FAQs

I just returned from a wonderful 3-day event in Houston called the Bayou City Art Festival. I was one of 300 or so artists, and I was blown away by the variety and creativity that this festival offered. My work was some of the most traditional there, and I was perhaps the only portrait artist. I don't know how much longer I'll be doing art festivals (it's a bit stressful for me to travel with all those paintings!), but I always enjoy meeting so many interesting people at these kinds of events. There are so many different artists at these big festivals (Bayou City is ranked 7th in the country) that I'm lucky if anyone spends more than a few seconds looking at the paintings in my booth. However, first impressions are important, and some of the questions people ask give me va… Read more »

FAQs

The Perfect Evening

Case in point: Lighting is detrimental to a painting's success. I began this painting of my friend Susan last fall, and she would sit for me in the evenings, reading her book aloud while I worked.  Painting at night was both good and bad. It was good in that my studio, which lacks north lighting of any kind (north light is, of course, ideal!), was able to stay controlled with one light source as opposed to being bombarded by light coming in from all over the place through the windows. The bad part: I was literally painting in the dark! I had a small light to illuminate my canvas, but this caused issues with glare on the wet paint, so I had to move it back quite a way to see what I was doing. I started the painting using a cool light, but decided it needed to look more natural and war… Read more »

The Perfect Evening

Updates

Wow, I can't believe my last blog post was over 2 weeks ago! Sorry about that... I've been extremely busy, but I'm so grateful because it's the best kind of busy! I have several portrait commissions going, a show coming up in Houston in two weekends, and a gallery (Weiler House Fine Art) asking for more work! So...I'm spreading myself a bit thin these days but it's a good problem to have, and I'm sure my artist friends can all relate. So, the big event coming up is Bayou City Art Festival in Houston on March 26-28. You can find out more from their website at http://www.bayoucityartfestival.com/ . I'll be in booth 209; look for me if you happen to stop by! New paintings (and finished versions of works in progress) will be up soon. Read more »

Updates

Cate

As I promised on facebook, here is my current portrait, shown in different stages. I just finished it today. "Cate" - 10" x 8" - oil on linen glued to board I sell head studies like this for $1000, in any size from 8" x 10" to 12" x 16". Read more »

Cate