Taking the Challenge

When our Pieces of 8 painting group gets together just about anything can happen!  We like to make up challenges that keep our brains sharp and our creative muses on their toes...so when Carmen wanted us to dig deep into our supply drawers and bring out the tubes of color that we had long ago abandoned, we were ready to take up the challenge.

If you paint, you probably recognize this.  Something you bought because it was a) on sale, or b) recommended in a workshop.  And it has never seen the light of day since!  So we came with our bags and palettes of such.

Carol brought us all a "subject" and we settled in to make silk purses from sow's ears.  It was rather disconcerting at first not having our "go to" standards handy to use.  But slowly we adjusted and started thinking "dark" and "light" or "warm" and "cool" as opposed to yellow, blue and crimson.

Denette was able to find a variation on the colors needed for her apple and pepper and got right into  painting  the details.

I, on the other hand, had a long stretch to paint this green apple with the colors I had.  Add to the challenge that we had under two hours to produce and we have a baaaad habit of talking through the first 30 minutes at least!

Mary does watercolor and although she swore these were not her default bag of trick hues I think she did a pretty darn good job of painting a green apple.



Carol (below) had a board with some wonderful, pre-done texture on it and was able to use that for added interest.  Her red apple is definitely red but these were some strange shades that had luscious names but uncommon tints.

Kathy (below)

was a renegade and decided not to paint a piece of fruit.  She went after a photo of an owl she had taken at the national zoo.  He was so cute I think he would have been fun to paint in any color.

I share these not because I think they are wonderful pieces of art (I hear the group choking right now) but because you can make an artistic challenge out of almost anything.  As long as your brain has to process the painting basics and your eye can help you execute, there is a way to overcome almost any obstacle and still make it pleasing.  Obviously it would take a bit more practice  to perfect but taking leave of a comfort zone is a boost to learning...and a sure-fire way to challenge your skills.

Now, where is my cad yellow and cobalt blue.....waah, waah, waah.

Colorfully Challenged,
Cindy

Jetty Park Plein Air

Day #14
My painting gang, the Pieces of 8, meets on Monday and as Florida is at its prime in January, we took a "field trip" up to Jetty Park near Port Canaveral for a day of plein air painting and photography.  The birds really showed off for us and we had a delightful lunch on the river.  But we also managed to squeeze in some art!  After getting as many photos as I could take (from a compromised position, often having someone else push the shutter while I aimed the lens...) I sat down to paint the inlet area between the ocean and the port.

I decided to use just my ink pen since setting up the watercolors was going to be a bit challenging.  My 5" x 5" square was blocked off on my pad so I settled in to enjoy the sun, the water and the birds.  I wasn't totally finished when the gang declared that lunch was in order, so I snapped a photo to finish up at home.  I wanted to add some color as well since the composition was pretty much straight lines and rocks.

I got home late and went into the studio to work.  I found myself relying primarily on memory since photos never seem to capture the entire view.  Now if it were not w/c and if I was not racing a clock, I can see a few changes I would definitely make.  However, my goal was met: a gorgeous day out on the water, painting, eating, exploring and taking mental notes for a future masterpiece.  When I finished the piece at 5:00 pm the sun was down so I had to take the photograph inside which is not ideal.

Honest to Pete, that middle spit of land does not, in reality, sag so sadly into the the water...if it did I am certain the Army Corp of Engineers would be there today!  Just a loss of control on my part.  Some days you win and some days you should try again.  But I got my money's worth from the day of fun, plein air painting AND the attempt. And my left hand did not complain.

Stay tuned...Day #15 is only 24 short hours away.

To see more painters who are in on 30 in 30 go to: www.Lesliesaeta.blogspot.com

P.S.   I don't always get each painting posted into my etsy shop right away, if you are interested in a previous piece let me know and I will get it up asap.  For this month only they are $30 each + shipping, my 30 in 30 for 30$ special.

Muse? Model? She's ...?

I am laughing...something about getting older allows you to lose your inhibitions and let the innerchild roam.  So today I am unabashedly sharing a blog my dear friend Kathy posted on our group painting site. 

Kathy is a very talented woman and should certainly share another blog about her research as an artist in residence in the Everglades National Park...but today, in honor of Valentine's everywhere, let's have a little fun:

here's the repost:

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Cindy the Muse becomes Cindy the Model

In November I designed and printed a scarf inspired by both the wonderful Liguus Tree Snails with their bands of beautiful designs and my good friend and fellow "Piece" Cindy Michaud. Cindy loves black and white checks and she loves red. So, I dressed a snail in fairly traditional patterns, like swooshes and triangles and added a few black and white checks for fun. I stuck to a red, black and white color scheme. I had Spoonflower print it on both cotton silk and voile. The silk one is shown here.

The fabric I got back in December was beautiful, but not exactly red, black and white. Lesson learned - printing at Spoonflower is like printing anything - colors can be a little quirky - the red turned out sort of a coral and black is sort of gray. Nevertheless, I made up my scarves and presented a voile one to Cindy. She actually wore it out to a meeting today and made it look really good. And when I asked if I could get a photo, she was a good sport to pose as my model.



And then she became hysterically funny recreating poses she'd observed on (I'm assuming) Next Top Model! Not all of them are shown here!



I'm always so inspired by the Pieces of 8 - and they're such a hoot!

Hello Fall

When you read this we will be on the (5th) annual fall painting retreat of the Pieces of Eight.

This year we are headed to Carol's home in Whittier, NC where

we will be participating in the

Maple Leaf Arts & Crafts Festival on October 8.

Prior to that we will be indulging in some plein air painting of the gorgeous fall colors,

quite a bit of eating and a wee bit of wine tasting.  No doubt

we'll be picking and eating apples.

Regardless of the activites we always have a grand time just being together and laughing.

Painters need to spend time with others who share their passion as well as their

habit of stopping the car on a moments notice to take a photo.