Wildlife Refuge, Florida Landscape 8x10

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This is a scene from the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, which is a very diverse spot to visit. It has jungle-like trails, marshes and the Cape Canaveral Seashore. This marsh is on the Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, a popular spot for birders. 

Carmen

August Challenge: It's Golden!

For our August challenge we were to work gold into a painting or collage.

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Carmen Beecher's Gold Challenge Painting

Golden Earrings

I did my painting in oil on gold gesso, which is a very nice surface to work on.

CarmenBeecher.com

CarmenBeecher.blogspot.com

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Denette Schweikert's Gold Challenge

I used a piece of Carmen's gold gesso that I have had forever to make this painting. When I finished this piece, I realized that make it distinctive I needed to put navy blue around it.   

GOLD

Denette Schweikert 

denette.net

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Donna Vines Gold Challenge

This challenge was great for me because it gave me a chance to use some of my beautiful papers.   Using the orange and gold and the blue and gold added  just that bit of highlight the collage needed. 

Cupcake Collage 

16X20

This close up shows the gold in the papers.

donnavinesart.etsy.com

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Kathy Garvey's Gold Challenge

 

During this month's challenge, I bought a small can of anchovies to add to a pizza I was making for my brothers who both love them. The can was adorable - and gold inside! It inspired this King Oscar golden anchovy and his fellow can-mates. I debated making them with a variety of materials but settled on the easiest, polymer clay. Wish I had taken more time with it, but I was having fun with the idea itself. Next can will get a more distinct looking crew!

For my painting, I had in mind a scarab for this gold challenge so studied some images of how their wings worked open and closed and then did this closed wing version in watercolor using some gold acrylic ink for accents.

Green Scarab Study, 6"x7" Watercolor on 140 lb Cold Press Paper

Tried an open winged version on an acrylic board. This version uses gold leaf, gold paint and gold powder for accents.

Green Scarab in Flight, 8x10 Acrylic on Canvas Board

More Paintings by Kathy Garvey on  www.snailflower.etsy.com.

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Mary Warnick's Gold Challenge

The picture title is Gilding the Lilies. It’s watercolor on watercolor board. The gold is Holbein antique metallic gold watercolor paint. I applied it after the rest of the painting was done.

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A Gold Sketch using Procreate by Jean Thomas

This was inspired by Klimt's "Women in Gold", which now resides in NYC. I am still learning Procreate. It is an amazing app, especially with the Apple pencil. 

Challenge for December: Do a Painting Using Only 50 Strokes

Carmen: This challenge is really challenging! A painting done using only 50 strokes. What a great exercise this is for making us simplify.

When I got to the last stroke my hand was itching to do just a couple more details, but I resisted.

Carmen Beecher

 "50 Strokes of Chicken"

 www.carmenbeecher.com

www.carmensart.etsy.com

www.carmenbeecher.blogspot.com

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Donna:  50 strokes, no problem...after the 4th try of 4 different subjects  I finally had something!!

There are lessons to be learned here but let's just say pick something simple, a stoke is a stroke be it long or a dab, roundish strokes somehow cover more. You will notice the original photo is upside down by this time I had learned that 50 strokes is not a lot, the pear would have to stand alone.

A pear in 50 strokes

donnavinesart.etsy.com
donnavinesart.blogspot.com

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Kathy: I kept trying with this challenge. I never managed to produce something I liked well enough to leave alone after only 50 strokes. Of all my attempts (3 different birds and a butterfly), this was my best and it kept the closest to 50 strokes.

Left: 20 strokes, Middle: 33 Strokes, Right: 50 Strokes

 I was supposed to stop there!

I had to finish this little chickadee and did not count how many strokes that took! 

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Fay: Above is a photograph of a great white egret in flight. It was taken by my late friend, Tom B. Sanders, and is used as the cover for a book of his photographs of  birds along with the poems of his wife, Bonny B. Sanders. I recently helped Bonny format and edit this book. I was so taken by this image, I decided to use it for my challenge, seen below.

This challenge does not meet the requirements of 50 strokes (or pieces of paper), but it comes close. There are 47 wing feathers, 6 additional pieces of paper for the head, shoulders, shadows on the wing span and legs. I added one outline of the eye in black, filled it in with yellow and surrounded it with the typical green found around the Great White's eyes. It took 2 strokes to make the black feet. If I have counted correctly, I am still under 60. I should have made fewer feathers. No going back now.

Fay Picardi

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Denette: Above is my fifty strokes although was more sixty strokes. It was interesting but not my cup of tea. 

Glad I tried it and learned a lot. Denette Schweikert. 

denette.net 

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Carol: I am an oil painter....in a slump!  However, I am away from home for 3 months.  In the interest of saving space, I left my oils at home and brought a collection of watercolor, pastels, and alcohol inks.  I wanted to stretch myself, and maybe ignite a new interest in my art.

This is a watercolor, and oil pastel painting.  My reference photo had many, many more trees, but I could not add them in under 50 strokes.

This is a second try; a scene from Sanibel Island.

I will try this again.

www.CarolASchiff.com

www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com

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Mary: After several really bad tries, I used one color, alizarin crimson, and two brushes, a one-inch flat to begin and a number 10 round to finish.  Fifty strokes exactly.  Not the most interesting painting, but better than the first attempts.  It was fun to try, and just being with the Pieces is always fun!

Mary Warnick

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The Black Hat, Original Oil on Canvas 8x10 Portrait of Woman

$175

This is quite a departure from the 50-stroke paintings I've been doing. I don't know what got into me, but I really enjoyed this one. It has a vintage look but with a timeless feel. We need a little glamour now and then.

Carmen

Shady Cows 10x8 Original Oil on Canvas Landscape

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It's been a while since I posted. I've been very busy working on a book that will be coming out in April. You will be hearing more about that later.

This painting is all about the light. I love the shade in the foreground, with a tiny couple of slivers of light on the pasture.

Carmen

Seascape painting, Daily Painting, "Atlantic Sunrise" 20x24", Oil Seascape

20x24" Oil Seascape on Stretched Canvas

www.CarolSchiffStudio.blogspot.com

August Challenge, Leaves

Our challenge for August is simply "Leaves."

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Carmen Beecher

Golden Ginko Leaves

I've been experimenting with gold leaf and I love the shape of Ginko leaves, so it was a good time to make golden leaves for our challenge. This is metallic gold leaf on black canvas, 12x12 inches.

carmenbeecher.com

carmenbeecher.blogspot.com

carmensart.etsy.com

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Kathy Garvey

Leaves are one of my favorite subjects. For this month's challenge, I went through my sketchbook and decided to paint some Blood-root leaves found on one of my walks in the mountains of Kentucky.  Started playing with the idea and composition around ten in the morning and worked on it while my new kitchen was being installed. 

Sketch, composition, watercolor start.

Lots of banging and clunking going on in the kitchen. I couldn't do anything else, so I stuck with it until 5 pm. The finished 9x12 watercolor is below. (The banging and clunking is still going on!)

Blood-root Leaves
9x12 Watercolor on 140 lb Cold Press Arches Paper

And then, my kitchen still not done two weeks later, I looked for something to paint on this circular heavily textured watercolor paper traded with another artist in Kentucky. I found a leaf from my friend's yard that looked like it would work. (And while it looks like Marijuana, it's a Coral Tree leaf.) The paper is unusual to watercolor on. The water seems to sit on top as you work, but then sinks in and almost disappears into the paper.  Below is the progress.

And here is the final - after four to seven layers of paint in most areas. (Click on an image to enlarge.)

Coral Leaf
Watercolor on 12" Round Textured Paper

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Cindy Michaud

Eco-printing is a way to use leaves to make a direct print on fabric or paper. Naturally this phenomenon (just google it) grabbed my attention and I was all in! To make the magic happen one must first “mordant” the paper or fabric which means dipping or soaking it in a solution which prepares the material to receive (permanently) the color being transferred. I have experimented with both fabric and paper. In short, one layers the leaves in stacks, applies pressure to hold a stack tightly and steams the bundle for several hours.  Let cool and unwrap to reveal the print.

Here are some of my papers right out of the pot! It’s always fascinating to see what works and sadly, what doesn’t.  (Notice my leaf mug? Another way to use them best left to potters!) 

 Here are some “rejects” on fabric getting a new life as a wall hanging to be.

Here is a sample of a perfect print! I make these into a variety of cards with hand sewn paper inserts to write on.  Coupled with an envelope they are sold almost as fast as I can produce them.

I’m collecting leaves now of some of my tried and true varieties. As fall comes and the leaves disappear I will be happily steaming up prints and crafting new ways to use them.

Cindy Michaud 

 

art@cindymichaud.com,  www.cindymichaud.com
 

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This has been a crazy month.  I have been away for most of it and now I am lucky enough to have my grandson James with me.  I have not gotten my paints out yet or my easel set up but wanted to get started on this months challenge.  James helped me using watercolor pencils and watercolors.  He picked most of the colors and was a great help in the critique department.  So here is an attempt by a happily tired lady with some help from an energetic young man to rise to this months challenge. This is what leaves would look like in our world.  p.s. we did a lot before the lure of the video games became too much.

making progress

James has a good color sense

Leaves

Donna Vines


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That I am a pack rat  is a well established fact. Therefore, this tear-out from a 1997 copy of Country Living should be no surprise to anyone who knows me. Yes, I have been waiting that long to do something with the info in it. We are awaiting Hurricane Dorian, so it is a pleasure to escape into the memories of crisp and colorful falls.

 

Dogwood is my favorite tree. The dogwood is one of the first to change colors and is such a deep velvet red that I remember it still as vividly as one recalls those most special moments in life. Maples have the most brilliant of foliage, at least in Virginia. And they are also early to turn many different shades of gold and orange and cadmium red. The good ole oak is just plain dependable and strong.

                                          Below I have tried to do water colors of the maple and the oak. I promised myself I would do it at one of  our weekly gatherings and not go back to it. Well, the outcome is not what I envisioned. I probably should have started over and tried to get more variety and contrast. Next time.





Fay Picardi

Challenge for July, Florida Themed Art

Our challenge this month: simply, "Florida."

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Cindy: When the theme for the month was “Florida” I knew immediately which piece said it all for me:

Hanging now in my NC studio this piece is huge! About 48” tall and almost 30” wide, it was rendered right before I left the state.  It was from a compilation of photos I had taken while kayaking the Indian River with a liberal dose of imagination thrown in for good measure.  I love the mountains and its four defined seasons but when I feel lonesome for a good river paddle on a hot day I simply lift my eyes and visit Florida in my mind.  This was done for me, me, me and it never mattered if anyone else liked it or not!

Detail of my swirly colorful water....

Cindy Michaud

https://www.cindymichaud.com/

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Kathy: I'm on a roll painting leaves lately and Florida has some beauties! I was watering my brother's Monstera plant and its gorgeous giant leaves just begged to be painted. I trimmed one off that was hiding near the ground and past looking healthy, and photographed it. (This leaf is 30 inches tall and 27 inches wide!)

Monstera Deliciosa Leaf

Sometimes I experiment in Photoshop to see how I might want to paint something. If I don't get around to painting it before our Florida challenge is up, below is my digital version. By adding patterns and filters I can make a photo look like a watercolor. The background is created by "painting" with a "brush" made from the same photo.

Also Monstera Deliciosa

Kathy Garvey

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Carmen: There is an island in Florida that is just as good as being in the Bahamas, and it is called North Captiva. I am thinking of painting a large version of this lovely spot.

Paradise, 7x5

Carmen Beecher

https://carmenbeecher.com

https://carmensart.etsy.com

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I painted a familiar landmark in the area The Grant House.  It was built in 1916 in the town that is now Grant,  by the Benson Family, who were pioneers in the Melbourne area.  I have visited there several times and always marvel at the how small and isolated these early pioneers must have felt in this vast wilderness that was Florida.

The Grant House

Donna Vines

https://donnavinesart.etsy.com

http://donnavinesart.blogspot.com

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I have always loved flowers. When I first moved to Florida, I planted 4 hibiscus trees in my backyard. The blooms were a lively color between coral and pomegranate. And DOUBLE, which I love.  I have used one of my photographs of a single blossom multiple times. Below is the collage I made when my oldest daughter ask me to create my concept of God. You may notice that my two daughters as well as my four grandchildren are all tucked into the pedals.

24"x 30"

For this challenge, I again turned to this hibiscus and to collage. I think I captured the vivaciousness of the hibiscus, but my shadowed pedals are too dark. The  two leaves are from my handmade papers. If I try this subject again, I will use all handmade papers. 

9"x 9"

Fay Picardi
www.faypicardi.weebly.com

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FLORIDA!
Our theme for this month... fun and appropriate!

"Sandpipers on Melbourne Beach"

Watercolor, 8" x 11"

    These are two of the things I love about living in Florida, the ever-changing water, and the birds. Isn't it entertaining to watch the little pipers run along the surf's edge? I love how they stay ahead of you while searching for those elusive morsels in the sand.
Taking a walk on a beach will sooth your soul.

Jean Thomas
Ozworks22@cfl.rr.com

I had to post this image for my "Florida" challenge.  After living in Florida for over 40 years, my husband and I moved to Asheville NC recently.  We still spend three months, every winter, in Florida.

During those three months, I am now a snow bird, with no responsibilities.  We rent on the beach, and I get to enjoy the Florida I never knew as a resident.  That includes, a morning walk on the beach.

This painting is the path, I take, each morning.

Carol Schiff
www.CarolASchiff.com

Living on the beach in Florida is amazing.  Every morning the first thing I do is look out at the ocean.  
There is often the sun rising; sometimes so vivid it does not look real, but it is!
Pelicans are often flying above or congregating on the water.
This is a large oil painting that I did from one of my morning photos and a bit of imagination.

Mary Warnick