New Oil painting by Alter Ego - Helena!

I haved started my second experimental painting using my alter ego name of "Helena". I wanted to play a little bit and felt that if some of these experiments should turn out to be "frameable" -- then I would not want to confuse my patrons and potential clients with a different style, should I decide to place them in one of my galleries for sale.

Here is the first shot of the painting in progress. I have toned the canvas a warm light peach, and started with the scrubbing process I wanted to use for the trees. I have used several different colors for the dark area and have left them very thin. I then started placing the pinks in the distant field -- and those strokes are somewhat thicker.

I think it is finished, and I will post the second in-progress shot next. I will have to take another photo on Wednesday of the painting as it is now. But . . . I always like to let them "meditate" for a few days, or week or so, before it tells me it is finished (or not)!

This one is a little different from the first "alter ego" painting that is a "cubist" approach. I am thoroughly enjoying painting in a somewhat different style from my main work. They are terribly different, but enough that I thought it would be more "play" than work!

Tell me what you think?

First Painting using my Alter Ego name

Today I have painted in oil a 30" x 24" on canvas. I have been trying in acrylic to do something that is somewhat abstracted. I have a hard time not doing my normal detail work that I do in pastel.

I edited the photo in Photoshop Elements to something that would not look just like the photograph. I painted from the altered photograph. I also tried to use strokes that I don't normally do -- somewhat of a geometric nature in the foreground. I softened the background so there were not so many "hard" edges. I still think there are too many color changes in the trees -- I will probably do something about that. As you can see I did an image that is gray scale to see if there were too many value changes. No too bad, but could probably be better. I am relatively pleased with the field and the stroke production.

I want to create an alter ego -- not to be a secret -- but another name to use when I am working on experimental work, abstract, etc. I will be using my middle name, "Helena", with no last name. These works will be slightly less in cost than my normal work. These will be considered studies!

Tell me what you think. Or, tell me what you see that I have missed!

I Have A Winner!

The painting you see won "Second Best in Show" at the First National Juried Show for the Southern Appalachian Artist Guild in Blue Ridge, GA this month.

The show was juried and judged for awards by a nationally known artist and judge, Alan Flattmann of New Orleans, LA. There were about 450 entries from 23 states. The art pieces accepted represented 19 states and were both three-dimensional and two-dimensional. There were 80 2-D and about 36 3D in the show which is still being exhibited in the Historic Fannin County Courthouse in the Richard Lowe Evans Gallery. The show opening and award reception was well attended.

I was very excited about being accepted into the show, much less being an award winner. There were many exceptional pieces of art in this show. If you are in the Blue Ridge, GA area before Nov. 14 be sure to stop in and see this awesome show!

Again, I am apologizing for ignoring posting on my blog. Hopefully you will forgive me and come back again.

I am posting today a painting I have just finished -- hopefully finished! I wanted to paint a green scene and not use too much green. I have brushed off this painting in the upper left corner (as you are viewing on the screen). I had several tree trunks and it made the painting look as if there was one painting on the left and one different painting on the right. The first image is the one before the fix!

The second image is after the fix. The background that is somewhat abstracted was beautiful to me -- so I brushed out all but one of the tree trunks and continued the nice blues and lavendars to the left side behind it. I think the painting is now more harmonized. The painting is 24" h x 36" w and is painted on an Ampersand Pastelbord.

Don't you think the second one after the fix is a better composition. And the funny thing is I originally did not have those extra trees in the painting. Does this tell me that I should stick with my original plan and vision? Maybe so. Don't second guess myself after the plan is made. But then sometimes a painting tells you what it needs that is not part of the original plan. Something to ponder? Give me your thoughts!

I wanted to show a recent painting . . . but I don't have many on the lap top . . . so I saved an image from my gallery in Blue Ridge -- High Country Art. So, if you are in Blue Ridge, please go by and see the real thing. It looks much better in real life.

Well . . . so here is a painting that is in my gallery in Blue Ridge, GA. The painting is two canvases that are four feet high by three feet wide -- which makes the painting a six foot painting. It was entered into a show called "BIG" last fall in Buford, GA at the Tannery Row Artist Colony. And . . . it won Best in Show!

I paint mostly in pastel, but this last year I have painted quite a few painting using my acrylics. A few oils along the way -- but this painting is an acrylic and has a very high gloss finish and was quite difficult to photograph!

Been away from the computer!

So sorry for not getting something posted in the last week or more. Sometimes the days are too busy with teaching classes, delivering artwork, attending receptions, helping an organization . . . you probably get the point!

We have a new organization in Blue Ridge, GA -- The Southern Appalachian Artist Guild -- under the umbrella of the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association. We held a reception for the first member show on Saturday at the Gilmer Arts and Heritage Association in Ellijay, GA. The show will be up until April 24. There is both 2D and 3D artwork in this show. It looks wonderful. We even sold about 5 or 6 piece the evening of the show. Great!

I'll try to post a picture of a new painting either today or tomorrow. Come back!

Finished Entry For SPS Show

Well, I finally did the photographs -- it was actually finished a couple of days ago. The painting is of Nickajack Creek in Cobb County, near Smyrna Georgia. Smyrna is just north of Atlanta. The area is a beautiful one -- and is historic because of a Covered Bridge. Everyone paints the Covered Bridge -- but guess what? I don't! This is the creek that runs underneath the bridge and is also underneath the Silver Comet Trail.

The painting is on Wallis sanded paper, and size is 16x12 inches, and I did a watercolor wash as the underpainting. This is the second view of this part of Nickajack Creek that I have painted. The first one you see as the post just before this post. That painting is entered into a show in Ellijay GA and this one is being put onto a CD and will be sent for jurying into the Southeastern Pastel Society International Show.

The show will be held in June and I won't know whether I was accepted until about a month from now. I have two other entries: second entry is "Grand Canyon Blocks" from my trip out West last Spring. I actually did a small painting while sitting at one of the overlooks at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. But . . . this painting is rather large and is from a photograph. The third entry is "Is This Oz?" is from a photograph I took about 2 years ago on a trip to France. My friend and a student / painting buddy is in the photograph.

Editing My Blog

Today I thought I needed to continue posting to my blog. So . . . I started editing the page so there would be other items of interest to you when you visit this blog. I have added some "Great Links" that belong to my gallery: High Country Art in Blue Ridge, GA; my best friend -- Carly Clements-Hardy; a wonderful student of mine -- Karen Margulis; and one of my outdoor painting groups -- Georgia Outdoor Painters!


Please visit these wonderful sites -- which will problaby give you other wonderful sites -- but remember to return to me at some point . . . even if on a different day. I sometimes visit a site, take a link they give, take another link that one gives . . . and before you know it you have visited about 20 different sites and exhausted your time alloted to spend on the computer. Oh well! Come again another day!


Here is one of my paintings that I am submitting to a show in Ellijay, GA -- a joint show titled "Out of the Woods" by the Southern Appalachian Artist Guild (of Blue Ridge, GA) and the host in Ellijay -- Gilmer Arts & Heritage Association (GAHA). The host will have a reception on Saturday, April 5 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Please come join us and admire some wonderful art of all kinds by our North Georgia artists.

Now, I must go finish the painting I plan to enter into the Southeastern Pastel Society show. I'll be sure to post the final image -- hopefully either later today, or tomorrow sometimes.

Trepidation on Starting A Blog

I hope you will visit my blog often. I plan to show paintings either in progress or just completed. Occasionally, I will even show them as a how-to demonstration. I plan to have discussions about various aspects of a good painting, a good photograph, techniques on how best to teach students, and even wonderful places to go painting with your buddies!

So, let's get this ball rolling! I am attaching a photograph of a painting that just needs a spot, or dash, to finish it and then on to the framing! Plans are to enter this painting into a show. So far, I am quite happy with the colors.

My study at this time is on using color temperature instead of always relying on value! That does not mean that I forget it, or composition, or other aspects for a good painting.