Happy Hour

"Happy Hour"

Image Size 15" x 15"

Encaustic

I love that time in the afternoon when the sun is getting low in the sky and the day is almost over.  Seeing that sun setting on the ocean always makes me feel like I'm on vacation.  

This is another encaustic.  I really enjoyed trying to get the feeling of the spray as the wave is crashing, and the foam where the water hits the sand.  This photo really doesn't capture the beauty of this medium.  In person, the surface is shiny and looks like a glazed tile.

Midday

"Midday"

Image Size 15.5" x 15.5"

Encaustic

This is the first time I've worked in encaustic since I moved.  It took a while to find everything and set it up but once my wax was melted and ready to use, I was in heaven!  I've missed working in this medium and you'll probably be seeing a lot more over the next few weeks.

Parched

"Parched"

Image Size 12" x 12"

Acrylic

Here's another 'rain' painting.  I'm really trying to do my part in ending this drought!  ; )

I love working in acrylics using them like watercolors.  I don't think that acrylics have the beauty of watercolor, but it is nice to be able to layer colors without lifting the previous layers.  

Rainy Day

"Rainy Day"

Image Size 11" x 15"

Watercolor

We got some much needed rain today.  I think I'm partly responsible for that because I got my car washed this morning.  I hadn't heard that it was supposed to rain.  Having a clean car and not wanting to waste a car wash motivated me to work on emptying boxes in the garage so that my car would fit inside.  It's nice to finally be able to actually park in the garage!  I still have a lot more stuff to put away, but at least my car is safe from water spots.  ; )

This was painted on a saturated piece of paper.  I used the complementary color combinations of blues/oranges, purples/yellows to get some interesting grays in the sky.

Mariposa

"Mariposa"

Image Size 11" x 15"

Watercolor

This is the other painting that I finished in Jeanne Hyland's workshop.  This was painted from a photo of her dog.  It was fun playing with the bright colors to describe a brown and white dog.  Mariposa had some spots but I left them out.

I used the saturated wet technique again.  I really love the control that is possible when using that method.

Nick

"Nick"

Image Size 22" x 15"

Watercolor

I just attended another two day art workshop last week.  Two workshops within a month is not a usual thing for me, but it sure is a great way to spend a couple of days.  It's like a mini vacation.

This workshop was with Jeanne Hyland.  I've taken her "Wet and Workable" workshop before and really enjoyed it.  Even though I knew the basics of this technique from her last workshop, I still learned a lot this time and feel like I have a better understanding of what to do.  A little more experience painting in this style definitely makes a difference. 

This was a "Portraits and Pets" workshop.   In the past, I was hesitant to try painting animals and people.  I will have more confidence tackling them in the future.  There are three portrait projects that I've wanted to paint for years but have been too afraid to start.  I know, "it's just a piece of paper", but even with that thought in my head, I've been too intimidated to try.

This was painted from a photo that Jeanne took of a young waiter.  This painting doesn't look much like the photo but at least he does look human so I'm happy about that.  On my next portrait, I will be more careful about using green.  This poor guy looks a little under the weather.  I thought I would be able to lift the color out as I worked but whatever paint I used, it was not lifting at all.  Anyway, it was a fun project and I was less stressed as I painted it than I thought I would be.

Diane's Tallit

"Diane's Tallit"

Image size 24" x 72"

Silk dyes on Silk

My amazing friend, Diane (one of my college roommates), is becoming a Bat Mitzvah in November and we are making a prayer shawl for the big day.  

We worked together on the design and she came over yesterday and painted the pomegranates.  Today, I painted the border and leaves because we couldn't fit another painting day for her to finish it. I would have been thrilled to paint the whole thing for her but knew that it would be much more special if she did some of the painting as well as the design.

She did a beautiful job!  She has never painted on silk before so I am amazed how well she did and I know she enjoyed the process.  

Now, this has to sit for 24 hours before I can steam it to set the silk dyes.  Then I will seam the edges and Diane will add the knotted fringes (tsitsit) to the corners.

My watercolor teacher from years ago, Hillary Miller, has painted a lot of these tallitot over the years and was so helpful with advice on the best way to tackle this project and she sent the information on tying the tsitsit as well.  Check out her artwork.  Not only is she a talented artist, she is a wonderful teacher.  I learned so much about watercolor from her when I was taking her classes, and over the years, she has been so helpful whenever I have questions about silk painting.

I will post a picture of the tallit when all of the finishing touches are done.

Sammy

"Sammy"

Image Size 11" x 15"

Watercolor

This is another painting that I worked on during the Soon Y. Warren workshop.  I worked from a photo of my sweet dog that died a couple of years ago.  He was such a sweet, gentle giant and I wanted to try painting him in a less formal, realistic way.  I've painted two other paintings of him in the past that were more realistic.

The colors in this are pretty crazy but it was fun to treat a black dog with bright colors.  I was killing this painting and almost threw it into the trash but Soon helped save it so she really gets all of the credit for this one.

Soon Warren's Workshop

Soon Warren's Workshop painting

Image size 15" x 20"

Watercolor

Here is my first attempt at painting crystal.  It doesn't sparkle like Soon's paintings do but I'm pretty happy with it as a first attempt.  At least now I know how to break a painting like this down into baby steps.  

I have a photo that I took many years ago of a still life set up that has crystal in it and I've always been to intimidated to try painting it.  Now, I feel like I have the tools to try it.

Soon's workshop was so much fun and Soon is a wonderful teacher.  I learned so much!  I'll have to practice so that I don't forget everything that she taught.

Krazy Kitty

"Krazy Kitty"

Image Size 22" x 15"

Watercolor

No, I'm not a cat person and never thought I would paint a cat but I'm taking a workshop with Soon Y. Warren and this was one of the projects.  She is a wonderful watercolorist and is known for her beautiful still life paintings of crystal.  I'm working on one of those too but it's not finished yet.

For this painting, we poured a base from a combination of blue, red and yellow and once it dried, worked on the cat.  In this workshop, Soon actually paints on a person's painting so I can't claim that this is all my work but I did do a lot of it.  My colors in the original pour homogenized a bit too much and I lost some of the lights that I wanted to save but I'm still happy with the outcome.  Of course, if the subject was a dog instead of a cat, it would have been a much better painting.