Tag Archives: en plein air

Teaching and Being Taught in Lafayette

Last week I taught a one day iPad art workshop to a number of local artists in Lafayette LA and then attended a three-day workshop in watercolor journaling held by Don Getz and organized by my sister Ceci. Another sister, Mercedes, participated in much of the fun, including the iPad session. Since I was so close to home, Ceci and I swung over to Biloxi afterward to visit our dad and his wife and more brothers and sisters.

As for making art while out-of-town, I didn’t paint while teaching. And it was so cold and windy during the plein air workshop that I didn’t do anything of note then either. In fact, after a couple of watercolor/ink drawings, I resorted to my iPad to get something — anything — down before my hands went numb. Though everything is unfinished, I’ll show you the state of play (along with a few photos of what we were memorializing) so you can get a flavor for the beauty of Cajun country. Teaser: we painted the St. John Cathedral Oak, the third largest live oak in the country.

Latest Landscape Paintings

Some dear art buddies and I attended a landscape workshop at Deep Creek Lake last weekend, taught by Walt Bartman and managed by his wonderful wife Robyn. The entire group produced some lovely paintings and starts on paintings of the spectacular Fall foliage.

Here are a few of our works:

Another Reason to Use iPad or iPhone Art Apps

I love to use art apps to record color sketches quickly, whether sitting by a lovely scene or whipping by in the passenger seat of a car. Photos just don’t ‘cut it’ for this type of use. The camera does not capture colors accurately — at least without time-consuming gyrations. Hauling out paints and nailing the right color note on the fly is also improbable.

With an art app, all you have to do is select the right color from a comprehensive array at your fingertips. Here are several palettes from which I can dial the desired color, swipe it on the screen, and adjust intensity/opacity as desired. The slideshow also includes a few color notations made to capture relative colors, instead of a specific scene.

The Third Exhibit is Kensington’s ‘Paint the Town’, with Montgomery Art Association

The Kensington Armory/Town Hall is the site of my third show over Labor Day weekend. The hours are noon to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, and 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on Labor Day. There will be a public reception Saturday evening from 6:00-7:30 pm.

For this exhibit, I plan to hang four framed paintings and show 10-12 matted originals and possibly prints of recent iPad images in a nearby rack. The slide show below gives a sense of these works — but they look much better ‘in person’. Come see them!

I’ve Got Three Exhibits over the Labor Day Weekend

First up will be the 42nd Annual Labor Day Art Show at Glen Echo Park, to be held in the historic Spanish Ballroom from September 1 through September 3. The exhibition and sale includes a wide range of media, such as sculpture, painting and drawing, ceramics, glass, jewelry, and photography. It is open daily from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. There is also a public reception on Friday, August 31, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free.

Here are the two pieces I’ll be showing.

Atop the Arcade

Atop the Arcade on a crisp October day. oil on canvas.

Long afternoons of modeling can make a girl sleepy.

Dreaming in red and orange. Gouache on paper.

Vinales Finale ~~ on to Havana!

We had beautiful days in Vinales, sunrise to sunset. I took lots of photos and, while waiting for evening activities, made a couple more paintings. A gouache of the valley below our balcony (the black paper didn’t photograph well):

a gouache painting of the Vinales Valley beneath our balcony

‘Gauzy’ gouache of the valley beneath our balcony.

and a watercolor of a lone palm tree presiding over the pool (painted happily with a Mojito at my elbow):

A painting of a solitary palm tree with mogote background, watercolor

A proud palm by the pool at Los Jazmines,Vinales.

Here are a few more photos in and around Los Jazmines Hotel, made primarily to fix the place and its beauties in my memories:

Early sunrise at Los Jazmines.

photo of the valley with a tobacco barn under construction

Tobacco barn underway in the valley.

looking down the length of the bar

The cozy cafe-bar in the hotel.

bartender behind bar pours coffee

We DID drink coffee in addition to plentiful Mojitos!

pink hotel and blue pool

Pink hotel and blue pool made a cool combo.

waiter and guests chat in the cool evening

A casual evening around the pool.

sunset, sky and part of the hotel balcony

We sigh and snap a photo of our last Vinales sunset.

painting on a wall near the hotel

We pass a ‘colorful’ mural en route to the morning bus.

Goodbye, Vinales! Goodbye, Los Jazmines! On to Havana!

A Second Stab at Capturing Our Worthy Cuban Model

Not happy with my first gouache effort of the day, I decided to try another – this time, a profile of the farmer’s head. He wasn’t sporting his cigar at the time I did my sketch, but then again, my sketch didn’t merit a cigar. After my piece, see a photo of the real deal.

The farmer's profile

My take on the farmer's profile

Our courtly farmer, in the flesh.

The farmer makes posing a bit more bearable by chewing a cigar.

Our model, with Cuban hat and cigar.

Cuba was a Trip!

With a cohort of fellow artists from the Yellow Barn and several family members (including my hubby), I just completed an extremely interesting and fruitful trip to Cuba. We planned to interact with Cuban artists; paint Cuban people, land and cityscapes; soak up the culture; and leave behind art supplies and other items that could be useful.

We began in Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba, exploring the Vinales Valley, with its mysterious mogotes, and other environs. Here is the spectacular view from our little balcony immediately upon arrival.

Red earth, green fields, and mysterious mogotes

Vinales Valley, with Mogotes in the Distance

And a photo of fellow artists, also soaking up the beauty.

All Enjoy the View

All Enjoy the Spectacular View

And an ipad sketch I immediately began (using ArtRage3).

iPad Sketch of Vinales Valley

iPad Sketch of Vinales Valley

Plein Air Competition Trains Us in Environmentally Clean Methods

A beautiful scene of Glen Echo Park on the day of the plein air competition

Potomac Patch's Photo of Yellow Barn's "Paint the Park Green" competition

This past weekend the Yellow Barn, situated on the lovely Glen Echo Park grounds, held a two-day plein air competition, featuring environmentally sensitive techniques for painting in oils, acrylics and watercolors. The setting was magical and the camaraderie was warm, as we fanned out around the park to develop our paintings for the Sunday evening competition.

plein air painting of arcade sign and courtyard

Oil painting of Glen Echo's Art Deco 'arcade' sign and courtyard

This is what I accomplished on Saturday. I was up on the second floor balcony looking down over the ‘arcade’ sign into the courtyard. A two-day Cajun and Zydeco music festival was also in full swing over the weekend, so I was at least able to boogie while making a dull painting!

Thank You, Walt Bartman ~~ My Most Recent Yellow Barn Teacher

Walt Bartman, excellent, indefatigable artist-teacher-mentor and director/founder of the Yellow Barn Studio, is my most recent teacher. I had to wait awhile to build up the courage to face his scrutiny! He’s been great, though. Too bad I waited so long!

Walt has been teaching and painting for more than thirty years. Educated at the University of Maryland and American University, he also studied art in Belgium and the Netherlands through a Fulbright Grant. I like this colorful barn scene by the man aptly termed ‘a breath of plein air’ by the New York Times.

Barnstormer

Barnstormer, oil, 24 x 36"

And here’s another by Walt.

Another Dimensio

Another Dimension, oil, 16x20"

And here’s a nude (from a live model) that I painted during a class of Walt’s.

painting of a nude during 2011 Bartman class with live model

Nude 2011, oil