It is almost summer!

My blogging has almost stopped, I have been out of commission. Thankfully the painting continues. After the lovely trip to Clearwater florida, I did finally complete my tea and fruit still life. 

This is Painting # 13. I gave the teapot to my sister for her birthday. Unfortunately she told me it already broke. I guess I could gift her the painting. She has several originals hanging in her home. I think this would look nice near her teapot collection. I enjoyed painting this. Not sure about the composition but I think it works ok. The mom of one of my sons friend bought a print of this from FineARTamerica and has it hanging in her dining room along with my Chystal rose painting print.

This is painting no 14. It is from a photo I took in Tampa Bay area. We went on a dinner cruise on the Clearwater bay and the view of the High rise buildings with the stormy sunset was quite spectacular.

I did this while on vacation- so it really was more like the 12th pc. But  I will call it #15. I did this sketch while sunning at the pool. I had a few spectators while painting and one woman "Helen" became our drinking friend one evening, along with her husband. Helen and I exchanged emails and she eventually purchased the Frenchys Fish House painting.

This is the 16th painting I did this year. 

It is the Abbot house from Vets park and I did it for the NJ Historical exhibit. I entered it into the NJ watercolor society show and sale as well. Now what do I do with it?

This is the 17th painting I did this year. It was a bit different for me. Much larger than my usual size. 24x18 inches and is from a clipping on a historical blog about White city lake. I find this all very interesting.  Tom Glover blogs about it http://glover320.blogspot.com/search/label/WHITE%20CITY

I entered this into the TAWA show called Trenton Makes. I am hoping it gets accepted. It took longer than my usual weekend painting. I enjoyed doing the figures and felt lost in time. The area where this park once stood is just a nature area with paths and lake. It is beautiful and time seems to have stood still and gone backwards. 

This is the 18th painting. I did this a few weeks ago from one of the shots I took in Bayville at the cove down the street from our home. It is sunrise and still is one of the most beautiful areas I have in my surroundings. 

Post vacation

Its been a few weeks since I posted anything here. I have not yet completed my still life with teapot and fruit painting, not sure why its taking so long. Perhaps its because of the vacation hubby and I took to Tampa bay - Clearwater area. We had a lovely time, and even though we took in two baseball games, it was wonderful.
This is a very nice area, one I can see myself in. Our hotel was on the inter coastal waterway and was quite picturesque. The Fish House next door was the hub of the bird activity in the area. Go Figure! Scraps of fish being thrown into the waters attracted many species.

It was lovely to awaken to the sunrise over the residences and hotels across the waterway. The patio and piers outside of our hotel gave me an inspirational spot to paint and relax. I took many photos of the sun rising and the many sailboats and docks right from a few steps away from our room. I probably would have like to venture out to the beach area with my painters supplies, but kept it to our home base. Maybe next time I will encourage hubby to go to one game alone so that I can spend an afternoon painting and sketching.

11. Frenchy's Fish House

This was the scene from the Pier outside of our hotel. Wow -constant action of boats, birds, and fisherman. I worked on this for an hour or so days. I would like to paint a close up of this from photos I took of a fisherman in yellow waders feeding the many pelicans.

12.Frenchy's Marina

This is the opposite scene from the same pier. These boats were anchored and were constantly drifting. The colorful buildings in the background were probably someones homes or condos. Lucky them! I started this our last day in Clear water Beach - and finished it at home. I think this sparked a conversation about whether "real" artist sketch or not. Hubby thinks not. I think abstract artists do not.. But when trying to capture a landscape-even if impressionistic, you need some structure.

To paint or not to paint?

I came home last night with the intention of painting. I wanted to work on my still life, but arriving home after a visit to my moms, it was after 7pm. Dinner, spending some quality time with hubby watching reality tv, and more tv. I am beginning to really like The Voice. Of course hubby is not so fond of watching this-so off he went to retire to the bedroom and watch the races or some other show that interested him. I could have gone to my studio at this point, but was frozen on my coach like a rotting potato! I did wake up early this morning and after getting the coffee started, headed to my studio to lay down some watercolor on this still life I had in mind. The teapot and dish of fruit were still sitting on the table waiting to inspire me. The fruit is now in my lunch.

#9 Muddy Birches

I might as well keep track of the paintings from last weeks workshop, The Fall colors in the muddy painting # 9 Muddy Birches, came as an afterthought, in an attempt to salvage this dull mess that looked like a 10th grader did it. Looking at the thumbnail and the final piece, I am not so horrified by this. The subtle color changes and bright colors give it some life. The photo that inspired this exercise is from Sayen Gardens, but as I changed it so much, I doubt it looks like the same place.

#10 Palm Beach

My tropical beach #10 Palm Beach  was also done in the workshop. It is from a photo I took in Mexico from a trip our family took in 2001. Our last family trip, the year Jessica graduated from High School. The beach was in shadow, and so I had to improvise to add some vegetation and greenery. The Palm on the left was added to give some depth. I do like the tone in the sand and the hills.

Workshop Teacher

On Friday, February 24th, I attended a workshop on watercolor in  Island Heights, at the Ocean County Artist Guild. My sister Margaret and I went together to this one day painting workshop. This well known artist is very talented, and has some wonderful tips to teach as I learned when I have taken his class before. He asked for a sample from someone, and I had my two Palm Trees painting with me. I was now the subject of his critique. At first he was somewhat complimentary, asking me if I show my work. He said he does not enter juried shows often. HMMMM, does his work get rejected too? I wonder. He then repainted my piece -changing up the composition a bit and letting the paint flow in great pools of greens and browns and tropical blues. His 10 minute painting is so different from mine. He told me to loosen up and not try to paint each blade of grass and each frond of the palms. I thought I was quite loose. He exhibited such a command of the medium, it flowed from his brush effortlessly, not leaving behind a muddy mess. I did not feel his affirmation for my painting in his critique of the forest-stream scene I attempted. The birch trees were not white enough, far too much coverage of paint on the paper, my stream looked unnatural and my trees were not believable. I painted like a 10th grader! The man in front of me in this class assured me that I was doing better than his sixth grade critique. I think that a teacher/ mentor needs to give a bit more constructive criticism to an unsure artist. Find something we do right and at least give us positive feedback for that. We all know we are not as talented as you are, dear teacher, but we do not wish to feel like perhaps we should throw in the towel.

I have taken these types of classes before and while I do sometimes feel inspired and ambitious at the end of the day,  confusion sometimes sets in as well. Maybe the humility of the situation is enough for me to work harder and to overcome some of the quirks in my creative process that make me ordinary. Do I make up for being ordinary by being ambitious? Painting several times a week for hours on end has to be the path I need to take to improve my technique and not get myself lost in trying to duplicate the many methods of a variety of mentors I have learned from. I need to remember to take what I can from these classes, apply it to my own creativity and if it works for me, move forward with it. If not leave it behind.

In my quest for 52 paintings this year, I am not sure that my classroom practice applies to this number. I am not attempting to fill in 52 slots with art I did not feel truly creative about.

I am currently working a a still life of fruit and a tea pot. I set up the still life setting, shot a photo and ate some of the fruit as I sketched.

Pastels

I decided to try something different for my newest art expression. Pastels. I love the way they look, and have a wonderful set given to me last year by my son. They do allow me to use my impressionistic style. This is Painting #8 and it is of the wetlands down the street from our shore (bay) house. A storm was rolling in and the sky was incredible. I have painted this in oil, but think the pastels work well for this scene. Happy to have a view like this from my street. NJ can be beautiful. I like the pastel process, I need to do more in this medium.

Spring wetlands

Juried Show

As I expected, my art was not accepted in the Mercer County Artists juried show. 286 entries and only 70 or so accepted so only 1 out of 4 made it into this show. There was some amazing pieces accepted as well as some beautiful pieces of art that did not make it. So, I should not be too dismayed by another rejection. After being a juror on the ETS Chauncey art exhibits, I am full aware of the process and how many talented artists are rejected. I paint for my own satisfaction, sanity, enjoyment and learning.

#7 Two Palms

Painting #7 is the Palm trees I photographed in Florida last year in the Keys. This was from out day on the beach at a state park. I took some liberty and added the small amt of turquoise waters that is peeping through on the coral beach.

Vulnerable

I sit in my studio today, anxiously awaiting to hear from  Mercer County College if my art has been accepted into the yearly juried show. I have entered many times. I do hope this year is my lucky year. But with over 200 submissions my chances are minimal. I think if I am pessimistic, I will not be let down. Wow, this is something I must have learned as a child. My mom said this often. But with being rejected many times, it is a great possibility it will again be my outcome. The sale I thought I made through Fine Art America was a hoax. Seriously Sarah Lockwood, you expect me to accept your check for 2000. and give you back 1820. for the painting that would cost 180.? I am vulnerable and gullible, but not quite that much of an idiot.

But today I am painting again.  I am determined to keep up my art, and a scam and rejection will not keep me from my craft. Today's painting is 2 palm trees swaying in the gentle tropic. I guess I am looking forward to our trip to Florida in a few weeks.