MINI PAINTINGS

Covid 19 threw us all for a loop.  Some hunkered down and ate more; my husband and went for hikes in the fresh air to various favorite locations on Whidbey. 

Gouache has been sneaking into my watercolor sketches here and there in the form of Chinese White or my favorite Holbein Jaune Brilliante which stays moist and is a slight flesh color.

Working from some favorite photos from Whidbey island and a trip to Northern California in January & February, I was inspired to paint mini paintings.  It is a peaceful feeling to sit quietly looking at a small image and try to capture what you felt when you were taking the photo!

The minis are 2 inches to 3 inches.  A few are a bit more rectangular, up to 2.25".   They are painted on #300 lb watercolor paper and sealed on the back to prevent warping.  They can be put on an easel, refrigerator, or, framed without glass.  If you would like to purchase any please contact me.  The smallest is $25, 3inch on an easel $50 and 3 inches in a frame $75.

Artsy Trip to McMennimans in Bothell

Sketchers took a field trip a few weeks ago to Bothell!  We went to the multi-facted McMennimans Restaurants, Hotel, Pool, Bar and beautiful grounds.
Its funny how you hone in on a particular scene and don't want to move.  We were in a cozy alcove and I chose this beautiful chair as my first sketch and then changed seats and view and took in the interesting lighting on the ceiling above the bar.  It was a chilly day, the fire was roaring; (a bit too much, whew), we were drinking Italian soda and chatting away.  I embellished both of these sketches with sparkly and white pens.  The atmosphere and furnishings seemed to say, make me pretty!

Field Trip

Orange Slices oil 6x6 traditional

Oil on Oil paper traditional

Looking down on the subject matter 6x6

I started this painting before leaving for Eugene, OR. to paint with Carol Marine.  The painting below with the urn, was after Carol's class.  I am still over-working the paint but, I love the aspect of looking down on the subject.
The class was a wonderful eye-opener for handling oils, perspective, modes of seeing and still life setup.  My free spirit loves the somewhat abstract, unrelated items.  I hope you do also.







The class was held at the Emerald Art Center, Springfield, a beautiful facility with plenty of room for 18 students and Gallery/store.
We painted from 9-4 every day and went out for dinner. The restaurants in Eugene are terrific, eclectic, healthy and for the most part reasonably priced. Several of us stayed in airbnb's.  If you haven't checked these out, you should. I had a whole wing of a house to myself for a very reasonable price.
The artists I met, including Carol and her family were sophisticated, experienced and very sharing.  We had mutual appreciation of talents and it was fun sharing ideas for funky setups.  My favorite trip was to a Salvation Army looking for cute props.  You will see some of them in the next blog!








These little pink things are actually an orange, named Cara, Cara.  They were available at Costco in Oregon.  Delicious!

Hanging out in Sunny Northern California

"Gargoyle"  Conglomerate of mud stone & ash since the ice age.

5x7 oil  Ally's view of Useless Bay

Holmes Harbor from Freeland Hall

Ticks, hikes, beautiful views in the Stanislau National Forest.  Yesterday we hiked on the Trail of the Gargoyles at about 5500 feet, not an easy feat for someone used to sea level.  We are becoming acclimated, but still the thinner air, my wider behind and slower hiking ability takes its toll.  We fall asleep fast, but then I wake up with my feet and legs throbbing and remember...
Our dog Laci, & daughters' dog Gloria are having so much fun running and jumping in the ditch (a water source from the mountains)during the hike, but, we spend the rest of the day picking ticks and healing scratches on Laci.  She is used to Salal in our forests and I think it is more forgiving than Manzanita.  I've been sketching but nothing of note, so I am attaching a couple of small oils I did recently.

Catching up

This month has flown!   The sketches below are the results of a class I took with Fay Castle.  The goal was to find your "what".  For me that means not painting everything in sight and making them all important!  In this case below it was my fellow student sitting on an upside down flower pot, sketching the flowers in front of her at the Crockett Barn.  You will note, I made a sort of value sketch to identify the light and shadow.  Next goal drop a color, then a complimentary color and let them blend. This was fun and a needed reminder to me, the blender of paint, to let the watercolors do the work.  A fresher look can be achieved by paying attention to the basics. 

 

Gloria, 5 months loves pillows better than bed.

While visiting Northern California, we gorged on Rainier cherries

Another version of my painting friend done with markers.  I like the attitude of her feet on the side.

Drawing Jam

This was my first experience at the once a year drawing jam at the Gage Institute in Seattle.  Three floors were devoted to drawing from still life, nude and costumed models.  I spent most of my time in one room trying to get a good view of the models so I could draw them, then discovered the pleasure of drawing my fellow artists who were so involved with their own drawings, they had no idea that they were my models.  My view was a sea of easels, very tall easels!  I knew I couldn't stand at an easel all day, so found a high stool against the wall and enjoyed the view.

My first subject was "the big guy".  He was so involved in his drawing that I had time to study him, his clothing, the way he held his paper with one hand while he drew with the other.  His clothes were more interesting because they were layered.
My next "victim" like to sit sideways on the drawing stool; I liked the way her hair swooped back.  Another gal always drew up high onto her pad of paper, with one hand on her hip.  I asked if her arm ever got tired and learned from her accent that she was French.  She informed me that her arm was a light as a feather.  I had an empty easel near me but it had a coat hanging on the side, so I assumed someone was coming back and later a woman showed up and blocked the rest of my view so I moved on after sketching her twice.  I'm not showing this because her back was boring.

Looking for food later in the day, I found the Thai food truck in the driveway and then more models on a scaffold in the multipurpose room, this time they were dressed in simple tights or a bathing suit.  They were incredibly strong to be able to hold difficult poses for several minutes of time.

The cost for this wonderful day was $10 and it included drawing pads, pencils, erasers, and all kinds of art supplies.  It started at 9am and went on into the evening.  I would give this experience at least 4 stars.  Save the first Saturday in December to enjoy this experience.

A sea of easels

Light as a feather

Reserved

The big guy!

Sun Mountain

Draped hills 7:30 pm

8pm hard to see details

4pm next day more information

No it is not my husband, but it could be!

     Recently, my husband and I spent a few days soaking up the sun over the mountain, Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, Wa.  Our goal,  just take it easy, enjoy the views and sunny atmosphere.  I don't want this to sound like an advertisement for Sun Mountain, but the views were unendingly beautiful.  I painted the same view twice, once in the evening when it was difficult to see the distant shapes of the mountains and then again in the morning.  Late one afternoon I sat and sketched the pool with the distant mountains behind a tree.  My favorite view was from the dining room where the land looked like a draped curtain folded and falling to the next level of ground.   It was interesting how the shadows from either the morning sun or the evening helped you envision the formation of the land.
     If you go over North Cascades to Twisp,  I really recommend the current show at the Confluence Gallery.  The subject matter is Values by Mary Powell and Gary Harper.  Gary is a black and white photographer and Mary is a well-known local artist/teacher who emphasizes understanding value.  Powell,  a master of color, movement and emotion in her impressionist canvases,  always begins with a black-and-white value study, incorporating the three components that are the basis of color-value, hue and intensity.
     In addition to exhibiting paintings of landscapes, walls and doors, of horses and horse people; and photos of coils of wire, weather and barns, the two artists have provided guides that give further insight into the way they see things.  Powell's paintings are accompanied by her diminutive value studies.  Red filters are on hand for viewers to the exhibit to learn to see the world as darks and lights devoid of color.

     This gallery is open Wednesday-Sunday, through September 17,  so plan accordingly.

La Conner fun

 A day off having fun with the Sketchers!  My life these days has been following a roller over the walls of the new Art Gallery we are opening in Langley. So, I made an appointment to have some fun and sketch in our lovely La Conner. Brunch at the Farmhouse Restaurant, Tulip Fields Christiansen's Nursery, Wine Bar and then a delicious burger. Thank you to our lovely hostess's from Anacortes for the most wonderfully organized day.  They excelled in making us feel special!
The Whidbey Art Gallery www.whidbeyartists.com will be opening on May 5th.  Our Grand Opening will be Memorial Day Weekend.  The location is 114 Second Street in the former Langley Clinic and conveniently located across from Useless Bay Coffee.  We have four jewelers, eleven wall artists, including three photographers, two Metal Artists, Weaving by Wendy, Birds by Bennett, Raku by John Kloeck and Pottery by Christi Shafer.  Check us out on the Artwalk May 7!

Primary colors!

Dee and lap cat

Jan and Lisbeth 

Phyllis sketching at wine bar. 

WWII Control tower

Every time I took photos, stood and painted this amazing control tower, I wondered what the people inside saw on December 7, 1941.   Located on Ford Island, in the heart of Pearl Harbor, it was also in the heart of the action.  The USS Arizona lies about 1/3 mile away looking North, if you turned West about the same distance the remains of the USS Utah are rusting in the water.  In this huge and beautiful harbor many ships still nestle in its protected waters.  I could see Coast Guard ships, NOAA ships and small service boats and on the mainland, Pearl Ridge.

WWII bunker & mountains on mainland

WWII housing near the Missouri/early evening.

During WWII the largest battleship in the world was the USS Missouri.  Today its huge presence attracts visitors from all over the world.  The walkway toward the ship is lined with fluttering American flags; the ship behind the flags is a huge monster with giant guns facing out to show its might. Today it hovers beside the Island, a presence not to be ignored. There are ghosts on this ship, the ghosts of General Douglas MacArthur and the retinue of Japanese ambassadors, changed the world when they signed the Articles of Surrender in August of 1945.
The reflections in the water have beautiful, distorted images not unlike the images of peace. What is peace?  Will the world ever know?

USS Missouri guns in harbor; cottage housing in foreground

Early morning view of Arizona memorial from Ford Island

Missouri and little cottage (wwII housing) Can you imagine having that in your backyard?

Reflections of the tower aboard the Missouri

Welcome aboard BB-63!

Warm and Sunny Honolulu

My husband and I recently escaped the cold of the Northwest for the beautiful, warm, humid winter of Honolulu.  Between 1987 and 1990 we lived in on base at Pearl Harbor. We haven't been back to the Island since 1992 and were not surprised to find it the same yet MORE! Lots of sun, people (we never went to Waikiki), noise from traffic, but beauty everywhere.

Example:  We stayed at the recently built Navy Lodge on historic Ford Island.  A causeway was built to the Island about 10 years ago and now there are new quarters for military personnel.  The Navy Lodge was built in the last ten years and contains two large buildings to house personnel moving to and from Hawaii, and visitors like ourselves. 

Ford Island is small by Whidbey standards and limited for supplies but so peaceful and historic.  The battleship Missouri, where the Articles of Surrender was signed with Japan, is now a museum for visitors; also the Naval Aviation Museum; memorials for the battleship Oklahoma and Utah. There are old bunkers and an air control tower that is awaiting restoration.

Of course, we drove all over the Oahu to our favorite beaches, Barbers Point Naval Air Station, Bellows Beach, Kaneohe (Pyramid Rock) where Obama recently stayed, and a ride to the North Shore on a rainy day to watch the super surfers catch the waves. 

Ginger

I also met some artists that meet to paint every Thursday at Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu.  "The Garden traces its beginning to 1853 when Queen Kalama leased a small area of land to William Hillebrand, a young German doctor. A botanist as well as a physician, he and his wife built a home in the upper terrace area of the present garden. The magnificent trees which now tower over this area were planted by him. After twenty years in Hawaii, he returned to Germany and produced the excellent botanic treatise, Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (1888).

The Hillebrand property was later sold to Thomas (Captain) and Mary Foster who added to it and continued to develop the garden. Upon Mrs. Foster's death in 1930, the 5.5 acre site was bequeathed to the City and County of Honolulu as a public garden."

Bellows Beach Windward side

Foster Botanical Gardens

Rainy evening view from the Navy Lodge, looking at causeway.

Trying to grab some shade by the lifeguard stand; this was my view.

The watchers

Pupukea surf left side

Pupukea Beach right side

Tacoma Art Museum

Foam (wood) block

Print

Foam block, notice my initials are backwards

Print

Yesterday, five of our sketchers group went on a field trip to Tacoma.  We left very early and to our surprise caught the 8am ferry. Goal: Tacoma Art Museum for the Japanese Wood Block Print show.  We arrived too early so we walked over to what we thought was Union Station but found that it has been converted into the Federal Courthouse.  At first we were surprised  that we had to show id's and have our bags scanned to enter a train station.  I couldn't resist going in past the scanner to see the view outside of the Chihuly glass art on a walkway over the ferry and leading toward the Hot shop where the glass is blown/fired? This is a sketch from inside the entrance to the Courthouse.

When we got to the museum, we enjoyed the fantastic old woodblock prints from the series "One Hundred Views of Edo" 1857-58 by Utagawa Hiroshige.
Local art students were visiting and a docent was explaining Japanese art, the period of time and style of design.  Ex. Some of the figurative images looked awkward and flat.  The colors rely on variations in decoration - lots of layers of kimono with different colors and designs on each layer. The extraordinary fine detail in some of the prints was amazing, particularly when you viewed the examples of the steps taken (about 12) in creating each image and color layer.
Adjoining, the main exhibit, was a Chihuly glass room.  I sketched one section of this exhibit and then we moved on to the "hands on" art room where we made our own "wood block prints".  The docents set us up at a table with very thin foam board.  We drew our image onto the foam board and then using a brayer, plexiglass sheet and printing ink, covered our image and then applied it to paper, or in my case to my sketchbook.  We had a lovely time visiting with these two creative women and look forward to a return visit.
This show ends on February 13.  Make a trip to enjoy this surprising section of Tacoma, it will be fun!

Chihuly exhibit