Monarch Queen

Here is my Monarch Queen. (Again I question telling the gender of small animals.) She was alot of fun to paint. Another 8 x 8 painting for the One Foot Square show. I enjoyed using the warm bright colors and hoped they would keep the chill away.

As you can see I'm in the process of changing my blog a little bit. I have put some of the topics that were on my sidebar on separate pages and you can just click on them across the top of the page. I always welcome feedback so if you have any comments please let me know. I will be redoing my gallery and hope to post that soon.

Hanging On

I had mentioned a while ago that I was going to paint a "froggie" and here he is. (I really do not know how you tell the gender of a frog but I have just thought of him as male.) He was so much fun to paint. I have used the photo of the frog in black and white to teach values for a while. But this is my first time painting him in color.

Right now I'm trying to paint for some upcoming shows. He will be in the "One foot Square" show at The Artist's Gallery, 608 Norfolk Ave., Virginia Beach. The Opening is Friday February 4th from 6:30 to 9:30 and the show will hang until February 26th. The gallery's hours are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Tuesday through Friday and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturdays. If you haven't been there it is a very nice gallery and they have wonderful shows. The phone number is 757 425-6671.

Camellia

Here is my Camellia. I must say that the photo does not do justice to the light in the painting. I will try and take the phot again on a sunnier day but I did not want to delay the post.

When I went to Raleigh, NC for my Art weekend I saw these flowers. They were in the back of a garden next to a glass doorway. I had to climb through the garden and risk falling (not to mention embarrassment) in order to capture the photos. But I knew at that point that I had to do it. And now I think that it was worth it.

Recently I sat through a demo by Susan Check, a magnificent watercolorist, where she painting trees and she used watercolor pencils as well as watercolor crayons right along with her watercolors. I can't say that I've never thought about doing this before but that I never thought I would do it in any way other than a demonstration of things you can do. When painting this Camellia I really felt that the watercolor pencils would help me get the texture in the petals and I think that they did.

I want to mention that I have paintings in the CBW Winter Show at St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children at 317 Chapel St., Norfolk, VA until February 26th. They are having an Open House on Friday, January 14th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Off The Wall Art Show

Tonight I'm going to the Opening for the Off the Wall Art Show held at Norfolk Collegiate. There are over 70 artists participating in the show. Last year they had some exciting and beautiful art there and I'm guessing they will have more this year. If you get the chance stop by and visit. the hours are: January 8th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, January 9th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and January 10th through 12th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Virginia State Capital Building

Yesterday I went with a group of six members of CBAA (Chesapeake Bay Artists Association) to the State Capital in Richmond to hang approximately 90 paintings. Due to the way we were required to hang the paintings it was a very time consuming task. It was a long and busy day with little challenges along the way but it was also very satisfying. I feel that we were successful in creating a room filled with art that was displayed in a very appealing way. My Koi IV and Sweet Lips are my contribution to the exhibit. These paintings will hang in the West Conference Room at the State Capital Building until February 28th.

Happy New Year

I want to thank everyone who reads my blog for their wonderful input and comments both on the blog and to me personally. You all have been very encouraging to me and my art and I want to let you know that I truely appreciate your kind and supportive words.

I also want to say Happy New Year to all my family and friends. I hope it is a good year for everyone filled with love and health and a little bit of that old fashioned prosperity! I also hope that we continue to grow in the directions we choose to go in and enjoy the ride along the way. May 2011 be a great year for all of us.