Living a Fairytale

Italian Farmer

10 x 8, pastel

Some of you who have been following my blog since the beginning may recognize this guy. He was formerly titled, Citta Della Pieve Farmer. I entered him and 3 other paintings in the Small Works for Big Holidays show at the NBAL gallery, and that title was too long.

I have a bad habit of tweaking paintings and then NOT taking an updated photo of them, such is the case with this painting. Oh, well, on to the fairy tale. This painting received 1st place in the show!!!  The judge was, Vi Dunn-Harr, a fabulous artist (Google her). She was very encouraging with her comments. She spent several minutes sharing her wisdom with me. I just feel so blessed to have great artists, Angie Banta Brown, Rita Kirkman and now Vi Dunn-Harr willing to guide me in my quest to be a better artist.

Fall Study

Fall Study

5 x 7, pastel

Click to Bid

Thought I was using less vivid colors------well, maybe not.  I am happy, it was another wonderful, crisp day!! Plus, I got to play pickleball!!!!---Google it.

Guadalupe Color

Guadalupe Color

12 x 9, pastel

Click to Bid

You just know you are a photo realist painter when your smart camera says you are taking a landscape photo while zooming in on your landscape painting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, well, it is what it is.

It is fall and the weather finally feels like it (some days) here in south central Texas. I just cannot seem to paint enough fall paintings. We get so little fall color here, in fact this was last year's color, but that's OK!

More Biltmore

Autumn Stroll

8 x 10, pastel

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Here is the original painting that I took Strolling at the Biltmore from (split participle there, I believe!) Really like this painting, too, but Rita was correct about the other being more intimate. I am so blessed to be able to have Rita Kirkman as a friend. I have learned so much from her.

This Saturday is Market Days at the CRRC on Mabel Dr. just below Canyon Dam. The other times I have participated I have felt like I did not have enough paintings to hang----not so this time!!  There will be live music, food and numerous booths to explore. Hope you can drop by and visit with me.

Basset

Basset

7 x 5, pastel
Click to Bid

This is a smaller version of an earlier post. It was started as a demo while working at the NBAL gallery months ago. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my reference photo--bummer. So I painted it from the photo I had on my Blackberry's tiny screen. Think it turned out OK though.

100th Blog Post!!

New Braunfels Art League Flyer

Above is a flyer produced by the New Braunfels Art League has been distributed around town to acquaint visitors to the gallery. I am excited to have Cow Dog in the upper right corner for all the visitors to see!!

Also, I was notified last week that Cow Dog was awarded Honorable Mention in the Mungyo Gallery Pastels 2013 Summer Contest offered by Jerry's Artarama. The contest was open to anyone who used Gallery pastels to complete their painting, any one in the country. You can check out all the winners here:

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/galleries/2013/mungyo-pastel-contest.html

Strolling at the Biltmore

Strolling at the Biltmore

9 x 12, pastel

Click to Bid

Really thought I had posted this painting. (It is heck to get old!) There are two versions. The first has 2 couples on this path as the original photo showed. The photo was taken last November at the Biltmore Winery on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

One of my very talented artist friends, Rita Kirkman, was over and said it would have more intimacy if I reduced it to one couple. I immediately decided to paint it again, something I would never do years ago. Of course she was right, much more intimate, plus I simplified the foliage and increased the size of the painting.
Still pleased with the original and will post it another time.

Gypsy in Italy

Gypsy in Italy

12 x 9, pastel

Well, folks this is the final painting accepted into the Artoberfest Show and it is a 1st place winner! This painting won the pastel division. I was so thrilled, excited, speechless, but it gets even better. My good friend and long time art teacher, Angie B Brown, purchased it. Angie is a fabulous artist, winning many awards. In fact she won the oil/acrylic division tonight. To have her purchase one of my paintings, is very humbling.

I had traveled to Italy with Angie, where we saw this woman standing against a building in the street in Citta Della Pieve playing her hand organ. But there is more to the story than I have painted here. She had wooden marionettes attached to her feet and legs. As she played the the organ, she moved her knees/feet and had the marionettes dancing to the music. It was amazing. So I can see her being the subject of more paintings down the road.

If you have the opportunity to visit the gallery this month and the first 2 weeks of November, please do so. There are some lovely paintings. The show will run through Wurstfest.

Orvieto Alley

Orvieto Alley

24 x 18, Pastel

I know you have seen this painting before, but it is one of the 3 paintings accepted in the Artoberfest show. Last fall it was accepted in the Texas Pastel Society National Juried Exhibition. I am thrilled that it was accepted in the Artoberfest show. 

Autumn in the Carolinas

Autumn in the Carolinas

8 x 8, pastel

I promised that I would let you know if any of my paintings were accepted into the Artoberfest Juried Show at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery. Well,----------all three of them were!!! Woohoo!!! And it gets even better, they told me that one of them won an award!!! Woohoo, again! I won't know what kind of award or which painting won until the reception tomorrow evening 5-8pm when the winners are announced. If you are free and would like to enjoy free food, wine and lovely art, drop by tomorrow.

This lovely area is on the Biltmore Estate, I believe. I took so many photos last fall while in Asheville, N. Carolina that I cannot keep them straight. It is one of the three paintings on display in the Artoberfest show.

Also, other good news received today, Daily Paintworks chose my painting, First Peek, to be a Facebook Pick of the Day. It will be on display at the site all month I believe. They choose 6-8 new ones each day. You may check it out at, www.facebook.com/dailypaintworks  or go back a couple of posts to see the painting.

Sky Study

Sky Study

6 x 8, pastel

Decided to try to paint a beautiful south Texas sky yesterday while working at the NBAL Gallery. We witnessed this scene when returning from a TAMU football game. There were intermittent showers and then the blue sky shown through. Think I got a pretty good likeness.

Today I submitted 3 paintings to be juried in the Artoberfest Juried Art Show at the NBAL Gallery. I will let you know if any were accepted in the show. The reception and awards will be Friday evening 5-8pm. Drop by if you can, I saw some beautiful paintings.

Study #12

Study #12

5 x 5, pastel

Click to Bid

This painting has been sitting on the shelf for months, not happy with the original. Being a rainy day, Praise the Lord, I was wanting to paint but undecided as to the subject. This painting and another caught my eye, so I just picked them and up and started applying pastel, much more pleased with the result!

Curiosity

Curiosity

10 x 8, pastel

Click to Bid

This painting is my third and final entry in the NBAL show this month. The deer loves to eat the bird feed that the birds flick out on the ground. I took this photo as he was checking out the feeder, as if to see if he could get more out of it.

Boa Baby

Boa Baby!

10 x 8, pastel

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This is Kia, wrapped in a red, white and blue boa on July 4th.  She seemed to be enjoying the frivolity. 

You can see her and other great animal paintings/photos at the NBAL show in New Braunfels. 

First Peek

First Peek

7 x 5, pastel

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This baby squirrel lived in Kyle, Texas last summer. I was visiting a quilting friend and just happened to catch him as he stuck his head out to catch a few rays. So tiny and cute.

Really, you need to go see the show at the NBAL gallery this month. It is awesome! Some fabulous paintings/photos of critters, all ready to go home with you.

You Lookin' At Me??

You Lookin' at Me??

11 x 7.5, watercolor

Click to Bid

Finally, I have paintings to post. The New Braunfels Art Gallery show for September is "For the Love of Animals". I turned in 3 paintings for this show and this was not one of them----maybe it should have been?? You just never know!!

This cat lives in Italy and is the resident cat at the hardware store on Vannucci Street in Citta Della Pieve. He had the most perturbed expression in his eyes the entire time I was getting pictures--typical cat.

The NBAL show opens tomorrow. It should be a great one. Drop by if you get a chance this month.

TAMU Pride

TAMU  Pride

28 x 18, watercolor

This painting was a labor of love for the ideal of Aggie Pride. I took a dear friend to the next to the last Aggie home game last fall and she took me to the Quad to see the 'step off' prior to the game. Season tickets for two years and I had never seen that. The Quad was packed with people besides all the Corp members. It was awesome.

While snapping pictures of the activities, I captured this moment. This man was the Commander of the Corp last year. In that mass of people, he seemed to be taking in the importance of the moment. So I worked on this painting for months, with the intention of giving it to a man I had never met, but felt I knew. When we went to move our Aggie home in May, I took this painting and left it at headquarters for him. From the email I received that afternoon, he liked it.

Galveston Gulls

Galveston Gulls
6 x 6, pastel
Click to Bid

Can you believe it??? It has been almost a month, OK, it has been a month since I posted a painting. Excuses are futile, but I have been working at my job a bunch.

This painting is from one of my assignments---9 days in Galveston. Galveston in August can best be described as miserable, sticky, hot and humid. Nine days there and my toes never touched the sand--you could say that I am a lake person not an ocean/sea/gulf person.  The water is much more colorful in this painting than it actually was. My hotel was less than a block from the seawall and the beach. Really enjoyed walking the wall and taking pictures either early am or late evening.

I have been painting when home, but they are paintings for the "Love of Animals" show at the NBAL Gallery in September. Hoping to post them closer to the show opening, September 4.

Reflection

Reflection

5 x 5, pastel

Click to Bid

This is an attempt to see if I could create an interesting painting by merely painting a reflection, would it be recognizable. The tiny area left little room for detail. The jury is still out......

But, it is good to be back to at the easel!

More about the Dog!!

I know everyone is tired of hearing about Cow Dog but I just had to share this new development!!

But, I won't force you to look at the painting one more time here.

Jerry's Artarama is a national chain selling art supplies. There is a store in Austin. That's where I took the pastel portrait workshop from D K Richardson. I used the principles learned in  that workshop to paint Cow Dog.

Today I received an email from D K Richardson with this link:

http://jerrysaustin.blogspot.com/2013/07/dk-richardsons-pastel-portrait-workshop.html

Please check it out. I am so thrilled to be highlighted in the blog of this store.

1st Place Winner!

Cow Dog

8.5 x 11, pastel

Click to go to Dailypaintworks

Cow Dog was entered in the the Texas Show sponsored by Heineken at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery. This evening he won first place in the 'under glass division', watercolor/pastels! I was just thrilled and was on my way to hang my ribbon on the painting when the painting was whisked to the desk to be sold to a lady from Austin!!

I am feeling a mixture of emotions, thrilled to win, thrilled for it to sell, but disappointed that I never got to see the blue ribbon hanging on the painting for even a minute. I really believe 'happy' is winning out over 'disappointment'!

Also, I was notified earlier today that Lucky sold at the Arthritis Assoc. in San Antonio! I was already tickled to death about that! It has been a good day.

Lucky

6 x 8, pastel

Cow Dog

Cow Dog

8.5x11

Pastel on toned sanded paper

It has been a great day!!! I got to paint today. I applied the information learned from the D K Richardson workshop and painted Cow Dog. I hope to enter it in the Texas Show at the NBAL Gallery on Tuesday. There are a couple of areas that need to be tweaked, but all in all I am pleased.

I really do not think he is a cow dog, took his picture at the last Market Days I participated in. He was a sweet dog. In fact in one picture, he seemed to be smiling for the camera!

D K Richardson's Workshop

 Almost completed workshop piece

10x8, pastel on Ampersand board

I know it's been about 6 weeks since my last post--believe me, I know!!! I have been working on a commission piece that I cannot share on the web without permission AND I have been working my new job. Just returned from 12 days in Memphis, which is a neat place, but it is sure good to be back home.

The best part is I arrived home in time to take a wonderful workshop given by D K Richardson at Jerry's Artarama in Austin. To me, her art is breathtaking, the realism and detail amazing. I really enjoyed the class, learned sooooooo much, and hope to be able to apply it to my work. She is an excellent instructor and very supportive/encouraging. Three of the five participants had never used pastels before. They ended up with wonderful, portraits they created all on their own. D K never touches your work she simply guides you (verbally) in seeing and applying the pastel to get the lifelike results.

I am very pleased with my painting. I have included several progress shots taken over the course of the 2 day workshop. Her method is very labor intensive, but so very worth the effort. Check out her website at www.dkrichardson-artist.com.

Initial grid and drawing

This is where my affliction of 'seeing too much" comes in handy!

                                                 

First application of color.

 Putting in the undertones of the cheek.

 Fairly, happy with this but the nose is wrong.

Pretty happy here, but sweating the scarf on her head.

Think it may still need some tweaking.

 Just have to worry about the background now.

Thanks for checking out my blog and not giving up on me!!

Serenity

Serenity

8 x 10, pastel

Click to Bid

This is a painting of the pond and water feature at my brother and sister-in-law's home. It is so relaxing to sit and enjoy the sound of water trickling, sort of serene. 

It was a challenge to create the the image of water both flowing and as a flat surface. Always good to challenge yourself.

Exciting Barn news!

Carolina Barn

9 x 12, pastel

Click to Bid

Had some exciting news today. Daily Paintworks chose this painting as a Facebook Pick of the Day on their Facebook site. Over one hundred artists submit paintings daily to DPW and out of those 6-8 are chosen  to be featured on their Facebook page. If you get a chance, check them out there are some lovely paintings.