Full workshops and SNOW!

Hardworking students-sunny, cold morning!

 You have to follow this link http://picasaweb.google.com/ipaintportraits/Dec4ARTCLASS?feat=directlink

to see ALL the photos that we took Dec 4 in our two workshops but read on and see how our day progressed!

The view from the Studio porch around 2:30 pm!

We had such a great time in our workshops! It started off sunny and cold and all the students worked in our naturally lighted studio. They did an amazing job. Ranging in age from 10 to 60 something, they all slipped into the art zone with no effort. A two hour limit forces most people (especially newcomers) to work outside their normal comfort zone! After all-many were totally new to this! But, undaunted they worked through their challenges and what a group of paintings!

Congratulations all!

And just think, our next workshop on Dec 18 is all about painting SNOW!

Further progress on the oil

Another day of progress in completing this oil! People have told me that they enjoy seeing the children emerge....it was Michaelangelo , who, when asked about his marble sculptures, commented that inside every large chunk of marble was a person waiting to emerge......sounds right!

But is not just this portrait that I am completing. I will be delivering an pastel today of a little girl and her horse which I will post after Christmas as it is a surprise! And I have a dozen more commissions to complete.

More progress on 30 x 40 oil

This, by the way, is the real life of an artist. Work. And if you are not creating your art for your clients, you are going out and finding it! That's how all businesses operate. LOL which is why I am behind in getting out my newsletters! I'm picking my challenges :-)

I will deliver a portrait today, paint more on this, work more on some of my other orders and get ready for art mini workshops in our studio tomorrow!. Yikes, it will be only in the 40's but with 15 attendees for each of the two classes, Steve and I will be spending the evening...LOL straightening the house and studio...OK maybe I'm feeling just a little pressure........:-)

Working on the oil for Christmas!

This large, 30 x 40 oil is for Christmas and since I am right handed, I work it in stages from left to right! Many artists work all over the canvas and often I do too, but with a Christmas deadline, the children are being created first and the background (scene from their porch) will be painted in with muted and soft focus detail!

People do love to see it in this stage and I am glad to show it. But I usually wait until all the faces are done before the client sees the portrait so they get a  complete feel for the expressions, rather than a partial one!  Any changes are then easier! 
The canvas has shadows from the backlight of the window.

It gets crazier!

Oh my, Thanksgiving came and went and I am thinking only of how behind I am! Running a business of any type requires self motivation and above all, discipline....OK maybe I shouldn't have played 5 games of Spider Solitaire, but I was determined to beat the thing!

I am painting, painting and Thank God that if I have anything to whine about, it is only being busy!

So what have I been doing?

Well first let me say that we hiked NC mountains Thanksgiving Day in Brevard! A beautiful day (started with rain) and my son was with us...many families enjoying the great outdoors in this land of the waterfalls!  

So I have added a photo of the stunning Triple Falls in DuPont Forest and one of my latest pastel cameos. Enjoy! Now, back to my studio!

9 x 11 cameo Christmas portrait

Triple Falls, Brevard, NC

Crazy artist week..wait, that's real life!

This promises to be one of those crazy weeks that . Steve and I have the evening seminars at the Art of the Carolinas  Nov 11, 12 and 13 and what possessed me to agree to demonstrate a brand of acrylic paints (all day) for 3 days is beyond me! Steve will be at the Duke  show with our art booth while I am at the Hilton in Raleigh.....whew...wonder where I can change my clothes?
Meanwhile I am trying to reschedule my teen art class  to avoid a conflict this week.....and heading to the Gallery that I partner with this morning to meet two clients, stopping at the bank, the post office .....oh yeah, the early Thanksgiving on Sunday for a son flying out Tuesday to Job Corp......wonder if they'll actually get the turkey into the oven?......LOL and I HAVE to start on that large family  oil painting, finish the smaller orders.......we even managed to get our custom Xmas cards printed and ready to mail out early this year (as in before Xmas)  but we need to hand address them all......did I mention getting out the newsletters to all of our clients and friends....oh, and I have to trim the hair off the Cockapoo...meet with the guys to finish the "we're in the middle" bathroom makeover of 3 months.......I think I started to say something about an overwhelming  week but in fact it's sort of typical (with the exception maybe of the workshops) of the real life that all artists cope with !

That's why so many of the art marketing sites on the Internet are so....unreal :-). From what we have seen, Very few, if any,  are written or presented by artists who are creating art as well as selling it....they fill their sites with tidbits from here and there, from many artists and so seem to have missed that essential element of real life as we all know it....living the day to day life that we all know and yet creating art within that same context. THAT is what the "real" artist's life is all about!
So regardless of where you are in your own world of art, stick with it! Embrace it and enjoy it. As overwhelming as some days or weeks may be, how you handle the challenges of real life as a working artist is what separates the artists who want to market their art from those who simply think about it!

LOVE the time change-I feel like I'm not starting in the middle of the night!

Cameo pastels

This charming little girl was created in pastel and is one of my popular "cameo" sizes.
That means they are usually around 9 x 12 in size with one subject.
Super popular at Christmas as gifts!

Her grandmother had sent me a number of photos and as usual, some were great for a portrait and others were simply cute photos !

Here comes the Bride!

This 24 x 36 oil of a lovely bride-to-be was completed in record time for one of my oils! The bridal dress did not arrive until 2 months before the wedding and I hurried to the home to get the photography handled :-)
I completed the portrait using the expression from one photo and the body pose from another....the bouquet and what it actually would look like was a very last minute  decision but finally, she's completed, the clients are delighted and life is good for this almost new bride!