H2O+Color = My Paintings

Painting of Harold

2009-02-14T08:54:00.003-05:00

Here is the painting I did of my late father-in-law, Harold. This is from a photo taken prior to his illness, so the memories are good during this time with him. I'm including one of the reference photos I used.

One or Two Posts per Year - That's Pitiful Performance!

2009-02-14T08:33:00.006-05:00

I've been painting a lot lately, getting ready for "Red Earth" art show in Oklahoma City, completing a number of commissions, and painting a portrait of my late father-in-law to give to my husband as a Valentine's gift. We'll start with a couple of commissions, followed by a few of the paintings I'm preparing for Red Earth. The three pugs, Charlie, Cinnamon and Ziggy are done in scratchwork on Claybord Black. I've added watercolor to these. The mother and daughter are traditional watercolor on paper. The three indians are from photographs I took at the Red Earth Indian Exposition a few years ago. These are watercolor on textured claybord.

Portraits and Just Plain Fun Paintings

2008-04-19T17:08:00.004-04:00

I'm not saying that portraits aren't fun, but there is always that pressure of getting the likeness and pleasing the person you are painting it for! Here are a couple of children portraits I just finished, followed by another Indian Portrait Painting (By the way, I was accepted into the Red Earth Art Show coming up this June in Oklahoma City.) Then the last two paintings are ones I did "just for fun."

Recent Accomplishments

2008-03-07T21:51:00.003-05:00

I've been working on a couple of paintings the last couple of weeks. A portrait of two children and another portrait of two dogs. After finishing both, I completed a very quick watercolor of a couple of calla lilies.

I was told the children were at the photographer and the little brother started bugging his big sister, which got them both giggling.

Here they are for your viewing and, perhaps comments.

Been Absent Almost a Year!

2008-02-21T12:10:00.002-05:00

So, you might have been wondering where I've been - or perhaps not! Well, we have moved, after living in the same house for 32 years! This move gave me a dedicated location for my Art Studio and Gallery, so that is definitely a big plus for me. Although I haven't been on my blog since the move, I haven't neglected my art, either! I have expanded on the technique I tried on my last post. I spent part of the time while I've not been blogging, doing research to obtain my Indian Tribal certification. That involves locating your Indian ancestors on a tribal role and establishing your direct "blood" tie via birth certificates. We, here in Oklahoma have a wonderful Native American gathering each summer - Red Earth. Part of that celebration involves an art show and competition. Now, I will attempt to be accepted into that show. As we artists all know, art is certainly a matter of personal taste. Since this show is a juried show. It remains to be seem whether or not my entries find favor with the jury.

Here are some of the paintings I plan on entering. I will enter in two categories - painting and mixed-media drawing. This last category will cover my claybord scratchworks to which I add watercolor.

Something Different

2007-03-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

I tried something a little different this week, using textured claybord. I started by sanding off a bit of the texture. Then I mixed burnt sienna and burnt umber Dr. Martin hydrous watercolor and layed down a fairly dark wash over the entire surface. I made a sketch of one of the photos I took at the zoo a couple of weeks ago. I had taken some nice photos of the river otters and noticed the colors were basically all in shades of brown. I used various methods to start removing parts of the paint. I've posted the reference photo as well as the painting.

Digging Through the Past

2007-02-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine wanted a couple of Valentine-theme paintings. I started looking through old photos. I found some really cute photos of her dogs when they were puppies that I worked into Valentine paintings for her. While I was looking through the old photos, I found one of her two sons when one was five and one was two. It was the two-year-old's birthday and his Aunt had given him a bike. It was really too big for him, but it WAS his. The older brother could hardly contain himself. He really wanted on that pretty new bike! I decided that would make a cute painting. So here it is. I call it "The New Bike."

My Version

2007-02-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

Here is my watercolor version of the photo from my last post. It is on a surface I haven't really used much before - claybord smooth - masonite with smooth kaolin clay, no texture or india ink added to scratch off. The watercolor definitely moves around on the board as you are working, so I basically did a wash of various browns on the deer, let that dry, and then scratched some of that off. I alternated between adding and scratching off color. I basically did the same thing on the background, but didn't do nearly as much scratch off. I only scratched off where I needed light on dark. Interesting to work with and I'll probably try something else on it in the future.

We're Back from Colorado

2007-02-13T08:21:00.000-05:00

We just got back from a short trip to Colorado........the Vail area, where there wasn't as much snow as I expected. There was plenty of snow up on the ski slopes, but the valley areas were patchy. While out driving, I did manage to take a few photos that might turn into paintings, or backgrounds for paintings in the future. We saw a small heard of deer next to the highway and here is one of the photos I took.

Well, that was different!

2007-02-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

I just finished creating this little blog, but finally gave up on adding my photo to the upper corner! Artistic people shouldn't be expected to be analytical as well. Having said that, I am sure I will eventually figure out how to get that done. I will start by sharing one of my most ambitious projects. This is a claybord scratchwork with watercolor color added. I do this in layers, scratching and adding color as I go. The subject of this is Eddy Z. Two-Clouds who led in the grand entrance at the Red Earth Celebration in Oklahoma City. I will be posting my various art, as it is finished, and hope someone out there will enjoy my efforts. I might even throw in a photo or two, occasionally, since photography is another of my hobbies.