Inside Out

Carol Marine Workshop

2010-08-27T16:53:00.007-04:00

(Carol...painting during a morning demo)

Last week my good friend, Brenda Ferguson, and I had the awesome opportunity to participate in one of Carol Marine's workshops. Carol, a daily painter, trekked from Texas to South Freeport, Maine where fifteen artists were lucky enough to spend three days soaking in all she had to offer. Challenging as it was at times (okay...most of the time!), I had an absolute blast and came away with a wealth of information.

Thanks, Carol!

Scroll on to see my efforts from Carol's workshop assignments...

Our first exercise was to set up and paint a still life of our choice.

We had one hour to complete this task.

We then moved on to timed exercises in values using only burnt umber.

The idea here was to create a still life set up which showed a dominant amount of one value, a lesser amount of another, and a 'smidge' of a third...and then paint it as such!

Here, we divided a small panel (this was just 7x5) into six sections. We were given a set time (10 minutes/section) to repeatedly paint the same subject - hoping for improvement, of course. Being that I had to 'wipe' my first attempt in the top left, I'd say this was a valuable exercise for me!

(no pun intended!)

This was my final painting on the last day.

Fun to do, but not quite the end result I was hoping for.

I was beat...yet exhilarated!

Shortly after returning home, I decided to attempt one last painting of the same little cherry from the workshop (the tomatoes had run their course!). Though it was done on a panel, rather than my usual paste paper background, I did switch from oils back to the comfort of my acrylics for this one.

Still Point Art Gallery

2010-07-16T18:44:00.013-04:00

Seven of my paintings are currently featured as part of

Still Point Art Gallery's
latest online exhibit titled

American Portraits: Diversitiy in Our Land.

"This exhibition celebrates diversity in America through the genre of portraiture. Artists were encouraged to think about diversity in America in its broadest sense. The result is what you see...portraits of elderly men and women, children at play, people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, people with different lifestyles, different pastimes, different issues, different blessings. It's like a walk up Fifth Avenue, Chicago Avenue, Hollywood Boulevard, or Bourbon Street. Lots of individuals...no two are alike."

This exhibition will remain a featured exhibition through

August 10, 2010

and will remain online until August 10, 2011.

Six of my paintings are featured on page 5 with a seventh on page 8.

To view the exhibit click here

Mazza in Maine!

2010-06-27T13:55:00.010-04:00

I had the pleasure of hosting

46 delightful guests

from Findlay, Ohio

for one quick hour

in my home and studio.

All were participants of the

2010 Mazza Summer Study Tour

(see my previous post for more info).

What a wonderful time we had!

The HUGE tour bus arrived in our tiny village...

and the crowd gathered outside our home.

They made their way up to my studio...

where I gave a quick tour.

My guests browsed about...

and made a few purchases...

before heading back to the bus.

A good time was had by all!

Sadly, all good times must come to an end.

My thanks to all for a most memorable day!

And, a special thanks to Erin, Bren and Cheryl for your help in making the day run smoothly

and for photographing the event.

Mazza Summer Study Tour

2010-04-15T20:38:00.002-04:00

2010 Mazza State of Maine Summer Study Tour

I am excited to be part of the 15th Annual Mazza Summer Study Tour scheduled for the week of June 15-22, 2010. Each year a different state is selected for the tour, and this year the great state of Maine is their destination of choice! The purpose of all of their tours is to visit artists in their studios/homes. The tour group of approximately 40 participants will be spending the month of April and May researching, studying and otherwise preparing for all of the artist/authors they will be visiting. Most of the participants are docents and gallery hosts of the Mazza Museum (located in Findlay, Ohio) which houses thousands of pieces of international art from picture books. The group will be flying into Boston where they will board a bus to begin their week long tour of Maine while visiting with 15 Maine authors and illustrators. I'm not quite sure how the tour bus will manage on our town's tiny back roads, but I'm excited and honored to have the group as guests in our home!

NHSLMA Conference 2010

2010-03-12T12:32:00.005-05:00

NHSLMA Conference

(New Hampshire School Library Media Association Conference)

May 20th and 21st, 2010

at the

Radisson Hotel

Nashua, NH

I have been honored with an invitation to present at this year's NHSLMA Conference where I will be a keynote speaker on Friday, May 21, 2010. I will follow up with a small group breakout session that afternoon. I love talking books, so this should be fun!

Other conference presenters include

Pam Berger (http://www.infosearcher.com/),

Chris Demarest (http://chrisdemarest.blogspot.com/)

and Roland Smith (http://www.rolandsmith.com/).

To find out more about my books, head over to my site.

Conversation Peace in progress

2010-01-24T12:49:00.017-05:00

By the time I figured out the composition for my painting, Conversation Peace, I had managed to build it up into this huge undertaking in my mind...a dangerous place for ones head to be prior to stepping up to the easel. In order to lighten the mood and keep my fears at bay, I came up with an idea to keep things moving forward. I decided to quickly photograph my progress at fifteen minute intervals with the hope that it would keep me from getting bogged down with details and over thinking each stroke of the brush. I had no plans at the time to share these photos, so I wasn't concerned with the quality (something I now regret given the change of light in my studio as the afternoon wore on). I did email the photos to an artist friend of mine once I had completed the painting, however, and she encouraged me to post the progression for others who may be interested. So, here are a few shots from along the way...

I began by selecting a piece of my paste paper. Since each sheet (previously created) is different, I spent some time choosing a piece that seems to have the right flow of pattern and colors to serve as a base for the painting. This is important, since I never know ahead of time just how much, or, how little an impact the surface may have on the final piece. Once I made my selection, I quickly blocked in the composition with a few lines. Then I jumped in and began!

Ta-dah!

Conversation Peace

Thomas College Exhibit and Reception

2010-01-16T14:31:00.010-05:00

On Friday, January 15th

Thomas College hosted an opening reception for my solo exhibit

on display through March 4, 2010.

I was thrilled to be joined by friends and family who gathered to view my art...

discuss the process...

and purchase an autographed book or two.

What a wonderful evening.

Thanks to all of you (from near and far!) who made it so.

The exhibit is located in the library

at 180 West River Road, Waterville, Maine.

It is open to the public

Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.