A little more spring

I had some more fun this week working on another tulip painting. This one is a close up into the cup of a pink tuilip. Oil again on gessoed board. I used a quin red which makes a very bubblegum pink. I learned a good lesson on this one. When I painted the leaves they turned out quite garish, much to green. I have always read that if you place a glaze of a complementary color over another you can tone down a color. Tried this on the green green leaves and it worked perfectly. That red glaze on the greens is totally invisible as red but has made the leaves the perfect complement to the very pink tulip.

Happy Spring

On Friday afternoons, some friends and I get together to either work on our projects or learn something new. Eileen Hinz helped us learn how to do Ukrainian Easter Egg painting this week.  Here are mine set up in a nice basket that Eileen brought in . 

The black, yellow and orange egg, I call my aborigine egg because of all the dots. The dye baths were yellow, red and then blue. the lighter egg is a blue bath with a second bath of yellow over the blue. I thought I would get a darker green but ended up with the lime green. Really a nice springy combination, I think. The one that is white is a blank egg for comparison. ;-)   It was fun to see what the different color baths did to create new and unusual colors. 

Eileen really did a good job of letting us use our own creativity to come up with designs and colors. She is a good teacher, encouraging and complementary to our efforts, which were pretty crude. She tells us that this can be a meditative art. The artist has to take time to draw the designs with melted bees wax, and make each quarter of the egg the same as the others, then cover over colors you want to stay. Needless to say, it takes concentration. I enjoyed the process but would need to slow myself down a lot more than I did on Friday afternoon to reach the meditative state. Miss Impatient is my name.  

BTW-- I got my birthday present on Saturday. Dan and I finally painted our bedroom after 23 years as a pale blue with pink tulips stenciled around the top of the walls. It is a beautiful warm creamy yellow with an accent wall of a light cinnamon. It is just beautiful. Thanks so much to my dear Dan. Smack!

Passion Week starts with today, Palm Sunday, the day I was born. The birthday is on Tuesday this year. A busy week. I need to work on my new commission. Hope to have it done for Easter. Wish me creativity.

A birthday gift

It feels funny to have my show up and no deadline hanging out there to meet. This week I made my MIL's birthday my deadline. Like a lot of elderly ladies, she really does not need another knick knack. I decided a spring like painting would cheer her up. Here are her tulips. 11x14 canvas with oils. I have really enjoyed the little painting I have done with oils this spring. They are so much easier to work with than acrylics when you want to blend and shade. just like everyone kept telling me. Well I have a good supply of oils, acrylics and watercolors so when I want to switch up my medium I can without any problems.

Mom's Tulips

I participate in an online forum called WetCanvas. The acrylic forum had a challenge for it's painters. A high res photo is posted and then the challenge is to paint it and then post your painting. The people on Wet Canvas are so friendly, talented and willing to help with good criticisms. I have been a member since 2002. A long time in the internet world. What do you think?

Eggs all washed and ready to boil for Easter colors.

I have more tulips to paint for next week. See you later.

Work this week

I did this quick little magnolia (from a photo) just to do a flower painting . This is 8x10 on canvas in oil.

I have been trying to get my oil painting skills brushed up because I hope to be outside with plein air soon. I really am looking forward to warm spring sunshine. This week it has rained and rained---we are not complaining though just a little colder and we would have been up to our ears in snow drifts again. As it is the snow is going away. We can drive and walk without slipping around.

More blue glass this time without the kooky fish :-). "Winter Blues" also in oil, 16x20 on canvas.  One viewer thought that the back ground was too light. I had hoped to catch that overbright glowing light when there is lots of snow on the ground reflecting into a window.  I like the oil for it's blending properties. I could not get that cool turquoise with the brand of thalo blue that I got in the first Blue Fish painting. It  did give me that nice deep blue that I need in the shadows but the turquoise was much softer and not as intense as with the acrylic paint. 

Since I am an impatient painter (there fore love acrylics) and manage to get my fingers in wet oil paint no matter how long I wait, I decided to use Liquitex Cobalt Siccative medium. I can get my blending done and make corrections without waiting days. Love the stuff but clean up is hard. When the paint drys on the pallet it is almost impossible to scrap off. Luckily, I use the back side of old laminated posters for my palette cover and when it is too dirty I just throw it away. So far this winter I have not yet had to change the cover but with the oil siccative that is going to change in another painting or two in oil.

Done with this post--on to more oil painting.

Show is up!

First Floor Display at Landkamer Building. I put all my chrome here, since there were fewer of those paintings. Dan suggested putting up the Lanesboro Trail picture (left) to show the two styles I hung for this show.

This photo is the second floor hallway. The photo doesn't show the whole hallway. Trees first, then water, then sunsets and finally my fun ones from Italy. Photos of all the paintings I hung are in my previous posts on my Bittersweet Arts blog.

My goal to have plenty of new paintings for a one person show was met. I really am one of those people who need a goal to work toward. So last Monday, Dan and I went to the Landkamer building and put up my 17 new paintings on the walls of the hallways. Now that they are up and available for all to see, I feel a little let down. A normal reaction to months of work.

I named my show "Split Personality, One Artist, Two Styles" Here is  my artist's statement.


Mankato native, Margie Larson, studied art at Mankato State College where she graduated with a degree in Art Education.  She painted off and on while raising her two sons. After retirement from 20 years at Minnesota State University, she has started a new career as a full time artist. Her studio is in the Emy Frentz Art Guild at 253 South Second Street in down town Mankato. 


One Artist--------------Two Styles
Chrome  
Chrome has a special appeal to Margie. For many years, she and her husband, Dan, have traveled all over the United States to car shows where Dan showed his street rods and Margie spent time admiring the chrome details of the cars. The paintings on the first floor are hard edged, with sharp colors and reflect the characteristics of chrome.
Landscapes 
Margie leans toward landscapes when it comes to favorite painting topics (see the second floor display). In 2005 she was privileged to travel to Italy on a painting retreat with artist, Ann K. Lindsay. Many of the landscapes on the second floor are painted from photos taken on that trip. These paintings are warm, organic and natural and use a soft blended style


This Split Personality exhibit in the Landkamer Building is dejá vu for Margie. The first position she held after gradation from college was selling furniture in this very building for the Landkamer brothers. A good job which taught her much about communication with people. There are many great memories here.

 "Oh my gosh! I forgot to sign the paintings!"

I was in such a focused mode when painting all these for the show that I forgot to sign many of the paintings. Here I am on the day after hanging, signing one of my landscapes from Italy. Dan got a kick out of my typical absent minded artist mode.

Hoping to get more people interested in my paintings, I put a booklet in a holder near the statement for signatures, email addys and comments. I will give away a packet of greeting cards made from images of my paintings for a lucky three people. I would (sneakily) also have email addresses to add to a contact list of interested people. So far................only one person has signed the book! YIKES  They caught on to my master plan!

Now on to my next deadline. More chrome hood ornaments needed and maybe some prints made from those for a sale in June that I have committed myself to.