Embrace

"Embrace" 5x7 oil on gesso board

This week's DPW Challenge was to paint a statue. It's a great exercise in concentrating on values and subtle color variations. I chose to paint a portion of one of the many wonderful statues in Vigeland Park in Oslo, Norway.

Foot Bath

"Foot Bath" 8x6 oil on Gessoboard

I'm back from Arizona, and happy to be painting again. This is my entry for this week's DPW Challenge. I have been eager to see whether all my work with ceramic glazes in the past 4 months will affect my painting. I really think it will! I'm trying to get depth of color and avoid muddy neutrals. I'm also (always!) trying to paint loosely and with expression.

Time to leave Arizona

This is my latest yard art: a totem surrounded by a flock of birds. My concept is that the totem will sit amidst a field of bear grass surrounded by a flock of about a dozen birds that will poke up at varying heights. I'm having a lot of fun making and glazing the birds. We will leave Arizona in 2 days, and I will truly miss the clay studio. This year I have made such strong connections, largely through my work with the glazes- and simply by being there a lot and getting to know people better. I have been asked to teach a class on glazing next year, and I plan to do lots of reading and studying this summer so that I will have more than just the knowledge I gained through my experiments and tests. I absolutely love the glazing aspect of the clay work, and I'm one of the few who does. Most people are intimidated by it and disappointed in their results. It is so rewarding to me to have a hand in making people happier with the end product.

So....I have been thinking about painting again. I'm interested to see whether all my work with glazes will have an impact on the way I paint. I plan to get back to doing the Daily Paintworks challenges, but probably not actual daily painting. I have a commission to paint a fairly large Southwest landscape, and I need to supply some new work to my galleries, so I will be busy with that. In addition, we have a large remodel and a new granddaughter coming up this spring. Busy times ahead. All good stuff.