March 13, 2012

Sketching

I try and spend time sketching whenever possible.  The act of drawing forces up to really pay attention to proportions as we try and get the relationships correct, especially when working with faces. 

March 6, 2012

Painting in the studio with a broken ankle

Well... this is what it looks like when I paint these days!  The ankle is healing and I'm finding creative ways to move and work in my studio.  Thank goodness it wasn't a broken wrist!!!

February 29, 2012

Teaching update

Hey everyone,
Yesterday I broke my ankle (it involved an incredibly graceful move going down the stairs to the studio...)  and will go in for surgery today.  I'm not exactly sure what this means for my classes in the next couple of weeks.  For today 2/29 my good friend Rhonda will substitute for me in the youth classes.  Check back here for updates.
XOXO
Michelle

February 21, 2012

Tweaking

I'm in the last stages of this painting, tweaking the values, cleaning uup details, removing the center fold onthe table cloth... It's all the final touches that bring it all together.

February 12, 2012

Roses

A little drawing practice inspired by Valentines...

February 7, 2012

Strange and wonderful

When dismantling a dish with spring bulbs I had forced, I noticed the roots of the bulb had threaded themselves through individual beads in the bead mix I placed in the dish for the bulbs to sit on.  Amazing!

February 5, 2012

Good News

This painting was selected to show in the Greenhouse Gallery Salon International in San Antonio Texas in April.  I'm very pleased!

February 3, 2012

On the easel

This is a challenging piece, but quite fun to work with all of the patterns and detail.  In a previous post I talked about the use of rounded forms in creating the illusion of depth and space.  Playing with the space between the objects becomes as important as the objects themselves, working with light and shadow and temperature.  There is still a long way to go before it's finished but I will enjoy the process tremendously.

January 31, 2012

Great Art Documentaries

I just stumbled across a series on BBC called Private Life of  a Masterpiece.  A wonderful series in which a particular famous work of art is showcased and it's history is told.  Very enjoyable!

January 29, 2012

Progress


I hope to finish these two in the next couple of days.  Especially the second painting.  Time to move on to new projects!

January 26, 2012

Rounded forms in still life

 A thought occurred to me as I was painting the other day that rounded forms in a still life create the greatest opportunity for the illusion of depth on a 2D surface.  The photos were taken in various museums, I apologize for not having names for the first two paintings but the last was painted by Chardin. 
In this detail of a floral the roses are very important in establishing the illusion of 3 dimensions.

January 22, 2012

Inspiration

I picked up some new fabric to use as backgrounds for my still life set ups.  There are some gorgeous prints out there! 

January 20, 2012

The problem with melting snow

What happens to 14" of snow when the temperature suddenly rises above freezing and it starts to rain?  Lots of WATER.  I was working away in my studio when the sounds of splashing water begins to interfere with my concentration.  "What the heck is that?!"  Outside the window I can see water streaming down from the eaves of the house into the window well of the daylight basement. YIKES!!!  The gutters are plugged with ice.  So what's a girl to do?  Hubby is somewhere in Boston, so that handyman is not available, and since my 20 year old son is not the outdoorsy type, we both must tackle this one together.  Using a ladder, hand trowel, some heavy duty tin foil, twisty ties and an aluminum venting pipe we are able to clear most of the ice out of the downspouts and divert the running water away from the house.  Thus avoiding (hopefully) a flooded basement.  All in a days work.

January 19, 2012

Lots of time in the studio

Recently I made the decision to cut back on teaching and spend more time in the studio.  So far it's going very well.  The goal is a minimum of 30 hours of painting a week.  In addition there will be about 5 hours a week marketing etc.  I'll still put in a full day teaching but that is a good thing, it gets me out of the house and among other human beings.

January 17, 2012

Arts Umbrella classes cancelled

Well... as you can see, it's still snowing.  So no classes tomorrow. 

and MORE PAINTING!!!

It's funny but the more I paint the more ideas I get and the easier it gets... 

January 16, 2012

good day for painting

It was a perfect day for painting!  Cold and quiet outside, warm and comfortable inside.

The painting in progress is a still life of the bouquet of roses my hubby gave me yesterday.  I was having one of those days...  He sure knows how to cheer a girl up!  They really brightened my day and inspired a new painting.


January 14, 2012

photos from the studio

Here's some things you might see in my studio today if you came for a visit:

Still life objects

A set up for a painting

and a look out the window...

It's SNOWING!

January 11, 2012

On the easel


 These paintings are in progress (almost finished).  The first two will be submitted for juried salons. The last one is undecided, I'm happy with parts of it but as a whole not quite as thrilled.  We'll see.

Life is very good right now.  I've cut back to one day of teaching and spend the rest of the work week in the studio painting.  It's such a pleasure to finally commit to a full time schedule in the studio.  I have to do it in 4  10's but that works well for me.

January 7, 2012

The week in Boston

January 2 through the 6th I was able to tag along on my hubby's business trip to Boston.  What a lovely town.  Lots of historical buildings and the Museum of Fine Arts is stunning.

The Della Robia's were absolutely GORGEOUS!

A wonderful surprise was the public library which had some amazing murals and an entire room for the fine arts.

Can't wait to go back for more exploring.