The new issue of “Practique des Arts” is out, and I can finally share both the piece I created as an exclusive for the magazine as well as the article.  Auburn Vessel, above, was completed last December after working on it for most of the fall.  It measures approximately 18 x 19 inches.  The article, below, shows many of the stages, so I won’t go into detail about the working process.  It is, unfortunately, difficult to read as is (font is too small) and a bit blurry when enlarged.  But it is in french, so unless you can read french, there’s not much lost.  And the stages are pretty self-explanatory.  If anyone has any questions, I’d be most happy to try and answer them.   There is also a link to the article on my website news page, which you can access here.  Thanks for reading!

I’m going back to the leaf drawings I enjoyed doing so much, but combining them with stones.  I’ve been working on this drawing, Prismacolors over Caran D’Ache Supracolor washes, done on Bristol Board Vellum.   I have a couple of new ideas to explore, including a triptych.  While this drawing is not complete yet, there is enough here to share.  The stone needs more development, as well as many areas of the leaves and shadows.

I am excited to be heading off to Strasbourg and Paris in a few hours.  We will be visiting friends in both cities, and I am very eager to see friend and colleague Elizabeth Patterson’s current exhibition of Colored Pencil drawings in Paris at the Galerie Louis Carre.  It will also be a great opportunity for my son, who has been studying french for four years, to hear and practice the language.  And, to eat!!!  Oh, and I suppose to take in some art…..Thanks for reading, and a bientot!

It has been such a long time since I’ve written a blog post, but I have not fallen off of the face of the earth!  I have been busy with my art, and finally have a couple of new drawings to share.  Continuing with my Stones series, I have a Stones Pile, and a small Stones/bowl.  I’ve come to group them into these categories in my mind:  Piles, Vases (with and without water), and “zen” studies.

The drawing above is in the Pile category. It’s done on Canson Mi-Tientes paper with Prismacolors and measure approximately 11′ x 17″.  The upper right corner of the background is the actual paper without any pencil.

The drawing below is also on Canson Mi-Tientes with Prisamcolor pencils, and measures 8″ x 10 1/2″.  It’s a fun little drawing that took only a couple of days to produce.  I purposefully kept it looser and less detailed, if one can call my work those things!

I’m excited to share the news that most likely the drawing I did as an exclusive for the French Art Magazine Practique des Artes will be published in their upcoming April issue.  At that point in time I can share the image and article here on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

I spent the past two weeks working on these three little stones drawings.  It’s always fun to do these smaller pieces and work out some ideas quickly.  Well, I suppose quick is a relative term – quick for me!

I have more ideas for little drawings to do in the future, but now I’m on to another larger stones drawing.  It’s a piece that is being executed for publication in an art magazine that wants an “exclusive”, so I can’t reveal the image until it’s completed and published.  It’s exciting to think about sharing the stages of my drawings in this venue.  I would have been doing this piece regardless, but their timing was excellent.  It’s going to make me think more clearly about delineating the stages of my more complex drawings.  That’s always good practice and helps one to be able to better “present” their art, whether it’s verbally or pictorally.

Thanks for reading!

And Presto-Magic, the rocks appear!!!  I had a lot of fun drawing these stones. The reflections, shadows and distortions were quite challenging, especially where they all converge at the same point.  The most obvious place for this is just under the meniscus line.  The overall color probably isn’t accurate due to the lighting in my studio and my photography skills, so I am very excited to see how it looks after my photographer does her work.

I’ve started work on two new pieces, both of stones.  One is a small,  zen little drawing, and the other is a larger composition of stones in a water vase with new angles and colors.  I’m going to see how it goes working on two pieces simultaneously, as I’d love to increase my output.  (I know, wouldn’t we all!)  As always, thanks for reading.

Here is the second stage of my current and very violet/fuschia still life. And Oh Em Gee, it looks like I forgot to draw the stones (wink wink Jeff George)!

No, it did not take me two weeks to draw this much of the glass!  I am almost done with the stones.  The colors are really working wonderfully off of the background and it amazes me how much it pulls together when the concreteness of the stones are in place.  I know I mentioned in my last post that the glass was definitely the most challenging part of the drawing, but it’s not!  These stones have very intricate interplay with the glass and water, creating complex light distortion and reflections. I used a piece of glass propped up on blocks when I set up the initial still life,  and then cut a hole in the fabric directly under the vase.  Then I played around with shining a flashlight up through the bottom, as well as having another light source from above.  It’s subtle, but doing this did create different illuminations in the set-up.

It’s really been quite fun to do this one.  Next post will be the finished drawing.  Thanks for reading.

Here is the first stage of my new still-life drawing, and as mentioned in my last post, it’s very purple – or fuschia, magenta, plum, eggplant. . . . whatever you want to call it!  It’s also large (for me) measuring in at 22″ x 16.5″.  I’ve completed as much of the background as I’m going to do for now, and will most likely tweak some areas later when the vase, stones and water are in place.  I used a Caran d’Ache watercolor pencil layer to begin, and after blending it with water  I started in on the dry layers of Prismacolor pencils:  #924 solid color stick, more loosely applied for texture, and then Black Cherry, Lavender, Raspberry, and then Indigo, Dark Umber, Violet Blue, Black Grape, Tuscan Red, Orange and Olive Green in places, depending on the desired color effect.

I’ve started on the glass now, and it’s definitely the most challenging part of the drawing.  The top of the vase has so many aspects to it:  light shining through it, light reflecting off of it, color distorting through the glass, and stones/water reflecting on the sides.  Plus I’m changing the colors from my two reference photos, as one is very pink and the other is very dark purple.  So this is really a color creation.  I’ll post another photo when it reaches the stage where all of the glass/water areas are complete, but not the rock areas.  I’m executing this one with the same approach as “Counterpoint in Green”, which is archived on my blog in  April, May and June of 2010, if anyone is interested in referencing it.

Here is the little Hawaiian Pebbles drawing I recently finished. My sister-in-law who often visits family in Hawaii gave me these little stones and they are all quite “aqua” in tone. But to accentuate them, I photographed them after wetting them in water. It really brought out the colors. If I have time, I plan to do another drawing of them “dry”, as the color is so delicate and soft.

At present I have started a much larger drawing of stones in a water vase, with a very plum-colored fabric background. Mean Mr. Plum, Purple Haze, Purple Rain, hmmmm, I can’t think of any other purple connections – can anyone else? The color is super-saturated and not for the faint of heart. I’m going to start blogging more actively now that summer is coming to a close, so look for a photo update soon! Thanks for reading.

Myself and Lynda Schumacher with our artwork

 Another CPSA Convention has come and gone and what a great one this was in Dallas.   So many artists who are good friends congregated for this annual event that, despite the 100+ heat, I think it’s safe to say all had an incredible time.  There was a fun member’s meeting with door prizes, a slide show of every piece that was entered into the competition, and a silent auction.  There are workshops, and an awards banquet.  This year I was so honored to receive an Award for Outstanding Achievement for my piece “Counterpoint in Green”, shown above on the left.  This photograph also features good friend Lynda Schumacher, CPSA (MI) and her piece “Canadian Cowgirl”.  In addition to receiving an award, I earned my signature status in the CPSA (given for being juried into three shows within ten years) and Lynda earned her five-year status.

Dianna Soisson with "Beyond All Boundries"

 I’m taking a moment to highlight several, but by no means all!, artist friends who had their work on display in Dallas.  Dianna had an incredibly powerful piece of a leaf floating down a waterfall (above).  Below is Kendra Bidwell-Ferreira’s delicate “Sea Foam”.  For those of you who live in the Boston area, you may have had a chance to see the two person show that Kendra and I had last March at the Wellesley Free Library.

Kendra with "Sea Foam" (top)

California artist and inventor Ester Roi (photo below) received an Award for Exceptional Merit for her piece “Social Network” (top).  Ester is such an inspiration and source of information to so many artists, always looking to break new ground with technique.

Ester Roi with "Social Network"

Perhaps one of the most memorable events was the Cowboy Boot shopping trip that several of us had been talking about since the San Jose convention of 2010.  Suffice it to say that we had a successful outing to Pink’s Cowboy Boot Store in Dallas.  We all left with a new pair of boots that seemed well suited to our personalities – for now! (Left to right, Kendra Bidwell Ferreira/Old Gringos, Dianna Soisson/Old Gringos, Lynda Schumacher/Old Gringos, Moi/Stetsons, Elizabeth Patterson, CPSA (CA) Ferrini’s).

Cowboy boot final choices!

On a final and silly note, here’s a photo of Lynda and me cooling off in the freezer section of Walmarts. . . .with their hilarious ice cream novelty packaging.  Just can’t let us gals go out anywhere without a commotion. . .   Thanks for reading!

Here is a post of my newest drawing, another “Balancing Act”. . . in stages.  I started out, as I mentioned in my last post, working with only Faber-Castell Polychromos on Canson Mi-Tientes peach-toned paper.  I have notated under the images which colors were used in that particular photo/stage (reading left to right, top to bottom).  I know there’s a big jump from the stages to the finished drawing, but after a while it’s just too tedious to continue working in this fashion.  Perhaps the stones are calling, and I want to start to do the more creative blending and drawing?   I’ve now started work on a smallish  drawing of some gorgeous, aqua-colored stones from Hawaii that someone gave to me.  I’m using a different approach for this drawing, working on white Bristol Board paper with Caran D’Ache Aquarelles and then dry layers of Prismacolors.

Tomorrow I’m off to Dallas to join other artists at the 19th Annual CPSA convention and exhibition.  My piece, Counterpoint in Green, was juried into the show, and I’m also excited to be receiving my CPSA Signature Status this year.  This is awarded to artists who have been juried into three shows within ten years.  I’ll post some photos from the convention when I get back.  Meanwhile it’s time to finish packing the coolest clothes I can find!