Ogden City Plein Air Competition

Just finished the Ogden city plein air festival. Just went down one day on Friday and painted the whole day straight. It was great to have my father sit with me and help my painting along with his artistic eye. My mom stopped by and brought me ice cream and a sandwich. This is the life! The competition was about capturing Ogden, so I chose the green tower as you come into Ogden off 24th street. I am happy with the colors in the picture. It was a challenge to paint this scene because the owners of the cars had to go to lunch and then got off early from work. It's amazing the colors you see when you paint outside. I took a picture of the scene and the colors are really flat. Painting outside definitely helps! It was great to meet other artists at the show. I met a really wonderful artist, Ryan Brown. His piece was beautiful and captured the feel of Ogden.

Pickett Fairbanks Gallery Group Show-Friday

Here are two pieces I finished for the Pickett Fairbanks Gallery show, formerly Magpie, this coming Friday. These will be showing along with three other pieces. I am looking forward to visiting with my artist friends and eating.....hopefully there will be food, but I should lay off the food! The top pic is around the Cortona in Tuscany and the bottom picture is headed to Murano from Venice. I love the color of the water and the grand gates.

My First Festival this weekend, June 12th

I keep thinking-Have I forgotten anything?! Nervous and anxious for my first festival. It's this Thursday through Saturday, June 12-14th from 10am to 8pm. Should make for long days, but hoping to stay in the shade, drink iced chai teas, and sell some work. Hoping I can figure out how to set up the tent-it's fairly simple, but logic is not always my strong point. Logan here I come!

Back from Italy and Ready to Paint

Came home from Italy just a few days ago and I am so excited to start painting images from Italy. I took many many photos and will have a hard time deciding what to paint. The trip was interesting with a few mishaps, but stuff I can laugh at now-like a 2am drug raid in our sleeper compartment, running from a bar fight, and a taking in a stray kitty. Venice was my favorite place by far, every turn was visual eye candy. It rained most of the time in Venice, but I think the rain made it even more beautiful. I could live in Venice!

Italy! Italy!

Leaving for Italy this Wednesday morning. I am excited to go see all the art spots-especially the Sistine Chapel. My friends and I are flying into Paris, then Pompeii, Venice, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and more! It should be quite the trip. I hope to come back inspired, with paintings to paint. Maybe I will get a blessing from the Pope...who knows? I'll blog when I get back-but not until June.

Park City and Hot Air Balloons

Park City usually has hot air balloons that go up early in the morning. I love the bright colors that contrast with the green mountains. I took a balloon ride about two years ago, and it was fun and relaxing. It was for Craig's 30 birthday.

Winter in Heber

It's my first time painting snow! I enjoyed using white and blue. Used a photography rather than paint out in the cold. I'm too whimpy to paint in the snow. Definitely would like to try painting out of my car sometime. With the camera you can't get the subtle light and reflections.

Oranges Are Not Just Orange

I've decided to start drawing and painting more from life. I thought I would start with oranges. Struggled at first with the color, just using variations of orange colors, and it wasn't looking right, so I decided to add green, red, blue, and many other colors. By adding these different colors, I am happier with the results. It was a fun exercise and my art room smelled of oranges!

No Go on the Springville Show

Today I found out the results of the Springville show. Both of my pieces were not accepted. All I can say is "darn it"! It's hard not to feel a little disappointed. And then you wonder what you could have done better with the pieces. But it's all a part of the art business. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I'm looking forward to a nice break in May. I'm going to Italy for about eighteen days to view all the major art pieces of the world. Hope to come back inspired, with a new outlook.

Cows Grazing in the House!

Finished this painting the other day. The light on the house looks better from a distance, and seems to glow. The house is simple with just a few cows in the area. It was an empty house in Plain City. I might glaze over it one more time with yellow, to warm it up a bit. It's an 8x10 on panel.

Under Painting of the Lovely Mikell

Worked on this late Saturday night. It's an under painting of my co-worker, Mikell. She was nice enough to let me take her picture. I don't usually paint people, but I was drawn to her bright, beautiful purple scarf. I think I painted a good resemblance of her. Her nose it a tad bit too long at the bottom. I will shave a little off before I put the color on. I'm looking forward to putting the color on. I'll wait for it to dry, refinish the nose, and then add the color.

Springville or Not?

Wow! I have been working on this painting for awhile and I am almost done. Just a few finishing touches here and there. The tough decision is whether I should enter this in the Springville Museum's Spring Salon? My inner critic is giving me a hard time. Will people laugh at it? Is my perspective off? Is it good enough? I've put this funny pressure on myself, when I should be enjoying trying something new. Painting people is very new to me. I think I will finish it the next day or two and do a final glaze and then round up some money to frame it and send it on it's way to Springville......wish me luck!

Painting in Progress

Started this painting while I was in Saint George enjoying the warm weather. I decided to paint in the backyard, because I was feeling like I didn't want to be bothered. So I painted from a photograph outside...does that still count as Plein Air? As I was halfway through, people kept coming into the neighbors backyard and staring at me. I couldn't figure out what was going on, and I was frustrated because I didn't want to be bothered. I had to laugh when I found out they were having an open house! This painting is really wet, alla prima, if I spelled that right. I will go back into it when it dries and soften some edges and define the trees and mountains more. This is my usual favorite, an 8x10 on panel.

Another Painting Finished

Just finished putting the last touches on this piece. The scene is from Plain City, Utah of an empty corn field, all that is left from the melted snow is the puddle in the foreground. I enjoyed painting the dramatic sky with simple brushstrokes and adding the yellow light in the center. It's an 8x10 oil on panel.

Fun to Apply Thick, Bold Brushstrokes

This piece went relatively fast, painting wet on wet with bold brushstrokes. This is a picture of the high Uintahs in Utah. The lakes up in the forest are always so quite and still. This is an 8x10 oil on panel.