Showing posts with label Poquoson Public Library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poquoson Public Library. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

An Art Show

Showing My Art : Poquoson Public Library  August 1-31, 2021 

Showing My Art : Poquoson Public Library  August 1-31, 2021

Showing My Art : Poquoson Public Library  August 1-31, 2021

I found I could say with color and shapes 
That I couldn’t say any other way -
Things I had no words for.
~ Georgia O’Keeffe ~

Seventeen of my paintings from this past year are on the Poquoson Public Library art wall for the month of August :) I am grateful to be able to see them exhibited all together. I hope some of you from this neck of the woods will stop by sometime this month and check our my paintings :)  As always I will donate half the sale price of any painting sold to a charity. 
 

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Showing My Art at Poquoson Public Library 2019

 My Paintings at the Poquoson Library October 2019

My Paintings at the Poquoson Library October 2019

Tell your own story
you will be interesting 
-Loiuse Bourgeois

Today I am posting on the blog the wall display that has been at the Poquoson Library for the month of October. It has been really wonderful to get updates from the staff at the Library about how much they and the patrons have been enjoying the art. This venue is a special opportunity to happily show my explorations and experiments of the past year :) 

The library is a special place for me - I absolutely fell in love with libraries many years ago when I first moved to the USA. I was in heaven - to be able to browse through the stacks and check out just about unlimited books and materials !!! I went on to graduate school for a masters degree in Educational Media with certification in Library.   

This month flew by before I realized I had not posted anything on my blog :(  I am finally off the 'boot' and walking on my own two feet! I hope to back into the rhythm of life and start posting again every week.  I have been painting and sketching pretty consistently and hope to extend that to showing my art as well.  

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Explorations

My Art at the Poquoson Public Library October 2018 

My Art at the Poquoson Public Library October 2018 

I am excited to once again show my art at the Poquoson Public Library for the month of October. It is always a great feeling to be afforded this opportunity to display my paintings. This year my paintings have been mostly 'Explorations' of various scenes, ideas and media. I brought out some of my favorite paintings from years past as well as many new pieces for this show.  If you are in this neck of the woods please do stop by the Library :)  Just realized that unknowingly I seem to have taken a two month hiatus from blogging  but I am happy to be back ! 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Secrets of my Soul

My Paintings at Poquoson Public Library May 2014

"Art is a microscope which the artist fixes on the secrets of his soul, and shows to people these secrets which are common to all."
~Leo Tolstoy~

I am grateful once again for the chance to have my paintings displayed at the Poquoson Public Library for the month of May as the 'Artist of the Month.'  It is a very nourishing, humbling and exciting time for me. If you are in this neck of the woods, please do stop by the library! 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sixteen Rules to Forget

Koi  (final) watercolor on Yupo 11x14

A month and a half ago when I was getting ready to frame the paintings for my show at the library, I had to stop and go back over my earlier version of  the Koi painting, further deepening the shadows (the photograph unfortunately still doesn't capture the darks well enough) and adding some more details to the fish and the water.  I like this newer more vibrant version :). Under glass with  'museum white' double mat really gives the painting a wonderful 'finished' look. I can never  get over how matting and framing dresses up a painting!!! 

I must admit I have been washing, painting, rewashing and painting again on regular paper for a few years  but  its easier on Yupo.  Yupo paper  has helped me be bolder with trying out various options for a painting --especially going darker, then coming back and saving the whites. It has helped me take chances and  try out different solutions on the same painting till I am satisfied. I play with shapes, values, colors or other elements with abandon. Recently I reread Arne Westerman's book "Painting Watercolors Filled with Life and Energy." and it reaffirmed for me the method in my madness. At the end of the book he has  a chapter on Six Things to Remember and Sixteen Rules to Forget (my favorite)! I am sharing shortened versions of both below (and that will also help me remember better .)

Remember these: 
1. Paint only those things you feel connected to.
2.  Consider the uniqueness of your idea.
3.  See your work as a rectangle -not a person or a thing in the middle of a rectangle.
4.  Simplify.
5.  Use light like a film director.
6.  Use color with boldness. 

Forget These Rules: Rules (in italics) and my summarized version of his  refreshingly candid comments/explanation (not in italics) 
1.  Be careful to avoid "ouzles" in your painting. -Don't worry-its one of the exclusive qualities of watercolor.
2.  Design is simply a matter of picking the right formula. Not really. Just keep it simple. 
3. Watercolor is an unforgiving medium. Nonsense. You can paint, wash it off, restate and wash again.
4.  Expensive brushes are better and last longer. Not necessarily.  Experiment and find brushes just right for you.
5.  Paper must be stretched before painting. Not true.
6.  Don't use opaque white paint. Thats cheating.  A silly rule aimed to prove how difficult it is to paint 'transparent color.' The Old Masters used white paint. Cerulean blue, red & orange cadmiums, and yellow ochre are as opaque as white. 
7.  Always erase your pencil lines.  Not necessary.  It adds interest and texture.
8.  Be careful with the paper's surface.  Good watercolor paper takes a lot of abuse and its the results that count.
9.  Be neat and tidy.  Wrong.
10. Don't waste film, paint, paper and other supplies. Better to waste than lose a great opportunity.
11. Don't paint from photographs. Paint on the scene or work from photographs. Go either way without guilt.
12. Always work light to dark.  Not true. Develop as you go. 
13. Make every brushstroke count. No. You will play it safe and go nuts.
14.  Watercolor requires tremendous control. Not true. If you don't like it wash it off.
15.  Don't paint a vertical subject in a vertical format. Not necessarily.
16. Always stay inside the lines.  The term "crossing the line" suggests adventure. 

I close with these words from Arne Westerman: "You are an artist. Go to work." 

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Completing the Circle

Poquoson Public Library Artist of the Month May 2011 




I am always excited to exhibit my paintings at our city's Public Library.  It is a wonderful opportunity to display a collection of my paintings. I get a sense of  how all my paintings look framed and next to each other.  I am really grateful to have a venue to just show my work and  for a very compelling reason to keep painting, knowing there is one place once a year I may have my month of  audience :) Please swing by the library if you are in the area.  I would love any feed back!

This my 200th blog post and my heartfelt thank you to all who visit my blog.  Your interactions have helped me grow and evolve! As the artist Anish Kapoor said: There's something imminent in the work, but the circle is only completed by the viewer.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Labor of Love



My artwork is on display for the month of May at Poquoson Public Library. It is wonderful that the library provides a venue for artists to display their work. For me, it is very gratifying to see and share a collection of my paintings from the past year displayed in one place.

Showing my artwork also forces me to mat and frame the paintings and give them a 'finished' look! --otherwise they languish in some corner of my 'studio' gathering dust. I spent the bulk of my time last month cutting mat and assembling the frames etc. and now I am ready to pick up my brushes and pencils once again. I feel somewhat validated as an artist and sense a renewed wave of enthusiasm to get back to producing more art. While Henry Wards Beecher said "Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his paintings", I think every viewer sees those paintings in her/his own special way too.

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