Art and Ale

I painted this bottle cap to bring to the Art and Ale evening at the Red Tornado Gallery in downtown Findlay tonight. The gallery is hosting 3 artists to speak about their art, me being one of them, and presenting 3 different Belgian ales to try. 2 of my favorite things in one place, now if chocolate could be added, that would be the icing on the cake!

I'm not a big fan of public speaking,in fact, I'm not even sure what I'm going to talk about. I wonder if I should jot down some notes or just wing it? I feel so artsy doing a gallery talk, I probably should wear shoes and turn my shirt inside out so it's clean.....wink.

I really do owe Tamera Rooney a big thank you though for introducing me to the Findlay art scene, I've had several opportunities to showcase my art because of her, and so far, none of it benefits her! Perhaps I will just give her the beer cap. (painting, that is)

Poppies in a Pot

To purchase this painting (5x7 oil on stretched canvas, $55) click here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/76396111/poppies-in-a-pot-original-daily-oil

I've been working on 2 large flower paintings for an upcoming show, I decided to paint something quick just so I could feel like I accomplished something.....this on is 5x7 on stretched canvas.

School's Out

Sigh, summer break with the kids all here is proving very challenging for me to stay focused on painting. I'm not able to focus whatsoever when they are all milling about, even though they are all old enough to fend for themselves. This is where I really wish I had a studio somewhere else, but oh well, I'm just going to have to come up with things for them to do.

This week I've been reading some books on oil painting, one by Kevin MacPherson and another called the Art of Oil Painting by Walter Foster publishing. I highly recommend them both but I think I prefer the second one because it has 10 chapters, each featuring a different artists style with several step by step tutorials by each.....I could paint for a year with what's in this book!

I began with some "starts" in Kevin Macpherson's book, the 3 plein air landscapes (above) that are just different viewpoints from my front porch. The idea was to just lay down shapes of color and very little detail.....I divided a 16x20 canvas board into 9 areas, I will post the entire board when completed.

The other tutorial I did was by an artist in the Art of Oil Painting named John Loughlin....I was intantly attracted to his bold bright style, and his New England themed subject matter, so I painted his version of white birches. I really enjoyed the ease that I was able to follow his instructions in the book.

I need to rephotograph it, the blues are showing too dark and the shadow in the trees isn't showing up at all.....hmmm

And the Winner Is........................

Arlene! (randomly selected by my 16 year old son for fairness)..........Thank you all for your comments and visiting my blog,......I think it's way more exciting to give a painting away than selling one, I always wanted to be the "winner"....I'll keep trying! Congrats to Arlene Chipman, please email me at kdukat4@yahoo.com or reply to this post with your email so I can get your address to ship you your sunflower painting! I like the giveaway so much, I think I'll do another soon!

This week has been absolutely crazy for me, notice the lack of any post in the last week! I was suprised by my wonderful boyfriend of 5 years with a new "toy", a red convertible coupe, kind of like I had in high school only so much nicer.....(I had a 1979 rusty Fiat, that I drove all over New Hampshire when I was in my teens....which I sold when I left for the Navy)....Now, with 4 "almost grown" kids later, (and vans, sedans, suv's aside), I got my dream car...The best part of it and a huge surprise for me was the marriage proposal that came with it! I have an incredible fiance who accepts me for the crazy artist that I am!

Phew! As if that wasn't enough, my two oldest boys graduated from high school this week. I am so proud of them both, but most especially for my oldest, Jake, who is autistic, and who has struggled mostly socially his entire school career. I can't thank enough the teachers along the way who knew how to get through to him, and accepted his hugs with affection in return. Good Luck to Jared also, who heads off to college in the fall....it's harder than it looks!!!

Also, after a spring of storms and rain, we had the most glorious week of sun ever, and I was able to plant all my flowers and vegatable garden....it was so nice to see all the farmers out plowing their fields and planting their corn.....it was a close call, as we live in the "bread basket" of America.....

Finally, I have almost all of my daily painting on display in various locations throughout Ohio, the latest being Coffee Amici in Findlay, who has an entire wall devoted to changing exhibits of local artists and generously takes no commissions. If you live in the area, please frequent them for their generosity to the arts. I have been very blessed this year, I'm not quite sure what I've done to deserve it, but I certainly know who to thank. I'm posting a pic of a work in progress that is destined for a show at the end of June. ( I need 5 larger paintings for a wine and art festival in Findlay, so I'm going for a garden/flower theme. This is a peony from my garden....As always, I started out with the brush, and when I became frustrated, switched over to palette knife.....why does the palette knife seem to be my solution to a dead painting....hmmmmmmm time will tell!not a great pic as I took it with my phone)

Painting Giveaway!

Ok, so I've wanted to do a giveaway for awhile now, but honestly wasn't sure what kind of painting to give away...I mean, everyone doesn't like cats or farms or rhubard, right? But for some reason, alot of people seem to like my sunflower, so here it is.....all you have to do is leave a comment on my post, and I will randomly choose a winner on June 9th, a week from now....you don't have to say you like the painting, you can say you detest sunflowers if you want, just comment...or if you're so inclined share away on facebook or twitter.....(oh, and Kathy Cousart, I swear if you win this one, I want some of your luck!)

The sun shines.....and a Sunflower

The rain has finally stopped in Northwest Ohio and for 4 straight days we've had nothing but blue skies and sun! I've been busy in the yard getting the lawn and gardens ready so I haven't had much time to paint....I did finish another version of this weeks weekly challenge of Dreama's kitty cat, and a quick sunflower....Also, was one of 5 randomly selected blogs to be featured on Artists Helping Artists radio show today! http://artistshelpingartistsblog.blogspot.com/ I can't wait to hear any tips they may have for future blog success! To buy the kitty (6x6 oil on 3/8 inch panel) click here I'll be using the sunflower for a giveaway, stay tuned!