painting in a crowd

Afternoon day 2 in Mark Mehaffey's plein air workshop. We headed over to my neck of the woods, in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore... Where the Platte River flows into Lake Mi.

It was incredibly crowded, sunny and challenging! This gentleman was sitting reading a book...until he wasn't anymore...:-) Oh the challenges of plein air! Painting live in a crowd is not for wimps!

Full disclosure...I did fix a number of things back in the studio.

Big Week....

Had a great surprise last week with an article written about me in the Northern Express... Thanks Al Parker! You can read it HERE.

And then I spent 3 days at Interlochen, learning plein air painting with Mark Mehaffey. 

This is one of my attempts.... (pardon the glare... tough to photograph) Mark gave great instruction on simplifying what's in front of you. (Which is easier said than done) A real challenge with all the activity around the Interlochen campus. 

I also need to give kudos to the Interlochen program... so accommodating. Beautiful campus, and so inspiring to paint to all the snippets of music being played around you all day. Creativity permeates and pulsates throughout the grounds. Highly recommend.

My Minions

"My Minions" 12x12 Acrylic on canvas

I dropped off 7 paintings to Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor, MI.  A sure sign of spring, no matter what the weather is. (As it happens, it's quite nice and springlike here today)
Here's to new seasons!

simply and deliberately

6x6 warm-up ; Acrylic on paper

I'm back painting... and I'm a bit rusty. (I taught a 3-day workshop in Aberdeen NC last week...Fun!) I seem to be less decisive after I've had a break from working. ...and I just push the paint around and fiddle more. I just made myself a big sign...

SAY IT SIMPLY AND DELIBERATELY. 

Yup... I'm shouting at myself. There is no room for wishy washy in the studio.

hair-do ladies

"Red" 12x12 Acrylic and collage on panel

It's all about the hair.
I've been having the best time creating these portraits. Acrylic painted faces and collaged hair and brows using the paper I made with the Gelli Plate. Reproductions of them will soon be in a hair salon! Perfect, right?
Actually the series came about from a conversation with a friend of mine that owns a salon... he was looking for artwork after a re-model and had seen this older painting-

"Is My Hair too Blue?" acrylic and collage on paper (sold)

We decided that a series of "hair-do ladies" would be fun salon art... Can't wait to see it placed!

bursting

"Bursting" 12x12 Acrylic on Watercolor paper

This painting is a result of a process that I call... "Make a mess and then cover it up." I start with a mess of reds, and then negative paint (paint the background) with various whites.  I love the smudgy bits that show up in the white areas... mysterious!

warming up

"Hot Climb" 6x6 Acrylic on paper

I start each painting session with a few small "warm-ups"... (I learned this from Robert Burridge's workshop) This is when you can play with colors you don't normally use....They are quick and unconscious works for me... fun to do!

pinch me

 Yes....Pinch me. That's my painting on Toni Clark's new book, just released.... So excited for her, and for me. :-)
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:

whirling dervish

3 at a time....

Paint has been flying... and I've been prepping for a couple of classes this week. More Acrylic Fun... (oh yes... way more fun) and Mono printing with the Gelli Plate. Both will be in Leland at the Old Art Building.

This new work is having a mind of it's own.... sort of. The one on the wall is the most complete...Working title is "Wind Dance"... it's been giving me fits actually.... stating then obscuring... there is a lot of action on that canvas.

black eyes with stripes

"Black Eyes With Stripes" 12x12 Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Acrylic Paper

And here is the second of the two paintings I painted live at Oliver Art Center's 'fun-raiser' last Friday evening. It was a terrific night. Lots of fun was had by all the Art Center Friends....And though it was a bit intimidating... I lived to tell about it. :-)

fun raiser

"Fun Raiser" 12x12 acrylic on acrylic paper

Last night was Oliver Art Center's Fun-Raiser. I painted live and donated the painting to the silent auction. I tend to say YES before I realize what I've gotten myself into. Let's just say it's a bit intimidating to be painting in front of a large group...and let's just add on the auction sheet sitting next to you... luckily I didn't have to wait too too long before there was some bidding. Aaaack! I worked on two paintings at a time, and the winner get's to pick their favorite after there are a couple of finishing touches, varnished and framed. This one is the first one dry....I'll post the other one tomorrow, and let you know which one they picked.

wip (work in progress)

Can you tell that I'm way more excited about the one on the left?  Need an "about face" on the one on the right. Drastic measures are in order to keep me interested. :-)

here kitty kitty

"Here Kitty Kitty"  12x12  Acrylic and oil bar on Canvas Panel

I don't have a cat. I have never had a cat. But I do really like cats. How long do you think this bouquet will tempt him before he needs to swat it?

Add caption

Woke up this morning and decided that the kitty paws could use a bit of a shadow...and added a couple of dotty stuff on the far left to repeat the white dotty stuff... Hardly EVER go back once it's signed, but couldn't leave it be.

joyful noise

"Joyful Noise" 12 x 12 Acrylic on Acrylic paper

Lots of troubling news lately..... That's when I love to go to the studio and immerse myself in glorious color.

farmer's market

Farmer's Market Bouquet ~ 12 x 12 ~ mixed media

We had some friends come and visit us over the weekend... and one of the things we enjoyed was the Frankfort (MI) farmer's market on Saturday. Our friends bought us this charming bouquet from one of the stalls. It was hard to pick out one... they were all just so fresh and beautiful. I thoroughly love fresh flowers...and a mixed summery bouquet is my favorite.

This painting started out on a bright orange background... and finished up with some oil pastel marks.

I'm trying to get in a painting session each day over the next few weeks... I'm going to be painting LIVE at a fundraiser on August 8th. Need to work the kinks out. (yikes)

Just making things up

"July 4"  12x12 Acrylic on Canvas panel

Ok.... now I'm just making things up. :-) One of the pleasures of being a painter. See the cool and interesting trail I've created? Like how I've made it pretty easy to get past those hills? You're welcome.

(It's also a study in greens and aerial perspective).

orchard dawn

Orchard Dawn ~ 12x12 ~ Acrylic

It's been a while.... I just jumped in yesterday. That's how I have to go about it when it's been a while...

It's easiest to leap if I start on top of a painting that didn't work out...and that explains the strange textures here and there.

janice

Janice... 4x4 acrylic, fabric and stitching

Another Every Day Angel.

hannah

Hannah ~ 4x4 acrylic, collage, stitching

She seems so sweet to me.... and not just because of her halo.

norah

Norah....see the shiny bits?

Norah ~ Acrylic, fabric, stitching

I slopped some hair color onto the pristine white paper background... so I decided to try colored backgrounds to cover up my mess. I like it! I stitched the wings and then painted some iridescent medium on them.
It's interesting to me that they seem to develop personalities as I refine their features.