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| Day 15 4x4 oil by Wendie Thompson |
I stayed on this ridge in my mind for quite awhile watching the sun do it's thing and those clouds float by...close to heaven.
Showing posts with label oil painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil painting. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2014
A Little Piece of my Mind: Day 15...30/30 Challenge
I stayed on this ridge in my mind for quite awhile watching the sun do it's thing and those clouds float by...close to heaven.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
A Little Piece of my Mind: Day 14...30/30 Challenge
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| Day 14 6x6 oil by Wendie Thompson |
Thursday, September 11, 2014
A Little Piece of my Mind: Day 11...30/30 Challenge
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| Day 11 3 1/2x5 oil by Wendie Thompson |
Purple underpainting...cold wax medium...palette knife. To the edge of abstraction...right where I want to be!
Friday, August 29, 2014
A Little Piece of my Mind: September 2014 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!
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| #1 6x6 oil by Wendie Thompson |
So once again I have taken up the gauntlet of Leslie Byrd Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge! This is my third time entering and last year I was not able to complete it as my Father passed away and the swirl around that...well it just was no longer the priority.
September is a very busy month for me as I still have a number of Plein Air Competitions I am in as well as the undulating family life I am involved with. I will most likely end up with more than 30 paintings in September...time will tell.
So I have decided that for the challenge I will paint small pieces (no larger than 6x6 or 5x7) and while I normally paint from life, all of these works will be out of my head...no photo, no model, no plein air...just grey matter. You are invited to view whats floating around in my mind!!
You can follow my daily paint throwing here and also on Leslie's blog: http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/ (I heard she was closing in on 800 artists in 22 countries who have signed up to do the challenge! How cool is that!!)
Friday, January 18, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
30 Day Painting Challenge: Day 3 Czechoslovakian Pitcher
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| Czechoslovakian Pitcher 9x12 oil on panel $190 |
Day 3: This pitcher was calling me after painting the sugar and creamer! I am beginning to feel like an artist is awakening in me again! Thank you Leslie Byrd Saeta (http://www.lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/) for creating this 30 day challenge. Well over 200 artists are doing it and you can see their work on Leslie's blog! I'm thinking the first 3 make a great set...don't you?
Thursday, January 3, 2013
30 Day Paint Challenge: Day 2 Czechoslovakian Sugar Bowl
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| Czechoslovakian Sugar Bowl 8x8 oil on 3/8" panel $150 |
Day 2: I have decided to continue painting things found around my home (unless I can get outside to do some plein air I will stick with this for this challenge)! There is some comfort in painting familiar things that have form and color and sheen you "know". An interesting thing happens as you paint...you find a new respect for them...you notice things before unseen. I always loved the bright colors of this pottery and there is another personal connection with them as they were collected by a friend! Stay tuned for tomorrow!
ps...should you wish to purchase more than one painting...I could be talked into a bit of a discount...just e-mail me!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Mukwonago: A new Wisconsin Competition
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| Vernon Marsh Looking West-Evening 12x12 oil |
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| Vernon Marsh Looking East-Morning 20x10 oil |
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| Yerke's on Frog Alley 16x12 oil |
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| Wheat on Road X 9x12 oil |
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Rachel Weeps: A Word on Abortion
A little over a week ago while in Cedarburg I happened upon a bronze statue in front of a church. I was dumb struck by it. I set up and began to paint it in hopes that I could capture some of what I was feeling in response...I got a start but felt nowhere near finished with this piece and never found time to go back to work on it again. It has stuck with me and today I felt compelled to work on it again. Her empty arms and the grief on her face had me asking some heavy questions as I painted...
Here is the plaque found at the site...as far as I could see it did not identify who the artist is (does anyone know?):
Monday, June 25, 2012
The Wheat Harvest
All week as I have been driving to Cedarburg I have watched as the wheat ripened a crazy yellow-gold color. Quickly it is harvested. As Cedarburg is closer to Lake Michigan then we are the grain hadn't ripened there yet or I surely would have painted it! So today when the weather is amazing (70's and light breeze, sunny) I just had to paint it!!! This field is not to far from my home. I decided to do a small 6x6 quick study first so as to work out color, value and composition. I give myself about 15 minutes for this. In the study I didn't like how the tree landed right in the middle so I decided to keep it off to the left some in the larger piece. I may go back again this evening when the light is low!
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| Wheat Harvest-Study 6x6 oil |
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| Wheat Harvest 12x12 oil |
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Buzzzy Bee....Me!
Oh wow....I haven't blogged (On my own blog that is ...:) for a while I see! Seems like since the first of the year I made a decision to pull back on marketing for a while and hole up so as to refine my skill. Will I ever paint a masterpiece in my lifetime??? I just keep on painting...learning from each canvas...each stroke of the brush and each push of the palette knife. I am in love with the process and that is good. I don't know if I will ever "arrive". That puts me in the ranks of some great artists who went to their graves driven still by the need to know more!! Ok...so here are a bunch of the things I have been working on. I have a lot of new work and I'm looking for a place to have my next show! Time to do some shameless self promotion!!! Let me know if your interested!!! PAINT ON!!! W
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| Many 6x6 oil stills of fruit $75 each unframed |
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| Little Darlings in the Afternoon Sun 20x16 oil $500 unframed |
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| 1926 Kissel 9x12 oil Gifted to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum |
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| Gold Bug 12x9 oil $300 unframed |
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| Gold Bug II 9x 12 oil Gifted to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum |
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| Teapot and Tangerine 8x8 oil $ 200 unframed |
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| Copper Cup 8x8 oil $200 unframed |
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| White Roses 9x12 oil $300 unframed |
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| Copper Kettle 9x12 oil $300 unframed |
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sun Buckets and the Value of Critique
Sun Buckets
12x12 oil (Plein Air)
So Saturday I met with some of my group, the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Association, to paint at the Southshore Park Farmers Market which is right on Lake Michigan. While the East cost was hunkering down for hurricane Irene here in the Mid-west we have been enjoying the stalled high that the hurricane provided. It was a stunningly beautiful day in the mid 70's and breezy.
As I walked the area which was streaming with people and vendors all I could think was "simplify, simplify, simplify! But I kept returning to this flower lady and her buckets of sunflowers with the morning light causing them to glow. I started to paint fast! In 2 hours all those flowers were gone...sold! Then I turned my effort to work on the tent which rapidly became muddy. If I brightened it to show the sun on it it pulled my eye away from the focal point. But when I cooled it down it seemed dead. I was frustrated.
After we painted we met as is our habit, to critique each others work. When it came time for mine we talked about the tent and one of my friends suggested that I change the color of the tent to blue. I liked that idea and it took me all of ten minutes to change it. You can see the painting before the change in the photo below.
Lesson: At some point in the painting process I need to be more concerned about making a painting then just copying what I see in front of me...:)
Monday, June 27, 2011
Happy Dance! "Rainy Day Blue" gets the Blue Ribbon!!
"Rainy Day Blue"
10x8 oil
I feel so honored to have won 1st place in the Riveredge Portion of the Cedarburg Plein Air Competition 2011. This was a new one day paint out at the beautiful Riveredge Nature Center in Saukville, WI. Even though it rained all day there I was able to find some shelter under a deck to paint this view of one of their classroom buildings. I was taken by all the blue in the atmosphere with the rain as it did some really interesting things to the light. Thanks to the Riveredge staff for opening up their place to all of the artists and for the great lunch!! (http://riveredge.us/)
Monday, June 13, 2011
Green Lake, Beloit and Pie Night (The value of Critique)
It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks as we have begun the Plein air competition season in Wisconsin in earnest. A new and delightful one day event (in spite of some rain) was held in charming Green Lake WI. A resort community about an hour and a half drive from me...it boasts some unmatched scenery and a charming downtown area. My hubby came with me much to my delight and read and played his guitar while I painted. I spotted the small Historical Society building and decided to further hone my architectural prowess (or lack thereof) with a small 10x8...here is my result:
Then it began to pour and so I tucked myself and my easel up under the porch of this building and painted the apple tree just behind. Time was pressing so I got out my trusty palette knife and went to work. I am very happy with the results:
Historical Society, Green Lake
10x8 oil
Apple Tree at the Historical Society, Green Lake
oil 12x12
For a short time yet both of these paintings can be seen at Margaret York's beautiful Gallery called Arts of Daycholah (http://www.guidetogreenlake.com/business/listing/business/20840940/Arts-Of-Daycholah-Gallery)
Then it was on to prepping for the Beloit plein air Competition called Edge of the Rock. Located an hour and a half drive southwest from me it is located along the Rock river and while the painting area is small and confined mostly to the renovated riverfront it was a great event! My friend Judith Reidy and I went together on Sunday just as mid August style heat set in! Wow...we went from 56 degrees when we left my house early in the morning to 99 and steamy on the way home as the sun went down. There was a new area inside the Beloit College that we were allowed to paint in so we headed there first and stayed most of the morning. I painted this:
Middle College
12x16 oil
After some lunch and some much needed cooling off at a great local coffee place we headed back to the riverfront/lagoon area. We were seeking a location to paint in the shade with a great view as the temperature was ramping up fast! I noted a spot with some irises and a bridge over to the small island but kept on looking when Judith pulled me back over there and said I should paint that. She thought it looked like a good "Wendie" painting. So we set up there and I started. A mom and hers kids stopped to look and the daughter helped me name it ...Path to Turtle Island. I was very happy with the result of this piece and sold it to a wonderful couple at the opening a few days later!
Path to Turtle Island
12x12 oil SOLD
Judith and I went back again on Monday. The heat and the wind were so bad that all I produced was a "wiper" but Judith got a good start on a lovely painting!
Then last night Judith hosted her first "Pie Conversation Party" of the season when a group of mostly artists and musicians gathered to talk "shop". Lively critique of work ensued. Used to be I would be very intimidated by this activity...especially around a group of highly educated artists as I have no "formal" art education. However, I have learned to really value the measured (even sometimes harsh) commentary of my peers as I listen to what they believe would make my work and others stronger. I take what they say and ask myself if that would fit into my personal aesthetic/style/message. I have learned to bring a "take what you like and leave the rest" attitude as wearing that kind of armor prevents me from being bruised and blooded past the point of return. I learn...and that is worth it!
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