Passover Seder Mini Series, Continued. 4 '14

As a follow on to yesterday's post, I did in fact finish the two last minis for the Passover Series of the ingredients for a Seder Plate

Charoset ( 5" x 7" Oil

Above is my portrayal of some of the ingredients that go into Charoset ( honey, apple, dates and nuts)

And below is the shank bone(s)

Seder Shank Bones ( 7" x 5" oil)

I am very goal oriented, and sometimes I find it hard to let go.    My head kept telling me that Passover was over, and I should put this project aside until next year, but my heart would not let me do it.  This is one time I am very glad  I followed my heart.

Chaney Bay 3 '13

Remember that photo I posted of Chaney Bay in full bloom on 12/12/13? ( see  photo above)

I finally got around to painting it this week. Yellow is a difficult color for me to work with, but I really wanted to capture the 'stop ya dead in your tracks' dazzle of the yellow marsh daisies.

 I think I nailed it.  The painting will go on exhibit at CAG tomorrow.

SAG Fundraiser Continues 11'10

You may remember this painting from an October  post as one of the paintings I donated to the Sea Coast Artist Guild's Holiday Fundraiser.

I also donated this little 4"x6"  oil (above)

Below are some of the paintings donated by other members. 

Funds from the sale of these painting will be used to purchase art supplies for our local schools art classes.

Behind the scenes: Brushstrokes Exhibit at Prevost Gallery 9 '10

The Brushstrokes Water-media Exhibit at the Prevost Gallery was a huge success, but 'success', did not 'just happen'.  Both the museum gallery and the members of the Georgetown Water Color Society put a lot of work into this exhibition and it paid off.

First both  the Guild and the gallery sent out invitations to everyone we knew.   As a result, we had a huge turn-out and the gallery was packed. (Below)










Unlike a art competition where the shown work is an judged and prizes are awarded to the winning artists, this was an exhibition.Tickets for door prizes were handed out to the attending artists and guests. The Georgetown Water- media Society Janice Cowan drew the winning tickets for the door prizes of gift certificates for dinner for two at local restaurants (below). Needless to say one of our members had to solicit those door prizes.

Saying it was not a judged show,  doesn't mean there were not any requirements to get ones work into the show:

• Each member was allowed to only one entry
• The quality had to be sufficent to gain approval of the Prevost gallery director.
• The work had to be less than 30" in any dimension including the frame ( There's not a lot of wall space in the gallery).
• The work had to have been painted in the last year.
• The work could not have been shown before within Georgetown County.
• The work had to be for sale, and
• The  price had to be commensurate with the quality of the piece.
• The work had to be watermedia....  (This was the hardest requirement  for me to as I am primarily a oil painter.)

Someone then had to sort , arrange the entries, and hang.  Others had to help with the food service at the reception.  In short it tokk an all hands on deck approach to make the event successful.  What better way for a new artist to learn about the behind the scene activities  necessary for selling art, than to get involved in one of these local art events.

Georgetown Rice Museum 's: Brushstrokes Exhibit 9 '10

The Rice Museum, known locally as The Town Clock, is located in the Old Market Building and is a prominent symbol of Georgetown County. Through dioramas, maps, artifacts and other exhibits, visitors to the Museum are enlightened to the history of a society dependent on the rice crop. In 1750, George Town became the center of rice production in the South Carolina colony. By 1840, the Georgetown District (later County) produced nearly one-half of the total rice crop of the United States. The 1850s proved to be the most profitable decade for the rice planters. The Rice Museum chronicles this most important American time line and its impact on not only South Carolina, but internationally as well.

The Prevost Museum Gallery is located next door to the Town Clock in the Kaminski Hardware Building. The upstairs museum contains maritime and colonial artifacts from the rice production era.  The downstairs gallery and  gift shop is filled with high end antiques and  locally made decorator items.  In addition the downstairs gallery walls regularly sponsor low-country art exhibits and judged art shows . It is a major center for art and culture in the community.

This month I entered an acrylic on watercolor paper scene of an egret into the Prevost Gallery's Brushstrokes Exhibit..  While it  and exhibit, not a judged show, there were some serious per-requisites for entry.   I was pleased  just to be accepted into the exhibit.

Many of our friends and neighbors showed up for the reception

( above: Jim Sullivan and Noreen Sneed. Below: Noreen Sneed and the Blades)

My artwork drew a lot of positive comments during the receptions and I felt honored to be in such good company.

Egret in the Morning 8 '10

 Egret in the Morning

Fall is a busy time of year for me. In addition to feeding the Island Gallery ten new paintings a  month,  have a lot of independent  art shows coming up in the next couple of months. I just took one large painting to the Prevost Gallery in Georgetown, and have two other shows to enter next month.  Most of  the local art organizations only allow one juried entry per show,  but one up-coming show allows three entries.  The thing is -- that show is being held in the center court of shopping mall.  I'm disappointed.  In the past the show has always been held in an art gallery.  The art organization that is sponsoring the exhibit decided that rent was less expensive and the works would get more visibility if the show was out in the open.  I am not so sure that was wise.  I suspect that most shoppers associate center court mall vendors with  low quality/cost items.  Not the best way to attract a well heeled buyer.  Plus the work is more at risk from inquisitive greasy fingered kiddies.  I'll have to think carefully about what to put in that show  (if I enter it at all).

WACG Beach Wash Workshop 8 '10

The Waccamah Arts and Crafts Guild sponsored a workshop on learning to do beach washes as backgrounds for artwork.

 The workshop leader came prepared with all of the materials we would need to learn the skillset

We all chose a spot on Myrtle Beach to listen to her directions

Then she had an experienced member demonstrate how to get a nice sand wash  resist pattern on the water color paper using the smaller waves at the edge of the tide.

Back on the dry beach we practiced pouring diluted acrylics over the sand wash

Until we were surrounded by a rainbow of brilliantly colored beach washed paper

Georgetown Watermedia Society Meeting 11 '09

The Georgetown Water media Society met today for a presentation by two of our members on painting with Acrylic paints. Diann  Hammett led off  the presentation with a discussion of how she approaches  abstract and more traditional representational artwork  and the pros and cons of using acrylic paints in both.

This was followed by another member who  showed us how she uses acrylic paintings in  traditional subjects like this study of her son sitting on the beach

She then explained that as a buzy mother of several children she cannot spend as much time as she would like in the studio.  She maximizes her time, by painting on round table-tops that can be fitted onto the steering wheel of her car while she is waiting for her children to finish their  little league practice etc.  Needless to say the fast drying quality of acrylics is a real boon  under such circumstances.

Above:Initial pidgeon desgin on tabletop with small travel acrylic set shown in plastic bag on table. 

Below: Completed painting of pidgeon.

How clever!

Art, art, ‘n’ more art! 10 '08

My husband, Bruce recently acquired four small theme paintings from Southeastern artist, Grant Nelson.   He hung them on either side of the window in the music room.   Bruce liked their effect so much, that he started pestering me to create some larger scale graphic design paintings with a music theme for the other walls in the room. 

Grant Nelson paintings

I have no training in graphic design, nor any desire to paint in that style, but Bruce can be VERY persuasive when he gets his heart set on something.  So when South Carolina’s hurricane season limited me to indoor activities, I decided it would be a good time to see what I could produce to make Bruce happy.  I soon learned that creating good graphic art is harder than it looks.  After several failed attempts at coming up with a decent design, I fell back on the time honored tradition that most art schools use to teach a new skill…. Copy someone else’s work.    

My first attempt was to paint an enlarged (three foot by three foot) version of a four inch by four inch electric light switch-plate cover with a Kaminski like design on it.   It was hung above the piano adding a playful note to the room.

Encouraged, Bruce started bugging me to paint something even larger to hang over the sofa.   This time I attempted a triad.  The project was very educational.  I learned that it is very important to pay close attention to exactly what paint color one is mixing if you are working on a multi canvas set, and I also learned a lot about balancing colors, and tones across the canvas. .Each painting was painted separately then, after all three were completed, I went back to add detail and adjust color notes so that the paintings would view well as a set.  In addition,  I learned that it is very important to pay close attention to balance  color hues and color values  across the set of canvases   I  also learned I don’t want to be a graphic artist, and I how to have a happy husband.

Hawaii: CC 's Painting 3 '08

While my husband was out chasing little white balls over the lava fields today, I  tried my hand at painting tropical fruit that I had purchased from a local farmers market

and flowers on mini canvases

The results were not too bad considering I had never tried to work with Acrylic paints.  It took some time to get used to painting so quickly.  Oil paints can stay wet and their color blend for days.  Acrylics can set up in minutes especially in warm weather. Getting smooth transitions between different parts of the painting is a challenge  .On the other had, the big advantage for using acrylics while traveling is that  one can be certain that the paint is thoroughly dry  when one goes to pack