Paint Out!

Belle Fourche paint out was a great time!   3 days of painting in a historic town.  

 The first morning was raining and cold, but I still managed a painting after eggs at a cafe.   It can be fun to paint a day different than the sunny perfect type!     The rest of the weekend was great weather, a good turn out for the show/sale, and always good to meet up with fellow artists again.   Since being an artist is often done solo, this sort of gathering means a lot to me.

and of course, again, no photos.  I know, I know!  when am I going to learn?   Thankfully, Marcy, the coordinator, actually did snap one with her ipad.   Thanks, Marcy!



All 7 of the weekend's paintings found a new home!  And one was a winner in the show--2nd place!

A big thanks to the work of those who put on such events, and also to the people who come and support us.   

"So, how long did it take you to paint that?"

If you ever display your work, be it for a big show or just to your cousin, you will get this question sooner or later.   The hard part is how to answer it.  

I am in my late 40's.  I've been working in the arts for most of those years.   Within that time, I've taken numerous workshops, some good, some not so much.   I've painted from life, painted from photos too.   I've read books and magazines and studied hard.   Does this time count?  You betcha!   Without doing the time, I would not paint the way I do, wouldn't have the skills I've learned.   And I'm not done yet either, I don't' think an artist ever really 'gets there'.   Most just keep trying, doing and learning.  

I've painted horses all this time.   But each one is different.   To do a commission, I must really study that horse, and listen very hard to the owner as to the animal's character, plus take into account how the owner feels about the animal.    I might have a good photo given to me, but the horse looks quiet--but the owner may tell me "he was a real fireball in his younger years, and can you paint him like that?"   All of this research takes time--does it count towards how long it took to paint that?  Yup.

And while a piece is on my easel, there seems to be a need for me to simply stare at it a while.  Its just how I work.  And it is as necessary as the actual time spent with pigment in hand.   Might look like I'm sitting there drinking tea, staring into space.   But I'm not.  Usually.   And that time counts too.

So that is just not a question to be answered with a simple number like "2 hours".   In essence, the real answer is all my life.  Its taken all my life to paint this.

Dusty Road; 8x10 pastel   available at Stagecoach Gallery

Reception!

Hello fair readers in blogger-land!   Its been a crazy week, I took my daughter to college, so now have dealt with the big-bad empty nest.   Was tough for a couple days, but my dear sweet daughter has made it easier on me by sending  texts, or pm's on Facebook, and even a couple calls.   


One thing about an empty nest is that it leaves yet more time to paint.   This is a cabin belonging to a friend from the upper part of the state.   I often use black artist's tape around my paintings to section them off, it makes it easier to judge the edges of the image area.  

Connie's Cabin;    6x11pastel on Uart    $100.

  I just joined a brand new gallery, located on Main Street in Mitchell SD.   This Friday, August 21, from 6pm til 8pm, I'll be talking about art and pastel, doing a live demo,  and have a few extra paintings on display so please come!!   I would love to see you there!

Clouds on the way; 7x9pastel   $40.

And finally, this little painting is one from my workshop last weekend, well, from the plein air the night before actually.   7x9 on primed hardboard.   This was from the overlook park area, and the view was so huge and vast, all I could do was pick a teeny part of it.   Gorgeous area, along the Niobrara River.   I highly suggest a trip there if you ever have the time!

Workshop review

Hello out there in blogger-land, I am home again after a weekend workshop with the lovely Rita Kirkman,, in Valentine NE.

  The theme was about working small, which has quite a few strong points, such as, its easy to get in a painting a day, they are easier to frame, and being small, it sets you free to experiment as you don't have this huge amount of time or materials involved.

Rita works mainly in pastel, but students worked in whatever they liked.   She also has a unique way of priming/underpainting that we all tried.    Here's my second piece from the first day, as for the first piece, well, nevermind!

Sam's Bunny    6x8pastel    $50.

Rita was a very articulate, open, generous teacher.    Her drawing skills are just killer, too!    She did a few demos, and can explain whilst working.   I learn well with this, and wrote down several key points when I got home last night.    I have come home with a new excitement to get to work!   Which will help me greatly next week as I slide in head-first into 'empty nest'.  

There was also a show held in conjunction, of which I brought home a 2nd for this landscape, yeah!

Bill's Road   9x12 pastel    $250 framed

The day before the workshop, a few of us went painting along the overlook area of the Niobrara River.  Its gorgeous there!    What a great way to kick off a workshop, too!

Storm along the Niobrara;   7x10pastel on panel, $45

I will post more of the small paintings in future blog posts, so keep watching, and ask away if there's a question.

Clear Up Confusion About Glass

Hey gang, I hope this finds you well.   I recently learned that what types of glass are available can be confusing, so I am going to try to clear it up, and keep it short.

Hardware store....they do have glass, and its ok, but can have a greenish cast, and is often somewhat second rate. 

Clear glass...just that, clear, usually comes cleaned and is a better, more clear and less imperfections than the hardware variety.

White water....clear but has absolutely no green cast to it.   A higher grade of clear.

UV....clear, but with a coating that blocks most UV light.   Still has glare.

Then it starts into the glass types that reduce glare, which can be a big issue if the painting is hung in certain places, or especially if the painting is mostly darker in value.

Non glare...the old style of glass that has a frosted etched surface, but can make a painting look hazy and foggy. 

Reflection control....has a coating on it to all but make the glare disappear.  I very much like this type, "ultra view" by Tru Vue is the brand/name.

Museum...is like the reflection control but blocks 97% (or more?) of the UV light.   Best glass of all, but at a very premium price. 

I mostly use ultra view, due to the cost vs. quality.   It does block some of the harmful light, and I feel its adequate for most situations.

I hope this answers a few questions, if not, ask away!!!

On another note, I sadly missed a fun paint out last weekend, and will be a student at a workshop in a couple weeks, so decided to get in some plein air on my own.   I live in a very beautiful, peaceful place and love taking advantage of it in pastel!

Jack's Shed; 7x9 pastel    $50

Dirt Road  7x9pastel    $50

Pick-up Man

The last couple weeks we've had perfect weather.   Today the heat came in, whew, blah!    So that chases me back inside, which isnt' all bad, I was able to finally finish this large pastel of a rodeo scene.

This baby is a whopping 27x38, which is pretty big for me.   I took the reference photo at last year's Burke Rodeo, which is coming up again next weekend.  So I kind of wanted to finish it before then.   I don't know the fella riding, but loved the action of all the fringes and dirt flying and the deep sun hitting the side of the pick-up horses' face. 

There were lots of challenges with this piece, as I don't do a lot of rodeo scenes.   I don't know a thing about the gear, and was lucky enough to find a flank strap in real life and study it.     The size of this painting gave some issue too, but its' fun to break away from my normal sizes sometimes!

I used Uart paper, 500grit, and started with an underpainting using mineral spirits.   I let that liquid drip and run and then I splattered it too.   This is where painting big gets fun--those sorts of things can really over power a smaller painting, but on a larger one, they are such fun!!     I will probably do some tweaking on this yet, but for the most part, I'm calling it done.  

And for anyone who's confused at the title, a pick-up man is that brave fella who rides up along side a bucking horse, and helps the crazy feller riding it, get off safely.   Then, pulls that flank strap off, and helps the horse go back to his pen.   Good to watch, but I dont' think that's my cup of tea!

This week I took a little trip to Mitchell SD and checked out the new South Dakota Art Gallery; run by Pasty Burkholder.   I liked what I saw and left 4 paintings there, so if you are in that area, stop in!   I will also be doing an artist reception sometime next month!   I'll post that information when time is closer.   I'll be doing some demo's and just milling around to talk art to anyone who'd like to!

The set up for Pick-up Man...using my laptop to work from, lots of lighting, pastels all laid out on my right

Long time; No blog

Summer finds me chasing my tail at times, the last few weeks had me on the far west side of Nebraska, riding with my mom and daughter at Ft. Robinson;  then back home for a whole night, loaded up and gone again to Iowa to take mom back home.  Eastern Iowa, 10 hours from home.   For a gal who seldom goes too far, whew!!

Stunning views at Ft. Robinson, NE

Before this trip, I did a paint-along day with some fun ladies in Dallas, Sd.   They were a great group that was willing to just jump in and give it a go!    I especially liked how each one did their own work just a bit differently, no cookie-cutter paintings here!

And now I am getting back to what I do--riding and painting.   This year I have a goal to do much more sketching when I go riding.  Well, not exactly *when* I am riding, but on locations that I can only get to by horse.     Today was one of those days.

"HOW far we goin??"

I didn't get fancy today, just a small sketchpad and a favorite freebie pen stuffed into my saddle bags.

After riding a couple hours, I got on top of this hill, the breeze was sweet and the view was good.   Copper enjoyed some grass while I did this little sketch for a few minutes.   I also snapped a photo of it as well.   It remains to be seen whether or not I turn it into a painting, but the main point here is just to get out and sketch!    Even little quick things like this improve your eye.   And its just plain old fun!    It always makes me try to remember why I don't do this more often?!   This year I will.