Category Archives: Uncategorized

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

Comeuppance! Painting isn’t Predictable (at least for me) ~~

Leave a reply

After sharing some of my nicer pieces, I thought I’d bring myself back down to terra firma by sharing a stinker with you.

This was meant to be a cute little 6×6″ still life, like those the daily painter folk turn out so easily. I put a couple of beautiful tomatoes from our garden on the kitchen table and started with vigor.

Three scrape-off & re-do’s later, here’s what I had! Ta-da!!

Tomatoes x 3

Tomatoes x 3

Groan. I’m reminded of my last class with Glen Kessler, who reminded me that I’ve still got things to learn!

Exhibit Mechanics

Leave a reply

Since I’m so new to this exhibit process, I collected a few mementos from the Yellow Barn drawing exhibit last weekend:

the invitation (my drawing is the very last one in the bottom right corner);

Postcard Advertising the YB Drawing Exhibit

Postcard Advertising the YB Drawing Exhibit

a shot of the opening reception last Saturday night;

Everyone Enjoyed the Show & Goodies

Everyone Enjoyed the Show & Goodies

and a picture of my two drawings hung side by side — look, the sunlight is falling on MomMom. Beautiful.

Light Shines on MomMom

Light Shines on MomMom

Next show? Labor Day Weekend in Glen Echo Park‘s Spanish Ballroom. (At least I think so — they never responded to my application!!)

Exhibit #2: Drawings of “Mom Mom”

1 Reply

This past weekend two of my drawings were in the ‘First Annual Yellow Barn Drawing Exhibition’. Each member of the Yellow Barn was allowed to enter up to three drawings. No paintings allowed this time around.

With some trepidation over sensitivity and propriety, but with my husband’s blessing, I submitted two drawings I had made of his mother toward the end of her battle with cancer. I thought her patience and tranquility in the face of final illness were admirable and moving. We were blessed to host her in her last days.

Mom Mom knew I was making drawings of her, and occasionally peeked over at my progress before carefully resuming her position. She was satisfied with the results of our collaboration. I think she appreciated a record of her stoic suffering.

MomMom Resting, bic pen on paper

MomMom with Red Purse, bic pen on paper

More Thanks

Leave a reply

Glen Kessler is another Yellow Barn teacher from whom I’ve learned a lot. Trained as a classical figurative artist at New York Academy of Art, Glen has a profound knowledge of the human figure in art. Glen teaches at Maryland Institute College of Art, as well as Yellow Barn. He draws high praise for his patience and his ability to coax improvement from his students, no matter how experienced or inexperienced.

Here is one of Glen’s many wonderful pet portraits:

Guinness & Ripley

Guinness & Ripley, oil on canvas, 36x24"

I’ve already posted the first two paintings I did in Glen’s ‘Painting Through the Lens’ class (Even the Skies Cry for Jody and Chef Chaouen’s Red Sea). Here’s a detail from a figurative painting I did from a live model in another class with Glen:

the Jazz Singer

Detail, The Jazz Singer, acrylic and oil on paper

More Gratitude

Leave a reply

I’m learned much and received a lot of encouragement from several talented teachers at the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery, located at the Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, MD (right across the street from Bethesda). I’d like to introduce them over the next few postings, in chronological order.

Jordan Bruns is the current artist-in-residence, occupying the second and third floors of the Chatauqua Tower, as well as Yellow Barn manager. He paints and draws large scale quasi-architectural images that are abstract, yet grounded in familiar geometric shapes.

Here is one of his paintings:

Reveille, mixed media paint on panel, 36x48"

Reveille, mixed media paint on panel, 36x48"

And here’s the first one that I did in my first class with him:

Still Life with Apples

Apples, Jar, Pitcher and Plate

Experimenting with iPhone and iPad Art Apps

1 Reply

We got an iPad for Christmas and I’ve been having a lot of fun (after a fairly steep learning curve), roughing out realistic ‘drawings’ and abstract images. One of my Yellow Barn teachers said I was undercutting our art, while another (the chairman of the facility) suggested that I hold a workshop at ‘the barn’ on these digital media. A lot of the other students have been very curious about the process and the apps I’ve been using (primarily Art Rage and Sketchbook Pro).

Here are a couple of my works:

a realistic one — a still life on our kitchen table after 4 days without power in mid-winter

detritus of a 4 day power outage

What is it with PEPCO?? Inept co!

and an abstract one. Until this past year I’d never tried my hand at abstraction, not having a single clue as to how to approach the task. The iPad apps have let my mind wander and have helped me develop some ideas.

triangles and lines

triangles and lines

I’ve been busy and shy

Leave a reply

I’m still reluctant to put that toe in the water, but my recent classes at The Yellow Barn in Bethesda are encouraging me to put myself out there a bit more. I’m currently in my first ever exhibit — a student show in the Popcorn Gallery at Glen Echo Park.

Here is the first of my two pieces:

Jackie & Denim

One fine afternoon at MakePiece. Oil.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Leave a reply

No matter our level of talent, nothing much really gets done without practice. Over the last few months, I’ve been working at my oil painting — and the drawing skills that go with it — and I’m seeing real progress.

Rooftops of Chef Chaouen, Morocco

Chef Chaouen's 'Red Sea', oil on canvas, 16x20"

And I recently revived my long-standing interest in tai chi and started a new endeavor that’s gonna require a lot of work — belly dancing! I always thought it would be fun (as with tap dancing and the tango), but I never pictured myself really doing it.

 

Gratitude

Leave a reply

As I was reading the newspaper a few minutes ago, I realized there is yet another thing that I’d like to do more of this coming year: express my gratitude and appreciation.

I’ve always been fairly good about expressing gratitude in the moment and in person to someone who has done something special. But I have totally neglected the quick message to strangers who have moved me with their kindness or excellence. I suspect it’s been from fear of being pegged as a ‘fan’, writing ‘fan letters’.

I took a first plunge a month or so ago, emailing Ellen McCarthy, a writer at the Washington Post, to compliment her consistently beautiful and moving vignettes of a recent wedding. Her work is always carefully researched and lovingly recounted. Though I’ve never particularly read wedding announcements, one day I tried a story of hers and was charmed, both with the couple showcased, and with her writing. I was hooked.

So when I happened upon yet another great portrait last month, I jotted off a quick email to tell her of my appreciation. It felt good to do that and I was happy to hear back that my message had made her day. Thanks again, Ellen!