HOOT, continued

Not every project gets completed in class. I took two Genesis classes at HOOT. The first was with Carol-Lee Cisco. It is an 8" wooden plate with a fruit design that can be displayed year-round. It has a pear, an apple, some cherries, and two kinds of leaves with ribbon twined around the design. There is very little left to do on this project. The stems need to be painted on the fruit and the background needs to be repainted in the center of the plate. Finally, the ridge on the plate needs to have gold leafing applied and the rim needs to have something done--I'm not sure how I am going to finish that part yet. Overall, this is a nice project and I was pleased to take a class with Carol as she has announced that she will be retiring this year.


The second Genesis class was an Intensive Study class with Mary Gibilisco. It was a 12-hour class taught over two days. I was a little disappointed in the material that was covered because we did not get to the aspects of the project that I had hoped to spend most of the class time on--the fine details that make a painting come to life. There is a great deal left to do on this piece. The background needs to be painted. You can see the beginnings of the background painting to the right of the vase. There is another morning glory on the left side of the flower arrangement and a number of small filler leaves that need to be added after the background is completed. The grapes need to be improved and a lot of time could still be spent on tints, shades, shadows, highlights, etc.---the "ooo, ahs" that make the piece a finished work. This one will probably go in the closet and not be finished.

A new miniature

I've been working on this little piece for over a month. That is, I started it over a month ago before I went into the pumpkin patch and I have just been able to get back to it. It is painted in Genesis on a 4"x4" piece of gesso board. So, here it is: "Summer Tea".

Another Painting Sold

I got the best news today. One of the paintings that I entered in the 16th Annual Seaside Miniature Art Show in Nags Head was sold. I am so very pleased. This piece is painted in Genesis Heat-Set Oils on a 4x4 piece of gesso board.

A Trio of Pears
SOLD

Another small work

I feel like I have accomplished a lot this week. Here is another small painting that I completed. This iris painting is one that I am thinking about submitting to a conference as a teaching project. It is painted in Genesis on a 4x4 piece of gesso board. When using gesso board with Genesis, it is a good idea to first basecoat it with DecoArt Americana acrylic paint. I did not basecoat this piece and found that the paint dragged a little on the first stage painting. It made painting a little more cumbersome. Once the first stage painting was completed, there was no further problem. I would basecoat with something like Light Buttermilk.

A Gift

One of my very best friends is retiring this year after 30 years of teaching. She lives in another town and I will not be able to attend her retirement party due to other obligations. She also runs a Victorian Bed and Breakfast and loves roses. I wanted to send her something special to recognize her retirement. Something that she will hopefully love and will find a special place in her home. Because she loves roses, I painted a pink rose for her. This piece is painted in Genesis on a 6x6 piece of gesso board. The background is a technique I have come to really like using--a sort of out-of-focus garden. You can see colors and green, but nothing definite. Only the subject of the painting is in focus. I will be framing the piece tomorrow so that I can mail it off to arrive in time for her celebration.

A New Project

I finally got a day to just paint. It was heaven. I have had this walnut pen holder for over a year and have been thinking about what to do with it. It is only about 2" wide, so whatever design was to be painted on it needed to be long and narrow. I finally hit upon pears. The line drawing is from the Dover Library of copyright free designs. The Dover Library publishes a large selection of books on a number of different subjects. They consist of copyright-free designs that may be used by artists, crafts people, designers, and others with certain restrictions as to the number of designs you can use in one project or publication. They are a wonderful source of reference material and designs that can be adapted to a number of different uses.


Because it was a pretty piece of wood, I did not want to cover it up by basecoating the whole piece. Instead, I sealed it with a coat of Final Coat wipe-on varnish before painting it. The design is painted using Genesis Heat-Set Oils. I found that I should have used more than one coat of Final Coat as a sealer. The first layer of Genesis dragged a bit as I applied it. It needed to be heat set and then painted a second time to get even coverage. At the end of the day, the Pear Quartet makes a nice embellishment for this little pen holder.

Finishing Partially Completed Projects

My studio is very close to being able to actually work comfortably and schedule a few classes. As I have been sorting through things (old surfaces, partially completed projects, ancient products) many things have gone to the trash. You simply can't keep everything and there are very few decorative artists (or other artists, seamstresses, crafters for that matter) who don't have an abundance of old, outdated, and never to be used again items in their studios and work areas. But in among these miscellaneous items, there are potential treasures to be found-- practice pieces or studies that were started and set aside when something more important came along or the particular learning activity was completed. Some of these pieces could be very nice if finished, even if they are only displayed on the studio walls.

This is one of those pieces. It is a leaf study after a design by Ann Kingslan. It is painted on a wooden plate in Genesis Heat-Set Oils. The objective of the study is to work with cool and warm greens within the same piece--to realistically represent the shape of each leaf, turned edges, the position of the leaf in the cluster using both the value and the temperature of the color. It uses a monochromatic color scheme. I actually worked on this piece last summer while my kitchen was non-existent due to our renovation project. Unfortunately, when I attempted the first heat set, I found that the plate was just a hair too big to fit in my toaster oven. I had to set it with a heat gun (something I absolutely LOATHE). So, when the design was finished, I set it aside for another day when I had a full sized oven at my disposal.

This week I completed the piece. The background around the subject had to be completed. You will notice that it reflects the colors in the leaves. There is a lighter green in the upper right corner of the tray going part way down the right side. It is not as obvious in the photo, but the left side of the tray is darker than the main body of the tray. Finally, after varnishing, the rim of the tray was treated to a bit of Silver Rub 'N Buff, and yes, it is meant to have some of the basecoat showing through.

Same Design, Different Media

I was continuing the clear out and set up of my studio when I came across a pair of ballet slippers. These slippers were given to me so that I could use them to set up a design for a painting. The original plan was to do an oil painting for my niece who was studying ballet at the time. To thank the young lady who gave me the slippers, I did the same design in watercolor for her as a gift. I did not think to take a picture of that piece, but she was thrilled with it. After a couple of years passed, I did another version of the same set up in watercolor with a different kind of background. The photo of the oil painting was taken with my old camera, so I must apologize for the quality.

The photos below show the original photo from which the paintings were done, the oil painting. and the most recent watercolor. The point of this exhibit is to show that you can take the same design and use it a number of different ways. In addition, this same design could be executed in pastels, acrylics, or graphite/charcoal. It could be painted on gesso board (like the oil), or on a box, a piece of furniture, a wall, or any other surface as long as you selected an appropriate medium. The background can be altered in a number of different ways as well. The size could be changed. All of these pieces are approximately 9x12, but it could be reduced to miniature size or enlarged to life size just as easily. Use your imagination and see where it takes you. I think I feel an urge to do another still life set up using these slippers.

A cool surface for painting

I was looking for an unusual surface to use for creating a Make-It-Take-It and I wanted to use Genesis Heat-Set oils to do the project. In a very old book, I saw a project that had been painted in oils on a piece of cork--the AH-HA moment!! I had some 6x6 cork tiles in my studio just waiting for inspiration to strike. One of the issues with Genesis is that whatever surface you use must be able to be heated to a temperature of 265-degrees and I was not sure about cork. The good news is that cork works very well. Because there is some texture on the surface, it is a little trickier to paint. On the other hand, if you choose the right subject, the texture enhances your painting. It is not necessary to do any preparation to the surface before painting. To give the piece a little more character, I rouged a little color on the corners and down the sides of the piece. Here is my Genesis MITI. I cut the 6x6 tile down to 3x6. When the piece was finished, I glued it to a 5x8 piece of black mat board. The piece can then be placed in a 5x8 frame for hanging. I hope the people at the retreat like this piece as much as I do. It will be a good introduction to Genesis.

Seaside Minaiture Art Show

I finally got my submissions mailed off to the Seaside Miniature Art Show in Nag Head, NC, today. I have been trying to decide what to submit. I finally came down to measuring the pieces that were possibilities and discovering that only two of them fit the size requirement. I had a couple of pieces I thought were 6x6 including the frame and they turned out to be 6.75x6.75 to the outside edge of the frame. That made them larger than 40 square inches and therefore they did not qualify. The lesson learned here is that I need to work smaller than the maximum allowed painting size in order to insure that the outside dimensions will fit within the requirement--especially in my watercolors.

Anyway, the two pieces that are now on their way to North Carolina are both painting of pears. The first is called A Pair of Pears and the second is called A Trio of Pears. Both titles are sort of plays on words. These paintings are both done in Genesis Heat-Set oils. The size of the screen images is approximately life-size. Assuming that these pieces are not eliminated for some reason, they will be on sale through the Seaside Art Gallery for $65.00 each. You can see the website for the gallery and the show at www.seasideart.com

PAWcasso

Our local SPCA is holding a fundraising event they are calling PAWcasso. The event includes a reception with wine tasting and appetizers. They have invited local artists to donate a piece of their work to be auctioned off. They are also going to have a Chinese Aution for pieces "painted" by dogs and cats in the shelter. I will not be able to attend the event, but I have told my husband he will have to go. I have donated a piece of my work. A local frame shop is donating their services to frame all of the donated work. My donation is a small work (4x5 inches) called Salsa pianted in Genesis Heat-Set Oils. I think this is a very cleaver fund raising event and I hope it is wildly successful.

Retreats and conventions

One of the nice things about decorative artists is that they get together to paint and share their knowledge. A number of the decorative painting clubs hold conventions. Some of them like HOOT in Columbus, OH, are quite large lasting a full week and hosting dozens and dozens of classes. Others are very much smaller lasting a weekend and hosting a couple-three dozen classes and they call them retreats. The club that I belong to, Town and Country Decorative Painters in Butler, PA, holds a retreat each year in April. The best thing about retreats, aside from the comraderie and all-around good time, is that it gives you the opportunity to experience many teachers who may paint in different styles and/or mediums all in one place in a short period of time. It is an opportunity to take a class in a new medium with a very small cost. The classes at retreats and conventions are generally either 4 or 6 hours long. There are also Make-It-Take-It classes that last only 2 hours. To get information and see the projects for the Town and Country retreat, you can go to: www.townandcountrydecorativepainters.com
I will be teaching two classes in Genesis Heat-Set Oils on gesso board. Both are 4-hour classes. Here are photos of my projects.

Time to finish up old work!

We all have them! Half finished projects that sit in the corners, closets, in boxes. They are not unfinished because we don't like them (usually), but because we painted them at a seminar or conference and when we came home life happened and we never got back to them. One of the tasks I am taking on as I clean, sort, pitch, and donate things from my studio is finishing some of the projects that just need a little varnish or touching up or the ooo-aahs put on them. In general, these are projects that I loved when I painted them and that I intend to keep and use.

One of these projects is a tea box that I painted in a workshop with Ann Kingslan several years ago--in fact I think it was the second piece I painted with Ann. Ann is a treasure! She is a wonderful teacher--someone who will teach you more in a week than you can learn from most people in a year. Her work is also spectacular. This piece is one of Ann's designs. It is painted on a piece of masonite and then mounted inside the lid/frame of the tea box. The piece was essentially finished in the workshop, but the box never got painted. So, this week, I finished the box. It was painted as was originally directed using a burgundy color. When I finished painting it, I really didn't like the look, so I went over it with silver Rub-N-Buff. I think the silver really sets off the silver teapot. I can't wait to use this piece in my dining room.

What color is white?

My studio hoe-out is coming along nicely. Most of the boxes have been gone through and I've given away and thrown away a lot of things I don't need anymore. I've been looking at some of my projects and came across a white rose painted in watercolor. I thought you might enjoy contemplating the matter of how to paint a white object. Here is my rose.


There is no question that the flower is white. But without the use of other colors to create shadows, depth, and highlight, the painting would be flat and uninteresting. The purples and blues in the background dictated that the detail colors in the rose needed to be purples and blues. You will notice a few places on the outer petals where the sunlight is glinting with a yellow cast.

Here is another white object painted in Genesis Heat-set oils. This is the County courthouse tower during a fireworks display. In this case, the shadows are a the grey-blue-black of the night sky. The tints are the reflections of the colors of the fireworks.

So, what color is white? Any color you want or need it to be. The one thing that is certain is that white is colorful.

Setting up my studio--finally!

I spent this evening working on my studio. We moved into our house just a year ago. There is one room on the second floor that has a lot of built-in storage. It was originally a room for 2 children-boys we presume. There are 2 closets, 2 little built-in desks, and 2 built-in drawer units. In addition, between the two spaces where the beds were built in, there is another closet. I set my painting tables in one alcove and my mat cutting table in the other. There will be enough space to set up a couple of folding tables so that I can teach classes of 4-6 students. The problem has been that we needed to spend this first year putting a roof on the house, renovating the kitchen, and trying to figure out how to stop the water that was pouring into the basement every time it rained. My studio has been on hold. One of my big projects is "hoeing out" the surfaces and other stuff I really will never use. I have decided that I am concentrating on watercolor and Genesis oils and only doing acrylics when it is a project I love. That means getting rid of all the wood surfaces that can only be used with acrylics. What a job!!! I am really looking forward to being able to hold classes at home and also having a place to work comfortably. So, there was no painting or designing today. Just taking some time to varnish a couple of projects. Here is a Genesis piece that I will be teaching in April at a local retreat. The grapes are painted in grisaille (grey scale) and then glazed before the tints, highlights, and shadows are applied.

Another multi-use design

As I mentioned the other day, many times I develop a project in one medium and then decide to use the same design in a different medium. Here is another example. The original was drawn from a still life setup. Then I developed it as a watercolor to teach in a 9x12 format. Finally, I redeveloped the piece as a 2.5"x3.5" Genesis piece. The miniature was juried into the Miniature Show in Chambersburg, PA, in November. I was obviously very pleased with the result.

Multi-use designs

Sometimes I find that a design may work well in several different mediums. The very first project I ever developed was a watercolor painting of an old enamel teapot and lemons. It started as a project for a drawing lesson. My teacher had an old enamel teapot and set it up as a still life with a couple of lemons--a very simple set up. I decided to paint it in watercolors. Several years later, when I began to paint with Genesis Heat-set oils, I used the same design. The original was a 9x12 watercolor. The Genesis piece is 4x6. I have taught both the watercolor and Genesis versions of this design several times. Now, I am thinking about using this same design in a watercolor batik technique that I learned from Kathie George. I have gotten a lot of mileage out of this design.

JAL Studios introduced

I am new to blogging, so I hope that you will bear with me. I am a painter. I suppose I think of myself as a decorative artist because I teach using the decorative arts model and I take classes from wonderful artists in the decorative arts world. However, my work spans both the decorative art world (painting in acrylic on "stuff") and the fine art world (painting wall art for exhibit). I earned the TDA designation from the Society of Decorative Painters as couple of years ago. Earning that designation takes a great deal of effort. You must pass a written test, document 100 hours of teaching, and submit a video tape of a class along with all of the supporting documentation. After all of the required work has been submitted, been reviewed by a committee, and received a passing score, only then are you entitled to use the designation TDA. I paint in a variety of formats. I particularly enjoy painting miniatures and small works. I was fortunate to have one of my miniatures juried into the Chambersburg, PA, Annual Miniature Show in December. This is the third year in a row that I have had a work in this show. The photo above is the painting from the show. It is 2.5" x 3.5" and is painted on gesso board in Genesis Heat-Set Oils.