Linda Mahoney Art

Colored Pencil Treasures - coming soon!

2012-02-13T07:44:00.000-06:00

I am so very honored to have my artwork included in Ann Kullberg's "Colored Pencil Treasures" book. My work appears on page 34 as seen in the previews here http://www.annkullberg.com/cptreasures_2.php

This is the third book that includes colored pencil artwork that I have created. I continue to work on improving my skills in fine art and to promote colored pencil as a viable medium for creating fine art.

Keep Trying!

2012-02-02T07:19:00.006-06:00

I can't believe it's been over a year since I posted on this blog and vow to be much more attentive to this in the coming year.

Just this week I helped judge artwork at the local junior livestock and homemaking show. It was interesting and inspiring to see such wonderful work being created by local children ages 6 - 12. I was moved by the ability of so many of them and encouraged by the interest of all of them. We were instructed to make comments on each judging sheet. As a sometimes instructor of adults who have shared their childhood experiences with me, I strived to find positive comments for every piece and to frame negatives and suggestions in a constructive manner.

I thought about abandoning my blog as it takes time away from other things I might like to do a little more. But then, I thought about how easy it is to give up on things and that's what so many kids do even though there was something they longed to communicate. So, my message to myself and to you is:

Keep trying! Every time you work on something - you learn something. I'm an artist, teach occasionally, and am always saddened and astouneded to meet people whose work was harshly criticized as a child. There are so many different types and styles of artwork that is pleasing to viewers of varying tastes, that I believe everyone can create art that communicates at some level. You might consider looking through books - and free, online information - about design and color. I find it very helpful to read and look at the work of other artists whose artwork I admire. Don't forget to check your public library for books and videos on art and artists. As long as you are finding some enjoyment and learning, you are succeeding! Only the most extraordinary artists created great art as they began their journey and many of those weren't recognized until their journey in this world had ended.

Painting BIG Flowers

2011-01-11T08:37:00.003-06:00

As I began to write this post, I realized that the previous 2 entries featured shades of pink and this one will, too. Maybe time to come up with a different pallette? I keep struggling with the need to create a body of work. My ADD-addled brain has me hopping from one "great" idea to another despite my concerted efforts to stay on track. I began a colored pencil painting but the new box of open acrylics kept calling my name. I've been interested in trying the "open" formulation of acrylics for some time now and I finally succumed to the siren call. I have also been wanting to paint flowers in a larger than life format, so this rose is 18"x18" and I really enjoyed doing it. While painting this rose, Frances Ince Erdmann came to mind as she grew beautiful roses and even worked with a rose supplier (Jackson Perkins?) on their hybrid line. She was a generous friend and fun person who was also a victim of cancer. I've named this painting "Remembering Frances" in her honor.

I tried to capture the feeling of the light coming through the petals from behind. I still believe that acrylics have a harsher finish than oils and I'm not sure I wouldn't be happier with the results. The last time I tried the water miscible oils I was put off by the consistency, but I'm thinking the right mediums might solve that problem. Bottom line, I still haven't found my holy grail but keep searching.

Paint whatever comes your way

2010-09-24T08:47:00.003-05:00

This chest belonged to my husband's sister, who I never got to meet. It was then used by his daughter Liane and ultimately ended up in storage. I decided it would make a great project for Liane's daughter, Kamrynn, and set about changing it from the basic French Provencial white to something with a little more character. Previous makeovers of this type have included a set of cabinet doors when we added a cabinet unit to an older house and were not able to match the existing cabinets, and a large wooden floor lamp. I'll post photos of the other two mentioned projects in the near future. The chest and lamp were inspired by the ever colorful and whimsical styles of Mackenzie-Childs. I find their work especially delightful for the child in us all.

Happy creating!

Pretty in Pink - Party Dress

2010-08-16T08:51:00.005-05:00

This past week was spent in the cool mountain village of Cloudcroft, NM where I taught a class in collage.So much has happened since my last post. Some of it has been fabulous: I have a fantastic daughter-in-law! Some of it tragic: my daughter-in-law's father, who was also a personal friend, passed away in the early morning hours on the day of the wedding. Also, my baby sister is now home with hospice as she continues to battle damned cancer. Life happens and we deal with it.

Collage is a welcome respite from the world of reality. It is a break from the tedious detailed work I usually do. I believe the freedom of it is what has made it a unanimous first choice for my students.I'm posting a collage that I completed as a demonstration for the students which includes 3-d elements. It's a cheerful party dress that will be inserted in a shadowbox frame.

The dress is made up of paper elements layered and bent to contribute to the form. The wood panel support was covered with a portion of a McCall's dress pattern and then stenciled over with a diamond design. I think a series of these dresses would make a really fun wall grouping.

Enjoy every day that comes your way, don't waste precious time and stay in the moment as much as possible!

All the best, Linda

Combining Photos for a Portrait

2010-06-22T07:36:00.014-05:00

Though my website, I was contacted by a lady who asked if I could do a portrait of her daughter along with her daughter's pets. She has 3 dogs and a beloved turtle and wanted to have them all included in the portrait. We discussed sizes and agreed that a 22 x 16 would be large enough to incorporate all the subjects and include enough detail to make each recognizable. Also, with a 4" mat, the fnished portrait would easily fit into a 30x24 standard sized frame. We discussed pastel and colored pencil as the preferred mediums for completing the portrait. When I learned that they wanted to carry the portrait with them on a plane where they would travel to visit the final recipient, I suggested colored pencil as the more portable of the two. The client was already leaning toward the colored pencil from reviewing portraits on my website. We discussed the setting for the portrait and a natural, outdoor setting seemed well suited for the inclusion of the pets. The client lives in a beautiful, wooded area and requested including the trees in the background. I agreed to travel to their home to take photographs of each of the dogs, the turtle, and most importantly, the little girl.

Realizing it would be extremely difficult to pose them all at the same time, I focused on trying to capture each of them separately and made notes regarding personal characteristics and expressions. It was rather sunny and warm and I knew that the shadows would be harsh and I would have to soften the shading when doing the final artwork. After returning home, I went through the photographs and emailed samples for the client to select and also rough images of various poses for the group. Using Photoshop, I cut and pasted various poses of the little girl and each of her pets. I emailed the rough compositions to the client to solicit her preferences. The first two images below were sent as the intial suggestions for a composition incorporating all the elements.

The client responded that she preferred the vertical format, but requested that the dogs be facing forward. The third composition above was the result of those revisions.

The facial expression in this photo was selected as best representative of Holly. To have her incorporated with the 3 dogs, I turned her body more forward and changed the arms to hold the turtle more centered. Bob was cooperative and easy to photograph. I think he likes posing.

Max wasn't especially interested in having his portrait done. The client noted that his usual facial expression included his tongue hanging out on his left side. She also asked that he be looking up or forward instead of to the side.

Unfortunately, Dusty was not looking forward in any of the photographs I had taken. I wanted to be sure to capture his unique markings, so I consulted the photos that I had taken and referred to a photo I found online of a black and tan dachshund facing forward for a reference in drawing the shape of his head from a face-forward position.

I was fortunate to get a shot of Bea that did not require modifications. I eliminated the leash attached to her collar, but otherwise, she was good-to-go.

The final portrait: Holly & Friends, colored pencil, 22x16

The client expressed her satisfaction with the final portrait and I had the pleasure of knowing that special memories had been captured and recorded. Hopefully, the good times will live on through my artwork.

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans...

2010-06-10T20:50:00.003-05:00

That may not be the exact quote from John Lennon, but close enough.

We expected to be back in Cloudcroft today, but that is not the way things have gone. We are moving up a wedding between my son and his fiance by several months and are waiting on the date. My sister is struggling with cancer and is not feeling well.

I have a painting on the easel and am trying gilding for the first time. I'm using imitation for this first piece. I can't see using gold or silver until I am sure I can apply it competently. A botanical drawing of a rose that is almost completed is awaiting my return to Cloudcroft. I put it aside to complete the portrait I was commissioned to do. I'll post them here later.

For now, I'm sharing an acrylic painting based on a quiet pool and stream I photographed in Tennessee a couple of years ago.

Painting my Face

2010-05-11T06:44:00.003-05:00

"Painting my Face" 10x14 Colored Pencil

The idea for this painting has been percolating for several years. I wonder if artists are better at applying their makeup or not. And what if you could just repaint the parts that you didn't like? Then again, that could be a disaster. For a long time I thought I should get a model for this design. I pondered how I might set it up - with the model's face reflected in a mirror, or the model facing the viewer with a mirror in her hand, or... I finally just used the digital camera with the timer setting. I don't particularly like doing self-portraits, but the model is always handy and the fee is affordable.

It's Just the Judge's Preference

2010-05-09T07:35:00.008-05:00

Entering juried competitions is a tricky thing. After all, the selections are purely the preference of the person(s) viewing the artwork. The art juror brings to the table their own personal likes and dislikes. No matter how hard you try to be objective, if you really don't like something, it's bound to play into your choices.
For some reason I can't explain, I recoiled at the sight of tattoos as a child. I have worked hard to overcome that as they have become more mainstream, but the point is, I have to work at it. Given the choice between a natural beauty and an artificially adorned one, I would tend to gravitate to the former. That is a bias that I have and the point is, most everyone has predilections they consciously or subconsciously carry with them.
The judges for art events bring their own inclinations - consciously or not - to their judgments. I like all different kinds of art, but may not be able to appreciate certain types to the degree someone else might. In addition, it is the judge's responsibility to create an exhibition that is varied and interesting. If a large percentage of entries are similar in subject, it makes the competition in that genre more difficult.
When I created my still life painting, "American Classics", I thought it was one of my better colored pencil paintings. I also realized that there would be an abundance of still life entries with flowers and fruit, making it more difficult to stand out in a large field of similar entries. I had wanted to do something a little more "out-of -the-box" and have been doing quite a bit of free-lance illustrating recently, so I came up with the concept of "In Search of Rousseau". I believe that the piece shows more imagination and creativity than the still life painting. However, I believe that the technical skill used in the still life painting was of a higher level.
There have been years when I have entered 2 paintings and neither was selected for inclusion. The first year I entered the Colored Pencil Society of America's International Exhibition, I sent 1 submission. (Entrants are allowed to submit up to 2 images for consideration with no more than 1 entry being eligible for inclusion.) At that point, I was entirely self-taught in colored pencil
and was totally naive about the level of competition. My piece was included and I was thrilled. If it hadn't been juried in, I might never have entered again.
I am writing this blog to let other artists know how wrong-headed that would have been. In another year among other entries or with a differen juror, that piece could have easily been rejected. It was a still life of fruit and might have been one too many to make the cut that year. Just remind yourself that the variables are many and keep trying to do your best work. The decision to include or exclude your entry, is no more than the preference of the judge.

In Search of Rousseau

2010-04-27T08:08:00.003-05:00

"In Search of Rousseau" 18x24 Colored Pencil on Sanded Panel

This colored pencil painting which I completed a few months ago has been juried into the 18th annual CPSA International Exhibit. It was done as an homage to Henri Rousseau. For those of you who might not be familiar with the artist Rousseau, he began painting in his 40's in the time of Matisse. He was inspired by the exotic plants he saw at the Paris botanical gardens and by photos from books about Africa. He felt he had stepped into a dream when in the presence of the strange and beautiful plants and sought to project the mood to his paintings. Rousseau painted in a primitive, naive manner that was ridiculed by other artists - though it is thought he was not aware of their disdain for his paintings. His work was later held in higher regard and Picasso supposedly rescued one of his paintings from a street vendor who was selling it as a canvas that could be reused by artists seeking inexpensive painting supplies.
My painting depicts a fancy lady - to represent the Paris elite - on a quest through a primitive, naive jungle landscape in search of the artist Rousseau. A composite of Rousseau images follows.

In my next blog, I will compare the painting that got selected for the exhibit and the painting that didn't, and a little about art competitions.

All the best, Linda

Angel of Peace Paper Painting Collage

2010-03-21T07:51:00.002-05:00

I took a break from the colored pencil paintings I am working on to create a 20x16 collage on a birch panel. I used some highly textured papers on the dove and wings of the angel. I had purchased some handpainted papers from an artist in Florida recently who was trying to raise money to help a friend avoid bankruptcy and I was able to incorporate some of the papers from that purchase. I wasn't happy with the hair on the angel and ended up using papers from a magazine and like the mixture of patterns I found. There are handpainted pages from the Bible worked into the collage in many places. Actually, there were even more of them on the wings of the angel, but I thought the color too dark and ended up covering them with thick, handmade paper. The next photo is a closeup of the detail.
I have two colored pencil paintings I hope to finish by the end of the month so that I can enter them to the jury for the annual international colored pencil exhibit. Peace & grace, Linda

More Collages Across the Atlantic

2010-03-17T07:14:00.006-05:00

"Hands across the water, heads across the sky..." Paul McCartney

Continuing with collages from Joanne Cole's students in Great Britain:

These delectable creations make me smile and I hope the students had as much fun making them as I've had looking at them! Isn't it amazing to see how different people interpret the same theme? Ice cream sundae collages - in all shapes and colors of the rainbow! Thanks so much for sharing, Joanne!

I just finished a new collage painting yesterday and will post it later. For now, it's clean up the mess I made while doing it and then back to the drawing board - literally. I intend to complete 2 colored pencil paintings by the end of this month to enter the annual international CPSA juried exhibit. The one I'm working on now is on sanded panel and is a homage to Henri Rousseau. I need to have it finished by the end of this week to have time to finish the traditional still life that is in the very beginning stages...

Ice Cream Across the Atlantic

2010-02-11T06:40:00.011-06:00

Last year I completed 2 ice cream cone collages and posted the process on this blog. Since then, I was contacted by Joanne Cole in Bristol, England. She is a school art teacher and her students were beginning an assignment using collage to create ice cream sundaes. She was asking permission to use my collages and information with her students. I readily agreed and asked that she send photos of her students' work. I emailed photos of the different stages on the ice cream cone collages I had done. I had posted them here previously, but for some reason, several of the photos couldn't be viewed later on. Today, I am sharing with you a photo of my new international friend, Jo

and the work of her younger students.

This first set of collages was done by 11 year olds with the main focus on tone. On my next blog post I will show the sundaes done by the older students, so stay tuned!

It is such fun that the internet enables us to connect with people of similar interests all over the world. Enjoy!

All the best - Linda

Summer is Winding Down in Cloudcroft

2009-08-31T08:30:00.004-05:00

This summer has been the wettest and lushest Cloudcroft summer in my memory. There was a storm during the night and the village was blanketed in a fog when I first went out to walk the dogs this morning. A nippy 40 degrees had us walking at a nice clip.

The interesting thing is, that despite the waning of summer, many berries continue to add blooms to their branches. The second blooming of elderberries and the wild strawberries is rather unusual. In addition, many of the wildflowers have continued to exhibit their blossoms. There are hints that the aspen leaves are beginning a subtle change and I suspect the wildflowers will be caught unaware by an early frost.

I have seen many cottontails here this summer and watched two of them playing one morning. One was charging and then jumping over the other. That happened several times and then they finally chased each other around and around in a circle. I suspected they were siblings. It makes me smile to remember it now and their appearances inspired the colored pencil painting above of the little bunny among the wild strawberries.

Tomorrow we leave for a short trip to Texas and I will be jolted from the lush coolness of this area to the drought ridden heat of south Texas. I wish I could take some moisture and coolness with me to share with that area.

May you be well, happy and filled with lovingkindness ~ Linda

Trying Something Different

2009-08-17T09:17:00.004-05:00

It's 8 something in the morning and I am on the deck in Cloudcroft. Hummingbirds are feasting on the red and white petunias and their feeders. The sun has just begun to rise above the pines and aspens and the temperature is knocking at 60 degrees. I am in a light sweat suit with a cup of coffee and would think I was in heaven if I didn't have a long list of things to do. There are numerous illustrations waiting to appear and it seems the employers all finally decide what they want at the same time. I'm thankful for the work.
Yesterday, I took some time out to work on the painting above. It's done in colored pencil. I have been trying to figure out a way to work in a different technique. I like how it turned out, but the paper is translucent and keeps the whites from looking as bright as I'd like. I will continue to work in this vein to see if I can duplicate the style on my fav Stonehenge paper. I will be doing a companion piece to this one of hollyhocks. Let me know if you like the style and be watching for the hollyhocks.
All the best, Linda
p.s. I will try to channel the cooler temps and the abundance of rain to my parched native Texas.

Some illustrations are black & white

2009-08-12T10:29:00.008-05:00

Virtually all of my illustrations begin as rough hand-drawn images in graphite pencil (black and white or grayscale). Some employers want black and white images only. When that is the case, I continue by cleaning up the drawing and shading it in pencil. If the employer wants line drawings only, I transfer the outline for the finished drawing and then go over it with ink. For colored illustrations, I continue with the graphite and use water color markers, colored pencil, acrylics or gouache to color the images. After that, I scan them in and usually tweak them a little more in Photoshop. Here are a couple of black and white images done for fantasy type illustrations.

Hold tight to your dreams ~ Linda

Illustrations, illustrations

2009-08-10T13:01:00.005-05:00

Illustrations have been keeping me busy. I'm including some samples of just a few of the many I've been working on recently. Most of them have been for children's books. Some are in color, like the Taco Dog (shown above gobbling Santa's tamales).

Some have a message like Petula Pelican, who

struggles for women's rights issues. Part of the

fun of it all is becoming "acquainted" (at least

via the internet) with people from all over the

world. Petula's author is a wonderful, 85-year-

young woman who lives in Kansas and has al-

ready published several other books. She is a

wealth of knowledge regarding homeopathic

remedies and is an inspirational lay minister

as well.

I haven't been blogging in a while because of all the other activities. Stay tuned for more illustration samples to follow.

All the best ~ Linda

From DIVAS to DOG CATCHERS

2009-05-01T07:10:00.003-05:00

Have you missed me? I have been busy, busy, busy doing illustrations recently. It is fun, but a LOT of work and I have been putting in long hours. Part of that is my own tendency toward perfectionism. One of the most fun jobs I have been working on is a children's book about a frog who lives in the bayou of Louisiana and dreams of being a princess. I have made a new friend with the author and am stretching my skills back to illustration which is where I started as a professional artist many years ago. So many things have changed since then with the arrival of computers in the world of art and they continue to expand. The Photoshop images that were state of the art a few years ago are giving way to Vector images which can be resized without distortion. I still start all my illustrations with hand drawn images, and I am hoping there will always be a place for that. There is just something about the feel of the artist's hand in that artwork compared to digitally created work. Maybe it's the sense that a human connection gives the piece a soul that is lacking in the computer generated work. And maybe that is just my own way of perceiving the artwork. At any rate, I wanted to blog in with what's up in my life at the moment. I have designed images of dog catchers in addition to the frog Diva and am also working on bunnies who get kisses from their mommy and a mouse who preaches. (I must be attracted to the animal characters...) I got permission from the author to share the images from the Frog Diva and will post other samples in the future where it's allowed.
Peace and grace, Linda

Finally! A photo of the Green Jay Painting

2009-04-03T20:09:00.006-05:00

(You can click on the photo for a larger version of the picture.)

This colored pencil painting was actually finished a week ago, but I have been waiting for a decent day to get a photograph of it. I prefer to take photos of the artwork outdoors but ever since finishing it has been very dark and overcast or the wind has been blowing like crazy. Today there was nice light and less wind, so I took this outside and got a photo of it. Hope you enjoy!
I'm already at work on redwing blackbirds with roses. I've managed to get some good shots of the Eastern bluebirds this past week, so they will be appearing soon, too.
I was able to work outdoors on this painting several days and enjoyed the great natural light and pleasant weather.
All the best! Linda

TIP: Colored pencil breaking? Time to start baking!

2009-03-24T07:48:00.004-05:00

It is so frustrating to be "in the zone" working on a colored pencil painting and have the tip fall off the pencil. Then, you sharpen it only to have the tip fall off again - or worse - to remain in the sharpener clogging it. Sometimes that requires a screwdriver, a few expletives and an unwanted interruption in the work process. When colored pencils are dropped, the "lead" can break inside the pencil and no matter how many times you try sharpening them, the tip will continue to fall off. Well, I received a wonderful tip on resolving that problem from Audra Stevens, Product Information Specialist with Blick Art Materials. Here are her instructions:

What you will want to do is put your pencils on a cookie sheet - preferably lined with wax paper or a silicone pad - and put the pencils in the cold oven. Heat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and let them bake at that temperature for 2-5 minutes.Then let the oven completely cool down to room temperature before you take them out. They may still be warm so be careful when handling them. Do not put them in the microwave because they have metal lettering on them and they will spark or catch fire.

She said that she has successfully used this method with Prismacolor pencils. I tried this method with a Dick Blick colored pencil. After 3 minutes, the pencil was still breaking, so I baked it again for 5 minutes and, VOILA!, it worked. Thanks, Audra, I love having that solution!
Dick Blick is my favorite online source of art materials and I became a loyal customer of theirs when I first started using colored pencils because they offered open stock Prismacolor pencils before many other art supply stores did. I have tried a lot of different brands of colored pencils and Prismacolor has remained my go-to brand. I prefer the way they feel and their wide range of color choices. When I have a fist full of colored pencils in my hand and I am switching according to colors, I can always tell by the feel of the "lead" against the paper when I have switched to another brand. Other pencils feel "scratchier" to me and don't have the smooth lay down that I like with the Prismacolors. However, there is a new contender on the market: Dick Blick is selling their own brand of colored pencils and I've got to admit that I can't tell the difference in the feel of these pencils. I will do a separate comaparison of these to the Prismacolors in a later blog, but if you work with colored pencils, I do recommend you give them a try!
I'm moving along with my new (and, hopefully, improved) version of the green jays and the wisteria and hope to finish with it today or tomorrow.
I've also successfully gotten some photos of Easter bluebirds that I've been feeding live meal worms and an American kestrel (sparrow hawk). Expect to see them in the bird series.
All the best,
Linda

Taking the Good from Failure

2009-03-15T17:06:00.003-05:00

I thought that I was getting very close to finishing this picture. I was working to quickly fill in the background and wasn't sure which direction I was taking with it. I had originally considered a light blue background, but it was competing and clashing with the other blues in the picture. I switched to greens and was happier with that. Initially, I had thought the green jays would blend into a green background too much, but found that they didn't. I had added a tree trunk to the left side of the picture, made some changes to the bottom limb and started filling in the background. (You can refer to the photo from my previous post to see the differences.)
To get the background done with soft gradations and variations, I had switched from the colored pencils to Neocolors II . They are used by Ester Roi, who uses heat to melt the wax in the crayons and colored pencils and has developed a heated drawing surface especially for that purpose, and Ranjini who likes to work on sanded surfaces. They are actually watersoluble, but I wasn't using watercolor paper and like the idea of heating the wax to smooth it around. I used an electric warming tray under my artwork to heat the painting enough to get my crayons to a nice buttery texture so I could spread them around the background. I also used them, with their creamy opaqueness, to create the tree tunk and new direction of the bottom limb. For good measure, I hit a few of the blossoms with them, too. My intention was to come back with the colored pencil for a little more detail and refinement after the crayon layer had cooled.
To my dismay, when I tried to draw over the Neocolors with the colored pencils, the layer of wax simply scraped off the paper! YIKES!! That left me with paper showing and an obvious missing layer of color. It left a texture similar to that of chipped paint. Perhaps I applied the Neocolor too thick or something. I will contact Ms. Ester for some expert assistance. I'm a "burnisher" with colored pencil and put down thick, heavy coats of colored pencil. I tried rubbing a little more gently with the colored pencils, but still the wax peeled up. What to do, what to do!?!
After almost 2 weeks of daily work on this painting, I didn't want to admit defeat. I have a small supply of the Neocolors and didn't feel I had to colors needed to try to get more detail simply by using them. I got out some tubes of gouache and began painting on different areas of the painting and that seemed to help somewhat. I still wanted to come back in a few places with the colored pencils. When I tried that over the gouache, the gouache layer popped off in chunks! At that point, I decided I had reached disaster level and this painting was a bust. Perhaps I will figure a way to salvage part of it - maybe in a collage or something.
I couldn't get too excited about starting over on the same exact picture I had already put so much time into. The photos I had of the green jays I have taken from my backyard and, more recently, at a roadside park just south of Kingsville, TX. I got the photos of the wisteria at a friend's house when we were visiting last year. So, I opened several of the photos in Photoshop and started playing around. I chopped and pasted a piece of the vine here and a blossom there and finally came up with a totally new composition with one, slightly larger, green jay and the wisteria draped horizontally across the page. Here's the final reference photo I constructed:

In some ways, I like this composition better and have to hang on to that as a benefit from the failure of my previous attempt. I also learned that I will Not use colored pencil over the Neocolors (unless someone can tell me how to do so without the same effects) nor over gouache.

Back to the drawing board!
Linda

Art Interrupted by Spring

2009-03-10T07:33:00.010-05:00

I have been busy working away at the green jays with the wisteria and have the two birds pretty much done. W may be harder is figuring out how much of the background to include. I want to keep the rest of it quite a bit lighter to avoid having it compete with the birds.
In the meantime, spring is knocking at the door. That brings some pleasant interruptions including an early morning visit to a friend's to take some photos of the birds that flock to their house. She keeps dry dog food available in big tubs outdoors and the birds love it. I got some photos of the cardinals, green jays, brown thrasher and Audubon's orioles.

My corn plant is blooming! I've had this happen with 2 other corn plants (Dracaena Massangeana), but believe it is rather rare. The flowers take a while to develop and open, but when they do, it is very fragrant. I was disappointed at first, because the flower stalks (there are 2 on this plant!) had gotten quite large with no fragrance at all. Last night,
when I walked into the room, I detected the fragrance and upon inspection saw that the tiny buds were opening and releasing the aroma. The scent is very reminiscent of the hyacinths I had blooming a couple of weeks ago.
We have had no measurable rainfall since August, so it amazes me that anything is blooming outdoors. The grass is parched dry, but the plants insist on budding out anyway. The lemon has buds on it and the pomegranates are putting out little leaves. It is encouraging to see that the seasons continue despite the hardships.
As much as I enjoy spring, there are a few things that I could do without. Last year the swallows built nests on the light fixtures on the back porch. I think the swallows are beautiful and enjoy seeing and hearing them, but the nest-building made a huge mess! The mud droppings were all over the floor and my hubby had to use a power washer to remove the mess. I decided to buy some rubber snakes to wrap around the light fixtures, thinking that would keep the birds away. Around 4:30 this morning, I let my dogs out before my walk and in the blink of an eye, Hannah had been sprayed by a skunk! I had to cancel my morning walk to give her a bath in the deskunk concoction that I learned about after 2 encounters last summer. To add insult to injury, while saturating Hannah with the deoderizer, I noticed a commotion near the ceiling of the porch. Wouldn't you know, the swallows were merrily perched on the green rubber snake wrapped around the light fixture!
And so starts my day. Hopefully, I will get back to my artwork soon enough!

All the best ~ Linda

Illumination - Latest Colored Pencil Painting

2009-02-26T06:25:00.003-06:00

I completed this colored pencil painting yesterday, photographed it and uploaded it, along with the cypress tree painting, as entries in the CPSA 2009 Int'l Exhibit. Last year was the first year they accepted digital entries, but I didn't enter last year. It was nice not having to deal with taking slide photos with the 35mm camera, but on the other hand, what I see on my computer monitor is not what I see when I look at the actual painting. Then, how do I know what the judges will see on their monitor? My colors look washed out to me on my monitor. Since the judges only get one impression of your work, that feels risky to me. If I had better techie skills I suppose I could calibrate my monitor, but alas that is not my forte. So I continue to muddle along.
I used some of the Neocolor II crayons when working on this picture along with heat. I didn't discover that combo until I was almost finished. Now I am anxious to give that another try. I took over the glass topped range - which kept me from preparing lunch for 2 days in a row - to give the heated approach a try.
The plywood at the local lumber store is very poor quality at the moment, so I will go out of town to purchase some for collage next week. In the meantime, I will paint with acrylics or colored pencils and post updates here.
All the best, Linda

New Day Sunrise

2009-02-18T13:31:00.004-06:00

I took a timeout from the colored pencil painting I am working on to do a painting of the sun rising above the clouds. In the past week, I have been plagued with the sudden onset of arthritis in my hands/wrists & feet/ankles. I would have blamed it on overuse of the hand with the prolonged use of scribbling with my pencils, but both hands hurt. I haven't been scribbling with my left hand, or my feet, for that matter, so that couldn't be the cause. My friend Alice told me it was because I just passed another birthday milestone. Probably right! I had a regular appointment to see my doctor yesterday anyway, so I bought a bottle of glucosamine-chondroitin and started taking it until I could meet with him. I knew that stuff would take 6 weeks or so to kick in - if it works for me. So, I have been scribbling and wincing at the same time. I started thinking maybe that is why I became more acquainted with collage recently. I figured I could do it with less stress to my hand and wrist if the pain became unbearable. When I went to the doctor, he ordered an injection of an anti-inflammatory drug which he said would also help with the pain. I could already tell a difference within a few hours of the injection. Yippee!!! The swelling is still there but I can work without pain and restriction. I told him that if he "fixed" my hand for me, I would have to do a piece of art for him. He told me that he was publishing a book of poetry in his native language and the title of the book mean "new day" or "starting over" - like sunrise. He had snagged a photo off the internet and I expressed my concern about copyright infringement and told him that I would do something for him. So, the photo above is of a 12" x 9" pastel painting that I completed today. I hope it is what he had in mind. His solution for my hand was certainly what I had in mind!
All the best, Linda

Art Blog AWARD

2009-02-10T06:24:00.003-06:00

I was given this art blog award - my very first blog award!!! - by the very talented artist, Ranjini. I love her work. She uses colored pencils and Neocolor II crayons on pastelboard. I was intrigued by that and gave it a try and I'll just say, I'm back to the drawing board (or paper).

In return for Ranjini's generous award, I am listing 7 things I love and then will pass the award forward to 7 other artists whose blogs I love.

A mere 7 of the things I love (in no particular order):
1. Family
2. Friends (including my God)
3. Art
4. Music
5. Nature - flora, fauna, land & sea
6. Learning
7. Creating

A mere 7 of the artists whose work I love & who blog (in no particular order):

Elizabeth St. Hilaire-Nelson

Michael Chesley Johnson

William Hawkins

Robin Maria Pedrero

Julie King

Stevie Wren

Sara Chambers

Finally Finished Cypress Trees in Colored Pencil

2009-02-04T13:48:00.004-06:00

Could you sense my absence from the web recently? I've been working, working, working on a colored pencil painting. I am finally finished - I think. I said that last night and signed it. In the light of day, I decided (with my husband's critique) that it could use a little punching up in places, so back to work. Then, I thought it was done and was pretty pleased. I took it outdoors and sprayed workable fixative on it. I almost always do that. I've never had problems with it before. But this time...horror of horrors, my dark purple shadows morphed into something more like neon fuschia. Not so good. I used much more Verithin Prismas on this particular work than I normally do and perhaps that accounts for the color shift this time. So, back to the drawing board - literally. I busily attacked the purple with a marine green and think I might have counteracted the effects. I had been so careful to maintain my lights - which is always a challenge for me - and was annoyed that I had to get some subtle gradations darker when the additional coats of pencil were applied. Oh, well. I learn something everytime. I had been working on this one as a submission for the CPSA Int'l exhibit. I didn't enter at all last year and regret that decision. I hope to complete another one and will start on it today. I am giving pastelboard and Neocolors II wax crayons a try with my next one. I will try to post the work in progress - if I don't forget.
Hope to be back here soon!
All the best,

Talented French Papier Mache Artist

2009-01-29T15:29:00.005-06:00

Oh my goodness, I was on Facebook cleaning up some of my email and ran across a person named Laetitia Mieral who has the cutest avatar. It looked like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. Ever curious and easily distracted, I sent an email asking her if the little avatar was an original painting she had created. She wrote back and told me that it is actually a papier mache figure she created and she sent me a link to her website. (You can click the name of this blog to get there.) It is just amazing to me that she can create all these fabulous figures from what started as strips of paper from the comics! Wow! You will love them. I can't read a bit of French, but she has her profile in English, so if you are foreign language limited like I am, there is hope.
Check it out, I think you will love it!!
All the best ~ Linda

Beach Memories Linger

2009-01-22T07:48:00.005-06:00

Back in Beeville, did my 5 AM 3-mile walk on the walking track at Coastal Bend College in 40 something degree temperatures. Hard to believe I was on the beach yesterday morning. Glad to be back to my art stuff, but the memories linger of my wonderful days at the beach. Lots of good resources for future works of art.
BTW, the moon was odd this morning. It was very a small sliver and yet the moon itself looked much larger in circumference than usual. It looked very much like an eclipse. I decided it was making room to hold all the hope for the world.
Here's hoping your week is fabulous!

All the best ~

What is the single best drawing tip you have given or received?

2009-01-17T15:49:00.003-06:00

Eastern bluebirds have been frequenting the bird bath and they are such a welcome sight! In the dreary days of winter their blue sky backs carry the reminder of brighter days. I am not used to seeing them in the winter, but with our current drought situation, they have been regular visitors to the birdbath just out side the window for drinks of water. They usually come in groups. A few years ago, I saw a pair of them at our previous house, but only for a few weeks one spring. Since we moved (a few hundred yards away from the other house) almost 4 years ago, I haven't seen them at all until a month or so ago. Now I see them perched on the phone lines and fences where they keep an eye out for food in the open fields. We have seen as many as 10 clustered around the rim of the birdbath. I have nesting boxes that haven't been put up. I read that the Eastern bluebirds were indigenous to the area many years ago but had been displaced by the sparrows which are not native to this country, having been brought here from England.
Now to the burning question: "What is the most useful tip that you have been given or have given to others in regard to drawing?"
I have to think a while about the best one I've received. (I've received a lot of them!) When doing realistic artwork, the one that I repeat the most to my students is: "Draw what you see, not what you think you know." The most common reason for giving that tip is when I see students drawing something they have probably drawn and/or doodled a zillion times and have imprinted on their brain that is what the object looks like. Period. I remember one student doing a great job of drawing and rendering a squirrel - except that the animal had a very humanistic eye which was totally blowing the whole artwork. When the student got to the eye, she just drew what she thought an eye looked like without noticing the eye in her reference photo was very different from what she was drawing. It is very easy to slip into that type of mistake.
Much of the art I do is inspired by something I've seen by really looking. It makes me sad that so many people zip through life without seeing the amazing sights that exist if they only took the time to see them. Maybe by capturing it in a painting it will bring focus to the beauty and wonder that is in the ordinary.
Now, what are your favorite tips?

Oh where, oh where did my photos go?

2009-01-14T14:24:00.002-06:00

Well, there WERE photos with the blog I did on Jan. 12 showing the progression of the ice cream cone collages. For some reason after I posted the last blog they disappeared. I have asked for help from the support forum, but so far, no help has been provided. So, yes, I know there are blank boxes where the photos used to be and I don't seem to be able to figure out why. Thanks for looking at the other pics anyway! Linda

Ice Cream Cone Collages - Done!

2009-01-12T11:22:00.003-06:00

The ice cream cone collages are done. They were SO much fun! I can't wait to do more. The only thing left to finish these two are a couple of coats of varnish. I especially enjoyed including little "surprises" in the torn bits of paper. The cherry on the chocolate cone includes foil paper from a Baskins Robbins hard candy wrapper. The word "chocolate" was ripped from magazines and included in the ice cream. Musical note paper is worked into the cone.

In the strawberry cone painting, again there is Baskin Robbins wrapper paper, the word "strawberry" appears several times, along with Flavors and Gather round. Gathering round are a doe and fawn, a buffalo cow and calf and even a wolf appears - to wolf down the ice cream!
I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed making them.

Have a great week!

I scream 4 ICE CREAM collage begins

2009-01-10T20:02:00.008-06:00

I have started my ice cream collage as you can see here. First, I began with a simple pencil drawing on a 10"x8" sheet of birch plywood. Next, I painted very general areas of color and let that dry before applying paper to the collage.
And then there were two...

So what can be better than 1 ice cream cone, but 2? I decided while I had the paint out I should go ahead and make a quick background prep for a second cone. Besides, I couldn't decide between chocolate and strawberry anyway and I think a companion piece might be twice as nice. You can see that I have begun applying paper to the background of the chocolate one. I ordered some mulberry paper from a seller in Thailand that took a while to get here - about 2 weeks - but it love it and it is so much fun to work with. It is spawning ideas for other things like big cabbage roses or copying the photo of a confederate rose I am using as wallpaper on my computer these days. Since most of it is sheer, it is fun to layer over other patterned pieces of paper. I have such a hard time trying to "loosen up" with art, that this seems to be the ticket for doing that. (I had initially thought I would enjoy doing collage with fabric, but have realized I like ripping pieces of paper much more than cutting fabric.)

Here the collage progresses with the background finished and the cone and ice cream are beginning to take on shape with pieces of paper I have torn and glued on. (The flash caused a pretty bad glare on the glue so please try to see past that.)

Since taking the last photo, I believe I have actually finished with the chocolate cone but should know for sure by the time it is dried. (Hopefully, tomorrow.) I will post the finished product. This has to have been the most fun thing I've done with art in a while. If I can figure out how to get the medium off my hands when finished...I ordered some exam gloves to wear on at least one hand and hope there will be enough tactile sensation to work while wearing them.

Until then, all the best from

ACEOs & Making a little progress

2009-01-08T11:09:00.006-06:00

Yippee! I am making a little progress. I uploaded photos of my artwork which will be added to the Cloudcroft Art Society Website.
And, I got my check in the mail to cover my dues for CAS 2009 along with the website. It's great to scratch something off the list. This business of art keeps us from making art but has to be done if we want to generate any financial benefits from our efforts.
Now, about ACEOs. It's an acronym for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. There is a great article about them here that you might consider reading. Originally, the concept started as artist trading cards(ATCs). Artists who couldn't afford to make investments in art by their fellow artists exchanged small pieces of artwork among themselves. There was no money or payments involved, simply trading of artwork. That has evolved into the more recent ACEO movement. The only restriction on ACEO's is that they must be in the same size format: 3.5"x2.5" which is the size of a baseball trading card. They can be collected and displayed in a variety of ways. They are produced in all forms of media and supports. In fact, they have become so popular, you can buy blank ones ready to go in a number of different types of papers and other supports. If you have trouble cutting a straight line - like I do - the precut varieties are a godsend.
The little cards make great gifts and are a wonderful way to collect some fabulous artwork from artists who participate and whose work might be otherwise unaffordable to the collector.
I like to work on ACEOs while I am "watching" TV in the evenings with my DH. It gives me a chance to try out techniques in a small format, experiment with art that I might not want to do on a larger scale and work on thumbnail ideas for future compositions. eBay is an excellent venue for selling and buying the little cards and I enjoy perusing the listings there. The artwork at the beginning of this and my previous post are both ACEOs that I will be listing for sale on eBay.
Last month, I had to deal with another eBay user stealing one of my ACEO's and posting it for sale as if it were his own. The really bizarre thing about it was that the other user posted the card as an original and listed it 3 consecutive times. Duh! If the person who bought my card hadn't brought it to my attention, I probably would have been totally unaware of it happening. In a future blog, I will write about things I could have done to prevent it from happening in the first place and the hoops I had to jump through to get the problem resolved. BTW, that seller is no longer a member of eBay...
Tomorrow I will start on my first attempt at a very simple collage ala Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson. I love, love, love her work. She has been very kind and generous in sharing information with me via email and has a wonderful article in which she explains her methods in the Nov/Dec 08 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. I'm starting with a very pared down version of an ice cream cone. I will share photos of the progression with you - success or failure!
All the best -

Another Year and so many goals

2009-01-07T13:48:00.004-06:00

How could it be that a year has passed and I have attained so few of the goals I had last year? I start the year with a burst of resolve to achieve certain things relative to my art career, but somehow I get distracted. It's not that I don't do ANYTHING, it's just that what I do is not what I had intended to do. I would like to blame it all on my A.D.D., but I think that would be using a cheap excuse. Maybe I will just resolve to be more focused this year and that will make things fall into place? I love it that my mind fills to abundance with ideas and creativity, but I get equally as excited as each new idea pops into my head and they are so frequently unrelated. I spend hours and hours gathering reference materials, making sketches and gathering my tools and materials in preparation for the fabulous idea I'm nursing. Unfortunately, by the time I've done all that, I'm onto a new idea and preparations for it. It is frustrating with little to show for the efforts. I think I might pursue some professional assistance with this. I wrote a little haiku that attempts to illustrate the feeling:
Thrill of a great idea
Interrupted by
Thrill of a great idea.
And on that note, I will go tackle at least one thing on my to-do-list for today!
Happy New Year to all ~