My favorite spot in Seattle

Larry and I always try to take the most advantage of a city we visit by seeing just everything we can.

And this Seattle trip was no exception.

We took an early morning stroll through Pike Place Market, heard the song 

of the fish mongers and made sure we didnt miss the flying fish, 

enjoyed the dazzling assorment of flowers on display,

went down Post Alley and The Gum Wall

(ok the gum wall kind of grossed me out)

and up to the top of the Space Needle

(that's 15 minutes I'll never get back)

Took a cruise around the sound on a rare bright and sunny afternoon (now that was fun!)

And watched my husband, the fisherman's, joy as he taught me all about 

The Ship Locks, and Fish Ladders.

But my absolute favorite spot was the Chihuly Museum and Garden.

If you are not familiar with this man and his art, I know you have seen 

his chandeliers in high end hotels and casinos.  

These beauties lay on a lit glass ceiling.

His paintings for glass ideas are stunning on their own. 

Outside and in the garden.

There are not many occassions when I think my trusty Nikon is just not worthy.

Pictures just do not do this place justice.  

What stunning beauty and given my recent obsession with colored glass, very inspiring.

Please visit this video for background on Dale Chihuly 

and see work in progress by himself  and his team.

And of course your own search of the man and his work will be bountiful.

Show Musings

We very much enjoyed our time in Seattle over the long weekend

for the NWWS Exhibition.

Our first treat Friday night was a private tour of the Daniel Smith Factory and I have to say not at all what I expected!  I imagined a large robotic assembly line.

But instead what we found was a relatively small room with a few machines and only nine workers!

Yes that's it for the world famous Daniel Smith product.  Labels are all put on by hand.

John Smith, one of the founding owners graciously shared his time with explainations

and production demos.

As we entered we were asked to sign their "guestbook".

Can you find my name?

There was also a class explaining the mineral origins of their paints.

So interesting!

They would not allow us to take pictures in their production room 

but please visit their short video on this, you will love it and appreciate you paints all the more.

Now Saturday morning through night was a whorlwind of activity.

I will save that for the next post.

"Ripples"

I have been excited about this painting from the minute I spied these ornaments 

on my daughter-in-law's table as a Christmas decoration. (Thank you Jenni!)

These are Shiny Brite vintage ornaments popular in the 1950s.

Another thrift store find.

The spheres with all their colors, scratches, reflections are just luscious to work with!

"Ripples"

Watercolor, 20" x 24"

When I set this scene up for the photo shoot, I climbed up on my ladder, 

looked down and was thrilled at what I saw.  

All the circular crystal on the blue green pattern and cast shadows 

appeared to swim in front of my eyes!  

It had the feel of the image liquifying in front of me leaving the spheres to bob and float 

on the surface creating ripples as in rain drops on a still lake.

(How's THAT for an overactive imagination! haha)

I tried to keep that effect while working. 

All the background blues unify the piece where otherwise the colored spheres may have 

looked spotty on the page.

All the years I spent as a commercial illustrator always help when I organize a composition.

The dishes almost form a gathered circle adding to the theme.

Also I always like to have the image go off the edges of the page in at least two sides.

It just looks more interesting to me and brings the viewer into the scene.

Also if you looked carefully you will see yours truly reflected in most of the spheres.

That strange black rectangle is me up on my ladder holding my camera up while photographing.

 

Actually I found the spheres easy and fun to work with but it was the crystal that near drove me mad!

Its all a puzzel as you lay in one section next to the other.

I had some great news last week!

My painting "Summer Harvest" has been juried into the 

Pennsylvania Watercolor Society International Exhibition.

120 paintings were choosen from over 500 entries representing

34 states and 7 countries.

I will receive my Signature Membership status at the awards ceremony in September.

It has been a fabulous show year for me of which I am very grateful.

I know how tough the competition is for these society shows 

and how very many deserving paintings entered.

"Summer Harvest"

Watercolor, 18" x 24"

Next week I am off to Seattle for the NWWS International Exhibition.

I will post the sights on my Facebook Studio page all week.

Thank you for stopping by!

Show Time!

"Light Reigns" is all dressed up and ready for its trip to Seattle!

I always send these paintings off with a bit of trepidation.

There are so many unfortunate shipping horror stories out there.

But I've shipped a few large paintings at this point and so far so good.

Here you see the painting ready for packing in a float box.

They are so easy for packing and reusable.

I have three in various sizes and have used all of them mutiple times.

Since "Light Reigns" has a more modern feel to it,  I have chosen a simple

 black frame to set off the coloring and composition.

Larry and I will follow out to Seattle shortly for the opening gala reception.

My painting, along with other selected exhibitors, will show in the 

Washington State Convention Center

July 1 through September 30, 2015.

Because NWWS is celebrating its 75th anniversary they have gone all out and are hosting a day of workshops for the particiapting artists along with a vendor convention.

I have four workshops that weekend, one with Brigit O'Conner, which I am over the moon about!

In fact every time I mention the Artists Convention Larry chuckles a little because of

 how excited I am about it.  

Just the thought of meeting so many other artists in the workshops, touring the Dainel Smith facility and the vendors with all their lovely paints, papers and brushes sets my geeky little artist heart all a flutter!

Larry will be salmon fishing while I'm at the convention and we are looking 

forward to visiting all the Seattle sights.

But for now I'm off to the UPS Store and then back to work!

Working Away!

Just dropping by to share my progress so far.

"Ripples" WIP

Watercolor, 22" x 24"

300 lb Cold Press Arches

I am just entralled with the color I have to work with here.

The glowing, the reflections are all facinating to paint!

I am just starting with the shadow work, which along with the cloth,

 are what I'll work on today before moving onto the large plate.

I now have a working title, "Ripples".

Sounds odd but let me explain.

When I first set this still life up I took a ton of photos as I always do.

When I climbed up on my ladder to get an overhead shot I saw an illusion I wasn't expecting.

As I looked down the glass and shadows looked like a water scene with the 

spheres bobbing and floating on top.  

That along with the blue/green/white striped fabric all added to the feel

of water and that ripple effect as when raindrops fall on still water.

A little out there and maybe I'm the only one who will ever see it that way but I'm going with it!

Of course if I can't pull off the effect in the final painting I may change all that :)

So I'm slowly getting there.

Sparkles

I am still working on my sparkley new still life, albeit at a snails pace.

But I am enjoying the subject and the process so no complaints here.

Because my studies are often color saturated it can be challenging to seek out 

the true high and low key areas of the composition.  

To this end, I keep a black and white copy of the set up near by.

This makes it much easier to pick out the highlights and shadows.

The cut crystal bowls are a delicate balance of refracted color from the underlying fabric

and the various twisted planes of the glass.  

But that's exactly why I chose this subject to study.

It may take a while but I do love coming down to my table every morning to have this waiting for me.

I'll finish it…eventually!

In the meantime I have weedy gardens to tame, a shore house to organize and a 

little grandson to get to know.

Meet Henry.

Born May 6, 2015

Have a good Holiday weekend!

A Little Exhibit with Charm

Last night we attended the opening reception of a show in Skippack Village featuring artists from my local art league.  Skippack Village is a little town about 20 minutes west of my house in PA.

A beautiful little place with shops and cafes galore and last night was First Friday.

There was a juggler and various musicians performing on the sidewalks and the shops were all very inviting and quaint.  I loved the shop our art show was featured in.  The art was displayed on scraped, shabby chic old doors within the center of the shop.

Larry and I met interesting artists and patrons alike.

It was the most unusual show I've ever had my work in and I have to say I kind of loved it! 

It was a perfect Spring night for walking around the village and we also enjoyed a great dinner sitting by an open doorway and sipping wine.

Our weekend is off to a great start and I hope yours is too!