Merry Christmas

May your Christmas be joyful and your New Year be full of peace and.....new adventures!

Small Works Exhibit 2015 - Charles Taylor Art Center

Every year the Charles Taylor Art Center in Hampton, Virginia has a small works show (works must be 4" x 5" or less) that many of our local artists participate in. Here are a few works that I found interesting.

Strawberries in Crystal by Beverly Abbott
oil painting
It was in a glass case so the reflections don't help but I love it!

Artist Petya Eutimova-Ivanova
oil on wood

Artist Ken Milan

My Kingfisher paintin,g in the middle, with the other birds in the show

My pastel of The Sleeping Gypsy

I liked just about all of my projects in my art classes but this one especially amused me. We were asked to draw ourselves in works of famous artists, our choice. I always liked the works of French artist Henri Rousseau and knew of his oil painting La Bohmienne endormie (The Sleeping gypsy, 1897) and decided that it could work for me. I used pastel instead of oil painting. I think it's close to 2' by 3'. 
Anyway, maybe it will amuse you too. Or maybe it will inspire you to look for and enjoy Rousseau's painting!

Les Parfums de Rosine - Paris

Another little drawing from my workshop in Paris last year. 

Mourning Doves

Mourning Doves are very common in my area so I took the opportunity to paint a few that I've seen in the landscape close to me. I see them a lot perching on telephone wires and walking around my yard. I often hear their soft lamenting calls. And of course the bird has become known throughout the word as a symbol of peace, a symbol passed down from what seems to be the beginning of time! I thought, a worthy subject for a painting

Paris Be Safe

We pray for peace for the people of France.

Dismal Swamp Art Festival Photos

Here are a few photos from my day at the festival on October 24th. It was a new festival, this being the first year. A fair amount of people attended but I think there will be more in the coming years as people learn about it. It's a pleasant location! The tents were set up along the old road next to the Dismal Swamp Canal in Chesapeake, Virginia. 

Old Benches in Hollywood Cemetary

I love old benches like these. They have so much character. I found these in a cemetary I visited in Richmond, Virginia yesterday.

La Comtesse Golovine

A beautiful painting by Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842) sent to me as a postcard from Paris, much appreciated. There is an exposition of her work at the Grand Palais in Paris until January 2016. Oh, to see her works in person!
I wish my photo was as lovely as the one on the postcard.

Glass Paperweights

When I was in Chicago a few weeks ago, I went to the The Art Institute of Chicago, a very prestigious and well-known museum. There is a gallery there devoted to a collection of paperweights, many French and made with the "millefiori" and lampwork techniques. Here are a few butterflies that I liked. I love the colorful wings. 800 paperweights in this gallery! 

AND SOME OTHERS:

Dismal Swamp Art Festival

I'll be showing my art at this festival on Saturday. It sounds like a fun day and so far, an expected sunny one!
www.dismalswampart.com

I'm one of five d'Art Center artists in this show at a local gallery called Kellam Galleries. It is located in the NEON District of Norfolk and the show is part of Norfolk Visual Arts Week. The work is hung and ready for viewing. The reception is this Wednesday evening and all interested art lovers are invited!

Orange Tree Painting

My mother also enjoyed painting and I have several of her works including this one she painted in oil of an small orange tree. I'm especially fond of it because I know how much she loved this plant and the painting hung in a place I passed by many times a day while I was growing up. I think she captured the warmth of the light from that familiar window perfectly.

A miniature gouache

3 1/2" x 4"

I painted this miniature gouache painting of Kingfishers for an upcoming miniature exhibit. Little paintings take some patience with little brushes!

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

The other day I took some time to visit our local garden and check out the butterfly house and just have a walk around the garden and enjoy the plants and new gardens areas. It lifts the spirits and provides inspiration for new projects! Of course I headed straight for the butterfly garden.
There are picture frames throughout the garden. You can  have your picture taken and then send it to our art museum, the Chrysler Museum, where it becomes part of an exhibit called "Frame Up". That
exhibit is part of another exhibit called "The Artist's Garden: American Impressionism and The Garden Movement, 1887-1920". It's a great exhibit. I would highly recommend seeing it!
http://www.chrysler.org/exhibitions/current/

Nice flowers

Zebra Swallowtail

Butterfly House

garden sculpture

hmmm..

Solarplate Experiment

Recently a friend shared with me her knowledge of etching with solarplates. A solarplate is a light sensitized steel backed polymer material. In my case, I drew my design on a frosted clear glass plate and placed it on the solarplate. Then I placed them in the sun for a short time and after that exposure, I washed the plate with a little water and saw that my image was etched on the solarplate. Very cool!
I wasn't sure how dark to make some parts of my drawing because it was my first solarplate but I am fairly pleased with the results. I like the oil-based ink print better because of the higher contrast but maybe a little more practice with the water-based ink will yield some better results. 
It seems like a great way to make a print with lots of values! I loved drawing it on the frosted glass plate!

Here's the solarplate after the exposure:

Drawing on glass plate

Print from plate with oil -based ink

Print from plate with water-based ink

Hadden Hall - Bakewell Derbyshire, England

One of my favorite visits from my recent UK trip was to Hadden Hall in England. People say that "it's the most perfect English house to survive from t he middle ages". It's in the heart of the Peak District (very beautiful!).  It's 900 years old and gives some great insight into Tudor and Elizabethan architecture. Some of my favorite movies have been filmed here. A cloudy day - so what! The gardens were still magnificent!

Special Phone Booth in Scotland

You can do a lot in this phone booth that I saw in Glen Coe, Scotland!

Good Morning, Sunshine

Black-eyed Susan

2015 UK Trip - Edinburgh Castle

I loved my visit to Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. I think part of it was because it was such a beautiful sunny day. I really enjoy visiting these old buildings. We don't see many in the US!

The Tate Britain Museum in London

I wanted to visit at least one museum when I was in London and this was it! I love this painting. It's so beautiful - the light. It was painted by David Roberts in 1829 and it's The Porch of St. Maclou, Rouen, painted with oil on wood.

Tate Britain Museum

The Porch of St Maclou, Rouen

England and Scotland Adventure #3

Continuing on in London! The next morning we took the underground to the neighborhood where Abbey Road Studios is located and had to walk the famous crossing from the Beatles album cover. This was on our friend's list of things he wanted to do in London and it was interesting and fun to check it out. After some picture-taking there and meeting other Beatle fans, we headed for the neighborhood of Notting Hill, quite quaint! The weather was so perfect, warm and sunny. After lunch in Notting Hill it was time to head for Buckingham Palace and some of the parks in the area. Time was running out and I was anxious to see some of the gardens in the area. It was a great day for walking around! The Queen wasn't available. :-(
Back to the underground and dinner near the hotel. Phew!

Maida Vale station. I liked the design!

Maida Vale

Abbey Road Studios closed due to construction

Art Shop in Notting Hill!!

Notting Hill

Nice restaurant for lunch in Notting Hill

Hyde Park plate designating Diana walkway

Buckingham Palace

St. James Park