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Saturday, December 26, 2020

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Camellias in December

Camellias live up to their reputation of being the queens of winter flowers. They are so pretty and flower for weeks when all else in the garden is quiet. I have this one behind my house. And the sky was so blue the day I took the photo. An added bonus!




Friday, October 30, 2020

Commodore Theater Solarplate

This is my fourth theater solarplate etching. I’ve been working on a series of them that are local for me. It’s sad that they aren’t having their usual fun audiences at this time. I do fear for their livelihood but I try to remain positive that good times will return. It’s definitely a crazy time!

The Commodore Theatre, located in Portsmouth, Virginia, is a restored 1945 Art Deco style motion picture theatre with fine dining available while viewing films. There’s some nice artwork throughout!







Sunday, October 4, 2020

Flamingos in the Garden

A flamingo migration stop at the botanical garden last week.😀 So pink, of course!





Monday, July 20, 2020

Attucks Theater

Last year, after completing my Wells Theater etching, I decided to continue drawing important local theaters to make a series. The next on my list was the Attucks Theater. It was designed by African-American architect Harvey Johnson and showcased a host of legendary performers like Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington and Mamie Smith. It is named in honor of Crispus Attucks, an African-American and the first American patriot to lose his life in the 1770 Boston Massacre. It was a very busy theater until 1953. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and after being restored years later, reopened in 2004.
I’ve had the pleasure to learn a lot of interesting facts about our local theaters!
This is a solar plate etching done from a drawing on glass. 


Monday, June 1, 2020

Goldfinch Painting

I love goldfinch. I see them quite often in my neighborhood but it does seem like there are not as many as before. I sure hope that’s not true😟 This is another of my gouache paintings which is like watercolor but more opaque. When I started making artwork, watercolor and pencil drawing were my favorites but then I got distracted by printmaking! Easy to be distracted.


Saturday, May 9, 2020

Nature Gelli Prints

This week I made a few prints for a Print Day in May 2020 event. I thought that Gelli prints would be  a fun distraction for a day. Usually I am so concerned with details but this time I just let it be more spontaneous. It felt good! Here are a few of them.
Real gelatin can be used to make a plate to paint on but one can also buy something called a Gelli plate which has the same consistency as gelatin and lasts much longer. So that’s what I used.






Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Strawberry Adventure

Nowadays an outing to pick strawberries is a great adventure! I also enjoyed going to get a flat tire fixed a couple of weeks ago. Can you imagine that? It was so strange to see people picking strawberries in masks. I did remove my mask for a short time because the air was so wonderful, cool and fresh. Ah...  There were only a few people about.



I think I understand social distancing now!

Thinking of paintings

More to come :-)

Have a good day

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Seedlings

hmm..hmm...watching seedlings grow.....

I hope they aren't already too tall. Working with the light!

And...I hope they become this! (old photo)
This may be wishful thinking.
The colors of zinnias are so beautiful.


Monday, March 23, 2020

The Lonely Cookie Jar

I couldn't leave the cookie jar empty at a time like this. To me, cookies are a comfort food! This recipe has oats, nuts, peanut butter and berries. Oh, and chocolate, a wholly necessary ingredient! Now I feel a little better.


Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Edvard Munch Exhibit

Our local museum, The Chrysler Museum of Art, is featuring an exhibit of prints from The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. of prints made by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944). Of course, as a printmaker, I was pretty excited to see this show which included many woodblock prints. Who wouldn't know his painting"The Scream" for which he is most famous. I definitely came away with a new understanding of his life!
Also included with this exhibit are 40 lithographs made by a famous printmaker Jim Dine. His Pinocchio series includes 40 lithographs with his own stories for the famous wooden puppet whose nose would grow longer when he lied. I did enjoy seeing these.




PINOCCHIO by Jim Dine


Thursday, February 6, 2020

A Fish Frenzy Screen Print

I made a black and white screen print of fish a few years ago and always felt it needed something else. Recently I was thinking about it and decided a little color might help. So I added some with my gouache paints and this is what I came up with. Don't get dizzy!:-)


7" x 9"

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Cactus vs African Violets

As you can see, I am not a green thumb when it comes to cacti! It's quite sad because I think they are so interesting. It seems like magic when they flower. This one still has some hope as it has already survived for ten years!


African Violets are a different story! Some are from old family members so they're very special. 





Friday, January 3, 2020

Linocut of Rabbits

Now that all the holidays are behind us (phew!) I finally have time to show my recently finished rabbit linocut to go with my series of three animals in a print. The colored background has three separate colors blocks and the black is printed last. I like this affect with the colors and the black together. Maybe I will continue this series...the mind is still contemplating that decision! It's a lot of work carving linoleum but I did find that if I warmed it up on a warming plate (one used for keeping party foods warm) that it was much easier to carve. That linoleum can get pretty stiff!

4 1/2'" x 9"
Printing the Rabbits
Inking and making a mess! There's no way around it.