Saturday, September 14, 2013

Mr Stellar's Jay

Georg Wilhelm Stellar, a German naturalist, named half a dozen species on his 1741 voyage. Of those, only Stellar's Jay continues to thrive. The alpine area around Lake Tahoe is one of the places in Western North America where these birds thrive. They're ostentious, outgoing, and noisy birds. They beg for picnickers' lunch regularly. It's been fun hanging out with them these last six days in the lovely Tahoe basin. Cheers!

 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Sand Harbor watercolour sketch

We visited Sand Harbor State Park on the Nevada (east) side of Lake Tahoe yesterday afternoon and I did this little watercolour sitting on a rock looking out onto a gorgeous beach. Ron spent his time wandering the pathways with the camera. It was a very quiet and relaxing time together. Ahhhhh, vacation!

 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Day's End (9"x12", oil)

This quick sketch is the result of cleaning my oil palette in preparation for our California trip. Oil paint doesn't last forever on a palette and unfortunately, my hand hasn't been cooperating with my plans. Today I painted through the pain. This image was meant to feel relaxed, like an evening after a hot lake day. Everything felt great as I painted...except my right hand, which complained bitterly. I can't get over how much of daily life involves my dominant hand! Amazing!

 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Movement in Mixed Media

It's been a very busy summer at our house. I've been taking a break from painting due in part to summer activities, and most recently, a very sore right hand. It's funny how important my right hand is to my creative processes! This past few days I've been slowly building up layers on a 24"x36" canvas using my left hand and rags. I slosh on some paint, move it about, and wipe it off in places. Between layers I consider the principles and elements of design. But both the painting and the planning feel all wrong and I think it has to do with using my left hand so much. Argh! Hopefully I'll be right as rain soon. If not, I hope that at least i'll hear soon that using the hand won't cause any damage despite the pain.

Anyhow, after I collaged some highly textured Japanese papers onto my canvas i began to add paint. The images below show some of the stages of development this canvas has gone through. The surface is quite rough and these images don't show that aspect.

Tomorrow I'll post my plans for finishing this piece. Cheers!