Something New

Every once in a while you need to mix it up. A different support, different medium, different approach, all of it , whether the outcome is successful or not, is how an artist grows.

This piece is from a reference photo I shot in Pensacola Florida one morning. The sun was barely up and I was walking in my Mom’s neighborhood along the Bay. I saw Osprey, Pelicans, an Egret and this beautiful Great Blue Heron- well worth putting my sneakers on before my eyes were completely open. Turns out, it was my last time walking on this stretch along the Bay. My Mom has passed and her house sold.

I may have a terrible memory for many things, but I know my reference material. So, when a Raven piece that had been slated for an exhibit this fall unexpectedly sold and needed to be replaced, I thought of the heron photos. I was out of my go-to support, Crescent 100% rag 4 ply mat board, but had a drawer full of watercolor paper. Why not mix it up? I had always wanted to use watercolor with colored pencil. Here is the result: Night Fishing, 10 x20” watercolor and oil colored pencils on watercolor paper.

Dick & Dianne Wham Wildlife Award- OVAL Biannual KY, National Wildlife exhibition

This is by far the biggest monetary award I have earned. In addition, my painting was hung in a primo spot, next to the works of well established and much more successful artists! Considering a few years ago, one of my best animal portraits ever, was hung as an after thought over a thermostat, where no-one could find it, I have now experienced the best and the worst. It was a huge honor to be recognized. And it came at a time when I most needed the boost. It isn’t always about the money, but in this case, I can now afford a new point and shoot camera with both wide angle and telephoto lens. Many thanks OVAL, http://www.ohiovalleyart.org/exhibits-events/ky-national-wildlife-exhibit/ for including me in your exhibition!

Stonelick Covered Bridge commission is completed

Stonelick Covered Bridge in Clermont County OH is an icon for many. Recently restored, it is a beauty!  I spent hours trudging around the bridge, bushwhacking through the waist high scrub, scrambling from rock to rock in the creek-bed and shooting photos from every angle, at different times of the day, over a period of a month.  The reference photo used for this piece was taken at 5:00 on a fall afternoon. The sun washed bridge vs. deep shadows cast by the trees as the sun descended, made it interesting as well as a challenge.  My client is a covered bridge enthusiast, so every detail, down to the numbered sign, is meticulously rendered. The original measures 20x30" and was painted with various brands of lightfast colored pencils on rag matboard. Fine Art Giclees are available for sale. Contact me for details.

Periwinkles Pileup

When I was a small child visiting my grandparents at their seaside cottage, I spent many happy hours exploring the rocks that reached like fingers into the ocean.  Those rocks held  cupped in their crevices, the coming and goings of magical things.  See the Hermit Crab dragging its stolen home, bumping and scraping across the rock floor, while glinting black mussels, periwinkles and barnacles occupy their own rock real-estate.  A flash of movement as a baby crab with antenna eyes darts sideways to hide in a clump of seaweed.  Shadows play and water sparkles as waterbugs and dragon flies skitter across the surface. I have never lost my my fascination for these places. Have you ever walked along a Maine shore line to see millions of periwinkles piled up along the tide mark? Periwinkle Pileup is a "child's" closeup view, its diminutive size only 4.5"X 9.25" It is painted with Prismacolor, Luminance, Derwent and Soho colored pencils with the occasional brush of  spirits on linen mat.

Did you know?

As I'm doing my usual Friday morning catch-up, it occurs to me that you might be interested in knowing a few things about me.  You see me posting my art work fairly regularly on Facebook and my Pepper Portraits blog, but did you know that besides being a completely committed artist, I hold two part time jobs?  Winning a few awards and getting published, does not guarantee a regular pay check.  Nope, I go months sometimes without a sale.  I'm married to a wonderful guy who pays most of the bills, but by no means makes enough money for me to do art 24-7. I have to at least cover groceries and vet bills, which with 2 older dogs and three cats, adds up, believe you me! So I continue to work as a vet assistant in a small animal veterinary practice.  I've been working with vets since 2011- started in my 40's and still doing doggy yoga as I near 60.  I feel like a thirty year old with  no time to get old! My other job is a gallery portrait artist- picture framer -Girl Friday for a lovely little gallery, in a haunted brick building, in the small river town of Milford Ohio.  There I teach portrait classes, frame picture, assist hanging shows and whatever else they might need of me.

So please don't romanticize the business of art.  It is not easy.  It does not pay well. I stick my neck out everyday in hopes it does not get chopped off:)