Category Archives: Uncategorized

to be used as the category for all blog posts — the category name should not appear on portfolio index. . .

Keeping a Gouache Painting Simple

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In developing some PR for the just-ended Labor Day exhibits, I pulled out a photo of one of my earliest gouaches. Made on black paper at the suggestion of Yellow Barn teacher, Walt Bartman, I incorporated the paper’s rich black for the composition’s dark values — also his suggestion. I loved the outcome. Here it is.

Blue Girl, gouache on paper.

When I did the painting of grandson Max for yesterday’s post, I had intended to do the same thing, but wimped out in the end — not wanting a lot of black on a sweet baby’s face. I’m going to try again on my next gouache, but the restraint needed to achieve the simplicity of black shadows, etc. is hard hard hard.

Gouache of Grandboy

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I’ve been pondering making a series of gouaches about my family. As the ‘About’ section suggests, there is LOTS of material. My husband and I will head to California soon to help celebrate our grandson’s first birthday. So I decided to make Family No. 1 a study of Max on his original ‘birth day’.

Family No. 1 (Max, Day 1). Gouache on paper.

Another Reason to Use iPad or iPhone Art Apps

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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.

Living Room Tour via iPad

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When I first got an iPad, I’d sit around the living room every night doodling whatever came into mind or view. After awhile, it occurred to me that I’d developed a prosaic tour of our living room from my sofa vantage, with hubby reading nearby, and a parade of accidental still lifes marching across the coffee table at my feet. None of these efforts is great art, but it was a fun way to gradually hone skills in this new medium.

Welcome to my living room!

Not to Distract You from the Weekend Shows . . . but It’s Time to Plan an Art Adventure for Fall!

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With art buddy, Eneida Somarriba, I’m going to teach a 10 week class on making art on the iPad — at the Yellow Barn Studio, Glen Echo, MD, 4 to 6:30 pm on Thursdays, starting September 20, 2012.

If you haven’t tried this fun and revelatory form of finger-painting, you’ve got to do it! David Hockney, a modern master, has focused on the iPad for several years, exhibiting his digital pictures at UK’s Royal Academy and elsewhere.

Arrival of Spring in Worldgate 1, a Hockney iPad Image from Royal Academy Show

After declining a request to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, he changed his mind on the occasion of her recent Jubilee, presenting her an iPad picture of her aboard the Royal Barge during the festive event.

Jubilee Pageant on the Thames: The End of the Regatta

So, whether you want to make colorful stick figures, high art, or anything in between, don’t miss this opportunity to learn iPad art in a structured environment.

In tomorrow’s post I’ll give you a virtual tour of my living room, painted over a couple of weeks as I worked nightly on what I could see from the vantage of my sofa.

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

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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!

. . . and the Second Exhibit is also in Glen Echo Park — at the Yellow Barn

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This one is the Yellow Barn‘s 2nd Annual Drawing Exhibition, which runs contemporaneously with the Glen Echo Park show in the Spanish Ballroom (12 pm to 5 pm Saturday, Sunday, Monday). We will have a reception at the Yellow Barn at 5 pm Labor Day evening, with beverages and munchies — so come join us!

I had two drawings in last year’s show. Unless I get busy today or tomorrow, I’ll only have one drawing on display this time — based on my Make Piece days/photos. Toddler Trishtan (Ms Naomi’s grandson) often accompanied his mom when she was helping out in Ms Naomi’s excellent food service. In his early months, he was usually asleep in his stroller, so, with his mom and grandmother’s ok, I was able to soak up his beauty, peace and lovely smile (on his face during every waking moment).

Trish at sleep

Trishtan – asleep on the job. Pencil on paper.

I’ve Got Three Exhibits over the Labor Day Weekend

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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.

Black Caves, Serene Orchids, and a Cuban Gaudi-Wannabe

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Here’s a blitz through of some other interesting things between Vinales and our downtown Havana Hotel (the Parque Centrale):

— trekking and boating through tunnels underneath the magotes . . .

black cave surrounding small opening with blue sky & magote in distance

View from cave mouth toward a nearby magote.

— lovely orchids and landscapes at an orchid conservatory:

white and lavender orchids

Lovely orchids, not rare, as far as I know.

— and a riot of colorful mosaics, inspired by the Spanish artist Antoni Gaudi, and created by and under the supervision of Jose Fuster (often described as ‘the Picasso of the Caribbean’).

many statues and structures covered with colorful mosaics

Looking down into Fuster’s front yard.

If you want to see more of Fuster’s fanciful creations (now a cottage industry, as they bring so many tourists to his neighborhood), click here.

I made only one painting while sightseeing our way to central Havana. My knees couldn’t take the climb to the top of the orchid preserve, so I sat at the entrance and made this little watercolor of a rusting red wheelbarrow overhung by bright orange flowers.

Red wheelbarrow ‘color-coordinates’ with nearby hanging flowers.

Interesting Things on the Way to Havana . . . Hemingway and More!

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We saw some memorable things on the day we traveled from Vinales to our Havana hotel — especially Hemingway‘s house with its lovely view of Havana. We weren’t able to go inside and had to content ourselves with ogling through the open windows – but there was still plenty to see.

living room with couch, chairs and stuffed animal heads

Comfortable living room with mounted trophies . We all agreed that, unlike celebrity homes we often read about, we could see ourselves living in this room.

simple desk and chair, book shelves, mementos

His simple desk and chair, surrounded by books and mementos.

a bathroom with commode, bookshelf and curiosity shelf

A stash of books by his john — and note that pickled something or other on the shelf!

a closet filled with shoes, boots and hats and his Spanish Civil War uniform

His Spanish Civil War uniform, boots, shoes and hats, all as he left them the day he was exiled from Cuba.

Another desk and more of his thousands of books.

The next post will show a few more highlights from our drive to central Havana.