New Paintings

Greetings!  Well, I am very happy to report that the Hobbit illustrations are complete.  Sadly, I cannot share them with you yet as my computer has moved to a new location and I am not hooked up to my scanner.   Soon I will be able to resume sharing my progress though, just as soon as possible.  Of course, while the illustrating is done I do still have a lot of work to finish that particular project.

In the meantime, a few new paintings to share.  These made their way today to the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery.  Extremely colorful, especially for my work, I think the grey winter had some affect on their outcome.  For each of these paintings, I picked a quote to inspire the piece and let that quote take me wherever it wanted.  These are the results:

"The necessity of dreams" Acrylic on 8 x 10 inch panel.

"Dreams are necessary to life." Anaïs Nin

___________________________________________________________

"Blaze your own trail"  Acrylic on 12 x 16 inch panel.

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

______________________________________________________________

"Three days with you"  Acrylic on 12 x 12 inch panel.

"I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain." 

 John Keats written to Fanny Brawne

_______________________________________________________________

My Daughter the Artist

I love watching my 6 year old daughter make art.  While driving home one day last week, I told her about an upcoming show at our local Salem Art Association for school children and of course she wanted to submit a piece.  I said she should think about, over the next couple of days, what she would like to make and she replied she already knew.  Boom, just like that.  My how I envy her decisiveness.  She told me it would be an abstract painting with lines and circles about storms, rain, and wind.  So after we returned I gave her one of my nice papers and she got right to work:

The beginning.

Apparently you need a crown when you work.  No one ever told me that.

Careful use of color.

A lot of water spritzing so the paper had to dry for a bit.

Detail in progress.

And now for the finished piece:

"Lightening and Rain Slashing Through the Sky"
Acrylic on paper.

Artist statement:  "The yellow is the sunlight, the blue is the rain, and the thing through the painting is the thunder.  I like abstract paintings and it is also because I like to squirt water on it so it makes the designs."

The children's show runs March 8th through April 27th at Salem Art Association in Salem, Oregon.

There and Back again, Page 177 to 186

Hello there, happy weekend.  Sorry for the absence, I was a bit under the weather and then was very busy.

So close now, so close to finishing the Hobbit illustrations (finished page 243 and have 60 more to go).  Dare I say... I hope to finish the illustrations in the next 2 weeks?  Much more to do updating them here, but I will get there in time.    Wishful thinking I suspect, finishing the making that is, but for sure I am getting very close to the end.  Already have my next project in mind, so that will keep me motivated.

On we go.  From: There and Back again, An Illustration Project of The Hobbit

Page 177

Page 177: "Very soon the chief guard nodded his head, then he laid it on the table and fell fast asleep."

Ink and acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 178

Page 178: "Bilbo's heart thumped every time one of them bumped into another or grunted or whispered in the dark."

Ink and acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 179

Page 179: "They passed a door through which the chief guard and the butler could be seen still happily snoring with smiles upon their faces."

Acrylic gouache, ink, and pencil on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 180

Page 180: "Thorin had given a lot of trouble, and turned and twisted in his tub and grumbled like a large dog in a small kennel..."

Acrylic gouache and ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 181

 Page 181: "So they sang as first one barrel and then another rumbled to the dark opening and was pushed over into the cold water some feet below."

Acrylic gouache and ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 182

 Page 182:       "Where the forest wide and dim
                          Stoops in shadow grey and grim!"

Ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 183

Page 183: "...but for all his efforts he could not scramble on top.  Every time he tried, the barrel rolled round and ducked him under again."

Acrylic gouache and ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 184

Page 184: Inspired by the thought of bobbing barrels in the water.

Ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 185

 Page 185: "All the same it was like trying to ride, without bridle or stirrups, a round-bellied pony that was always thinking of rolling on the grass."

Ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 186

 Page 186: "There was a mighty pushing of poles."

Acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

A little something for the day

On this Valentine's Day, I wanted to share with you these postcards that I received as a gift in a large batch of vintage photographs (thank you Candace!).  In case you ever thought that previous generations were oh so prim and proper, think again.

Mailed in 1910, lovely flowers, a sweet message.  Wait, what?   Can you read it?  If not, it says,

"Compel me not to toe the 

  mark, 

Be ever prim and true, 

But rather let me do those things 

That I ought not to do."

Then there is this one:

Written at the bottom of the card, "And judging from the scene above-- The AUTO is the CAR of love."

This next one almost looks like the same couple from the car, perhaps later in the day... 

"Do you mean business young man or are you only kidding?"

This last one is my favorite if only because of what the sender added:

From Gertrude to Linden (who was the recipient of three of the cards, all from different senders...) no date, it wasn't mailed like a postcard, but it likely is between 1908 to 1910, the dates on the other cards.  In case you can't make out what Gertrude added to the card:

And just a little something that Gertrude wrote on the back, "Say I would like to see you and tell you what I dreamed last night.  'Ha Ha.'  It was a peach."  Gertrude also goes onto to request a photograph of Linden and promises to send one of herself, but for him not to tell Nettie that she sent him a card or Nettie will kill her.  I cannot tell if one of the other postcards Linden received was from Nettie, but wouldn't that have been fun?

There you have it, a little love triangle for your Valentine's Day.  Have a good one.

There and Back again, Pages 167 to 176

A few more Hobbit illustrations for the weekend.  Slowly getting caught up.

From: There and Back again, An Illustration Project of The Hobbit

Page 167

Page 167: "...a river ran out of the heights of the forest and flowed on and out into the marshes at the feet of the high wooded lands."

Acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 168

Page 168: "The king looked sternly on Thorin, when he was brought before him, and asked him many questions."

Acrylic gouache and ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 169

Page 169: "...he began to wonder what had become of his unfortunate friends."

Acrylic gouache and ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 170

Page 170: "...when suddenly out sprang the light of many torches all round them, like hundreds of red stars."

Acrylic gouache and ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 171

Page 171: "There the great beeches came right down to the bank, till their feet were in the stream."

Acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 172

Page 172: "'Did you not three times pursue and trouble my people in the forest and rouse the spiders with your riot and clamour?'" 

Ink on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 173

Page 173: "...yet he did not dare to march among them because of his shadow..."

Ink and acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 174

Page 174: "...when he heard Bilbo's little voice at his keyhole."

Ink, acrylic gouache, and colored pencil on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 175

Page 175: "There stood barrels, and barrels, and barrels; for the Wood-elves, and especially their king, were very fond of wine..."

Acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

Page 176

Page 176: "When the barrels were empty the elves cast them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and out the barrels floated on the stream..."

Acrylic gouache on 6 x 8 inch paper.

In the studio: Curtains!

Yes, I'm posting about a curtain.  If you have followed my blog for awhile, you might vaguely remember over a year ago when I set up a new area for my studio and bought some material to make a curtain for the window (and I would be impressed if you did remember that).  Well, many, many months later I have finally made it and I'm so relieved pleased to finally have it done I had to share:

I made it myself I did.  With some awesome fabric from Ikea.  Here's a closer look:

I then tidied up the work space around it:

But not all of it:

Because I was up late last night working on this:

That's just a small part of the painting.  Those chevrons, they sure take a long time to paint.  Especially when you can't decide on the colors, but I think it is finally settled now.  Hoping to finish this piece and another this week.  Better get to work.