Curiosity

Curiosity 

18"x 24"x 1.5"

oil on panel

$625

Click here to purchase

I can't wait to take pictures at the summer farmers' market. 

(The Beaverton Farmers Market starts Saturday, May 2.) 

I take pictures of people sitting on benches relaxing or eating, standing in line waiting for the food vendors, playing with their children, etc..  

I don't have a plan in mind (maybe I should?), so I take lots of random photos and then I look at them on Photoshop to see what I have captured. 

I took this photo a few years ago. I love the little girl's posture and the way she is looking curiously at.....? 

I wanted the attention on *her* in the painting. Coming from a illustration and a bio-medical illustration background it was hard for me to vary the edges and distort the background. That pink shirt in the middle? It was just too much!  I had to add a little blue and a pink drip down her leg..... 

Here's is a close-up.

I found a new tool I used, the gray Catalyst Wedge . It has a flexibility that I like and I can drag my paint across with a big sweeping motion! :) (not really)

This is another one at the farmers' market: people standing in lines, talking to each other, but not this boy. He is just so curious about his shadow...

Shadow
8"x 10"
acrylic on gessoboard 
$195
Click here to purchase

Listening to while I paint:

Podcasts: 

Beyond the To-Do List, hosted by Erik Fischer

The Nerdist, hosted by Chris Hardwick

Artists Helping Artists, hosted by Leslie Saeta

The Chalene Show, hosted by Chalene Johnson
Social Media Examiner, hosted by Michael Stelzner
"Wait, Wait.... Don't Tell Me!", hosted by Peter Sagal
Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
American's Test Kitchen, hosted by Christopher Kimball

Truth For Life, hosted by Alistair Begg

Music: 
My iPod

Really helpful!:
I am continually checking a dictionary, thesaurus, spell check, but one thing that has been particularly helpful is the grammar check. Please excuse any errors that I make and tell me! :)

Daisy, Studio Tip, Stroke Update

Daisy, Green Vase

6"x 6", Framed

oil on gessoboard

Studio Tip:

I like to paint on panels and boards, and my friend, Doug, built a storage system to hold them. 

Now.... I needed to come up with a way to hold/support them on my easel. 

There is a "lip" that covers up the upper and lower part of your panel.

I tried to sit the panel on the "lip"and it didn't work. It wasn't secure. (it fell down......scary!!!)

So, in my efforts to come up with a remedy, I have found some solutions:

David Darrow  -"My board is 2ft x 2ft x 1/2” birch plywood. I bought a flat, aluminum “bar” at a hardware store, cut too 12” pieces from it, and drilled holes through them both. I set a panel onto it, then somewhere along the top edge I stab a screw into the board very close to the painting. Sometimes the threads hold it in place, other times, the wide head of the screw. 
I have been using this board for 15 years, so far."

Scott Conary -"On my small easel, I've added some bits of wood so that 1/4" panel has something to brace against."

David and Scott made these supports/braces and are master woodworkers! 

Now, I could do Michael Orwick's approach:

He screwed 4 screws; .2 at the top and 2 at the bottom of his easel to support the panel.

Or..... I can just buy one...

Carol Marine - "designed by David Marine - holds the panel still and allows you to paint off every edge with nothing in the way." Carol Marine's Easel

Karin Jurick  the "Paint On" easel comes in two forms: one that fits on your stand-up easel and one that is a tabletop easel. 

Karin Jurick's Easel

 Any other suggestions???

Stroke Up-date:

This is kinda funny....

 This is where I lift almost every day...... pretty intense and intimidating, right?

But the one thing that I had to overcome this huge hill  because I have this thing called "foot drop".

"Foot drop is a gait abnormality in which the dropping of the forefoot happens due to weakness, irritation or damage...." Wikipedia

I couldn't climb up or down that thing without some help from a nearby weight machine....

Curbs were another problem. I had to use the car or a person, (all of which were happy to help!) to get up and down those.

But I conquered it!!!!

Listening to while I paint:
Audio Books:
"David and Goliath" by Malcolm Gladwell

Podcasts: 

The Nerdist, hosted by Chris Hardwick

Here's The Thing, hosted by Alec Baldwin
Artists Helping Artists, hosted by Leslie Saeta
Social Media Examiner, hosted by Michael Stelzner
"Wait, Wait.... Don't Tell Me!", hosted by Peter Sagal
Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
American's Test Kitchen, hosted by Christopher Kimball

Truth For Life, hosted by Alistair Begg

Music: 
My iPod

Really helpful!:
I am continually checking a dictionary, thesaurus, spell check, but one thing that has been particularly helpful is the grammar check. Please excuse any errors that I make and tell me! :)