Old Characters and Wild Horses

Because of the recent long weekend that we had in celebration of Memorial Day, Brad and I decided that we would pack up the truck and take a trip up towards Goldfield, Nevada to check out some of that area and I hoped to get some good inspiration. I have for years seen the road sign that points off to a distant mountain as you travel from Las Vegas to Reno and have yearned to take that road. The sign clearly reads "Silver Peak". That name evokes images in my mind of forest clad mountains, ghost town ruins and the possibility of a real adventure. Accompanying us was our friend Wally and our little red-head, Laura.

The drive to Goldfield is about three hours so it was a long day of driving. Goldfield is an amazing little town that everyone drives through on the way to Reno but never stops. On this day, we did stop and were entertained by Bill Vanderford, the owner of the Gold Strike Jewelry Store and according to his business card, consulting geologist.  Believe me when I say, "You can't miss it in Goldfield."  He was the kind of guy that I would classify a "REAL CHARACTER" with the bluest eyes I have ever seen. Transplanted from California, he and his wife were content to etch out a living by selling jewelry and rocks to the few travelers that are brave enough to stop.

Goldfield has amazing standing buildings in every degree of decay scattered throughout the small town, standing as monuments to the sturdy stock of miners and pioneers that they served. Hotels, saloons, banks and even the old high school is amazing to look at. It is about as close as you can get to being transported back in time to the REAL wild west. If you are ever driving Nevada State Highway 95 from Las Vegas to Reno, take the time to stop and really consider this little bend in the road that requires you to slow down. Bill would love the chance to pull your leg for a while and try to sell you a treasure.

Silver Peak turned out to be rather disappointing.  There is an active Lithium and salt mine so the area was surrounded by pools of what appeared to be acidic water.  We decided to turn around and not travel up that road any further on this day.  Just a few miles back on the highway, we did turn down the road to Gem Field and we were able to pick up some beautiful Agate and Opalite rocks.  While we were there, we were treated to a spectacular show by the native wildlife.  As we were photography the herd, the stallion came trotting over the hill in protector fashion.  Here are just a few of the amazing animals that we managed to capture with our camera from our trip.  I can see painting burros and wild horses in my near future.

Just A Check for $1.00

Yesterday, I took the time to go through a pile of unopened junk mail that had been piling up on the table in my entryway. I was on a cleaning frenzy and felt a slight annoyance as I started flipping through each unopened envelope.  How many trees are wasted each year so that this junk mail can be delivered to clutter up my home?  I know I receive my fair share of it. In the pile, was the typical credit card offers, AARP membership information (now that I'm 50), and other assortments of the same old same old. I sometimes don't even open them because it isn't worth the risk of getting a paper cut,  but one envelope in the stack caught my eye. I had never seen this company send me anything before and so I immediately assumed that my contact information had been sold on a list recently.

I decided to rip open the flap to see what this was all about and was shocked to find a check for $1.00 made out to me. I stared at the information, trying to understand what this simple piece of paper really represented. Slowly, the full realization began to come into focus. The note section on the check stated "Fineartamerica.com payment" and of course it was made out to me. After a few moments passed, I realized that I must have sold a note card on the Fine Art America website and this was my profit from that sale.

I've seen many business that have a framed a one dollar bill hanging up behind their cash register. This always represents the first $1.00 made when the business opened and also is a reminder of the vision of many more dollars to come, when finally, all the sweat and hard work begins to pay off.

Now, I think I will cash this check, but I might just hang a photo of it up in my studio as a reminder that someday my dream of being a successful artist just might come true. Such a small thing, but someone in Brownsville, Texas liked my painting "Little Blue Bird" enough to spend $4.95 to buy a copy of it on a simple note card. I believe this is a small confirmation that I am slowly heading in the right direction and with focus and determination, this will be the first of many checks to come.

 You can check out my work at Fine Art America by following this link:
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/julie-townsend.html

Where are all the Miners?

I had the occasion recently to read the Editor's Note section of the Nov/Dec 2010 edition of "Gold Prospectors".  Now this magazine is my husbands choice of reading material and not necessarily mine, but I was drawn to this article written by Tom Massie, Editor-in-Chief of "Gold Prospectors", because he was discussing his observations as he wondered through the shops of historic, Prescott, Arizona.  Mr. Massie stated, "Now I've nothing against cowboys or western art, but as I travel through some to the shops I noticed that the swank trendy places offered western scenes of cattle roping and cowboys in painting, pictures and sculptures.  There were plenty of cowboy hats, cowboy boots, western blankets and indian apparel and art.  There just seemed to me to be a lack of anything relating to the prospectors and the miners in today's modern shops."

I couldn't agree more with his conclusion.  Being a long time resident of the wonderful state of Nevada, I am very mindful at just how important mining was to our past and present economic growth.  Nevada became a state in the west, long before any other of it's neighbors joined the union and that was directly the result of President Abraham Lincoln desiring the mining wealth of Nevada to aid in the Civil War efforts. 

I agree with Mr. Massie and while I  love a good cowboy painting, much of the inspiration for my work is received from those strong and sturdy miners that have left their presence know all across the state in the form of ghost towns, abandoned mining shafts and stories of a place that was often wild and lawless.  I decided that I would share just a couple of my pieces, including my newest painting called "Dreams in Shades of Gold",  that have Nevada mining as a theme.  I sent Mr. Massie an email inviting him to check out my website and this blog.  I wonder if he will send me a reply.

Mojave Blooms

Spring in the Mojave desert is certainly different from that of the colorful masses of flowering trees and blooming undergrowth that I grew up with in Central Missouri, but there is a transformation that takes place, even if it isn't on as grand of scale.  This is my rendition of just one of the many flowering cacti that are native to Nevada.  I think these are called "Strawberry Hedgehog" or "Claret Cup Hedgehog" Cactus.  Whatever the name, they are to be admired from a distance... or better yet, from a beautifully framed canvas.    

Mojave Blooms is 16 x 20 painted in Acrylic. It is an original painting created in my studio in Las Vegas, Nevada

Green is a Problem

It wasn't that long after I picked up my brushes and started painting again that I realized that I was having difficulty being satisfied with the colors in my paintings.  I never seemed to obtain the vivid colors that I had desired and had envisioned.  I specifically noticed my frustration with the color green in particular in my compositions. I just felt they lacked the depth of color and usually as I kept attempting to brighten my foliage I would find that the end result was a tree completely overworked, lacking the definition that I desired. Is the problem the actual shade of green that I had purchased? I would stand in front of the paint display, looking at the different names listed. Hooker Green, Permanent green, Chromium Oxide Green, Sap green, phthalo green, and so on and so on... What was the name of this illusive green paint that I really needed on my palette?

I had the occasion last week to ask several artists about what was the green that they used most and I was shocked when I was told by my very accomplished artist friend, Lily Adamsczyk, that she never buys green, but rather she mixes yellow and paynes gray to achieve the green that she desires. I was shocked to say the least. I thought you mixed blue and yellow to make green or at least that was what I was taught in elementary school art class.

The second artist I asked named sap green as her favorite but then immediately she began clarifying the fact that because sap green is a two pigment paint that phthalo green was probably a better choice. I didn't admit this fact to her, but I was lost  back at the "two pigment part."  I realized, that just like composition rules, there is a whole science to paint colors that go far beyond the blobs of paint I squeeze on my palette when I begin preparation to start a new painting.   There is SO much to this painting stuff that I know so little about.

I must not be the only one that has issues with GREEN because in the book, "Color and Light" by James Gurney, there is a whole section dedicated to this problem called "The Green Problem." In this chapter, Mr. Gurney gives the following tips for helping with my GREEN problems.
1. Mix your greens with a variation of blues and yellows so that the color is weaker and varied.
2. Vary that color in your composition from leaf to leaf and tree to tree.
3. Add a mixture of reddish or pink gray on your palette to weave in and out of the greens. This adds depth and interest to the composition and breaks up the green. I have been following this idea for sometime as I use purple as my shadow color in the foliage. I try to steer away from the use of black and have for sometime been substituting dark purple for all my shadows.
4. Prime your canvas with pinks or reds so they show through. This will help make your greens pop on the canvas.

So upon review, I guess I need to remember that if you want your "Green" to pop, trash what you learned in elementary art class and  pull out the tube of red and while you're at it, don't forget that tube of Yellow and Paynes Gray!

Happy Painting!

Possibilities

Here I sit on a Saturday morning, getting ready to take the first few sips of my favorite McDonalds coffee.  I am contemplating my days agenda and I know with the assistance of a topographical map that sits on the table next to me, just waiting to be consulted, I'll pick a point on the map to explore. The next 14 hours stretch before me with all the possibilities and potential of a great day. What will I see and what secrets does this amazing state await for my discovery? I know there is masterpiece in my head, crying to be realized and so at home I have my paints packed and I've dusted off my plein air easel in anticipation of the days adventure.

A few hours in the wilds of Nevada will help give me the inspiration that I need to start my newest piece.  The theme is Dream a Little Dream and I just keep considering the many rugged men that came to Nevada and California in search of gold.  I've had the fun of panning for gold just one time and the experience was amazing.  I want to capture that sense of adventure and the spirit of the man that forsook comfort and stability for a dream.

I've been admiring the magnificent artwork of Alfredo Rodriguez and he has so masterfully captured that in his painting "Colorado Gold Rush". http://www.alfredoartist.com/ColoradoGoldRush.htm.  I can't come close to his skills but I want to create something that gives that same sense of adventure that he reflects here.  I highly recommend that you check out all of his works if you want to be inspired and amazed.

Yes, from my current vantage and one finished cup of coffee, my day stretches out with limitless possibilities and promises of masterpieces waiting to be created, maybe a little sunburn and most definitely a lot of wind blown hair. Thank you Lord for your all your promises and giving me the ability to consider the possibilities you have in store.

The rule of NO KISSING

This past weekend I subjected three of my works to the public scrutiny of the Clark County Fair and Rodeo in Logandale, Nevada. Now, I realize that a county fair isn't known for being a haven for renown art critics, but being that I am such a new artist, any opportunity for public display of my work is a learning experience.

 I had dreams that my newest piece, a large 24x36 inch acrylic painting that I call "Utah Reflections" would WOW the judges and I would arrive to find a number of large colorful ribbons prominently hanging all over the edges of its beautiful old barn wood frame. I was quickly brought to reality, when I saw only one single red ribbon fluttering in the slight breezes that blew off the 4H livestock barn.  Under that ribbon, was the judges score sheet and comments. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I quickly scanned the words printed there. A paraphrase of the comment I found reads something like this, "Really good painting but your focal point is the bridge and you have placed in the corner."

To my untrained artistic mind, having the focal point in the corner was what I thought made the painting interesting. I also noticed, in most of my other works the focal point is off in the corner too.  Now, I realize that I am a self-taught artist and being that I haven't had intense composition training that many scholarly artists have undoubtedly received in the higher halls of art education and so I can confess I really know nothing about the official rules of composition.  Even so, I still think I have a natural eye for design, so I thought I would do a quick study on the subject.

A quick Google search and I found plenty hits on the subject but found the article written by Marion Buddy-Evans called "Art Composition Rules" at www.about.com, proved to be pretty informational and condensed enough for my purpose of a really quick study.  There are several of the rules I know I now remember my high school art teacher, Mr. Easton telling us about.  One was the "Rule of Odds".  I always arrange things with odd numbers because Mr. Easton told us that made for a more interesting composition.  I didn't consider the why to that reasoning, but the article says it is because our brains can't pair things up on the composition and therefore it keeps our eyes moving across the canvas.  Well, I guess I'm good with this rule since my compositions has only ONE bridge.

I also found out about the "Rule of No Fried Eggs".  This rule is broken when you place your focal point right in the middle of the canvas surrounded by bland background.  Since my bridge is off the to far right corner, I'm assuming I didn't break this rule either and of course there is no bland background in any of my paintings.

There also is a "Rule of No Kissing".  This rule is broken when you allow edges of the objects to touch and not overlap or leave spaces between them.  The example was giving in the article of the horizon edge touching the edge of the sun rather than overlapping it.  There is depth and interest giving when objects overlap.  I think I'm good with this rule.

I think it is the "Rule of Thirds" that pertains more directly with my pieces and the placing of the focal point.  In this rule you divide the canvas space into thirds both vertically and horizontally.  The four intersecting points are hotspots and should be considered when you are placing focal point.  Rather than smack dab in the middle, or in my case the far bottom corner, your composition is suppose to be more interesting if you place it one third up or down or one third left or right. 

I know that all rules are there as guidelines and can easily be ignored, but I think it is important for me to consider these rule each time I rip open another canvas.  Rather than just painting and hoping for a great end result, a little more planning might be just the thing.  In reality, I only had one photo of that bridge to work with and I was really struggling with the perspective of the right side of the bridge and that is why I decided to simply paint the bridge right off the canvas.  As the artist, I have the creative license to do that.  The lesson here for me is that when I find an interesting subject matter, I need to take multiple shots, at all different angles so that I have the liberty to paint the focal point anywhere I want. What is really important here is that I learned something this weekend and that I'm still pleased with my piece even if there is only a single red ribbon hanging there.