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!!!

Show info

Today I hung my bird paintings. It is nice to see all that work from the past few months finally on the wall! I got to see some of the other artists' work, and it looks like the Summer Mosaic will be an awesome show! So if you have the chance, check it out. Thirty artists have created 50 pieces of work each. Wow!

The Summer Mosaic Show will be at the  Cedar Arts Center in Corning. It is open for viewing July 16-18. No sales are made during this time. 

VIP RECEPTION - July 19 - $70ea
Enjoy an open bar, hors d’oeuvre, and music, as we open the exhibition. You’ll be among special guests who’ll be the first to make selections from 1,500 six-inch square artworks. Artwork sales begin at 5:30 PM. The first 50 guests receive fun gift-bags. VIP ticket holders are invited to return Friday for the Mosaic Bash

Mosaic Bash - July 20 - $40ea
Experience an evening surrounded by talented artists, inspired artwork, lively dancing, delicious food, and refreshing libations.
Guests are encouraged to purchase remaining artwork from one of thirty regional artists. Food is complimentary and your first beverage is free.

New Moon Sale - July 21 & 22
This event is free and open to the public. Purchase any remaining artwork. All remaining work will be de-installed July 23.

I was there for last year's show and it was pretty amazing to see the artwork fly off the walls as soon as sales started! Sales benefit the Cedar Art Center.
Check here for ticket information.

Done!

Last but not least! The final three of 50 are done! 

Downy woodpecker (from a picture by Petra Glorie).

I had trouble deciding which birds to paint next, until co-worker Mashelle showed me some of her pictures. This one of a starling that had fallen out of a nest was just so cute! She put it back in its nest, so hopefully it all turned out well.

The oriole is such a beautiful bird! This summer I saw one in our yard for the very first time.

All these birds will go the Summer Mosaic show in Corning. They will be part of 1500 pieces of art in the show! I'm looking forward to see what everyone has been working on.

Back to painting!

It's been quiet here for a while! Almost a month since my last blog. Time flies when you're having fun! We were away for a couple of weeks for a drive across the country! It's a big country.... We saw so many beautiful places. I can't wait to get started on all the new ideas for paintings. But for right now I'm still working on birds. A couple of these I did before our trip, but did not post yet, so here they are.

This pink flamingo was in a zoo in the Netherlands that I visited with my friend (she provided the picture). It's not complete without the pink flamingo!

This snow owl is in the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge. We visited there earlier in the year. Check it out when you're in the area!

The nuthatch is from a picture by Petra Glorie. Unfortunately the story of the baby birds did not end well in this case. Nature can be cruel, and predators are everywhere.

My son's girlfriend made the picture of the barn swallows. We stood watching them as the parents flew in and out every few minutes. They were flying like acrobats while catching insects around us on the grass field. They are fast! It was fun to watch those beaks pop open at every prospect of food!

I made some bird pictures while in Yellowstone. They were stuffed birds at the information center, but hey, it works. This magpie was one of them. We did see some life ones. They are common in the Netherlands too. 

I thought I had missed this year's peony bloom, but there were still some blooming when we came back. Since they will not wait till I get around to it I painted one right away. The next day they were pretty much gone. I'm glad I grabbed the chance!

A penguin, a hummingbird, a nest, and two doves

My son loves penguins, and said I needed a penguin in this bird collection, so here it is. I gave him a different background than the zoo where the picture was made. 

I believe this nest was made by a house wren. It was build into some outdoor curtains. House wrens will start building just about anywhere. As time went by the nest sagged more and more. The eggs did hatch, but I am not sure if the birds lived. They were gone one day. The nest was just too open and exposed not to be noticed by predators. 

I have a birdhouse that lost its hanger, so I just set it on the deck next to our kitchen window. It did not take long for 2 house wrens to find it. Every once in a while they serenade us. When the window is open it is like they are singing inside. It was so funny to watch them start building! You would think a twig like this would not go through that small hole in the birdhouse, but they are persistent and get it in there after a few tries. So after seeing this I wanted to paint another wren.

These mourning dove babies sat in a nest under the roof overhang of my parents' shed. They just sat there the whole week I was there, watching everybody come and go. My dad said they are back this year and had another two babies. It does answer the question of why you never see baby pigeons. I guess they like to stay at mom and pops for a long time and being tended to.

The reference picture for this hummingbird was made by Petra Glorie. She makes beautiful bird pictures while attending bird banding sessions. Birds are caught, banded, and released. Besides painting the hummingbird, this was good practice in skin colors!

I'm now in the home stretch of these 50 bird paintings! Down into the single digits. Yeah, getting there! It's a good feeling to see them all together. They are looking good.

Swan, egret, Cooper hawk, and a goose

I find that I enjoy painting swans. I finished a large painting of a couple of swans which I will post later. This swan we saw while on a bike trip in the Netherlands. So beautiful!

An egret from Florida; this one was in a bird sanctuary.

Thanks to my co-worker who rescues birds, in this case this Cooper hawk. He wants to get out of there!

Mama goose is keeping a watchful eye out while the babies discover their world. Geese are everywhere these days.