful learning experience. I think that being willing to step outside the box motivated me to paint a different subject matter and to enjoy it so much that I hardly worried about the techniques used to produce the finished product. I think that learning your techniques are of great importance but being willing to paint on another level and using your technical skills but not focusing on them brings you closer to experiencing your expressive process. And isn't that why we paint to express ourselves.

Now the only problem I'm having is to decide what to paint next!

A Gala Basket

I know it's been two weeks since my last post and I must apologize. But I have been busy teaching and working on my Gala Basket. (I'm also working on another painting too.) I guess I'm still a little obsessed with my fruits and vegetables, as well as going through a still life phase!

I really enjoyed this painting except for the fact that one of the apples gave me a hard time. The problems of mixing green and red. But I think I finally won the battle. I had so much fun building the rich reds and well as mixing the colors to capture the basket itself. What colors do you think that I used? Well I mixed green with red. Oh the joy of mixing green and red. And of course I loved painting my green and red cloth.

I have started a new blog: Katsart Studio. You can click on it at the top of my Katsart blog. In this blog I'm going to focus on the steps that I take for completing a painting. I am going to be discussing A Gala Basket in it soon. Check it out and let me know what you think of it.

Murphy

Here's my Murphy. She a Jack Russell that just walked into our lives a few years ago. She's a great dog and was alot of fun to paint. I really enjoyed the different textures of her fur. As I was painting her I thought how it was painting a dog as opposed to painting a person. You have so much more freedom in painting a dog. Especially in the beginning layers when you are just laying in colors wet in wet. When painting a person I feel like I need more control than that. Now I'm thinking that maybe I don't. It's still the same
process of laying in the colors loosely, then a little more defined and then adding the details. Why is fur so much different than skin? Is it because it is so much more textured? Is it because I don't worry about it so much? I guess I need to try and change my need to control a portrait so much and see where that brings me.

My daughter Kim and her boyfriend Bryant were here visiting from California. It was wonderful seeing her and getting to know Bryant a little better. I miss her now that she is gone and am looking forward to the next time I get to see her.

Now I'm in the beginning of my fall teaching season. I'm going to be teaching six classes a week on six days of the week. Why did I think that was such a good idea? It is because I really enjoy teaching. I really find it a challenge to come up with better ways to present material in ways that my students will understand it. And it is a joy when they grow in their painting process. I really find that I learn right along with them and enjoy sharing their accomplishments.

Roses for Mom

Here are the Roses for my Mom. I really enjoyed painting them. Very detailed.

Right now I'm painting a large (22 x 30) painting of a dozen roses. So far it's coming out good. It has over a hundred leaves and will take a long time to finish but I hope that I will have it done for the Stockley Gardens Art Show October 16th and 17th.

I am really enjoying painting flowers right now and I feel that I've recently made great progress in my technique. I feel like my paintings are more realistic and more three dimensional than they were. And I have found a confidence in my painting that I have not experienced before.

My mother loved flowers, especially roses. When I'm painting them I feel as if my love for her is experientially there and hopefully shows through the painting itself.