Stretching, stapling and gessoing the mother of all canvases!

I spent my evenings last week stretching and stapling a 48" x 96" canvas for my painting Rhododendron Explosion, and now I'm working on the gessoing. It's the mother of all canvases--at least for me!

Stretching and stapling this canvas
Gessoing this canvas
The frame for this canvas

~ I will keep the brush happy in my hand ~

Announcing My New Book: Power of the Wind!

Hello Friends,

I've taken the brave step into self-publishing and created my first book! Power of the Wind is the story of my three-year journey to create a series of paintings about wind energy. Just click the link below to preview it in my bookstore.

For all my wind energy friends who haven't been able to purchase a painting due to tight economic times, consider purchasing the book instead! You'll be able to see the whole collection of paintings and read how each one was inspired. The price is very reasonable at just $23 for a softcover copy, or $34 for a hardcover copy with dust jacket. The publisher will ship directly to you in a very timely manner! It makes a great gift!

So take care and let me know how you like it!

Sincerely, Marie Wise

~Yes, wind has a color, and it is the rainbow! ~

Power of the Wind

Marie Wise

By Marie Wise

Book Preview

Getting ready to stretch a large canvas

Frame for Rhododendron Explosion - 48" x 96"

Read how I almost shot my eye out with the staple gun!

Painting at the Lake on June 28

Done en plein air at Lake Sacajawea

around 1:00 pm, June 28, 2009

oil on linen panel - 11" x 14"

It was a beautiful Sunday so we headed for Lake Sacajawea to practice what we learned at the Mitch Baird painting workshop. Plus, the water lilies are in full bloom. I love water lilies.

Painting water lilies is easier said than done. I don't know if the principles of value, shape and distance apply when painting water and water reflections? Allan and I were both about as frustrated as we've ever been on a painting trip. I think my painting is a dud. Worth scraping off, in my opinion, but I saved it as a learning experience. Here's Allan's painting. It has an impressionist feel.

Part of the reason may be that we were both painting in full sun, at noon. It must have muted the colors, becuase neither one of us could figure out what color we were using. All my darks were too dark and my lights were too light. Next time I'll sit in the shade.

So here it is. I'll let you be the judge.

~ The brush wasn't happy in my hand today ~

Ann's Rhody

Ann's Rhody - 16 x 20 - oil on canvas

Finished at last. The background morphed from what I'd originally envisioned. Thank you to Ann Chaikin of Bellingham, Wa., who granted permission to work from her beautiful photo. You can also see it on her blog.

I started this painting as a demonstration at the Salal Spring Arts Festival. I thought it would be quick work to finish it at home. Boy was I wrong. Maybe if I'd worked more consistently instead of taking a Mitch Baird painting workshop, started another painting, and compulsively watching all the Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett specials on TV, I might have finished it sooner.

But oh well. I like the finished product. I added it to my collection of Rhododendron paintings.

Here's the painting Allan just finished. I love the composition. He practiced his Mitch Baird painting skills.

Now I need to get busy and finish the painting I started while I was still in the middle of this one!

~ I will keep the brush happy in my hand! ~

Therese Tice's painting ~ longing for the tropics!

A friend finished her teaching schedule for the year and jetted off to Hawaii. While there she visited artists and did all the fun-in-the-sun activities I wish I could do. She sent me this painting by an artist she'd met; Therese Tice. It seems so familiar. There used to be a Hawaiian store in Kalama, and I recall seeing a print resembling this painting. Of course, the store went out of business long ago, so I can't check, and I haven't been to Hawaii in ages. I Googled Therese Tice and didn't find anything, so I decided to give Therese's painting it's first Web exposure!

I like this painting, it feels comfortable, like someone I know painted it. If anyone knows about Therese Tice's artwork, let me know and I'll link to it.

Aside from that, I've had little time for painting. My father has been ill, I'm getting ready for a family reunion, and the flowers need watering every evening. Hopefully I can get back to painting soon.

World's Oldest Blogger
I haven't been so busy though, that I missed a Time magazine article about Maria Amelia Lopez, the world's oldest blogger at 97. They called her Spain's granny blogger (she was from Spain). Sadly, she died recently, but it just goes to show, connecting via the Web is for any age. Good for you, Maria!

Here's her blog ~ in Spanish: http://amis95.blogspot.com/
Here's the CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/22/spain.world.oldest.blogger/
Here's the Times article: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6344077.ece

~ I will keep this blog happy in my hands! ~

Mary's Poppies, At Last

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas

I'm not sure why it is that life rarely turns out the way you want it to, expect it to, or hope it will. It must be God's way of showing us who's in charge. It's also probably why I never won the Powerball.

So Mary's Poppies was, and is, an unexpected blossoming of painted shapes. It was unplanned, for the most part, without a map or photo to guide me.

For Mary. The one who always (well almost always) makes me smile. I love you!

~ I will keep the brush happy in my hand ~

Here's the painting progress:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7

I had no idea I'd painted so many poppies, but here they all are!

• Poppy Quilt
• Poppy Quilt 2
• Five Poppies
• Shirley Poppies
• White Matilija Poppies
• Quick Poppy Study

Plein Air Painting Workshop by Mitch Baird

Mitch Baird painting (photo 1)

Mitch Baird's painting (photo 2)

My painting set up (photo 3)

Allan painting (photo 4)

My painting (last photo)

I did this painting today at a Plein Air Painting Workshop by Mitch Baird. Allan and I have never done a workshop, but after seeing Mitch's paintings at Art on the Boulevard and discovering he was teaching a workshop this weekend, we decided to give it a try.

We've loved Mitch's work since we first saw it. The paintings are so simple and fresh--like I've always wished I could paint. The workshop solidified two important concepts for me: simplifying shapes, and identifying values.

The workshop was on Sauvie Island. Mitch did a demonstration first, then we each did our own painting while Mitch gave advice. He helped me with perspective, which I always struggle with, and how to break up planes so a person's eyes move around the painting. He's also a master at smudging edges! Mine tend to get to sharp.

I've been painting all my life and I feel like I had the most to learn of everyone in the group! One thing is for sure, the simplicity of a beautiful painting is incredibly complex. Complex in that it's hard to capture, and has nothing to do with details.

The last picture above is my painting. Not even worth a frame, if you ask me, but a valuable learning experience. Also, I can't even claim it as my own, since Mitch helped so much. So I'll use it as my first example of a workshop painting! Hopefully there'll be more!

I met some other inspirational artists, Celeste Bergin and Sandra Longmore. And I discovered I need a better easel set up. More art supplies!

~I will keep the brush happy in my hand~

Painting another Rhody at the Salal Spring Arts Festival

Ann's Rhody (Rhody #11) - 16 x 20 - oil on canvas

The 2009 Salal Spring Arts Festival at Lower Columbia College kicked off the official launch of this year's edition of The Salal Review, the college's literary and arts magazine. I was honored this year when the team of students and faculty advisors that produce the magazine selected my painting of a Rhododendron for the cover artwork!

It was fitting that I demonstrate painting a Rhody at the festival, even though I didn't finish the painting that day (nor have I finished it since). Here's what it looked like on Saturday, May 30 during the festival. I've worked on it every night since, but it's still not done.

Back in 2003-04 I completed ten paintings of Rhododendrons. I was inspired to do another by Ann Chaiken's photo of a rhody on flickr.com. Ann agree to share her photo with me and it became the inspiration for this painting.

To top it off, Allan bought me a humongous set of stretcher bars on sale at Utrecht: 4 feet tall by 8 feet long!! My plan is to paint an oversize Rhody floral to grace my livingroom. I want to call it Rhododendron Explosion. We'll see if I can realize this goal, because it will be the biggest painting I've ever done. The next largest is Riverwatch, at 2-1/2 feet tall by 8 feet long. I completed this painting in 2004 after we moved into our new home, but it was done on three separate panels.

So I better stop yackin' and get to work!

~I will keep the brush happy in my hand!~

Doreen and her Paintings

Doreen is 86, subscribes to my blog, and e-mails me often. We've never met, but I love hearing about her painting and gardening. I decided to post the three pictures she sent me recently. The top two are paintings she's done, followed by her own smiling picture.

Doreen, I hope I can do as well as you when I'm 86! I know a lot of seniors younger than you who think a mouse is that fuzzy gray creature the cat chases after, have no idea what a blog is, nor would they even consider joining an online social network.

So here's to all the members of the Silent Generation who (by leaps and bounds) are using the Internet, sending e-mail, reading blogs, watching online videos and participating in social networking. Good for you!

Doreen my friend, you are breaking the glass ceiling!

~I will keep the brush happy in my hand~

Doreen said that!

The Green Paper and my Klondike Wind Painting

Klondike Wind Turbines - oil on panel - 11 x 14

Tracy Laine stopped by my office last week and saw the postcard advertising my Power of the Wind show last January that featured this painting on the cover. She asked if I'd give permission to include it in the next issue of The Green Paper, a free monthly publication in Oregon and SW Washington. So I said, sure!

The Green Paper is all about renewable, recyclable and green information. It's published by Mollie Riley in Clatskanie, Oregon. The Green Paper blog is out-of-date, but the articles I read in the May issue seemed relevant to increased awareness of green issues such organic coffee, raw foods lifestyle, edible flowers and American's energy future.

My artwork appeared on the back cover of the paper, with this caption:

Local artist Marie Wise of Kalama, captures the power and beauty of wind energy in her oil painting entitled "Klondike Wind Turbines". For more information on this painting or other works of art by Marie Wise, visit www.mariewise.com.

So thank you to Tracy Laine and The Green Paper for featuring my artwork in the May issue!

Here's the painting on my online wind gallery

Here's the painting on ReImaginations (online wind energy gallery)

Here's another painting of a Klondike Wind Turbine

Here's the blog post on my Power of the Wind show

~I will keep the brush happy in my hand~

Quick Poppy Study

Quick Poppy Study - watercolor - 7" x 9"

I'm starting a new painting, you guessed it, poppies again. I just bought a set of Daniel Smith quinacridone watercolors, so I decided to try them out.
Quinacridones are transparent, extremely vibrant warm colors. Mixing them with other colors, or glazing them on top of colors, makes everything pop.
This little study gives me a feel for the larger red poppies I'm putting into the new 30 x 40 oil painting. I have to wash the colors on big and bold, and worry about the details later, which is sort of counter-intuitive for me; considering I can get carried away with details in a hurry.
So hopefully I can loosen up!

~I will keep the brush happy in my hand~

Painting at Lake Sacajawea on May 23

Done en plein air at Lake Sacajawea
11 am, May 23, 2009

oil on linen panel - 11" x 14"

Another beautiful weekend and maybe the last chance to paint yellow irises this season. We set up on a shady bank facing the Kessler side, with reflections of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in the water. I liked the spot because the water was calm.

The irises posed so nicely, they didn't even move once! A little brown duck even floated back and forth for me. I know he wanted to be in the painting so I obliged!

I like how it turned out, sort of capturing the moment, but not too fussy. I refuse to touch up my plein air paintings when I get home. It sort of defeats the purpose of capturing the moment, plus I'm tired by that point and have brushes to clean.

I won't be able to paint next weekend, I'll be at the Salal Spring Arts Festival demonstrating a painting of a Rhododendron, inspired by a photo taken by Anne Chaikin, a wonderful photographer I met on flickr. Anne's screen name is Paint and Shoot!

And finally, Suzanne Amodio, another flickr artist, asked if I could mention her on my blog, so that's what I'm doing. Thanks for sharing your work with me!

~I will keep the brush happy in my hands~

My Painting on The 2009 Salal Review

Rhody - 24 x 30 - oil on canvas - 2003 (top)
The 2009 Salal Review - cover artwork (bottom)

I was honored this year when students and faculty advisors at Lower Columbia College selected my painting for the cover of the college's literary and arts magazine, The Salal Review.

The 2009 issue will be officially released at a launch party in the Student Center at the college on May 30 at 5:00 pm. I can't wait to get my copy and see the other artwork inside, plus read the stories and poems. I know one person who's poem was accepted and she is so excited to be published!

I read all of the previous issues of The Salal Review I could get my hands on, and found the selection of stories and poems to be thought-provoking, sensitive and inspiring. I think the students and faculty do a wonderful job with this publication, and I'm honored to grace the cover.

More about The Salal Review

Rhody in my online gallery

~ I will keep the brush happy in my hand ~

Coco's Poppies

Coco's Poppies - size unknown

My friend Coco subscribes to my e-mail list, and after seeing my poppy painting progress, she shared her own poppy paintings! If you've ever seen Coco's artwork, you know it's big, bold and textural. And not necessarily done with traditional art materials. But that just goes to show you, artists cannot be pegged into a pre-defined pattern.

Since Mary's Poppies is almost finished, I've been thinking about the next painting. I want to paint another poppy, but how exactly, I'm not sure yet.

So in the meantime, I'm sharing Coco's work with you. Coco, you need to start blogging ! Here's more about Coco.

~SeeYaLater!

We will keep the brush happy in our hands!

Mary's Poppies ~ Day 7, and the banana bread

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas - Day 7 (top image)

My banana bread (bottom image)

~The painting is coming together, but I've been so busy that I haven't done much painting lately. Today I spent most of the day cleaning the deck outside my art studio and getting my planters ready to plant poppy seeds I ordered from the One Stop Poppy Shoppe. I tell you, online shopping for poppy seeds couldn't have been easier. I placed my order on a Tuesday and on Friday the seeds arrived, together with planting instructions and a lovely thank you card from the company. I planted them today and hopefully by September I'll have poppy inspirations for more paintings.

I also made a Crock-Pot bean with bacon soup from our Easter ham bone, and banana bread with two uber-ripe bananas. It turned out yummy. Here's the recipe, handed down in the 70's from my Dad's friend Sallie Schott.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1-1/4 cups mashed banana

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

You can add some applesauce and sour cream if your bananas don't equal 1-1/4 cups.

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add the flour, baking soda, salt cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Add in the mashed bananas and combine. Stir in the raisins and walnuts/pecans.

Pour into one greased loaf pan. Bake 350 degrees for one hour, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool for a while, then slice and serve. Yum!

Yesterday we painted at Lake Sacajawea, and I already posted my painting, but here's Allan's painting of the yellow irises. He finished it up at home.

Here's the poppy painting progress:

See Day 1

See Day 2

See Day 3

See Day 4

See Day 5

See Day 6

E-mail me if you'd like to subscribe to my list.

Painting at Lake Sacajawea ~ and carrot cake!

Done en plein air at Lake Sacajawea
11 am, May 16, 2009
oil on linen panel - 11" x 14"

The weatherman said we could expect 80 degrees this weekend, so Allan and I got up early on Saturday, had coffee, and headed for my favorite painting spot at Lake Sacajawea. I was all ready to paint just the yellow irises and their reflections in the water that I'd scoped out earlier in the week. But seeing Allan against the water, combined with bright greens and yellows changed my mind, and I decided to put him in the painting. I had to work fast, because he doesn't sit still long. I think I captured it, just like one of those Impressionist paintings of artists painting in the grass. ~Viola.

While I was painting, Mary called and asked for the carrot cake recipe I made for her birthday, so here it is:

Carrot Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups grated carrot
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chpped walnuts

Get ready:
Grate the carrots. Drain the pineapple but reserve the juice. Chop the walnuts.

Mix:
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add carrots, oil and eggs. Beat with a mixer until well combined. If mixture seems dry, add pineapple juice bit by bit. Mix in the drained crushed pineapple, coconut, raisins and walnuts.

Bake:
Pour into two bread pans (8x4x2) that have been sprayed really well with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack. When completely cool, frost with Cream Cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar (or more if desired)

Beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar until frosting is spreadable.

Divide frosting in half, spread top of each cake with frosting and swirl around.

Refrigerate to firm up the frosting. Slice and serve. YUM!

Freezes very well, just wrap up in plastic wrap and foil. I like to put one in the freezer, so I can just slice off a piece once in a while and have it for dessert. I think I'll do that tonight!

Longview and Kelso student artwork

We attended the opening reception for the Longview/Kelso Secondary Schools Art Show. There were so many wonderful artworks, I can't believe how talented young people are today. I snapped a few photos, mainly of paintings that inspired me enough to take a second look. In my opinion, the very best work by far was the pastel painting of a black crow (see top image). It reminds me of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Mary's Poppies - Day 6, and Doreen's Poppies

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas - Day 6 (top)

Doreen Fitzgibbon's Poppy painting (bottom)

~Work continues on my painting, bit by bit. I'm still blocking in the background colors and shapes.

One of my mailing list subscribers e-mailed me today to share that I'd inspired her to create her own poppy painting. See Doreen Fitzgibbon's painting (above). Doreen says she's 86 years old, still working in her garden (planting over a thousand flower plants) and painting! Wow! I hope I'm doing as well at that age. Thanks for sharing your work with me, Doreen! I love your painting.

In Doreen's words "We will keep the brush happy in our hands!"

On another painting note, Allan's been painting his blue glass, and his view from the Port. Lucky guy!

See Day 1
See Day 2
See Day 3
See Day 4
See Day 5

E-mail me if you'd like to subscribe to my list.

Mary's Poppies - Day 5

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas

Day 5

~More blocking in of background and poppies. The little art deco shapes are getting more definition. I'm using a lot of Cadmium Red and Alizarin Crimson. It's a slow process, but I accomplish a little more each day.

See Day 1

See Day 2
See Day 3

See Day 4

Compare to another poppy painting I did

Mary's Poppies - Day 4

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas
Day 4

~ I started adding colors to the top left of the painting. The poppies are taking shape, along with the art deco quilt shapes in the background.

See Day 1
See Day 2

See Day 3
Compare to another poppy painting I did

Mary's Poppies - Day 3

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas

Day 3

~I bl0cked in the green stem and leaf shapes. Did you notice that another poppy has appeared?

See Day 1

See Day 2

Compare to another poppy painting I did

Mary's Poppies - Day 2

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas
Day 2

~Today I blocked in the poppy shapes with Cadmium Red and Ivory Black. I wanted to get a feel for the shapes within the canvas space. I also added some Klimt-like art deco design elements that Mary requested: squares, circles and swirls. So far so good !

Compare to Day 1

Compare to another poppy painting I did

Mary's Poppies - Day 1

Mary's Poppies - 30 x 40 - oil on canvas

Day 1

Mary has a new little place that needs some color. I offered to make a big bright painting for her living room.

I brought over several canvases and we picked out one that fit best. Then she and I sat on the floor with our glasses of wine and sketched out the composition with brown and orange conte. We used a big jug of fake poppies for inspiration. The cat knocked it over twice.

When I got home I roughed in the drawing with Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Blue oil paint thinned with Liquin to a sort of greenish yellow. From there I plan to start blocking in the colors.

I'll post each day's progress, until Mary's Poppies is finished. Then we hope to have an unveiling, along with some wine and snacks!

Have you Ever Done It on Yupo?

Camellias - 8 x 10 - on Yupo paper (top)

Camellias - 8 x 10 - on hot-press watercolor paper (second)

Camellia - 2.5 x 3.5 - on Strathmore trading card paper (third)

Yupo (fourth)

An artist friend asked for help in using his digital camera. During our visit he asked me if I'd ever painted on Yupo paper. I said I'd tried it once, but wasn't that familiar with it. We talked about it for a while.

So like telling a child not to do something, I had to go and do it. That is, paint something on Yupo. You can see the result in the top image. It was like painting on glass and took me a week. Every night I'd come home and add more paint, but it was more like subtracting paint, because every stroke of the brush took off what was underneath. In my opinion, it ended up looking like a pile of mud.

Because I'd intended this painting for a birthday gift, I couldn't very well give someone a pile of mud, so I had to do it over again. This time I used hot-press watercolor paper (second image). The inspiration came from Bev Jozwiak, the watercolor artist who told me she pretty much paints in one shot, that is; no tedious layer after layer. In my last post I wrote (in reference to Bev Jozwiak), "I figure if she can do it, so can I." Now I'm not claiming to be anywhere near the watercolorist Bev Jozwiak is, but it's amazing how a few words of advice from one artist can influence another. This painting took only one day!

The third image is just a small trading-card sized painting I'll use as the birthday card to accompany the birthday gift.

And the last image is, you guessed it - Yupo paper!

So I'll leave it up to you, do you like the hot-press version, or the Yupo version? Post your reply as a comment to this post. Whatever you tell me will influence my next watercolor.

See the photos that inspired these paintings.

Staring Back: Portraiture at the Sixth Street Gallery

Opening Reception for Staring Back: Portraiture at the Sixth Street Gallery

The opening reception was well attended. The paintings were wonderful, by far the best we've seen this year at the Sixth Street Gallery. There were so many wonderful portraits. We had a chance to talk to Marcus Gannuscio and he posed for a picture in front of his largest painting (top image).

You can see my painting (second from bottom). Yup, that's me in the red scarf, thus the name of my painting: Red Scarf!

Afterwards we walked uptown to the Aurora Gallery and met the artist Bev Jozwiak. Her watercolors are so inspiring. She also paints in acrylic. I always thought good watercolor paintings involved applying tedious layers of watered-down paint. But Bev said she pretty much paints them in one shot. How intriguing! I came home and got out my watercolors. I figure if she can do it, so can I. We'll see.

Red Scarf

Red Scarf - 18 x 24 - oil on canvas (top)

Detail from Red Scarf (bottom)

Red Scarf is my third portrait of the year. Right now I'm not sure I'll do another. Portraits are excruciating, exhausting and time consuming. The slightest error can wreak havok, and they require intense concentration. This painting entailed many layers of glazed colors, plus late-stage corrections to the eyes, mouth and nose. Yup, you guessed it, that's me.

Red Scarf will be on display at the Staring Back: Portraiture exhibit at the Sixth Street Gallery in May. On delivery day Allan and I marveled at all the wonderful portraits accepted into the show. They made mine seem insignificant, particularly the life size portraits by Marcus Gannuscio. Marcus showed next to me back in December 2007 at the now defunct Rake Gallery in Portland. I thought he was extraordinarily talented then, and still do.

We plan to attend the opening reception tomorrow night and I'll snap some pictures and post them here. Stay tuned. I think I'll wear a red scarf!

Camellias and Shell

Camellias and Shell - 12 x 16 - oil on panel

Seeing the paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art left me with a new painting resolve. All the artists I admire painted things, places and people that were integral parts of their lives. Monet's water lilies, Cezanne's mountainscapes, Van Gogh's irises, even Bonnard's kitchen table were simple statements about things these artists saw every day. They didn't have photos, computers, or in many cases even tubed paints. Often they painted from memory. Yet their masterpieces now grace museums and take my breath away.

After we got back from New York I took a walk to get the cramps out of my legs. The camellias in front of Joe and Pat's house were blooming like crazy. Since Joe and Pat spend their winters in a warmer clime' I wondered who'd appreciate their flowers, and I snipped a handful to set up in my studio. I thought about all the paintings I'd seen and how I might adopt a simpler painting philosophy, like Pierre Bonnard, the featured artist at the Met who painted most everything from sketches or memory.

Here's the painting that resulted. I didn't use any photos, sketches, or other aides. I just painted what I saw, much from memory since the camellia blooms fell off after just one day.

Klimt's Bloch-Bauer at the Neue Galerie

Me, at the Neue Galerie (top)

My sketch of the shapes I saw in the Bloch-Bauer portrait

My trip to New York wasn't complete without a visit to the Neue Galerie, home to the $135 million Klimt painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

• Klimt's $135 Mil. Bloch-Bauer Portrait Lights Up Neue Galerie
• Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer on Wikipedia

In 2006 Ronald Lauder of the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune purchased the painting from Maria Altmann (descendent of Adele Bloch-Bauer) for his Neue Galerie in New York City, for a record setting price of $135 million. See above links for the painting's history.

I paid the $15 admission fee to the Neue Galerie just to see the the Klimt. Amazing. Awesome. Fabulous. I always thought Klimt painted in a loose, brushy fashion. I was surpised to see how delicate his work was. The flesh was translucent, extremely delicate, and had to have been done with small brushes. The Bloch Bauer painting was magnificent, as were the other Klimts I saw in the Metropolitan and MOMA.

The security guard standing watch at the Neue adamantly stated that no photography was allowed. Darn. So my only option was to pull out a Warwick Hotel note pad and sketch every shape I saw in the painting. Viola, my sketch (above), done on location at the Neue Galerie in New York City on April 16, 2009.

Sketching in Central Park

Ink sketches of Central Park views done on Warwick Hotel note paper
April 18, 2009

Our last stop in New York was Central Park. I wanted desperately to take pictures, but the camera battery ran out in one of the museums, and yours truly didn't pack the recharger. What's an artist to do? It was a lovely day, warm, sunny and calm. People were everywhere, but we found a spot on the grass under some trees.

I dug out the Warwick Hotel note pad I'd stashed in my purse and proceeded to sketch the view in every direction while Allan napped. Some 'New Yawkahs' next to us chatted away and I tried not to smile at their accent. I wondered if anyone famous might walk by. Allan woke up and was sure he recognized the black man laying on the grass nearby. He said it was the actor who played Dr. Benton on ER. I wasn't sure. I was looking for David Letterman or Eliot Spitzer, but no one of any repute strolled by. Then a bird pooped right on my purse. Good thing it didn't hit my head! So we gathered up our bags and headed back to the hotel. Time to board the shuttle for JFK.

Goodbye New Yawk. It was nice to visit. I'm sure glad I don't live there! But the trees in Central Park were magnificent and I would have loved to paint there.

Art in the Big Apple

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth (top)
Jackson Pollock (middle)
Reflections of Clouds on Water Lilies by Claude Monet (bottom)
more pictures from our New York Trip on Flickr

Our trip to New York City was fabulous, and exhausting. The goal was to see as much art as possible, and that we did! Along with shopping, sightseeing and a lot of walking.

The highlight was the day we spent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Allan's comment as we entered the European paintings section was, 'We hit the jackpot!" There were whole rooms filled with Monets, Van Goghs and Cezannes (Allan's favorite). We saw several Klimt's, the first Frida Kahlo I'd ever seen, and the magnificent Madame X by John Singer Sargent. We thought we'd died and gone to heaven! And that was just the European paintings. We tried not drool when we saw the Rembrandts, Renoirs and Vermeers. Did I mention Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Picasso, Gauguin and Whistler? I could go on and on, but I'd start sounding like an art history book. My favorite part? The special exhibit by Pierre Bonnard and one painting by Anders Zorn; and the Van Goghs, and the Whistlers, and the Rembrandts......

The Neue Galerie was just down the block. It's home to the $134 million Klimt purchased by Ronald Lauder (heir to Estee Lauder cosmetics). I paid the $15 admission just to see it, and it was well worth it. There were several other Klimts as well and other Austrian art.

We spent time in the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim, both of which had more famous paintings. Allan likes history so we spent a half day at the American Museum of Natural History and saw huge dinosaur bones. Our touristy trek included the Empire State Building, 5th Avenue, FAO Schwartz, Central Park, Times Square and a two-hour cruise in the New York harbor where we had a magnificent view of the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the area where the Twin Towers stood, the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and the United Nations building. The tour guide was hilarious. He told us to feel free to moon Wall Street as we cruised by. Surprisingly, no one did.

We at a Reuben sandwich at Maxie's Deli and walked past the David Letterman theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. The weather was beautiful. We stayed at the Warwick Hotel built by William Randolph Hearst.

All in all it was one of the most memorable trips we've ever taken! Oh, and there were like a bajillion people there so were sure glad to get back to our little burb where you can walk down the street without getting bowled over. Home sweet home.

Salal with Butterfly

Salal with Butterfly - 16 x 16 - oil on canvas (top)

Detail of Butterfly from Salal with Butterfly - ( bottom)

A stress-filled week was followed by a weekend of self-enforced relaxation. Sleeping late, a trip to Portland for art supplies and books, and baking some cookies put me in the mood to try and finish this painting. Try being the operative word. It's by no means finished, nor is it what I originally envisioned--like any painting ever is? But the inspiration came about after reading several issues of Lower Columbia College's literary and arts magazine, The Salal Review.

Allan had to explain what salal is to me. I had no idea. I couldn't even pronounce it correctly. But lo and behold, it's a Northwest plant I've most likely stepped on more than once. So I gathered pictures of salal from my online photo sharing group and created this composition. Adding the butterfly was just, well, me; that is, I love butterflies.

On my art supply run I picked up a dog-eared, sale-rack copy of Hawthorne on Painting, copyright 1938, by the artist's wife Mrs. Hawthorne. The name 'Hawthorne' rang a bell but I have no idea why. Turns out Charles W. Hawthorne founded the Cape Cod School of Art after studying under William Merrit Chase. After reading a few pages I realized why 'Hawthorne' rang a bell. He was one of the inspirations for Susan Sarbach's painting style (and her School of Light and Color), which I've long admired.

Quite simply, Hawthorne describes painting as:

1) 'the mechanics of putting one spot of color next to another---the fundamental thing."

What can be simpler than that? And why is it so gosh darned hard?

I won't bore you with more quips from the book, except for this one, on how to be an artist:

2) "Don't try to be an artist all at once, be very much a student. Be always searching, never settle to do anything you've done before. Always be looking for the unexpected in nature--you can have no formulas for anything; search constantly. Don't learn how to do things, keep on inquiring how."

That's what I hope to accomplish with this painting.

1) J. C. Hawthorne, Hawthorne on Painting, Pitman Publishing Corporation 1938, Dover edition 1960, Charles Webster Hawthorne by Joseph Hawthorne (introduction), xiii

2) same as above, 19

Note: I couldn't find any online reference on how to create a bibliography in a blog post, so I followed the Modern Language Association (MLA) rules for citations.

Decay

Decay - 5 x 7 - graphite on paper

This is my third pencil drawing this year after being inspired to return to the world of detail by Terry Miller and Monica Baustert-Sweetser. The leaf inspiration came from a tramp through the property below ours with my cat to find some old, decaying, yet interesting things that I could draw in black and white. The cat had a great time; I got a lot of mud on my shoes! I found dried up blackberry branches, moldy weeds, a lot of rabbit holes, and other gunk. There were quite a few strewn and decaying leaves from neighboring property owner's trees and I picked up these two to draw. Voila. I also named this series Earth Portraits.

On another note, Allan won an award for his painting Plein Air Pete's, AKA Poker Pete's Pizza at the Columbian Artists 33rd Annual Juried Spring Show. He was surprised and quite proud of himself. Congratulations! Several people commented to us at the opening reception that they love the pizza there, as do we!

And finally, although I haven't accomplished much lately, I did sell my painting Dande Wind through REimaginations. It was purchased by someone at the Ontario Energy Board in Canada. I hope they like it!

Poseidon - fini

Poseidon - 18 x 24 - oil on canvas (top)
Study for Poseidon - 9 x 12 - gouache on paper (bottom)

Poseidon is finished at last and ready for the Columbian Artists Association 33rd Annual Spring Juried show, coming up next week. I'm also entering Klimt Scarf, my first portrait done this year (Poseidon is my second).

My model, the mighty Sea God himself, critiqued the final painting stages and advised against adding dripping blood to the pointy tips of his trident, as I'd done in the study. "Don't get carried away," he said, while graphically demonstrating how he'd go about spearing a naughty human with that very same trident!

I take it he's satisfied with the result, as am I, although not that happy with the overall process, which was tedious. My medium mixtures have already been adjusted in my third portrait, to be shared later.

The murky blue-green sea depths and more translucent water at the top are what I was trying to convey, as if he is emerging from the sea floor to say, this is my turf!

With that, I think I'll dare to ask Mr. mighty Sea God himself if he can fix that leaking faucet downstairs? !

See also: Stage one of Poseidon

Coco Blackburn at Eleven O'49

Coco Blackburn - Divine Recollections
Eleven O'49 Studio & Gallery

February 23 - March 21, 2009

We drove to downtown Milwaukee for my friend Coco's painting and mixed-media artist reception at Eleven O'49 Studio & Gallery. One thing about Coco--she loves to make art with materials you'd never think of as art materials. Plywood, copper, canvas, caulk, fabric, screen, nails, screws, wire, branches, latex house paint and glow-in-the-dark paint, you name it, she uses it. Then you stand in front of it and go wow! It's almost as if a different person created each piece.

A gallery manager told me recently that gallery managers look for consistency in an artist's body of work; whether it has uniformity in style, subject and presentation. It makes me wonder whether a body of work can be consistent in its inconsistency? Because I struggle with that concept; consistency. I mean, how can an artist do the same thing all the time? It gets boring after a while. Artists have to expend tremendous energy creating a body of work, and sometimes before it's finished, we move onto something better. The whole process means improving as an artist, which naturally leads to better (and different) artwork. So we're left with either a lot of different bodies of work, or unfinished bodies of work; voila the inconsistency.

For sure Coco is doing that and in my opinion she could teach me a thing or two. So good for you Coco. Keep up the great work. I love your art because it is consistently you!

If you have time see Coco's show, the address is 11049 SE 21st in downtown Milwaukee, Oregon. A quaint little place I might visit again sometime. See ya 'round, Coco!

Save the Bats

Save the Bats - 5 x 7 - graphite

A small pencil drawing about bats in keeping with my idea to create a series of drawings about environmental subjects. Inspired by two graphite artists I discovered recently: Terry Miller and Monica Baustert-Sweetser. I mentioned Terry Miller in my post on Coal Plant last month. Monica's ad about botanical portraits in Art Business News led me to her website and subsequent interest in her drawings.

The intensive process of stroking a sharpened pencil across a piece of paper thousands of times in an effort to create a recognizable composition has the ability to stop time and calm my mind. It's like entering a time warp where nothing exists except the artwork. Back in high school (a long time ago) my best friend Irene and I spent whole weekends creating detailed pencil drawings. Today our lives and jobs are far removed from the art world, but I know the artist still lives in us.

This drawing is an improvement over Coal Plant. I maintained a more delicate touch with the blacks, building them up by holding back on the softest black pencils until the end. That's the hardest part; patience.

Dave, here's your wind turbine!

Poseidon - Portrait #2 - Getting Started

Poseidon - 18 x 24 - oil on panel (top image)

Poseidon - close up of face (bottom image)

Ever since I read a Newsweek article about Kehinde Wiley, who paints urban black men in classical poses juxtaposed against backgrounds of feminine wallpaper, I've been fascinated by the concept of posing a modern-day person in a classical pose in order to tell a unique story.

Thinking about how to paint people so the paintings are more than just 'portraits', it occurred to me that as a girl I was fascinated with Greek gods and goddesses. In fourth grade I friended the scary and ancient librarian lady, who helped me check out lots of age-appropriate mythological story books. I continued reading them through high school. After that I stopped. I have no idea why. Probably because boys were more interesting.

Allan's read a lot of Greek mythology, so I asked him what Greek god he'd like to be, if I were to paint him. Funny question. I thought he'd pick Juno or Atlas. He didn't hesitate for a second before deciding: Poseidon, god of the sea. Thus, this painting was born, Poseidon it was.

He posed by wrapping up in his blue blanket with a shovel for the trident. I snapped about 50 pictures of him looking fierce and scary and finally got one that captured what he felt a portrait of Poseidon would look like.

Here's the progress thus far. The green underpainting is the Verdaccio. The flesh colors are roughed in, and this is by no means a finished painting. I want the flesh to be, well, real, so I did a lot of practicing with the flesh mixtures. In the background I hope to convey a sense of angry ocean depths, with swirling green and blue colors.

My goal is to create more than a portrait of Allan, aka Poseidon, god of the sea. I like to think maybe it's a portrait about how angry the gods are over how we are polluting the ocean. Or something like that.

I'll let the viewer decide.

Klimt Scarf

Klimt Scarf (top image) - 16" x 20" - oil on panel

Study for Klimt Scarf (bottom image) - 9" x 12" - gouache on paper

In keeping with my plan to paint people in 2009, here's my first portrait. Keep in mind it's my first portrait in eons, and I haven't worked out all the intricacies of flesh mixtures yet. But in my opinion it's a benchmark I can use to measure future progress, and I happen to love the model (and that scarf) very much!

I primed this panel with oil-based gesso, creating a smoother surface, while still allowing texture effects. And I didn't use any medium in my paint, which is new for me, resulting in each layer taking several days to dry. I had to find other projects to occupy myself, which led to my pencil explorations.

Also, I didn't paint a Verdaccio, which I will in my next painting. Not having that green map of light and shadow made it difficult to paint the actual shadows.

For the background I smushed a bunch of bright colors around; which was fun! The little goauche study allowed me to work out the light and dark areas, and give me a better idea of what I really wanted to paint, instead of having to guess when I actually started painting.

So for my next painting, already in the works, I want to practice more painterly brushstrokes, and capture more character.

Love/Eros at the Sixth Street Gallery

Love/Eros

Opening Reception
Sixth Street Gallery

We attended the opening reception of this art exhibit celebrating romantic love. My painting of hands was featured on the postcard invitation. You can see it in the first photo, just above the pianist's head.

Jim Martin was the featured gallery artist. His digital photographs were semi-abstract, very colorful and expressive. His information said he is color-blind!

Afterwards we stopped next door and watched glass-blowers make a glass. It was a toasty environment, just right for this chilly February evening.

Coal Plant

Coal Plant - 5 x 7 - graphite on illustration board

My March issue of The Artist magazine had an article about artists over 60. I read it with interest because, well, 60 isn't that far away. One of the artists, Terry Miller, does detailed graphite drawings. I thought that was neat because I used to love to draw, but I haven't done anything in years. So I Googled Terry and found his blog, which inspired me to try a little graphite drawing myself. Here it is: Coal Plant. Since pencil is black and white, I chose a subject that contains a lot of black; coal. Plus it continues my Power of the Wind environmental theme focusing on wind energy. It's definitely cleaner, wind that is, not graphite. I smeared a lot of graphite dust around, but fortunately gum erasers take it right off. I think I'll try another in keeping with an environmental focus, but the subject has to contain black. Bats! Just like Bats, Butterflies and the Wind. Stay tuned.

The New Year - A Clean Studio and Color Charts

Starting out the New Year with a Clean Studio and Color Charts!

My Power of the Wind exhibit at Lower Columbia College ended on January 23, and last week Allan brought home all the paintings. I rearranged my art storage closet so we could store them away. It's the end of an era!

While the show was up my studio felt empty. For almost three years I'd fillled it with wind paintings in various stages of completion, my collection of wind energy magazines and clippings about wind turbines, a miniature model of a wind turbine, and other inspirational paraphernalia. Now it's time for a fresh start.

I spent the month of January cleaning my studio, rearranging the furniture and doing color studies. The first task was to clean out all the accumulated junk and messiness. To accomplish this I bought a Shark steam floor cleaner at Costco and steamed all the drips and paint spatters off my hardwood floor. Then I pulled everthing off the walls and decided to leave them blank. I rearranged the furniture to make optimal use of the window light, and set up a corner for still life arrangements, or for models to pose. Voila, you can see it in the first picture above, including the first painting in progress. Here's how it looked before.

Then I spend the rest of the month making color charts according to Richard Schmid's book, Alla Prima, Everything I Know About Painting. (I was such a good girl Santa brought it for Christmas!) Here's how I did the color charts.

At my Power of the Wind opening reception Ray Cooper (art faculty at Lower Columbia Collage) asked me what my next painting project would be. I replied--something with people! With that in mind I think I'm ready. I have two new paintings in progress, both portraits! You can see the first one in progress in the studio picture above. So here's to a clean studio!

Happy New Year!

Dad and the wind paintings - end of my show

On the last day of my exhibit, Allan brought my father in to see it. Dad is 83 now and has to use a walker, but he made his way all around the exhibit, looking carefully at each painting and reading each story. Afterwards he looked at me with pride and softly said, "congratulations."

It makes me happy to show him my paintings. I remember holding up drawings I'd done of queens and ladies when I was only seven, while he proudly snapped my photo. At eleven I copied a painting by Henri deToulouse-Lautrec (Girl Reading) from one of the Time Life Library of Art books he'd bought me, using a set of Rembrandt pastels he'd picked out for me. He framed that drawing and it hung in our livingroom for many years. At 13, he asked me to hand paint the Christmas cards our family sent out that year.

So even though my eccentric, artistic French mother most likely passed me the artistic gene, it was my father who nurtured, supported and encouraged my artistic endeavors, and enabled me to be the artist I am today.

Thanks, Dad!

~Paint the Wind~

Opening Reception - Power of the Wind

Opening Reception
Power of the Wind
January 8, 2009

Lower Columbia College Art Gallery

Rose Center for the Arts

The opening reception turned out very nice on the evening of January 8. There were just the right amount of people, in spite of the harsh weather we continue to experience here in southwest Washington. Surrounding communities were battling flooding problems, and I realize this may have been the reason some people didn't attend. In spite, I was pleased with the reception and thankful that Lower Columbia College gave me the opportunity to exhibit my wind energy paintings.

Here are more pictures taken that evening:

• Opening reception pictures taken by Allan
• Opening reception pictures taken by Lower Columbia College

For anyone who missed it, here's the article that appeared in the Daily News

• Massive Wind Turbines Inspire Kalama Artist, The Daily News, January 8, 2009

~Paint the Wind~

White Creek Wind

White Creek Wind
oil on canvas
30" x 40"

will be showing at:

Power of the Wind
Lower Columbia College Art Gallery
Rose Center for the Arts
January 8 - 23, 2009
Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

This is my last blog post before the show opens on Thursday. I'm taking a break from everything right now, just to relax and get ready for the show.

This painting is of the White Creek Wind power project as seen from I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge. My neighbor Buzz Ketcham is a Cowlitz PUD commissioner and he told me White Creek was named because of the White Creek valley that winds just north of the project. The creek is seasonal and the valley took a very long time to be created due to seasonal flows of storm water off the high plane in Eastern Klickitat County along State Highway 8. So maybe it's appropriate that I included a'white creek' at the bottom left of the painting!

Buzz also told me that when the PUD started Phase 3 of the White Creek project earlier this year, the Cowlitz PUD decided to avoid confusion by developing a new name. They solicited names from their partners and had a meeting to select one. The 8 or so PUD managers present liked Harvest Wind pretty much immediately. (Harvest Wind is the subject of another of my wind energy painting that will be on display at the show.)

The Harvest Wind project site is 5 miles east of White Creek and involves another 43 turbines. The turbines are being manufactured and will be delivered early in the 3rd qtr of 2009 through the Port of Longview. The PUD intends to have them online by the end of 2009.

That's exciting. I didn't know Harvest Wind was that far along. And I guess it makes total sense that the story I wrote about it relates to my experience at the Port of Longview. You can read that story. and more, at the show!

Hope to see you there!

Paint the Wind, and

Happy New Year!

Harvest Wind

Power of the Wind
Lower Columbia College Art Gallery
Rose Center for the Arts
January 8 - 23, 2009
Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

Harvest Wind
oil on canvas
30" x 40"

(below)

Study for Harvest Wind
8" x 10"

Last August I read a Daily News newspaper story about the Harvest Wind power project the Cowlitz PUD and other partners plan to build. I wondered how exactly they’d come up with the name ‘Harvest Wind,’ and how this project tied into their earlier project, ‘White Creek Wind.’

Since the project doesn’t exist yet, I had no photo references, so I decided to create my own landscape. I turned to Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, Wheat Fields under a Clouded Sky for inspiration. It reminds me of the wheat fields in eastern Washington glowering under a storm-brewing sky. You can just feel the wind.

Allan and I both love Vincent Van Gogh. He painted fields of harvest and clouds moving in the wind. A few of his paintings include the windmills that were used to power grist mills. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I’m convinced that if wind turbines had existed in his time, he’d have painted them with gusto!

See this painting in progress.

This painting will be on display at Power of the Wind in January.

A Holiday Sunflower Wish on this Wintery Weather Day

Holiday Sunflowers - 9" x 12" - oil on panel by Allan and Marie (top)

Wintery Weather Scenes from our Deck (below)

A holiday sunflower wish to you and yours!

Allan and I chose an artistic holiday card this year. Inspired by husband-wife artists, we decided to make a painting together! Allan selected the sunflower theme, based on our summer sunflower garden, and drew the design onto a panel. We took turns painting it. Our strengths compensated for each other's weaknesses, mine being too much fussy detail. All-in-all, we like our painting, had it printed onto a card, and mailed it to our friends and family. Voila.

This week a storm descended on the Northwest. We are snug and safe in our house, with nowhere to go and time to paint! The winter vista is Zhivago-ish in its serenity, but baby it's cold out there! Yesterday I put my car into the ditch. Fortunately there was no damage except a small scrape on my front bumper, in spite of landing just two inches from a city fire hydrant! Thank goodness for the local towing company.

Allan shared on his blog too. Happy Holidays to you and yours! Don't forget my January show:

Power of the Wind
Lower Columbia College Art Gallery
Rose Center for the Arts
January 8 - 23, 2009
Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

Sincerely, Marie
Paint the Wind!

starting a new painting: Harvest Wind

from the top

Harvest Wind - 30 x 40 - on the easel in my studio

Study for Harvest Wind - 8 x 10 - on the mini easel in my studio

Harvest Wind - up close

Harvest Wind - with the first coat of sky colors

Whoa. You're probably looking at this and going--what is that! I admit, I got a little carried away with the red underpainting. My book on classical painting techniques says underpaintings should never be darker than a Level 7, which is equivalent to a pastel pink, not a screaming scarlet. Unfortunately, I read that after I'd put on the underpainting. So carry on I shall.

This is the last painting I'll finish for Power of the Wind. The inspiration came from Vincent Van Gogh's Wheat Fields Under a Clouded Sky, which reminds me so much of the wheat fields in eastern Washington glowering under a storm-brewing sky. It's also inspired by the Harvest Wind project, a Cowlitz PUD wind farm project that if built, will expand the White Creek project near Roosevelt, Washignton (which also inspired my paintings White Creek Wind and Green Wind).

So several of my paintings have ties to Van Gogh, as well as Cowlitz PUD wind farm projects! They will all be on display at:

Power of the Wind

Lower Columbia College Art Gallery

Rose Center for the Arts

January 8 - 23, 2009

Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

Sincerely, Marie

Paint the Wind!

Morning Wind

Power of the Wind
Lower Columbia College Art Gallery
Rose Center for the Arts
January 8 - 23, 2009
Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

Morning Wind
oil on canvas
48" x 60"

(below)

Morning Wind - detail

My latest wind energy painting. The inspiration came from several sources: a painting of a magnificent sunrise I saw in one of my art magazines, the magnificent sunrises we see here in Riverwatch, Allan's heron, and my fascination with water reflections.

I wanted each element of this painting to have equal billing, so I divided it into thirds (sky, sunrise, landforms). Allan's idea to add a heron in the foreground matched my focus of showing wind turbines in the natural environment, and he found the picture of a heron to use for reference.

Below is a detail from the painting, so you can see how the darks morph into reds and greens.

This painting has a lot of layers, and took more than a month to finish. It's the second of what I hope will be three paintings showing turbines at different times of the day: morning (this painting) noon, and sunset (which I haven't completed yet, but here's a small study). You can see preliminary stages and studies for this painting here.

Thanks for sharing!

Paint the wind !

Thunderhead Wind

Power of the Wind

Lower Columbia College Art Gallery
Rose Center for the Arts
January 8 - 23, 2009
Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

Thunderhead Wind
oil on linen panel
9" x 12"

On November 12 Allan and I took our weekend walk through Riverwatch. The weather man had reported that a big rain storm was coming so we figured we better hurry. As we were walking on Eli Avery I looked west over the Columbia River and there was this huge thunderhead cloud in the distance. I couldn't help but wonder how a wind turbine would look against that cloud. Allan and I talked about how exactly an artist would mix the gray colors we saw in the sky. When I got home I couldn't resist the challenge, I mean, how badly could I mess up a small painting? So I mixed up a bunch of piles of gray and then added different colors, like ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, or yellow ochre. Then I underpainted the canvas a bright pink, and laid on the grays thick and juicy. This is it. Turns out it's one of my favorites, becuase of the brush strokes. I always try to paint like this, but because I try so hard, it never works out. This time I didn't try, and voila! I think I'll frame it for the show.

Paint the wind!

Power of the Wind - January 2009 - #2

Lower Columbia College Art Gallery

Rose Center for the Arts

January 8 - 23, 2009

Opening Reception, January 8: 4:30 - 7 pm

I spent the day attempting to get organized for the holidays, and making lists of everything I have to do before my Power of the Wind show.

I gessoed a canvas for the final painting, and started varnishing the finished paintings. Allan's been busy cutting mats and framing the gouache pieces, and he attached the hanging hardward to the back of the big paintings. He had to buy special hooks and wire at Home Depot because they are so heavy. He also got a really good deal on frames at Utrecht - they were half price!

There is so much to do. I want to have cards and posters for sale and my inventory is low so I'll have to make more.

On top of that Allan and I are working on our holiday card painting. This year I had the idea to make a painting together for our Christmas card. He wanted to paint sunflowers, since we love them, so he sketched some onto a small panel and I blocked them in. We're taking turns adding paint, and when we both feel like it's done we'll get our cards made.

I hope we can get everything done! I just need to relax and focus on painting. That's the fun part!

Paint the wind!