PJ's Glass Demo

We finally found the time to snap a picture of the four of us at the close of Paul's workshop. Marla, Debbie Cannatella, Paul and your's truly are displaying some of Paul's work. The painting he and I are holding was his workshop demo and both are stunning in real life. Now the challenge will be to come up with a great setup and painting on my own. Really looking forward to working in that direction, but now I'll need to get out and find some really neat glass to paint.

Sugarbowl Surprise

 

This was a really fun little painting...although it is by no means "little". This is 15x22 (half sheet) on 140 lb.Arches coldpress. I must say that the primary colors of the M&M's were a real challenge in that those colors are hard to present the correct shadows. However, challenges are always good learning tools and this one took several passes in the tweaking stages. The sugarbowl was my mother's and I also have the creamer to match. Maybe one day I'll come up with something for that too...maybe cherries or strawberries. I love to paint crystal and glass and have worked with two of the best out there in workshops..Joyce Faulknor and Paul Jackson. Joyce paints dark to light and Paul paints light to dark and they are both fabulous painters. I'm always anxious to get on with the next painting so I'm calling "Sugarbowl Surprise" finished.

Glass Reflections

Here is my finished painting from Paul Jackson's workshop. I'm very pleased with the perfume bottle and all the colors. I do think I need to go back in and tweak the orange bottle a bit more, but I'll live with it a few days and see then. We used so much water for the glazing and I was scared to make my paint so watery, but obviously that's what lets the light shine through all the layers. I'm so used to painting dark to light that this was a real challenge. However, now I think I'll try more light to dark as my method. We'll see. The worst thing now is that I'll have to go out and buy some glass for some setups. I've always had a whole lot of crystal and china, but no colorful glass. But, I think I'm hooked and really like the idea of broadening my subjects that I particularily like to paint. We'll have Paul back down here in August for the opening of the Downtown Tyler Arts Gallery and I'll certainly look forward to seeing him and Marla, his pretty wife. They were so gracious and so much fun. The workshop itself was a blast. We had 3 ladies to come down from Dallas and they were all excellent artists. They came out to our house after the first session to photograph my chickens and I know that he got a whole bunch. Now, we'll see if he works them into any of his masterpieces.

Watercolor Workshop

This weekend I will have the great joy of attending a watercolor workshop with a fabulous artist, Paul Jackson. My main passion seems to be painting crystal and glass and Paul is a master with the glass and reflections. Was able to go through his book and check out his earlier glass paintings and loved them. His lights and shadows are wonderful and I am going to turn into a giant sponge and soak up everything he throws out. The workshop is being held in our little Noonday community so he will get a dose of East Texas country while he is in our Tyler area. We have some ladies coming down from Dallas and Louisiana and it is a marvelous opportunity to learn when these really accomplished artists do workshops right in your own back yard! Will post my results (if they're good enough) early in the week.

Cheeries aLa Pink Limoge

This painting of cheeries and china is one of 4 that I have drawn off. My original idea was to teach myself how to paint the gold trim on the china, but I have really benefited from the glazing of the cheeries. Started off way to timidly with my reds and had to go back in and reglaze them many times. However, I did get depth and I couldn't seem to get it with just one pass. Good learning curve for me. I think I enjoyed painting the china the most. May go back in and tweak the left hand top and side a bit more, but it's my practice to live with a painting for several days before I call it done. I am going to change the colors slightly on several of the other drawings and will probably redraw this on a half sheet size. We'll see just ambitious I can get with a larger piece.

Photo Session

Like I told myself earlier...I'm going to do better with posting to my blog!! This morning I took at least 15 pieces of crystal and different table cloths and other materials down to the studio to do setups in the East window. Wouldn't you know that the sun was not right! So, I'm getting everything ready for tomorrow morning. Have some really good ideas for crystal and glass with strawberries, or cheeries, or blueberries, or blackberries and the combinations of all of them. I'm trying to come up with some closeup pictures that would be suitable for some of the exhibition competitions I'd like to enter later this summer and, for sure, in the fall. Paul Jackson is coming here to Noonday to do a workshop on glass and reflections later on this month, and I'm going to be ready to take it all in like a sponge. Really excited about him as a teacher...he is sooooo accomplished!!!

Niko Blues

Seems like too many things are getting in the way of posting right now, but I am painting and working in my flowerbeds. The hydrangeas have never been prettier or more lush than they are this season. I have everything from pale pink, pale lavender, purple, hot pink, white and of course, my favs, Niko blues. The Nikos change colors with each passing day and I can see pinks, lavenders, pale greens all in the same flower head. They are a real joy to paint and there's really no doing them wrong as they are so versatile. Am working on some large drawings for possible exhibition pieces right now so I do keep myself busy. But, I'm going to be more deligent at my blog...starting right now.