The Search for Inspiration (New Self Portrait)

I completed this self portrait back in July, but thought I should share the story behind it. The inspiration behind this painting was lack of inspiration. I'm still new at this whole motherhood thing. Some days, like when Cece is teething, I know I'll never step foot in my studio, because those days are hard... In the trenches. All about her. And of course, just four months ago, we packed up our lives and made the move from Texas to Colorado. These huge changes brought about a struggle for me -- I hit a giant creative block. Finally, I decided to stretch and prime about a dozen new canvases of various sizes, hoping they would motivate me to start some new paintings. The strategy worked. I had this idea of doing a self portrait that showed my frustration over having no ideas. The b… Read more »

The Search for Inspiration (New Self Portrait)

Experimenting with New Brushes, and a New Nude Painting

Today at the Society of Figurative Arts we were privileged to paint from a nude model. SOFA's director, Michael Mentler, is a representative for Rembrandt art products , and they are always sending him samples to experiment with. Today he had some new brushes he wanted me to try out. A series of fine red sable brushes (series 240), they are already distributed in Europe, but have yet to be marketed in the United States. Our nude model was the perfect subject for testing the subtleties and nuances of these new brushes. Actually, I wanted to see how they'd compare to Rosemary & Co. brushes. They are my absolutely favorites (series 279, especially), and I've had a hard time finding anything I'd rather use! I quickly discovered that the Rembrandt brushes were wonderful to wo… Read more »

Experimenting with New Brushes, and a New Nude Painting