Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world....

“Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind… and dance upon the mountains like a flame! “ William Butler Yeats

Thank heaven for fantasy, imagination, and the words of poets and authors, in these hard times! I am always in need of fantasy when life gets difficult, so yesterday I spent a happy afternoon creating more furniture for my fairies. I thought my fairies will have collected all manner of meaningful objet d’art, especially during their sojourn in my garden over the Easter Weekend! (see below). Am I crazy? Probably, but happily occupied too!

Felting and more Fairy Stuff

I am still “away with the Fairies” so to speak. I have been trying to get better at felting my fairy figures and invested in some good needles and better quality wool (good supplies make all the difference!). This is my third fairy figure. My first was smaller and make over a wire armature, I learned quite a lot with that one, but had only poor materials to work with. The second figure I just felted completely, but again using substandard materials. This third one is much more successful. Again I used a wire armature and felted over that. It worked pretty well, although you have to be sure to wrap the wire smoothly on are and legs or you end up with rather ugly “cellulite”! My fairy’s face went through a lot of changes (many facelifts!) She is not perfect, but looks better than my first two efforts. I think I will name her Valencia because of her orange hair! I am still learning lots with this medium.

Of course my new fairy needed somewhere to sit, so I made her a suitable fairy bench. I used materials from the garden and included some dried and pressed flowers for decoration. I also added a few tiny beads and gold wire on the front.

Fairy Land

I recently discovered that one of my friends loves fairy stuff and so I handpainted this little ceramic fairy as a birthday gift. I have vision problems in my left eye, including a macular hole and double vision, so painting this small (less than 2 inches high) was a huge challenge. I thought I had it all done, but when I took a photo and zoomed in I realized that “oh no, there are huge areas that my brush missed!” I had to go back into it with more paint and a bigger magnifying glass! I discovered a book about making fairy furniture from natural materials, and then had lots of fun scouring my garden for fun stuff to create with. I didn’t think too much about what might be living amongst the twigs, pine cones, etc when I brought them into my studio, so I had an “aaarrggghh!” moment when spiders and ants came crawling all over my table! I have learned to leave stuff outside for a while to let the critters exit.

Fairy furniture - Bed and chair made from twigs etc. The “baby” was bought online, purely because it was so cute. “Babysitter” is made from felted wool.

So now I had fairy furniture and a “baby”, so I decided to have a go at making fairies. Using Pinterest as inspiration I got some polymer clay to try. As a 2D artist I found that was tricky to work with. My fairy faces tend to look rather scary… although I’m still trying! I’m also trying felted wool and managed to make one figure so far.

Fall Color, Reno

A recent trip to Reno gave me an opportunity to create some sketches of fall color. The Aspen trees were just gorgeous and the whole area around Reno was ablaze with color. These are oil pastel sketches which I intend to use as the basis for some larger acrylic paintings.

Truckee River

Davis Creek

Donner Lake

This last sketch is from a visit to Donner Lake. Not exactly fall colors, but the light on the water and trees was lovely and I think it will make a good painting.

An abstract and a pastel

Lots of images have been buzzing in my head to paint and this abstract is one I’m really pleased with. I love rusty stuff and I was really drawn to the negative spaces and the colors for this image. It was also fun to use some acrylic garnet gel to create texture on the canvas.

Truckee River from the bike path near Tahoe City Oil Pastel, 12 x 16 inches

I walked part of the Truckee River bike path last year and this scene with the turquoise water and bright light on the grasses really grabbed me. I had intended to paint it in acrylics, but I really enjoy the oil pastel and after painting with acrylics for so many months it was a delight to go back to the immediacy of the pastels.

A Watery Theme

I have been working on a new series of acrylic paintings. Some are real places, like the view from the boat above, some just “turn up” on the canvas during the painting process. I have also been experimenting with palette knife painting, something I have done very little of in the past but wanted to try.

Air and Water, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 inches

Air and Water, above, is done with palette knives. It began life with a red underpainting and completely abstract intentions. It was fun to build up the layers.

Island Abstract, Acrylic on Canvas, 8 x 8 inches

I had some paint left over from my larger painting and decided to use it for this little abstract . This one literally painted itself! Palette knife again.

Painting adorable pets

Humphrey is my most recent pet portrait. He is our nephew’s cockapoo. Adorable dog, lots of energy and fun! He was fun to paint with all that curly fluffy fur and floppy ears.

Portrait of Rocko. Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10 inches

This portrait of Rocko was done as a Christmas gift for our daughter-in-law’s sister. It’s such a privilege to be able to create a painting that will preserve a memory for someone who has lost a pet. Pets are such a huge part of our lives and they leave a big hole in our hearts when they are gone.

I used a shiny pearl white paint for the background on this one. It gives a very cool effect, but is hard to photograph.

Fire

I traveled to Oregon last Thursday and got caught up in the road closures and traffic around the Chico area when the Camp Fire was roaring through Paradise. Highway 99 was closed and ash was swirling through the air. A huge pall of black smoke hung over the central valley turning day into night. It was quite frightening just to be under the smoke, I can’t begin to imagine the suffering of the people actually caught up in the fire itself. We looked into retiring in Paradise so I am familiar with the town and surroundings. It was a beautiful community, now so sadly destroyed. My heart goes out to all the people impacted by this horrific fire.

Rocks and Water #3

Here is the third in my series of Rocks and Water paintings in acrylic. I am still really enjoying the process of glazing over a monochromatic underpainting. There were some elements in this one which didn’t come out quite as planned, and yet others which came out better than expected! I like the fact that so long as you don’t get too dark too soon, you can keep going back in and adjusting the temperature, color, shape etc. Its very satisfying. I hung this one on my wall for a few weeks before varnishing, just to make sure I was happy with most of it. I took it down several times to make minor adjustments. I could probably have gone on forever doing that…..!

Acrylic painting - using a monochrome underpainting

I recently took a painting workshop in Grass Valley with artist Denise Wey (http://www.denisewey.com). She makes good use of a monochromatic underpainting for her river paintings. Although I have tried this in the past, I have never really used it on a regular basis. I realized in the workshop, that this was the perfect way for me to get over my problems with value. I always struggle getting a good range of values and I find it particularly difficult working in color. For these two paintings I created a monochrome underpainting to the point where I was mostly happy with the values. Then I used thin glazes of color to complete the painting. I used a lot of acrylic matte medium and very little paint. This enables you to sneak up on those values and create wonderful depth. This is especially effective with water - something I have not had much success painting before.

Underpainting for River Rocks.

Merced River, Yosemite.  24 x 24 inches

First layers of the Merced River painting.

Oil Pastels, Lake of the Pines

I have been continuing my love affair with oil pastels, exploring the subject of lakes and mountains. I am trying out different sizes and substrates to see which I prefer to work on. So far I am liking heavy drawing paper/light watercolor paper the most, working in 7 x 10 or 10 x 14 inch formats. My larger pieces have been done on illustration board, which seems to take the oil pastel very well, although it takes a lot more work to cover the larger surface (16 x 22 inches)!  It's hard to do fine detail in oil pastels, but I have found that drawing with pen before adding the oil pastel is a good way to go. Also if you plan your colors you can use Liquin to dilute oil pastel and create a thin layer which you can then scratch back into to create fine lines.

Storm clouds over the lake (16 x 22 inches)

Evening light at Park #3   (7 x 10)

Sunset at Lake of the Pines (Oil Pastel)

I have been wanting to do a sunset scene for a while and decided it was a good subject for further trials with the oil pastels.  This came together really easily and I enjoyed the whole process. I feel like this is a great medium, especially for someone who loves drawing more than painting. It feels very immediate and so much easier than trying to mix paints. I'm very enamored! Of course I still have a lot to learn about the medium and how to do successful layering and color mixing, but so far - so good!

This is my initial drawing and start. This piece was done on Illustration board, sealed with acrylic medium.

Blocking in the sky. Part of the fun is smushing the pastel around and blending areas.  I use my fingers (I wear gloves) and silicone color shapers for blending. I use Myngyo Gallery pastels for most of the painting, with some of the much softer white Sennelier oil pastel for adding light and blending colors.

Adding trees and reflections. It was key to get some distance by making the far trees bluer.

Adding near trees and their reflections

Getting to grips with Oil Pastel

I have been using oil pastels as a sketching medium prior to painting my pet portraits. They are very helpful tools in choosing and mapping color for a painting. However, I have been so enthralled with them, and the painterly quality that you can get, that I have started doing some more finished pieces using oil pastel. The pieces here are sitting in my studio and I find myself going back to them to add a bit more color, blend something, or scratch into areas. It's a lot of fun!

Reflections at Lake of the Pines

This painting was done from a photo. I am still learning how to apply the oil pastel and smush it around, and how many layers you can actually apply.  I bought some Sennelier White oil pastels and these go on top of my harder Mungvo Gallery oil pastels very nicely. I think you could get through the Sennelier oil pastels in a heartbeat tho' as they are so soft and buttery!

Sparkling light through the trees at Lake of the Woods, Oregon

This painting is done from a sketch (below) and photos. In the early evening from our campsite the sunlight sparkled through the trees. I could see a line of green and a line of blue running behind the trees. I tried to capture the idea in my sketchbook, but it didn't turn out so well. This painting above though I really like.

This was my sketchbook page, done from memory, at the campground

Light through the trees on Mt Ashland, Oregon

This image is oil pastel on top of a failed watercolor painting. In this one the oil pastel is not blended quite so much and gives a different effect.

Park #3, Lake of the Pines

This piece is the second version of a painting of Park #3 at Lake of the Pines. This was done on dark green Mi Tientes pastel paper, which I discovered I didn't like working on.  Now I mostly use white drawing paper, or watercolor paper.

Lake of the Woods, Oregon

I just had a wonderful trip to Lake of the Woods, Oregon, courtesy of my dear friend Sue! We managed to do some sketching, kayaking, walking, and singing and playing our ukulele's around the campfire. These are some pages from my sketchbook.

This is Sue painting at the lakeside

Some people sketches from the beach area

I sketched the pebbles just to prove you can make a picture out of anything! I just chose an area on the ground and put some twigs down to "frame" it. The orange stone was a bonus, giving a little pop of color!

Garden Flowers

My new garden has proved to be a treasure trove of lovely flowers. Every week something new bursts into bloom.  We have pots on our deck which are bursting with Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) so I decided to paint them. I have used the Jean Haines style of watercolor painting successfully in the past and decided these flowers would work for that too. http://jeanhaines.com

I started out with some sketches from my photos.

Once I had an idea of the format I wanted, I began by roughly sketching the flower heads in place using a pencil. Then I created a background painting by dropping thin watercolor on the paper and letting it run and mingle on the diagonal. I spattered and used clean water to soften edges and move the paint around. I kept in mind where my flowerheads would be. I created several backgrounds, not knowing which one would work out best.

After the background was dry, I painted the flowerheads in wet-in-wet, very loosely. Going back into the paint with more pigment as and where I though it was needed, and using clean water to soften edges. I tried to keep it loose and free as much as possible.

My flowers are a lot more formed that Jean Haines' would be, but I was very pleased with the end result, and it was such a fun, exciting way to paint.

Copying a favorite artist

Nevada County Plein Air Painters have a monthly challenge. Last Month's was to copy a painting by master or favorite artist. I chose British Artist Peter Wileman as I love his semi abstract landscapes filled with light and color.

http://peterwilemanartist.co.uk

He paints in oil and I paint in acrylics, so some aspects of the painting did not come out in the same way. Wileman has some lovely thin layers under his more impasto paint, and he often applies the paint with a painting knife, which I was keen to try.

I worked from Wileman's website painting, as opposed to a print. I gridded the screen and my canvas and roughly sketched in the various elements with paint. Then it was on to scumbling thin layers of paint using lots of medium. I started with the mountains and sky, then worked the thin layers in the foreground. 

It is a fun challenge to try and figure out how an artist created a painting. What colors they used, how they applied the paint, and most importantly what came first. I have copied several masters over the years and always learned a lot - and ultimately ended up with a fabulous painting that I can hang on my wall! I am inspired to try my own attempt at a Wileman style landscape. Just need to sort though my photos and sketches and come up with  something suitable...!

Visit to England

We just returned from a wonderful trip to England to celebrate my mother-in-law's 90th birthday. While over there I managed a few quick sketches.

These are part of the gardens of Littlecote House, a hotel we stayed at. The hotel had parts dating from the 12th century and a wonderful Roman mosaic preserved in the grounds.

This is the lovely view from our friends' house on Dartmoor.

Our friends' kitchen

A scene from Dartmoor

Burnt swayling from Hay Tor

Dartmoor is subject to wild changes in weather and this sketch was done during a foggy patch where the distant Hound Tor was covered in low cloud.

Down on the coast of Devon this is the beach and headland at Budleigh Salterton

The River Exe Estuary - a lovely peaceful spot to enjoy the view. The tide came in rather quickly!

Lyme Regis - famous for its fossils, and the movie "A French Lieutenant's Woman". A long stony beach, with The Cobb off in the distance.

Charlie and Alison's Garden.  All our family and friends were so hospitable and generous, they made it a wonderful trip.

Of course we had to ride some steam trains. This one was on the Severn Valley Railway - but there were others! Keith ran off with the train driver at one point!

Cosmo

This is Cosmo. My latest pet portrait. What a darling dog - I had lots of fun painting him!

Acrylic on canvas, 10 x 10 inches

Vina Castellano Winery, Auburn, CA

This gorgeous winery is one of many that are a short drive from my new abode. ThIs was painted last Thursday - another beautiful fall day in the foothills. I was with three members of a plein air group from Lincoln. The weather could not have been better and both the vines and the trees had their best colors on. I was able to pick a nice shady spot under some oaks to paint from. Beyond the fall trees is a lovely pond area, which I took photos of, but didn't get to paint. Definitely a great place to go and paint again.

Leaves 5 x 7 inches

These two little watercolors were done for this months challenge for the new art group I joined. The theme was "Leaves" with a 5 x 7 inch size restriction.  I painted with this group at an organic garden several months ago and while it was too hot to paint the cabbages at the time, I vowed to paint them one day. These were worked from my photos. I haven't painted for a little while, so it was good to get back into it.