Finally!

The day is here. Tonight is the official unveiling of the Horse Fever II horses. Be on the square in downtown Ocala from 6 to 8 this evening to see 5 of the horses. The rest will be at their locations by Saturday morning. Check out the interactive map to find them. When you click on the horse it takes you to their page and you can see more info about them and the artists. Now I can finally share photos of what I've been up to this summer. Here's some progress pics. I painted Sunny at the studio I share with Kelli (see her horse here). My husband Mark also did a horse for the project. I say 'did' because he did a lot more than paint it. If you're in the area I hope you can see it in person. There's so much more to it than you see in the photo.

 So.... I started with gold leaf. Everyone wondered what I was doing starting with the gold. I don't know why people thought it strange. As far as the painting process it made no difference where I started. I worked with the gold first because it was fun and I was excited to see something shiny!

 Getting into the paint I worked from the top down blocking in the bands of color. I used traditional acrylics for the first layers.

 Once I got into the final layers I started using Open Acrylic to make the blending easier. I added Open medium to the paint to give me even more blending time. I could also do some detail work by doing glazes of color and then lifting out bands with a wet brush to reveal the color underneath.

In the last 2 pics Sunny has his final clear coat and is hanging out at the warehouse waiting to go to his new location. The clear coat really makes the colors pop. I can't wait to see him outside, standing in the sun all bright and shiny. Be sure to go to the map link at the top of the post to find Sunny and all the other horses.

Yesterday, today and crooked signatures

 Pumpkin 5

5x5

acrylic and gold leaf on canvas panel

SOLD

Pumpkin 6

5x5

acrylic and gold leaf on canvas panel

SOLD

Yesterday was all about the pumpkins. Here's 2 of the 3 I painted. I just love doing these lush, round, plump pumpkins. I use gold leaf for the background and Golden's Open acrylic for the fruit. It gives me a little more blending time than traditional acrylics. I do a tiny bit of glazing with color over the gold to give it a little more variety.

 Dusty Pink

5x5

oil on stretched canvas

This was today's painting. I didn't have any pieces with this soft pink color in the series of oil florals I've been doing so I took care of that. The collection is growing. I'll add this one to the Etsy shop soon. It needs a little drying time first. Do you see my signature? Why can't I ever sign my name straight? What is that..... I'm an artist, I can paint. You'd think I could handle putting my name on something so it doesn't look like it's falling off the edge. Maybe that's why I was destined to paint nature and abstracts. If I had a great desire to paint architecture I'd really be in trouble.

Notice there's no signature on the pumpkins. That's because I was too hasty in shooting the photos. I forgot to sign them first and I didn't feel like re-shooting. I'm obviously having identity issues today.

Passage 32

8x8

mixed media on stretched canvas

And now for something completely different, yet continuing in the warm color scheme. This little non-representational piece is made up of layer upon layer of acrylic gels and color washes. I left the brush strokes in the gel layers for texture. I used alcohol on the acrylic layers for yes, more texture. And.... when I wrapped a piece of sea glass in wire and attached it to the canvas I was intrigued by the shadow that the wire cast upon the surface so I painted the shadow in a bright turquoise color as an accent. More fun, I just can't help myself. This one is signed on the side.......

 Passage 18

8x8

mixed media on canvas

close up

Ok, so here's a departure from my last post. I do love painting those sweet close up florals in oil. I love finding the right composition, just the right way to crop the flower to create an interesting design. I love the blending in oil and the smooth brush stroke. I love nature.

Now here's my other love ~ texture. I love the way the cracks surprise me. I love the thick raised areas and the fine lines of the smaller crackle. I love the spatter of color. I love the contrast of smooth against rough. I love to run my hands over the surface and feel the difference. I love the way color seeps into crevices and deepens. I love the way a color will suddenly run and spread, taking on a life of it's own. I love using natural stones to accent the composition. I love layering and building a painting until I can't find anything else that I would change about it. I love talking to the painting and hearing it answer me back.

I think these painting styles may look different but they're really not that different. The mixed media abstracts are still my vision of natural forms. The shapes still remind me of raindrops splattering on the sidewalk or mud drying and making pieces of earth that look as if they could be plucked right off the canvas. I'm still living in the natural world creating paintings from an abstract perspective.

Today's projects

 Canna Lily

5x5

oil on canvas

Clematis

5x5

oil on canvas

These are the two little paintings I finished today. The top one I did from a photo I took of the Canna in my yard. The second one is from a photo I took quite a while ago and I don't remember where I took it or what kind of flower it is. I was told today that it looks like Clematis. Since the picture was taken from the backside of the flower I have no idea what the center looks like or even what color it is. So apparently I'd better take better reference shots or at least take notes when I do them so years later when I use the pics for a painting I'm not clueless.

Anyway, it's still fun to play with cropping on florals and focus more on the abstract quality of the composition. I'll be adding these to the Etsy shop soon.

I painted it again?

Spiderwort

5x5

oil on canvas

These are a couple of the pieces I've been able to finish in the last week. The flower above is the seventh one I've done in the little floral oil group. It's now available in the Etsy shop along with most of the others.

 

Trinity River

10x8

acrylic on canvas

I should actually call this little landscape Trinity River Again? I can't even count how many times I've painted this scene. I just don't get tired of it. I'm not usually one to paint the same thing over and over again but for some reason this particular landscape just won't leave me alone. I figure if I can't stop painting it then I'll make some students paint it too. I'm going to use this painting for the workshop project when we do our painting party at the end of Oct. I'll post the details about it on the H & H Studios blog soon so check there to keep updated.

Remember the tree?

You saw this one in an earlier post - I just had the tree blocked in. This was my focus for most of the weekend. I really felt the need to get back to work on the oil painting and something that has a lot of personal meaning for me. Once I figured out how I wanted to proceed I jumped back in. I'm not finished with the tree yet and I still might add some more stars in the area surrounding the egg and nest. When I'm done I'll shoot a better photo (one that doesn't include bands of light coming in from the blinds) Overall I'm happy with the progress.  Comments?

A kick in the ass

I read a blog post today that really resonated with me. I don't know the author personally but we're Facebook friends. He's an excellent artist, holds himself to quite a high standard and it shows in his work. His post was about just that - standards. In it he mentions Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen fame. I haven't really been a fan of Ramsay's because I just couldn't take all the yelling and screaming he was doing at the people on the show. I don't know how much of that was really him or just for ratings - maybe it's both and the producers really know what they're doing.

"Ramsay is a rare example of an individual who can bring out the passion and the very best in someone. He's like a drill sergeant, a mentor, your high school principal and you're best friend all in one. The guy is a genius. What I appreciate more than anything is his strict adherence to standards."


Ok, to be fair I haven't watched much of Ramsay's shows but if he's all that maybe I should give him a bit more time and give his show another watch. I do have to say that since I have a son in the restaurant biz and people have suggested that he try to get on to that show, the thought just makes me cringe. It's just the momma bear in me wanting to protect my cub from such treatment (although my son can certainly take care of himself).

So anyway, back to the point.... the post was about standards in art.

"Hold your art to these same standards. Gordon doesn't sugar coat it. When he sees laziness and low self-esteem in people, he kicks them square in the arse and gets them to believe in themselves. Summon your inner Gordon, dammit, and whip yourself into the person you should be! Great people are not created, they are made. Stop acting like a pathetic version of yourself."


There it is.... the line that got me - "Stop acting like a pathetic version of yourself." It's so easy to fall into that. It's so easy to fall into a pattern of our work being good enough to just pass muster. When our students do it Kelli and I fight it and try to get them to push beyond that point. When we teach we work at getting them to realize their potential. We get them to work harder. We're especially hard on the people who have the most to give. They may not always like it. Many times we hear - am I done yet? Many times the answer is no. We work at getting them to move beyond the point where they feel they can stop and get away with it. Good enough just isn't good enough.

Then I have to go to the studio and face my own work. This is where I look at what I do and wonder - am I doing all I can do? Am I taking my own advice when I walk into the studio? Can I go that extra inch or mile? What can I do to make my work better? We can all step back and take a look at what we're doing. Evaluate. See where we can improve. Take the steps to make that happen. Stop with the excuses. Own it and make it.

Sometimes we all need a kick in the ass.