Online Art Magazine

Canadian Brushstroke Magazine serves the art industry, artists and collectors with online articles and advertising. They sponsor art competitions with cash prizes (current prize winners are in the issue I've linked to) and feature articles on Canadian artists, as well as introducing new products. I signed up for a free subscription to the magazine, which looks to me like a worthwhile publication.

The current issue includes an article on Jean Pederson, one of my Calgary artist friends, who has recently published a book, Expressive Portraits: Creative Methods for Painting People. Jean's wonderful portraits have won many awards and have been selected for major exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada.

The Color Wheel

Charley Parker at Lines & Colors blog has a great article on The History of the Color Wheel with lots of interesting links. Check it out. The color wheel is one of the artist's best tools for learning and working with color. Not everyone agrees, but I haven't found anything that works better for my purposes.

M. Graham paints

I swore I'd never do another paint comparison, but when M. Graham of Oregon came out with more than 20 new colors, I couldn't resist. The image shows my original chart on the left and the new colors on the right. While it isn't easy to distinguish the colors in the image, you can see how brilliant they are. I tested for transparency, tinting strength, reaction to salt*, and staining characteristic. I find most of the Graham pigments saturated and of a pleasing consistency. I especially like the reds in the original line, and now they have added Scarlet Pyrrol (PO 73), luscious Pyrrol Red (PR 254), Permanent Alizarin Crimson (PR 264), Maroon Perylene (PR 179)and bright Azo Orange (PO 62). Hansa Yellow (PY3) and Hansa Yellow Deep (PY97) fill the bill for cool and warm semi-transparent yellows. I also like Anthraquinone Blue (PB60), which resembles Indanthrone Blues from other manufacturers. Cobalt Teal (PB28), a light turquoise, appeals to me, while Turquoise (PB15:3+PG7) could be a little greener to suit my taste. A new range of synthetic earth pigments from yellows to reds has a lot of possibilities for low-intensity palettes. The Nickel Quinacridone Gold (PO48+PY150) lacks the glow of the Quin Gold pigment (no longer available), but is a lovely color on its own. Indian Yellow (PY110) is too orange in my opinion. Colors with less powerful tinting strength, like Ultramarine Pink (PR258), Cobalt Green (PG50), Cobalt Violet (PV14) and Ultramarine Violet Deep (PV15) work well on a delicate palette, but might be easily overpowered by many of the colors in the line. The Cerulean Blue Deep (PB36) looks more like a weak phthalo blue and doesn't appear to granulate as I would expect a cerulean blue to do.

On the whole, I like M. Graham colors very much. One of the ingredients is honey, a traditional method of watercolor manufacturing. The consistency of the paint is very nice--creamy and easily soluble in water. Some colors may seem a little stickier than others, but this may be the nature of the pigment. The new colors give a much needed boost to the available range in watercolors. M. Graham watercolors are more reasonably priced than many imported brands and give good value for the price. I have favorite colors among many different brands. For more information on this paint, see handprint.com.

*I don't recommend using salt for fine-art watercolors, but the effect can be used for illustration, note cards and crafts, in which case it's important to know which pigments will react to salt in a damp wash.

Generating ideas for artwork

Recently I had an email from a fan of The New Creative Artist, Mark Spall of Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He has a nifty idea for working up ideas for new watercolors. Mark says, "I filled my cork board with little 5 inch square pieces of paper. I have 24 in total, and what I wanna do is make a sketch one at a time on each of them from a vision in my mind of what I would like to watercolor. Then when my board is full of sketches I can choose which ones to design color schemes for on watercolor paper, and then after that stage have one break-though after the other. Hope it works." Sounds like a great idea to me. Mark describes his creative process in three phases. "The first one is to do many thumbnail sketches on 5 inch square pieces of paper. I chose to do up to 24 for my project. All you're focusing on at this stage is the proportion, light, and shadow. I have put my sketches up side by side on my cork board but you can store them in whichever way works best for you. Then in the second phase I decide which thumbnails I would like to design a color scheme for. I select one of my sketches and decide which colors to use and how to use them. I begin painting from my reference sketch. This stage may take more then one try, but once I am satisfied with the proportions I worked out in the first stage and my colors are successful, I'm ready to choose the size I want the final painting to be and proceed to create my masterpiece from my second phase. Once I've completed my painting I'm ready to choose another idea from the cork board to work on." Sounds like a good process to me. Thanks for sharing, Mark.

Looking ahead to Canada

Next Saturday I'll be flying to Sidney, British Columbia, to teach a Creativity Workshop. I've taught in Vancouver, Mission and Kelowna out there, but I haven't been to Vancouver Island before. I'm looking forward to it for several reasons, the first of which is meeting new people in the workshop and playing with creative ideas for four days. Every group is different, so it's always fun to see what comes up. I'm also hoping to see some of Emily Carr's work, but it may be hard to do because of the hours I teach. Most museums close before I finish teaching. In any case, the thing I'm really looking forward to is a reunion with two Canadian friends, who met me and my friend in Albuquerque ten years ago for a 10-day tour of Santa Fe, Taos and Abiquiu, Georgia O'Keefe's home place. It was a blend of sightseeing, art-talking and spiritual bonding unlike anything I've experienced before or since. Donna lives on the island and Lynn is coming over from the mainland on Thursday, the last day of my workshop. We're going to Donna's until Sunday. I feel like I'm going on a retreat. After this hectic spring, I'm ready for renewal.

Blessings

I think I've written three weeks of blogs today. The brightest lights in the entire picture are Jenna and Daniel. In this picture of Jenna she's wearing her "dress-up dress" that I bought for $1.50 at Goodwill when she was about three. It's a size 14-teen chiffon party dress and we had to pin it up to keep it from dragging on the floor and tripping her. Now it's above her ankles but it still fits over her clothes. As you can see, she doesn't quite fit into the purple pumps yet. She's wearing one of my hats, as she cuts and pastes at her little art center at Grammy's house.

Daniel prefers wrestling with Pooh to posing for his birthday photo. He's eight-months old in this one. It was all I could do to keep him from leaping off the couch while I set up the camera. I'm discovering with Daniel that there's a little athleticism left in this old girl. I have to sprint across the room to keep up with him, crawl around the furniture, lift him like a twenty-pound free-weight. He's such a happy baby and loves to make me laugh with his juicy raspberries.

Mixing Greens Redux

The subject of mixing green comes up several times a year in my classes and workshops. Here's the chart I demonstrated last week in my Hithergreen class on mixing a great variety of greens with the blues and yellows you already have in your paint box. It's worthwhile to take a couple of hours to make this chart so you have a reference for the different greens you can mix, at least until you become really familiar with them by using them often. I use white artist's tape to section the paper into 2-inch squares or slightly larger rectangles. Across the top I put the yellows, one per section: Winsor Lemon, Aureolin, New Gamboge and Raw Sienna are on this chart. Down the left side I place the blues: Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, and Cerulean Blue. I dampen a square and put a swatch of the yellow in that column in one corner and the blue in the row in the other corner. Then I mingle the two colors on my palette and place the mixture at the bottom of the section, teasing the colors up into the pure colors so I get variations of the mixture throughout. The chart includes spring, summer, late autumn, bright, misty, foggy and sea greens with just one blue and one yellow in each mixture. Before you begin a painting, see if you can find the greens you need on the chart and include those colors in your palette. See also my blog on Mixing With Green.

Workshops, exhibits and books, oh my!

Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans." --John Lennon

I'm sure I've used this quote before, but it's very appropriate right now.

Teaching three workshops in seven weeks ought to be enough to keep a person occupied, but in-between I was also baby-sitting three days a week for our grandson, teaching a weekly class, setting up the exhibition for the Hithergreen class and having my second cataract surgery. I was not much in the mood for blogging most days.

I'll start with the exhibition, Beginners & Beyond, the second for the class at Hithergreen Center. The opening was April 21. The class provided an elegant spread of munchies, but the real treat was seeing their art displayed. There are 66 paintings by 27 artists in the show, all watercolors, but varied in subject matter and style. One painting sold right away and we've been told that another venue would like to display some of the paintings after they come down on May 30. I took pictures of the exhibition, but can't display them here, as some of the artists are still practicing by painting from copyrighted art and photographs. They understand that they can't sell their work and are required to attribute the original artist. I didn't have time this year to photograph individual original pieces and make a Web page. I hope I can do it next month.

As with my first surgery in February, the implant was good, but the first three or four days were touch-and-go. This time, instead of blurred, double vision, I had a great deal of pain and blurring. But by the fourth day the eye began to clear up and I'm very happy with the results. I can even work on my computer without glasses. I can also read and drive without glasses, but will be getting a prescription to prevent fatigue and improve my distance vision. Oddly, I found an old pair of trifocals that correct my vision almost perfectly. I have a photo of me wearing these glasses in 1990 at a book-signing--imagine huge, round plastic frames. I'm glad I had the surgery. If you're considering this surgery, Mayo Clinic has more information.

Yesterday we drove to Cincinnati to catch the "American Watercolors: From Winslow Homer to Edward Hopper" exhibition at the Taft Museum of Art. It was fantastic. In addition to the curated show, which originated at the Brooklyn Museum, there were images from the Taft's collection of 18th and 19th century watercolors, which made an interesting contrast. We also toured the permanent collection of the Taft, a world-class museum of 17th to 19th century painting and decorative arts in a small package. Rembrandt, Hals, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Whistler, Italian and Dutch masters--the list goes on and on, including a collection of Turner watercolors that is exquisite. The museum is easy to find and just a hop and a skip from the Cincinnati Art Museum. And five minutes away from Montgomery Inn at the Boat House, where we had fantastic ribs and strawberry shortcake for lunch. And that was my Mother's Day treat.

My new book is coming in August from North Light Books. Confident Color is 160 pages with 85 Try-it Activities in a spiral-bound hardcover format that stays flat for studio work. I've selected the work of 52 contemporary artists in a variety of media: acrylics, colored pencils, oils, pastels, watercolors, collage, mixed media and fibers to illustrate important color principles of harmony, contrast and unity through color schemes. Seven artists contributed detailed step-by-step demos of their color processes, including using a computer or a sketchbook for preliminary studies and mingling colors to select the best palette for a painting. Watch for my pre-publication offer of a signed copy and free shipping, coming soon on my Web site. Amazon.com is also taking pre-publication orders (unsigned, eligible for free shipping). Confident Color is almost ready to go to the printer. I'm more than a little excited about it, now that I've seen a few color-layout pages and the beautiful cover, a detail from Cheryl McClure's painting in the book. Cheryl was also the cover artist for The New Creative Artist.

The quarter-acre woods

What is it about wildflowers in the spring? I didn't fully appreciate how much I missed the flowers that were decimated by honeysuckle over the years. Now they're coming back, and I can scarcely leave my kitchen window; I gaze across the woods and down the hill, where blue and gold flash throughout the day, interspersed with purple and white. My five-year woodland project is into its sixth year, and it has been worth all the hard work. I envision the woods looking more beautiful every year.

A Magic Eye

Children see magical things in the ordinary, but it's uncommon for adults to be so bewitched by the mundane. Sandi Greene is a grown-up with childlike vision and her skill with a camera enables her to capture on film or digitally what she sees. She transforms withered plants, well past their season, into fairy rings and storybook characters, such as the Big Bad Wolf in drag, scurrying through the woods after Red Riding Hood. Every page is a wondrous trigger to the imagination.


Sandi's book, Seeing Evangeline. is a visual meditation that slows you down to search the images for faces, figures, graceful limbs and flowing gowns. Each figure or group has a name, the clue to finding the image. Accompanying the name is the botanical name of the plant and where she found it: a park, a friend's garden and public gardens, mostly in Canada.

Sandi attended my creativity workshop in Calgary, where I first saw her wonderful book. She tells me she did not Photoshop her images, except to enhance contrast where needed. Sandi also says that she is surprised by what people see in her photographs, other than what she herself sees. A brief text at the beginning explains how her journey into this magic kingdom of plants began and where it has taken her. End pages include line drawings of the figures she sees, along with common names of the plants.

Spring Tonic

After the weird winter, I'm surprised that the wildflowers in my quarter-acre woods are doing so well. The Dutchman's breeches and bloodroot are coming in little colonies now instead of single plants, several in places where I don't remember planting them.

Today has been a peak April day, in the mid 60s with alternating sun and showers. I ran out between showers to take a few pictures. I don't photograph all the flowers because I have a complete record on my web site. Now it's more fun to amble through the woods and see what surprises lay at my feet with every step.

Faces of concentration

My Calgary "Exploring Art and Creativity" workshop was one of the most enjoyable I've ever taught. Right from the start, when each of the 23 students introduced herself and told why she was taking the workshop, they seemed to be of a single mind about their desire to be more creative and their dedication to their art. It felt good to be part of this community of artists.

All of them entered into the spirit of the creativity activities with enthusiasm and appeared to enjoy the fun and the serious parts equally. They embraced collage and monotype wholeheartedly and shared their experiences with new materials--and their materials--freely. The critiques were illuminating; every piece was unique and personal to the artist who made it.

The group included teachers, artists, an engineer, an accountant, stay-at-home moms, a university administrator, a census taker, a couple of bookmakers (read: "makers of handmade books"), an author and photographer, an art materials dealer, just to name a few. At times the room was as still as a library and sometimes laughter and conversation bounced off the walls. I thought one group was goofing off and found they were deep in conversation about setting creative goals.

On Saturday we lunched at a funky restaurant where they prepared a delicious meal in spite of a power outage. We ate by candlelight. Our tables were in a loft decorated with Victorian frippery and art deco objects under an embossed tin ceiling. Lunch began with clinking glasses in a toast. Some got a little giddy over setting their cell phones so they wouldn't ring during class, hence a silly joke circulated about their "vibrators." We returned to class and had a productive afternoon.

I've experienced many memorable workshops over twenty years, and this was one of the best. Kudos to my Canadian friends, eh?

Free Hugs

Check it out.

Creative Renewal

For me the best kind of workshop to teach is one where I feel like I'm learning along with the class. This was a great four days. The twenty-three students were among the most responsive I've ever worked with and very sharing, as well. We covered so much ground. In fact, this class got the five-day workshop in four days, including creativity, color, collage, monotype, plus daily critiques, slides and individual conferences. There was a brief power outage yesterday and nobody missed a beat. Everyone came with an open mind--this became clear when they introduced themselves. I think each artist has discovered something special that will help her move ahead, to be and feel more creative. Ladies, start your vibrators. Ummm, I meant to say, mute your cell phones.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I'm in Calgary this week, teaching a creativity workshop. This morning I pulled the drapes open at my hotel window and found myself looking at a tree whose branches were piled with snow. The roads look clear, though, and it's supposed to stop and get warmer this afternoon. Meanwhile, back in Dayton it's nearing sixty degrees and the wildflowers are popping.

The workshop is great. The sponsor is Leading Edge Workshops. I've taught several classes for them in the past under different management. The center where classes are held is roomy and well lighted. I wish all workshops had this kind of facility. There are 24 in the class and they're working hard. We had some great collage pieces to critique yesterday afternoon. Today we're doing monotypes, messy but fun.

Painting on Yupo

Over the weekend I viewed a CD by George James on painting watercolors on a unique surface: "Mastering Yupo: Techniques for Synthetic Paper" (Creative Catalyst Productions). Many of the paintings I've seen since Yupo first came in use rely on the erratic flow of watercolor on the slippery surface. Most of the artists who use it praise the capability of wiping back to the white surface, something difficult to do with watercolor on paper. James takes the technique to a new level by using thick layers of paint and blotting with facial tissue or smoothing with a sponge roller. He demonstrates a great variety of textures and techniques and explains them clearly in a laid-back manner. At one point he mentions that he uses cheap paint so he can lay down a heavy wash, but he doesn't name brands. His method retains the brilliance of the pure colors, since he doesn't use much water in the process. The end result of his abstract demo was a good representation of his many techniques. A gallery of his works shown after the demo reveal James to be an accomplished designer, especially with figures. His work is solid and not speckely like Yupo paintings become when artists struggle to get color down without lifting the washes beneath.

I recommend this video for anyone interested in experimenting with Yupo.

Inner Journey Workshops

My artist friends Rosemary Huart and Trish McKinney are presenting two opportunities for artists interested in spiritual growth, a Retreat Workshop in May and a travel/art workshop in Tuscany in the fall. Both workshops promise to be worthwhile and fun, as well.

Spring is elusive this year

I can't honestly remember any year that we didn't have daffodils blooming before the end of March. Unless we have a few warmer days soon, that will be the case this year. The birds are singing their Spring songs, but it's still very cold in the mornings and windy afternoons don't seem as warm as the 50s on the thermometer. Last week's floodwaters have subsided somewhat. We're high enough not to be affected, but had to "drive-arounds" to avoid high water on some roads we normally travel. Easter Sunday was bright and beautiful and we enjoyed having our Little Bits over for the afternoon.

The Monday artists at Hithergreen are selecting their artwork for the exhibition. The last series of lessons on contrasts is showing in their newer work. I can't wait to see it hanging at the center.

New exhibition coming up

My Hithergreen class is getting ready for a new show. The previous one was a year ago last October and very successful, so we're all excited about it. They're coming up with some interesting pieces. Next week we're going to talk about framing and matting watercolors and some will begin bringing in their art. The reception is April 21, but we'll start hanging the first week in April. The thing I most enjoy about their work is how different the artists are in style and subject. I'll post images of the show when it's ready. Their previous show is listed at the right in the links section.

Daniel is playing in his saucer seat next to me, crowing gagagagaga and dadadadadad and bouncing mightily. Time to crawl on the carpet awhile.

The Little Artist strikes again

Jenna slept over a couple of weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting the tempera painting she did while she was here. I thrills me to watch her paint. She doesn't hesitate--just gets right to it. She began with the yellow circle near the top and surrounded it with red dots to make a flower. A long purple stem came next, with the green leaves, which she mixed by putting the yellow down and stirring blue into it. Next, she painted the rainbow around the flower. She realized it was getting a little muddy, so she moved to the lower part and put in some colorful shapes. I showed her how to make marks with a tongue depressor and she enjoyed playing with that to decorate the shapes. It doesn't take her very long and she is definite about when the painting is finished. What's more, when she comes to visit, she seems surprised to see her paintings and likes what she has done. So do I!

The gift of old age

Yesterday afternoon I attended the 90th birthday party of my son-in-law's grandmother, Great-grandma to Jenna and Daniel. The party was held in a church social room and attended by more than fifty family members of all ages. A huge spread of delicious food was carried in by the guests, a great family tradition, the potluck. Several of the guests had been married or confirmed at the church in years past.

Lola, the guest of honor, sat at the head of the tables, which were arranged in a U-shape. She was stunning in her royal blue satin party dress and wore an equally stunning smile throughout the day. Before the cutting of the cake, Lola was assisted in walking from her seat to the other end of the room. She has had several health problems since I last saw her, and I was pleased to notice how strong she appeared in rising to the occasion.

Lola spoke in a strong voice with an obviously clear mind. The essence of her words: The most important thing in life is family. She thanked those who had made the wonderful party, her daughters and sons, and those who came to celebrate with them. She was grateful for her long life and her wonderful family.

I first met Lola (when she was in her late 60s) at our daughter's wedding, where she taught my son to boot-scoot and spent most of the evening on the dance floor. She went out dancing several nights a week for Western line-dancing and enjoyed many other activities, as well. I remember thinking of the words of George Bernard Shaw:
We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. Play on, Lola.

I can see clearly now

The rain is gone and this morning was replaced by a thick blanket of fog. I say I can see clearly now because I am reminded of why I am happy living in Ohio. I love fog and rain and snow and sunshine, the changing seasons and weather. I'm blessed to be able to travel here and there throughout the country and enjoy different climates, but I never regret having to come home, regardless of what weather conditions await me. It was lovely being in Florida three weeks ago when the temperature was in the teens in Ohio and, even more so, escaping the blizzard to New Orleans. But now that I'm back, it pleases me to look out at the fog and rain in the woods. Recently I completed a fog painting for the new book and I recalled how much I used to enjoy painting what many think of as dismal weather conditions. I guess we have the gray days so we can fully appreciate the sunny ones.

Never mind blizzards, Spring is coming

I checked the woods yesterday after I got back from Louisiana and found snowdrops and winter aconite beginning to bloom. Yay! I hope I can do some work in the woods over the next couple of weeks, before I go to Calgary to teach. There are a lot of fallen branches and I need to realign the ones I use to mark my path through the woods. The daffodils are beginning to push up, around four inches now, so we'll see some blooms soon. Today's rain washed away a lot of the thinner patches of snow. A woman said to me that she didn't like the rain, and I couldn't resist asking if she would rather it were snow. Oops. She didn't like that. I'm always glad when it rains--we need the water.

First news on my new book

Check out this link to Art-to-Art Palette for the first news release on Confident Color. Be sure to scroll down for the list of artists in the book. And while you're there, browse the publication for art news throughout the mid-section of the U.S. and beyond.

It wasn't easy getting to the Big Easy

When the Ohio blizzard started in Dayton last Friday, I canceled two appointments and stayed home, letting my husband use my SUV for his errands. I had plenty to do to get ready for my 6 a.m. Saturday flight to New Orleans to teach a Louisiana Artist Association workshop. As the storm raged, it began to look like I wouldn't make that flight, but I pretended I would, just in case. Then Delta called and told me that all Saturday flights were canceled out of Dayton and they had booked me on a flight Sunday afternoon.

This wasn't acceptable--I was expected to judge a show and give a lecture on Sunday in N.O. I called the airlines and waited for two hours to speak to an agent, who said the 6 a.m. flight had been restored and she was able to get me on it. But when we got up at 4 a.m. Sat. morning, the blizzard hadn't abated. I kept checking the flight and it said the flight was on time, but we couldn't get to the airport--there was a truck jack-knifed on the highway between our house and the airport. Besides that, I wasn't thrilled to get on board a little commuter plane in the high winds.

I waited another two hours on the phone to speak to a Delta agent, who said she could get me on a Cincinnati flight to Atlanta around 2:40 if we were willing to drive to Cincinnati. I booked the flight and we set out on the long drive to the airport in northern Kentucky. Normally an hour and fifteen minutes, the drive took us about two-and-a-half hours (and nearly four for my husband to get back home.) Top speed, 30-40 mph on I-75.

I stood in line for more than an hour to learn that the 2:40 flight was canceled. The agent and I got creative and booked me into Dallas, then to N.O. on American Airlines. I checked both bags, not wanting to schlep my carry-on around the airport for the long spell I would be there. Big mistake. My flights were changed three more times before I finally got off the ground. When I got to my destination, twelve hours after the ETA of my first booked flight, my bags didn't make it.

My luggage appeared the next afternoon (Sunday) after I had spent a bunch of money on cosmetics and essential clothing--and after I had already given my program attired in my travel outfit. It was a relief to have my own things; I was able to return some of the unused items before I returned home. I'll never again check my carry-on.

Before it was over, the blizzard dumped 13" of snow in Dayton, close to the record of the blizzard of 1978. Once I got to New Orleans, it was really pleasant to have 60 degree weather and sunshine for the length of my stay.

Loved the workshop. There were 15 in the class and we had a good time together, ranging from color to collage and creativity for three days. I had judged their show on Sunday and found some wonderful artists exhibiting there. They had asked me to critique the winners at their opening event in the afternoon and to give a demo, and I opted to give a lecture on talent and creativity. It's a good thing, because I had my lecture notes, but my watercolors, paper and brushes were in my lost luggage.

There were a few more adverse adventures, but nothing impacting the workshop. On the last day the workshop coordinator took me on a mini-tour of the area, which was delightful--two plantations, the bridge over the Mississippi, and sites between. She mentioned that one street of nice houses and landscaping had been underwater after Katrina--impossible to imagine.

I had to get up at 4:00 a.m. for the flight home, which was uneventful, probably because I slept through both legs of the journey and got home yesterday around noon. I still feel like someone has been beating me with 2-by-4s after wrestling my luggage around the airport and through security.

I was a bit nettled that Delta twice changed my reservation without consulting me, and both times it wasn't doable for me. However, the circumstances were so extreme and I realized that they were making a valiant effort to get as many people accommodated as possible. Every agent I talked to was patient and helpful--and willing to work with me until we worked it out. I'm grateful for that and hats off to them.

Now I have to get down to work and catch up on email, laundry and such. I don't think I've quite recovered from the stress of the blizzard-y trip, so will have to have a nap soon.

Art, Where Art Thou?

There just isn't any art going on here this week, at least not from my point of view. Lots of baby-love, computer geeking and workshop preparation. I managed to get my supplies shipped to New Orleans and to plan the new workshop. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be judging their show for awards on Sunday and giving a gallery talk before the three-day workshop. All I have to worry about at this point is whether I'll even be able to get there in time. We have another winter advisory for tomorrow and Saturday. If they can just get that plane out of Dayton, I'll be okay.

From the Sublime to the Freezing

Flying home from the Palm Coast, Florida, workshop I didn't give much thought to what I was coming home to until I saw the ground as we landed in Dayton. A solid sheet of snow and ice, although not very deep, was awaiting me. Oddly enough, as much as I enjoyed the Florida sunshine, there is still much that is comforting at home, even in the middle of a cold, cold winter.

The class was a lot of fun. I should have taken more pictures, but I get so involved in what's going on that I forget to get out my camera. Finally remembered at lunch the second day, so here's part of the group with a couple of insets in the corners. The weather changed after lunch and it poured rain briefly, then later in the evening there were thunderstorms and lightning, heavy rain most of the night. The last day was cool--in the fifties.

This was an enthusiastic group of accomplished artists looking for ideas and motivation for their artwork. I think each of them found something she can use or think about for a long time to help her grow as an artist. Anyway, that's what I wish for them.

Warming my bones

I'm in Palm Coast, Florida, teaching a creativity workshop. Weather sunny and in the 70s. Such a relief after the hammering we had last week in Ohio--ice, snow, freezing rain. I guess that's still going on up there. The class is fun, the facility about a block from the beach, where we walked after lunch yesterday. The ocean was calm, the sky a pure cobalt blue, the ocean a dark blue-green at the horizon (phthalo green blue shade with a touch of indigo) and clear turquoise near the shore. Gorgeous.

This is the first time I've posted from my new laptop. I almost didn't bring it. I had locked myself out by forgetting one digit in my password. Then I had one of those weird waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night experiences where the answer comes unbidden after you've give up on it. The brain is an amazing machine.

This made my day

I received this email a couple of days ago. I'm excited to know that teachers are finding The New Creative Artist so helpful. Quoted with permission:

"I wanted to drop a note and let you know that your book is my bible for teaching art. I have 4 children that are in college so I have gone back to teaching. One of my assignments is 8th grade art. After being away from teaching for the past 24 years or so I wasn’t sure how effective I would be or where to start. Then I found and read your book and have developed a wonderful creative and exciting program to teach the principles and elements of art in a highly innovative way. The classes I have are excited about art and are truly enjoying their assignments. I have read through the book a few times now and have developed even more lessons. The colorful artwork and the activities in the book are amazing."

Thank You,
Marian Kuban
Tremont Jr. High School
Tremont, IL

Crazy week

The Hithergreen Monday class went well--everybody seemed to "get it" about the contrast effects of masses of color, broken color and how small quantities of intense color stand out against neutrals. I didn't have time to photograph and upload this week.

Jenna slept over Tuesday night. Wednesday we had a winter storm, so I drove her home instead of to daycare and had both tykes all day. It's a good thing they're so manageable. She entertains herself and Daniel, too. He can't take his eyes off her when she's in the room, even when she isn't playing with him. I just sit there and enjoy the interaction. It's unconditional love personified. Yesterday he didn't nap much, so I was busy keeping track of him. He plays on a queen-sized comforter in the living room and rolls like a speedball from one end of it to the other in no time. He almost got himself caught under the armchair. He will be a dynamo when he starts crawling.

Today I'm at home, sitting out another winter storm and setting up my Christmas laptop. I'm taking it with me to Florida to do some writing. Tomorrow I'll pack and catch up on business and domestic duties before I leave.

Jennifer King, a former magazine editor I've worked with in the past, has launched a great new web magazine, Create Better Paintings. I browsed it the other day and it's one of the best I've seen on the Web. There are two areas, one for unsubscribed visitors and the other for subscribers. Both are packed with great articles and tips for artists in all media. Highly recommended. I plan to browse the articles while I'm in Florida. I hadn't thought of it before, but this is a good solution to magazine pile-up and recycling problems. And so easy to search back issues.

Watercolor class--contrasts

The lessons in color contrasts the past two weeks were on temperature contrast, then complementary contrast. Temperature contrast doesn't have to be opposites--it can be as simple as which of two reds is warmer or cooler than the other. But complementary opposites are always temperature opposites, which is why they are such a powerful contrast to use. My Hithergreen class caught on to both right away. Critiques are so much fun at the end of class when we see how each one has interpreted the lesson. Unfortunately, my camera battery quit on me so I didn't get pictures. Today we're doing quantity (size) contrast. Can't wait to see what they come up with. Next week I'll be teaching a workshop in Palm Coast, Florida, for the Flagler Art League. It will be nice to go where it's warm for a few days.

Pause for repairs

Had a cataract operation last week, so I haven't been on the computer much. There was a problem, which seems to be clearing up, but it's very scary to go through that simple procedure and find that you can't see properly. Everything was blurry in the operated eye and there was something about pressure being too low, whatever that means. I was seeing colored swirlies part of the time. I was not only worried, I was bored out of my mind. The second day I managed to finish the last thirty pages of my author's review and do two small painted minglings for page icons, but everything seemed to take such a long time. I could complain about some other aspects of the experience, but I won't. The bottom line is that the blurriness began to clear up last night and I can see pretty well today. Contrasts are much sharper and colors are brighter. I keep asking myself how did I do a book on color with cataracts in my eyes? The color in the paintings must be off the charts. Apparently I will have to wear glasses for astigmatism, so the usual bonus of no glasses after cataract surgery doesn't apply. No big deal. I'm ready to schedule the other eye surgery. In the meantime, workshop season is starting up, so I have a lot to do. p.s. I sent the editor's layout back to her yesterday and it felt good to get it moving (read "out of the house"!).

This week's lesson--intensity

Intensity contrast is a little harder to grasp, because people often confuse value and intensity. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color, on a scale between white and black. Intensity is the purity or "grayness" of a hue. Earth colors are low intensity colors. Here are three of my students' sketches illustrating how a touch of bright color is enhanced by low-intensity hues.

Value and intensity studies

These images represent some of the sketches made by my Monday watercolor class at Hithergreen Center last week. The lesson was on values in high key, low key and full contrast. There were too many for me to edit all the images for my blog, but these will give you an idea of what they were doing. I was pleased with their understanding of the principles.

Things are warming up

And not just the temperature. At least we're out of single digits and the sun is shining brightly. It's a gorgeous day; everything seems to sparkle. I now have the pages for my author's review of editorial suggestions on my manuscript and this is a very painstaking process. I'm fortunate to have an editor I've worked with and learned to trust with my creation. I have the book for two weeks and will work on it between baby-sitting three days a week and having a cataract operation on one eye. Ack. Trying to get the edge on it today. This morning I had an early warning from my husband that he'll be wanting my income tax records soon. Double ack.

On the lighter side, our granddaughter's birthday was a huge success. She loved her bean-bag chair and instinctively jumped on it, which is just the thing to do with a bean-bag chair. She had a princess birthday party on Saturday and my daughter had the dancing teacher at the pre-school lead the little girls, appropriately dressed as their favorite princesses, in little dance routines accompanied by the princess songs. Much squealing and shrieking, but no pushing and shoving. No boys allowed, except for her little brother, who came as Prince Philip. At five months of age he watched all the activities with a wide smile on his face.

The value of values

Most art teachers will agree that value, the range of light and dark in a design, is one of the first principles of painting. My first watercolor teacher said that if the values were right, the color didn't matter. I don't agree with the last part of his statement. His concept of "right" values was too limited. Yesterday I discussed with my class the potential of using value keys to make more expressive paintings. A full value contrast range is visually strong and makes good paintings, but high key, light and bright value contrast can be very appealing. And a deep, somber low-key painting can be moving, as well. The class worked hard on this and there were breakthroughs for some of them. I'll try to remember to take some photos at critique next week when they've had a chance to finish their sketches. They were excited to see their artwork in the mosaic I put on the blog last week with their pure-hue paintings.

Bitter cold

Just got bitterer. It went down to 1 degree F last night. Seemed like a good day to hang out at home, so I didn't stick my nose out the door. My editor picked up the color wheel icons this morning. It's so nice to have her willing to do this. Her parents live nearby, so she gets up this way fairly often. I got lots of odds and ends taken care of in the studio, then decided to make my reservations for the Palm Coast, Florida, workshop next month. What a shock! I checked my frequent flyer miles and discovered that a couple of the airlines have deleted my accumulated miles. American denied my password, which has happened before with them. Very annoying. I finally went back to Expedia, which was fast and easy. Delta, here I come again. When I used to do a lot of travel to trade shows, I had a travel agent do my booking. After the Web came into the picture, I discovered that she wasn't getting me the best rates, so I gave up the convenience to save the workshops some money. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth the time I spend, since I'm not paying for it. Oh, well. I'd feel guilty doing it that way. Some groups that sponsor workshops are on a tight budget.

Fun day

We drove out in the country about ten miles this morning to pick up a bean bag chair for our granddaughter for her fifth birthday next week. I searched online and discovered these are made nearby, so we made our selection and picked up at the factory. Imagine buying anything made in the USA, not to mention in your own neck of the woods. Can't wait to give it to Jenna.

I spent the rest of the day on a last-minute project suggested by my editor for the new color book. She requested fifteen icons for the pages on color schemes. She suggested making the color wheels about four inches across. I tried that, but the scale was too small for my arthritic fingers to work with, so I switched to six inches and that worked well. So that job is done. The wheels will be reduced in size considerably to make icons on the pages. On Monday they will decide the final title of the book. I thought it was decided, but they were worried about a forty-year-old book that had the same title. FYI, titles aren't copyrighted, but in this day of easy-search and Amazon.com, the old titles keep cropping up. I'll let you know what the decision is as soon as I know.

Leading a double life

Being a nanny-granny and an artist-author creates some difficulti