February 30 in 30, Day #10

30 paintings in 30 days

In celebration of  In Full Bloom; The Orchid Exhibit at The Nicholas Conservatory, The Rockford Art Guild wild be hosting a  Make and Take this evening, 5:30 -7:30pm. Come on down and paint an orchid on Yupo paper with alcohol inks. It's free to everyone that has purchased a ticket for the exhibit. These are the sample orchids hopefully showing the many varieties and colors they come in.

Be sure to visit the Conservatory again next week as the Rockford Art Guild has a show of art February 14th - 25th.

Nicholas Orchids

Alcohol Inks and Pen on Yupo

The exhibit runs through March 11th. 

For More Info on the In Full Bloom- the Orchid Exhibit click here 

February 30 in 30, Day # 8

30 paintings in 30 days.

Do you remember spin art when we were kids? You dropped paint onto a paper that was spinning and all the colors would expand out to the edges of the page in a really unique design. I've been wanting to try that with alcohol inks for some time now. So I asked for a Spin Art set for Christmas, $10, Walmart. The 30 in 30 gave me the perfect chance to try. I will say the Spin Art has gotten really cheap since we were kids. It is no longer battery operated. You need to pump a button to spin the much smaller paper. The paints they give you to use are pretty useless too. BUT, I was able to try it using Yupo paper. Here are the results. Okay, I've had enough. A bit disappointed but that's okay. It's just that I remembered it so much cooler than it was. Maybe I was thinking about Creepy Crawlers.

Spin Art

Alcohol Inks on Yupo

September 7,30 in 30

Day 7, 30 paintings in 30 days
 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Today's piece comes from a project with the Rockford Art Guild. I have been a member of the guild for about 4 years. I joined shortly after I left my job to start painting daily. I thought I would need the socialization.

What I found was so much more. Our group of 50 members is an eclectic group of people of various mediums and ages. Not only did I meet some incredible people who I consider very good friends, but I learned a lot. That's the value of a guild, the sharing of experiences, the opportunities to try new things surrounded by people who are willing to guide you. Now that I have a bit of experience I hope that I can help others achieve their dreams.

The puzzle project, is a group project with hope as it's theme. There were about 30 pieces which were painted or drawn on by various guild members. There was some variety too; two people carved wood, one attached glass beads and one attached mosaic pieces. The pieces will be put together and given to the local cancer center.

I painted sunflowers on my piece. Big surprise? But I feel they are very cheerful and hopeful. and you know I love them.

Hope

5" x 7"

Alcohol Ink on Heavy Foam Core Board

Not for Sale

September 6, 30 in 30

Day 6, 30 paintings in 30 days,
 hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Today, our first grandcat, Tucker. He has quite a personality. He acts more like a dog in that he loves to snuggle up and be pet, and he comes when he's called. He and Cooper, my dog, are best friends.

Tucker

12" x 9"

Alcohol Ink on Yupo

Nor For Sale

September 5, 30 in 30

Day #5 of 30 paintings in 30 days 
hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Some people look forward and celebrate each grandchild as they come along. My family is not quite there yet. We celebrate the "grandcats" and inquire as to their well being etc. just as if they were little ones.

I surely understand how these pets become a part of the family. We were devastated when we lost our tuxedo cat of 19 years. We had been a family more years with her than without, when she died. I felt a lot of gratitude towards her for helping me raise my girls. My oldest had very curly hair and sometimes brushing her hair brought on tears. Kat-Kat, named by our three year old at the time, was always aware of Sam's feelings and would climb into her lap to comfort her as I finished brushing. Kat Kat was always sensitive to both girl's tears. Sometimes she'd comfort them after they were sent to their rooms. I was always grateful to have her there giving the loving that I couldn't give at the time of being the disciplinarian.

We currently have 4 grand cats. This is our newest who just joined the family a few weeks ago.

Arlo

8" x 10"

Alcohol Ink on Yupo

Not For Sale

September 1st, 30 in 30

Day 1 of the 30 in 30 hosted by Leslie Seata.

A lot of people choose themes for the 30 in 30. I don't like limiting myself that way.  Most of my paintings are from photographs I've taken. I have piles upon piles of photos I've taken in the yard, or on trips, etc. I always see the 30 in 30 as a way of getting to some of those photos. By the time another 30 in 30 rolls around there is always a ton paintings waiting to happen.

This was a commission. I had this painting that a client liked but she didn't want so much red and blue so I was able to work with her to do this painting.

Sunflowers for Judi

11" x 14" 

Alcohol Inks on Yupo

Not For Sale

I'm looking forward to the challenge of the month and the approach of my favorite season, Fall.

Follow this month's progress here.

Unforgettable Art and Alzheimer's, A Few Thoughts

Unforgettable Art is around the corner and I'm looking for ideas for this year's painting.

This will be my third year participating in Unforgettable. I always like to put a positive spin on things so I usually talk about how fun it is to paint alongside my fellow artist and to meet new artists etc. etc. But the truth is it's pretty stressful. I usually don't have the time to walk around and socialize during the event, I need every moment to finish my painting. Most artists don't usually produce great works in 6 hours that are living room hang-able quality. Don't get me wrong, some days we do. But, mostly not. I like to paint the painting I'm planning on doing a few times ahead of that day to make sure I have enough time to complete it. I can correct any composition problems, color choices or whatever ahead of time. My paintings usually take me several weeks to complete. And even if I do my best will someone like it enough to pay a few hundred for it? Will it be one of those days that nothing works and my piece is terrible?

I know I'm not unique. There are a lot of artists out there that loose sleep over this event. Why would we do it? Well, for most of us it's for those people we have loved and lost to Alzheimer's. The names are different but the stories are all too familiar. It's those people who we love, who so slowly slip away from us a bit each day, until one day we turn around and realize that they are already gone... and we didn't notice enough to say good bye because physically nothing changed. My list of friends who are going through this, or have, with their own parents grows longer and longer each year.

I think one of the cruelest parts of this disease lingers long after that loved one is gone.  It's there whenever a middle aged child of an Alzheimer's patient looses their train of thought or their car keys. "Is is starting for me? Will I one day put my family through that?" Will this be a cycle that continues through the generations? I hope not. I believe we can solve this and in doing so open the doors to understanding other forms of dementia and other neurological diseases like Parkinson's.

So I have to sit back and take a deep breath and realize that I am just a small part in the wheels that drive this event. It is the people who attend Unforgettable who dig deep in their pockets to give what they can to help fund the Alzheimer's Association. It is those people who make the event a success. I am merely entertainment, and only one of 50 at that. All the same, I want to do my best.

There is a part of the night that is truly wonderful. It's after you've finished your painting and talked to the guests, and sat through the auction and seen your piece sold. It's when the event is all over and you're ready to go home, tired. There's a few moments when you breath in a deep breath and realize that you did your part and you think, "Gee that was fun. Can't wait till next year."

So what shall I paint this year? Any suggestions? Leave a comment.

For more information and tickets click here.



 

An Update on Classes and Shows

It's official! I love teaching classes in series.

I just finished up my four week class of intermediate alcohol ink classes. It was wonderful! To see people apply what they've learned into their own styles is terrific.We had a variety of paintings; dogs, owls landscape, abstract, then we started coping a favorite.

              At first the swirls of Starry Night were really difficult. We all felt maybe we had made a mistake trying this painting in alcohol inks. But then, we were mesmerized, we couldn't stop.

 Some of us went on to try other Masters.Some had projects they wanted to try.

                
                                                                                                                                                          
 

Things are getting busy as we approach the warmer weather. I'm working on a show at Sinisnawa Mounds - a Dominican retreat and conference center. The show will run April 5th through the end of May.

 The next 4 week series of Alcohol Inks on Canvas starts on Tuesday, April 18th. 1-4pm Info and registration here

Spring Art Scene is April 21 & 22nd. I will be showing with the Rockford Art Guild at the Trinity Lutheran Activity Center, 215 N 1st St. It  will be include my first Art Installation in the parking lot. I admit that it is my first one and I don't have a lot of time to pull this off. I know I'll learn a lot.






Then, the 14th annual Unforgettable Art, an Affair for Alzheimer's is April 29th. If you have any suggestions for my canvas please let me know. I plan on doing a vertical canvas this year. For more info and tickets go here

 Looking for a more adventurous painting experience?
Fascinated by the performance art that's becoming so popular?

Well, grab a friend (or not, we'll be your friends ) and come for a night of fun and exploration. Each person will start with their own 11" x 14" canvas. You'll choose your own acrylic color palette, up to 5 colors and be asked to fill out a simple questionnaire about what you like. We'll all start off on our own canvasses by painting the background and a few details.  We'll give you a few pointers along the way. You'll have to be quick because in 15 minutes the music will stop and you'll move on to another canvas. After reviewing that person's likes you will use their palette to continue painting on THEIR canvas! We're sure to come up with some very original pieces by the end of the night!

Tuesday, March 21st
6:00 to 8:30pm
New Dimensions Studio
Womaspace
3333 Maria Linden Drive
Rockford, Illinois 61114

$35/person
Everything you need will be supplied. Feel free to bring your own adult beverage if you'd like.

Register here

End of the 30 in 30 and a Happy Ground Hogs Day to You.

February 2nd is one of my favorite days of the year. 

It's Ground Hogs Day! And although I don't take much notice as to whether or not Woodstock Chuck saw his shadow or not, I do  acknowledge - with some joy- that we are half way done with winter. Yeah! I am also done with the 30 in 30 challenge for January. Another Yeah!


This time the 30 in 30 was very difficult for me.
I made the decision NOT to paint a new painting each day but to continue to work on what I was doing and count the hours, not the pieces. My goal was to paint a little over 3 hours each day for a total of 100 hours in the month. Happily, I painted every day of the month except for three. I had 2 classes and  2 commissions in the month. Most of my time was spent on the painting below. I started the month struggling to get painting time in and to complete all I needed to in a given day. How is that? 3 hours a day isn't much. Having said that, I fell short of my goal of 100 hours by 18 or so. It's back to the drawing board as far as my schedule goes. There's always some thing in the day that needs immediate attention.

The interesting thing on this 30 in 30 was that I felt as if I wasn't completing the challenge even though I painted everyday. There was a feeling that I wasn't quite producing if I wasn't making one complete painting a day. But the truth is. I have several smaller pieces from previous 30 in 30's and feel I need to spend my time building up a collection of larger, more substantial pieces.

I guess the bottom line is games. Games we play with ourselves with having preconceived ideas about how much we should get done a day or how fast we should paint etc. The painting below took me about 80 or more hours. I'm pretty happy with it with the exception of the large pink flowers which I will go back and add more shading to. But for now, I will live with it and continue to explore a daily schedule which will work for me. I will also be more aware of the mind games I am playing with myself and the messages that these games are sending.

Art in Bloom, 

Floral Arrangement by Amy O'Fallon

From the Rockford Art Museum Show of 2016

14" x 19.5" Alcohol Inks

$2350

This is a photograph of Amy's piece almost in its entirety. The painting behind the piece is what she used as her inspiration for her arrangement. It is a painting that is a part of the Rockford Art Museum's permanent collection. I was drawn to the colors and textures of the piece. I love its complexity.

Amy along with her mother, Kathy, own O'Fallon's Fine Flowers, 1605 N Bell School Road in Rockford. It's a small, charming floral shop with two ladies that are big on talent.

Day 19, And The Beat Goes On

January 19, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 19: 3.5 hours, Monthly Total: 52.5 hours

It's slow going, but it's coming along. I'm struggling with the roses or bit, or maybe it's that there are 13 of them in all. 

Work in Progress

Alcohol Inks

Day 16, a Morning At Katie's Cup

January 16, 30 Paintings in 30 Days Hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 16: 3.5 hours, Monthly Total: 45.5 Hours

Had a wonderful morning a Katie's Cup in Rockford. I go there twice a month to paint. Sometimes I have people join me, sometimes not. Today I was alone. It was pretty slippery out there on the roads. No problem, I just get out my earplugs and get lost in my painting and the music. This is a piece I was working on for a home painting party Friday night.

For more info on hosting your own painting party Click Here

 A Morning at Katie's Cup

Alcohol Inks and Pen

8" x 8"

Day 13, a Lesson in Scheduling

January 13, 30 in30 hosted by Leslie Saeta

Day 13: 3 hours, Monthly Total: 36 hours.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. When I was a little girl I asked my Father if Friday the 13th was a good day or a bad day. My Dad's reply was, "Well, I was born on Friday the 13th so I'd say it was a pretty lucky day for me." So I have always like Friday the 13th. I hope yours was equally as lucky.

We are almost to the half way point of this 30 in 30 challenge and I have been learning a lot.  A lot about my schedule. I can say that with classes, marketing and whatever, I have not been painting 100 hours a month. I assume not even 70. This is a problem for a number of reasons, most importantly because you only get better by painting. But how do you fit it all in: 2 hours a day marketing, classes, meetings, laundry, bookkeeping, bill paying, exercise time, shopping, cleaning etc? 

One of the mistakes I have made in the past was to 
create a schedule that was inflexible.
3 hours painting starting at 9am. I tend to an all or nothing type of a person. This can be a problem. What happening if something comes up and you need to change your plan? Your schedule is tossed out faster than a New Year's resolution. I am playing with a schedule which just states how many hours a week I want to paint, for marketing, for emails, for personal chores. Over the weekends I usually make out my to do list along with meals and grocery list. Now, I'm trying to schedule my days one week at a time. If a friend comes to spend the day, that's just fine I switch my days around. I'll let you know how it goes in the in a few weeks.

The point is that this 30 in 30 shouldn't be such a challenge. 

It should be business as usual.

I've been enjoying this painting. Here is an additional 8 hours. Gosh, can you even tell? I've struggled with the blue flowers on the right side of the painting. This painting seems very similar to putting together a puzzle. Work on the spots I know then come back to the more difficult pieces. I've found painting the surround area of the difficult part helpful as it will define the outline, the value, of the pieces you're having a hard time with.

Work in Progress

Alcohol Ink 

 

Day 10, Back to the Alcohol Inks

January 10, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 10: 3.5 hours, Monthly Total:28 hours 

I'm back to alcohol inks today as I continued on the Rockford Art Museum's Show piece, Art In Bloom. I'm working on some areas that are hard for me to understand, the purple spike flowers, the blue flowers all the way to the right. I do what I can in these areas then I concentrate on the surrounding areas. they give me clues as to the shapes and shades of the difficult areas. The green piece was just fun.

Work in Progress

Alcohol Inks

Day 5, a Great Thing

January 5, 30 paintings in 30 days hosted by Leslie Saeta

Day 5, 3 hours, Monthly Total 13.5 Hours.

A great thing about alcohol inks is that you can go back into an area that has already been worked and paint on it just as if you never left the painting. I'm enjoying working on this painting, bit by bit. It's getting there.

And a great thing about painting at home is I can do it in my jammies! It's 7 degrees out. A great day to stay in, be comfortable and paint away the day. Time for some hot chocolate.

Work in Progress

Day 3, How Long Did it Take You to Paint This?

January 3rd, 30 Paintings in 30 Days hosted by Leslie Saeta.


Day 3: 5 hours, Monthly Total: 10.5 hours

"How long did it take for you to paint this?" 
It's a question most artists dread. Maybe because it implies that artists should charge by the hour. Maybe it implies the question, "It took you THAT long to just do that little ole thing?" Maybe it's because we honestly can't remember how long a painting takes. We don't normally time our art.

This month I'm timing my art. I'm not concerning myself with how much I produce but by the amount of time I spend painting. I'm just enjoying myself.

I look at my painting after working on it for 5 hours today

 and think, I sure paint slow!  

It's okay. I'm getting some much needed work done and I'm happy with my results, except for the two large pink flowers. (I'll get back to them later.) For now, I'm enjoying basking in the detail of the painting. There's so much going on - even in the dark shadows. Some of the flowers I have no idea how to paint, but I just take it slow and pay attention to the lights and darks. If I just do that, my painting usually will emerge.

Work In Progress

Day 1, For the Love of Painting

Jan 1, Happy New Years, 30 in 30, hosted by Leslie Saeta.

Day 1: 3.5 hours, monthly total 3.5.

And Now For Something Totally Different... Or at least it is from my previous 30 in 30's. This time I'm going for hours painted in the month of January, not by the number of paintings I produce. My goal is to paint 100 hours this month.  I have loved producing 30 - 8" x 10" each January and September but I feel I currently need bigger, more substantial pieces. The piece I worked on today is something I've been carrying on with for months...  or maybe I should say ignoring for months. In fact, I was afraid I had lost this painting. It felt good to work on it today. My plan is to get it done in time for the Nicholas Show in February.

I have a lot of large paintings that are not getting done along with a few new ones I need to start.  I'm also hoping to get to some "bad" art this month. Which is just my way of freeing myself up to explore without the pressure to produce something to sell. There are two commissions that I seem to be putting off for some reason which will make an appearance this month.

The goal this month isn't to feel pressure to produce

 but to work for the love of painting.

Work In Progress

This a floral design from the Rockford Art Museum's
 "In Bloom" show.

I fell in love with this piece and sought out the designer to get permission to paint it. She was thrilled. I, on the other hand, can not find her card with her name on it. I seemed very discombobulated today in that I had a hard time finding many things, photo, earphones, camera etc. (I will find her name before the month is over.)

I paint very slowly, as you can see from the above piece. It took me three and a half hours. This is a large alcohol ink. One of the largest I've done.

This is the piece with the painting which inspired it behind it. I'm attracted to the colors, the textures and the pieces complexity. it reminds me of a grand finale at a fireworks show.

Commissions and classes

Taking a bit of a break from blogging 
after doing the 30 in 30?

Yes, I guess so. But mostly I've been busy with some commission and classes. I keep on expecting things to slow down but they haven't. Who am I kidding, I don't want them to. Do I really want to clean out my closet anyway? No, believe me I don't no matter how badly it needs it. And it needs it! My goal of loosing 1000 pounds in 2016 is not going so well. Several cookbooks - probably 20 pounds and a very stuffed bag of clothing... 40 pounds? I also know that one very productive weekend in the basement could mean a lot of pounds.

Now that the show season has slowed down a bit, the commission season is picking up. I've been busy with pet portraits and house paintings for birthday presents and I'm starting to work on Christmas commissions. I never feel good about sharing these picks in a timely manor on the off chance that one of the recipients may come across the photo on social media.

If you are interested in commissioning your own piece

click here for more info. 

There are only 6 more weeks left for commissions that will be delivered in time for Christmas. If you mention this blog post I'll give you 

$10 off any commissioned piece.

 

Classes have been 

going wonderful. 

  

We've painted sunflowers on plates, irises, Gerbera daisies, witches and more.

My next class is with Cristi Kniess at 

the Art Nook on November the 7th 6 to 8:30pm.

We'll be painting pumpkin plates and we still have a few spots open. 

If you'd like to reserve a spot click here