One of my many goals for the new year, drawing or painting or doing some type of art every day is at the top of my list. This is a sketch from this evening of a small iron bird that I found in Fredericksburg this weekend. No. 2 pencil on white paper.
The second item on my goal list is to ask “will this matter in an hour… or next week?”, before I react to something in a negative way. There is so much to learn in life, and to instill as part of our character. I want to learn to value what is truly important and to be grateful. Period.
Art Cards
I have several paintings I’m working on, but this week is mainly devoted to getting my art, cards, prints, display and prices together for the Travis Heights Art Trail. The forecast says rain, but I’m setting up my display frame and tent with the sides, so come visit, whatever the weather!! I will be at 1410 Travis Heights Blvd, Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 5pm.
Cards are on sale for $2.00 or 5 for $9, and because it’s my last sale of the year (plus I’m cleaning out my studio), many paintings and prints will be at extreme sale prices too!!
On Saturday, November 19, 2011, I’ll will be giving a demonstration on painting skies and clouds at the Texas Pastel Society. The meeting will start at 10-12 noon at the Tobin Library, 4134 Harry Wurzbach, in San Antonio.
My source photo for this demo came from Jo Castillo – a wonderful sky to paint! Thank you, Jo!
It’s always a quandary on whether to show a work in progress, because pastel paintings – mine, anyway – take a while to become what I hope they will be. And sometimes, they never get to that point. But maybe this will show another artist one of the wonderful things about pastels – you can often recapture a special part of the painting you’ve lost, or salvage mistakes, and you can work toward your final vision… without always knowing what each mark will do. It’s taking a chance. I’m still working on this, and it may turn out not so good. We shall see…
My good friend Jo Castillo and her husband lost their home this week in the fire that destroyed (as of today) 1,386 homes in Bastrop, Texas and 34,000 acres. Jo and I started out in pastels together many years ago and still paint together as often as we can. Bastrop is a beautiful area east of Austin, and known for it’s majestic loblolly pines.
Jo has asked, for those who would like to help:
“The best thing you can do for me is to help the places in Bastrop that are offering support to the displaced families. The Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance is coordinating donations at Rundell Business Park at 704 Hwy 71 West (11 a.m. to 8 p.m.) Please call 512.332.8661 for more information. Checks and Money Orders to Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance PO Box 856 Bastrop TX 78602 The Alliance is the central clearing house for help to the shelters and people needing clothes and help.”
My neighborhood collected donations over the past few days and my husband delivered them today. They say they have enough clothes at this time. He said there was a long line of people picking up items on one side and another line of people dropping off items on the other side. Just the way it should be.
This video was taken in Bastrop and shows the fire moving in real time:
We haven’t had rain since early June, so until we get some, we’re keeping our bags packed.
My friend Sherry Fields and I are having a show entitled “Our Austin” during the month of September at Amplify Credit Union at 6th and Congress, downtown Austin. We chose five images and each created a painting from those photos. This one is from a photo I took during a visit to Sherry’s beautiful home and gardens. I was kind of tired of painting trees, trees, trees, so pushed this a little toward a fantasy path to blue skies beyond.
Painted on Ampersand pastelbord. I start by completing the basic drawing with pastel pencils then block in the large shapes with hard pastels (like Nupastels). Then I do the underpainting by blending these into the surface of the board with alcohol and an old brush. The underpainting can be complementary colors or the color you intend for the final shape. Let that dry for ten to twenty minutes and start layering softer pastels (Rembrandt, Terry Ludwig, Unison, etc.) over the underpainting.(see here for soft pastel brands:Squidoo Pastel page
And what I love about pastels – layer lightly until you like your work. It’s a wonderful and very forgiving medium. When I’m done and several times throughout the painting process, I take the piece outside and rap sharply on the back several times to remove the excess pastel. Don’t blow on the pastel, because you’ll be breathing the dust for quite a while.
Art Cards
