Painting from Life: My Toddler

Someone sent me a gentle reminder this morning that while it may be worthwhile to fight for my painting time, it's more important to be spending time with my daughter and enjoying every second, especially while she is young. I completely agree. And I suppose for my blog readers it does seem like I often complain about lack of studio time or not being at the top of my game. Since this is an art blog, I try to post things that are relevant to art, so it can be frustrating when I don't have any new work to post. In truth, I am enjoying every moment with my daughter while she is young, and painting is all part of my desire to capture that. In my life, creating art has been my way of "possessing" or capturing moments. For example, as a young girl, horses were my favorite anim… Read more »

Painting from Life: My Toddler

"Jessica's Scarf" - A Progression

Last night after putting Cecelia to bed, I left to paint with a group of artists who meet regularly in Plano on Thursday nights, and my husband stayed home to hold down the fort. I had a blast doing this painting. I'm really hoping I can go to this art group more often. There's always great energy in a room full of like-minded people, all working to perfect their craft. And of course, there is no substitute for working from a live model!  Last night's model was one of my favorite muses, Jessica, and even though I've painted her many times before, she always manages to pull off some new look or expression every time she poses. That is a gift, folks! Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the progress shots from the three-hour session. A couple of the artists in attendance … Read more »

"Jessica's Scarf" - A Progression

All About Blonde

"Self Portrait in Profile" (painted from life using two mirrors) 8 x 8" - oil on linen panel It has taken me a long time to figure out the nature of hair, particularly, blonde hair. I paint self portraits regularly in an attempt to experiment and learn more about it. Here are some things I've learned so far: Hair is transparent, so individual strands do not cast shadows, but locks (masses) of hair do. Blonde hair is usually very fine and must be painted delicately. There is usually a lot more green in blonde than yellow (unless the model looks like Lady Gaga here! This is no!). The shadows in blonde hair are much darker than you think they are. Get the values right and you'll still be able to create the illusion of "blonde", even if it's very dark. The fine … Read more »

All About Blonde

Portrait Demo at Weiler House Fine Art Gallery

Last Saturday I was thrilled to present a live portrait demonstration at my local art gallery in Fort Worth, TX. I started painting around 5:00 p.m., and visitors could come and go as they pleased, or stay and watch the whole thing. I had an absolute BLAST! I always wondered how my piano-playing twin sister came to be such a performer who loves the spotlight, when I didn't enjoy performing at all. I'd start a recital piece and mess up the very beginning, then involuntarily say, "Oops!" Well, it turns out that I am a performer after all... I just needed a different kind of spotlight! :-) I've discovered that I love painting for an audience. I somehow managed to paint not one, but TWO portraits during the 4 1/2 hours that I demonstrated at the gallery, and I enjoyed ev… Read more »

Portrait Demo at Weiler House Fine Art Gallery

Guy with a Beard

This guy... Michael Mentler. The Infamous 'M'. :-) Michael runs the Society of Figurative Arts in Carrolton, TX. I have known him for almost five years now and have enjoyed regularly attending his Tuesday portrait painting sessions. We have gotten to be very good friends, and I have enjoyed celebrating with him in his remarkable success as of late (he has been hailed as a "modern-day Leonardo" by Richard Schmid himself!). Michael is an excellent artist and teacher, but he also has an overall look that is begging to be painted! He has posed for such greats as Sherrie McGraw and Rose Frantzen . At SOFA, though we work from all different models week to week, we are always begging Michael to sit for us. This week, our model didn't show, so Michael complied, and I finally … Read more »

Guy with a Beard

Another Summer in Wisconsin

It's crazy how fast the summer has gone, since Steve and I have been travelling so much. We recently returned from two whole weeks in our home state of Wisconsin, where I didn't do as much painting as I hoped, but had some wonderful visits with family and friends (much needed time away from the easel, actually!). I have come back refreshed; there was, in fact, one whole day on our trip that I got to sit around, lazing in the sun with a good book, doing absolutely nothing productive. For those of you who know me... that is a rare thing, indeed! Much of our time was spent at Steve's family cabin. We hadn't been there in two years and it was wonderful to breathe the fresh air and relax a little bit. The dog had a great time too, as you can see...  Throwing the stick in the wa… Read more »

Another Summer in Wisconsin