When I was first starting I admit I copied a lot of different artist's work to try to improve (not very long ago!).  I still get inspiration from some of my favorite artists, mentors and teachers and when I'm at a loss for ideas I certainly will paint from those but try to put a new spin of colors and textures to push myself.  I see a lot of artists copying other's styles and doing exact copies and not giving credit to the artist or even admitting they are doing it.  I have done this and justified doing this but after you have been an artist for a while, it is good to stop copying and start the process of coming up with your own original inspiration.  That's more difficult but much more satisfying in the end!

For a a while after taking lessons from Jackie Schindehette, I would paint just like her and this one is actually from lessons I took from her.  As it is exactly like the one she did, I did not sell it but gave it to an auction and now it hangs in Sherrie Christoff's home.  I did a series of paintings inspired from Jackie and I call them all by her name.  Now I know better and do not copy other artist's styles.  I copied Donna Leeward's style at the beginning as she was my first teacher, I tried to copy the great Daniel Keys but he's a modern day master and no one really can copy his style even if they tried!  

My most successful paintings were not inspired by other artists although looking at other art inspires me to create!  I would say I more want to be inspired by successful artists work ethic, marketing and social skills of which mine are sorely lacking leaving me feeling socially awkward at times.

I hope you found this helpful and food for thought!

Happy Painting!

St. Marys Paintout

I participated in St. Marys paintout April 6th.  Paintouts are exhausting and can be exhilarating.  You have to paint in extreme weather sometimes in a very short period of time.  I met a great group of painters from Jacksonville, First Coast Painters.  It is a great way to connect with other painters that love to do what you love!  I had won third place out of thirty there a few years ago and I didn't win anything this time, but Im ok with that.  There were some famous painters this year and I felt happy to be part of that group.  Randy Pitts was there and I have been following him for many years and was a bit starstruck!  He only got second place!  Any way, I drove home exhausted but feeling happy about the possibility of painting with this great group!  They were so friendly and welcoming.

Learning Art

I have been teaching an art class for several years and it has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
The reason I teach is to share my love of art.  I also love seeing some of the concepts dawn on my student's faces as they progress.  Art truly enriches my life and I want to see that in their lives too.

Art has challenged me every step of the way.  I haven't always been successful in every painting and I try to relay that to students.  You will learn something in each painting and the more you paint, the better you will become.  Some artists say you should paint every day.  It takes discipline and sometimes I don't 'feel' like painting and some days other things get in the way and that's ok.

One of the best things is that you can paint as you age when you can't do other more active things.  I think you can have lots of adventures just experimenting with color, subjects, styles, colors, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

I created a video about painting trees, sky holes and edges while doing a demo on a painting of a citrus grove below.

Edges are either soft, hard or lost in a painting.  We can use hard edges to draw the eye toward our center of interest or as part of the composition by using brushwork that shows the line between two values, light and dark in a painting.  This will draw the eye to that area.  Using softer edges with less contrast between values if we don't want to draw the eye there but it can be used to move the eye from one spot to another.  Lost edges are between two similar values and brushwork can be used  to wipe one similar value into another.   Edges all work together toward the composition success.

Sky holes have mostly soft edges and some hard edges inside the tree and make the tree look real.  If you look at a tree, you will see the sky peeking through mostly the top branches, but also the bottom larger trunks.  They can help separate the branches.  Sky holes should be slightly darker than the sky and I smudge the edges slightly to give a softer edge as you don't want them to stand out too much.

More about what I am up to:

I participated  in our local art show (FAFO) and had a good show.  I left a few hours early to take a Lori Putnam workshop in Tennessee and had a fabulous time!  It was a great group of artists and I learned a lot.  Lori was very entertaining and seemed like a nice person to boot.  We painted in Tennessee during fall color and it was my first time for me to do that.  I was in heaven!!  I am doing a five day intensive there next year.

It is the beginning of the year and I have put out some goals for my art career.  I have traded out art lessons for social media marketing and it is weird seeing someone else post stuff about me.  I have a hard time looking at it and have decided I won't look at it as it feels so self-focused.  I'm not too used to that.  Any way, I will try it for 6 months and see how it goes.

Myself and several sweet ladies are opening an art gallery called 'Studio B'!  We are  going to give it a few months and see if we want to continue.  So far I am having a blast!  But I need to keep painting!

Until next time,
Keep painting!
Laurie

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Successful Art Show

There is a point in your art career where you start to feel like all the work and growth is starting to go somewhere.  That time for me is now.  I have participated in about six art shows and some of my friends have seen my paintings and have encouraged me through the last few years.  There were times when I felt maybe I should just paint and enjoy it and not 'put it out there for others to either critique or enjoy'.  I had many times doubted if I even had any talent.  Going to shows can be hard on the ego, watching people go by your tent making a beeline for the guy next to you and feeling invisible.

So, for the next year I decided to grow as an artist.  I tried lots of new techniques and studied other art that I liked.  I read books and watched lots of you-tube tutorials and just decided to be brave and paint for the fun of it.  I loosened up deliberately and used a pallet knife and experimented.  It finally felt like play, like fun!

All of a sudden people are buying my art.  I finally decided to do some marketing and send an email to my contacts and tell them I would be at the local show.  Well, they showed up and the buying began.  Now, I am out of paintings and can't even keep up with the demand!  It's been a little stressful but I will take it any day.  On top of that, I did an exhibit and had an offer to be on an international website as a featured artist.

So, if you are an artist struggling to find your way, take it from me.  You can do it!
 

First Phase of Painting

Happy New Year!

I am finally back to beginner painting. This was for a friend that commissioned a painting over Christmas.  It was a painting of three children visiting cows on their Grandfathers cattle farm.  I actually completed it in 3 days! 

 

 I will guide you through my process.  The first thing I do is to paint a white canvas with a mixture of red and yellow acrylic of any hue you like with a little white gesso.  I slather it on with a 2" or wider brush.  The brighter the hue, the sunnier day you want to portray.

 

Then I 'draw' in the basic layout with darker paint and a round brush.  This doesn't have to look perfect.  It can be changed later.  It's just to give me a basic drawing to start from.  Learning to draw first with a pencil will help you to paint.  

Well, that's it for the first day.  See you for the next phase.

                                                             Finding A New Inspiration

I have to interrupt our beginning painting series to interject thoughts on an experience I had at my daughter's  conference this week.  I volunteered to run an art auction to raise money for her policy network.  These people were some of the most highly educated, selfless, kind people I have ever met.  The artist was donating 20 oil paintings that took him a year to complete.  He also told me he was donating a series of paintings to the local homeless shelter and some paintings for a small DC chapel.  All this while working full-time. 

Suddenly, I felt ashamed that I had done so little with my art for others.  I vowed that I would donate my paintings to the local shelter and hospital and set about other ways I could help others with my art.  I am excited to start my new projects!  

It's funny how God works.  I have been trying to sell my paintings with little success in the last few months.  As soon as I started to put others first, several people have reached out to me and wanted to buy paintings!

                                                                     Silver River Path

Begin Painting

Ok, so now you have your supplies.  I will do my best to help you along.  Of course, it is better to get instruction in person.  I can teach you personally if you live in the area or I know of some other artists that teach also.  Just contact me here.   Another resource that I have used that is free, is you tube.  Just search for that site and type in whatever kind of painting you are interested in and you can watch all kinds of painters for free.

Some would disagree, but in my opinion you should start with acrylics.  That is what I started in and it is very forgiving.  If you don't like what you painted, you can paint over it and start over.  Also, you can paint over it with oils later if you like.  You can't paint over oil with acrylic.  Eventually it will crack or peel.

You will need to decide what your subject will be.  What do you want to paint?  I paint landscapes because I love them.  Your subject should be something you love and makes you feel something.  I would recommend you paint from a photo, a still life (a simple grouping of fruit, blocks, balls, etc.), or another painting

So, with that said:

Here are some more things you will need:

You will need: A palette to mix your paints on.  Craft stores have many kinds.  I recommend the largest one they have that has a cover.  You can also use a paper plate or anything flat and glass, etc.

  You will also need: A plastic or glass container of water nearby to clean your brushes with that you don't mind getting dirty (I cut the top half off a gallon milk jug).

Place a drop cloth under you and your easel and cover any furniture nearby (paint splatters), it's also nice to have a small table next to you to put your paints on. 

To Start: 

Step one:  Place your canvas on the easel in a well-lit area facing a window preferably.  You can sit or stand.

Step two:  Place your subject where you can see it easily.

Step three:  We are going to put a tinted gesso on the canvas.  For a landscape on a sunny day, I use a warm tint.  Raw Umber or red and yellow mixed with gesso will do (for a cloudy day, blue and gesso mixed will do.

So, for a sunny day, squeeze a tablespoon or more of gesso and a teaspoon or more of raw umber or other warm mixture onto palette.  Using your palette knife or largest brush, mix together loosely.  Paint onto your canvas using side to side strokes and then up and down.  It doesn't have to be mixed perfectly.  A few streaks are fine.  Let dry (probably half to an hour).  If you would like, also paint sides for a wrapped canvas.

We will stop there for today.  I feel this is a lot to take in.  Make sure you rinse your brush right away and take it to the sink and wash bristles with soap and water.  Lay brush flat to dry.

Great job!  Until next time....Happy Painting!

Beginner Acrylic painting

When I first started painting, it was so hard finding information, unless I doled out quite a bit of money for lessons.  So I decided I would help other beginning painters.  Do you want to be a painter?   I have only been painting for two years, but I would like to share with you some of the basics.  I paint landscapes in acrylic and oils.  I also paint plein air (or outside).  So far, I only use acrylics outside.  I find they dry quickly and you can do quick paintings.  You can paint oil over acrylics and I sometimes paint the acrylics outside and then go over it in oils indoors.

Today we will start with the basic materials for an acrylic painting.  You will need:

A material to paint on.  I use canvas from the craft store.  It is easiest to start on a small size.  8x10 or smaller.
You can also use watercolor paper, wood, canvas on board, etc.

Acrylic gesso

Acrylic paints in the following colors:

Cadmium red
Cadmium yellow
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White

You can make almost any color with hese basic colors, but I like to also use these for landscapes:
Raw Sienna
Ivory Black
Alizarin Red
Light Cadmium or Lemon Yellow
Pthalo blue (blue or green tint)
Ochre
Again, these are not absolutely necessary as they can all be mixed by using the primary colors above!

If you are painting abstracts, you may want to add some of the brighter colors you like.

Brushes

Rounds, at least two sizes, large and medium
One or two flat brushes
A small liner brush
Filbert
A 2" large flat brush

If you want to save, just get a small round and a small flat brush to start.

Round pallette knife

Easel
There are lots of kinds.  A table-top one is the cheapest, or a fold-up metal one.  Make sure it is sturdy and will not fall apart easily.

Some of these materials are not absolutely necessary if you just want to do one painting.  It will depend on your level of commitment.

Realize it doesn't happen overnight.  Painting is a long process and results do not happen until a lot of work and commitment has taken place.  It took me a year of failing before I was able to produce something I felt halfway good about.  Give yourself room to fail and keep trying.  It is worth it in the end and you will love it so much it will become a part of you.

My next blog will be starting to paint!

Showtime

I am getting ready for my fourth show and am now in my second year of painting.  I have to say my artist ego has taken a beating.  However, I have grown by leaps and bounds as an artist and personally.  A year ago I was on top of the moon just to be accepted at a show and get lots of praise from friends and strangers.  Now after a few more shows I am still getting lots of praise but few sales and I am starting to think less of the business of shows.  There is a tremendous amount of money and time put into shows and I have only made enough to make some of my investment back.  I have seen other artists and how they talk potential buyers into loving and buying their art.  One thing I know about myself is I am not a good salesperson.  I would rather just say hi to people and ask them questions about themselves than to yammer on about my art and how great it is.  Don't get me wrong, I love painting and even looking at my art and showing it to friends, but am a bit insecure when it comes to selling it.

All that being said, I will do this show and possibly one or two more, but unless sales get better, I may stop doing them after that.  My problem is, I love to paint a lot, so I will have to either learn another way of marketing them or start giving them away!  My house is becoming overrun with paintings!

Seasons of Work

I am in a phase of painting for others.  My latest endeavors were painting three acrylics for my son's new house, a snow scene with wolves, a painting for my nephew's house, a hunting cabin scene, and one for my neice, a volleyball net at the beach.  It was fun painting some different things and quite challenging.  I think they turned out well and since I used acrylics, very quickly done.

Soon I will focus on more serious painting for an upcoming show.  I am waiting for this hot weather to abate so I can go outside and paint without wilting!

God has a Plan

I have always believed God has a purpose for my life and if my paintings bring someone joy, that is all I can ask for.  I spent many years doing engineering drawings as a Landscape Architect and never felt 'natural' to me.  I always felt I was really out of my element, only coming alive whenever I was called on to render a plan artistically.  Loving plants, it is much more satisfying for me to paint them naturally than to place them in the landscape.  The few art classes I took, the professors questioned why I was in my major and not art.  If given the opportunity, I would love to go back to school and get my masters in art.  Maybe one day soon!

All of this to say to you, if you are fighting what you thought was your calling and hating every day you do it, stop fighting it.  Don't just do what society says is valuable.  My mother said attain the highest degree (that meant be a doctor, lawyer, etc.).  Well, I wanted to make her proud, so I chose the most prestigious degree I thought I may have an interest in.  I wish I had become an artist back then, but God had me on another journey and I value the path He had me on and I can't change it, so I embrace to lessons I've learned.  So maybe part of my calling is to tell young and old, do what you love and you will be passionate and will become who God created you to be!

An example is my son.  His whole life we put him in every sport and outdoor activity from camping to hunting.  He struggled in math in his high school engineering program, but we were trying to find something he would excel in.  My husband finally forced him to take guitar lessons when he was 11.  Well, it stuck.  He wrote song after song and became passionate about his music.  We then told him he had to pick a real career and to look at music as a hobby.  But God had a different plan, because all of a sudden he is being recognized for the some 50 songs he has written and a music licensing company just sent him a contract.  God had a plan for him all along.  It was not a conventional one, but if it's His will, it will be right!

Artists That Have Inspired Me

Part of my journey as an artist has been to open myself up to learning from others.  Having painted only two years, I am nearly an open canvas to change.  The painting above resulted from a copy of Jackie Schindehette's original painting (I take no credit for this painting and it is, of course, not for sale!).  I took lessons from her and this was the result of several months of work.  Not having painted much in oils, it added a high amount of difficulty.  It was excruciatingly hard to paint and frustrating, but I am happy with the end result.  I will always treasure this painting.

I am a big fan of Jackie's and she is a patient, wonderful teacher.  She is quite famous and has even painted ornaments for the White House!  I learned the most about skies and clouds and depth and how to achieve it.
 

I painted this after a clouds workshop at Linda Blondeim's studio.  Her daughter provided snacks and we painted, laughed and ate.  All my favorite things!

Linda Blondeim is another favorite of mine.  I have taken some group workshops and I find her fun and easy-going.  Her students love her.  I also think she is a genius at marketing her art.  Her greatest talent, in my opinion is capturing the light and feeling of nature.  I love the fact that she can take a simple natural setting and make me want to go there and experience it!


And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my good friend, Donna Leeward.  She is the teacher that got me going on painting and she and I still go on adventures and paint together.  I treasure her friendship and love our lalapaloosa days riding bikes, finding bbq and looking for the perfect painting spots.

Donna grew up exploring the backwoods and byways of Florida.  Her father taught her to paint and was a real Florida cowboy.  He is an incredible artist in his own right.  Some of Donna's greatest gifts are simplifying the scene and using brilliant color in her paintings.  She loves Florida history and seeks to educate about Florida history with her paintings.

She tried to teach me to paint for a year.  I was so frustrated as I had always sketched and felt very comfortable with that.  Somehow I could never 'get' painting.  Then one day, we went out together and she very patiently helped me through my first successful plein aire painting.  Something clicked, and I have been painting ever since!  Thank you friend, because of you, I have now spent countless days loving painting!

This was that painting.  It sold and was one of the first I sold at an art show.  Very exciting for me!

Ode to Mom

Ode to Mom

As I started this blog I realized that the greatest gift my mom gave me beside my faith is the love of nature and the out-of -doors.

Peggy Hawkinson , Peggy MacQueen when I was growing up.  She was a twin.  Her sister was the complete opposite from her.  She was short and brunette, unassuming, quiet, yet determined.  Her sister, Betty was tall and blond, a real 'looker'. 

 I never saw my mom "toot" her own horn or be overly-anything.  She was given a full scholarship to Cornell University and obtained her bachelors.  As her four children were growing up, I remember her bent over a typewriter, working on her masters degree and then her doctorate.  All done through the mail, long distance at night after a full day of working as a professor at the local community college.

She also had a degree in ornithology.  Her great love was birds.  Every Christmas she led a bird census in the area.  Our freezer was full of birds about to be stuffed.  People would bring dead and dieing birds to her weekly.  She would screech to a halt in the car and say "look, there is a double-crested so and so!".  She was president of the local Audubon society and a prominent member of Sierra Club.  While other kids went shopping, we went to nearby state parks for camping, hiking, swimming and exploring.  My greatest memories were at the springs swimming for days, pretending I was a mermaid.  Many times she would have to force me out of them as my fingers were blue from the cold water.  I spent every day in the woods and never wanted to leave them.

After we left for college, she reconnected with her sweetheart from when she was young.  They married and she lived out her dreams of touring the world bird watching.  He would paint birds and she would write books about them.  Together they were finally so happy doing what they loved.  She passed away many years ago, but she is with me every time I see a bird or enjoy a hike outside.

Thanks Mom!

One of my latest paintings from the west coast marshlands.  It is an oil and was very difficult.  I learned a lot from this one and it is hanging in my husband's office.

Marshes are very important in our ecosystem as they are a filter for part of Florida's aquifer.  Many plants and animals thrive in these areas such as fish, alligators, birds, sea animals and many grasses, palms and water plants.  They are ever changing with the tides and seasons.  Part of the great Florida birding trail goes through and around these marshes.  There are so many unseen and uninhabited nature preserves in this wonderful state.  We boast more plant species and planting zones than any other state, from the tropical to the temperate.

If you are bored with "city life", may I suggest you explore all of Florida's rich outdoors.  There is no greater gift you can give your children than to take them outside!

My Painting Journal

Hello Everyone,

 I am an oil and acrylic painter specializing in Landscapes. I paint mostly scenes relating to old Florida such as, historic farms, marshes, springs and historic buildings I have encountered in my travels around mostly north central Florida where I live in Ocala.

The painting on the right is a section of Rainbow River in front of the Priest family vacation home.  You can see two small springs and the incredible clarity of the river!  This is probably the most unpolluted pure river I've ever seen.  I cherished the day spent here, wallowing in the shallow cool water.  Someday soon I will kayak down the river and paint more of it!

My first large oil, I chose to do a simplistic cow painting at the Richardson farm on Orange Lake.  The cow in the front is mostly acrylic as I was getting used to oils.  It was quite a challenge for me and my husband Thad liked it so much, he has it hanging above his desk in his office.

     One of my first paintings.  It is an acrylic done at Crystal River.  I had re-worked it, trying to bring newer techniques to the original.  Painting is a process!  I have learned so much in two years.  It is exciting to think about all the possibilities of where my art will take me.  I don't think I will be alive long enough to realize all I want to do with it!