Painting and Other Expressions

Wallsburg Workshop

2011-08-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

The show at the Terra Nova Gallery was a lot of work but, I'm so glad I did it. Many people showed up for the opening and it was fun. My photos of the paintings are still at the photographers. I'll post them when I can.

The first week of August Marie and I took a painting workshop from Linda Curly Christensen in Wallsburg. Each day we went to a different location to paint. The workshop was five days, about twelve hours a day.

The first day we painted on Linda's farm. Our lunches were brought to us and dinners were back at the studio and were very yummy and healthy.

The second day we painted in town at the Ford's fence with the beautiful hollyhocks.

This is Russell Rick's painting. He had quite a few nice paintings that week and kept us entertained.

Day three took us up into the high country to paint wildflowers. As part of the retreat, we took a trail ride on horseback. This was a highlight.

This was my horse. He really liked me and kept wanting to show me how well he could trot.

As you can imagine we saw some beautiful places.

I had to drive my Toyota through this river three times on the way up and down. The first crossing was rough with big rocks. One of the cars got high centered. The drive up was one of my favorite parts.

Day 4 was a great painting day. I loved painting the valley and gentle mountains. We were out in the sun painting for six hours. By this time we were use to painting out in the elements and it was not a problem, except when the wind was blowing. We just loaded things down with rocks.

The horse handlers all had matching t-shirts that read:

If You Are Good,

If You Are Really, Really Good,

If You Obey The Golden Rule,

If You Pray Daily.......

When You Die, You Will Go To.......

WALLSBURG, UTAH

After spending twelve hours a day, for five days, painting, listening to art lectures and critiques, eating good food and meeting new friends, Marie and I thought we WERE in heaven!

Terra Nova Show

2011-05-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

This postcard is for the show at Terra Nova Gallery in June and July. I've been painting since January and just have a few more touch-ups before I'm done. I'll have nine paintings in the show. There are some fun ones that turned out well. Stop by and check them out!

A Quick Road Trip

2010-12-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

My longtime friend Tawnie and her husband Al, who live in Sherman Oaks, rented a house near St. George for Christmas. Kathryn and I took a little road trip to see them before they left for CA.

It was so nice to see Tawnie's parents, get out of town and see some beautiful scenery.

Art Gals Christmas (Tamale) Party

2010-12-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

For December's gathering we had a Tamale party. Laura makes a big batch of Tamales for friend's and neighbor's Christmas gifts and we had a great time helping her.

She appreciated the help as she was leaving to pick her son up from his mission three days later. We had lots of fun conversation and a nice dinner!

Art Night Out with the Gals

2010-10-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

Our friend Sean Diediker had his book signing party on Saturday night. It was a great art night out. It is always fun to see our art friends. He signed our book "To the plein air sisterhood", which is better than "The sisterhood of the traveling pants" which is how he has referred to us before.

My Creative Endeavor for the Week

2010-10-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

My friend Faunice loves flower arranging and teaches classes occasionally.

She invited me to her Halloween class. I had a great time and met people from my neighboring ward.

I learned a lot. My entryway may never be the same.

We Did It!

2010-10-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

We are standing next to our paintings at the Terra Nova Gallery opening tonight.

Provo Plein Air 2010

2010-09-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Marie let me know about the Provo Plein Air Event. Even though she couldn't participate with her busy schedule, I thought I would try it. Kathryn said she would try too.

This morning Kyle and I headed up the canyon to South Fork. He did an awesome job of helping me pack my stuff around and set up. He enjoyed being out in nature and getting a fair amount of reading done.

While he was up taking a break, I busily painted away. I happened to glance over in his direction to see if he was back yet and saw THIS about 25 yards away! It was HUGE!

After several minutes it was frightened away by the loud noise of the park workers on their big riding mowers. One of them rode up to us and asked if we had seen the moose. I showed him the pictures and he said that he thought it was the one that chases people around. But he said at first he thought it was the big black bear that had been up there last week.

I didn't have it left in me to stay much longer. We packed it up and headed down to the lake to meet Kathryn.

The animals seem less wild down there. So, I think I'll paint there all day tomorrow. The paintings are due Friday at 1:00 for the gallery stroll that evening at Terra Nova Gallery.

A Chance Encounter......Arts Retreat.....and Painting Today

2010-09-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, on Saturday, August 28th, Marie and I headed up to Wallsburg to paint. We were joined by our other art friend Kathryn. She teaches art at a local high school. I was telling them that Linda Christensen painted some of the Oquirrh Mountain temple murals up in Wallsburg and I wondered if she had painted them in the old ward house turned Community Center.

Marie said, "Wouldn't that be neat if she saw us painting and stopped to say 'hello'? We got set up and within the hour a dark SUV pulled up and a woman got out and walked up to Marie and introduced herself as Linda Christensen! Yes! the very one! She talked with us and said that she would like to paint with us sometime and would show us some good spots!

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/56198/Art-missionaries-help-beautify-temple-interior.html

This past Friday evening we went over to Kathryn's house for the first part of our Artist's Retreat. Marie, Laura and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner of Thai food prepared for us by Kathryn. We ate until we were full to the brim, including strawberry birthday cake made from scratch for Laura.

We intended to paint on Kathryn's beautiful pastoral land near the bird refuge. It had been such a wild day for me that I just soaked it all in and watched Marie paint. Her painting was fantastic.

The next morning we headed out early for the 2010 Artist's Studio Tour in Spring City. Kathryn and her husband joined Marie and I this year which made it more fun. We ran into a number of our friends that had participated in the Plein Air competition.

It was a great show again this year. We heard that 70 painters had participated this year, which was up from the 50 from last year. Marie and I renewed our desires to be there next year. With my new enthusiasm for landscape painting, I went out painting today. I was grateful that Kyle joined me for support. (He was great fun.)

He snapped this one of me while I was hard at work. My painting isn't good by any stretch. But, I do think that a few things are beginning to work out a bit better. It took two hours to paint.
This might be the first plein air painting that doesn't get wiped as Kyle wants to hang it in his room!

Some Results

2010-08-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

After returning from painting Saturday, my husband mentioned that he noticed I have kept working at plein air painting even though it is still frustrating for me. He knows me well enough to know that I don't keep doing things that I'm not good at for very long.

So, it is nice to finally see a little progress. The first painting is from May 15th when Marie and I went down to the lake. The second is from Saturday, August 14th.

We have also started going with a larger group of painters headed by a local professor of art. The group includes some very good landscape painters and they are generous with their help, which is really nice.

I'm still painting!

2010-07-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

This plein air painting is really challenging me. I told myself that I was going to keep at it all summer and then decide if I would continue with it or not. It is strangely addicting. Strange because, it's so frustrating. Why do I keep going out?

Marie and I had planned on going Saturday but neither of us felt quite up to it. She works at BYU full time and can't go in the day. I'm really too chicken to go by myself so, I got Kyle to go with me Tuesday morning.
He was going to read while I painted but the biting flies were bothering him too much. It was nice to have him along.This morning he didn't want to go with me so, I went alone! It wasn't even that bad. The bad thing is my painting. I am learning something new with each attempt but, my future as a landscape painter is in serious jeopardy!

Week #3 -Back to the River

2010-05-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Marie and I went back to the Provo river. She wanted to work again on the painting she started when we were there before.

The goal of a plein air painter is to keep the supplies as minimal as possible. But, how could I pass up this fabulous canopy chair? I keep adding more every week.

So far my painting is still working. It just might get past the danger point of being wiped.

Marie's painting from today.

This is Marie's painting from down by the lake.

Week #2 -Down by the Lake

2010-05-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

This week Marie and I went down by the lake. It was beautiful! We went later in the day and the colors became more vibrant as the sun was setting. The air was rich with the sounds of nature. Birds, horses, cows and airplanes, to name a few.

Many painters complain about the conditions of outdoor painting sometimes. So, we knew how fortunate we were to have the PERFECT painting day.

This week my painting was much more successful. I even began to enjoy myself a bit. But because I made a big mistake that I'm too embarrassed to reveal... I think this one will be a wiper.

Plein Air Painting - Midway

2010-05-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day my sweet husband gave me some new painting supplies. So, I got to go try them out this morning with my friend Marie. She has a bit more plein air painting experience than I do and agreed to go with me.

We found a nice place by the Provo river. It was good to be out with the birds and fishermen and the sound of the running river.

It was a great Saturday morning with hopefully many more to come this summer.

Spring City Studio Tours

2009-09-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday September 12th was the Spring City Studio Tours.

I took my favorite little traveling companion (and her doll).

The plein air landscape show was quite impressive this year.

This year turned out to be different. It was more about the other activities. At the farmers market I bought a box of peaches for $10 and some delicious tomatoes from the farmer who grew them. I also bought some marmalade and jam from a woman who showed me which trees and bushes the fruit that she used came from.

Having attended this event every year, it was fun to have it a bit different.

The Workshop . . .

2009-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

was a great time! Michael is a good teacher and I learned a lot.

He did a number of demos.

I really liked how he patiently took us through his process step by step.

He dubbed this workshop the "Cow Painting Workshop". Very cool!

Michael Workman Landscape Workshop

2009-04-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

After wanting to do this for a long time, here it is! I'm so excited for this weekend!

2009-01-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

A lovely morning was spent in the Jordan River Temple on Saturday with our dear friends Mark and Sylvia from Houston. Samuel, their newest addition, was sealed to them.

A New Book!

2008-05-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day I got a book I've had my eye on by Josef Albers. To Open Eyes was written by two of his students. I was interested in it because of his color studies. I've had an idea for years now for a color study I want to do. It will take quite a bit of time and effort, but I think I'm ready to work some more on it. It's progress will appear on this blog I'm sure.

Back to painting and blogging

2008-05-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was the final class for my Emotional Release Class, which turned out to be a success. It was a lot of effort to create a six week class of that kind with all of the handouts and such that go along with it. It was great fun and I'm so glad it's put together. Next time I teach it will be a lot easier 'cause I'll know what I'm doing!

My thoughts have turned back to painting and I'm excited to get back to painting. I need to finish Jade and begin working on Kurt and Julie.

Here it is! (But only about 1/2 done)

2008-03-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

My niece Jade, a rising art star, recently told me that she was enjoying painting some paint by numbers. I had the idea of creating a paint by number for her birthday of herself. I soon realized that was beyond my capabilities and that it would be easier to paint the portrait myself, which I have been enjoying very much. Her birthday is today and it's not finished yet, but.....

Happy Birthday Jade !

Love, The Greens

A Full Day in the Studio

2008-02-27T22:43:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day in the studio. I started a painting today and was successful in getting all the values blocked in the first day. This will help greatly in painting it faster. Usually I would've posted a picture of it, but it is a surprise. I can only show it after I give it to the person, but I will for sure post a picture then.

A Visitor

2008-02-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite people ever, Denice from Houston came to town to celebrate her parent's 50th wedding anniversary. She is only here for a few days and has much family to spend time with and many committments, yet she made time to come see me. I caught this photo of Stone's (9 mos.) first direct encounter with snow!

Some diversions but still focused

2008-02-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Last week my daughter and I went to Dallas with my two other sisters and mother to visit another sister, Julie. We had a great time and want to make it an annual thing.

I feel like I'm moving toward teaching some basic emotional release classes beginning this year. I have the outline for the class but there will be much work to prepare both material and house. I will hold class in my studio. My movitation for getting this all done quickly is to get back to daily painting. Yikes!

A Good Day of Painting

2008-01-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

"Citrus Bowl" is turning out a bit better than I thought. If it turns out decent enough it could be my other entry for the Spring Salon. That would be nice if I had two paintings worked to this point that were possibilities for the show in April. If I get them done there might be time to see if I could do something else that would be better. I had better just focus on getting these done!

A Decent Day of Painting

2008-01-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Even though the lovely citrus fruit for my still life has long since shriveled and rotted, I have the photo of it to work from. I feel so rusty from months away from the easel. My still life felt like a good place to start today. I started this work painting from life so to finish it from a reference photo there were some drawing problems to solve. Overall it was a fun day in the studio. It felt like I am finally going to get into the routine of daily painting again!

Thinking of Spring

2008-01-17T23:13:00.000-08:00

unfinished, 16x20, oil on canvas

Angels Above Us, 36x48, oil on canvas, 2006

So now that my 'painting a day' hopes are dashed, what should I work on? The Spring Salon is in April. I had a painting almost ready for entry last year that I could finish for this year. This is a juried show at the Springville Museum of Art and is really prestigious and hard to get in. I did get into their Religious and Spiritual Show of 2006 with Angels Above Us, but the Spring Salon is harder to get in. Upwards of 1,000 entries are submitted by the states best artists. My chances are slim but it's a dream of mine to be in the show. Little Jumping Guy (working title) is my best hope at this point. Each artist can enter two works. That is my goal... two paintings entered.

From 'A Painting a Day' to 'A Daily Painter'

2008-01-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

Barbie Couch, 5x7, oil on canvas, 1/14/08

Even though I have been away from my easel for many months, I have stayed connected to the art world through the Internet. There is a movement pioneered by Duane Keiser http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com/ of creating 'a painting a day'. Many artists have found a niche for themselves by selling their small paintings either from their blog, website or eBay. This idea appealed to me because I'm so rusty and it might help me get better at finishing my paintings. (Inability to finish a painting not so good for an artist.) Well the day came that I had my canvas toned and ready. Determined to become 'a painting a day' enthusiast, I did it! I even finished it. Mostly because as my painting time came to an end, I had determined that this wasn't really the direction I wanted to go. I was glad that I had tried it. I would never have known had I not tried. I post this painting as a painful reminder that I should never go months without painting and everytime 'a painting a day' looks like fun, to just remember 1/14/08.

Looking forward to A Great 2008!

2008-01-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

As I was reflecting on this past year, I got excited for 2008. Last year brought many changes. Major changes in one's life, like moving, often bring stress. I'm happy to leave it behind as I am enjoying my own private office, my fabulous studio and my walk-in closet. Our new house is at the base of the mountain. Every day as I am driving around my neighborhood I'm struck by the beauty of the mountains. The views from my studio are breathtaking. I'm hoping that this will be a place where my creativity will flow and my career will prosper!

No Printer Cables, No Problem

2007-12-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my sweet husband surprised me with the HP Photosmart C6280 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier!! I'll be spending some serious time with the manual to learn all about it! We had a great Christmas. We got many things to get the house set up. I'm looking forward to getting back to the daily routine. I'm not looking forward to the mound of boxes still to sort through. But I'm motivated by the thought of sitting in front of my still life and painting away for hours.

One more thing to check off my to-do list

2007-12-18T22:11:00.000-08:00

Oh look! I got my camera up and running. Now where are those printer cables?

Unpacking

2007-12-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

This past fall I had to pack up my studio to make the space look like a dining room again. This was to prepare the house to sell. I did set up an area in the basement so that I could paint. But, with all the work to do to get the house ready to sell, there wasn't much time for art. I now have a great space for a studio and even a separate office. The frustration now is trying to function and get something done only to find out that what I need is in some box somewhere. I still have a large mound of boxes to put away.
What I am referring to is not being able to find my printer cables among other things. Christmas Holidays and getting settled into a house don't leave a lot of time for art. The painting I'm doing nowdays is mostly on the walls. I set up a lovely still life of citrus in a stainless bowl. But because of all of my diversions, the lemons and limes have begun to shrivel. The orange has been replaced once already. I scrambled to take a picture of it so that I could remember it in all its freshness and have a reference to finish it after Christmas. Great idea if I knew where my printer cables were. Thank heaven for Walmart one hour photo service. I would post the picture but you can probably guess there are some bugs to work out there as well.
With Christmas this close and all the things left to do I probably shouldn't paint until after. But at least I have my picture!

Hello!

2007-12-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

This blog is to get me focused on getting my art out there. I also will use it to keep in touch with friends and family. So here goes!