Day 14 - Life Drawing at The Art Guild

On the second Thursday of the month, The Art Guild has a life drawing evening - 3 hours for $15. We have wonderful models! Here are a few of my sketches, which will stand in for a finished piece.

Short 2 minute poses

5 minute poses

10 minute pose

20 minute pose

Day 24 - Jan 2015 Challenge - Workshop Weekend

Lighthouse Keeper’s Quarters, Monhegan

Sketch, colored pencil on canvas.

I haven't forgotten about the challenge and I feel genuinely guilty for missing the last two weeks. I did a couple of things but didn't post - I've been that busy - BUT I'm going to a workshop this weekend at The Art Guild. 
It's called Colored Pencil and Ink on Canvas with Robert Kogge. I took the workshop several years ago at the Art Students League, but I'm taking it again to sort of refresh my memory.
This is the working sketch I did. Because there is a bit of prep and explaining about the process Robert has his students work on a small piece to get the feel for the canvas and the ink washes. (I'll explain more tomorrow.)

2014 The Year in Review

Paintings SOLD in 2014!

Happy New Year! And it was a very Happy Old Year!

It's been very busy and exciting!

As I get ready to say farewell to 2014, it's helpful for me to look back and celebrate the year – the things I learned, the places I went, the achievements big and small.

Here's a recap:

• An artist's “bucket-list” trip to The Olson House in Cushing, Maine, two trips to the Fine Art Museum of Boston to see the AMAZING Jamie Wyeth exhibit, a great quilt show and the Sargent exhibit. (If you haven't seen the Jamie Wyeth exhibit, its next stop is The Brandywine - mid-January through April. PS: The Wyeths have become my new obsession.)
• Several classes and workshops (most notably a pastel workshop at Acadia Workshop Center in Bernard, Maine with Michael Chesley Johnson) have (I hope) improved my skills as an artist. I've met some really wonderful new artists and friends.
• I've been given the opportunity to work as the Associate Executive Director of The Art Guild. I hope I can learn the ropes quickly and take on more responsibility in in the new year. It's been wonderful to be back in our building and we've planned classes for kids and adults beginning in January as well as photography and landscapes exhibits. 
• Though I sort of floundered though September's 30/30 Challenge, I did paint a lot and sold quite a number of paintings this year. Two commissioned paintings of the Locust Valley Fire Department was a nice surprise. Twelve 6"x6" paintings from the 30/30 Challenges sold via my Etsy shop.
• Most important (to me), was my very first solo show in my "Hometown" (East Islip) at the Public Library in November. It was a huge challenge - and I painted a number of pieces specifically for that show and the work did pay off! It was wonderful to have the support of friends and family who made the effort to stop by and say "Hi!" at the reception. Thank you to everyone who left a nice comment in the guest book - there were some familiar names in there. And a HUGE thank you to everyone who purchased a painting. It was a terrific validation of my growth as an artist and I'm delighted!

What I'm looking forward to in 2015

• January 1 starts the first 30/30 Challenge of 2015. Do you think I'm ready? LOL!
• Painting a new mermaid for 2015's GSBMF should be a little less stressful this year as there were two good choices last spring. The one not chosen was actually the one I preferred, so I'm looking forward to painting it. (Look for posts on the painting of last year's mermaid, coming in February.)
• I'm looking forward to seeing some interesting museum shows. It might be fun to see the Matisse Cut Outs Exhibit (through Feb10) and The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters (through March 22), at MOMA. I doubt I'll make it to the Brandywine to see the Andrew Wyeth: Lines of Thought exhibit. Does anyone have any recommendations?
• I'm looking forward to helping plan some fun art/painting events at the Art Guild. We have lots of ideas! We hope to do an "art gallery swap" show with another art group on Long Island, that should be really fun!
• I'm looking forward to my annual trip to Maine. Not sure which workshop I'll be taking, but there are some good ones to choose from. 
• Painting, learning, creating, exploring!

If it wasn't for the support of friends and family...

I wouldn't be doing any of this. I'd like to thank my friends and family, everyone who follows my facebook page, blog and emails, for their love and support. Being an artist is often a solitary affair – so your comments and feedback are always important to me. I am thankful and honored to share my work with you. Please share with your friends, come to shows, and tell me how you feel about my posts.

Day 10 - 30/30 Challenge - Dune Path, Sunken Meadow

Dune Path, Sunken Meadow, watercolor, 10.5" w x 7" h

Another busy day! Today we met at The Art Guild for some clean up and prep for our re-opening show on September 20 (reception & open house Sunday September 21, 3-6 pm). There were lots of things to put in order and so I had to really squeeze in a painting today!

This watercolor is painted from a bunch of photos I took on a very quick walk at Sunken Meadow State Park a couple of weeks ago. This dune over looks the Long Island Sound to the north and Stony Brook to the east. To the right of this area of dunes is a lovely tidal marsh and on the other side of the creek there are walking trails covering acres of wooded hills. I think it's interesting that sometimes blue in the sky is sky and sometimes it's how we represent clouds on an overcast day.

Though many of these paintings won't be for sale right away, I'd like to direct you to my Etsy page where I'm having a little sale. Please consider purchasing a painting because, a. Christmas is coming, and these little 6x6s really make nice gifts, and/or b. the mermaid needs to buy some picture frames for the big solo show and selling a couple of these little guys would be a BIG help!

I'd also like to suggest that you sign up on the right side of this page for emails (not every day), and the follow button to get notifications when this blog is updated (for this month nearly every day, most times, not so much).

Get more info on the 30/30 challenge go to Leslie Saeta's blog by clicking here.

Day 9 - 30/30 Challenge - PaintFest Tractor

Red Tractor, pastel, 8.5" x 6.5"

Today was PaintFest w/The Art Guild at Martin Viette Nurseries. I really wanted to go, but it was cold and dreary and I had a couple of client things I was catching up on, so I thought I would cancel. Then I got an email that a Facebook friend had joined TAG and was going to be at Martin Viette...I scrambled and got there.
It was wonderful to meet someone I'd only talked to on Facebook and Twitter for 3 or 4 years! We had a great chat and I got very little satisfying painting done (in fact it was downright ugly!). As we left I (we) took pictures of one of the tractors that has been put out for the harvest display. A cold and dreary day turned out to be quite "sunshiny" after all!

Though many of these paintings won't be for sale right away, I'd like to direct you to my Etsy page where I'm having a little sale. Please consider purchasing a painting because, a. Christmas is coming, and these little 6x6s really make nice gifts, and/or b. the mermaid needs to buy some picture frames for the big solo show and selling a couple of these little guys would be a BIG help!

I'd also like to suggest that you sign up on the right side of this page for emails (not every day), and the follow button to get notifications when this blog is updated (for this month nearly every day, most times, not so much).

Get more info on the 30/30 challenge go to Leslie Saeta's blog by clicking here.

Landscape Show at Huntington Arts Council And 30/30 Challenge

Firstly, let's get this out right at the top: I am honored and delighted to be a part of the (very exclusive)  Landscape show at the Huntington Arts Council from September 5 - 29. Please join me and the other artists at the Opening Reception, Friday September 5th!

Second, the marathon 30/30 Challenge is starting TOMORROW! And I am remarkably unprepared! 

Looking back to last year at this time, my workshop plans did not work out for Acadia, so I planned a trip to every painter's bucket list – Monhegan. Since the object of the trip was to paint, I killed two birds with one stone. And I did paint. Despite near constant rain and dripping fog. Despite the fact that with the humidity at 125% watercolors wouldn't dry. I now have enough photographs to paint Monhegan for quite some time, though, for the most part, I'll have to imagine the sunshine.

It was sunny when I got there and hiked out to Blackhead.

But I loved it. It's a beautiful place. It's not for everyone – too small, too not-modern, too much walking ALL walking, what the hell is there to do?, slightly grumpy year-rounders, an hour-and-a-half on the ferry, scarcity of credit card machines and ATMs, shared bathrooms, walking-up-the-stairs (no elevator???), no air-conditioning – are many of the complaints. (You can't believe the silly things people say on Trip Advisor!) But I loved it! 

I digress. The 30/30 Challenge. I will warn you now...I may not paint a full painting every day. I have a solo show coming in November, so I need to make some larger paintings (that clearly will take more than a day). But I will paint every day. And I will share the project here.

This year, I'll be finishing the 30/30 while in Maine. I'm so excited to be taking a pastel class with the amazing Michael Chesley Johnson at Acadia Workshop Center! YAY!

Last but certainly not least, I'd like to tell everyone that I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop. 

The mermaid needs some frames for the paintings in that solo show in November, so please help a girl out! (They sorta frown upon just sticking them to the wall with white tape. I don't know why.)

It will be an interesting month. Enjoy it with me.

PS: I'm relieved/excited/happy/ecstatic to tell you that The Art Guild of Port Washington is BACK in their home at Elderfields! Woohoo! We are planning LOTS of things, exhibits, classes and more...please check out our website! If you're an artist and on Long Island, please consider joining us! The Welcome Home Show is September 20 - October 19, with the Opening Reception on Sept 21.

Recap: Two Fabulous Art Shows

After the Blizzard, Bayville

14" x 10", watercolor (unframed), $300+ shipping 

Questions? Email me.

October was a busy month! I was in two shows...

1. The Art Guild Member Show at the Graphic Eye Gallery

Great work by Art Guild members!

I had two pieces in the show - After the Blizzard, Bayville  and  Moonrise, Orient

And I was very humbled and honored to receive the 2013 Terry Shkuda Award for Broadening Artistic Pursuits. (Thank you all, SO much!)

Kathy Shkuda presents me with the Terri Shkuda Award, with Shelley Holtzman TAG president.

For more pictures of the show, check out the photo album on Art Guild's FB page.

2. Art Guild Show at Chelsea Mansion

The Art Guild was invited to be part of a free fall concert series in Nassau County in the beautiful Chelsea Mansion - for only eight days! 

This show was quite a challenge to arrange and hang. One "room" was a tent (so, no walls to hang paintings on) and the other was the Music Room (but we couldn't hang anything on the walls). 

So we borrowed grids used in craft/art shows and bought 15 easels from Jerry's Artarama. We had a lot of fun assembling those. The first one took 1.5 hours and the second one only half-an-hour – pretty good learning curve! They're really nice looking! (Almost too nice to use for painting!)

15 easels in the front room of Elderfields

Ten Guild members collaborated to paint the Nassau County Legislative building, as a gift for  Carnell Foskey, Commissioner. Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums for helping to get us back in our home at Elderfields. A photo of the Legislative Building was scaled (by the amazing Aleta) and gridded out. Each artist got a 10" x10" section to paint on a wood panel in our own style. We then assembled it on a wooden frame. 

This is my panel. I painted it first with three or four coats of Golden Watercolor Ground. I traced the piece of the building that was my assignment (yup, that little red roof and the top of the tree). I found a dramatic sky in my photos (I couldn't bear to just paint blue) and lightly sketched the clouds in. I painted as I normally would with watercolors. 

The surface does behave like watercolor paper. You can lift and blend in much the same way. The nice part is that if you make a horrendous mistake, you can just wipe it off. If there's any staining, you can just paint more ground over it.

To get a little more detailing in the roof, I used some colored pencil. Again, the surface behaved very much like watercolor paper. I did spray a light coat of fixative over it when everything was dry.

Some of the panels together

Bill assembles the "collage" painting as Ilene watches.

Bill shows off the framed collage painting.

Diane & Ilene with the framed collage painting.

We think it looks very cool! 

The Big DAY!

The easels look great...

...And so do the grids.

And, by the way, Mr. Foskey really liked the painting too!

The show turned out really well and we hope to do another show there next year!

The winners

My paintings

For more pictures, you can check out The Art Guild's FB page.