Painting and Party

I have actually done a few paintings in the last few days. Saturday my friend Carolyn and I set up to paint as part of the 'entertainment' for the Garden tour.  Neither of us painted the garden - lol. There were really too many people walking around and we would have been in the way. I just did a quick painting of the valley view that I have done many times before. I was also jumping up all the time to show and explain some of the items I had on display for sale, so my painting was done in spurts.

#1106 - A Misty Day in the Valley - 5 x 7 watercolour

While I was painting in one garden, my husband and another friend were playing in a different one.

They played for almost 4 hours straight until Joanna lost her voice and Bob lost his lip - lol.  All in all it was a good day.

I did more painting today because I gave another friend a 'private' painting party.  It is so much easier doing a party one on one as I just paint the same scenes as the 'student'. It helps that she chose scenes I have done many times.

I also added some of my paintings to the new gallery space for Art in the Chamber at the Creston Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Centre. It is a nice venue but there is no one on staff most of the time to connect with visitors so sales will be very limited. Here are a few of the pictures I am displaying.

I keep waiting for life to settle down but there always seems to be something else that I have to do. I need to manage my time better or stop volunteering for things - sigh.

Thanks for stopping by - I would love to hear from you!

Things are Slowing Down!

At least they appear to be as I only have a few things scheduled for the rest of this month - thank heaven!

I started off the month with a lesson to a small group of ladies who want to learn how to draw. They plan on coming once a week but one already had to miss a class and another will be missing this week. It is hard to figure out how to catch people up on what was missed while the others want to forge ahead.

On October 7, I hosted my final Watercolour Painting Party for the season. I had 5 scheduled to attend and ended up with only two due to cancellations. No matter, we had a great time!

Cheryl and Ed have both attended parties in the past and have also taken some private lessons with me. Both did a super job on their chosen paintings and were very happy with the results. I think they will be back for more lessons once golfing season ends.

Yesterday I attended a one day acrylic workshop with Castlegar artist Mirja Vahala Mirja's Studio. 

The workshop was put on by the Creston Art Club and seemed to involve a ton of emails back and forth between the club's president and me and between me and the participants - much more work than was needed!. However, we all had a good time and I think we all learned stuff too. (the photos are in reverse order)

critique time!

finished pieces ready for critique

watching and listening - what did we do wrong?

more critiques

Linda's piece

Jenny's paintings for the final critique

getting set up

Mirja Vahala

The focus of the class was Colour Contrasts: value, compliments, temperature, intensity, hue and quantity. Until the end we were painting the same still life over and over, each painting building on what we learned in the ones before. I admit there are still a few gaps in my understanding especially with intensity and quantity but I will work on those concepts on my own.

These are my paintings from the class. I am missing either intensity or hue although I can't figure out which one is missing - oh well, more study required. The last two I did were on 'quantity' - can you figure out what it means? These were done on 8 x 10 canvases and I think I will redo the studies onto watercolour paper and reuse the canvases in the future. These are not suitable for selling and paper stores better - lol.

As there is not much on my schedule (except for the drawing classes) for some time I will be relaxing after the busy summer and just puttering in my studio for the next while and enjoying doing not much of anything.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Fabulous Fall

The weather has cooled down, leaves are falling and people are getting back to their fall/winter lives.

For me that means Painting Parties, lessons, workshops and thinking about Christmas Fairs.

Yesterday I held my second painting party of the season with five party-goers and we had a great time.

Everyone did two 5 x 7 paintings. Mary Mae brought her granddaughter up this summer for a 'mini' painting lesson and found out about the painting parties then.

 So far, Eileen has attended four of my parties - I guess that means she has been pleased every time.

Abby saw my posters at the recent Art Club Fall Show and left her name and contact info. When I got in touch she asked if there was room for her sisters; there was and they all came and had a good time.

All three girls chose to paint the scene with the Skimmerhorn mountains but Darcy also picked the Lake at Sunset picture. It is too bad that the photo doesn't show all of the colour because her sky is lovely.

Heidi chose the Winter Sunset scene as her second piece and it was fun to see her expression to the effect of salt on the wet paint. Again, it is too bad that many of the details do not show.

I haven't been doing much painting myself but I have been making some quilled ornaments as I am thinking about November's Christmas Craft Fair.

 So far I am just focusing on hummingbird ornaments as they are very popular and usually sell well.

I have added a few new patterns and I have started adding glitter on the neck of some of the pieces. Sigh - glitter really doesn't show up well in photos!

For the rest, my cataract surgery went well, I have started cleaning up my flower pots and gardens and I am enjoying the fall colours in the world around me - gotta remember to take some photos! My first classes of the fall start this week. Then, I will have my (possibly) final Painting Party of the season and the next weekend I will attend an acrylic workshop on Contrasts. There are other things on the list too but then, I like to be busy and all these things make this fall just fabulous!

Surprise Party

Well, it was a surprise to me!

Last year I made some "Cool Bags for Caps" for a lady I met at the Boswell Art Fair. This Monday she phoned asking if I could do a Painting Party for a group of 6; her, a friend and 4 teenage girls. They wanted to come in the morning so I had to figure out which paintings they might be able to do in a shorter time than my regular parties. I decided to have them do 7 x 10 paintings thinking that they would take less time than 10 x 14 pieces. I still underestimated the time it would take but it all worked out in the end.

Each of them did a fabulous job on their paintings and I think they were all very happy with the results.

I am afraid I got the girls all mixed up so I haven't added their names under their photos.

You might have noticed that these photos were taken outside. Kim asked that we have the painting party on the deck so that we could enjoy the weather. The atmosphere was great but it did make painting a bit of a challenge because the paint was drying too fast for easy blending. However, you can see that they all did a great job.

My husband took about 30 photos of us while we were working but I figured that is just too many for this blog - lol. He did take a group shot of all the participants which I think is a great way to end this post.

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear what you are up to this summer.

This, That and the Other

Instead of sketching in the evenings lately, for a change of pace I have been doing some more quilling and adding the finished pieces to cards.

Quilled Rooster Card

I find most quilling to be relaxing and often do it while watching TV. Sometimes though, I pick a subject that is a bit tougher to do and it needs more control and concentration.

Filigree Hummingbird Card

This little hummingbird and flower seemed to take forever to do as I could only do a bit at a time while I waited for the glue to dry.

I have also been spending time figuring out my display for the up-coming Trade Show at our local rec centre. I mostly want to promote my Watercolour Painting Parties and my 20th "Anniversary as an Artist" Clearance Sale but I hope to make my display inclusive of all my work - thus the figuring.

This year I will be offering some new scenes for the Painting Parties. I am going to add 'A Building in Fog' as well as the 'Vignettes' and the 'Little Guys' parties.

Little Guys selection - paint two 5 x 7 pieces

Vignettes selection - paint one 10 x 14 scene

I don't have most of the scenes for the 'Building in the Fog' series ready yet but here is a sample;

#550 - Abandoned 

These scenes will be 10 x 14 and participants also get a 16 x 20 mat and a clearbag to protect their paintings.

I do have 'other' things happening but I think this blog is long enough, so I will leave the rest for an 'other' day - lol.

I invite readers to 'follow' my blog and leave a comment - let me know how I'm doing!

Goodbye 2016

What a year this has been! There have been good things and bad things happen and much of the year is just a blur!

2016 started with Leslie Saeta's 30/30 challenge and I was very happy with most of my paintings.

February saw me giving a Quilling workshop to some of the members of the Creston Art Club.

I also tired selling my wares at a Pop-Up Mall in Creston but decided it wasn't the right venue for my art.

In April I shared a table at the Creston Trade Fair and promoted a new venture -  Watercolour Painting Parties. The response was great and I ended up doing 6 full parties, one private party and one party for two. They were so much fun I will be doing more in 2017.

Starting in May, I joined a number of Art Club members and set up a gallery in an empty store in town. We were only open on weekends and the venture was only mildly successful - good thing we didn't have to pay rent - lol

I attended our Art Club annual Paint-out where I didn't manage much of a painting - plein-air is just not my thing.

In between doing all these things I was spending time with my flowers; starting them in January, then thinning, transplanting, pruning, watering, planting them outside, then more watering and pruning. A lot of work but I love the show.

At the end of summer, the roof sort of fell in with Bob's heart attack. Things are okay now but the situation has certainly changed our eating habits and I am learning a new way of cooking with the focus on more vegetables, no salt and fewer meat dishes. We are learning to live!

In the fall I started teaching a few private students which is always a joy, especially when they are really pleased with their progress. I hope they will all come back in the new year.

When I look back I really think that the good has outweighed the bad in 2016. I did 62 paintings, about 25 handmade cards and over 20 quilled pieces. I think about 24 of my paintings sold at the various venues and a whole bunch of my photo cards sold too - not too shabby although I am glad I don't have to make my living at art - lol.

Wishing everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Successful 2017 - it is sure to be interesting!

A Brief Respite

I feel like I have a few days of rest before the flurry of getting ready for Christmas takes over my life. The Christmas Fair is over, things are in train for next years community art displays, I don't do 'shopping' and it is too early to start baking.

So, I can catch you up on some of the things I haven't had time to write about.

First, my final Watercolour Painting Party of the year took place at the end of October.  Party goers had the chance to paint two 5 x 7 scenes which matted to 8 x 10. I think everyone was very happy with their paintings.

I didn't get photos of all the participants as two ladies were not able to finish their paintings at the party but I did manage to get photos of one lady's paintings.

I hadn't planned to do any more parties until Spring but it looks like a few ladies that came to the Wynndel Christmas Art & Craft Fair are interested in having a party in the new year - how cool is that?

I have been teaching a few private classes this fall which I enjoy doing, especially for beginners. I don't usually take the time to take photos but today I couldn't resist. I am so pleased with my student's progress on this piece!

my painting

Jeannie's painting

Paintings like this are difficult for Jeannie as she has a medical condition that causes her hands to shake. It makes painting smooth edges a real challenge but she is doing so well I just had to share this WIP. The funny thing is that I am only one step ahead of her - Still life paintings are so not my thing - lol. I will try to remember to take photos of the finished paintings so I can share those too.

I am planning on participating in January's 30 Paintings in 30 Day Challenge so I will be doing a lot more blog posts then.

I must be crazy!