What Happened?

Saw this light pole on Polaris Parkway and thought it was really funny....
'Did you see that? Somebody hit me!"

Painting of the Week - Blue Leaf Rose

Experiment with a neutral background and an unexpected color palette.

Widowed..... No, single

I have been a widow for 3 yrs today. When do I quit using the term 'widow'? Maybe today would be good. Just 'single' now.

Snowed In

And plowed out:

Painting of the Week - Black and White Study

Our task last night was to paint in shades of grey, which is more difficult than it sounds. I was happy with the result. Because I was working on paper larger than my desk color scanner, the first image is a merge of two color scans using Photoshop. The bottom two images are from my work network copier/scanner which scans only in a black and white, in different resolution. All are very interesting when viewed online. (As always, click on pictures for a bigger view.)

Art Process

You're confusing product with process. Most people, when they criticize, whether they like it or hate it, they're talking about product. That's not art, that's the result of art.

Art, to whatever degree we can get a handle on (I'm not sure that we really can) is a process. It begins in the heart and the mind with the eyes and hands.

Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Fish Story, 1994

Playing with Photoshop

Winter

"The Marsh in Winter" by Timothy Walsh, from Wild Apples.© Parallel Press. 2004.

The Marsh in Winter

If you stand and listen,
you will hear the voice.
Reeds sharp as rapiers rasp the wind.
Frost creaks in the trees.

Sunlight, ice-bright, falls from the sky.
Scattered cedars and junipers loom like shadows.
Sheathed in ice, a willow droops heavily
across the path.

Driven snow packs the creviced bark of cottonwoods.
Once-hidden bird nests now plainly marked
by a white cap of snow...

Out on the marsh, blue water shows through shifting ice.
Tall brown reeds, slim as dancers, bend in the breeze.
A hundred thousand cattails, each one lit
by the low-angled light of westering sun,
each brown seed head blazing
like the head of a saint.

Painting of the Week - Herd of Lobsters

Wasn't feeling much like painting last night. It must have been catching, as most of us students weren't in the mood. I like the vibrant colors, but this isn't a good painting. I need to setup some new still lives and get some new reference photos to work from.

Slide show of Vet Convention Art Exhibit

Taken with my cellphone and converted into a mini slide show. Only two pieces in the whole show sold.... and not mine. It was a very nice show. Quality work. Should have taken more pictures, but was not sure of the quality of my cellphone camera.



Notice the animal sculptures - made from forks and spoons - the raccoon was the President's Choice Award winner. The large painting of the horse getting shoes, was the People's Choice Award winner.

Gallery exhibit

I will have two paintings (LUCY and LOBSTER) exhibited in the following gallery for March:

The talented artists of the Worthington Area Art League are mounting a March exhibit called “ART FROM THE HEART: Personal Expressions” for their eighth anniversary of quality shows at High Road Gallery, 12 E. Stafford Ave, in Worthington. Twice a year the League assembles more than 100 member pieces of original art that is created expressly for members' friends and neighbors in their hometowns of Worthington and Metro Columbus. The show will be open from February 27th to March 22nd with the Artists' Reception on Sunday, March 2nd from 2-4 PM. At the reception awards will be given by a judge selected by the committee. Special awards will be selected by Leadership Worthington and Partners for Leadership and Character. A People's Choice award will also be given.

Three craft artists have been invited by the League to join the show. Paul Mahler will show Ceramics, Wayne Cruze has Celtic Carvings and other wood pieces and Steve Cantlon will have hand crafted furniture.
The gallery is open from Wednesday through Friday, 12-4 and Saturday 11:30-4. Gallery phone is 614-781-6454. Admission is free. Check out the website at www.highroadgallery.org

Painting of the Week - Lobster

Painting of the Week - Koi Up Close

Painting of the Week - Koi

Painting of the Week - Chihuly at the Conservatory

Dale Chihuly glass floating on the koi pond at the conservatory.

Acceptance

Congratulations! The Ohio Veterinary Medical Association wishes to inform you that one or more of your entered pieces have been selected by our jurors for inclusion in the 2008 WINGS, TAILS, HOOVES & SCALES: An Art Exhibition Celebrating Animals!

You will be receiving a letter within a couple days identifying which entries were chosen and giving you delivery/display instructions.

We are very pleased with the entries this year and look forward to putting together a wonderful exhibition.

"Ladies Lunch" and "Feeder Cattle" got into the show. These are similar paintings, and would look lovely hung together in a country vet's office, don't you think?

Painting of the Week - Epcot Beach with Seagulls

Painting of the Week - Lucy

Friend Barbara's dog, Lucy. I am so surprised that I was able to actually capture her sweet expression in her eyes. It truly looks like her. The photo used for the painting was taken at an odd angle, but she is a full size lab.

Painting of the Week - Xmas Cactus

Not happy with my class work last night. Everything just turned to mud. So, I enhanced it in my picture editing software.

Painting of the Week - Fence with Pumpkin on Wagon

Painting of the Week - 'Gourd Pot with Iron Vessel and Wood Bowl'

Paintings of the Weekend

Time spent in the studio this weekend. Below, is a scene from Sedona at Talaqapaque.

Another view of the berries and fruit..



And my favorite... A blatant copy of a painting by my favorite painter, Mel Stabin.

Painting of the Week - 'Berries'

Loss and Gain

Loss and Gain

When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.

I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.

But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Painting of the Week - 'Outhouse'

Painting of the Week - Goat Holding Up Wall

The finished goat painting this week:

Last week's work:

Signature Status

I'm IN!!!! Yeah!!!

I submitted three matted paintings to the Central Ohio Watercolor Society (c.O.W.S.) jury process on Saturday. This is a tough group to get in to. Applications for membership are only offered once a year. I left the paintings with the jury about 1pm, and was to return at 4 to pickup my paintings. There were approximately 10 applicants this year. I did get a chance to peek at my competition. I thought I had a good chance.

My former teacher (Charlie) who was on the jury, later confided in me that I was in and that I had one of the top scores! He wasn't supposed to tell, but have to wait for the official letter in the mail.... Of the 10 people trying to get in, 3 made it.

Now I can add the c.O.W.S. to my signature on my paintings!!! How fitting on my painting of the cattle!

Last Walk of October

Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk

High and dry.....

Last Harvest

Painting of the Week - 'The Boys with Calf'

Painting of the Week - 'Malabar Pony'

Painting of the Week - 'Punkins'

Quotes

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

Maureen Dowd

If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
Mary Engelbreit

Malabar Farm State Park

In the rolling countryside of Richland County, Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and dedicated conservationist, created his dream -- Malabar Farm. Inspired by his love of the land, Bromfield restored the rich fertility of the farmlands and preserved the beauty of the woodlands. He built a 32-room country home, where his family, friends and neighbors could share the pleasure of life on the farm.

Malabar Farm was built in 1939 and was his home until his death in 1956. On May 21, 1945, Bromfield hosted Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall's wedding and honeymoon at Malabar Farm.

Holding up the wall?