Kissed by the Sun

This fall has been a season of noticing the wondrous effects of light as the sun kisses first one and then another of nature's treasures.  Ten women have taken the "Kissed by the Sun" classes - it's good to take a creative journey together with others that make their own discoveries.

After sun kissed corn, I created lessons on capturing the autumn glory of color contrasted by white plums of pampas grass.
It's been a joy to keep ahead of the class and paint these subjects to create pass on able lesson hand outs.  Here are the two paintings of autumn glory.

Spider webs appear in the fall.  It's always a surprise to catch one that is illuminated by the sun.  Here are three spider web paintings - each of a different web, using masking or resist to create the web, paint the background, and then remove the masking to reveal the web.

Sun Kissed

Noticing how the sun gently kisses and illuminates whatever it touches, has become a real fascination for me.  So much so that I'm creating paintings and lesson plans for a series of watercolor classes in October.

Sunrises and sunsets are magical moments for catching glimpses of glory reflected.  A few weeks ago I got up before sun rise and headed out with my little Sony point and shoot camera to capture the sun's rays on Indiana corn fields. As I waited on a mound of dirt that elevated me above the tops of the corn, I positioned myself for those first rays with great anticipation.  I was rewarded with some wonderful photos for painting studies.

There was another early morning photo shoot in my little garden, as I watched the sun gently kiss and illuminate the zenias, the hostas, the morning glories and even my tomato plant leaves.

Of course, I have photos of sunsets on the Pacific and sunrises on the Atlantic from this summer - always dramatic.

From time to time I write haiku's to condense and express my thoughts about something.  As I was swimming my laps in the pool, I wrote a haiku that I forgot to write down when I got home.  But I did reconstruct another one.
                  Sun Kissed
Sun rise  sun set  glow
Gent ly kiss ing cre-a-tion
Re veal ing Glo ry.

So, here are some of the paintings I've enjoyed working on trying to capture the essence of the sun's kiss.

Sun Kissed Corn

Sun Kissed Corn 2

Glorious Web

Autumn Blaze

Salisbury Beach Sunrise

Salisbury Beach Sunrise #2 in progress  - trying to capture a bit more of the atmosphere I felt, not as dark as the first one, still in process

Inspired by the Ocean!

This has been a full summer of travel.  I've been to the Pacific Ocean in June and the Atlantic Ocean in August.  The ocean is always a place of beauty and inspiration.  I'm always mesmerized by the waves, the sun, the birds, the changing sky and atmosphere.

The photographer in me tried to capture many of the beautiful changing scenes my eyes saw.  I took well over 400 photos of the oceans alone, (not to mention the ones of family and sites we saw!)

When I came home I wanted to try to capture the essence of the dynamic beauty I'd seen. It seemed the medium to use was pastels.  Pastels are something I've only dabbled in - but enjoy each time I do.  Here are a few paintings inspired by Little Sur, near Cambria, California.  Next, I'd like to paint the Atlantic.

This is not the ocean - it is a sunset in the wake of the boat on Bond Lake, Illinois

Crossing the Chicken Line

Since coming back from France I wanted to paint these French chickens.  They were in one of the hamlets we visited and painted on our trip.  These chickens roost in holes in the ground.  Haven't seen this before.  I'm getting ready for an art exhibit entitled "Crossing the Chicken Line" with a group of artists of faith named "Called to Create."

One evening we discussed what crossing the chicken line meant to each of us.  We all had something in mind that we were hesitant to do, a chicken line to cross.  That evening I shared that planning a second art trip to France was a dream, but with several reservations. These
friends listened to my reservations, asked questions, prayed and encouraged me to move ahead.  I did and the trip happened last June.

So this painting is a wink in the direction of crossing that chicken line to realize a dream.

Painting Peonies

These beauties growing in my son's back yard begged to be painted.  I took several photos but when I was able to get back to paint them "plein air" they were too far gone.  So I pulled up one of the photos on my computer and painted them indoors.  They were so fun to paint!  They have found a new home with a friend who loves peonies and is a beauty herself!

Indiana Now! Exhibit

This painting was chosen to be a part of the Art Museum of Lafayette Indiana's exhibit "Indiana Now!"  The exhibit will be open until the end of August.  Over 500 paintings were submitted from all over Indiana with only 73 chosen.  It is a privilege that my "Winter Morning Star" watercolor was juried into the exhibit.

Originally, I took an early morning photo out of our patio doors during the winter vortex of 2014.  It was bitter cold.  When I opened the patio door, as I do each morning, to check on the weather and the view, the morning moon was hanging just under the morning star (Venus) with the orange cast of the lamplight on the houses behind ours.

This was painted on 200 pound paper and when salt was added to the bottom dark wash of paint, this cloudy cold frost appeared.  It makes me think of the solitary feeling I get when I look at Edward Hopper's "Night Hawks."

Old Dogwood in Springtime

My sister's dogwood tree is aging.  This is probably its last year to bloom.  So I gathered a few branches to capture their beauty knowing next year the tree would be gone.  My morning routine is a cup of coffee, my prayer chair and a centering and journaling time in prayer and with the Scriptures.  This particular morning my routine changed as I enjoyed my coffee and painting dogwoods with a heart filled with gratitude for God's creation and His presence. I'd just read "creation was God's first scripture" and so it is.

Irises in Bloom

While the rose class was happening, the irises in my garden came into bloom.  I could not resist spending a morning sitting in front of the iris bed and painting these beauties. There is absolutely nothing like sitting outdoors, in the fresh air, breezes blowing, sun shining for a relaxing painting experience!

Roses, Roses, and more Roses

Several students asked for a class in painting roses.  So for four weeks 13 women worked on painting dozens of roses using different techniques.  One of my early china painting teachers said that I would not know how to paint a rose until I'd painted 1000 of them.  That was about 40 years ago and I have painted 1000's with great delight.  These paintings were demos from the class.  I still enjoy this inexhaustible subject!

Painting Abstracts

Learning and growing outside of the known to the unknown, is how I feel about painting abstract watercolors.  Recently I've been challenged by observing an art demo by a friend who paints abstracts to jump in and try,  I've also been following a 12 week journaling experience through the book The Artist's Rule,Nurturing Your Creative Soul Through Monastic Wisdom, author Christine Valters Painter. Chapter 7 has a visual art exploration about drawing your inner selves.

So I've been having fun playing with my watercolors in a totally different way.  I do think I'll continue to experiment and see where it takes me!

"Transformation" - my first abstract

Ocean Dreams - my 2nd abstract

"Stellar Earth" - my 3rd abstract

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose

Several people have been asking for a class on painting roses.  So during the month of May, I will be offering a series of four classes on painting roses including technique, composition, rose structure and how to paint on a variety of surfaces, 104 lb weight watercolor paper, and yupo.

Zany Zentangles

I've been enjoying painting Zentangles these days.  I created a 12" x 12" tile zentangle drawn with a sharpie during a Wabash Valley Artists Society demo program given by Jann Wright.  Since then, I created several name cards for my family and friends combining zentangle techniques and watercolor.

Here are a few of the name cards. I also included the meaning of their names.

Re-live Your Summer Vacation!

Here is a great way to keep those summer vacation moments alive in the dead of winter - capture some of your favorite photos in a watercolor, travel journal style.  My series of winter classes begins, Monday afternoon, February 1 and continues each Monday afternoon until Feb 29th.  There is also the opportunity to paint Super Bowl Sunday afternoon creating zentangles!

Details are on the flyer!