Miscellaneous Musings

Lots of stuff going on in my art world.  I hang a show at the Oro Valley Library tomorrow afternoon.  It is an all cacti show and will hang until Oct. 15.  I'll post more information and photo in a few days.  Yesterday I sold two paintings at the SAAG Gallery in Casas Adobe Plaza.  They are "Desert Dwellers" and "Images of Arizona".  I prepped two canvases yesterday to do replacement paintings.  I also have a canvas ready to do another "Cowgirl Delight" which sold not long ago.  I have 20 Mexican Train Domino Stations base coated and ready to go.  I still have to do another large "Surreal Saguaro" that is a commissioned job but he is willing to wait until I get some of this smaller stuff done.  The Sun City Art Festival is only two months away so I must get busy.  I have a number of Calls to Artists that I must send applications to for shows in 2014. This afternoon I have a couple coming to my house to see my work.  They are friends of a friend.  I am looking forward to meeting them.  Busy, Busy, Busy!  My hobby has taken over my life....I love it. 

Okay, for today's posted photos.  I went to yard sales with a friend this morning and came up with a bonanza of stuff.   Not only did I find frames and wood items to paint I found a killer pair of Cowgirl Boots!  They are a perfect fit and all leather in a color I don't have and were only $15.  Yeah!!!

The next photo is the painting I completed yesterday.  It is "Patchwork Horse" and is size 8X10.  This will probably go in the Sun City show.  I should have some more paintings to show soon if I get off of the computer and into my shop and start painting!

Another Large Saguaro Painting

This is the large "Surreal Saguaro" painting I did for my friend Joanie.  It is 26X38.  We delivered it to her yesterday and it now hangs in her entrance hall across from the front door so it is the first thing you see when you come into the house.  She is redecorating and decided she needed more color in her home.  I think this will do it.

I am ready to move on to working on smaller items for the up coming Sun City Art Festival which is only two months away. 

Doodles in color

Here are the colored doodles I promised to post a couple of days ago.  These are done with fine tip colored Sharpies.  I think I like the black and white ones better. 

I will put my sketch pad and Sharpies away until we take another trip and get back to painting.  I have to say doing the doodling is a fun way of passing time when it isn't possible to paint but I enjoy painting much more. 
The large saguaro painting I posted a few days ago was picked up today by the couple who commissioned it.  They were very happy with it.  I am about half way through the other large painting.  Once that is done I will get back to smaller paintings and items for the Sun City Art Festival in November.  So much going on with the SAAG Gallery, and my upcoming exhibition at the Oro Valley Library starting Sept.   The time crunch is upon me.  Must get busy for the Festival!!

Doodles done on San Antonio trip

I love that I discovered zentangle type of doodling.  It is a real time killer when riding in a car when we are going on a trip.  Here are some of what I did on our most recent trip to San Antonio.  I had quite a few so decided to consolidate them on a couple of pages rather than show them individually. I also did some in color and will post them tomorrow.

I still haven't decide what to do with all these doodles.  They print out beautifully on glossy photo paper.  I thought of making cards.  I would appreciate any ideas of how to use these designs. 

Very Large Cactus Painting

This is one of the large Surreal Saguaro paintings I was commissioned to do.  It is
 39" X17" without the frame.  I am working on the other one now and should have it done in about a week or so.  It is on a black background with a gold frame.  This type of saguaro painting is one of my signature works of art.  I don't get tired of painting them because each one is different.  I have painted them in every size but this one and the one I am working on now is the largest size I have ever done. 

Tomorrow I will post copies of the doodles I did while traveling to San Antonio.  I haven't had time to scan them into the computer yet but will do that soon.

Everything's Coming up Roses!

"Why so many paintings of a large red rose?", you ask.  The main reason I paint so many roses is because every thing I paint them on sells!  The other reason is because  I enjoy painting them.  I can do a rose painting in a fairly short time and the color palette is simple.  I took these items with me on our trip and while my husband and son were busy installing the window I painted them.  I only need four colors not counting the black background.  That made it easy to pack a small painting bag to take with me.  Since I sold the last rose bowl at the gallery I needed another to replace it.  Painting the rose on the Mexican Domino Train Station is something new.  I have painted hundreds of those things but never with a rose so I thought I would try it.  Here are photos of the newest rose items.

I finished the first large Surreal Saguaro painting that was a commissioned job yesterday and framed it today.  It is ready for the new owner to pick it up.  I will post a photo of it tomorrow.

San Antonio Stained Glass Windows

If you have been reading this blog for awhile  you know that my husband Roger is a stained glass artist.  I help with the design work and color choice and sometimes with the glass layout.  We just got back from a trip to San Antonio the purpose of which was to install stained glass windows in  the home of our son Brian and his wife Sarah.  The process of making these windows started in April when Brian & Sarah came to Tucson to decide on a pattern and type and color of glass.  They were here about 6 days and it took that long to make all the decisions.  The windows were for the large clear glass window in the front foyer over the front door and a long panel by the door and also for a small arch window in their den. The largest window was too big to be just one window so it was designed to be three long panels that give the appearance of being one large window.  They decided on something formal with a lot of clear glass to let in light with just a touch of color for accent. We had to take a trip to San Antonio in May for Roger to make the template for the window to make sure they would fit exactly right. It took him 10 weeks to construct the windows.
 We have one more window to make for them.  It will be in the kitchen over the sink and will be similar to these.  Roger measured and made the template while we were there.  Size of that window will be 35"X47".  Brian has decided that he would like to learn how to construct stained glass windows so will be making a trip to Tucson soon to work with Roger on this window and learn the process.  We will then have to make another trip to San Antonio to install it. 
 Below are photos of the installation process of the current windows and the finished windows plus one we did for their bathroom a few years ago.

Since the window was so high up they had to build the scaffolding first.

Roger would hand up a panel to Brian then would climb up to install the clips that hold the window in place. They worked slow and careful and made sure it was level and perfect.

This is the finished product.  It is very hard to get good photos of stained glass because you get reflections and also see what is in back of the window.  I took some close ups of the windows too.  I hope you can see how elegant and beautiful these window are. The large window is 5'X6' and the door side light is 7'X19".

If you click on the photos you will see them closer up.

This is the arch window in the den.

This window is over the garden tub in the master bathroom. The size is four foot square. It was made a couple of years ago. 

A fast last minute painting

The SAAG reception last Friday was a big success. Many people attended and many sales were made by all the artists. I sold my "Cowgirl's Delight" and also "Colorful Critters" paintings along with the "Surreal Saguaro" cutting board and a set of greeting cards.  I had to replace all the sold items to keep my booth from looking bare which I did on Tuesday.  Since then I sold a bowl, box and another cutting board.   I got the call last evening letting me know I had to bring in more items.  I panicked when I checked my inventory and found out how low it was.  I had a couple of items but needed one more so I spent the evening in the shop painting another box.  I decide to do the boots and hat pattern since I sold both paintings quickly.  It seems to be popular and was easy to do a smaller version.  Here is a photo of the box. I just noticed I took the photo before I erased the chalk lines.  Those lines are gone on the finished box.

I am going to be pretty busy with other things so won't have any thing new to post for about a week.  If you may want to check out some of my older posts if you haven't done that for awhile.  Just click on old posts at the end of the page.  I started this blog about three years ago so there is much to see!

Paintings from the Past

I am busy working on two large saguaro paintings that are commissioned jobs.  For that reason I have no new work to post so decided to post some photos of paintings that were some of my earlier canvas works.  All have sold.  These paintings are not southwest in subject matter.  I thought it would be good to show something different.

"A Cacophony of Color"
 

"Flowers for Jan"

"Ornamental Bouquet"

 

"Monochromatic Bouquet"

"Neon Jungle"
 

 

The above paintings were all sold and the painting below was a gift for my grand-daughter Laura and her husband Patrick

"Wine and Roses"