Beach Paintings: Hunting Island, Before Mathew

For five years, since Hubby retired, we've been snowbirds. Four of those years we went to Hunting Island SC. Paradise. 

Unfortunatly hurricane Mathew devastated Hunting Island wiping much of it away. 

Cleaning out my studio I came across three small paintings I had started there last year, but not completed. 

I just finished them. 

It breaks my heart knowing the inspiration for each is gone. 

Mini 4x4, glazed acrylic, North Beach #1

Mini 4x4, glazed acrylic, North Beach #2

8x10, glazed acrylic, Beach Grass 

Getting ahead. What a feeling!

I'm glad I have my work ready for the Port Stanley Show, I've been able to get some gardening in, and I've got a good start on work for the Westland Squarefoot Show this week! 

Like many artists, I'm an avid gardener, I've used my garden as reference material many times.

This time is the year I usually feel very torn between spending time in the garden, and time in the studio, with the weather usually being the deciding factor. This week has definatly been gardening weather, it's wonderful to be able to indulge without guilt. 

Almost done, a tweek here and there to do and it will be ready to mount on board. 

name to be chosen by contest sign up for my mailing list to participate

I just need a name now...

Ignore The Experts

As an avid reader of all things art I noticed that sometimes I put too much credence in the word of the so called experts.

Case in point, this blog: the experts say 'content is king!' 'Consistency is every thing!' 'Stick to a schedule' Have a theme' too much advise and after years of postings suddenly this blog was in danger of dying. 

By trying to have interesting and informative content for every post it became work. It started to languish and was fast entering the land of the abandoned blogs. 

So, I'm back to blogging for me. I never really cared if anyone else read this, it started as a way for me to record and think through my own progress. Be warned if you do read this blog, it's  all about me....again 😊

The finished results from last post:

Sculpted by wind 8x10, $130.00 contact

The Marsh, 8x10, $130.00 contact

The Fallback Plan

Recently I was reading an article about fallback plans. The article was about keeping up your exercise and healthy eating habits during the busy summer months, but I think many artists also need one for their art practice, or at lest this artist does!
The term fall back plan was apparently coined by Stonewall Jackson during the civil war, the story goes that he never went into battle with out first planning a retreat that would give him a defensible point to regroup, then resume attacking.
It seems counter intuitive to plan a retreat before an attack, but by planning ahead he was able to keep losses to a minimum, and gains to a maximum.
There is no doubt that many of us lose ground during the summer months. The kids/grandkids are off school and need attention. The garden is producing weeds faster than a mere mortal gardener can keep ahead of. Spouses expect strange things like, meals, clean laundry, and most startling of all participation in family events and vacations.
What's a poor artist to do!?! Why doesn't the world understand that this is plein aire season, and art shows, art fairs, art in the park all need attending.
It's very easy for things to slip between the cracks. In my art practice unfortunately it's the creation of art it's self that often gets short shrift, lessons have to be planned, and taught. Paperwork has to be kept up to date, and all of the afore mentioned need attending to too.
Over the years I've created many plans, but for me, it comes down to very simply planning each day. When I do that I can usually find a hour or two a few times a week, that I can declare protected and exclusively for the production of art, the hard task then is to make the mental shift to creative on cue.
More on that.....next week.

work in progress, 3rd texture layer.

Path to the beach

This is the first completed post South Carolina painting. "Path To The Beach" is literally that, a painting of the path to our beloved beach.  With the continuing snow and cold here at home, I'm really missing walking our beach...

Lessons learned while walking the beach #2:

  How Artists are like sharks teeth.

There are a lot of wanna be sharks teeth on the beach, some of them are really hard to tell from the real thing just by looking, but there is one no fail test, try to break them. 

The shell bits that look so convincing, break as soon as you put pressure on them, real teeth are almost impossible to break.

A lot of wanna be artists break as soon as they run into difficulties. They don't sell the way their family and friends assured them they would, they get an unfavorable critique, or two, they don't get accepted into a show they apply for...and they pack up their paints and move onto a new hobby.

Please don't get me wrong, a lot of hobby or Sunday painters, are the real thing, there is nothing wrong with knowing the limits of your ambition. 

Shark tooth hunters learn fast, that if you want to find a lot of teeth, find the bands of grit and debris. Like sized objects collect in bands that stratify the beach. Since most sharks teeth are fairly small, most of them will be found grouped together in the band of thumb nail sized bits.

The really good ones, the big ones, will be in the bands with the larger pieces of, and complete shells. There aren't many big ones though, so, do you forgo quantity for quality? After all, you might get lucky really good ones do appear in the smaller bands, though rarely. 

Or, do you persist and hang out where the big guys go, for artist, do you try for the better show? Take the chance on a solo exhibit? Or stay where you're comfortable showing in the same group shows year after year, without ever taking a risk...  Risk is hard, and frightening.  Most artists don't have driving ambition, they are happy doing what they are doing. There is nothing wrong with you if you know you really don't have enough ambition to take the risks.

If you do have ambitions though, consider the band you're in, could it be holding you back?

The dream of every sharks tooth hunter is to find a megalodon tooth.  Megalodons were massive prehistoric sharks, and their teeth are also massive.  Their teeth are found on the same beaches, but almost never in the strata bands the other teeth are.  

I've yet to find one, I know a devoted hunter though. This guy wears hip waders, and has an assortment of strainers he uses to sift through the tide pools of the estuary.    As soon as the tide is out far enough to start to expose the estuary sand bars he's out there, in all weather.  He's been doing this ever since he retired 10 years ago, his wife helps him and together in 10 years they have found 2.  One was this year and I was fortunate enough to see it, he wouldn't let me hold it though lol.

For artists, as it is for this hunter, megalodons take total devotion, a lot of time/practice, patience, and a bit of luck.

 

Path To The Beach, Glazed Acrylic, by Robin Baratta. 8x10, $120.00

The Start Of Something Big?

One painting just about finished, but I'm thinking this is the start of a new series.

Coming home from our camping trip in July I enjoyed being a passenger, and I found myself fascinated by unmown ditches. 

Each was a fecund micro environment with a character of its own. By comparison the sterile sameness of the monocultured fields seemed dreary. 

The sky in photo is just a bit purple compared to the original, but the rest of the colours are really close.   24x18,  glazed acrylic, Trueman Line, Ditches #1, $320.00, soon to be at The Art Emporium, in Port Stanley. contact

New painting, sorta

This peice has been through three incarnations. Each very different, but each leaving a bit of themselves behind.

I find a lot of my work does that, and I know I'm far from alone. 

Most beginning artists hold everything they do as precious. We quickly learn though, that gesso is our best friend. 

There is something liberating about gessoing over a particularly cringe worthy effort. 

'. 

Day three: sail installation element

The water especially needs more work, but we're getting there. I have to research out door top coats, anyone have any suggestions?

Day two, sail installation element

This is the start of the second day I've had to work on my contribution to the installation piece for Port Stanley. The finished sail will be one of nine mounted on a frame in The park near the bridge in Port. At lest that's the plan as I've heard it, village council could place it elsewhere.

Because of the size, 63x38x74, I'm working on the dining room table, don't worry, it's an art veteran!

Looking for inspiration

Oh the things we artists get ourselves into.

9 area artists, myself included have been asked to paint 'sails' for an art installation to be ready for Port Stanley's Harbourfest, and the Soiling International Regatta. Three weeks away. 

It seems everyone is doing nautical themes, not as a requirment, but because it's a natural...

I'd rather not, but nothing is coming to me. 

Dear muse help me please!!!

Square Foot Show Opening

I can't beleive I forgot.

 I was supposed to meet my friend (Candy McManiman) and drive into town with her, but at 9:30 I was gabbing on the phone with youngest, and something he said reminded me. 

I'm afraid he thought the house was on fire from the wail of anguish I let out. 

However, it was a great opening and Candy took lots of photos, including this one of Dr Suess's Garden with a red dot :)  (sold)

This one is another one that passed the hubby test. He hated it, the more he dislikes a painting....the faster it sells lol. 

Port Stanley Show Award

I got a pleasant surprise when I went to pick my work up from the Port Stanley Artists Guild.

My peers, the artists of the Port Stanley Guild voted my big painting 'The Pond' the recipient of the Members Choice Award.

Green on Green, new painting for Westland show

I'm putting the maximum three paintings in the Westland (Art Exchange) square foot show. This is the third, and is the completed painting I'd started in my last post.

Green on Green, 12x12, $160.00

At lest I think it's done, until the final varnish goes on change is always a possibility, sometimes even then.

The first painting I did for this show 'fiery parrot' had a bit that bothered me, so I ended up carefully cutting it out and changing it, so even varnish is no garentee of change!

Fiery Parrot, 12x12, $169.00

Dr. Seuss's Garden, new painting

Here's another painting ready for Westland Gallery's(formerly Art Exchange)square foot show.

I started this, at one of the Art Emporium's Saturday painting/play days.

We had tons of fun, and couldn't beleive it when 5:00 rolled around. 

If you're looking for a place to get together and work with other artists, the Art Emporium opens their doors at 9:00 am Saturday's. It's a drop in kind of affair, and it's free! 177 Main st Port Stanley 226-658-1888

Dr Seuss's garden, $160.00, 12x12

Step by step: three trilliums painting

Next!

Since spring is taking so long to arrive I'm creating my own. 

A couple of years ago I took about a zillion pictures of spring flowers in Springwater Conservation Forest. 

I've been mining that stash looking for images to warm up by, and nothing says spring in Ontario like trilliums. 

This is step one, design composition and value/colour plan. 

Off to the studio I go!

Step two draw on board, and paint notan (value plan)

Next, the first of the texture layers

Then, first layers of glaze,

Almost done, 

Hmmmm, needed something.....how about this:

Cuttings: Is It Spring Yet?

Last fall I took cuttings from my geraniums and put them in a glass on my kitchen window sill. All winter they've quietly been growing roots, and I'm sure dreaming little green plant dreams of spring.

I'll admit that other than making sure they didn't run dry, I haven't paid much attention to them, so I was caught by surprise this week when one of them started to flower. 

It made me happy on a day I was feeling blue.

So I'm sharing my happy, in a painting.

Snow day...again: challenge painting revisited

In just glad this is one of those rare weeks that I'm not teaching in London. I'm able to take today in studio and schuffle the rest of my week to accommodate the weather. Which makes me sad, not at all lol.

So revisiting 'pretty' from my challenge paintings. You may remember I gessoed over the first version. Here's another attempt. Hubby doesn't like it... Tell me what  you think.

Sold

Kit's hollyhock

Hey Kit, my interpretation of the photo of your hollyhock is done except for the final coat of pouring medium.

Thanks for offering the challenge!

Finished size 5x15 Sold

Kit's Hollyhock: another challenge painting

Kit Cutting posted a photo on face book, with the caption, 'here is the challenge: paint my photo and post it here.

Today is the first chance I've had to work on it. I textured the support last night, and did the drawing this morning. I'm in studio tomorrow so I'm all prep'ed and ready to rock and roll!

I'm off to Port now to work at the Art Emporium, Kit will be 4 doors down at Portside Gallery, come and visit us both in lovely Port Stanley, it's gonna be a pretty day!

Challenge painting update #5

Going

Going

Gone

Aaah, I like the texture... I can do something with this. 

It's funny I've been reading a lot lately about the 'new trend' called wabi sabi. An artistic celebration of the distressed and imperfect. 

It's new.... But I remember at workshop I taught several years ago, encouraging people to let go of perfection and embrace wabi sabi. 

So, am I a trend setter? Or what Lol.