All I Can Hope To Do Is Make Pink

It's this time of the year that your mind is turning to memories of fresh fallen snow, fires in the wood stove and a steaming hot bowl of chili.  Today, there is a chill in the air and just grabbing a sweater sometimes didn't seem to be enough and I thought of this piece.

I have observed that snow scenes are popular among many collectors and art enthusiasts and I understand why.   There is just something so breathtaking, refreshing and renewing about the fresh fallen snow.  It has a quality that is almost supernatural and moving as it lays like a thick blanket glistening like thousands of sparkling diamonds under the rays of the rising sun.  This piece that I've titled "In Awe" is smaller than most that I paint, but even with its little size I hope it inspires you.   I want just looking at the piece, to give you the feeling of a shiver spreading across your body and a sudden urge to jump up and make yourself a mug of hot chocolate.

Today when i was meditating about snow, this blog and this painting in particular, I was reminded of that promise of forgiveness found in Isaiah 1:18 where the Lord says, "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool."  

When painting, I have heard a number times experienced artists give a warning about using the color RED  and how it is such a POWERFUL color.  They caution their students when mixing it into a second color of paint. Just the smallest amount will completely change a color and over power it.  A little RED goes a long way.  

That is true of sin on our lives.  The smallest amount of sin completely stains and blocks us from the life that God has in store and promised for us.  We are separated from His love and have no hope except for the sacrifice of His most precious Son.  It took the spilling of His RED blood to wash away the darkness in our lives and bring restoration and renewal.  Only the  Master Creator has the ability to take red and turn it into pure white.  The best that I could hope to do with my flawed human efforts is to make a shade of PINK!





 

"In Awe"- 12 x 12 Original Acrylic

Don't Call Me Cheap..I'm a FRUGAL Artist

Getting Ready to Change the Paper in my Masterson Palette. 

Wow!  I know what you're thinking and I just want to say, "Don't judge me."  Just look at that messy bunch of dried paint!  I think it is most definitely time to lay out some new colors.  As you know, if you have followed me for any amount of time,  my favorite medium is Acrylic and the palette is really important because of how quickly the paints dry out.  The reality is that paint is expensive and so I try to be frugal and not to waste paint if possible.  I use my Masterson Sta-Wet Palette (12x16) but rather than purchasing the special palette paper inserts, I choose to use Reynolds Freezer Paper.  I can get a large box that is 33 1/3 yards x 18 inches at Walmart for $6.17.  I think that is a good value because this box will last me at least 6 months but being the accountant that I am I decided to do a cost comparison to make sure that it was worth my time to tear my own sheets out rather than having them prepared for me.  I go through a lot of paper especially when I'm teaching students.

(You can skip this part if you're not a number cruncher like meSo 33 1/3 yards = 100 feet x 12 inches = 1200 inches of length.   If each of my inserts are torn at approximately 15 inches that 1200/15= 80 sheets.  That equals $0.07 cents a sheets.  Now at Jerry's ArtArama I can purchase a package of 30 sheets for $7.19 or $.24 cents a sheet.  That is a pretty good difference and now I'm sure that I can cut my own for a 70% savings.)

The paper is wax coated on one side and that is the side that I lay out my paints on.  I have a wet sponge underneath and I often leave a wet paper towels inside for added moisture.   These paints will stay usable for several days and that is pretty good for acrylics.  The paper eventually will break down some and begin to tear or disintegrate, but usually I have to change it before that because I've run out of clean mixing surface, just as you can see that I have done here by evidenced in this picture.  

I would love to hear from you if you have found a practical solution that you really like and that you use as part of your painting process from things you can find outside of the art supply store.  I will share some of your responses on future blog posts so that we all can become more cheap....I mean FRUGAL artists.  

YOU'VE GOT MAIL!

These pieces were so much fun to paint and what memories they brought back as I worked on them.  I am so thankful for having the opportunity of being raised out in the hills of the Missouri Ozarks.  We may have been poor but my life is rich with wonderful childhood memories.  This was in the days of no entertainment and you had to actually entertain yourself.  We got a 3 whole channels on the TV and if you wanted to listen to music you had to listen to your little handheld transistor radio and hope their wasn't any interference. Oh, and let's not forget the old "PARTY LINE" phone system.  Not only did we have to share the phone line with 3 other families, we actually heard their phone ring at our house.  Can you imagine a teenager today not being allowed to talk on the phone?

The summer days were filled with climbing trees, building forts, riding bikes and swimming at the creek.  The nights were hot and muggy but filled with the sounds of June bugs, tree frogs, crickets and whippoorwills.  If you laid in your bed really still and focused on all the night sounds you might forget just how hot you were.

One of my absolute highlights was to get a letter in the mailbox.  As I entered my teen years I developed several pen pal friendships and so if I wasn't walking the half mile up the gravel road to Highway 52 where our mailbox was located to mail a letter, I was walking there to hopefully retrieve one.

My dad began to worry that I was in some sort of danger of being kidnapped so he tried to tell me I couldn't walk up to highway any longer.  I pleaded with him and we came up with a compromise.  I would once again be allowed to go on my daily walks only if I carried the shotgun with me.  I guess he figured that I was less likely to be approached by strangers of I was "PACKING HEAT".  In reality the shotgun wasn't loaded and I was somewhat embarrassed by it so I would try to hide it from view if a car drove past but it was the sacrifice I had to make to continue my letter writing friendships undisturbed.  

This piece that I call "Lunch Under the Mailbox" reminds me a lot about my Missouri childhood.  In the summer there were little box turtles everywhere.  They could be found crossing through our yard and often be seen crossing the roads.   I can recall numerous times my mom would pull the car over so that we could render aid to one that might have been flipped over.  They are most certainly my favorite reptile.  I hope I caught the expression  of this little guy and how he is anticipating his tasty flower snack.

Lunch Under the Mailbox- 24 x 36 Original Acrylic

This was the first piece I painted in what I think will be a series of works regarding country life.  You can read that blog called Fence Posts from two weeks ago.

"Life at the Fence Post"- 24 x 36 Original Acrylic

Time for a Make Over

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only artist out there that has painted something to then several years later pull it out from a dark corner of the studio storage closet to have a "What was I thinking?" moment.  After all, even the masters were known to paint over pieces that they decided they didn't like. Have you ever painted over a canvas or do you just open a new one?   

Last week I pulled out the piece I painted back in 2012 and was struck with what I saw were flaws in my composition and execution.  I had an overwhelming desire to FIX it!  And fix it I did.  This painting is 24 x 36 and was based off photo and memory of our hike at Galena Creek Trails near Reno.  The Aspens were ablaze with color and the chill in the air was invigorating.  I painted several pieces based off reference material taken during that hike but this was one of two larger pieces that I painted.       

This was my original piece that I called "Morning Trail"

 I really liked the idea of the aspen grove and the trail that goes off the canvas to the right and then continues towards the top.  It gives that fell of climbing to a higher elevation.  I liked the shadows and light but I didn't care for fence that seemed too tall and was cutting the canvas in half.

Undergoing a drastic transformation

I approached this make over backwards to how I would have painted the original piece.  Rather than painting top to bottom I actually began in the bottom right corner and began working my way up the painting.  I was happy with they bottom portion of the composition right away and couldn't wait to see how the rest of the changes I had in mind worked out. 

Completed just today- "Mountain Trail"- 24 x 36 Original Acrylic on stretched canvas

Here you can see that I have painted over most of the foliage and removed the fence.  I wanted the leaves to have a dainty shimmering appearance that is so typical of aspen trees and I felt that I really had to redo them to get that effect I wanted.  I left the back ground trees in place but decided to change the middle ground aspens to be more of a small sapling growth. 
For more depth I added a mountain range visible in the background and let more pine trees be visible.  The pines make a very nice dark background to contrast the bright yellow of the aspen leaves.  Rather than an old split rail fence, which was actually really part of the scene there on the trail, I decided to add a fallen tree.

PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.  DO YOU AGREE THE PIECE IS NOW IMPROVED OR DID YOU LIKE THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BETTER?

Autumn Gold- 24x36 Original is sold

16x20-Galena Creek Trails

Galena Aspens

Cowbells Ring...Are you Listening?

So today I counted up all the cowbells I have sold in 2015 and I was blown away when I realized it equals 38 and I have a commission for 2 more that I'm working on currently.  That is amazing to me.  Who would have every thought!  That is a total of 40 cowbells not counting the couple I gave away as gifts. 

Brad got busy this week and prepared 6 more cowbells for me and so I'm putting away the canvases temporarily and am ready to paint some Christmas, Nativity and snow scene designs on them for the Holiday Seasons.  I can almost hear the faint sound of "Cowbells ring, are you listening?  In the Lane, Snow is glistening..."

You can check out some of my cowbell designs on my website JulieTownsendStudio.com or on my Cowbell Facebook page at Hand Painted Cowbells.  

I still believe that this hummingbird cowbell is my favorite

Draw Where You Live

The other evening, I was inspired greatly while watching several YouTube videos on the subject of plien air painting.  Both of the artists featured in these videos are extremely successful and skilled artists. They are  Lori McNee and Jim McVicker.  I have signed up to take an online webinar with Lori McNee on the "Secrets of Social Media" and am very much looking forward to all that she has to share on that topic since I love blogging and FaceBook.

The video that Lori had filmed showed her painting a river scene that is just a couple miles from her home in Idaho.  She is there quickly catching the colors and lighting with her paints.    You can really see the scene unfolding as she works.  Right in the middle of her filming session, a moose comes wondering up the river like he wants to be a part of the painting.  I have experienced the thrill of seeing wildlife up close and seeing a moose while camping in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming was certainly a thrill.  I was immediately jealous of her ability to be surround my such amazing scenery with such a minimal effort."A Day in the Life of Lori McNee"

The video on Jim McVickers is actually a documentary on him as an artist.  It showed him traveling all over the rugged Northern California countryside painting from a variety of landscapes.  He never uses a reference photo but rather will return to the same location several days in a row or even up to a year later to capture the same lighting conditions.  The film showed several pieces as he started with just sketching roughly in paint and then immediately blocking in the canvas with vibrant colors.  The painting rapidly took shape as the camera man captured Jim working.  Jim McVicker "A Way of Seeing"

Being thoroughly inspired, I was determined to have a positive plein air experience of my own when yesterday when we decided to head out to the desert to do some 4x4 exploring.  I usually paint in acrylics but the air is so dry here that I struggle the whole time trying to keep my paints wet enough to even get it applied to the canvas so I packed my sketching box that includes my travel watercolor kit.    

With our lunch packed and some folding chairs thrown into the back of our old Toyota 4 Runner, my husband and I headed out to the hills.  The day was absolutely amazing.  We had an overcast sky and pleasant mild temperatures.  Usually the afternoon sun wears me out but there was a perfect blanket of clouds that allowed plenty of light but not the glare and radiation that you usually experience whenever you are out in the Southern Nevada desert.  

We did some exploring of some roads out near the area of Coyote Springs and while the scenery wasn't breathtaking and the wildlife we saw wasn't anything as impressive as having a moose walk past there was still something satisfying about sketching in nature.  I did see a couple lizards and a fuzzy tarantula spider that I guess can count as wildlife.  Now that it has finally cooled off enough here I will be heading out more often with my watercolor and pens to practice some plein air of my own.

My plein air sketch of some driftwood I found in the wash

Impressive desert wildlife

I always want to know what is at the end of every road I see.  Well this was the end of the road.

In my adventures that day we had to pass through a barbed wire fence.  My shirt didn't quite make it as you can see.

Freedom Comes with a Cost

As Veterans Day is approaching the gallery that I actively hang my artwork at is presenting a special exhibit in honor of our nation's veterans.  This piece is 8x10 but will be matted to 11x14 in time to entered into the show. I used pen and ink, watercolor and colored pencils to get the rich colors of the flag and purple heart.

This piece is special because it is a tribute to my husbands uncle.  For many years now I have had a photo of this young man in his military uniform hanging on display in our living room.  I always made a point to talk about him to my own sons on Memorial Day and Veterans Day so that they would remember that their grandmother had a brother that she loved dearly but would only live to see his 19th year.  His family didn't even know that he was in Europe when the telegram was delivered to the Kopriva Hardware Store in Powell Wyoming.  Bruce P. Kopriva was killed in action on July 18, 1944 in France. See more details at Bruce P. Kopriva (findagrave.com)

"Freedom Comes with a Cost"- A tribute to all veterans and my husband's Uncle Bruce who died in WWII in France at only 19 years old.   I used his actual purple heart and dog tag as reference to do this piece.