Category Archives: My Art

Brushes with Nature ~~ a New Exhibit at Kentlands Mansion!

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The City of Gaithersburg annually invites artists to compete for the opportunity to exhibit in its various art venues.  Several of my art friends and I (aka ‘The 7 Palettes’) are delighted to have been selected to display 50 of our new works at the premier Kentlands Mansion, scene of weddings and other major events.  The exhibit will run almost three full months — from  June 17th through September 5.  Please bring friends and families to see our art and join us at a wine and cheese reception on Tuesday evening, June 21 from 7:00 to 8:30.
Announcement

Getting Bolder with Flowers

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I made this flower study during a recent workshop with Duane Keiser.  He plopped the vase down on the table one hour before the session was to end and suggested we paint quickly!  I was slinging and slapping that paint around like mad.  I completed it in the allotted hour.  Actually, it’s more accurate to say I ‘stopped’ at the end of the hour!  Duane encouraged me to go for the bright blue background — which the composition had in ‘real life’.  I was about to tone it down to something insipid.  I’m glad I followed his advice!

Red Roses & Frilly Purple Things

Red Roses & Frilly Purple Things

Portrait commission — grand-nephew Les

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Here is a portrait of my grand-nephew Les, younger brother of Ceci, whose portrait was featured in a prior post.  You’ll see that he, like Ceci, was captured with bright sunlight flooding over his head and spilling down onto his eyebrows, nose and cheeks.  These are unusual poses, but were great fun to paint.  Sweet sweet children.  In the meantime, another baby brother has joined the family.  Once he gets a bit older, his portrait will be painted as well.

Les Duhon

Les.  Oil on Linen.

 

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A painting in progress . . .

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While I was thinking ‘figurative’ and ‘photo’ for Emily’s painting, I decided to take a stab at a water fountain/statue in the courtyard at Sibley Physicians Building.  I take pix of him every time I have an appointment there.

I love the angular chunks of the composition and was debating long and hard whether to add more detail after I did my first fast rough-in.  Mistake!  I wish I’d left it as is.  One of these days I’ll scrub some paint over it lightly and try to return it to a more primitive state.  It’s way too detailed and dark for my taste at the moment. A86E8D9B-69D4-4DA7-BFFC-D7B04C5406B5

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Two new models — simultaneously

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You may recognize these two gentlemen from an earlier post.  I was delighted that Danni recruited them to model.  They were positioned so I could see each by glancing to the right or the left.  Not knowing if I’d have a chance to paint them again, I decided to do both, if possible.  I set up two canvases side by side and got to work.  At some point I had to pick one to bring to greater finish — the bearded soldier.

confed soldier Torpedo Indian

Now paint some striped fabric!

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Danni upped the anty with her next assignment:  paint striped fabric so that the stripes drape properly with the twists and folds of the material, with shadows etc.

I didn’t want to be boring with two simple pieces of material.  So I composed a still life with a red and white striped towel, topped by a bottle of red wine, standing next to a bottle of sparkling water, atop a green and white striped towel.  I thought of it as a ‘Face Off’.

2 bottles

Danni focuses us on portrait nitty-gritty: fabric

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If you’re going to paint a portrait, you need to know how to paint clothes and drapes.

Hence the homework assignment to paint two pieces of fabric so that a viewer would know that they differ in weight and texture.  I didn’t have to look far for subjects:  a blue denim apron friends had brought back from Sennelier in Paris and a red satin shopping bag made by a daughter-in-law.  I draped them over a corner of my easel and set to work.  Voila.

apron 2015-01-19 13.49