Day 2-Great Falls Commission

On day two, I have made lots of progress on this painting. I laid in the sky, a nice hot summery type of sky. At the same time I am working on the sky, I start laying in the water. Just colors from the sky brushed seamlessly together in a horizontal direction. I am careful to make sure the water is darker than the sky. These water colors will undergo lots of changes when I get to that part of the painting, but for now, I just need a value to keep me on track. Next I moved into the trees in the distance and placed some strokes of green where I want to remember there is dark shady areas along the waterline.

By the way, it was unbearably hot in the gallery/studio today and the air conditioner could not keep up. I think that the window needs some sort of curtain or awning to keep the sun from heating up the gallery. I will look for a solution this week.

Great Falls Commission Begun

I took some panoramic shots of Great Falls and made some field sketches and notes. When I printed out the panoramic shots and pieced them together I made a decision to eliminate a portion that was just uninteresting shoreline oposite where I was standing. Now the view fits the canvas perfectly. I had stretched a 20" x 40" canvas. I don't normally use the grid system to get my drawing on the canvas, but the complexity of this subject, with all its small waterfalls and bazillion rocks made it necessary for me to start with a grid. I purposely kept the grid very simple, four blocks across and two down. Starting at the center of the photograph, I repeated the grid on the photos. What you see here is a very simple charcoal drawing of the rock formations and waterfalls. I am now ready and psyced to begin.

Bear Sighting

As I drive the 20 minute drive from Little Washington to my house in Marshall each evening, I am reminded of how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful area. Yesterday I had an extra blessing. As I passed through a wooded area of Cresthill Road I came upon a momma bear and her three cubs walking down the center of the road. They quickly became excited about my being there and started running down the road instead of off into the brush. I was awestruck at how tiny the cubs were. I had the misconception that they would be large. At one point, one of the cubs started to climb a tree, but quickly came back down when his momma went to the opposite side of the road. I reached for my camera and suddenly realized it was in the back of my car with all my other paraphenalia. Another lost opportunity.

New Rule.....never leave the camera where you can't grab it at a moments notice.

The bears were in the road in front of me for at least 10 minutes, enough time to have gotten six or seven great photos if I had my camera.

Decision Made

As I worked on the quilt yesterday, I finally made the decision to take out some of the flowers and lighten the background a bit by adding more of the house siding. I am already happier with the nice arrangements of light and dark value shapes.

Quilt Commission Progress

I have pretty much laid in the basic structure of the settee and have really gotten into the quilt itself. I am still not sure about eliminating some of the camelias. I want to live with the painting a bit longer before I make a major decision on the background. I am pretty happy with how this painting is going.

Schlepping Art Today

In just a few minutes I will be driving some entries down to the King George Art Show. I love this show. I usually sell something there or better yet, receive an award with cash money along with the ribbon. Two years ago, my painting "The Artist's Mother as Gaea" received Best of Show and $500. Its a long drive down there, but its a beautiful drive. I don't mind it at all and make a day of it. Ciao

Jewelry for Sale at Ice House Gallery

I now have jewelry for sale at the Ice House Gallery and you can view the items at www.icehousegallery.com. Although I don't have an online store, you can see the item and price and contact me via the telephone (540-675-3039) or e-mail (sha45rps@starpower.net) to purchase an item. Coming soon will be the Little Washington notecards. Series 1 and Series 2 have four different images. Each box contains two of each image, eight notecards and envelopes per box for $15.00.