Just won an award

Hi:

I just got a call from the Fellspoint Gallery in Maryland. My miniature, "Fisherman's Shack", won second place in mixed media in the show. I am so pleased. The reception that was scheduled for tonight has been canceled because of tornado warnings and flooding in the area. I hope that everyone stays safe.

Ellie

The Miniature Is Finished

I finished the African kaleidoscope miniature today. I have to mail the miniatures to Florida on Wednesday so I made the deadline. It feels good to have finished all five miniatures for the MASF show. I worked in a very hot studio today. It was 113 degrees here and our air conditioning wasn't working for part of the afternoon (brown out). The title is Dreaming Of Africa.

More paint on the mini

I worked some more on the African Miniature today. The paintings are due Oct. 8th in Florida so I'd better get hopping. As you can see, I changed the larger giraff by making his body shorter. My paintings are always free hand so I change things as I go along. The black that I use is a mixture of Alizarin Crimson and Winsor green. Those two colors make a beautiful black and if you use the mixture on a larger area, you can play with the colors. Make a small section a little greener or redder. I hope to work more on it tomorrow.

Starting to paint the mini

I have started painting the African miniature and I must say, I am having fun. It feels good to be back to painting a kaleidoscope painting. They are my first love whether they are standard size or miniature. It is very difficult to do a miniature kaleidoscope. I will paint some more on it tomorrow...fun, fun, fun. Oh, I had a blast at my reunion in San Diego.

Miniatures Finished And Framed

Here are the two miniatures that I previously showed you. I added quite a bit of leaves to the trees and shadows to the ground and put in alot of dots for the leaves. I personally don't like to go farther than that with the detail. I like to paint with a "painterly" flair instead of photo realistic. The frames are 4"x5". The covered bridge is the Larkin Bridge in Chelsea, VT. I painted it from a photo that I took while visiting New England. It was built in 1902 and is in good condition. There were flowers hung on both sides of the entrance. The other painting that I titled "Road To Grampa's House" is from a photo that I took on a rainy day in Vermont. I changed the colors and the mood a bit. They will both be sent to the MASF miniature show along with the new kaleidoscope. I hope to work on it tomorrow or day after tomorrow. I have been gone so haven't had the chance. I can't seem to make the Larkin Bridge image smaller.

Second Step

Today the sketch went in. I really don't bother with much detail until the paint goes on. This is also how the larger kaleidoscopes are done. I hope to put some paint on it tomorrow. After that I won't be here for a couple of days because I have other things on my agenda.

Starting A New Miniature Kaleidoscope

This is the first step of a kaleidoscope painting. I section the paper off before the sketch goes in. The paper is Arches 140# hot pressed. It is then stretched  over a board to keep it flat. Today is wash day so I can't sketch until tomorrow. I will keep posting. Thank you for joining me in this venture. The other two that I just finished have been matted and framed. I will post them after my son scans them in their frames.

My new Blogspot

Hi everyone. I am going to try to keep up a new blog. I am not much at writing (just talking) ha ha. I will try to keep you updated on what I will be doing. At the moment, my thoughts are with the miniature shows. I will try to post the miniatures as I do them. I will need some followers. Anyone interested?

Here are two that I started at my Art-A-Fair show this summer in Laguna Beach. I had never tried to do them at the show before but I found out that they attract alot of attention. I guess that I will do miniatures there more often. Here are the two that I started. The first stage of the miniatures looks impressionistic as I lay the colors on. These photos show the step after that though. I will try to get photos sooner next time.