WATERCOLORS AND WORDS

RECOMMEND A GOOD ART BOOK

2013-05-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

I have been slowly savoring this new book by Mary Whyte. It is beyond wonderful. Yes, it does have the usual stuff about her tools and what her palette contains. It also contains her triad of colors for painting skin tones. And, of course, it shows many of her paintings. But there is more here than meets the eye. This book is like sitting down and talking to a good friend who also happens to be an artist. She shares her thoughts on the work, the struggle (even she, she says, tears up 1 in 4 paintings!!!), the determination and the joy of being an artist working with people as her subjects.

I love her work even though my style is not like her style. She was born in Ohio, lived and attended art school in Pennsylvania (where she met her husband, Smith Coleman); they moved to South Carolina to open a gallery and framing shop after her battle with cancer in 1991 and he supports her every day, not just by showing her work in his gallery but by making frames for her work that compliment the beauty of painting (I would love to see a show of her paintings in real life).

After reading this, I can't say I learned any new techniques. I'm not a beginner - but if you are, you will learn some new stuff here. But I do feel like I have learned more about Mary Whyte as an artist - how she lives her days, what she works on and how, more about models and most of all, it gave me a feeling of joy to read. She truly loves watercolor - everything about it, including the mistakes! - and it shows in her writing.

If you like her work, you will love this book. It will be a treasured friend on your bookshelf, waiting to give you confidence and support when you need it. I can see myself picking this one up again and reading Chapter Nine: Life as an Artist whenever I need to boost myself up a little or just remind myself that it's not all sweet tea and cake but the work that gets you there in the end.

And I have been working. I just can't show you anything yet. I'm past the planning stage of a full sheet painting for my Viewpoint entry but am still in the drawing on tracing paper stage. I'm taking it slow and easy and trying to not stress but do the work a little every day. I may have something interesting. And Mary says:

"Improving your work takes effort and time. It will not happen in a day, but when you are engaged in an endeavor that truly interests you, there won't be enough days in a week to satisfy your appetite to learn more."

"If you want to get better at doing anything, you must be willing to experience failures. Every seasoned artist I know has done many paintings that were failures...When you make mistakes, you have two choices: Give up or try again."

This life of art is not for sissies!

STRATHMORE ONLINE WORKSHOPS - FREE

2013-05-16T09:11:00.000-04:00

I am enrolled in another Strathmore online workshop. These are great and they are free! They usually last 4-6 weeks and you have a new lesson every week. I am a bit behind - or not - since you can go at your own pace and watch the videos whenever.

This workshop is about learning to draw on toned paper. I bought 2 Strathmore toned sketchbooks for it and some white charcoal. This portrait was done after watching the instructor and is a copy of his. The only drawback I saw while watching this was he didn't show the reference photo or the model while drawing so you just copied his sketching technique until you got approximately what he got. While he was working, I was wondering why he was drawing a garden gnome! ha ha Turns out this is a person who dresses up and does Viking reenactments, hence the hairiness of the model. I don't know if he used a live model or a photo reference since he never said.

Using the toned paper, you just put in your darks and the white charcoal are your lights so the toned paper is your midtones. The next lesson is drawing a male figure and I'll share that one, too, when I get it done.

If your're interested in any online workshops - for free - just click on the link and see what's on offer this time. They have various workshops throughout the year in all kinds of medium and styles. If you don't like what you see this time, get on their mailing list and they'll let you know when others come up.

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

2013-05-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

Proud

Photo by me

LITTLE LANDSCAPE

2013-05-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

Painting this on 300# paper made it easier to paint, I think. The brush can skip over the paper and leave some lights here and there. I still need to return and get some lights in the violet rows but that won't be hard. This was from a PaintMyPhoto challenge for the month of May = painting a complementary landscape. My complements I tried to keep yellow/green and violet. There is even violet in the sky but the photo isn't showing it as much.

A POEM TO BEGIN YOUR WEEK

2013-05-13T09:11:00.000-04:00

Freedom in Ohio

by Jennifer Chang

on my birthday

I want a future

making hammocks

out of figs and accidents.

Or a future quieter

than snow. The leopards

stake out the backyard

and will flee at noon.

My terror is not secret,

but necessary,

as the wild must be,

as Sandhill cranes must

thread the meadow

yet again. Thus, autumn

cautions the cold

and the wild never want

to be wild. So what

to do about the thrum

of my thinking, the dangerous

pawing at the door?

Yesterday has no harmony

with today. I bought

a wool blanket, now shredded

in the yard. I abided by

dwelling, thought nothing

of now. And now?

I'm leopard and crane,

all's fled.

Jennifer says this poem was written on her 35th birthday, just 3 months after she moved to Ohio and heard about a man in Ohio who released his menagerie of 50+ exotic animals and then killed himself. She felt haunted by the sudden perilous freedom of the freed animals whose presence that day was marked by highway signs warning 'Caution Exotic Animals.'

Jennifer says, "The greatest dangers may be the ones we can't see--the rustling in the woods one reporter noted months later that could've been the wind or an ornery tiger, or the wonderful and terrifying future which seems to get remade with every new decision we make."

I'm sure those of us in the Ohio Valley region remember this event and the horrible slaughter of the animals who escaped, knowing no better than to run wild in the suburbs. Don't we all want freedom, even if we cannot illustrate or define what that means?

May you find your freedom!

And kickstart your week with care for all others, 2-legged, 4-legged, winged or gilled.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2013-05-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Photo by Jerry H. Carpenter

If you've got a few minutes, click on my friend Carol's blog and see the latest in her watercolor series of painting her son's portrait every year of his life! What an amazing thing to do. Carol's son will be 27 soon and Carol has painted 26 portraits of him from babyhood to teenage years to adulthood! Here's the link:

http://watercolorcarol.blogspot.com/2013/05/evans-26-year-portrait-watercolor.html

BUSY-NESS

2013-05-11T11:11:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you're all busy. Aren't we all? Getting ready for upcoming shows means either matting and framing your work yourself or sending it out to the framers to do it. I took 2 pieces to Bowman's Framing yesterday to be done and ready for the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor member show coming up soon. We drop off our paintings the last day of May and the show begins June 2nd at The Barn (the Woman's Art Club of Cincinnati in Mariemont) from 1 - 4.
And I have a deadline coming up soon and haven't even painted anything good enough to enter! Yikes! (The deadline for entry into the juried Viewpoint Show is June 1st and I got nothing but an idea.)

And then there are family birthdays (shopping and wrapping and ordering cake), and Mother's Day (I can't tell you what I bought for her since she now reads my blog every day! Sorry, Mom! ha ha) ,
and handymen coming to do some work around the outside of the house (Monday)
and class day (Tuesday) which means a day of cleaning beforehand.

But I still find time to watch the Madrid tennis matches on t.v. (what happened to Roger Federer?? and is this truly the end?),
and finish reading a wonderful book by Rosamund Lupton called Afterwards - what a story! I recommend it (and her previous book, titled Sister). Strong strong women in her books and the inner workings of the mind which is fascinating, especially how she works it into a dreadful scene of heartache and loss and anger. I pass on some of my books to my Mom, so she will be getting this one and some others I've recently read.

How do you spend your days?
Where do your hours go?
How much time do you get for yourself, alone, to read or write; to paint or draw; to plant a garden or take a walk in a park?
Don't forget to read something that stirs you; paint something that makes you happy; write in your journal; or draw something quickly while you talk on the phone. Sit and watch the birds feeding and see if they have babies yet (are they late this year with babies?). Water your garden vegetables or flowers and watch them grow.

Most of all, take time for yourself. And remember, we're all in this together.

BETHESDA NORTH HOSPITAL SHOW

2013-05-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

Sweetie and I drove up through the rain to the Bethesda North Hospital last Tuesday evening. They were having the artist reception for the works put in last September.
For some reason, we were left off the mailing list and I have to keep asking a friend (thanks, Jean!) to tell me what's going on and when. I read my entry form (the copy I kept) to find out how long the pieces are left there and when they are picked up. Seems like they are picked up the same time new work is dropped off - so I guess that will be September of this year.

It was an interesting night. The paintings are all over the place on the first and second floors; our guide had a list of where our paintings/photos were so she took us around to see them hanging. Then we were allowed to walk around, looking for the other works. No map or anything, we just all walked around. The weather (it was pouring down just before we arrived) may have kept some people away but I did see a few people I know and met a pastel artist I admire.

Good food and drink and great desserts (but I was good and only had one - Sweetie had two).

The opening lasted from 6 - 8 and it took almost the whole time to walk around, find all the work and then spend some time snacking and chatting with other artists. It was a fun night but I was disappointed that you can't tell others to go see the artwork because some are in consulting rooms, some in dressing rooms, some in out-of-the-way places you would not be allowed to enter unless you were being treated there at the time. So not an art showing of your work you can invite family and friends to - unless they come with you to the reception.

The top painting was inside a radiology consulting room on the second floor.

The left one was in a hallway on the 2nd floor (both my pieces were on the 2nd floor where the mammograms and sonograms are given).

Jerry's photos were on the 1st floor, one in the lab waiting room and one in a dressing room. He had the sunlit lotus and the great white egret, both of which were some of the best photographs in the show.

I guess it's about being seen by those who are going there for services. Not for telling your friends and family to go there and see the work. I was glad to find out where our pieces were hung. And I was happy that a friend, Susan Grogan, won a purchase award :) And what else are you going to do with paintings hanging on your walls for no one to see but you?

Do you look at the artwork on the walls when you visit a hospital setting? Is any of it original work - or are they just the usual large prints?

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

2013-05-08T09:11:00.000-04:00

Wistful

Photo by me

STUDENT WATERCOLORS

2013-05-07T09:11:00.000-04:00

My students and I have been painting sunflowers from a book of flower references. It was fun and great to be painting sunny things for a few weeks.

These are the finished pieces from

Nancy

and

Linda

Pretty great, yes?

And Linda brought in a finished painting she did of her little doggie and best friend. This one is so precious :)

I think she said her doggie's name is Holly. (Sorry for the reflection in the photo - hard to get away from the lights in the kitchen when I took it.)

Great work, girls!!!!! I am so proud of you and hope you are proud of yourselves.

(They both joined the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society and I'm trying to convince them to put one or two paintings in the upcoming show in June.)

CHALLENGES ONLINE

2013-05-06T09:11:00.001-04:00

The WetCanvas group had a Weekend Drawing Event Saturday and Sunday and since a friend, Li Newton of San Salvador, Bahamas, was hosting, I had to participate! She posted several of her great photos from which to choose and I picked 3 - but only did this one of the peacock. Couldn't resist those blues! And wanted to make it like stained glass behind it.

Thanks, Li, for the great photo of the peacock in all his wonderful plumage!

And the monthly challenge from the group, PaintMyPhoto, is to paint any landscape in the photo albums using complementary colors. I chose this photo (by Mrs. Sue Smith) because of the violet and yellow-green already in it. All I need to do is go back in and add in some darks and define some things a little bit more. I may make the sky a bit more violet, too.

TRAVEL SKETCHES

2013-05-04T09:11:00.000-04:00

Each time I travel, I pack my little Holbein watercolor kit with the very nice palette and water bottle inside, the travel brushes in 3 sizes, and some extra 5 ml Winsor Newton tube paints. I pack something to paint on. Sometimes I even pack my watercolor pencils.

And then I don't use them. I don't take them out of the backpack. I just take my sketchbook (my wonderful Exacompta which is no longer made) and draw - usually with graphite pencils. I only packed 3 hard lead pencils this time so these are just sketches done while looking out on the water.

I guess I shouldn't be disappointed with myself for doing this because I do come back with something I could work on and which might become a painting in the future.

After 3 days and nights with wind and waves, I see in the left top corner that I called this sketch
Free Floating Anxiety! ha ha

Do you pack a lot of art supplies on your travels - and then don't use them?

If you need something to spur you on to draw or paint, WetCanvas is having their regular Weekend Drawing Event (WDE) at their site. Here is the link - you can join for free or just sign in if you are already a member and haven't been over there in a while.
Choose the WDE May 2013 forum and go on from there to find the photos and the place where you post your work.

Also, the PaintMyPhoto challenge for this month is Landscapes!!! You can paint any landscape in the photo library with one stipulation - you have to use complementary colors in the majority of your painting. What fun! You have to be a member to see more than the front page but it's free to join this group, too. Just go here.

And when you need a break, don't forget the Kentucky Derby is running this evening!!! I've already picked out the winner :)

STRATHMORE ONLINE WORKSHOPS

2013-05-03T09:55:00.000-04:00

I forgot, until I got the notice this week, that I had joined (months ago) one of the Strathmore Online Workshops (Workshop 2 just started Tuesday). If you're interested, these are all free. You get plenty of information and videos from the teachers. Depending on the class, it can be very busy with everyone posting and talking - but if you only have time to watch and do the work, you don't have to join in with all the questions and talk and you can work at your own speed.

Here's a link to the latest workshop - drawing on toned paper.

http://www.strathmoreartiststudio.com/

I have some toned Canson Mi Tientes paper I may use until my Strathmore toned journals and white charcoal pencils arrive.

Join in, if you're interested in working on your sketching in dry media.

MORE PHOTOS - APRIL'S PINK MOON

2013-05-02T09:11:00.000-04:00

Last week on Wednesday night we were supposed to see the full moon. I thought it would be gorgeous over the water. But it was a pale, unimpressive thing and then the clouds covered it up.

We had to wait until Thursday night for the really big show - an April (Pink) Moon. And it really was pink! I was like a kid being shown a really neat toy for the first time, telling Sweetie, come here now and take some photos for me!! It had to rise above a pink cloud bank just at the edge of the water and really looked pink when it came up.

And keeping with the pink theme, here were some other pink things we saw during our trip.

A roseate spoonbill at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine. The huge number of alligators they keep there are protectors of the birds, keeping predators away from their eggs and babies, so thousands of egrets, wood storks and roseate spoonbills nest there and raise their young every spring - what a racket they make!!

A beautiful little "pink" ibis at the Jacksonville Zoo (we spent 3 hours there walking around before our flight home that evening).

And everyone's favorite, the elegantly pink flamingoes, swimming towards the shore to get their flamingo food (did you know Purina makes all kinds of animal feed, including flamingo feed that keeps their feather so pink when they are in captivity and can't eat the crustaceans that make them pink in the wild?).

I hope you are having a pink day - pretty, fun and easy-going :)

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

2013-05-01T09:11:00.000-04:00

Blustery

Photo by me off the deck of our condo unit at Crescent Beach, Florida (and yes, that's high tide and the water is coming up on the deck and blowing like crazy - what a roar!)

MORE FLORIDA STUFF

2013-04-30T09:11:00.001-04:00

Sunrise over the Atlantic. Pretty nice - still windy and high tide.

The neighbor's were having a seawall erected around their property - this was two houses down from where we stayed. It wasn't as noisy as I thought it would be because the sound of the waves and wind was loud enough to drown most of the worker's sounds out. They had it done while we were there and there will be one around the place we stayed soon.

It was cool, standing out on the deck and watching the ospreys fishing - they would climb high high high up and then dive down to check out a fish, splashing into the water to catch it, coming up with a large fish in their talons (or not, in the case of one juvenile who didn't seem to get the hang of it yet and was just getting a good dunking most of the time).

He finally decided that if he was going to get a dunking, he might as well come into shore and get a good bath! Looked so ratty. (Sweetie said he was a juvenile osprey and was probably just learning to fish.)

Sweetie tried for a long time to get a close shot of these guys hunting. Whenever he was out on the deck with his camera, they would fly further out over the water.

So, finally, I walked out and onto the beach. Not 5 seconds later, this one flew over top of me, and landed within 5 feet of me at the water's edge. I laughed and pointed for Sweetie to get his camera out with the long lens.

This one flapped around in the water for a while, enjoying himself. Then, up and away back home to dry off.

The ospreys shake off the water after a dive like a dog shaking water from its back.

THE SUNSHINE STATE IN APRIL

2013-04-29T08:29:00.000-04:00

St. Augustine, Florida, is hosting a Picasso exhibit, direct from Spain. It's at the Visitor's Center and they revamped the building just to house the exhibit. It was one of the things on my list for our annual northeastern Florida trip. Sweetie and I were in Florida last week so we drove up to St. Augustine on Monday (April 22). It was a wet and windy day - enough so that the streets were fairly deserted and all the tourists were under cover of the trolleys, riding around the city instead of walking in the rain in a hoodie with the string tied tightly round my face to keep it from blowing off.

We were not allowed to take photos of the exhibit so the lady taking tickets shot this photo of us in front of the first sign.

The exhibit focuses on Picasso's obsession with bullfighting. It includes drawings, lithographs, prints, and even ceramics dealing with bulls, matadors and naked women (of course!). There were several school groups coming in as we left (good timing).

The exhibit runs through May, if you're in the area.

One of the highlights of visiting St. Augustine is entering the Kilwin's shop. Full of caramel apples, chocolate covered delights of all kinds, and ice cream. I had to bring back some salted caramels for my mother (for Mother's Day) and myself; and Sweetie and I shared one of their new delights:

An apple pie caramel apple!
It is a regular caramel apple (with a nice, tart apple under all the rich caramel), then it is dipped in a apple pie dough crunchy covering (tastes like a rich apple pie when you eat it and the apple pie dough keeps the caramel from being so sticky). YUM!!!

This interesting fountain was just outside the Visitor's Center so I had to take a photo.

Here's some information about the fountain.

And then Sweetie had to take a photo of me. I'm calling this one:
One of these things is not the same. :)

You can see it was not weather to have shorts and tees on - jeans, tee shirt and a hoodie for the day. Windy enough for three days (we arrived on Saturday evening), that the wind surfers were having a blast but everyone else was avoiding the beach and blowing mist.

Grey sky, grey water, the only color was in the wind surfers' sails. One very fit guy was doing jumps, spins and trying to turn upside down. He was documenting his efforts because he had on a hard helmet with a video camera on top.

The Sunshine State? Not the first few days!

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE

2013-04-28T08:43:00.000-04:00

Home.
We are home again after a week in Crescent Beach, Florida (the northeastern side, just south of St. Augustine). I'll have new photos coming soon so stay tuned to see and read about the Picasso exhibit, the rookery at the Alligator Farm, the sea and sand :)

Have a wonderful Sunday.
We returned to a wet and very green landscape here at home - beautiful!

A LITTLE SOMETHING

2013-04-26T09:11:00.000-04:00

This is painted on a Strathmore blank watercolor card. Small, but not too bad. Perhaps painting small when working out landscapes may take some of the pressure off and then I can go bigger later. I wish I had made the moon (which you can hardly see) larger in the evening sky.

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

2013-04-24T09:11:00.000-04:00

Fishin'

Photo by Jerry H. Carpenter

REFERENCES

2013-04-22T09:11:00.000-04:00

In order to practice landscapes, one has to have good references - either in reality (outside looking at the scene) or in photographs. Here are a few snaps I took out the bedroom window of the little forest behind our neighbors' houses last week.
(That neighbor's house you see is not the house that keeps the security light on all night - that house is just up the hill a bit, meaning it shines in my windows all night long. I feel like I'm in the Big House and the searchlight is on, looking for Cool Hand Luke!)

I like shadows - I am attracted to strong shadows in anything. The early morning light was making some nice shadows in the first two photos.

Our yard ends at the fenceline. Pretty soon the trees will be even more bloomed out there.

All are possible references for practice paintings. There certainly is enough green to keep me occupied!

And I could just set up outside and try some plein air painting in the comfort of my own back yard? Maybe...if the temperature would go back up to 75F.

This shows a wetter version - after a rainy day.

You don't have to travel far to find potential landscape paintings. Of course, you want to omit a lot of things - like the fence line - or move a few things around to suit yourself. That's the fun of being an artist.

Have a great week! I'll be in my little art room practicing and hope to have something good to show you sooner rather than later. I am returning to my Caw Girl series for a painting that, if it turns out well, I may enter in the upcoming Cincinnati Art Club Viewpoint Show - we'll see.

WHAT A DAY

2013-04-20T11:11:00.000-04:00

What a day yesterday was - so cold and windy I needed my winter coat! It switches daily from 80F to 50F but windy enough that it feels like 40F!

The morning began with the internet not connecting - had to call Cincinnati Bell which has their "help" all in the Philippines. After speaking to a woman who talked so quietly I had a hard time hearing her, I was told I needed to get a new modem. Cincinnati Bell is updating their network - whenever any service is updating anything, the customers have problems. The local Cincinnati Bell store was hopping - and many people were hopping mad!

Anyway, drove to the local store, changed out the old modem for a shiny new one, made sure all the cables were in the box before leaving (this is not my first rodeo!), drove home and Jerry and I drove to meet Jenny (Jerry's oldest daughter) - it was her birthday!!! so we took a present and a card and shared those over lunch. After an hour, we drove home.

And I spent some time figuring out how to get all the new stuff hooked up. It looked so simple, even had a slide show with plenty of information - words and pictures for those of us noncomputer folks who need all the help we can get. Got through the first steps - piece of cake! Then, wait, that light is supposed to be solid green - but it's not. It's solid RED. Not good. Called the store. They said call the service people (apparently all the store does is sell you phones and exchange broken things for new ones).

So another call to Cincinnati Bell - which is really calling the Philippines.

Another call, another service person, this time a man who talked loudly and seemed to get my jokes (the woman this morning did not). He had to do several things on his end and finally got me up and running. YAY!!! Only took about 15 extra minutes. He did ask me if I was aware that Cincinnati Bell is doing updates and maintenance in my area. I said, "Yes, I know. That's why the service was out yesterday."

So...I have had so many things going on this week that I haven't had painting time, but I did get my new Homee/Alvin palette from Cheap Joe's. It's the 24-well version, blue (of course), and seals well for travel - same as my old one which recently gave up the ghost (meaning one of the latches broke off). I just popped the old, filled wells into the new palette and will use the new wells and mixing area for extra. Cool! Love the palette - just the right size to fit into my travel bag and it doesn't leak. And Cheap Joe was having a special where shipping was only $2.95 compared to the usual $8.95.

So life has some bumps along the way, but is, for the most part, pretty darned good. Now, if I could figure out how to shoot out my neighbor's security light they keep on all night long, every night, I'd be a happy camper! But that's another story...

Hope you have a great weekend. Stay safe, wherever you are.

WORKSHOP STRUGGLES

2013-04-19T09:11:00.000-04:00

Here are several small paintings I tried in the Christopher Leeper workshop. I was much too timid with the darks, not mixing enough variety in my greens, not seeing the colors as well as I should. (The top two are all mine - of course, you can probably tell that!)

I really struggled and did enough whining that Chris came over and, after asking my permission (the sign of a good teacher!), took my brush and palette and turned my mess into an evening scene with the shadows stretching out. He even put a night glowing sun behind the trees on the left.

Explaining, as he did so, that every single change affected every other thing in the painting. So much thinking. And I do know this for everything but when it comes to landscapes, well, I am landscape challenged! But I will continue to struggle and practice and someday I will be able to do a decent one - I hope.

And here is my final effort, done at home a few days after the workshop was over and I had recuperated and got some energy and brain power back. Not as horrible as the 1st two versions, but still a bit too timid and tight?

Not going to beat myself up about this. Just something else I need to learn and study and practice before getting comfortable and getting the ideas ingrained in my little head. And every little change effects everything else - not used to painting outside, plein air painting can feel strange and it may take a while to know what to take and what to leave behind. Not painting landscapes, it seems strange to paint them and make my mind work around - I know about composition, value, colors, and shapes but cannot (yet) move that thinking and learning to landscapes for some reason. But I will!

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

2013-04-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

Sunning

Photo by Jerry H. Carpenter

WOMAN'S ART CLUB OF CINCINNATI JURIED SHOW

2013-04-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

The Woman's Art Club of Cincinnati 120th Annual Juried Exhibition - April 7 - 21, 2013. If you want to see some beautiful art in watercolor, pastel, oil, acrylic, sculpture, mixed media and even fabric art, get over to "The Barn" in Mariemont (6980 Cambridge Avenue) and see the show. It is really good. And I'm not just saying that because I got in. And I'm not just saying that because I won an award (although I did!). There were 66 pieces in the show and 17 award-winners.
My painting, Gourds n'Shadows won the F + W Media Watercolor Artist Subscription award (which means I get a year's free Watercolor Artist magazines - and that pretty cool ribbon with a bronze medal thingy on the end).

This show proves that bigger is not always better. Some of the award winners were smaller paintings. This gorgeous pastel (top in the blues and whites) was small and it was wonderful! It made me want to stand in front of it for a long time, taking it all in, feeling the cold of that mountain - and those blues! Oh, be still my heart! It won one of the top 5 awards and was called Denali (by Hannah Beck).

The really nice watercolor underneath Hannah's pastel is by Carolyn Ross Hibbard, and she won the SunEden Artists Gear award.

And the little one in the black frame on the top row was the top award winner (the Joan Cord Award of Excellence) - an oil of flowers called In The Pink by Monica Anne Achberger. Another small and gorgeous painting!

I was pleased to learn that there were 20 watercolors in the show! I love it when we hold our own in show that has oils, pastels, acrylics and mixed media.

Here is how my little painting looked, hanging on the wall. I think it was up a bit too high to see it well, but I didn't voluneer to hang the show so I can't realy complain, can I?

I took my mother over to see the show last Friday. She didn't like mine, saying, "It's a bit odd...." and, "I thought it was going to be a painting of a pumpkin."

If you are in the area any time, do stop by and see the show. It runs until Sunday, April 21st.