Cindy's Painting Adventures

Some thoughts About Cave Painting Art

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sun, 04 May 2014 21:23:00 +0000

This post was inspired by a Facebook posting about new dating on Cave Paintings. This twigged my curiosity and I started to investigate. I read a lot and I viewed many articles on You tube. There was a symposium on there, that I watched that covered many scientific areas on the topic. They claimed artistic input but I saw no sign of that.
The general overview seemed to be that Neanderthals did not produce art and the "modern" humans who did...did it for a spiritual purpose that had an altered state of mind aspects. Seemed rather blanket like for my taste. But these communities seem to like blanket statements. Anything that challenges this view, they tend to dismiss.
Well to be fair, there may well have been a spiritual element to some of the paintings:

These are two in that point, with blown paint over top of hands, and dots on and past the animal outlines could be viewed in that light.

They also seemed to intimate that the style of painting was the same for the various time frames they carbon dated the various images around the various caves to.

Well I do not totally agree with that. There may be some style per age influence that is due to lessons learned over time of doing the paintings, that were passed on, but as a blanket....

These strike me as a variety of artists, with a variety of ability and sophistication of painting knowledge. Some of these paintings are done on a prepared ground, some used the contours of the cave wall as part of the composition. On some of the prepared ground paintings, ghosting of other images appear "behind" the main image. (artists today have problems of covering other images on reused boards, so who is to say this prepared ground is not covering even more images?)

Many of the images also seem to depict scenes that would have been happening in life, that had no need of an altered state to compose.

Some of these images are done on the roof of the caves, not the walls. All are done in dark caves, but some are done in the deepest depths of the caves. The deepest ones in the most "how did they get here" spots; tended to be the more "spiritual" ones. One study I read suggested that this could be to sight deprivation, and the brain created these images that the person wanted to put down, perhaps viewing it as a vision with some meaning. For these, I would probably agree with their interpretation. However,

The more sophisticated images though, are not so deep it seems, and would have required quite a bit of time to make. They also tend to cover only some species of wildlife of the time. Not a lot of day to day stuff. This was noted by this panel that they were animals of significance of some sort. They did not correlate to the findings in the caves of the animals eaten as was first supposed. The panel went further to assure their listeners that these people did not think like we did...how could they? WELL, that was where I really took issue. We are biologically the same but can't think the same way? Have the same brain but do not think the same way? Their evidence...humans, biologically modern humans have been around for 150 to 160 thousand years. Humans have only been producing "art" for 30 to 40 thousand of those years! What event tripped a world wide change into producing art? They are stumped. Some brain change? Some interaction? The altered state was thought to have been the cause of this change too; there was even a discussion on what art was and how our definition of what is art has changed and how it could be applied to art back then. I have an explanation that is dead simple and if they had spoken to artists... they may have got it.

The main thrust of my idea is that ART TAKES TIME.

Back at the beginnings of our origins, survival was an all day all consuming thing! There would not have been time for artistic endeavors; all doings would have been survival driven. They would have been too tired to produce or even think in the artistic line.

There must have come a time though, as the ice age receded, when times got better for humans. 100 plus thousand years ago there was an ice age going on remember. Food and staying warm were the order of the day. This may have inadvertently given rise to some person who may have been bored picking up a stick, that had been burnt and poking at the cave wall one day while confined to the cave for whatever reason. This person may have noticed it left a mark there. What do kids do with chalk or charcoal sticks...they experiment and make more marks. Or for that matter even before that, they may have made marks in the dirt on the floor. The point being, the impulse has always been with us.

How can I say that, what proof do I have for that? The proof are the implements that they made for their survival! It takes a creative turn of mind to come up with the various implements to hunt, fish, make clothes etc. People do not view this as artistic, but it is creative, and creativity is the basis of artistic endeavors. When times are tough, creativity goes to making survival more likely. When times are easier you have the TIME to create paints, painting implements, to even think of making a composition. To experiment, with how to even do it. There was no big bang moment for artistic ability, it was always there. Just with a practical bent.

The cave paintings that we have, date to around the "end" of the nasty bit of the ice age and are in regions where the climate was nicer anyway at this time. They are also in areas that are very easy to survive in. They are is areas where a person would have TIME.

People often tell me that they wish that they had my talent. My response is not flip when I say that everyone has a talent. They do. The varieties of talent are what made our ancestors develop civilizations. Someone who was artistically bent made better fish hooks. Guy comes along wants one, guy #1 says I will make you one if you give me a fish! Trade has now started, civilization has just taken it's first step.

Yup we artists have a lot to answer for and it is probably why over the millennium that when a people were conquered, they were among the ones killed off to keep order. Imagine where we would be now if that had not been done; that instead of killing artistic minds they harnessed them? Boggles the mind!!

Till next time,

Happy painting!

Cindy

Well It is awhile since the Cataracts

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 05:47:00 +0000

I thought I would do an update as to how I am faring with my cataract free eyesight. I now have my new glasses as I mentioned several posts ago. Still are fine with them.
Have I noticed any problems since the surgery? Not really. My eyes still get tired, but in some ways that may not be a bad thing. I tend to be a tunnel vision sort, and won't stop something till I am forced to. So my eyes getting tired is actually a way to save them.
How do I see things?
Very well still. Because I am no longer looking through a haze, I find that I can "see" the lighting on things much more clearly. This then results in my being able to work through a photo reference much better, by this I mean:
Photos tend to really have dark shadows, and blown out lights. Now I am seeing light better, I can paint the proper values for these areas much more easily.

As you can see, details are hard to see in this photo

So, am I still glad I had the surgery? You bet I am!

Till next time

Happy painting!

Some recent paintings

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 02:45:00 +0000

I have been busy at the easel since I finished up the farm books.

I have been working mostly in acrylics lately.

I choose subjects that I find interesting and challenging.

Below is the painting "Frosty Morn" a 7x12 inch acrylic painting.

As you can see it is hot off the press so to speak. These are Bohemian Waxwings, for the birders out there. They have some red around their faces, this makes them different than the Cedar Waxwings. Believe it or not, the reference for this painting was taken from my office window. These guys love Mountain Ash berries and there was a few they had missed from the fall before. The reference was actually taken in April. Poor things. As you can tell it was a very cold night for them and everything got covered in frost, including the birds! I hinted at that fact if you look closely, but was not too obvious about it. I figured not too many people would realize that, as they sleep birds will get frosted as well as the trees!

The one I am working on now is of Burrowing Owls. These little guys are so cute! We see them quite often as we seed and harvest. they will often run along side the drills or the combine headers! Not sure if it the sounds that attracts them, or the bugs and critters in the form of mice that is the attraction. Either way they are fun to watch!

Below is a close up of the one owl I am working on. They can look quite fierce, though they are not much taller than 6 to 8 inches, and often usurp gopher holes!

I will post the finished product when it is done.
Till then, Enjoy the warm weather that has finally....come our way!

Recap of 2013 activities!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 02:26:00 +0000

Hi Everyone!
Been awhile since I was on this blogger. Just too many irons in the fire I guess!
Been busy though.
Health issues got in the way, but I am on the mend and hope to be back at full tilt soon.

2013 was a fantastic year really. Lots of good things happened. I was made a fellow of the American Artists Professional league! That was such an honor. I was juried into many shows, that are listed on my website http://www.goldenkstudio.com

The high point for me was that my husband and I went to Kenya and Tanzania for over two weeks! Lots of driving around. Lots of new experiences. Lots of sightings of the treasures of Africa. Made it even more unbelievable that there are those who would destroy the very thing that would make the countries more prosperous!

Below is the most recent painting I did that was inspired by our trip. He was a gorgeous fellow and was huge. I called this painting "Confidence" It is an acrylic that is 12 x 16.

https://www.facebook.com/cdskeichinger

We were fortunate that we saw all of the "Big Five" as they call them. This would include the Cape buffalo, the Elephants, Leopards, Lions, and Rhinos. We were also lucky to see many other animals such as the cheetah, zebra, wildebeest, and crocodiles to name a few! It was a trip of a lifetime! I am so glad that after 30 years I finally managed to convince my husband to come with me there!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:22:00 +0000

"Morning Silhouette" - 12x21 acrylic

This is the latest off of the easel. I know some will say that it is only a photo effect where you get a silhouette, but when you look into water with bright morning light bouncing off and dazzling the eyes, you really do only see silhouettes. This is just a rough photo of the piece but you get the idea. The challenge of it was to have minimal obvious subject matter, but still make the background interesting. In this case make the water look soothing and calming.
It will appeal to some and not to others. Like any other work. This was at low tide and there were tiny bits of sand showing through the water. Red sand in this case, as we were in PEI. The bird in the back was actually standing on one of these peeps of sand. They are actually Greater Yellowlegs and were wading around in the water looking for breakfast. Nice view to see first thing in the morning!
Till next time.
Cindy

Eye surgery & Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:03:00 +0000

For quite some time I was needing to have my eyes worked on due to cataracts. I was really leary of doing this, as I was worried about how it would impact my painting. Time came though when I needed to do something, as my driving at night became a problem and it was getting harder and harder to see things clearly.

Now for most people I suppose that what I was seeing was fine, but I am a detail freak and like to see every little thing. At anyrate, I decided to bite the bullet and go and see what could be done. Up shot was they were going to replace both eye's lenses, and see if they could correct my severe astigmatism while they were at it.

Really made me nervous, as I had fears of not seeing properly for what I wanted to do. Thing was, I live a half hour out of town, so I need to see well enough to drive, and things had reached a crunch point. So in March I went and had the surgery. Scary... did not sleep the night before and was really nervous.

They did one eye (the worst one) first week, and the other eye the following week. So weird looking out of half a set of glasses for a week. When I went back for the presurgery check up, I was sitting in the room, trying not to worry, and reading the panels on the walls about cataracts. One of them said that there was a colour difference that was seen before and after surgery. I covered my fixed eye and looked at my jeans.... yup they looked the same. Then I covered the unfixed eye and looked at my jeans. Wow!! They were a bright blue!! No way! So I look with the other eye, and compared what I saw to the fixed eye. Sure enough, the fixed eye was seeing colours much more brightly! The unfixed eye made things appear dull, and muted, not to mention slightly blurry. I started to feel better about the surgery.

They checked my eyes to make sure they had an appropriate lens, and them sent me off to have the surgery. I was still nervous, as I knew what was coming at me this time, but all went well. Thing is about cataract surgery, it is an instant fix for seeing more clearly. The other surgeries are not as instantaneous. I walked out seeing more clearly than I had at any time in my life. I had to wait two months for my eyes to settle to get a proper reading perscription, but drug store glasses filled the void. That was great becasue I was taking workshops while all this was going on. Now to be clear... The optometrist said most people would have been happy with the vision of my corrected eyes, but after a bit I noticed that some distances were a little blurry. Remember, I am a detail freak. So, as you need reading glasses no matter what after cataract surgery, and since I had worn glasses since grade two and felt naked without them; I got progressive glasses that were for reading and corrected the last little bit of blurr that the surgery did not correct. I am soooo not a flip back and forth with taking glasses off and the putting them on again for close up stuff. No way! So me and my new glasses are happy campers and I should be able to not have to buy more glasses for ages, or unless I want a different frames.

The painting at the top of this was done post surgery, and I see my detail to my hearts content. My eyes do still tire easily, but that is getting better all the time. I joked with my husband that I would have pre and post surgery pictures that the colour would be a little different. Thing is, that is true to some degree, in that my paintings tend to not be as yellow hued! (On a side note, I mentioned this to my girlfriend; and she replied that her mother had had cataract surgery too. She dropped her Mom home, and when she got home her Mom phoned her and said...."Did you know my dog was white?!" Apparently, she had thought her dog was a light tan colour all those years!)

So for those of you who need eye surgery and are worried about what the results will net as regards to your painting... I say go for it! I have since spoken to other artists that were in my boat, and they are painting away just fine and seeing just fine too. Though they tended to be happy with the flipping glasses thing for close work. But as I say, I'm not overly patient with things like that, and I'm a detail freak.

Till next time!

Seeing clearly!

Cindy

Why Juried Shows?

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 22:16:00 +0000

I am the chair person of Lloydminster's Arts Without Borders Fine Art Shows. One of these is a Juried show. When I have gone around letting people know about our show, and encourage people to enter it; some people have asked me “What is the benefit of entering a juried show?” I have to say, I was stumped for an answer at first. So I gave it some thought. What I came up with is this:

For myself, I am always trying to improve and challenge myself and my art. Entering a juried show, while you do not very often get direct feedback, you do get feedback of a sort. If your work gets in, you can look at your work and see what you did that you think got it noticed and in. If you did not get in, then you compare your work to the ones that did, and try to see what the difference was and try to see the reason. If one of yours made it and another of yours did not, you can compare them and try to figure out the reason for this. It is a gage of sorts, as to if you are on the right track with different elements and skills. You have to be objective about your work, and sometimes getting someone else whose opinion you value, to help with the postmortem will help too. You always have to bear in mind though, that one juried show, is not the be all and end all. The process is subjective, and depends on the mindset of the jurors on that day. What does not suit one set of jurors, will be awesome for another. The trick of the process… is to have a longer column of acceptances than rejections. In that way, you can see if you are improving and or going in the direction that you want to go. Another thing to bear in mind…enter juried shows that suit your work, or have categories for your type of work. No sense in trying to compare your apples to another’s oranges!

If you want to see this year's entires of the Arts Without Borders Juried show, they will be on the website ( www.artswithoutborders.ca ) shortly; or you can go to my facebook page, where they are already posted.

Every year we try to get jurors with National and International standing. They are sent the art images that have signature erased. They pick the placing images, as well as a Best In Show with a prize of $1000, and we also have a public choice of People's Choice award of $500. Deadline for entry is always April 15th, and the Festival is always the 2nd or 3rd week in June. Entry forms are on the website or can be requested from me. Give it a try! We take the without borders thing to heart!

Till next time...

Cindy

Welcome to 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 04:09:00 +0000

Well, the next decade has started. Hard to believe as it flew by so fast. Makes a person wonder if they have enough time to do all that they want to do in their lives. For myself, I think I would need about 3 lifetimes to fit in everything I want to do in just this life. Problem is, I'm sure that in the other lifetimes I would come up with more I want to do, and will still not have enough time.
This is another painting that I have started. One of three on my easels at the moment. I wished I painted more quickly to keep up with what is in my head. There are so many demands on my time, that it can get in the way of what I like best....painting. I have lots of people tell me "you should paint more" then follow it up with something that they really need to have me do. Guess I am just going to have to get mean and say NO.
I like to set myself a challenge with each painting I do. Have something in it that stretches my abilities. This one is light and transparency of leaves, and have it look real. It is getting there, but cartoonism is starting to creep in and I have to kill that. I'll get it, but it may take a bit of thinking on the best way to avoid the cartoon bit.
All the best till next time.
Cindy Sorley-Keichinger

Life Moves On

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:18:00 +0000

It's been a busy few months, to put things mildly! Not a single thing went as planned this year. Not the weather (we were forecast to have a hot dry summer....we got cool and VERY wet) Not the harvest....Harvest is usually done by the end of September....we just started at the END of September. Not becoming a Grandmother....because we nearly lost our grandson! (All is well there now thank goodness!) Who needs to go to Vegas for thrills?! Even in the painting department. I was very fortunate and as a surprise was juried into some heady company via The American Artists Professional league and the International Guild of Realism! I thought I would gird the loins so to speak, and throw my efforts at their feet to see how I rated. I certainly was not expecting to be invited to join! But I was, so a really nice surprise. Makes a person think they are doing something right after all. Had some paintings get into the show in Breckenridge TX and the 82nd Grand National Exhibition in NY, as well as shows closer to home. For all of the twists and turns that this year has thrown at us, it has been a good one so far. Makes a person very thankful to be sure.

I've started a new fox painting...for some reason they always seem to get interrupted...This one by a commission. Actually, I told my client that I would finish this painting and then do hers, but harvest timing makes me not feel right making her wait so long, so the commission is on the go now and this is on hold. Not a totally bad thing in this case. I'm doing this in oil and trying a couple of things with the oil that may not be in the book of techniques. But I'm after an effect and the traditional mode of use won't get it I think. So as I think it through, I'll work on the other one. Henry figures I should do the fox's noses and call it good! I'm not sure I can, with my anal mentality, do that. It needs to become what is in my head first. We'll see how it pans out.

Till next time.

Cindy

Grace on a giant scale!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:29:00 +0000

I just finished this painting and called it "The Ugly Ducklings" I always liked that story, and the young swans definitely would not win any beauty prizes, but grow into the most beautiful of birds.
It was an interesting challenge to get the glow of light on the feathers of the Mother. The white was bright to start with, and to get it to glow in the sun was a little tricky. Especially as the young were also white, but their feathers muted the light and did not glow. Interesting challenge as I said.

These are Trumpeter swans, and often fly over our area on their way north. On the wing you know they are big, but not really. When you see them on the water, they are big, but again you still don't really get it. When you see them with other birds...say geese, then you get a real idea of just how large these beauties are! As you can see below. Those dark birds are Canada geese!

It is really early Spring here as you can see, and just a few days later the whole bunch had continued on thier way North. Going North the Swans do not seem to be in huge flocks, and travel with snow gees and Canada geese; coming south though is a different story. They come in larger groups, most often with the Snow Geese and have many young with them. The young are easy to spot as they tend to still be a grey colour; as well as being just a bit smaller than the full adults. They are also easier to get photos of if they are not with the geese. They are a little more secure in not being shot at usually, unless a hunter can not tell the difference between a goose and a swan. There are hunters of that stripe though.

This coming weekend I will be part of an artisan self guided trail tour, called the Wild Rose Trail. The website is: http://www.kalynacountry.com/wildrosetrail If you are in the area, give it a whirl.

Well, till next time.

Cindy

You never know unless you try...

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 03:45:00 +0000

I was juried into the artist guild of "American Artists Professional League" This week! I'm very honoured to have made it in. I was not sure they would, because it is based in traditional realism work. I mostly work in wildlife, and while I think it is realism, not all people think that way. This group is a branch of the Salmagundi Club in New York. (http://www.americanartistsprofessionalleague.org/ ) They have been instrumental in raising artist paint composition standards and have championed the American artist for american projects so well, they have made it a fact of life. The caliber of work of the members is a little imtimidating, but puts you on your best game. Nothing like seeing the best to inspire a person to better themsleves.
So, as the saying goes..."Nothing ventured, nothing gained" I would never have known what level my work is getting to unless I had tried. So my advice to others would be, give it a try, and you may be surprised by what happens. If not, well, you tried, and that is more than many people do.
Till next time.

Cindy

Can't Believe I got it!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:07:00 +0000

Well another Art Without Borders Art Festival has come to an end for this year. We had a good time and had good attendance to all of the venues, and given recent weather...Good weather!! For my part, (I chair the Juried Art Show) We had beautiful art work that drew a lot of positive comments on the quality of the work on display. The surprising part for me though, was that I won Best Of Show! The picture at the left is my prize winner, called "Fall Hawthorn". I was honoured and pleased about winning, but a tad uncomfortable. I knew, and the jurors knew, it was on the up and up, but my being the chair and the one who fund raised the prize money; it just did not sit well with me to keep the money. So I donated it back to the Festival Society. I'm much happier now. I also disqualified my work from people's choice, when I heard the comments about my entries. (It sounded like I would win that too, so I set about changing that by discouraging people from my pieces) Never was a person so pleased to come 2nd and 3rd for an award with only one place!
The winner of People's Choice Award was Jocelyn Duchek from Amisk Alberta, for her image "Evening Relections", and the Avalon Emerging Artitst Award went to Karen Pedersen of Edmonton Alberta, for her image "Shiny Things". The images from the show are on the Festival Website at: http://www.artswithoutborders.ca/ Take a look at the wonderful art we had on display. Now I can rest for a bit, then I'm getting ready for the summer Art tour I'm part of, and Organizer of; The Wildrose Trail which runs July 24, 25 and 26th from 10am until 8pm. This is a self guided road trip tour of various area artisans and home industry.
Well, I'm off to sit in a COMFORTABLE chair and just relax.
Have a great evening all! Until next time.
Cindy
http://www.goldenkstudio.com/

Problems...and one of those days!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:15:00 +0000

Did you ever haave one of those days... you know the ones, where you wonder what the heck you are doing? Well, on this latest painting, it was like my brain had taken a leave of absence and forgot to let me know about it!
I've painted water a dozen times. Never had a problem, but yesterday...Water? How do you do that? Actually the problem with the water I'm doing now is more the fact that it is very dark, and has low light on it so no sparkles to help make it go into the distance. This time I have to use colour temperature to do the job. Not as easy as you would think with green water! I ended up throwing colours into it that were not there, but which seemed to do the trick. Added warmer colours to the foreground (raw sienna and olive green) and cooler ones to the back ground (ultramarine blue and raw umber). Just for extra kicks I also threw in some pthalo green, paynes grey and some alarzian crimson. Those helped to make the dark streaks I needed to suggest the slight ripples that the birds were making in the water. Need to walk away and work on another painting before I will say that it was a total success. So far though, the verdict is holding. If you hear a scream, you will know it did not work...but I think you are safe!
Until later,
Cindy

Using time to learn about yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:41:00 +0000

To the left is my latest accomplishment, and it is a prime example of using time to learn about oneself. I am working on another painting that I am doing in oil, not my usual mode of operation. Usually it is one painting at a time, but I was on a roll and did not want to waste time waiting for paint to dry. So this little guy was a time filler. It was also an expeeriment in : "How Small can you go?" and still get detail you like. Really a personal challenge to myself. I found I could go small, but need larger to give my hand a break. It was fun doing it, used time to good purpose, and made me realise that yes, I am anal retentive and am proud of it. It showed me I was far happier doing my detail that I like to do, than try to be "looser" as the art elite like to direct us. So I learned a lesson about myself, and will go forward with it. As to the little guy...It is a 7 x 5 inch picture of fall hawthorn berries. Cedar Waxwings love them, as do other birds. Great Wildlife draw. Oh yes! I also used to time to scope out other art shows and competitions I might like to look into! Multitasking....gotta love it!
Till next time.
Cindy

Back, refreshed and Inspired!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Maui is definitley a place to recharge your batteries! So many things to see and do, that are totally relaxing. We went whale watching (for the third time! and actually saw them this time!!!!) We went with the Pacific Whale Foundation's expedition as the funds go towards whale research and the naturalist on board gave us lots of really cool information. For example... did you know whale milk was the consistancy of toothpaste? When you think about it it actually make sence! I wondered how the babies would get the milk while underwater. We were lucky and actually saw a baby that road his mother's nose and back when he was tired. It was so cute. There were two males having a show off session for a female as well, and they made for a spectacular sighting. We saw them off shore from our hotel too....still at it. Boys will be boys no matter their stripes!
There was lots of painting inspiration as well, and I can't wait to get to it. Unfortunately, the real world intrudes and year end has to be done, the tax man has to have his share you know. Still, I have my Maui memories to fall back on!
Till next time.
Cindy

Recharging batteries is always good!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:14:00 +0000

   You know, I wasn't sure that I wanted to take off on a trip...I was in the painting groove and have a busy schedule that was all coming to a head; but despite all of that...I'm glad I went.
   I can't say that going to a desert was really high up on my "to do list", but I did find it interesting. I can honestly say I was surprised by what I saw.
   I did see lots of cacti, (and that in and of itself was interesting for the variety there was in the wild!) I did see lots of dirt and lots of plants that were cool looking but not green and lush...that I expected. What amazed me was the lack of clarity in the air! My area is pretty dry, only 17 inches annually on a good year. But the air here is crystal clear for the most part, the mountains are more so; but still, here the air is pretty clear for a long way. What I found in Arizona was sharply reduced distance visability! While in Phoenix, I assumed it was pollution, but outside of the cities and by the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Sedona, they were not likely to have that problem, but still the clarity was much reduced to what I expected.
Being of a curious mind, I had to try and figure it out. No one seemed to notice it much there, so I'm assuming it is sort of like the Fall here. Here when harvest is going hard core, lots of dust from the combines is in the air. This of course is the one time of the year where it is not so clear. My guess is that being a desert and having breezes and winds, the fine dust of the desert is stirred up into the air and voila! Reduced clarity! It did make for cool sites and inspired all sorts of ideas for future paintings, especially at sunset. (Cliche or what?)
   The Grand Canyon was the highlite of my trip. I've seen it from 30,000 feet in the air, seen shows on it, paintings of it, photos of it, and none of them brings home the massive size and dramtic splendor of it! We hired a helicoptor ride over it (so glad we did that!) First time in one, and what an initiation to the ride and the sights! We were there at a perfect time of day, about 2 hours before dark; so the shadows and lighting were spectacular. I had to think though, that when the early settlers came across to go west; after facing a desert and to be confronted by the canyon; it must have been a "throwing your hands in the air in frustration moment!" Talk about having to make a serious detour! 277 miles worth!
   Anyway, a short trip (7 days fly by) but it did recharge my batteries and provided lots of cool ideas for future paintings and just tons of memories of seeing new things with friends and family.

http://northwestnaturalmoments.blogspot.com/

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:36:00 +0000

http://northwestnaturalmoments.blogspot.com/

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Getting your head into the next project

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:41:00 +0000

   I've heard of artists working on more than one piece at a time. I envy them! It would definitely prevent overload on a particular project, especially if you are having troubles.
   Unfortunately, I am not one of those artists. I guess I'm a little too anal for that. So for me it is one piece at a time. My problem is getting my head out of the last one, to start the next one.
   I find that I need to put the finished one out of site; otherwise I am constantly checking it out looking for goofs to fix. It is definitely a case of "out of sight is out of mind"
   At any rate, I have started my next one. Two cute little kit fox. Their expression was priceless and they were so cute, it demanded a picture. These guys were in a den in the ditch, about 5 of them in total. They were really friendly (much to their mom's dismay I imagine) They made for easy "photo ops". Got lots of shots. Good thing as their Mom moved them about 2 weeks later.
    I'm hoping I can capture thier facial expressions, which really makes the picture I have in my head.
Till next time.
Cindy

Carving out time can be done!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Life can definitely be busy, especially if you are married, have kids, a job, a husband who works from home, and you still try and paint. My personal opinion is that it is even tougher for female artists to carve out time to do what they love, because socially and practically it is usually her that everyone turns to for this that and the other. There are some situations where that may not be the case, but in general, females are conditioned to be the go to person in the home.
In my particular instance, we are large grain farmers and my share of that is bookkeeping, payroll, and chief cook and bottle washer for a harvest crew of about 25 people. We provide 2 full hot meals a day for this lot. "Safeway" loves me at this time of year. At the end of the day, I find as I get older, I get more tired, than when I was younger. But even so I manage to carve out time for my painting. After I wind down from the cooking, at about 9 pm I will start painting. I have daylight bulbs in my studio. Some days it is a real push to go paint, but the neat thing about it is that once I start, I forget I'm tired. This is "me" time, and I'm doing something I love to do. Not to mention, by this time the phone has stopped, the 2 way radio demands stop, and no one is in the house! Heaven! As a result I managed to finish my "Bridal pair" painting and have started another. So take it from me, if you really want to, it is possible to carve out painting time. Just view it as "me" time, and enjoy the benifits, of stress falling away as you do what you love!

Till next time
Cindy

Getting Validation that you are on the Right Track!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Painting can be a lonely business at times. You paint because you love too, or are compelled to, or a combination of both. However a person does worry if they are going about things in a manner that is always getting better. You wonder how you are viewed by other artists, or if you should just pack it in because you are deluding yourself that you have any talent at all.

I don't think there is an artist alive who has not wondered about that at some point or other. Well this past week I was surprised (because I did not think I was good enough) and honoured to be invited to join Artists For Conservation.

I'd been sitting on the fence about trying to join for a couple of years, but was not brave enough. However both my Husband and daughter encouraged me to try. As they say nothing ventured nothing gained. So I did, and Voila! My timing was great; so I did not have to stew too long, and I was accepted!

Guess I have more going for me than I thought!

So to all of you out there who wonder, go for broke, try for a group who juries it's membership, and view it as a test to how well you are doing on your journey. A little positive reinforcement never hurt anyone's ego!

Check out the logo I now get to use! It is a direct link to the Artists For Conservation Website, Try it and check out all the wonderful members of this group who believes in giving back somthing to the Natural world.

A Note to self for Next Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:41:00 +0000

I have been painting long enough now, that you would think that I would remember a few basics! I'll blame it on being too busy, but I did manage to forget an important detail.
If you have visited my website (http://www.goldenkstudio.com/ ) you will have noticed I am a bit of a detail freak. I love putting in detail. I have tried to be "looser" in my painting, but invariably fall back to the detail. This is one of the reason I generally paint on masonite or MDF if I use acrylic or canvass with oil, or illustration board for my gouache paintings.
The reasons are fairly obvious...oil, I can't manage the level of detail I do in acrylic, so I use canvass. Gouache tends to sit "lightly" on canvass or MDF... result, I use absorbant illustration board. Acrylic I like detail, so the smooth surface of MDF or masonite is ideal. Close to 20 years of painting, you would think I would remember these points.
Well the painting "Bridal Pair" is acrylic, but I'm doing it on canvass. The only saving grace for me...fur on deer is not heavily textured; so I can "fudge" that it is not as detailed as I would normally do. Really notice in the faces.

So for those of you who plan to start a painting...think of the detail level you plan to put in the painting, and choose your substrate accordingly! Note the face of the deer.

Till next time!

Cindy Sorley-Keichinger

Working the kinks out

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:33:00 +0000

I think I mentioned before that antlers are as individual as hands. Well after consulting with friends, hunters, the Internet, and my own observations; I ended up using my hands as models for 3/4 view antlers.

Some things I learned about antlers...Whitetail antlers at least...even a trophy set of antlers have two little guys up front and a further 4 prongs further out on the wrack. These can vary in length and thickness. A young buck will have dainty thin with only 2 prongs on his wrack. A mature buck will have the full 4 that are thick and robust.

Now there are some out there who may say that "I've seen buck with 5 or 6 prongs besides the initial 2", but from what I've found out, that generally means they have a fork on the end prong, or they are an atypical set of antlers. (And trust me atypical can get pretty out there in the prong department!)

In the end I had to use my best judgement, had a photo as a guide but ended up using my hands held in an antler manner to get the view of the antlers I wanted.

Sounds very strange I know, but hands are roughly shaped in the same manner as a wrack of antlers (and wing tips, but that is another story).

I've also changed the position of the bucks legs from before. The first set up sort of made me twitch. Could not figure out why until I noticed that my buck was about to trample my doe. Now he walks past her. Amazing how relaxed you can get when the twitch factor of a picture is removed!

Many of the in between steps on this picture are now posted on my website. If you are interested, take a look.

Ciao till next time.

Cindy Sorley-Keichinger

Making a painting to spec!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindy Sorley-Keichinger) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Who knew that when I offered to make a painting for my Son's wedding, the challenges it would present! My first clue should have been when I got the answer to..."What do you want in it?"

Answer..."A Doe and a Buck (with really large antlers), a fall scene, water, trees, the deer on a rise, sunset, fall lighting, and they threw a combine in just for good measure! I drew the line at the combine; but to fit it all together so they would like it and so would I? Wow!

Took ages to come up with something that they would like and that I wanted to paint. Finally did though, but let me tell you, I know more about Whitetail Deer antlers, than I care to know.

Did you know that when you really get looking they are as individual as people's hands? I didn't, but do now. Some are narrow and point up, some are wide and elegant, some are between the two. It goes on and on.

I'm about 3/4 done now and have finally started on the Buck. I procrastinated big time on that. Total by gosh and by golly as all my reference photos were of doe deer, or antlerless bucks!

Getting there though. Above is the early stages of this challenge. We'll see how the next stages go!