Gary Curtis - Watercolor Workshop - May 2014

"Still Life" - Watercolor - 19x12 - May 2014

Gary Curtis Watercolor Workshop -    I received an invitation to participate in Gary Curtis' Watercolor Workshop at the Red Cockerill Gallery.   While that style of painting is not my favorite, I learned some things about watercolor at the workshop.   Gary does beautiful work and is a very patient and deliberate painter.   This is a wooden bowl, book and a silver cup on a wood desk.   I'd say I captured the wood desk, the book and the wooden bowl but I never quite got his silver cup.   Oh well 3 of of 4.   He also showed a tip on painting a dark background.   I obviously didn't follow it.   First mix lots of paint - paint the detail next to the figures in the painting - paint the rest in quick horizontal strokes - then the real secret--take a flat brush and paint in vertical strokes.    You can see that I missed next to the figure and there are some white peeking through.     Figures definitely stand out against a dark background so getting it right is very important.  

Gold Rush in Georgia?

"Gold Mine" - Pastel - 9x13 - May 2014

 

West of Atlanta in Villa Rica there is a Gold Museum with ruins of the gold mine.    There was a Gold Rush in Georgia in the 1820s and it was not just in Dahlonega.    Villa Rica had 19 commercially mining operations.    This location is not far from Villa Rica but you have to look to find it.    I tried three times and the fourth was the charm.   This pastel is a quick study working on the painting composition.    I want to redo this one with different colors.     It is a shady hill overlooking the present day museum.   Definitely want to go back and visit and explore all the grounds.

Ducks in a Row - Pastel - May 2014

"Ducks in a Row" - Pastel - 9x13 - May 2014

 

 

"Ducks in a Row" are really geese but could not resist the name.     My brother was on a golf trip and posted this picture.  I loved it and knew immediately I wanted to paint it.     Trying my best to get back in a routine of painting.   When I first started I painted every day and that is definitely the best.    My goal is 50 new paintings this year from my own photos or original photos given to me by friends.   Maybe I will throw in a plein air or a still life!     While I've done numerous paintings this year at classes, etc, I'm only counting the original ones.    So with that in mind I'm a little behind   I think there are only two.   #1 - "Daffodil Morning" from a photo at Gibbs Gardens in Ballground, GA and #2 "Ducks in a Row" from a golf course that I'm waiting for my brother to name.     I visited the Gold Museum in Villa Rica, GA yesterday and that one is next on the list for #3.  

 

Catching Up on Painting - May 2014

 


Catch Up on Painting May 2014 - The year has flown by.   My life has been a little caotic.   It is good to get back to painting.    I was fortunate to have another Art Show this year in April 2014 at Dog River Library.   Thanks to Douglas County Art Guild.   While I rarely get to go to meetings, I am fortunate to be a member of this group that provides opportunities for local artist to share their work. 

"Christmas Home" - Pastel - 9x13 - December 2013

 "Christmas Home" was inspired by a snowstorm during the 1960s at my childhood home in Beulah Community in Douglasville GA.   While I took some liberties with the photo, it is an idealistic view of my only snowman I remember us making as kids.   It was my 2014 Christmas Card. 




  

"Gibbs Gardens - Daffodil Morning - Pastel - 9x13 - May 2014

Gibbs Gardens is a treasure that I found a couple of years ago when I visited with friends.  Located in Ball Ground in North Georgia it is a beautiful place.    A real treat was a visit I made with friends this spring to see the daffodils.    This painting helped me capture a memory but certainly doesn't do the daffodil hillside justice.    My goal is to get back to my daily painting this year and to have 50 new paintings before I do another show. 

Currently I have three paintings in the Douglas County Art Guild Show at the Cultural Arts Center in Douglasville.   "Shady Path", "Pear" and "Christmas Home"







Dog River Library Art Show - Featured Douglas County Art Guild Artist

April 2014 -  25 paintings were featured in a month long show at the Dog River Public Library, Douglasville, GA.    Paintings included some of my pastel, watercolor and acrylic paintings.    A reception was held on Tuesday, Aptil 22, 2014.    This is a great opportunity that is offered to Douglas County Art Guild members to display their art in a beautiful facility.

November 2013

 "Rooster" - Acrylic - November 2013
This acrylic was painted at Art with a Twist at the Red Cockerill Gallery.   Love the colors.   My granddaughter loves "chickens", so she loved this one.

"Christmas Home" - Pastel - November 2013

For this painting I worked from a couple of photos of our old home on Maroney Mill Rd.   We moved there when I was around 4 or 5 years old and I lived there until I married in 1966.   The snowman was one we built as kids.  It was actually on the far end of the yard and I just took some artistic license to create a better composition.    I will use this one for my Christmas card this year.

Recent Paintings

 "Tennessee Chapel" - Acrylic - October 2013
This painting was done at an Art with a Twist class at the Red Cockerill Gallery.   I was fortunate that I was Ann Cockerill's only student that day so I got a 1-1 class.    It was a fun painting.   We used thick acrylic paint applied with a wadded paper towel to achieve the tree texture.

"Shady Path - 2 " -  Watercolor - June 2013
In 2012 I visited Smith Gilbert Gardens in Kennesaw, Ga.   There was a lovely shady path on the left as you enter the gardens.   I loved the shadows.   I painted a pastel painting of the path and it sold to a fellow art lover at my show last year at the Cultural Arts Center.  I missed the painting and decided to try it again in watercolor.    I entered it in the Red Cockerill Gallery show in August 2013 and it won one of the judges special awards.