Happy Friday and Some Good News!

Daffodils and Pears – 24" x 18" (61 x 45.7 cm) – Oil on Canvas

Happy Friday! This weekend is the long awaited 20th Year High School Reunion for S. I am really looking forward to meeting so many of his former high school friends, and I anticipate the weekend will be busy.

And going into the weekend I received great news from the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club that the painting above was accepted into the 114th Annual Open Juried Exhibition that will take place in October in New York City! I had shown a work in progress image previously however I never got around to sharing the completed painting with you.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for reading,

Liz

PS. Slim has been helping me write this blog post, really she has been hindering me as she insists on sitting on my arms.

Peaches, Bowl, & Bottle {a new still life painting}

Still Life with Peaches, Bowl, and Bottle – 8" x 10" (20.3 x 25 cm) – Oil on Canvas

Please click here for a larger view and purchase information.

Hello Friends,

Now that I am back from NYC my focus is on completing several 8x10 inch still life paintings for an upcoming show in Suffolk, VA. This is the first one I am happy with. I had already completed three paintings, only to re-assess them late last week and concluding that I needed to start over.

The time away from the studio and seeing great art in NYC helped give me a sense of direction for this upcoming show. August is going to be a busy month!

Thanks for stopping by and reading :) Liz

Salmagundi Show and Reception

{outside the Salmagundi Club on 5th Ave.}

Hello,

This Friday S. and I took the bus up to NYC to attend the Salmagundi Club Non-member show where my painting of the Three Apples on a Crate was accepted. It was an amazing afternoon and evening. We walked around NY visiting a gallery, having a wonderful meal, and then seeing all the great art in the show. The variety of subject matter and style was inspiring, encouraging me to experiment and strive more.

As the reception was winding down a kind attendee let me know that my painting was included on the show poster! S. and I had entered from the other side and had not seen the poster.

Here is a photo of me and my painting, the portrait above is the of a man named Berry, who founded one of the farmer's markets in NYC. The artist of this portrait thought it was fitting that my painting of green apples was placed below his portrait as a green apple is the symbol of this farmer's market.

Here are a few more photos of the reception.

On Saturday we spent the day at the Met, visiting the Picasso exhibit and touring other galleries, especially the European paintings. I took a lot of photos of various details from paintings that I found interesting.

Have a wonderful evening! Liz

Fresh Peaches {a new still life painting}

Fresh Peaches – 18" x 24" (45.7 x 61 cm) – Oil on Linen

This is the second painting completed while studio sitting a few weeks ago. It was the first painting where I applied a technique recommended by Danni where you work on a specific area, say 6 inches square where you refine everything at once, instead of just painting in specific objects as solitary items. This enables you to work out edge qualities of how everything interacts. This way does seem to make the painting go faster on larger pieces as you can get an idea of how the effect of the painting is coming together at an earlier stage. After the entire canvas is covered in this manner, you go back over the painting again, picking out specific areas that will require the greatest level of refinement, and then going back again and again.

I am really enjoying using this method as it makes painting anything larger than an 8" x 10" (20.3 x 25 cm) rewarding as you see pretty soon if the composition and idea are working out. With smaller pieces it all comes together so quickly you know right away if the painting is going in the desired direction immediately.

Have a wonderful evening,

Liz

PS. I loved learning about this Dutch still life artist and being introduced to his work by this post and this post. Thank you Matthew D. Innis for introducing him to me :)

Washington State {a new landscape painting}

Washington State Landscape – 18" x 24" (45.7 x 61 cm) – oil on canvas

Hello,

Every so often I decide to work on a landscape. This is an enlarged and expanded version of a previous study. In this painting thick paint and texture was used in the foreground to really help define distances.

New Project in the Works

Hello,

Now that I am back working in my own studio, I am embarking on a new series of paintings. This new series sprung from the inspiration of going through Danni's extensive art library while "studio sitting", sometimes I would go back again and again to a particular book.

I have also decided to experiment with unprimed linen, where I size and apply the painting ground. Typically I purchase pre-primed linen and stretch my own canvases as it saves some money doing it this way.

As this is a labor and time intensive process and there is a learning curve, I thought you may be interested in the steps required. Following are some photos of the various details and steps.


This is the largest canvas I am going to paint, 48x50 inches. The unprimed linen is attached as evenly as possible to the frame, watching to make sure the grain of the fabric remains the same along the edges so as to not have uneven tension. The stretcher bars are 1-1/2 deep, I am thinking about reinforcing the corners some with metal brackets from a hardware store as there is a bit of flex that concerns me.


Here are some of the other canvases, each has two layers of Gamblin PVA size. I applied the size to the front and sides of the canvas.


A detail of a back corner


Another corner detail. As a rule I have decided that the short side will receive the flat fold, so each canvas is constructed the same.


Another detail of the corners


Getting ready to apply the Gamblin oil painting ground. I applied blue painters tape around the edge to give a nice clean smooth edge of where the ground stops. This is a pretty messy step, so be prepared with lots of rags and to ruin what you are wearing. I managed to get this stuff on everything I came in contact with... I will let the first layer dry to the touch, lightly sand it and then apply a second layer of the ground. Here is a link to the Gamblin website with further information.

The ground dries slowly with high humidity so it may be a while before this process is complete. While waiting for the canvases to dry, I will use regular pre-primed canvases. I do not want to lose momentum...

Until next time, have a wonderful evening! Liz

Danni's Treasures {now finished}

Danni’s Treasures – 12" x 16" (30.5 x 40.6 cm) – oil on linen

Last week I was lucky enough to finish this painting. It was completed in Danni Dawson’s studio in Arlington, where she gave me access to her studio and home while she was away teaching in Italy. Working in Danni’s studio was amazing, the quality of light is magnificent, she has a large northern window to provide the overall ambient light then there are smaller windows on the east and south wall, which allows for subtle light quality differences. This painting was set up near the east window, so the light was best in the mid to late afternoon, eastern light is also a little warmer in temperature than true northern light.

To date this is my most detail oriented painting, I was constantly trying to balance the detail of the rug pattern in the background and foreground while always making the cup the most important feature of the painting. The cup is a French antique with the most wonderful modulated glaze with the delicate blue pattern.

Working away from home for the past three weeks has been exhilarating in that it was like a mini artist residency, when I would take breaks I would read through various art books and think about what to paint next. Ideas are floating around in my head and I am starting a new project this week.

See you soon! Thanks for stopping by and reading,

Liz

Hello friends!

Time has been flying by with the holiday, friends from out of town, and catching up with others. I will be back tomorrow with more to share!

Until then, thanks for stopping by! Liz