Now Exhibiting with Island Artisan

Over the half-term break as the Brits call the week kids get off from school half-way through the summer term, I brought some of my paintings, prints, and greeting cards down to the Isle of Wight to sell in the gallery Island Artisan.
All of the originals are watercolors, some landscapes of the Isle of Wight.

Thistles on the Isle of Wight

Thisles on the Isle of Wight

Another painting to be in my Isle of Wight show, which I'm hoping to have in the fall of this year.

This is a very recently completed painting inspired by the beautiful countryside on the Isle of Wight in England where my parents-in-law live. The path is along where an old railroad used to go and is now a lovely lane to walk or bike along that takes you from the center to the edge of the island. This particular winter morning was cold and frosty, but nonetheless enchanting.

Reflections

My newest painting titled Pink Water Lily Reflections

I taught an art class for the first time on Sunday this past weekend at the Merton Abbey Mills art market. It was really fulfilling to be teaching again after this past 2 and half year hiatus! There seemed to be interest in the classes, so I'm hopeful that they will grow into a solid future enterprise.

 This month I'll be focusing on painting with watercolor. Teaching these watercolor basics: how to choose what tools are needed, how to prepare your painting surface, painting light to dark, using the transparency of the paint, what common errors to watch out for and how to correct mistakes, building a painting up layer upon layer versus laying the paint on thickly, and with an emphasis on color mixing and color theory as the situation permits.

In preparing for teaching the course, I've been going over my notes in old sketchbooks from my CCA(California College of the Arts) days. Wow, do I ever miss art school! There is nothing like being surrounded by people who feel as passionately as you do about art and the feedback and interaction are to be treasured.

Painting Again!!!

Wow, it's been a while. Well I'm back in the swing of painting after a hiatus to move to London, go on our delayed honeymoon, and have a baby!

My little boy is 4 months old now and FINALLY sleeping through the night. Which means, watch out world, I'm now getting enough sleep to be productive again! Of course it's slow going with fewer opportunities for now. Gone are the all-day-long painting marathons, but it is wonderful to be in the studio once more even if it is broken up into short stints at a time.

I've titled this watercolor Santorini Sunset. It is painted using photo reference that I took while on my one year anniversary/ honeymoon. (Our plans changed and we went to Greece instead of South Africa.) The land is quite dry, so I was surprised to see these flowers peeping up out of the rocky terrain. The sunsets lived up to their reputation- every night was a feast for the eyes.

This painting was begun while I was still pregnant, and finished just last week in time to display it in my booth at the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival this weekend. There's nothing like an upcoming show to give you the kick to get going again!

Red Dress series write-up!

It's getting close, East Bay Open Studios starts this weekend!

At my open studios I'll be selling some of the paintings and drawings from my series titled "The Red Dress". The series was inspired by my dress hanging in my bedroom for so long up on the candelabra. I kept looking at it, thinking, it has a story hanging there. I wanted viewers to be intrigued to stop and wonder what occasion it was worn for, who the woman was who wore it and whether it was about to be worn, or had already served its purpose. The series is a group of studies, all done with the intention of exploring ways of conveying this sense of mystery.

My good friend and fashion guru, Nerissa Pacio, is a freelance fashion writer who has this great blog: Nerissa's Notebook with fashion tips and goings on in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nerissa has included a write-up about my series and the open studios in her blog. Check it out: http://nerissasnotebook.com/2010/06/02/red-dress-as-art-at-east-bay-open-studios/

I used the Red Dress project as an opportunity to explore different combinations of drawing and painting mediums, often used together as well as on their own. I played with capturing the light at various times of the day, and settled eventually into evening lighting to heighten the sense of mystery I was going for.

Nerissa asked me, "Why a red dress?" Well, the red dress is iconic. It has a totally different message than the little black dress. Unlike the black dress that every woman has in her closet, not every woman has a little red dress. A woman who wears a red dress is not afraid to be noticed, in fact, the boldness of the color speaks to the personality of the woman in it. She is confident, sexy and alluring, and knows it.

Hollywood has helped to create this image, for sure. The bombshell walking down the street that captures the eye is more often than not in red. So, I think, interest in who might be wearing the red dress is built in from societal expectations and long established fantasies created around the icon. The series just wouldn't have the same appeal if it were the blue dress or the brown dress. Also, visually, red is such a striking color that it gives more opportunity for playing around as an artist.

ProArts East Bay Open Studios

I just finished this painting to hang at ProArts in downtown Oakland. It's a plein air piece begun last Fall at apple harvest time in my backyard. It's up for their group exhibition highlighting the artists participating in the East Bay Open Studios.

This will be my first time doing Open Studios and I'm really excited to be joining in with 36 other artists in a huge space (formerly a Barnes and Noble) in Jack London Square. I'll have a nice wall space allocated to show my work. I'm madly painting new works, all inspired in some way by nature and it's myriad of forces. Some will be motion studies of dancers, some plein-air homages to nature's beauty, and some illustrative pieces based in pure fantasy. I'll also be offering prints of some of my most popular paintings for the first time. I like the idea of accessibility to everyone. There should be work available for any budget.

Come check it out if you're in the neighborhood!
Two weekends: June 5 &6, 12 & 13, 2010
Pavilion Building @ Jack London Square
98 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607
http://artrospection.com/jls/
http://www.proartsgallery.org/ebos/index.php