Bike Shop

Bike Shop

This is another painting I did at the retreat.  It is half sheet, and it had gesso on it.and was painted with watercolor.  I love to paint on gesso paper, with all the textures it makes. It is not this dull in real life, but for some reason, I am not having good luck getting a photo. I saw this bike hanging off a big building in Boston down by the river front. I have taken pictures of bikes for years. I love them like I do old vehicles.  I am wondering if I need to punch up the red with some gouache after seeing it here, and how dark it looks. I might!  I wanted the bottom corner left with no paint.

Ceta Canyon Art Retreat

This past week I was at Ceta Canyon, near Amarillo,TX. It is an awesome place to go. It is a Methodist Retreat place but everybody uses it. The deer roam all over the place, as well as wild turkey.  The phones won't work there, you have to drive out to connect, which is nice.No television.  Our building we paint in is really great. Has a fireplace, and lots of windows.  I think they said it was started in 1918.
We have our own rooms with bathroom.  We come and go whenever we want to.  I tried to start by 8 every morning and we would paint until midnight. I got several pieces done. Now that I am home, a couple of them don't look so good! Plus I have to finish up what I started.
This painting is really too dark in the picture. It is not this dark across his eyes. After I work some more, I will re photo him. He was a fisherman I got in Florida.  I left the net out. Just wanted his face. I hope I can finish him and do him justice! I am trying to figure out what colors would work best on cap and shirt!

The Artist's Magazine

I was invited to join an artist blog back in the summer, called "ArtColony,"
and we just encourage each other, and watch and see what is going on with everybody...what we are painting, etc. Jane Freeman, the one who started it, was featured on the Artists Magazine Blog. http://artistsblog.artistsnetwork.com/
Christmas we drew names and sent paintings to each other. That was such fun! Now I have a wonderful painting from Mollie Jones, from the Tyler area. Ellie Sethman in California, has one of my paintings.
You can click on it to read about it, plus you can go to the blog and see some awesome work from all over the US, and outside the US.
www.artcolony.blogspot.com
I feel very honored to be part of such a group.

Hobbs NM Demo

Demo for Llano Estacado Art Asc.

Lil Red Bike
sold

Yesterday was the demo in Hobbs NM, and it was a lot of fun.
The Art Asc. members there were very friendly, and put me at ease.
The Demo is 18"x24", and I just got started, and was time to quit.
I realized after I was through that I didn't start with big enough pieces, plus,
I started out w/ the wrong papers. I intended to use black and white, and I was putting down red and white! It was because I was nervous I guess!
I worked a little over an hour on it, and it looks like nothing! I will post it when I am finished.
I was excited to sell another little collage. The Lil Red Bike was a muddy watercolor to begin with, and I collaged over it, matted it with red and white, and put in a black frame.
So the Lil Red Bike has a home in Hobbs now!

Ol Red

'Ol Red'
12x12
Torn Paper Collage

This old pick up has been painted more than once! I have it in gouache, and in watercolor. I am still trying to decide if I want to do a big collage of a vehicle, so I am experimenting on smaller ones. It was like the others, just a lot of fun to do. In the original photo, it is blue and rusted, but I wanted to try the red. I may get crazier...and do another one in the blues. I am doing a demo tomorrow in Hobbs NM, for the art asc. there, so it helped me decide on the colors for that too.
This is availabe, unframed, but ready to hang.

Daisy De Soto & Little Daisy

'Little Daisy'
10x10
Torn Paper Collage

'Daisy DeSoto'
sold
Transparent Watercolor

Daisy DeSoto is a watercolor I did, and the first show it was in, sold.
and I always liked it, and would love to do another one, but probably wouldn't
be like the first one. I have been thinking of doing a 30x40 torn paper ...old vehicle,
so I thought I would experiment with a 10"x10" and see if I was brave enough to try
the BIG canvas. So, I printed out a copy of my original in B/W, and did the small one..'Little Daisy ' It definitely wouldn't let me be picky with the details! I think I will do a big old pick-up
on the large canvas. Am thinking a red one. ...but I will have to figure that out when I
get ready to do it.

I am excited..I have sold 6 paintings in the last 2 weeks! 5 of them collages.
May not happen again for a long time, but am going to enjoy it while I can!

Re worked Pizza Time

'Pizza Time'
Torn Paper collage
24"x36"

I reworked the background by getting rid of the white stripe.
It was bothering me. It was just too straight, and white.
I have one coat of varnish so I consider him done.
I would love to sell him to a pizza place!