Caliente

I have spent alot of time working on paintings for the workshops I'm going to be teaching this summer. But here is a painting that I did just for the fun of it. And it was a great deal of fun. I must thank my friend Patti for helping me name it.

I have wanted to paint peppers for a long time and have never got around to it. At first I was going to just paint them in the ceramic bowl but then I remembered a Christmas dish towel I had. So I dug it out and simplified it and added it to the painting. I love the colors in the painting they were so much fun to work with and they certainly can spice up a painting.

Now that I am getting back into painting I hope to be posting more often!

Magnolia Workshop

I am teaching a Magnolia Workshop on Saturday June 18th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Artistic Creations Gallery and Classroom.

The first picture shows some of the first steps to painting a magnolia. The first thing I did after drawing the outline was to lay a very light cobalt blue wash over my paper. Then after it dried I layed a light aureolin yellow wash over the background. I call these initial washes underlying washes. I often start a painting withe them. I feel as if they tie the painting together right from the beginning. Then I started painting the petals with very light mixes of cobalt blue, opera rose and aureolin yellow. I then layed thin washes of quinacridone gold and opera rose in the center of the flower.

In the second picture I painted the branches wet on wet. I first layed down quinacridone gold and dropped in a mixture of burnt sienna and cobalt blue on the sides of the branches. I then mixed up my greens using: aureolin yellow, antwerp blue, hookers green, and a little bit of cadmium red. When I mix my colors on my pallette I do not mix them evenly. Instead I leave certain colors in certain spaces and only mix them a little with the other color or colors next to it. I then paint the leaves with this mixture of greens. I finally paint over the center of the flower with a little darker quinacridone gold and underneath that I stipple in some alizron crimson with a litle bit of cobalt blue on the outrsides of it. I then wet the deep part if the petals and allow the crimson color to bleed out.

I paint over the leaves with a thin layer of quinacridone gold. Then on to the most fun part of the whole painting (at least in my opinion.) The background. I first lay in a wash of sap green and quinacridone gold. Then I let it totally dry. I them mix up some hookers green with winsor violet. I then section by section paint the background and lift with a thirsty brush some of the paint to create some texture.

I finish the painting with permanent white guoache mixed with some quinacridone gold in the center of the flower. I then add a little alizron crimson to the little stamens on the petals.

There are still a few spots left for the workshop on Saturday. If you are interested please email me at katsart01@yahoo.com.


Also on Friday evening at Artistic Creations Gallery and Classroom there will be an Grand Opening from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. If you have the chance stop by and meet the artists and view their work.

Teaching

Here's some pictures of me teaching that one of my students took yesterday. I teach watercolors on Thursday and Saturday mornings from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Artistic Creations Art Gallery and Classroom. They just moved to a new location in Pembroke Mall in the hall going to the food court. They are having their Grand Re-Opening on Friday 6/17th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. If your in the neighborhood stop on by and see the new space and all the wonderful art. I have a wall with my paintings there too and I demonstrate painting on Fridays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

I have been spending a good deal of time planning my summer classes and workshops. The first workshop that I am teaching is next Saturday June 18th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Artistic Creations Classroom. I'm teaching painting a Magnolia in watercolor. I will demonstrate it step by step and take my students from the beginning to the end of the painting process. I will also introduce some of my "ways" of painting and explain why I do things the way I do them. I have painted so many Magnolias in the last couple weeks that I feel like I could paint them in my sleep. (I'm sure that I'm exaggerating just a little bit.) On Wednesday I will post some pictures of the Magnolia as well as some of the steps to painting it. If you are interested in taking the workshop there are still some spots open. Just contact me at katsart01@yahoo.com or 757 650-5765.

I want to give special thanks to Cherrie for bringing in the camera so that you could see me in action and to Laurie and Joyce for allowing their photos to be taken.

Apology

I feel as if I must apologize for not keeping up my blog better than I have been. I have been going through some difficult times recently and have been diagnosed with a serious illness. I am working through all the emotions that you go through in trying to cope with a difficult situation. And I certainly hope that I can move right along to the phase of acceptance. I do feel that I generally have a positive attitude and will be happy to see that come back. I also think that in some ways I will be able to find new strengths coming from my diagnosis. I just cannot wait to get there!
Thank you all for your continued support and understanding. I will be making a new "art" post shortly.

Stockley Gardens Art Festival

Just a reminder I'm going to be in the Stockley Gardens Art Festival this weekend. It is on Saturday, May 21st from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday, May 22nd from noon to 6:00 pm. It is a great show and it would be worth your while to check it out. The location is Ghent, Norfolk on Stockley Gardens Rd. I hope to see you there!

Succulents

Here are my three Succulents.
I framed them together. I really enjoyed painting them. They went so smoothly from beginning to end. And you know I love the colors!

I need to find other subjects to paint that give me as much pleasure as these did. I have been trying to paint subjects for the coming up art shows without much success. I have been dealing with some personal health issues that will become problematic in the future. It has taken so much out of me. I just want to paint for the fun of it right now!

Gladiola

This is my Gladiola painting that I worked on in Corolla. It was so much fun. I love the colors and the values as well as the size of the paper. I feel like it represents the direction that my style is going in. It was also nice working on a flower for the first time in a long time.

This weekend I'm in the Gosport Art Festival in Old Towne Portsmouth from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. It is a nice Mother's day weekend art show. You can come and see my Gladiola as well as the other artist's work. I think you will enjoy it.

CBAA Spring Show at the East Beach Gallery

These two paintings will be on display at the Chesapeake Bay Artists Association's Spring Art Show being held at the East Beach Gallery located on 9559 Shore Dr. in Norfolk. The Opening Reception is Thursday May 5th from 5:30 to 8:30 and will offer food and wine. The CBAA will be presenting scholarships to two young artists this year. The show runs until May 28th. You can visit the gallery Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and Sunday from noon to 3:00 pm. Come and visit the gallery and see all the fine art of the members of the CBAA.

Corolla Weekend

Here's the four of us paint brushes in hand and ready to paint up a storm. From left to right its me, Cherrie, Joyce and Patti. My painting buddies. We had a wonderful weekend going to the lighthouse, and village around it as well as going 4-wheelin' down the beach and in through the sand dunes where we saw some of the wild horses that live there. We took lots of pictures, we painted and watched multiple painting Dvd's. We filled up on inspiration for future paintings as well as seafood and desserts. The weather was beautiful except that one day they were predicting thunderstorms. We actually had tornado touch down in Duck and we didn't even know it. (This was because we didn't even watch any news just the Dvd's.)

I must apologize that it has been so long since I have made a post, but I have been very busy with my art stuff getting ready for some shows and my real life has also been interfering with my time management skills. But I promise that I will have some new paintings for you soon.

Japanese Magnolia

I am back in my painting mode. I have started working on paintings for the upcoming Art Shows and not my learning mode of painting portraits.

Here is my Japanese Magnolia. When looking at the photo I used a magnifying glass and it looked so three dimensional. It was like putting on those glasses to watch a 3-D movie. I tried to capture that in the painting and even though it looks 3-D it does not pop off the paper as much as I would like it too.

I have so many paintings to do and such little time to do them in. My mind is painting faster then the time I have left.

This weekend I have wonderful plans to go to Corolla, NC with three painting friends for three days. The Outer Banks of NC is a beautiful, breathtaking beach community with wonderful places to look at and paint and photo. We are also bringing some DVD's to watch indoors during our downtime or (knock wood) bad weather. It is going to be so much fun and I can hardly wait.