Weekend in NJ

This weekend was the Innovative Beads Expo in Edison, NJ, and I was there to peddle my wares. It's how I finance my artistic habit!

I had no idea, when I began to learn to bead, that there was a whole subculture of beading crafts that existed. I came away from my first visit to a bead show a little bit shell shocked and with a bad case of sensory overload. Who would have thought that there were so many different kinds of beads, or that some could be so expensive? But remember, for thousands of years beads were used as currency....currency of the realm, as it were.

I have several paintings half finished (I like to work on more than one at a time) but they will have wait till I can make more beads to replace the ones I sold (to be ready for the next show).

I can say that it is a little hard to keep my mind on polymer clay when I would rather be painting. But, since I don't have unlimited resources ($$) I need to take care of business. Later I will paint!

I'm off to make beads, now.

Get Ready for the Show

This weekend I will be vending at a bead expo and selling my polymer clay beads cabochons, pendants, faces, and leaves, and so it is time to check everything. Painting will have to wait for another day.

Need to make sure that everything is in good condition, priced, and in their proper display tray. Wash all the table covers, choose samples and pack them, pack display shelves and all display materials, also chairs, cash register, charge machine, print more patterns to sell and pack them up.

Gotta gas up the car, print up a map to the show, then pack everything in the car. Yikes! Mustn't forget to pack my clothes to wear.

Come visit me at the Innovative Beads Expo at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ.

Polymer clay beads, pendants, faces, and cabs.

See more at www.stonebrashcreative.com

Watercolor video

Ever want to look over an artist's shoulder and watch as they paint?

Here's a wonderful video that follows Frank LaLumia as he creates a watercolor landscape.   Then visit his website to see more more of his work .

Vermillion Cliffs watercolor demonstration

Frank Lalumia's website

Happy Easter All!

Hope everyone is having a glorious Easter! Makes my spirits rise just to think about what it really means.

Here's the finished painting of Thumb Butte that I started a couple of days ago. It may not look drastically different from the stage I last posted, but it has been through a lot. At one point I thought I had killed it completely and almost threw it out! Luckily I decided I had nothing to lose, scraped away some areas, and persevered on through that "ugly" stage. I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out. (not outstanding, but a good try).

A lesson to me to not give up too soon and not be afraid of wiping away something I'm not happy with!

The blue shadows are still more intense in the photo than in actuality, but I was unable to digitally change the blues in the photo without changing all other colors as well. Oh, well.......

Thumb Butte, AZ  9x12

Thumb Butte, AZ

Summer before last I visited Prescott, Arizona, and happily spent several days snapping away with my camera. The landscape there is completely different from what I am used to and I stored up memories and photos to be called upon later.

I hope to go back and paint on the spot in addition to photographing everything within sight (the artist should be able to find beauty in everything....I'm trying to live up to that).

Thumb Butte rises up out of the Arizona landscape and can be see from quite a long way off. You can hike up to the base of the vertical rock and if you are a climber (I am not) you can do a little rock climbing (my sons did some trad climbing up that big crack).

It is such a distinct shape and I decided to try a quick study from memory and the photos I took while there.

Prescott, AZ sits a little south of Sedona where the rock is red and so many westerns have been filmed. It was easy to imagine John Wayne riding up from across the valley. Wyatt Earp and his brothers hung out in Prescott for a while.

The rock of Thumb Butte is not red, but I'm the artist and if I want it to be red, it will be!
An underwash of red will give it a red glow. I sketched the shapes in with straight Cadmium red light.

Blocking out the shadows in cool colors will help to give the rocks dimension. I washed in the sky last to "cut" out the shapes along the top edge.


The blue in the shadows doesn't look as intense to my eyes as it does in this photo. One example of how the camera can distort reality.

Adding more color. I like to move back and forth between sunlight and shadow.

Again, the blues in this photo are really intense! Not so much when I look at the actual painting.

I will need to adjust some of those values, though.

By now the painting is so wet that any paint I add just sinks into the color below. So I am going to walk away for several hours and let it dry a bit. I will finish later.

*Tip: Your eyes may need a rest, too.  Come back later and you will more easily see what needs to be done.

The finished painting will be in my next post.... ("Happy Easter All")

Time to do some housekeeping (yuk!).

Something to do on a Rainy Day

A rainy day yesterday, dark and dreary. What to do? How to lift my spirits? A trip to the art store always works, and Dick Blick is having a sale!

Never discount the ability of wandering up and down aisles filled with tools of the trade to energize you and raise those sagging spirits.

Sometimes just seeing all the different supplies can give me ideas.

I am apt to visit the many online stores and find it quite helpful to search their pages for the best deal, but there's nothing like being able to pick up that brush, run your finger across the bristles to see how much spring there is in them, and feel the total balance in your hand.

My visit was fruitful and I came home with some oils, a brush (or two) and a watercolor pad to try out.

Not a bad day after all!

Less is More

I have always enjoyed painting big, but have decided to take the advice of artists who recommend painting small to increase the speed of your improvement. The more paintings you are able to complete the more picture puzzles you have the opportunity to solve, hence faster improvement. It also forces you to eliminate what is nonessential. We'll see.

My first attempt at small:
This is only 6" x 8" and I am not happy with it. Still too fussy. I need to get in, get it done, and get out.

Well, tomorrow is another day......