Open Studio

For the first time ever I am on the Greater Ithaca Arts Trail; my studio (and of about 40 other artists) will be open the next two weekends (October 5, 6&12, 13) from 11 AM to 5PM. Come on over to see my watercolor and oil paintings. For directions and more information, see Greater Ithaca Art Trail website.

Art Trail members have a group show at the Community Art Partnership on Tioga Street; the opening reception is October 4, 5-8PM during Gallery night.

I also have some of my plein air and studio paintings hanging at Home Green Home on the Ithaca Commons! 

Artist Market

Thank you to all who came out to the Kaleidoscope show in Corning. Wonderful art, music, food, and company. This is a picture of my contribution.

Also a big thank you to everyone who visited the Keuka Arts Festival. It was my first outdoor art festival, and quite an experience. I enjoyed meeting all the people and getting the feedback. The weather was beautiful, although I can't imagine doing this in bad weather! 

I have been trying to get out and do some plein air painting. It is a matter of setting time aside for it, otherwise other things get in the way. This was one very early morning;

There really is nothing like being out there, spending time soaking up the surroundings! 

I'm getting ready for my next event, which is coming up quickly; the Ithaca Artist Market. This is July 19, noon to 8PM at the Farmers Market. It is a wonderful setting, covered, next to the water. 75 artists have been juried in, and there is food and music. So I hope you can come out there!

Upcoming shows

I see I have been neglecting this blog for a while, I have been busy painting however! 

We were in St Martin for 2 weeks and I did a bunch of sketching and a few oil paintings while there. 

I sat on the beach while painting this. The resort by this beach, Orient Beach is still completely destroyed after hurricane Irma. So as long as you don't look behind you the place looks very idyllic.
(I added these paintings to my gallery, you can check them out here).

I have also been busy painting tropical fish. One of these painting will be in the Annual Spring Show "Blue" at the Trumansburg Conservatory. The opening reception is Saturday June 8, 7-9PM.

Another event I will be part of is the Keuka Arts Festival on June 8 and 9. This is a fine art and skilled craft show held annually along the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail in Penn Yan.The event is fee, and will feature live entertainment, food , and activities for families. This will be my first outdoor festival. I got the tent, and I am sorting through paintings and framing. It is quite a project to figure out what to take!

Then on June 15 is the yearly fundraiser for 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning. Kaleidoscope. For the past 2 years artists did 50 paintings each. The set up is different this year, and there where choices of sizes. However fun and challenging it was, I don't know if I would do 50 again! I choose to do 4 panels of 12'x12" each, with coral and tropical fish. Here is nformation about the event.

A little sneak preview of details of the panels;

Animal portraits

A couple of years ago I bought a pile of little 4"x4" canvasses. What was I thinking? I painted a couple of them, but then they just sat in the closet. I am a bit of a junky in collecting art supplies, and really have to downsize. So I made it a goal to use up the canvasses and panels I have before buying more stuff. I finished a couple of 18"x24" sky paintings a few weeks ago, so then it was time to tackle the mini canvasses. I've been wanting to do portraits of our dogs, so I started painting them. From there I went to my son's dogs and cat. Now I am getting requests of people to paint their dogs, and I am looking forward to doing those. 

 This is our beagle, Bitz, a timid old girl. She loves to escape into the woods, specially at night, where we have to chase her and catch her. What an escape artist!

 This is Kibbels, or rather was. She is running around in sunny fields in the sky. 

This is Muddles, our lab mix girl. She is getting a little grey around the muzzle, but acts like she is still a little puppy. After a speedy run outside she just needs a quick nap before she runs again. This look on her face is the bliss-look of being pet, something else she can never get enough of.

 This is Cali, who really thinks she is a big dog ruling them all. She is also super sweet and a snuggle bug.

 Cosmos the cat, soft and cuddly, and plays like a dog.

This is Broc, short for Broccoli. He is always ready to play, and if you throw a ball, you'll be friends forever. He is like a big bear puppy!

So there is our extended family. I'm looking forward to painting more pups!

Some outdoor painting

I guess I am a fair weather plein air painter. The minus and one digit temperatures we have been having have kept me from outdoor painting. Not that I haven't been busy. I completed several pieces this past month. But today I was reminded how much I love to be outdoors with my gear. First thing this morning I headed out into the woods. This is not far away, just the backyard. When I started it was cloudy, but then the sun came out. Glorious!

It's funny how you notice things change when you are in the same spot for a few hours. Beside the light changing from cloudy to sunny, the water changed from a dark blueish tint to more brown as it got warmer and snow melted. My composition started when it was cloudy, otherwise I might have done it different and included sky. As I was painting, a couple of deer came by, cool. It was nice to be out next to the water with the sun warming my back!

 I decided to take full advantage of the nice day and do another painting. This spot is right next to our house.  I liked the contrast of the snow and the spots where it has melted. I tried painting on a canvas sheet. I found it a bit rough, too hard to cover all the white.

Maybe these two paintings will find their way into a larger and more finished piece.

My new toy!

When my husband asked what I wanted for Christmas I said "A wood burning kit." His response: "You don't need another hobby." Well, maybe not, but why ask what I want then? So I did not expect to get one. The first present I opened where pieces of wood. I thought they were coasters. Ok, eh, thanks. Later I unwrapped the wood burning kit, aha! So I've been playing with this new toy, trying out the different attachments and just testing a little of what you can do with it. I literally burned through the pieces of wood I got very quickly. Just playing, freehand, drawing from a couple of photos. I like the sketchy look. I also tried to incorporate the imperfections in the wood in a couple of them. Now to find some more wood to practice on!

 

 I added the name to hide a burn accident :)

In the Cascades

First of all, I still have a handful of bird calendars left, check it out here if you would like one! This lady is included in the calendar. I love this one!

I finished another painting from our trip west, this one Washington State, "In the Cascades" (16x20, wood panel). For this one I used a sketch I had made on site. I am finding that I don't really like to paint from pictures, even though I sometimes use them, and obviously had to in my bird series.

I enjoyed doing this one. The sketch is below, so you can see I just took the basic idea, and went from there. 

This was the actual spot. The painting could have gone different ways. When we were there I really liked the yellow flowers growing between the rocks along the raging river, so that is what I made sure to put in the painting. I loved the time we spent there, and the hike we took!

Merry Christmas!

Poppies and interview

There goes my intention to keep up with this blog! It's already been a month since last post. Time flies!
I've been painting quite a bit. I am currently working on some paintings of our trip out west last summer. There were so many beautiful spots that I would have loved to sit down and paint. Because of time constrains I could not, but I did do a lot of sketching and took tons of pictures. So with the help of these I can still make some paintings.

This is one of them. We saw these California Poppies on San  Juan Island in Washington. We stood there watching this view for a while. I loved seeing these orange beauties!

In other news; I am honored to be Spotlight Artist at Daily Paintworks! That means I am giving away a painting to one lucky winner, and there is a interview on the website. Check out the painting, how to win, and the interview here!

Bird calendar

I put a calendar from a selection of my bird paintings! I like how it came out.

Here is the video to see all pages.

And if you are interested in having one, or maybe gift one to a bird lover, here is the purchase information.

Boot Camp and shows

Two weeks ago I took part in a professional development program organized by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), in partnership with the Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes. The program is called NYSC/NYFA Artists as Entrepreneur Boot Camp. In the three days topics covered were strategic planning, finance, law, marketing, and fundraising. We learned so much through presentations, group work, and discussions. We were lucky to have an awesome supportive group and awesome presenters. This Boot Camp really got us thinking in all the ways we could grow. We bounced ideas off each other and bonded as a group and I feel like I made a lot of new friends! If you get a chance to take this program in the future or something similar in your state, do it!

In other news, here is my latest newsletter with upcoming shows and events:

Craft Fair at the Enfield Valley Grange, Enfield, NY

Saturday, November 17, 9AM-3PM

Craft Fair at the Ithaca First Assembly Church

197 Bostwick Road, Ithaca, NY

Saturday, December 1, 9AM-3PM

I will be there with small paintings, cards, and eco-printed silk scarfs.​ 

​I also have work in the following shows:

State of the Art Gallery's Juried Show, Ithaca, NY

 December 5-30; Opening Reception December 7, 5-8PM

Annual Group Exhibit, School of Music and Arts, Ithaca, NY

December 7-January 25; Opening Reception December 7, 5-8PM

Hope to see you there!

Gratitude

This painting was accepted into the Annual Group Exhibit of the Community School of Music and Art, December 7 through January 25.

I painted this with the help of a facebook photo posted by my friend Kung of her trip west. I was immediately struck by this scene of her standing up there looking into this immense space. In the caption she wrote about her feeling of awe and gratitude: 

"This is the moment that I couldn't explain. I stood still and looked around and all of a sudden my heart was so full. Tears ran down my cheeks. I realized how my heart is full with emotions when I am surrounded by all this natural beauty. This moment made me appreciate how grateful I am to have the opportunity to see this very beautiful place."

I recognize the feeling of the heart overflowing with happiness and gratitude, and I hope you will too!

Adirondacks and Paint Off

We had a couple of short trips to the Adirondacks, and I was able to do some plein air painting. It always feels so good to be out there painting. However challenging, there is nothing better than painting from real life! 

This next one was a few weeks later, as you can see by the colors of the trees. It has been many years since we were in the Adirondacks in peak leaf season, and it was so beautiful! It was cloudy the whole time, but every once in a while the sun peaked out for a second and it looked like the trees were on fire. 

Then there was this painting challenge: the Ithaca Festival held a Paint Off as a fundraiser last evening. Every artist created a painting in 90 minutes (the paintings will be auctioned off at a later date). I had never done anything like this, and I heard from several other artists that they had not either. I thought it would be a good challenge. I decided to do a large version of one of the 50 small sky paintings I did last year. As soon as the signal was given it was game on! Initially I felt nervous about doing this, thinking what if it sucks? But soon after starting I got into the zone, not even noticing much going on around me. People were walking by and stopping to look at artists painting. I usually get very self-conscious, but I was able to ignore that. I am just not good at talking when I am painting. 

This was the result when the 90 minutes was up!

Dogs past and present

Last year I made black walnut ink, and I still have a bunch left. My sister in law had asked for drawings of her dogs past and present. So here they are: Tara, Ziva (their current dog), Tess, and Laki.

It is fun to play around with ink, and good to shake up your usual medium, stepping out of the routine. Drawing this reminded me how much I like ink, and I should do more of this!

Back from The Netherlands

It's been quiet here, I know! I was away, back to my home country of the Netherlands for a bit. I did a few "touristy" things, but mostly spent the time with my family, catching up and just doing fun stuff together. I brought my sketch book, and managed to get a couple of sketches done.

These little roadside chapels are everywhere in the south of the Netherlands. This one is next to the house where I grew up.

The view from across the river. The castle on the right, De Keverberg, is pretty unique. It was destroyed at the end of WW2, and recently restored. They did not just rebuild it as it was, but blend the old with the new. I had my misgivings seeing the building plan. I did not think it could be any good, but now I love how it looks. I think it is beautiful. 

On a side note; my elementary school was to the right of the castle ruins, so that view was part of our lives. We would occasionally sneak up there to play. Plus I got married in the church on the left, so this view always brings back memories.

The walkway next to the river, a very popular place.

"Taking Flight"

I took this painting to the Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery in Corning today. It will be part of the fall member show. I painted this while working on the 50 small bird paintings. At some point I was craving to paint something bigger than a 6"x6", so I did this 24"x36" one. It was a good challenge! Deciding on the composition, the shape of the swans, the different shades of white, and getting it just right did not come easy. I had a couple of reference pictures by photographer Andre Jacobs that I combined into this composition. I do like how the painting came out. I don't think you can see it well in the picture, but it looks like the light is coming through the wings.

Two paintings

We spent some time in the Adirondacks this week. Even though it was a family visit, I got some painting time in. Plein air is hard! I feel like I am hardly ever happy with the final product, but when I have a look at it the next day I usually am at peace with it. And on occasion tweak it a bit. What better way to learn than being out there!

 This spot is so beautiful! I am not sure that I did the mountains in the distance justice (the big one is Whiteface). A couple was getting their wedding pictures taken, so I decided to put them in the painting too. I left the parked cars out. It was a nice couple of hours spent in a beautiful spot!

 The next morning I got up at 6 AM to get my painting kick. The light changes so quickly! One moment there is mist, and the next moment the mist clears and you can see the mountains in the distance.

I love the unexpected sights you might see while painting and being in 1 spot for a few hours. This time it was the river otters! A lot of splashing and 2 heads popped up. I was told it may have been musk rats or beaver, but I'm sticking with river otters!
One or both of these paintings may lead to a bigger studio piece (these are both 9x12" oil on board).

Back to plein air!

Getting ready for the Summer Mosaic took a lot of time the past months. It does feel good to focus on one thing. It was good to have a goal and a deadline. That helps keep me on track. Plus doing a series of paintings like that helps to really push your limit. Now that that is done, the question is "now what." I've been wanting to get back to plein air painting, so I have done a little bit of that. Plus painting birds led to a commission to paint some turkeys. I finished that one. And I just remembered that I promised to do some dog sketches for my sister in law... working on that.  

So for now my next goal is to do as much plein air as I can while the weather is good (I guess I am a fair weather plein air painter only!). I want to make a lot of outdoor sketches so turning them into paintings can keep me busy painting through the winter. I think that is a good goal for the next few months!

Plein air on a nice summer evening. 

It felt good to get back to this! There is nothing better that being outdoors, being in the actual moment, and try to capture what drew you to the scene in the first place.

Artist Market

Thank you to all who came out to the Ithaca Artist Market yesterday. It was a busy, hopping place! Such a nice event to be part of, and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves. Music, food, art, good company, what else can you ask for?! It was wonderful to meet so many people.

A lot of paintings went to good new homes! I will be posting the remaining bird paintings soon in my Daily Paintworks Gallery. 

Shows

The Summer Mosaic Show was great! Wonderful to see everyone's art, and to meet a lot of new people. I'm happy that 8 of my pieces went to new homes!
This week I have been getting ready for the Ithaca Artist Market on Friday; 12-7PM at the Ithaca Farmers Market site (Steamboat Landing). I have taken part in this the past 2 years. It is a beautiful spot, and covered, so always a good place to be, rain or shine. I'll be bringing some of my birds and other works.

I'll be in booth 68. Hope to see you there!!!