Linda Mahoney Art

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 ...

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 wr...

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

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 ...

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

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 ~

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 count...