Art for Breakfast Blog

Lost Muse

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:35:00 +0000

What do you do when you've lost your muse?

Well, you can sit around being frustrated, depressed and feeling lost. Self analysis doesn't always work and can lead to more frustration. What works best for me is to get off the grid and do something completely different. Really outside the box. At least for me.

I decided I needed something that would take some focus so I wouldn't dwell on what wasn't working. Also, something that would take very little effort, supplies or props. Something that would be creative yet relaxing.

So ...

No, seriously, I mean it DOT, DOT, DOT. A sketch pad, ink, pen and a reference photo I took a couple of years ago of a flower at a friends house. Easy, relaxing, fun and creative. Now, I know some of you may not agree with me and may say I need to have my head examined because I find stippling relaxing, but it worked for me. Stippling may not be your cup of tea, but do something different.

In my case I created, re-focused and wound up with a viable product that can be used for nice little prints or greeting cards. I enjoyed myself so much that I did more than one.

The others can be viewed at Fine Art America and Greeting Card Universe

Grand Canyon Painting from photos

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Well, I don't think you can. Paint the Grand Canyon from photos, that is, without first experiencing the canyon itself in person. I believe this is true with most things or places - people too.

In some cases painting on location is not possible, so you take as many photos as you can and... guess what? Your painting will have more, much more sense of being there than if you had never viewed your subject. This will not take the place of painting on location for some, but it will far exceed painting from photos your friends took on their recent trips.

I think the "art of being there" somehow gives you a different feel for a place than just painting from a photo

A Grand View

11" x 14"

$650.00

Intimacy and the Grand Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000

I recently returned from a trip touring the southwestern part of the US. One of my most memorable moments was, of course, viewing the Grand Canyon.

Ah, the grandeur, the immenseness, the panorama of it all! As a painter I ask myself how can I capture the glory of it on canvas? I've had the pleasure of viewing some wonderful Grand Canyon paintings and have admired the artist's beautiful work, but I don't think anything can capture the majesty of the canyon itself. Therefore, I decided to leave the Grand Canyon paintings to artists much more daring than I and just enjoy the scenery.

By the second day I began to see small intimate areas of the canyon that I think few people remember and some never actually see. Small things such as trees, rocks, those silly squirrels, lizards and many other things that are a part of the canyon and call it home.

Below is a painting of one such scene showing how tenacious life can be "living on the edge".

Standing Alone
12" x 16"
Oil on Linen
$650.00

Fine Art Prints

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:56:00 +0000

Recently I had the opportunity to be in a small show/festival. The weather was not ideal, attendance was off and the economy…well we all know about that.I didn’t have high expectations, but what I didn’t expect was not selling a single original painting. However, I did sell prints. And, they saved the day.

How many artists create a truly wonderful painting, have it sell and then wish they had had prints made?There are many ways to have prints made from your own works. If you are not inclined or have the equipment to do your own, there are other ways.One of my favorites is Fine Art America. You send a high resolution image of your work to them after setting up a free account. They show the listing of your original art.

The best part, however, is their “Print on Demand” service. This costs $30 per year and they are your print broker, so to speak. People see your art on their site and order a print. They handle everything and you get however much you want for your print.You can also order your own prints to keep in inventory at a very reasonable price. You can visit me on Fine Art America at: http://www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/linda-hiller.html

Art Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:03:00 +0000

One of Oklahoma City's largest outdoor art festivals will be this Labor Day weekend on the grounds of Oklahoma City Community College, also known as OCCC. It's a great show and lots of wonderful people come to visit. I've been in it for the last four or five years and it's a wonderful place to meet new and interesting people.

I think I have everything ready to go except for the packing which my husband will do. I'm not organized enough for that part.

It's going to be four long hot days and if I'm still kicking after it's all over I'll let you know how it went.

The Party's Over - Oil on Canvas

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:41:00 +0000

I'm going to show this as a step by step of a painting I just finished. Well actually more like how I started out. I seem to have gotten a little lax on photos toward the end.

This is a 30" x 24" canvas gallery wrapped. I wanted to get some paint on the edges for two reasons. One was to get some color on and to cover the white and the other was to protect the canvas around the corners. This is a grey acrylic.

Next I draw what I am going to paint using a thin mixture of oil paint and turp. At this point I am mainly trying to get my size and placement of the objects. The colors I'm using is not all that important and I'm not looking for any small details.

Here I've gotten a little further along with drawing in my objects and have used the wash to block in my larger masses.

Now that I have my large masses placed where I want them I now want to get rid of the white background. At this point I haven't decided yet on colors, I'm just more or less poking around for values. Still using the thin oil and turp wash. As soon as I get the white of the canvas covered, I'll start working more on values and experimenting with colors. And, get that darned glass stem straightened.

The Party's Over 30" x 24" gallery wrapped canvas $850.00

Poppies - Oil on Board

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Poppies 5" x 7"

I've been so neglectful due to my recent run-in with the scapel, but I think I'm pretty much back on the road to recovery. At least I can type a little better.

This little painting is going to be entered in a local OAG (Oklahoma Art Guild) miniature show. Should be lots of fun. Must run, but I'll be back soon.

Still one handed....

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Still one handed, but I'm trying to look at the humorous side....see my squidoo lense for a few laughs http://www.squidoo.com/one-handed

One-handed

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:53:00 +0000

Silverback
14" x 11" clayboard etching

Let me first say that I have always admired and respected any person that has lived with and overcome any handicap, but never more so than this last week.

Carpel tunnel surgery has left me all but helpless for the next two weeks. Now I'm not looking for sympathy (well, maybe just a little), but I think they should make a person go into training and practice one-handed skills first. Like physical therapy, but prior to the "event". Not only am I typing with one finger, i"m having trouble spelling. How can that be?

Pastel on Suede Board

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:57:00 +0000

Lady of the Mountain

One of the trickier supports for me is suede board. It can sometimes be a challenge because pastel does not adhere very well to the suede.

I like to lay it flat to get the maximum layers of pastel that I want. If I feel the knap is too full I will turn it over and tap it very lightly.

After laying it back flat I may need to tweak or highlight a few places until I'm satisfied with the painting. At that point I will lay the glass directly on top of the painting.

Archival tape will be used to completely surround the glass and painting sealing them together to prevent any movement. The painting is then framed without using a mat.

There are many different way to create pastel paintings. This is just one of the road maps I use to get to where I want to go.

Art Fairs

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sun, 18 May 2008 14:33:00 +0000

I did tell you how much these art festivals will take the punch out of you, didn't I? I must have because I'm just now feeling like I have the energy to blog again. Age could be a problem also. Plus, I'm going to have to have surgery on one of my arms. How depressing. I was so depressed I had to go buy a new car. A Mini Cooper. It's black and silver and if you see me coming - move over!

Now that I have all of that stuff out of the way, I seem to recall mentioning some of the other artists that impressed me while at the show. Cheryl Lockstone was one with her bright and cheerful paintings. Guaranteed to perk you up with out the cost of a car. Go see her www.cherylart.com You will have an enjoyable visit.

Art Fairs and Festivals

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Whew! What a weekend. May Fair Art Festival in Norman, Oklahoma. Pretty nice festival, but I have decided that I may be getting too old for this type of stuff.

It was, however, fun. Best of all was the booth next to us belonging to good friends Elaine and Dan Nealey. They have original hand-turned wood that you would have to see to believe. As a matter of fact you can see it at: http://www.turned2art.com/ They also deservedly won Best of Show.

We both show at 50 Penn Place Art Gallery so I get to see their beautiful work quite often. I will own some one day soon-it's just all so awesome I can't make up my mind.

As soon as I recover more, I'll tell you about some of the other great artists I met at the show.

In Search of Ice

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

This is something I just have to show you. I think this little guy is sooo cute! You can get him on CafePress wearing the t-shirt of the "In Search of Ice" pastel. I will be taking the original to the May Fair Art Show this weekend in Norman, OK.

This is the original painting. He's been a guest here before, but I just had to let you compare him to the little stuffed one at the beginning of the post.

More naked painting

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:33:00 +0000

More demo painting at the Arts Festival this week.

I started out with oil. Right next to us were some woodworkers. The wind was blowing the sawdust was swirling and the woodchips were sticking. I wound up with more texture in my paintings than I planned.

Since I couldn't come out of that with a good oil painting I decided to have fun, so every little kid that came along to "admire" my work I handed them my brush and asked them to help me out just a bit. It was a lot of fun to watch the expresstion on their little faces as they worked on that oil and wood chip painting.

My next two shifts, I wised up and decided to go for revenge. I took my pastels....some really sabre tooth paper.....large sheets......lots of my more inexpensive pastels. I wound up getting two large pastels at least 3/4 done without getting a speck of that dust in my house. Don't know about the woodworkers - they may have taken some pastel dust home with them.

Painting in Public

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:02:00 +0000

Or...as one friend said if she ever wrote a book she would call it "Painting Naked". It bothers her to have people look over her shoulder - even people she knows. I must have been a stripper or something in a past life because it doesn't seem to bother me. I just kind of get in the zone and away I go.

At least that's the way it worked last night when I painted "live" at the Oklahoma Arts Festival. This is the art festival for Oklahoma and it's big and has about a gazillion in attendance. I am there, along with another couple of artist representing Oklahoma Art Guild, OAG for short.

I didn't get juiried in to the show this year so I decided to do the next best thing, go out there get some new members for the Art Guild and do a little "naked painting".

Pastel Portraits

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:05:00 +0000

Now that I have a few minutes, I thought I would bring everyone up to date on the pastel portrait demo that OPS, (that's Oklahoma Pastel Society) had last Monday conpliments of Dennis Parker.

He actually spent most of the time allotted explaining his teaching method and giving us all some great tips. You can see some evidence of that on the edges of the paper on the portrait.

The next photo shows Mitsuno Ishii Reedy (Google her) sketching Dennis. She is one of the most well know portrait artists in this part of the country and her portraits hang in the State Capitol and corporate offices.

At last with about 45 minutes to go Dennis decided he should maybe start getting some color on and stop having fun with the rest of us.

This is the finished portrait! We all had a great time and appreciate his generous time.

Greeting Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:31:00 +0000

The demo went off without a hitch last night - I'm putting togething some pics and a few blow by blow commentary quips which I'll post when I get a little extra time.

In the meantime....have I mentioned lately that Sophie (that's one of my Italian Greyhounds) and I have a Greeting Card Store? Well, take a look....jeez, I hope this works....

Pastel Demo

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:48:00 +0000

There's going to be a wild time in Oklahoma City this Monday evening. Dennis Parker is going to do a pastel demo for the Oklahoma Pastel Society.

For one thing, it's a really wild and fun group. It could be from lack of oxygen because of all the pastel dust. I should know since I'm a past president and I do have my moments of 'pastel dust insanity'.

Another reason it will be fun is because Dennis is a really, really fun person in addition to being a very good artist. Also, he hasn't done a pastel portrait in about twelve years. (and we have a whole front row of hecklers already lined up) He said it makes makes art more exciting when you live on the edge.

Dennis usually paints in oils nowadays but I figure even with pastels and a row of hecklers this portrail will still show his usual talent and ability of observation.

Your can view more of Dennis Parker's art at: http://www.dennisparkerart.com/

And if you're in the area Monday, April 14th 2008 drop by - it's free.
6:30 p.m. Will Rogers Park and Garden Center OKC 3400 NW 36th St

Food and Friends and Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Friendship and Food and Painting - what could be better

My friend Helen is coming over to paint and have lunch. I'm going to fix one of my famous peanut butter sandwiches for us. Hubby says he's even going to give it a 'try'.

Here's my recipe: Get some nice whole grain nutty type bread - you know, the type that's good for you. On one side put a generous smear of organic crunchy peanut butter. On the other slice drizzle a generous amount of honey.

That's almost good enough as is, but hey, I'm not finished yet. On top of the honey side layer on some Nutella. (next to the PB at the grocery - it's Hazelnut and cocoa and smooth and creamy)

Okay, now that you have gooey on both sides, get a handful of dried cranberries and put that on one side or the other and slap the other side on top patting it lightly so that all those yummy little cranberries will stick.
I think most of this is even good for you.

Painting: 20" x 10" on canvas panel. Listed on ABU search lhiller. Pssst...reserve is only $50.00

Opening Party

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:11:00 +0000

And a good time was had by all.....

The Oklahoma Friendly National Show had their Opening Party last night and what a fine party it was! I feel very fortunate in being juried in to this prestigious show. I had a great time visiting with some old friends and making some new ones.

One person I would like to thank regarding the show/party other than my husband who is always very helpful and supportive is Maggie Stiefvater who writes a wonderful blog called http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/ . In one part of her blog yesterday she wrote about how you should be your own best cheerleader. Thanks, Maggie. I got thrown out twice - just kidding.

It does help to be your own best friend.

Pastel - Forever Wild

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:03:00 +0000

Forever Wild

This pastel started out as a demo for one of the art associations here in Oklahoma City. It was more of how I frame my pastels so the details were not added until later. This 20" x 16" painting is now showing at 50 Penn Place Gallery.

I would like this to be a reminder that all living things born on this planet will always be what they were born to be.

Enchantment - Oil on panel....on panel..

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:31:00 +0000

Delivery time.

Oklahoma Friendly National Juried Show. Nice show. Nice people. I'm excited.

I had a bit of stress after being accepted however, because I had not thought about a frame. Hmmm...what to do. I spent a lot of time looking at frames. This type of painting does not lend itself to traditional frames. This, I tell myself is a perfect example of not planning ahead.

A painting of this style should be on a gallery wrap canvas or a panel. "But wait", I say to myself "it is on a panel". But alas, it is only a 3/4" cradled panel......not very classy looking for a show like this. I needed something to really make this painting stand out. So what I did find was a new player in town called Art FX Panels out of Michigan. I'll tell more about these wonderful people in a later post.

This is how I decided to finish it off. The painting itself is on a cradled panel 12" x 16" x 3/4". I put that on the Art FX Panel which is 16" x 20" x 2". I don't know how it will place in the show, but it bumped my creativity process up a notch.

Iguana

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:59:00 +0000

Just finished framing this fellow today, and I think he likes his new home. At least I'm not gonna be the one to chase him out.

This is pastel on Kitty Wallis sanded pastel paper. It's a great paper and it really will grab all the different colors you want to throw at it. What fun!

Choosing the right frame sometimes can be very challenging because the frame can make a painting look very good or very bad. My first thought was silver. I tried a nice pretty antiqued silver - looked okay. Blended well with the colors in the painting picking up the cool colors. The only problem was that instead of a Iguana I had a Chameleon and it didn't show up at all!

I needed something to make this big boy jump off the paper - figuratively speaking, that is. At last my framer said well, I do have this nice piece of molding leftover that might work. Perfect! Right colors, right look, and right price.

So, never give up, that perfect frame is waiting for your painting. I've been looking for this one for nearly a year.

Iguana is 14" x 10.5" framed under Anti-Reflective glass with this beautifully detailed frame that is approximately 4" wide. Priced at $249.00, plus shipping

Blog Review

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:23:00 +0000

In case any of you haven't had a chance to visit the Bold Strokes for Art blog yet, you've missed out on viewing some wonderful art.

This dynamic trio have put together some really great colloraborative paintings. It's amazing how they each can do their own thing and "poof" it all comes together. Take a look. http://www.boldstrokesforart.blogspot.com/

Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Hiller) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:27:00 +0000

Margaret Kessler presents things in a very progressive language to profit the advance painter as well as the beginner. She will give you the motivatition to explore the potential of your palette, to bring atmosphere, emotion and harmony to your work. One of my favorite books!

If you work your way thru this book and using each of the different exercises, it's bound to make you a better painter.