Friends who care enough to tell me the truth have suggested I be a bit more bold about the fact that I have original oil paintings for sale at ridiculously low prices. Okay. Here goes. Try not to be disgusted by my crass commercialism.
The Crowley Cabin, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50, SOLD
Whenever I find myself with a little waiting time, spare time, car time, or am procrastinating, I usually knit. Makes sense that an artist who loves to knit would also paint yarn, yes?
Loves Cotton, Loves to Knit, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $100
Yesterday’s blog post told a secret – that I gave an oil painting workshop without publicizing it first, and why I didn’t publicize it.
Today, I will reveal why I believe that workshop was a success. No, I will reveal the reasons that I believe it was a success, not why I believe . . . never mind. Here is the list.
1. All of my students know how to draw – they understand proportion, are confident about putting shapes on paper (now on canvas), understand values (darks and lights), understand about hard and soft edges.
2. All of them understand what I mean when I make up words to explain things – “smoosh that part” or “verticalize those marks”.
3. They are very kind about my inexperience as an oil painter/oil painting teacher and very understanding when I explain that all I know to teach is what I know.
4. They don’t mind when I say “I don’t know – let’s try it both ways and see which turns out better”.
5. They stayed to help me clean up.
6. They brought things – old tablecloths, drop cloths for the floor, soup, brownies, great attitudes!
I just love my drawing students. I’d hang out with any one of them and be thankful for the time together, I respect them and their willingness to learn and try, I understand their frustrations, and I am proud of them!
I gave them each a jar of pomegranate jelly at the end of the workshop. 😎 Gosh. I feel warm and fuzzy.
Oh Great. Now she is speaking Computer. Isn’t it enough that we have to endure occasional Artspeak without this too?
What is “beta version”? I looked it up and found the best definition on Michael Hyatt’s blog:
” The premise is this: ‘we know it’s not perfect, but it’s far enough along that we need your input to get it right.'”
Based on this idea, I gave an oil painting workshop for a handful of my drawing students. They know me and my teaching methods and limitations, I know them and their skills and their kindness and encouragement. I didn’t publicize the thing because I didn’t want to expose my ignorance to strangers who were expecting a highly experienced painter and workshop leader.
We painted from photos. I provided 5 versions of a pomegranate and lots of leeway for interpretation of background, cropping, compositional variation, and whatever made the participant happy and comfortable with the project. It is okay to paint from photos. That’s what studio artists do. (We had real pomegranates available to look at, feel, examine and make us believe we weren’t “cheating”.)
We had a great time! Here is the results of the workshop (minus Nicholas’s work because he had to leave early).
Tomorrow I will tell why I think it was a success for everyone!
Trail Guy is not a peculiar sight in Mineral King. He is puzzling over a peculiar sight in this photo.
Words fail me.
The Most Beautiful Fruit Bowl I’ve Ever Seen is completed. It is signed, it is carefully wrapped up and sealed in a box, and I delivered it to an undisclosed location in Exeter. Someone will have an a-may-zing Christmas present. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that!
P.S. This might be one of the most challenging paintings I’ve done. On the other hand, it was very very fun. Now I’m done talking about it.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! It was a commission. I didn’t tell you while I was painting. That is a commission omission.
Why is “commission” spelled with two m’s and “omission” with one?
Somebody shut me up, please!
Dear Blog Reader,
Why in the olden days were readers referred to as “gentle”? Did it have something to do with the word “gentlemen”?
Why am I writing about the calendars again?
Glad you asked – great question! (This is what all interviewees say when asked any question – have you noticed, or is it just me who picks up on these repetitious speech patterns?) The answers to your question are as follows:
1. I ordered more calendars.
2. The Buy Now Button works. It looks weird and off center, but it works if you have a Paypal account.
3. If you sent me a check, let me know. I’ll mail your calendar(s) to you now, even if the check (or if I) hasn’t (haven’t) made it to the Three Rivers Post Office yet.
That was a weird sentence.
Here is the front cover of the calendar, because every blog post needs a picture.
Here is the link to the post that shows all the months: 2013 Calendar
Here is the Buy Now Button to order your calendar:
And here is your appreciation from me for getting to the end of this post:
You earned it, oh Gentle Reader.
Last week I wrote about studio artists in this blog post.
Working from photos isn’t the only choice for a studio artist. Sometimes they set up still life things (Still lifes? Still lives? “Things” works for me.) Sometimes they work from sketches they made outside. Sometimes they paint people who sit still and try not to fidget. Sometimes they finish paintings they began outside.
Sometimes they just make stuff up.
If I tried to paint this scene while sitting here, I might get hit by a car.
I’d fall off the bank if I was standing at my easel here and a car came by. There is no shoulder on this road right here.
Painting from photos is often considered “cheating”, not “real art”, and cheesy by many in the ArtWorld.
Ask me if I care. . . never been very affected by others’ opinions. (“Do you care?” – “Why do you ask?”)
Am I a fake artist? A cheater?
Nope. Don’t think so. Hate that snobbery, so there.
But, I know I could learn if I tried those other things. If I get bored with my current style of painting, or when someone comes along and says “Hey, want to learn how to paint differently? I’ll show you!” and I can fit it into my life, I might say yes. Until then?
I’ll just keep working from my photos.
If I stood on the bridge to paint this scene, I’d flinch and grit my teeth every time a car drove over the seam on the bridge because it makes a loud rattle.
I’m glad we had this little chat. Thanks for listening. Always nice to visit with you all!
It only rained a little bit, off and on, no umbrellas required. The rain didn’t deter Linda, Maggie, Beth, Gail, Ron, Judy, Jeannie, Bonnie, Sara, Gary, Vanessa, Tom, Becky, Sonya or Rachelle!
(I was just practicing my memory skills.)
I saw this on my way over to the studio this morning. A grey day really shows off the yellow leaves (and the orange cone in the distance!)
Art, flowers, cookies, music – people enjoyed visiting my studio (or maybe they were just being polite).
Guest/friend/customer Judy thought the remaining leaves on the flowering pear tree would be a good subject for photography. She was right – thank you, Judy!
Yup. We had cheese and crackers and apple and dark chocolate for Thanksgiving dinner. This was our view:
Is there snow in Mineral King?
Some in the shade and on the north facing slopes.
P.S. Michael smoked a turkey the next day. We had leftovers of almost all the good stuff except pumpkin pie. Feel free to send some over if you are tired of yours.