Off and Runnng, Playing with Glazes,Hot Beef Dip

Painting of the Day




Salt Springs Run
4x6 inches
Mounted to 5x7 inches for easy framing
Gouache

40.00
2.00 shipping

Next stage



I have done quite a bit on the painting now and I'm still waiting to get feedback from my client. I may need to do some alteration on it for her but I like it pretty well as is. I was able to mix some transparent white with the blues and over paint the cloud and sky area. I always love the look of the transparent white mixed with the opaque blues. The combination adds a rich luminosity to the color. I often use the transparent paint to glaze over opaque areas. The color is so rich. It can't be duplicated with opaques alone.


I started playing around with the classical painting methods a few years ago. Mine strays from the methods most painters use. Most use a grisaille (a gray under painting, laid for subsequent color glazing.) I sometimes do that too but usually I am just laying areas of glazing over parts of my finished or near finished opaque painting. It simply enriches the painting without drastically changing it.


The traditional method is to use a three color combination of white, an umber and a blue to paint the entire painting with full value range. After it dries, thin glazes of transparent color is scumbled onto the under painting in minute portions, drying between layers of glaze. That's the way I was taught to do it. The traditional method takes weeks or months to complete and I don't have that kind of time to devote to a single painting, so I have modified the glazing technique to suit my schedule.


If you read my blog regularly, you will recall that I was using transparent oil last summer over casein paintings. They were lovely in color, but the varnishing was uneven, a problem with casein. This summer I plan to go back to my experiment, this time using gouache as the under painting on panel and seeing what happens when I add the glazes. It may not work, but it will be fun, none the less. I might gesso some paper panels to see what happens with that too. I could frame those behind glass.


Summer is the only time I have in the studio for long uninterrupted study of new techniques and writing about them. I look forward to that each year and never fail to get some little tidbit of useful information from my studies.



I've been thinking about why some artists "make it" and others don't. Some artists who have great skill and natural ability are not successful in their careers and must have a day job while others who may not be as talented, seem to succeed or at least survive.



Some think it is discipline. It takes a lot of discipline to be a successful artist. Others think it is courage, in being willing to get your self and your work out there where you are vulnerable. Organization can be important too. Throw in research, knowledge and skill. All of that is important for a successful artist.


I think the real reason some succeed and others fail is the love of it. Let's face it. We all do what we are good at and what we like. I hate snow, so I could never do winter sports, even if I were a great athlete.


I love art. I love the process of art. I love hanging around in my studio, looking at paint,brushes, and so forth. I love the way the paint slides across the surface of the canvas. Each day I can't wait to get up and go to the studio. I can't wait to get out to the park and paint next week. There is not one thing I would do differently than be a painter. Because of my obsession, I will do whatever I have to, to succeed. if I have to paint miniatures to make a living, I'll do it. If I have to do commission work, I'll do it. If I have to teach now and then, I'll do it. If I must travel for months at a time, I'll do it. If I am asked to paint little green men, I'll do it. Don't misunderstand me, I like doing miniatures, teaching and traveling, but even if I didn't, I would, to survive and continue to paint.


I truly believe that is the key to success for a painter. Those who are more concerned about their brand name or their status in the art world are not going to be willing to paint little green men when times get hard because they don't love what they do enough to sacrifice enough to survive. They love status more than painting. I know several painters who turn up their noses at showing in shops, restaurants, using mediums that they consider to be inferior to oils and who will not show in non traditional galleries. That's fine, no problem, but many of them also have to have regular jobs to survive. They have made the choice and I respect their choice, but I believe that is the reason some can survive on art and others can't. At this stage of my career I couldn't care less about my status in the art world. I just want to paint for a living.



Today will be my last post until March 9th. I need to focus on finishing up some studio chores, paintings and loading my car. Please don't abandon my blog. I promise to return toot sweet!! I'll have lots of paint out photos and stories to share with you.


Today's Recipe:

This is a classic. I've made it so many times for parties. It is always very popular.

Hot Beef Dip


16 oz Dried Beef
(2) 8 oz Plain Cream Cheese
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 T butter
dash fresh ground pepper

Saute chopped dried beef in butter with onions in a deep pan. add cream cheese, milk,Worcestershire sauce, and pepper stirring until smooth over low heat. When smooth, gently stir in sour cream. Serve in a fondue pot or small chafing dish with French toast rounds or crackers.

Commission Continues, I love my Sponsors,Great Equine Art,Playing Around With Pancakes

Painting of The Day



Spring Field
4x6 inches
gouache
Mounted to 5x7 inches for easy framing

40.00
Shipping 2.00

SOLD



Stage 4

This painting has gone very quickly. I think part of the reason is that I had specific parameters to work with. The palette was very specific, the value range preselected and the composition studied and decided on in advance. She was very detailed in her wishes and I so much appreciated that because I did not have to flounder around for awhile, wasting time. Doing the studies before the painting really made a difference. I hope my client will like it so far.


Today I received a box of goodies from my sponsor Jack Richeson & Company HERE. They provide materials for my workshop students and paints and brushes for me to do demos for students and groups. I appreciate them so much. My other sponsors, French Canvas HERE, Judson Plein Air HERE, ChartPak HERE, and Dick Blick, click the Blick button to go to their website, are all wonderful and generous to artists. I'm so happy to have a good relationship with them. My students are very lucky to get many samples of their products. Many of these companies provide materials for children and schools free. They feature artists on their web sites and in newsletters and they sponsor art events from time to time. A couple of years ago I was the Great American Speaker at the Epcot Center International Flower and Garden Festival.My presentation was about landscape and plein air painting. I wrote to lots of companies about donating samples and promotional materials for guests to the talks I gave. My sponsors came through in a huge way. I got tons of stuff from them to give out to guests. They are smart and generous, fostering good strong relationships with their customers. Another company I should mention in my praise is Source Tek HERE They are not a sponsor for me but I wish they were. They donated about 300 panels to me for the Epcot Center presentation and they were incredibly generous and kind. Their product is top of the line. I love their linen on birch panels. Wonderful!!




Yesterday I was looking around at art and visited one of my favorite artists' blogs. Sharon Crute is a fabulous equine painter. Her work is exciting and fresh, beautifully controlled without being tedious and predictable. I absolutely love her paintings. She is top drawer. I've seen a lot of equine work and much of it is pretty bland. She has it just right. I can feel the energy in the horses as if I were at the track. This painter's got game!!!!HERE




Today's Recipe:

I like fooling around with stuff in the kitchen. Last night I made these and they were really great.

Savory Sweet Pancakes

2 cups Bisquick
1 to 1 1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 can cherry pie filling
3 strips of bacon, fried and crumbled

You may need to adjust the milk to make the batter right. Start with one cup and add more if you need it.

Mix it up like regular pancake batter and make the cakes. Serve with butter and syrup.

Really good!!

Commission started, Checking off my list, Bacon Biscuit Snacks

Marsh Palms
20x36 inches
oil on panel

This is the beginning of my commission. I got pretty far along on it today. Since I am limited to a certain palette, it has gone fairly quickly. I am happier with this composition. My client allowed me to deviate on that from the original composition. I like this one much better than the initial study that I showed you yesterday. My client is a jewel and so easy to work with. I just love it when that happens. I would like to take this fairly far along in the next few days so that it has a good week to dry while I'm gone. I am using an alkyd titanium white so that the paint dries fairly quickly. I have to be careful about not painting it too pastelly in key. She doesn't like pastels and yet doesn't want it too intense either, so I'm trying to save the intensity for hits here and there combining some neutrals with color. The painting is for her office, which is very tropical in theme, so this should go well in that environment. She requested a dominant mid value so that is fairly easy too. She loves palms, so the palms in the foreground will have a fair amount of definition. With this long format, I decided to spread the palms out in groups around the painting. I think she wants a painting which will be soothing but interesting and not too bland. I'd like to have more commissions like this one.




I finished my story board today and I'm pleased with it. It fits nicely on a table top easel. I believe people will enjoy seeing the process that I use to paint. If it proves to be as popular as I think it will, I may have one designed by a graphic artist so it looks more professional in presentation. Mine is not bad, but I'm sure theirs would be better. Initially I made it for the upcoming Garden Party hosted by my friend Nan. I can see many more possibilities for it, now that it is done.





I'm trying to get eveything done before I leave. Let's see; My workshop notebooks are done, my story board done, paintings are wrapped to be picked up by one of my dealers from Georgia while I'm gone,commission in progress,all packing for the paint out done. I still need to prepare the lesson for Plein Air Monthly, cut 4x6 inch mat board panels for Epcot Center, pick up the studio and vacuum, choose which paintings I will use for the garden party and pack my car. I'm right on schedule :>)


I was thinking about sky yesterday while I was working on the new painting. I am thinking that doing a step by step demonstration on cloud painting might be a good thing for my Plein Air Monthly class in April. We could go down to the Orange Lake Overlook and paint the sky all day. That is a good vista for sky work. I could do the step by step in advance and use a story board concept, only with small images printed out on my computer so there would be the step one image with content text printed underneath, then the step two page, and so on to the final page with a completed painting. I could make copies for each student and they could put them in their notebooks. Then they would have the assignment of doing the cloud in step by step on location. I like this idea for a lesson.


Today's Recipe:

This one makes a tasty little snack for ball games or party appetizers.

Bacon Snacks

8 slices bacon
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 (16 ounce) can refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough




Preheat oven to 375

Grease a mini muffin pan.

Fry bacon, crumble into a medium mixing bowl, and mix with tomato, onion, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise and basil.

Separate biscuits into halves horizontally.

Place each half into cups of the prepared mini muffin pan. Fill each biscuit half with the bacon mixture.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven , or until golden brown.

I like to add a dollop of sour cream and parsley for garnish. These are really easy and tasty.

Murphy My Studio Fish, Good preparation,Going Bananas!!

Have I told you about my studio fish Murphy? He is a Comet Gold Fish. He was a feeder fish at the pet store, destined to be a larger fish's lunch. At the time I bought him for .25, I had a ten gallon aquarium set up and going. For some reason I had nothing but trouble with that tank. There must have been something not right with it because I could never keep snails or fish alive for very long, and the algae grew like mad. After awhile I got sick of the struggle and decided to turn it into a plant box for my cacti collection. It has been a real success as a terrarium and I love it.

Murphy was the last surviving fish. I put him in a large spaghetti jar and he has been with me ever since. He started out tiny and now has become a beautiful medium sized bright orange gold fish. The other day, my sister found one of those globe one gallon fish bowls stuck back on a shelf and brought it to me. Now Murphy has a beautiful new home and he is wildly excited by it. I find that I enjoy him much more in a small bowl than I ever did in the bigger tank. He gets more attention and I can easily move him around the room. It is also easy to keep his house clean because I just scoop him out and pour out the water, refilling it each day. My dog Anchor enjoys watching him swim too. It's nice to have a studio dog and a studio fish to keep me company.




I am almost ready to start the latest commission. My client has narrowed it down to this general composition. I have sent her these two versions today with a few more questions to answer and then I can start the oil painting.










Gouache is so convenient for studies. I have saved a lot of time and mistakes in using these to help her make choices. It's funny but I love landscape commission work. I dread portraits, but the landscapes are so much fun to design, step by step. I suppose portrait painters feel that way, dreading the landscapes.


We love to do what we are good at and loathe what we are weak at doing. It's that old problem with hubris. We want to look good and show off our skills while downplaying what we suck at!! Of course, what we should be doing is practicing what we don't do well. In all honesty, I should be practicing portrait and figure work every week, but I don't. Then when a commission comes up, I have to struggle to pull it off. It is my own fault entirely. I hate to admit that I am lazy but I am. I like painting trees and grass and so that's what I do instead of practicing what I should. Now I know what I must do this summer during my study time. :>( I think I will make myself do some portrait and figure work every week. Please remind me of this vow in June.




Today's Recipe:


Today's recipe is requested by Valerie D'Ortona. She has too many bananas.

Easy Banana Cake

One yellow cake mix. Follow the directions and add 3 bananas+ 1/4 cup all purpose flour. Beat in the bananas so they are incorporated into the batter.

Bake cake layers, cool on a rack.
For icing, I like to make the burnt butter cream icing and add a banana to the recipe. You can find the recipe by looking in the archives for this blog.

For more banana recipes check out this forum HERE

Painting at the International Flower and Garden Festival Epcot Center, Gouache Study, Cuban Deviled Crabs

North Carolina Hills
4x6 inches
gouache on acid free mat board




Three Palms
4x6 inches
Acid Free Mat

I really love it when you get to the point when you feel like you actually have some control over a medium. It has taken me about 2 1/2 weeks of painting to get to the stage where I don't feel clueless about the gouache. I have really gained respect for this wonderful medium and I feel it is superior to both casein and acrylic at least for my needs. The only drawback is the fact that I can't make it work on panels.

For this reason, I will leave it at home for my trip this time, instead, using the acrylics because I just don't want to fool around with the glass and that sort of framing. The acrylics will be fast and easy to do small quick warm up paintings which I can frame and sell. Then I will switch to my oils for the more important paintings through the week.


I think I prefer to take the gouache out on location when I am not feeling the pressure to produce paintings quickly. Paint outs are not the time to experiment with mediums. Paint outs are all about doing simple compositions in methods and mediums that you are very familiar with. You simply have to become a machine and turn them out one after another, painting literally from 7 Am to 6 PM with only the shortest of breaks.


I will save my gouache paintings for less stressful work, when I can really enjoy the learning process. I believe I want to take them with me to Disney though, because I don't have to do any framing there. I think they will be ideal in that environment. Lots of children like to watch and stick their hands on your paint box and paintings when you are distracted and the gouache will be harmless. With that thought, I will spend this week cutting and preparing lots of 4x6 acid free mats to use at Disney.


I can do lots of little paintings in 3 days. The emphasis for that paint out is entertaining the crowds only. We cannot sell the paintings inside the park, so there is no pressure to turn out any particular number of paintings. We are certainly allowed to sell them at our hotel and on our web sites after the paint out and I have sold several that way. People are particularly interested in small inexpensive paintings from the garden festival,so this will work very well. I'm so glad I thought of this. Surprisingly, some pretty expensive paintings sell too. One year I sold an 800.00 painting I did in the garden at the Canada pavilion. We have been lucky to generate quite a following over the last five years of the festival. People come for the artists weekend specifically. Five years ago we started with one day at the festival. We were so popular that the brought us back for 2 days the next year. Now we are there for three days. What I would love to have happen is that they have artists in residence who come for a week or more, staged in the World Showcase during the entire garden festival from March through June. The artists who come for one weekend a year could rotate through the festival time covering the whole festival. That is my dream of course. I want to be first:>) Our friends at Epcot Center have made this paint out the highlight of our year. It is truly my favorite event each year.



That is what I love about writing this blog. I just start writing and all kinds of things occur to me that are useful. Writing a journal entry about my career is one of the most important things I do each day. Most of my better ideas and technique builders have come from writing this silly blog. Thanks for taking the journey with me.


Today's Recipe:

This recipe looks good but I'm still looking for the old Seabreeze Restaurant's recipe for the deviled crabs. They were fabulous. I read about a young woman who is making them out of a catering trailer in the Tampa area. People say her's are really good too. I really miss them.

Cuban Deviled Crabs
Ingredients:
***Croquette Dough***
3 loaves stale white bread, crusts removed
1 loaf stale Cuban bread, ground very fine and sifted
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
***Crabmeat Filling***
5 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
3 onions, finely chopped
1/2 red or green bell pepper, finely chopped (Italian style)
4 cloves garlic, mashed or chopped fine
1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (6 ounce size) tomato paste
1 pound fresh claw crabmeat, shell and cartilage removed, shredded
***Croquettes***
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste
1 pinch black pepper
1 cup cracker crumbs, crushed
1/2 cup flour
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Turn this recipe into a puzzle! [click]
Directions:
(As sold on the streets of Tampa's Latin Quarter.) This recipe is from the Columbia Restaurant, Tampa, Florida.

About 4 hours before serving, make dough: break white bread into pieces; place in a large bowl, cover with water, soak 15 minutes. Drain water and squeeze soaked bread until almost dry; return to bowl. Gradually add sifted Cuban bread until mixture reaches dough consistency. Add paprika and salt, mix thoroughly. Form dough into ball, refrigerate about 2 hours.

Make filling: Heat olive oil in large skillet, heat to low. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and hot pepper, saute very slowly 15 minutes. Add bay leaves, sugar, salt and tomato paste; stir. cook uncovered 10 minutes, remove bay leaves. Place mixture on platter, refrigerate 2 hours.

After dough and filling have chilled, make croquettes: With your hands, take about 3 Tbsp bread dough, press, add 1 Tbsp crab filling, seal dough around filling like a croquette with pointed ends. In a small bowl mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. In another bowl mix cracker crumbs and flour. Roll croquettes first into cracker mixture then into egg mixture then into cracker mixture again. Refrigerate 2 hours. When ready to cook: heat oil in deep heavy saucepan or a deep fryer. Place croquettes a few at a time in the hot oil, fry until light brown.
This recipe from the Columbia Restaurant`s Ybor City Deviled Crab Rolls serves/makes 12

Preliminary studies for commission Cuban Sandwich

Above are three studies for my commission. The painting will be 30x48 inches. I am just trying to work out the basic composition and palette at this stage so that she has something to see. After she gives me feedback on these, I will cut a piece of mat board in the correct dimensions as a study like 3 x 6 inches to make it more panoramic. She wants blue, pink and dark gold for the color scheme. She definitely wants palms and field flowers in the painting. This should be great fun and I'm very excited about this project. I ordered a nice piece of Masonite today from my cabinet maker. Bt the time it comes, I should have it straight in my mind on what she wants me to do and it will not take long. I think by late March I should have the painting on it's way. I will be gone through March 8th and hope to get started on it right after I get back. I love a new project.

On Friday I will start loading up the car for my trip and that will allow me time to get my studio cleaned up and ready for painting and for my open studio class in March the following Sunday. I am sick of living in a state if disarray. I have a thing about coming home to a clean studio. I always have. I want to walk in and have everything tidy and in it's place. I will be exhausted and ready to go back to work and having to clean a mess would be overwhelming, so when I leave March 2nd, the studio will be clean and organized. Of course, there is probably no DSL or wireless Internet at the state park so I will have hundreds of emails to read when I come home. I bought the notebook computer so I would be able to travel and work too. I think that is the only place I go without Internet connections now.


Today's Recipe:


I'm very lucky to live in Florida because there is a large Cuban American population here. I have many Cuban friends who are delightful and also marvelous cooks. I was introduced to Cuban cuisine as a young art student. I had a studio in Ybor City in a drafty old cigar factory. It was a wonderful space, but for the Pigeons and no heat or air. It was huge, so I was able to spread out and do large, very bad paintings. One of the best things about Ybor City was all the great food. In those days there were tiny Cuban restaurants and food kiosks everywhere and the food was great and super cheap. Two of my many favorite foods were Cuban sandwiches and those Delicious deviled crabs with hot sauce. Oh what I would give to have one of those right about now!! Yesterday I bought a Cuban sandwich from the Publix Deli and brought it home. I pressed it on the griddle and it was pretty good. Not like the real thing but not bad at all. Below is the best recipe I found which closely duplicates the sandwiches I remember from Ybor City. The main best ingredients were the crusty Cuban bread and the roast pork.

3 thin slices of ham

3 thin slices roast pork hot or cold (I use hot, slow roasted pork)

3 thin slices of Swiss cheese

3 or 4 slices of pickles

1/3 cut Cuban bread hard crust (or French bread)



You should be using fresh, crusty Cuban bread, but you can always use a 12" loaf of French bread cut in half. Slice the bread open face so that both halves are still barely connected and spread mustard on both halves. Add the ham, and then the roasted pork. When in a hurry, you can use one whole piece of roasted pork. Add your Swiss cheese and then a few pickle slices. Make sure to spray your sandwich press with a little butter flavored Pam, or for a tastier sandwich you can brush some softened butter on the outside of the bread. Place the sandwich in a Cuban sandwich press and press down until the cheese is melted and the bread is slightly hard to the touch. For those of you without a press, you can also place the sandwich in a hot skillet and press down on it with a heavy kitchen object, maybe a baking pan (some, believe it or not, use a brick wrapped in tin foil when nothing else is available).

I use a cast iron griddle to grill my sandwich and put two cast iron skillets on top. That works great.

Priorities, Conservation and Art, Chili Casserole

Yesterday I had a nice studio visit with my old friend Erica. She is a gifted emerging artist. As usual the topic went to finding time for art in her busy life. I told her that we always do what we really want to. We always make time for what is really important to us. There is no getting around it. If you watch tv, cook, do laundry, play with your kids, garden, golf, etc.etc, you are doing what is a priority for you in your life. If you are not doing art, then it is not as important to you as you may think or say it is.


When I was raising my kids I worked as a chef,caterer, cleaned houses and painted in between those tasks. I have always found a way to paint no matter how many other jobs I had, because it was important to me. If you are thinking about painting but not doing it, think about all of the little stuff you are doing which is not really important. Are you just making excuses and hiding from your art?

I know a woman who insists on calling herself an artist but she hasn't picked up a brush in 15 years. She has plenty of time to meet friends for lunch, and travel extensively, but she doesn't have time to paint. I think there is a certain mystique in calling ones self an artist for some people. They don't really want to paint but are loathe to give up the romantic notion that they are an artist. I've always considered myself to be a painter rather than an artist. There is nothing romantic about it really. It's hard work and joyous but not very romantic when you make your living painting.

I don't begrudge those who don't really do any art but wish to call themselves artists. We all need something wonderful in our lives and there is nothing better than the arts. What I would love to see is that they would redirect their interest toward supporting artists instead. Sponsoring or patronizing their favorite artist would mean so much more to them and to the artists they know. Some of them do become avid patrons and I believe they are happier and more fulfilled in that role. Let me say before you start throwing the rotten tomatoes, that I certainly have no say in anyone's muse but my own and wish no offense to anyone.


This morning I am very excited because I have a new commission. My client had purchased a painting from my web site and I shipped it to her. It came back a few days later. It had not gone well with her color scheme in her office. I was so disappointed. I wrote her back and suggested that I do a piece to for theme preference and color scheme and she was delighted with the suggestion. So now I have a wonderful project for myself and her. It shows me what I already knew, good service to your clients is everything in the art business. You can not pamper them enough. They are vitally important to your life and should be treated with the utmost respect and care. This is not a formula for business, it is your life. If you don't respect and have care for them you cannnot succeed. That's the way I feel about it anyway.




Erica is a volunteer for an organization called Alachua Conservation Trust. I always help them with a donation, and a painting to sell which they get a % of. Land conservation is so important to me. As a landscape painter it is vital to preserve these beautiful places for our future. If you are a landscape painter, I urge you to support the local and state land conservation agencies in your region. It is a direct benefit to you in so many ways. The people who also support land trust and conservation are the market for your work, so you are helping to preserve the land and getting new patrons.





Here is today's gouache:

Blue Flowers
4x6 inches
gouache on icid free mat board

I like the surface of the mat board. The paint stays very crisp, doesn't soak in as much as the WC paper.
I am going to mount these to 5x7 for easy framing.





Todays Recipe:

Chili Casserole



2 lbs. ground chuck
2 can kidney beans
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups water
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups grated cheese
1 pkg. Fritos
Cooking Spray
1 tbs. Canola oil

Sour cream and shredded lettuce to top at the table.



Preheat oven to 350°. Brown meat & onion in oil. Drain. Add tomatos chili powder, brown sugar, garlic powder, water. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Place a layer of meat mixture in bottom of baking pan. Add a layer of beans, then a layer of Fritos & a layer of cheese. Repeat layers. Leave last layer of cheese to top baked casserole. Bake 35 minutes. Top with cheese & continue baking until cheese is melted & bubbly. Top with Sour cream and some shredded lettuce.

What I've Learned About Gouache, More Fun with Grits

Wekiva Cypress



Field of Palms



Palm Grove



Beach Dunes

I've been doing a few gouache studies. All of these are 4x6 inches on cold press WC paper. If you have not tried gouache as a study medium, you should. They are ideal for this. They go on very quickly, the color pools nicely and will stand up on the paper. They stay wet longer than acrylics, which is an advantage. They have a matt look to them, but a friend told me they can be spray varnished to get sheen. However, I don't see the need for that because they must be shown with glass, since they are on paper. I have thought about trying to mount them on panel and varnishing them for open back framing, but I don't know if they would hold up? Does anyone have an opinion on that?

They are so much better for me than the casein was. Similar properties but no smell and even varnishing. The only drawback that I can see to them so far is that I do have a bit of trouble getting the lights up as much as I would like. Because it is a flat drying medium, they do tend to lose some contrast and light as they dry. It's not the same as the acrylics that really do darken, but a different feel. They seem to naturally subdue in contrast and color a bit. This is simply a property of the medium I think. I find myself having to go over areas of the painting to bring up the contrast and light. I also think I need to change my water more often. Another gouache painter suggested that I use at least two jars, one for the first rinse and one for a second rinse. Good idea. I got so used to using dirty water with acrylics to rein in their shrieking color, that I think that may be part of the problem. That is the other thing I like better about gouache than acrylics. The color in gouache is lovely and rich but it doesn't require sunshades :>) It took me about 5 years to manage the color in acrylics. My first few years with that medium produced some very intense paintings.

The gouache works well for NOTAN study too. Very easy to get darks where they belong and it works quite well in tones.

So far, I am using M Graham and Company gouache paints. They seem fine to me, but I know there are several brands available. If anyone has an opinion on the best brands, please comment. All of the paintings I have done have been on cold press WC paper, or index paper for the miniatures. I have wondered about other surfaces and I think I will try some acid free mat board for a few. I have lots of scraps that my framer gives me, so why not?

I sold my first gouache study on Ebay this week, so I think I may be able to build a following for them there. Gouache is an old medium. I remember painting with it in college. I don't know why I stopped. This is a more successful medium for me than traditional watercolor. Having been an opaque painter for 30 years, it is hard for me to make that transition successfully, but I continue to use the watercolor for the miniatures and I seem to be able to handle it pretty well in a tiny format.



Todays Recipe:


I found this recipe on the Pillsbury web site and modified it to suit me. It is excellent. I love finding new ways to cook grits!! Grits is a food group here in the South.




1 cup quick-cooking corn grits
4 cups water
1 can (11 oz) Green Giant® Mexicorn® whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained
1 package (1.25 oz) Old El Paso® taco seasoning mix
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 oz)




DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Cook grits in water as directed on package.

2. In ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish, mix cooked grits and remaining ingredients except 1 cup of the cheese. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.

3. Bake 22 to 27 minutes or until edges are bubbly and cheese is melted.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F.

Web site,Being Flexible,Orange Cookie

Grove
12x16
oil on panel


The web site saga continues. I am now looking for new software to do my web site. There is something corrupted in the computer that will not allow me to reinstall the CS3. Frankly, I've always had trouble with it anyway and since my web designer is gone, it's a good time to start over with a new software program. I am looking for non html software, idiot friendly, and that has paypal. I'm sure there is something out there that will fit my needs. I've had that website design for at least 3 years, so it's probably time to start with something new anyway. People like to have a new look to see once in awhile. This time, I want to be able to build the web site myself, not relying on a designer. The problem is that they move, or lose interest in the project and it is very difficult to get them to change things. I am way too ADD to leave things alone, so learning to do it myself will be a huge advantage. I have a new IT guy who works on optimization for me, so I won't have to worry about that part. Things happen for the best sometimes.

I was thinking about how much I have learned in the last three or four years about being flexible. There was a time when I would have been in a rage about the web site not working. I have learned to look at things differently and I'm not sure how that happened. Being flexible in these time is imperative if you wish to survive as an artist. A few years ago, most of my income came from gallery sales. In the last three years, I have seen a real decline in gallery sales for myself and many other artists. Instead, sales have risen on my web site and through my studio. I believe the Internet has provided artists with a way to connect directly to people who are enthusiastic about art and who wish to be a part of the process. When you think about it, wouldn't you rather know an artist personally when you collect their work? I know, I want to know something about the actors who perform on stage or the dancers or musicians. I want to know about their training and what they must do to achieve this excellence.

Artists who are flexible are able to change their marketing strategy quickly enough to fit the needs of their patronage. This year I'm working large and small, cutting back on the middle sized paintings. The interest from patrons seems to be low end or high end, so those are the sizes I'm working with to fit their needs. I don't see that as a problem because I love painting any size. As long as I'm painting, I'm happy.

I'm checking off my list of projects and feeling good about my progress. The next challenge is getting all of the stuff packed up efficiently so as to get it in the car. That is a serious problem. For this paint out I must take bed linens, towels, toiletries and so forth that I would not normally need. Packing for a week of painting is daunting.


I'm trying to decide whether acrylics would be better for the trip than gouache. I love painting with gouache but for that I must work on paper. With acrylics I can do my 5x7 paintings quickly and easily on panels and frame them. I will use oils for 8x10 or larger. I suppose I could take the acrylic and gouache. I would be doing the gouache paintings to bring home. I don't want to mess with framing behind glass while I am on the road. I can use a limited Zorn palette for my acrylic paintings. I think that is a good plan. I will take both acrylic and gouache for my warm up paintings each day. I can put them both in the pochade box together and take a pad of watercolor paper along. Problem solved!!!





Today's Recipe:

This is great. So easy and really good.

From the Food Network

1 package store bought sugar cookie dough
1 cup orange marmalade
1 1/2 cups assorted nuts, toasted and chopped (try hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the cookie dough out on a cookie sheet to 1/4-inch thickness (about 9 inches by 12 inches) using your fingertips. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Spread the marmalade over the cookie. Sprinkle with nuts.

In a double boiler over very lightly simmering water, melt the chocolate. Dip a spoon in the melted chocolate and drizzle on top of the cookie. Let cool. Cut the cookie into 12 bars or squares. Serve or store in an airtight container.

Workshops,Paint Outs, Chicken and Rice from Janet

Aucilla River
30x40 inches
oil on canvas




I spent the day printing out materials for my workshop in South Florida. The thing I love best about preparing to teach a workshop is the reminder I get every time, of homework and exercises I must to to improve my work. I do the same exercises my students do and I refresh that each time I prepare to teach a workshop. My students think I am doing this for them and I am, but really, it helps me the most because study and improvement are so important. I don't teach like most workshop instructors. Most of them that I know do demos and talk about their process all morning. Then after lunch the students paint and the instructor walks around looking at their work, making a few suggestions. For me, that is not particularly helpful.

My workhops revolve aound a particular theme, often having to do with the "big three" of painting, Composition, Values and Color, with color being the last in importance. I believe in a hands on approach to teaching. I do very few demos, preferring to paint while the students work at their own paintings, stopping occasionally to make points about the painting as I go. I design a series of exercises for my students to complete, which go with the theme of the workshop. We work on these exercises all morning together, discussing them as we go. Each student receives a notebook with all of the exercises and related materials to the workshop. They get to take it home and keep working on the workshop exercises at their own pace and leisure.

During our lunch break we talk about various aspects of painting and marketing for artists. I usually ask them a series of questions about what motivates them as painters, requiring that they think about process. After lunch, we use the knowledge we have gained to paint together on larger format paintings, hopefully completing at least one painting each afternoon.


It is an intense day with a lot of work for all of us but I believe it is much more beneficial than just watching someone paint and then painting, trying to copy the instructor. Frankly, my method of teaching is much harder for me than doing it the way most instructors teach, but for me the goal is to provide the best tools possible at their pace not mine. I want them to go home with useful tools. I don't want carbon copies of my work and methods. My goal is to help them to paint in the best way possible for their own interests and style.

My workshops are designed to use inexpensive supplies and a minimal palette. I believe it is more important to have 6 or 8 high quality paints and 3 or 4 good brushes, than to have dozens of paints the student will never use again.

At days end, we go over the important points and evaluate our paintings with positive suggestions.


Painting workshops are all too often about the teacher and their work, showing off their skill and selling paintings rather than the needs of the students. To me, demos belong at a demonstration for groups. That is when the artist needs to show off their skill. Workshops should be about students, not the instructor. Why waste time showing off your painting skills? Students know you can paint or they would not have signed up to study with you.

It's one thing to paint and show students your process. To show step by step paintings quickly and then put them to work. That is helpful, but I'm talking about painters who use the workshop as an excuse to paint for hours and show off because they are unmotivated to teach. Having taught workshops for many years, I have heard all too many complaints about well known painters who charge huge prices for their workshops and teach very little useful information. Many of my students have told me about big league painters who spend all of their time selling paintings and talking up their own accolades, requiring huge supply lists with ridiculous numbers of paints, then teaching the student nothing about mixing those colors. The student comes home disappointed and frustrated, having nothing to show for it.

I know it is heresy to blow the whistle on other pros and I will be bombed with rotten tomatoes, but so be it.


If you could see the nightmarish mess in my studio you would laugh. I am praying that I don't get a call from a new visitor, wanting to come out. I don't mind if my regular patrons come. They are used to my quirky life. A new person would run screaming from the studio. I have the workshop notebooks all boxed up and ready, a huge relief. It took me all day yesterday to collate them. All of my frames arrived yesterday and so I must wire them all and wrap them for travel to my paint out. I shopped for this and that yesterday so the pile of stuff for the paint outs has the table groaning in submission. I'm going to be eating out and eating a lot of TV dinners for the next two months. I'll miss my cozy studio, but it is time for new adventures!!

I'm going to try to work on a couple of gouache paintings today. I have cleaned my oil palette and will have to leave my oils for a week or two. Just too busy to paint seriously.


I'll have plenty of time to paint on location for a week in March. That will be heavenly. The real reason I do the paint outs is because that is the only time I can be away from everyday responsibilities like cooking, laundry,errands and so forth. It is wonderful to pull into that parking lot and unpack my gear, rambling around looking for a likely spot to paint, knowing that I am not responsible for a thing but painting for 7 days or 10 days. No cooking, cleaning, just hanging around being a painter, laughing and joking with all of my landscape painting friends. I only see them at paint outs so it is like a hilarious reunion each year. We have known each other for years, so there is a comfortable feel in being together, working toward a common goal.

Sorry about rambling on for so long today.


Today's Recipe:

From Janet

Chicken and Yellow Rice

1 chicken boiled with bones removed
Reserve chicken broth
10 oz package of yellow rice
1 onion diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Saute celery and onions in a bit of EVOO
Place chicken, vegetables, rice in a deep pan. Combine soups with chicken broth and sour cream. Pour over rice mix. Bake at 350 until rice is tender. Put shredded cheese on top and return to oven for 5 minutes.

I tried this recipe and it is really good. You can use white rice if you like. I like to add a bit of leaf thyme,pepper and parsley to the mixture.

Homasassa River Finished, Lots of busy work, Meatballs

I'm about finished with this one.

I like the simplicity of composition and having one very dominant element stand out. It was a lot of fun and I didn't push it very far in terms of refinement. Just enough I think. I think the palms provide a nice support for the big cypress tree providing the asymetrical balance in the painting. I also like the masses of plant materials providing values and color temperature shifts without too much detail in the bushwork. Looking at it now, the only thing I would change would be to create more depth with some gray tree masses behind the deep spot in the river and possibly pulling the big cypress down further in the picture plane. On the other hand, I like it as is too. Also, anyone who knows Florida would expect to have the cypress where it is in the composition because they like to hug the shoreline in the rivers.

As any experienced painter knows, compositions are never exactly right. I like the water and the composition well enough as it is not to screw around with it and mess it up. I have learned the hard way to leave small issues alone if they don't really become a serious problem. I have ruined many pretty good paintings, trying to redo them and tweak too much. Even though you could let it dry and redo areas, it somehow loses it's vitality when you try to fix. It is one thing to tweak a little here and there, but something else entirely to start moving major elements around in a painting completed.

Then there is the question of instinct in knowing when to stop. I don't know about you but I always seem to know when I need to call it done. That's why there is no rhyme or reason to my process in terms of time management. I can work on two paintings identical in size and have one take a couple of hours or days and the other take 3 weeks or three years.

Emerging painters ask me all the time about how to know when to stop. My answer is easy. I stop when there is not one thing I can do to improve the painting. Let me clarify that by saying that at the time of completion, my skill level makes that restriction. Does that mean that a more skilled artist could not improve the painting? No, of course he/she could. Does it mean that in 6 months or 6 years I could not improve the painting? No, because hopefully my skill level would have grown to the point where I could easily improve the painting. What I am saying is that right now, I can't paint any better than I have today. So I should accept the painting as it is and say I did the best painting I know how to do so I am proud of it. I really believe that we artists are far to hard on ourselves. We should never be ashamed of doing our best work. Don't fall into depression because you are not as good as someone else. Be proud of what you are and live it with joy!! That's my motto and I'm sticking with it!!!! It took a lot of self discipline and effort to reach that conclusion.

This is going to have to be the last river painting in the studio except for studies, until I get back off the road. Things are getting too busy to concentrate on large paintings. Today was a bunch of busy, paperwork type stuff to deal with. Invitations to the garden party to fill out, an artist career consult, and starting to put together the Composition and Value workshop I will teach in late March. I must get everything done before I leave on the second, because I don't want anything hanging over my head when I get back March 8th. I have three events in March, and two big events in April, one in May. That doesn't count my regular once a month classes. In May I will start two commission paintings for a client in Texas, so things won't slow down a bit until June. I hope to have my annual Hot Dog party in June. We will see how my schedule goes.

Between now and March 2nd, I will be doing many small gouache studies. I can use them this summer to do larger paintings if they don't sell.

Todays Recipe:

Easy Meatballs

1 pound of ground beef
1 small onion diced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tp garlic powder
salt/pepper to taste
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg

Mix it all up an form into meatballs, large or small.
Place in a pan and bake at 350 until done.
Remove and pour off fat. Place meatballs in a large pot and add 1/4 cup wine and a large jar of spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve either as a meatball sub or over pasta with grated Parmesan cheese. Or layer pasta and sauce/meatballs in a baking pan, cover with Mozzerella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 3o minutes.

New Pochade Box, WIP Continues,Momma's Mac and Cheese

Here is stage three in the WIP

I have some minor adjustments to make in the reflections of the tree trunks of the palms. They are a little off, but a fairly easy repair. A bit more work here and there. I have left this one a bit loose to portray the jungly kind of feeling you get on some rivers here in Florida. I am very pleased with the palette for this painting too. Very crisp with a lot of variety in the greens but not so much that it screams. I think one more session will finish this one.



I finally broke down and bought a new Guerilla Pochade Box. My other one is almost ten years old. The box is still usable, but all the feet are gone, the arm mechanism is messed up so it is hard to open and close. I don't know how much longer it will last. it is the perfect box for me because everything fits inside. I am not one for carrying satchels and extra bags with me. I want to set up and take down quickly and efficiently. All I need is my hat, tripod,box and a bottle of water. If I attach the tripod, I can sling the whole thing over my shoulder and off I go. It is made like iron and believe me, I have abused my current box severly over the last ten years.

I decided that I would need a new box for all these paint out events and I fear that the old one will fall apart while I'm in the middle of a paint out. Not good. That happened to me with a French Easel last year at Wekiva. I had my oils in a Julian Half Box and my acrylics in the pochade box. The Julian was less than a year old when it died at the paint out. Julian is now a poorly made easel. They used to be the best, but no more.

I'm going to use the old pochade box for my gouache paints this year and trade out the palette, using the new palette for the old box and the old palette in the new box for oils, since it is now broken in. I'm guessing that the old box will probably last a few more years. When it dies, I am going to buy the 6x8 inch thumb box for the gouache paint kit.

I hate to think of how many easels, and paint boxes I have had over the last 40 years. I am very hard on equipment. I used to go through French easels one a year before I gave up on them. Truth to tell, the Guerilla Box is the only one which has lasted more than 3 years. I'm sold on them. They are simple, not hoity toity like some of the more expensive brands, but extremely well made boxes.

Here is another gouache river study:

4x6 inches
gouache on WC cold press






Today's Recipe


Here is my Mamma's Recipe:


8 oz Elbow macaroni; cooked
3/4 ts Salt
4 c 16 ozs shredded cheddar
1/4 ts Pepper
2 lg Eggs
1/4 tsp Paprika
1 1/2 c Milk
1/4 tsp dry mustard

Layer one third of macaroni in a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish; sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups cheese. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining macaroni. Reserve remaining 1 cup cheese. Stir together eggs,mustard,milk,salt/pepper until blended. Pour over macaroni. Bake covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese and paprika. Cover and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Thoughts about progress,Mac and Cheese

All this craziness this time of year got me to thinking about progress. My life is insane most of the time. I have family obligations on top of all my art obligations, so there are days that just fly by with seemingly nothing really acccomplished. This morning as I was wrapping up frames, packing panels, paints etc., doing a small bit of clean up in the studio, I said out loud "Well, I'm making progress". I realized that progress is all we will ever make. We never achieve all of our goals. That is impossible. It made me feel better. If I can paint a bit each day, travel a little each year, do a few exhibits, help a few of my students each year toward their own goals, and sell enough (PLEASE) paintings to survive, then I have made good progress.

Would I like to be able to paint all day and travel at my leisure with never a thought of having to pay bills? You bet. Would I love to have a little bungalow in a small beach town on the coast and a minivan to travel in? You bet. Will I be depressed because I can't have the things I want? Not on your life!!! I am blessed beyond measure because I can paint for a living and be my own boss. Each painting I sell, each student I teach who goes on to make their own career or just love their art, is "progress". Progress keeps me going.


I'm going to go down to the west coast of Florida on March 28th to teach a one day workshop on composition and values for the West Coast Plein Air group. This should be great. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to incorporate some of the NOTAN process into the workshop. If you live in the Tampa/St Pete/Dunnedin area you can come. Contact: Jenna Friedman jennalovesparrots@yahoo.com

I'll be teaching at the Folk School in Brasstown NC again in August 2008- Acrylics in Studio, and in March 2009- Values in the Landscape on location. For any of you who want an excellent experience, I highly recommend this trip. The Folk School is amazing and wonderful.

Here is the NEW WIP-Stage 1





Stage 2





Homossassa River
24x24 inches
oil on canvas

Back to the square format. I just love painting square paintings. Many of my patrons like them too. Sometimes they like to buy two square paintings to hang side by side, making a nice large statement, rather than a rectagular piece.

In this painting the focus is on the large cypress and the palms to the left of it. The smaller palms on the right are pushed back to give an asymetrical balance to the dominant elements in the painting. I have kept much of the plant masses fairly loose, giving more attention to the bushes near the cypress and palms. Since they are the stars of the show they get the nod to more detail and texture. I want a clean crisp look to this painting. It will not be as dark as the last two, having more mid value for the Notan process. I want the trunks to the trees on the left to stand out strongly and that will help them to dominate the painting. I am using a shift in color temperature to add interest and variety, particularly in the tree masses. I often play color temperature back and forth in the painting. It's not noiceable unless you look for it, but I like playing that way. The water will be loose and not too detailed, as that is my favorite way to do water. I am not a realist. I like the abstract qualities of reflection and light on water.
more to come......


Here is the same scene from yesterday's gouache mess on paper. What a difference in detail I can get on the paper. Also much better contrast. Perhaps I should try matting and framing some of these small paintings for the galleries. I did some research last night on gouache technique and invariably, all of the painters who were experts were using paper for gouache. So perhaps gouache on panel is just not doable. In that event, I will stop wasting paint and time and enjoy it as a paper medium.

Gouache Mess II





Todays Recipe

More fun with Mac and Cheese

If you remember, I gave you all a recipe for Mac and Cheese sandwiches a few months.
ago. here is a good one for a Mac and Cheese grilled version. Tomorrow I'll give you my Momma's Mac and Cheese recipe.

Make one recipe of Mac and Cheese. It can be homemade or boxed. Pour it into a greased loaf pan and refrigerate overnight. When ready to make dinner, slice into thick slices. Butter the grill and fry on both sides until crisp and browned. Grate sharp cheddar cheese over the top and serve with a dollop of sourcream. It is yummy. When you are making the mac and cheese you can add small diced vegetables to the pot like onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots, broccoli, or mushrooms. You can also add diced ham, chicken, tuna or turkey, making it an entree instead of a side dish.

You can also make it with taco seasoning with ground beef for a Mexican flair. It's all good fun with Mac and Cheese.

Painting finished, more organization, Chess Pie

Here is the latest paintng finished.
Ichetucknee River
24x24 inches
oil on canvas

On to the next one :>)



You should see my studio. It is a wreck. I have boxes of panels,frames,paint, and supplies laying everywhere, trying to get it all together for Wekiva. You can see a bit about the paint out on their web site: HERE





Gouache Mess
6x8 inches
canvas on birch panel



I tried a gouache on canvas glued to birch today. It is horrible. See above. I cannot seem to get anything with gouache on anything but paper so far. I'm going to do an acrylic over the gouache so as not to waste the panel. I will use gouache as the under painting.

I can't get any brushwork at all, the gouache jut sinks into the panel and stays very dark, no highlights or contrast at all with the panels. Tons of paint and it just gets lost.Finally I used a large brush with paint straight out of the tube to get the mess above. Looks like it's going to be gouache on paper until I can figure this out.

Todays Recipe:

This is an Oldie Goldie a Southern favorite. I remember eating this pie as a child and we used to make it at the retirement home when I was a chef there many moons ago.

Chess Pie


1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon cornmeal (plain)
3 eggs, large
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla, or 6 tablespoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons light cream
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell





Directions

Cream butter and sugar. Add cornmeal. Beat eggs together well and add vinegar, vanilla or lemon juice, and cream. Fold egg mixture into butter/sugar mixture. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes and then lower heat to 325 degrees F. Bake an additional 25 minutes or until set.

WIP Stage 3,Computer Woes, Thai Beef

I'm starting to bring this along a bit.The focus is on the right side tree on the large overhang. The brushwork texture on that tree dominates the other trees and I have backlit the tree area behind that trunk to draw further attention to it. I haven't done much to the water yet, focusing my efforts on the tree canopy in the painting so far. The limited palette puts the focus on the composition and value structure of the painting, rather than the color. You can see the Notan process at work in this painting. More to come...



Well, I am frustrated beyond belief at this point with my web site software. Two days ago it stopped allowing me to connect to the server. My server host did a check up for me and everything is fine with the server. I know this is correct because my SEO IT guy can get on the server with no worries with his identical softeware. My site host suggested that there may be an error in my software. OK fine. I decided to uninstall the software and re-install. I had payed a lot of money for this software a few months ago and it installed fine when I first got it. Yesterday when I tried to install the software, only one of the components will install. The other two will not install, so I have no access to my web site to update anything. Keep in mind here that I am a techno failure in every way. Hopefully, I wll find someone who can tell me what to do. In the mean time, I sincerely apologise to all who expect to see my web site updated regularly.



I'm working on a class for the Prime Time Institute.
They will be coming back in July to paint with me. I decided the best way to handle it was to offer them a package deal including all supplies, equipment, lunch and beverages for one price per person. I think that is a great way to handle a class with people who just want to try the painting experience without having to purchase supplies and equipment. It's going to be fun. It gives me an idea to go along with the collectors class I'm thinking about. Perhaps they would want the experience of painting too. So many ideas, so little time ;>)




Homosassa River
4x4 inches
gouache on cold press WC paper

This is my initial study for a new 24x24 inch river painting. I am really loving the gouache. It is a great medium for study and small format. In fact, I want to start taking it to paint outs for small paintings. There are often patrons who want a small painting. I've just got to figure out how to get it to look as good on panel as it does on paper, or I will have to take frames with glass and mats with me. I hate to do that stuff. I wish I could figure out a way to show them without the glass and mats. I have them in browse bins now,unmatted,but paint outs insist on framed work.

As much as I enjoy doing the little watercolors, I have to admit that I am an opaque media person. The gouache is a good fit for me, and I am going to replace casein with gouache. The casin smells and it is quirky and difficult to varnish. The gouache has close to the same handling, it is odorless, and it varnishes beautifully so there you are. It also has better opacity than acrylics wthout the plastic feel and look to it. I won't give up acrylics because they are fun, but right now the gouache is winning over the other two. I will continue to play with the WC too just because it is fun for me, but I know it's not my medium. Of course, for me, oils is the top dog and always will be. Nothing compares in my mind. It is the most difficult and rewarding. To me, there is nothing finer and richer than a good oil painting. On the other hand a bad oil painting sucks!!!! :>)



Today's Recipe

This recipe comes from my beautiful neice Ashley Ford.

Thai Beef

Flank steak sliced against the grain
a pound of chopped carrots
garlic
jar of Thai peanut sauce
can of sliced water chestnuts, drained
can of coconut milk
1/2 tsp or so of red curry paste

Put steak, carrots, garlic, and peanut sauce in the crockpot, cook on low 6-8 hours. Add water chestnuts, coconut milk, and curry paste, stir and serve.

Garden Party Project, Nan's Jello Salad

I'm working on a presentation for guests to the Garden Party. I am going to split this four stage painting up and put them on a science project board. I used this painting to do a larger oil painting, which will show the transition from the study process to the finished refined work.




8x10 inches
oil on panel


I'm thinking that people will really enjoy this and will get a good understanding of how paintings are constructed. It is something I can use again at studio parties or speaking engagements and it's cheap. The medium was gouache. I just love playing around with these kinds of projects.

Back in the day, when I was teaching children, I used to do story board projects with them for art and writing skills. They really loved it. I have done a few story boards for various companies and event planners over the years and it is one of the coolest ways to do art. Of course they were used for films forever but I don't know whether they are still used in that industry. Perhaps the computer artists do that now.

I wish I could get my students into the habit of doing these progressive paintings regularly. They are one of the very best ways to learn good composition and design in painting. They allow you to fully explore all of the possibilities for a good painting composition before you are committed to the large format. I can tell you from experience that I lose a lot fewer big paintings now than I used to, because I take the time to process through the scene I wish to paint before I commit myself.


I want to have a museum or gallery exhibition for my river paintings someday and I intend to display all of the studies on paper I have done along with the finished paintings. The next step for me is to put together a proposal for a show and get that sent out, but it will be summer before I have time to think through that process. I think I will need to have Valerie write it for me. I really should already have done this paperwork stuff and have sent out the proposals but have put it off because I like painting more than paperwork. I was thinking that the Museum of Natural History would be a good venue, or one of the Visitors Centers in Florida. I don't really care that much about the hoity toity museum venues. I want to have the show in a place where many people would feel comfortable in going. My whole purpose for the project is to raise awareness of our natural beauty in Florida's wetlands and waterways. Perhaps some of you might have suggestions for good venues to approach.


Congrats to Marian Fortunati for winning a first place award in her recent art show in California.. I'm always happy to spead that kind of news. HERE








Today’s Recipe:



Nan Sherwood's Jell-O Salad

Boil together:

1 large can crushed pineapple
1 large box lemon Jell-O

add juice of 1/2 lemon
chill and stir until slightly congealed

add 2 C low fat buttermilk. Stir and chill more

Stir in 1 C mini marshmallows
1/2 C chopped pecans

Fold in a small container of whipped topping

Pour in a flat dish and let set up. Cut in squares for serving.

This sounds sooo rich and good!! Thanks Nan!

WIP stage 2, Nan's Prune Cake

Ichetucknee Square Format
24x24 inches

Here is stage two.

I wanted to use a fairly limited palette for this painting.

Sap Green (Daniel Greene)
Naples Yellow Light (Utrecht)
Flake White ( Daniel Greene)
Transparent Red Iron Oxide ( Utrecht)
Yellow Ochre ( Daniel Green)
FUB (Daniel Greene)
Ivory Black (Utrecht)
Cad Yellow Medium (Daniel Greene)
Cad Red Light (Utrecht)

The great thing about painting lots of trees is that they just begin to sort themselves out as you go. Basically I like to block in the very dark areas and then sort of work around them,forming patterns and so forth, mixing lots of gray greens and working toward the distance with bluer grays. Plugging in the warm tones closer to the front plane only here and there. Popping warm light colors to pull the viewer through the scene, playing the back lights, plugging them in around tree trunks. Playing with the ying yang of values is really fun with this kind of painting. I am also very fond of the square format for landscapes. The square presents an interesting challenge compositionally for painters.


There is such a rhythm to groves of trees. An elegance and dignity to the forests here in Florida. Hearing trees sigh in the wind makes me think about their long life. There is nothing in nature more beautiful or graceful than a tree. I love painting them over and over again. My favorites are Oaks, Sycamores, all Palms, and Cypress. I've studied trees for a long time and put together a painting workshop on painting them last year. The painting possibilities are endless. There is nothing more fun for a landscape painter than painting trees, at least to me :>)



Today's Grat:

I wanted to thank my friend and Copy Writer Valerie D'Ortona for a lovely print of one of her Isabel's World paintings. You can see her work HERE Valerie writes my press releases and PR stuff, saving me lots of time. She does it for other artists too, so if you need her, write to her at: vdortona@bellsouth.net



A bit of follow up on the residency topic. My dear friend Sarah Carey directed me to a person in the park service. I had a nice mail conversation with him yesterday about the possibilities. I gave him my thoughts on it and sent him my proposal. He promised to do what he could to incourage the powers that be. We will see. I have learned to ask for what I want in life and many times I get it. Thanks Sarah!




Todays