Heartland, 9052, 8x20 oil on panel

Karin Jurick is up to her tricks again on unsuspecting artists in her Different Strokes for Different Strokes blog challenge. This time we were to post our interpretation of this bucolic scene of the Pennsylvania countryside.
The trick is that the reference photo she posted for us was black and white. We had to come up with the colors ourselves. It's harder than you would think. As you can see, I cropped the image so that the center of interest (the farm) wasn't smack dab in the middle. I chose an 8x20 format to accentuate the panorama look.
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Color Quad, 9051, abstract quadtych

The inspiration for this abstract came from viewing the work of another artist by the name of Lois Foley, who is deceased. I saw three examples of her abstract work and was blown away by her use of color. Her style was much less structured than these pieces, but the color inspiration is what mainly impressed me.
The triptych I recently finished, Jigsaw, has some of the same compositional elements as Color Quad, but the muted tones and very limited palette of that painting seemed to set me up for this explosion of color.
I had so much fun painting these, I completed them all in one day - about a 10 hour painting marathon.
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And the rain, rain, rain

And the rain rain rain
Came down down down
In rushing rising rivlets,
And the river crept out of it's bed
And crept right in to Piglets.

That's the gist of a song from Winnie-the-Pooh. I could not get that song out of my head. Colorado averages 15 inches of precipitation per year and I think most of it fell this weekend on my art festival.
The good news: my tent did not leak.
The bad news: I paid extra for a corner booth, but the wind and rain was coming from the side on which I could have expanded my display, so had to button up the side most of the time.
Good news: Crowd size was pretty good in spite of the weather.
Bad news: Few had money to spend.
Good news: The hail missed us.
Bad news: I ate almost a whole bag of Twizzlers by myself.

Anyone who did not get juried into the Downtown Denver Arts Festival should count their blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jigsaw, 9050, abstract, mixed media triptych

I am SO excited about this triptych. It is just so cool. Each piece is cradled MDF board, 12x12inches and about 1.5 inches deep. I used several metallic elements including stainless steel, silver art paper, metallic acrylic paints, a variety of brads, tacks, nails and paper fasteners. Each piece has about 50 nails, tacks, etc. and many of them had to have a hole drilled in the board before I could attach them.

But the REALLY COOL thing about this painting is that each piece was finished with a layer of epoxy resin. I have never done that before. The resin hardens to a thick crystal clear layer that seals all the pieces and protects the shine of the metals.

Honestly, I was scared to death to pour the resin on top of my completed paintings because they were a LOT of work. If the resin didn't perform properly, I would have a mess and a waste of many hours of work. It turned out perfect.

The photos cannot capture the shine and sparkle of these pieces. I will have them at the Downtown Denver Arts Festival this weekend. For purchase information, please see my website SOLD.

Spring Newsletter 2

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Dollar a Pose

This Mexican cutie was posing for tourists and making big bucks. For purchase information, please see my website.

South Rim, abstract quadtych

I just learned that this quadtych of mine has been purchased by Kaiser Permanente for their new medical office building in Parker, CO. I used to work for Kaiser for many years and, when an employee, I was not eligible to have my art purchased by the company. Now that I am retired from Kaiser, I can finally have my work in their permanent collection.

Kaiser purchases original art to decorate the public areas of their buildings. If beautiful art can inspire and comfort patients, and perhaps take their mind off their troubles for a moment. it is well worth the expense.

This quadtych is an abstracted view of the Grand Canyon looking straight down at the Colorado River. The composition is heavily textured and flows from one painting to the next.
SOLD

Spring Eternal, tulip triptych

Spring is in the air and the tulips are putting on their annual dazzling display. The colors seem so brilliant, or is it just because after a long winter we are not used to seeing anything so colorful? This painting is on three gallery wrap canvases with the sides painted.
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Miller Time, 9049, twilight in the Big Apple

This is my version of another DSFDF challenge. Karin Jurick, our fearless leader, supplied the photo of bustling New York City. I thought I would change the time of day to early evening. The lights have come on and everything is bathed in a glow from the golden sky.
I've never painted a cityscape before. It was challenging and tedious. I COULD NOT STAND to do every little window, so the buildings are just a suggestion of what is in the photo. I would make a terrible architect. The main thing I wanted was the beautiful effect a glowing sky has on the scene.
For purchase information, please see my website. SOLD

Tapestry, 9047, mixed media abstract

This painting features several metal elements. Copper, gold and pewter embossing metals were used. There is extensive use of metallic acrylic paints and acrylic modeling compound for texture. Because of the reflective nature of the metal components, photographing this piece proved to be a problem. The colors are somewhere BETWEEN the front view and the side view. Both photos taken with identical lighting, just me moving a few feet to the side for the side view. You can see what a different look the painting has depending on the angle you're viewing it from. It's maddening. For purchase information, please click here for my website.

Get Organized

I've been trying to think of a good way to organize my oil paints. They were all in a large bin and I was constantly pawing through them and not finding what I was looking for. The other day, at Big Lots, I noticed this plastic 3 drawer unit for about $5. I bought it for organizing my oils.

I have different color groups in different drawers. Top is yellows, sienna, white; middle is oranges, reds, black, browns; bottom is greens, blues, and purples.

It's a simple way of organizing all those pesky tubes of paint and it really works. I'm going to get another one for my acrylic paints.

Alger, 9046, cat portrait

When I was little I remember the cat we had named Alger. My Dad named him after Alger Hiss, the political scandal figure of the 1950's. I guess the cat had a surly disposition and he hissed a lot.
No family pictures of Alger remain, but I remember that he was white and cream colored with green eyes, so this is probably a close resemblance.
For purchase information on this painting, including frame, please see my website.