Monday, June 28, 2010

Lunch on the Rocks: Some thoughts on Plein Air Competitions


"Lunch on the Rocks"
12x12 oil Available $250

Cedarburg 2010 is officially over. Saturday at 8am (after 10 painting and traveling back and forth days) I knew I had spent the last of my energy when I could not even think about standing in the middle of 100,000+ people attending Strawberry Festival on a steamy hot morning and "painting the festival". So I did the next best thing...I purchased a carton of strawberries and found a somewhat quieter shaded spot and proceeded to paint what ended up being my lunch. Our paintings needed to be turned in at 2pm and the awards ceremony was a 5pm. There was no place to really rest in between. I attempted to go out to dinner with some wonderful friends but this "fibro" girl ran smack into a wall of exhaustion. Home I went...in bed by 10pm...up at 10am...checked e-mail, ate breakfast and back to bed for 2 hours after which (beginning to feel human again) I had to drive back to Cedarburg (about a 35 minute drive) to pick up my unsold work.

I have been struggling to get reacquainted with my oil paints after a winter of pastels and I finally felt some things coming together this week...much to my relief. I was somewhat pleased with my over all results in painting. Some painters I trust had good stuff to say about my work and I truly hope they were not just being nice. Ken Auster who's workshop I have taken says "You are good when your peers say your good". I like that...as a gauge. And although I did not sell a thing or take home any awards and I will probably pay physically for this week...It was all still very worth it! For me nothing beats painting in the open air with a bunch of truly great artists whom I respect and the challenge of capturing what I see before me on a blank canvas!

Have palette knife will travel!!


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Cedarburg: 7 paintings, 4 Frame-able, only two for the competition!





What a wonderful week we have had in Cedarburg and it's not over yet. I have painted a lot and now I have to decide which two to submit....so here they are...what do you think??


Saturday, June 19, 2010

"Refuge" Cedarburg "Quick Paint" 2010


"Refuge"

8x10 oil
Cedarburg Plein Air Competition: Quick Paint
2 1/2 hours from the time your canvas is stamped to turn it in framed and wired...no pressure or anything!

Monday, June 7, 2010

4 inches: The space between 2 mediums!!




Ok so, a few days ago I painted this in Beloit. (plus 4" at the bottom...see the post before with the similar title) I could not figure out why I was unhappy with it then it occurred to me that the bottom with the bench was totally distracting......ssoooooo....I took out the bench and literally cut off 4 inches of board at the bottom. I like it a lot better...how about you???




Today's Plein air Painting: Beloit WI


Today's Plein air painting: Rooted at the Rock 16x12 oil
It's hard to show the scale of this tree. It's roots were holding on to the edge of the Rock River like nothing I'd ever seen. I was told that people take a lot of wedding photos there. What a fun task to paint this old snarled tree!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Today's plein air Painting!


Today's painting...."Old and New" 8x10 oil on panel
by Wendie Thompson (plein air) Available $75

Friday, June 4, 2010

The space between two mediums: How big is it really???


As predominantly an oil painter, I switched to a new medium for the entire winter...pastel. I greatly enjoyed this and have learned a great deal (mostly about optical color) from doing it. However, I have not been able to get comfortable with doing pastels plein air which is my big passion....soooooo I have gone back to my oils and just feel like I need to say ahhhhhhhhhhhhgh!

Ok...so I'm a little frustrated! Here is a work in progress which I wiped off my canvas 3 times yesterday. That is not normally a good sign. After the 3rd time I finally got to where I felt things were going in a direction I liked but oh man....Anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions?

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