Journaling the Quarantine

Since I have been remiss in my journaling lately, I decided to catch up. There's not much to say since we have self-quarantined since March. Click on the picture to see it better.

I did finally make some successful masks, and since we have never had this much time to work in the yard, it's looking really good now.

Carmen

Everything's Coming Up Roses in our November Challenge

The challenge this month was roses. 

I think every painter, has painted a rose.  It must be the most loved of all flowers.

I have chosen to post two of my favorite rose paintings today, with two different techniques and two very different effects.

The first and was done using lots of liquin added to my paint, which produced a soft, almost watercolor feel. 

 The second was done with a mix of palette knife and brush, and does not depict a perfect rose, but in my eye, it is still a beautiful flower.  It feels much more structured.

Which do you prefer?

Carol Schiff

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Kathy Garvey

I have a favorite rose painting from years ago that took quite a few hours to create. It's one of my Mom's knock-out roses painted in acrylic on 11x14 canvas.

Knock-Out-Rose
11x14 Acrylic on Canvas

But, for this  month's challenge, I took a few old photos of my Mom's gardens and a lot less time to create what look like a colored pencil sketch and a watercolor. The technique uses custom brushes on a mask followed by several filters in Photoshop, and is extremely versatile and easy. (Click to enlarge.)

A Visitor
8x10 Digital Print

Yellow Rose Watercolor
8x10 Digital Print

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Jean Thomas

Wine and Roses
Oil on Canvas, 10" x 10"

The small wine glass in my painting was made by my great grandfather, Joseph Locke. He was a glass artist first, and also a painter and print maker. He invented and patented a type of art glass called Amberina, when he worked for New England glass company.  Amberina,  a two-toned glassware, was originally made from 1883 to about 1900. It is still made today. 

Also, he loved to paint and flowers were a favorite subject. I'm fortunate to have a few of his paintings and glass. Here is one of roses. (image coming) 

Jean Thomas 

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I decided that paper rather than paint might be the way to go for the challenge this month.  I found some beautiful red tissue with the words love printed on the paper and that was what inspired the collage.  I had to use the tissue in a special way and what symbolizes love more than roses.

Donna Vines

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"Rosy Outlook" by Carmen Beecher

8x10 oil

 "Why is it no one ever sent me yet

One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose."

 --from a poem by Dorothy Parker

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This painting is of a photograph I made while on a trip to Canada.  We visited the summer home of President Roosevelt where I found this beautiful multicolored rose.  The painting is now in my guest bedroom.  Enjoy.    Denette Schweikert. 

www.denette.net

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Mary Warnick

I love painting roses, and keep trying to do a better job of it.  Some are better than others, but i keep trying to be perfect every time.  This is the latest one, with this challenge is mind.  I am trying to keep it loose and watery.

Orange Canna Lily Original OIl Painting 5x7 Floral Art

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I was shocked to realize that I haven't posted since September 1st. It's amazing what a hurricane threat does to one's daily life. First, you stock up on supplies; then you install all your storm shutters; pack up things you don't want washed away; finally, evacuate. If it's a slow-moving storm like Dorian, you wait...and wait...and wait. I am not complaining, because some of my favorite beautiful places were wiped out completely in the Bahamas. We were lucky, but the people there lost everything. Homes, livelihoods, and even loved ones. I am so sad for them. Our government won't take them in without papers, and their papers are somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic by now. What a terrifying situation for them.

The proceeds from this painting will be donated to hurricane relief for the Bahamian storm victims.

Carmen

But Cereusly, Original Oil Painting on Panel 8x8 Flower Art

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I have called these flowers Dragonflower, Cereus, Night-Blooming Cereus, and I still am not sure of the proper name. I welcome any enlightenment anyone can give me. All I know is, it's very hard to catch it blooming, and I was happy to get a good picture of it.

Carmen

Pieces of Eight Painting Challenge #3 "Summer Celebration"

How do you celebrate summer?  Traveling?  Hamburger/Hot dog grilled dinners?  Fireworks?  A day at the beach?

Stephie

Nothing says summer in Florida like surfing.  As hot as it gets you can still be pretty "cool" riding the waves.  This is my granddaughter Stephie learning to surf several years ago.

5x7 Oil
Donna Vines

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For me, nothing says summer like a nice dip in the pool! Ready, set, go!

"Ready for Summer"
Digital Image (Illustrator to Photoshop)
Kathy Garvey
www.Snailflower.etsy.com

Carol Schiff

"Mountain View"

In the summer, we head for the mountains, in an effort to escape the heat and humidity of Florida.  10 hours on I-95 and we exit to a different world.  Cool breezes and beauty abound.

6x8" Oil on Panel

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Carmen Beecher
11x14 Collage on Panel

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 This is my idea of summer, cooling off with two of my favorite things. I had not done a collage in a long time, so I really enjoyed doing this. Thanks to Fay Picardi for the magazine pages with those beautiful pinks. This is made entirely of torn magazines. 

Wild at Heart

oil, 7 x 5, $150

by Cindy Michaud - art@cindymichaud.com

Summer is all about being outdoors and finding wonderful surprises in the woods...like daisies that seem to pop up on their own.  This is where I'd open my picnic and rest a while; remembering how it felt when the days were long and we were children...wild at heart.

Sunflower

  After Georgia O'Keefe's

 Sunflower, New Mexico I, 1935

Fay Picardi

         In the past, I have done several paintings copying Georgia O'Keefe's sunflowers. This one brings back one of my favorite memories. I did it in a small cottage overlooking Lake Champlain where John and I were spending a month one summer. It is an acrylic painting done on watercolor paper. It is 22"x 30." Every time I look at it, I just smile. Thank you. Georgia. Next time, I will try a collage.

"Blue Pearl"
Oil on Canvas, 30" x 40"
by Jean Thomas

Nothing says summertime like being out in the boat on a gorgeous day, in the Keys.
I took some friends out off Marvin Key on a day when you couldn't tell the water from the sky. It was just that pretty, and calm. This is my friend Ann. Ann is always looking up, and ahead. The beginning of summer has that same feeling.... what's up, what's next!? 

Summer is a time to celebrate the ocean and sailing.  Wouldn't it be fun to be on a clipper ship sailing the seven seas?

  Mary Warnick.

Clipper Ship
Watercolor

The Last Azalea, 3x4 Oil on Panel Floral Painting, Framed

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The reason for the name of this painting: we toured Bok Tower Gardens and the camellias and azaleas had finished blooming; however, in my wanderings I found this late bloomer. I have always thought of myself as a late bloomer. I started my government career a bit late, and upon retirement I threw myself into my art career full-time, but very late. I can relate to this flower, the last azalea.

I did this one backwards; I had a beautiful gold frame and wanted something dramatic to go in it. That's not how it usually works, but I like the result.

The little squiggly things at the bottom of the painting are Spanish moss. That's how it looks up close.  My teacher Elio Camacho would call that "licking the painting." I like it though--it looks a bit fancy, as befits such a fancy flower.

Carmen

Purple Time, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Panel, Floral Painting

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I got this wonderful bouquet for Mother's Day and I deconstructed it to make it interesting to paint. It also made it much more difficult. My previous painting was the same way, with many pieces and parts, so I need to snap out of it and simplify the next one. Of course, with flowers, your subject has a short life so you must act quickly and decisively. 

I put my bouquet back together when I was done and I thank it for its service. It is really beautiful and I'm loving all that purple. 

Carmen

Exuberance, 36x48 Oil on Canvas by Denette Schweikert

The exuberant shapes of the twisted crotons took on a life of their own as they reached for the sky. The colors were brilliant, with sunlight bouncing off the leaves, contrasting with the purple shadows.

Prelude, 36x48 Oil on Canvas by Denette Schweikert

This painting documents the prelude to another glorious white hydrangea blossom from the now light green buds.

Pacific Northwest Journal

We've been in the Seattle area visiting relatives and friends, and I recorded various events in my sketch journal. What a handy dandy thing that is. When I can't remember what year or month I did something, I find it in my journal, along with happy memories. First we were in Sequim (pronounced "Squim", where lavender farms are everywhere), with my cousins, Bill and Louise.

Hap and I in the Big Chair at a lavender farm. 

Opera music plays in the Sequim rest rooms. They appropriately played a selection from "Carmen" when I walked in. What a wonderful small town with a great community spirit and an appreciation for every shade of purple.

Carmen

Spring Bouquet, 6x8 Oil on Canvas, Floral Painting by Carmen Beecher

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The Pieces of 8 ambitiously painted this still life during one of our sessions. It was a lot of fun. I am trying to get it into my head to simplify, along with all the other disciplines in art that I am trying to get into my head. People always ask, "How long did it take you to do that?" They should be asking how many successes and failures, trials and errors, immersing oneself in values, composition, drawing, color, brush strokes, perspective, form, lighting, subtleties--it goes on and on. That's why there are so many aged artists. Doing art is a constant striving for improvement, and if "artist" is something you are, not something you do, you will do it for as long as you can hold a brush.

Carmen

Mary's Roses, 7x5 Floral Oil Painting by Carmen Beecher

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These roses were part of Mary's birthday celebration, and I loved the fact that they had so much green in them. They were a challenge to paint, but I really like the result. When it comes to painting, a rose is not always a rose. Sometimes it's a peony. Or just a messy blob. I'm very happy with these.

Carmen

Daily Painting, Rose Painting, "Plantation Roses" by Carol Schiff, 12x12x1.5" Oil

This daily painting is a result of my trip to Laura Plantation in southern Louisiana last summer.  Laura Plantation was just beautiful and I found these roses climbing a picket fence.  As lovely as it was, I felt a dark cloud hung over the place as the spirit of slaves were in the air.  The tiny slave cabins could not be ignored, nor the fact that the grounds were maintained by them also.

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In spite of that, it was an interesting tour and very informative too.  The staff were well educated in the plantations history and gave us much insight into life on the plantation.

Laura Plantation is a Creole plantation and not what you expect when the word "plantation" comes into your mind.  No big white house with huge pillars but a modest Louisiana home.  The big white house we all think of is from "American Plantations", which we also visited.  It was just what we had expected, but I found it very strange that "slaves" were hardly mentioned during our tour there.

All in all, it was an interesting and informative day and I highly recommend the trip.  Here is a link to Laura Plantation's website:  http://www.lauraplantation.com



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Flower Painting, Daily Painting, "Peony and Pitcher" by Carol Schiff, 8x6" Oil

It has been a long, cold winter and I was ready for a little escape. A flower painting seemed like just the thing!

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 I found an image of peonies from my garden and started painting.  I used all my favorite colors of pinks, purples, corals and blues.  The more I painted, the happier I felt.

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My hope is that this little flower painting will bring some joy to you today.



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