Out With The Old and Painting Autumn

'Autumn at Hidden Lake'

It's only a few weeks before school starts again and I am really looking forward to it. I am taking Ceramics and Art Foundations for 3-D art. Both of these are new areas for me that I don't have much experience in, so I know I will learn a lot.

This is also a time for "out with the old, in with the new." I am voluntarily walking away from my job as a custodian. It was terribly hard on my back, leading to pain and chiropractic visits about once a week. There were other problems which made it very stressful for me and it was difficult to handle the stress and concentrate on my school work. I thought it would be like my previous job at TenXsys and would be a 'light' custodial work, but really wasn't. I never worked harder in my life than I did at this job! Although this is not the best time to be quitting a job and looking for another one, I think I made the right decision. I will be making some money as a art workshop teacher at the Vineyard and I will continue to market and sell my art.

I started another art piece that is a companion to my 'Autumn at Hidden lake' (posted above). It is the same lake, but different view. It has the same beautiful autumn colors to it. It's about half done and I will post it when it is finished.

I recently sold a framed print of the 'Autumn at Hidden Lake' piece and the purchaser would like another print that has the same colors, so that motivated me to start this new piece. Another reason I decided to do another 'Hidden Lake' piece is that I am really enjoying the exploration of painting autumn colors. This is something new to me and I am learning a lot. So many of my landscapes are in colors of brown, gray, green and blue. It is nice to be able to work in a pallet that made up of yellows, oranges and reds.

Refuge In You Art Exhibit & Reception

"Under His Wings"

"Serenity In The Sawtooths"

I just got back from the Vine Arts Exhibit reception at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship. This show is called "Refuge in You." I entered two pieces in this show--"Under His Wings" and "Serenity in the Sawtooths." Both pieces are posted above.

The piece "Under His Wings" actually is an illustration for Psalms 91: 3-4 which says, "Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

Yes, I know it LOOKS like two birds mating, but that is NOT what this is suppose to be illustrating. I took a chance and decided to enter this piece, know that is might cause a few uplifted eyebrows, but the pastors did not have a problem with it, so I don't either!

The other piece, "Serenity in the Sawtooths," was originally a piece I used for my Christmas cards one year. I actually did some touching up to this painting and took out the red Christmas bulbs on the one tree in this piece. The photo shown on my blog site is the version that still shows the Christmas ornaments on the tree.

More Leavenworth, Washtington Art

Since I don't have a job right now, I have had much more time for art. I just completed another piece of art based on my 2007 trip to the Leavenworth, Washington. The entire piece is too big for my scanner, so I only posted (above) two sections of what I did. Most all of the restaurants and stores in Leavenworth have some sort of design or picture painted on the building or they have an very artistic, decorative sign with their name on it. So what I did with this piece is I re-created some of my favorite pieces of art that are on these stores & buildings and put them together in collage form. The background is watercolor with plastic wrap over it. When the watercolor dries, I lift off the plastic wrap and it forms a really interesting design that kind of looks like crystals.

The top photo shows the sign that hangs in front of the Red Baron Gift House. I loved the typography and the way it was designed, with the little Red Baron in the middle. The vine design around the Red Baron sign is the same design that is painted on the Tannebaum Building in Leavenworth.

The photo below it is the beautiful stained glass art that hangs above a restaurant in Leavenworth, Washington.

Under His Wings

I just completed a brand new piece (posted above) I call, "Under His Wings" based on Psalms 91:1-4. I was getting ready for the new Vine Arts Gallery exhibit coming the end of this month and I wanted one more piece that fit the theme of the show, "Refuge in You." I found this wonderful photograph in an old book I have on Island Life and it illustrated this Psalm just perfectly.

These birds are Fairy Terns and are done in colored pencil & turpenoid and the background is in watercolor. I also added some white acrylic paint spatters just to add some interesting texture.

I like the theme of the Vine Arts show: "Refuge." It seems especially appropriate during these tough economic times to focus on the things that we can take refuge in like our faith in God, our friends, and our families. I know that I am not the only one who is looking for a job, struggling to make ends meet and waiting it out hoping for better times. I think this show will be uplifting and encouraging to people and that is what we need right now.

Happy Days & Not So Happy Fish

Paul Peterson

Henry Winkler, me and Donny Most from "Happy Days"

A few weeks ago, I met two of the stars from the TV Series, Happy Days--Henry Winkler (The Fonz) and Donny Most (Ralph Malph) and I had my picture taken with them! This a rare and exciting event for me and one that does not happen every day, so I thought I would post this photo on my blog site. I also met and had a great time chatting with with Paul Peterson, a former child actor best known as Jeff from the Donna Reed Show. He is also the founder of a child actor advocacy organization called A Minor Consideration that fights for the rights of child actors.

I met these actors at the Northwest Car Show at the Expo Center (also known as the Western Idaho Fairgrounds.) My husband loves cars and I especially love the designs of the old cars from the 1900's through the 1940's.

My art show at Happy Fish Sushi got cancelled for very unethical and unprofessional reasons so I am not going to do business with them again. This kind of thing kills trust! You don't cancel an artist's show a day before it is scheduled to go up and tell them that the boss decided to do something else. Yes, I was mad for awhile, but it doesn't do any good to hold on to the anger. I decided it was best to just move forward.

I am getting ready for two different shows. There will be a new exhibit at the Vine Art Gallery the end of this month and I will post more on this later. I am also going to enter a few pieces in the Western Idaho Fair Juried Show in August. Other than that, I don't really have much going on.

Reaching For The Star

"Reaching For The Star"

Today I finished my latest piece, "Reaching For The Star." This is actually a photo of one of the cats my mother-in-law use to have, an Abyssinian cat by the name of Cinnamon. I used colored pencil & turpenoid and pasted a special hand-made paper in the foreground and background. This is the same paper I used in my other animal piece, "Mighty Mouse." I thought it might be a nice idea to mix things up a bit by using some decorative paper instead of finishing it off with more colored pencil or watercolor and this fit perfectly with the color and composition without taking away from the main subject, the cat reaching into the trash.

Today was also the day of the Michael Jackson Memorial service which the news has been covering all day today. I watched most of it and was extremely moved. The music was excellent. I guess you could call it a "reaching out" to a star that touched the hearts of many of us, including me.

These are strange times for many of us. I know it is for me. Many of us, including me, are have difficulty surviving the economic meltdown that is occurring right now. We are trying to hold on to our dreams and tough times like these can bring huge obstacles that we weren't planning on facing. I am going to have to make some changes in the future in order to get through this economic downturn, but one thing I know for sure is I will NOT give up my dream to be an artist and to be an art teacher. I will continue to go to school to get my degree and I will use my art to help and enrich the lives of other people.

Getting Past The Creative Block

It has been nice having more time for my art work. I realize now how much my job, before it ended for the summer, and stress, were draining my creativity this past year. Except for what I created in my art methods class in school, I really didn't make any really great art pieces. I think I was suffering from a kind of creative block. Art Methods class was really good for me because it helped me to think outside the box and get past that creative block.

I have been working on a piece I call, "Reaching for the Stars." It is almost done but I don't want to post a photo of it until it is 100% done. I am pleased with how it has turned out so far.

My "Otter Odyssey" piece is up for exhibit this week on the Web Digest Weekly website under the gallery page. To see it, go to www.webdigestweekly.com.

I am still looking around for more art shows to book and am keeping my eyes open for other part-time jobs in case I don't go back to my custodial job.