I have several pieces done but this was my favorite. I just love the way the feathers curl around the nest in a little protective embrace. So I was looking forward to displaying this little gem at the gallery and last night a good friend came by for dinner and bought it! So the gallery loses the commission but I gained another 20%. And really, although I would have enjoyed showing it off, it sold and that's the point of these little pieces, isn't it? So I did a little happy dance and put it aside for varnishing.
I enjoyed this little painting and think I might like to explore nature a bit more. For someone who lives so close to it, I don't get out as often as I'd like. I'm pretty sensitive to the cold and now that winter is here, I spend less and less time out of doors. Maybe I'm missing something?
P.S. I'm now entering my work onto Art Work Archive. Here's a link to my Public Page. Still have a ton to put up there but at least things are getting organized.
During the months of October and November, Gallery 9 in Port Townsend, WA will be featuring a 100 under $100 sale which will include small art works, jewelery and miscellaneous items for sale under $100. I just whipped this little piece out in anticipation of the event. Be sure to come by and check out the sale! Lots of great opportunities for Christmas presents and other holiday gifts.
Done! Lots of time went into this piece. I've learned a lot. I've gotten some good advice from other painters and plenty of advice from sailors. There are one or two things I would have done differently here but otherwise I'm satisfied with this piece.
I'll be giving a talk at the Olympic Peninsula Art Association this Thursday on the making of this piece. But it won't really premier until the beginning of December when I can put it in the window of Gallery 9 where I'll be featured artist for that month. Stop by if you have a chance.
This is the fourth or fifth iteration of this painting. It's had more work done before this stage and some after. I'm nearly finished and will post the fnal piece in a couple of weeks. Here I've painted in the rigging as well as the seams on the sails. I made some changes to the hull as well, removing the gun ports as they were empty and I didn't have good photo resources for them. The wave in the front has been worked on more as well as those in the background. Stay tuned for the finale!
Here's the second progress report on my first marine painting with a ship. I have, of course, lots of photos of this piece in progress but thought better of boring you with too many closeups and small change photos. The water is nearly finished although I have made changes to the mid-ground and foreground wave not shown here. Also the sky. The ship remains with lots to do.
Clouds and ocean go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or at least it seems so to me. I've been practicing skyscapes a lot over the past year and with them, I've painted a lot of water as well. So after all this practice, I decided to put it all together and drop a ship into that water. Now despite living on the water, or at least close to it, I don't know much about ships and less about sailing. But I figured I could do a decent job of painting one. So in my typical - "let's just dive right in" attitude, I pulled out the stops and started to paint one. The elements for this painting were drawn from stock photos. I pulled separate pictures for the sky, mid ground (er, water) and foreground. Then I searched for a masted ship photo that would serve for my subject. Then I put it all together and Photoshopped the color and values until I was satisfied. So here are the first two iterations. The painting is much further along than this now but I want to show how I have been building toward the final image so stay tuned over the next few days.I've skipped a couple of steps in order not to bore you.
I recently attended the long awaited wedding of my granddaughter Cassidy to her fiance, Luke. Like any grandma I wanted to give them wonderful presents. And I did. My husband and I bequeathed a monetary gift as well as an item from one of her gift registries. But it just wasn't enough. I mean, when you love someone you want to keep on showering them with stuff. Because my granddaughter and her family live three thousand miles from us, it makes showing love in other ways difficult. How many times can you heart someone on Facebook?
I recently became interested in doing miniature portraits and paintings on gold leaf. So I went to Cassidy's FB page and looked over all the wonderful pics she had been posting of her and Luke. I really liked this one so I copied it and projected it on my computer to work from. This was the result. I gifted this to her at her wedding shower and she loved it. Turns out that the photo was a popular one and she had used it on the special wine bottles that were gifted to members of the bridal party and family. I love doing these. The total size for the entire piece framed is 8" x 10". I can work from any photo you supply as long as it is clean and clear. Old black and white photos lend themselves nicely to a beautiful antique look as I paint them in a warm sepia tone on the gold leaf. These make wonderful anniversary or wedding gifts. Wouldn't you love to gift your parents or a favorite friend with one?
If you're interested or just have questions, you can email me at: susanspar@susanspar.com. Check out my website for other gift ideas. Thanks for reading.
I was proud to have a one woman show at the Sequim Museum in Sequim, Washington during the month of June. On June 17th I held a demonstration of a pastel landscape. I really enjoy doing demos because it's a great opportunity to meet the public in a way that introduces them to my work and also helps to enlighten and teach others about the art making process.
This painting was done from a small oil plein air study I painted a couple of years ago at Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, Washington. It's a long spit that goes out for about two miles into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was overcast that day and very windy. I actually did this small piece as a demo for the paper and my small plein air class. I used a very limited palette for the oil. I always liked the study and thought it would be fun to try as a pastel. So I used it for the demo.
I didn't have a videographer to work my camera so I set the camera up on a tripod and asked a friend to just monitor it and make sure it kept running. Unfortunately, I do step a bit out of the camera range but only for a second or two. It's been edited down and fixed as much as possible. Hope you enjoy it!
Since hitting middle age, my favorite color has become red. Hmm. Some folks call it the menopause color. I prefer to think of it as the power color. In any case, I've always gravitated to warm colors. I'm a fall person - or so I've been told.
I have a solo show coming up on June 2nd at the Sequim Museum and Art Center. This is one of the pieces created for the show. It will be framed in a cathedral frame that sets it off beautifully.
I'd love to see you at my reception which will be held on June 2nd at the Sequim Museum and Art Center located at 175 W Cedar St, Sequim, WA 98382. Refreshments will be served. Come and have a look-see and then wander off to view the rest of the Sequim Gallery Walk.
Lately I've found myself itching to try my hand at something new. Namely Gold Leaf. Now, if you've ever tried to use the stuff you'll understand me when I say - AAAGH! That stuff is really hard to work with! You literally have to hold your breath every time you try to place a little bit of it. It's so thin and so light that the slightest puff of air will send it flying or rip it to pieces. Sooo... having tried my hand sometime back with imitation gold leaf or metal leaf, as it's called, I decided I'd better stick to the faux stuff until I get a bit more practice. I had quite a bit on hand since my last experiment with repairing a frame so I figured I could do a respectably good size piece.
I wanted something relatively monochromatic for the main subject. I felt color could come later so I chose a couple of Snowy Egrets for this first experiment. After building and preparing a substrate (panel), I transferred the cartoon to the panel and did a sketchy under painting. I then prepared the area around the birds with adhesive, waited the requisite amount of time (about 30 minutes) and then commenced with the torturous job of laying the leaf. Yes, it looks very silvery in the photo. The light on my easel casts a bit cool.
The next step was to seal the leaf with an oil based shellac. That was easy and it dried fairly quickly so I was able to proceed with the next step. I laid a coat of Transparent Brown Oxide in small sections (that's a lot like burnt umber) and then started to wipe out leaves and the shape of a tree running diagonally on the right top corner.
Once I completed that step, I moved on to the birds. That was a bit more up my alley and so I was able to move fairly quickly through the rest of the piece. I finished up with some details and some darkening of shadows to allow for a little more integration - but not too much. They are, after all, a bit more realistic than the background. I wanted them to stand out a bit.
The final result is, I think, respectable. I can see I'll need some more practice with this medium but I'm enjoying the journey. I have a show coming up in June at the Sequim Museum and Arts Center. I hope to feature this piece along with two or three miniature portraits on gold leaf. Now those will really be fun!
