Inside Job - See this Movie

Had a few minutes this morning before getting to work on the last painting for my upcoming solo show.
We watched the movie "Inside Job" last night and I just had to comment today!!!!   If you see any movies this year, make sure you see Inside Job.  Matt Damon is the narrator and this movie explains in simple, understandable terms, what I have known since the Nixon Administration, regarding the Federal Reserve, our government and Wall Street.  This is what Occupy Wall Street was about, they just did not know how to explain themselves and needed some better spokespersons. 

Taking a Blog Vacation

I am going to take a vacation from my blog and facebook and linked in for a while.   My solo show is looming over me and I still have a painting to finish not to mention all the other stuff associated with this show.  If that weren't enough on my plate, I am also in the process of selling my home and relocating to the Shenandoah Valley area.  This is going to be a slow move process, we have no idea of where we are going to end up and we may even decide to build a new home.  All this means, spotty internet service and a lot of limbo for us.  I will try to say hi once in while during this transition period.  Until then, Be Creative!!!!

Petite Perspectives Show

Here are two shots from the Petite Perspectives Show at Art Square last Friday night.  People had just begun to arrive.

Stinky Flowers

What seems like a hundred years ago, around 1972,  I purchased a 4 inch long, stick at a dimestore and it was labeled "Ti Tree".  I think it cost me a whole $1.50.  I planted that stick and now, eons later, that Ti Tree is about 5 and 1/2 feet tall.  About 10 years ago it started blooming around Christmas time.  It missed Christmas this year and now it is in bloom.  These are the beautiful blooms, which drop sticky droplets of a sap, all over the plant and my hardwood floors.  OH, what a small price to pay for such a cool plant.  The downside here is that these blooms only open at night (you are looking at them closed in this photo) and they give off the most extreme sweet fragrance.  So pungent and fragrant is the odor, that for the last four years we have cut off the bloom branch and tossed it outside.  Imagine mixing Evening In Paris, Hawaiian White Ginger, Channel# 5 and maybe a bit of 5 more perfumes all together.....yeah thats how this thing smells.  It has only had one stalk of blooms and only once a year, but oh how horrible the odor gets when you sit and enhale it all through the evening as you eat or watch some TV.  I will try for some photos tonight when the white flowers fully open.

Workshop Tomorrow

Tomorrow you can find me at The Studio Frame Shop in Warrenton, teaching a workshop from 10 am until 2 pm.  I am teaching Pastel Portraits.  If I missed getting this information out to you, I do apologize.  I have been having issues with my computer and even lost my address list of past students.  I probably won't be teaching another workshop until after my solo show in April.  If you would like to be added to my workshop notice list, send me an e-mail to www.sha45rps@starpower.net.

Happy Valentines Day

I am too busy eating chocolate and drinking champagne today to bother with this blog. 
Oh, and I am hanging with my soulmate today!!!!!

Happy Valentines Day to All!

Color Notes - Making Grey/Gray

Obviously, Black and some White makes gray.  Here is another way.....combine two complimentary colors together and you get gray.  Try this, take red and add green to gray it down.  Keep adding green until you end up with a nuetral gray combination....usually a 50/50 combination.  You can do this with Blue and Orange or Yellow and Purple.  The yellow/purple combo is one of my favorites.  I use Dixoazine Purple and Yellow Ochre.  NICE!!!!!  These grays are not your usual cold gray colors, but very warm and earthy grays. 

Pear Study

This is the beginning phase of a small 11 x 14 oil on gessoed illustration board painting of pears.  I actually have two of these going side by side on the easel.  Very loose, very free.  An exercise I like to do when I have been painting very tight and need to stretch myself a bit.  I have been working on the portrait of Dianna and needed a bit of a break.

You Tube Heaven

I spent most of the day yesterday watching you tube art tutorials.  What a wonderful thing this You Tube is!!!! Unfortunately, I am on dail up still and only get to do this at the Art Square Studio, where I have access to Wi Fi.   I highly recommend the Rob Liberace demos at The Art League.  

Petite Perspectives Reception

Tonight is the reception for the Petite Perspectives show at Art Square in  Leesburg.  I actually remembered my camera and will snap a few shots for the blog.  The reception runs from 5:30 until 8:00 and Art Square is located at 12 Cardinal Park Dr., Leesburg Virginia. 

Color Notes - Black

Time and again, students are told not to use Black.  I held to this for many years myself.   If you find yourself without black in your box, you can mix a rich black using French Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, and Sap Green.  Try equal parts of each. If you don't have Sap Green, try a bit of Burnt Umber.  I now have black in my paintbox.  I guess I am getting lazy.

The First Thanksgiving

I forgot to post this to my blog, back at Christmas.  During our trip to Williamsburg, we drove over to Berkeley Plantation.  Its not far from Williamsburg and was a good thing to do since the weather was rainy and cold.  Did you know that this is the actual site of the very first Thanksgiving in America?  The thanksgiving held here predates the Plymouth Rock Pilgrims feast by an entire year.  Unfortunately, the Pilgrims had better Marketing and PR people.   

Color Notes - Put Away the White!!!

If you are looking at a painting with chalky colors, blame it on the white.  The mistake most students make in color mixing is thinking that white is the only way to lighten a color.  OK, I use white also, but I always try to be conscious of the fact that my colors will become chalky if I use only white and go too far with it.  Next time try this.......put some French Ultramarine Blue on a palette and try to add some Cobalt Blue to lighten it before grabbing the white.  The same with yellows.  Lay out some Yellow Ochre, add some Cadmium Yellow Pale or Zinc Yellow.  If it goes too bright, add some white.  NOW, GO PAINT!