Paintings At Georgia State Capitol

David Ralston, Leishea Johnson (staff) and me with my painting "Dawn of A New Day"

"Area Art Fills David Ralston's Capitol Office" is the headline in The News Observer dated Friday, June 25, 2010, which is a newspaper of Blue Ridge, Georgia. David Ralston is the new Speaker of the House and decided he wanted artwork from North Georgia. He commented "I never want to forget my roots. These people have been good to me, and I want to be reminded of this daily."

His interior decorator, Marcie Culpepper, contacted me during the winter and said they had looked at my work in High Country Art & Antique Gallery in Blue Ridge, and then went to my website and were interested in several paintings for his suite of offices. Unluckily, two of the three were already sold. One of the sold paintings was named "Golden Opportunity" and she told me how much David Ralston loved that scene and also the name since he felt his new position was a golden opportunity! She asked if I had something similar or would I suggest work that was from the North Georgia area. I had just finished a new 4'x3' oil painting and told her to look at it online. I had posted a photo of it on my blog -- but not on my web site since I had not officially finished it and named it. She loved it and couldn't wait to see it in person. We set up a time for her to visit the studio to see paintings. I will tell you, they always look better in real life!

When she walked in and saw the painting, she turned to me and said "This will be perfect. When can I pick up the paintings?" She did choose another replacement one that was from Ellijay, GA and liked the framing on it. The only one that was not sold from her initial list was a plein air piece from downtown Blue Ridge. I did have that painting, but the frame needed to be changed since she wanted to hang the two smaller paintings together. I also needed to sign the large one and spray a preliminary light varnish on it. Two days later I had them ready for delivery! And, the name for the large one . . . "Dawn of a New Day." Here is a photo of the painting:

The article shows several photos of three or four of the artists and their piece of art hanging in the suite of offices for the Speaker of the House at the State Capitol. There is a photo of me, David Ralston, one of the staff and the painting where you can get a good sense of the painting. Also, the last paragraph in the article is great! . . .

. . . "One of Ralston's favorite pieces of art in his office is entitled, "Dawn of a New Day," an oil on board by Marsha Hamby Savage that portrays the mountains of Blue Ridge. 'It's a new day in the House of Representatives,' he said."

I couldn't be more pleased! The reception they had for us once the decorating of the office was done was wonderful also. I have a couple of photos from the reception here for you also. The top one before my writing is essentially the same photo shown in the newspaper article.

This last photo is the reception room of his suite -- the top painting is the plein air pastel of the train and station in downtown Blue Ridge done during the World Wide Paint Out last September, and the other painting is an oil from outside Ellijay, GA.

Many people enter the Speaker of the House suite of offices! They will all have the opportunity to see artwork from our North Georgia mountain area. It was quite an honor to be chosen!

Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association Auction

This past Saturday, the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association (BRMAA) held their annual auction to benefit the association. It has been my pleasure to participate for many years and give back to this wonderful Art Center. I paint from beginning to end, then frame a painting and it is auctioned off live toward the end of the evening.

Talk about pressure! But, I totally enjoy it and talking to everyone as they come by to see how the painting is progressing. I painted on an Ampersand Pastelbord that was 18" x 24". This is a sanded surface, and I put a watercolor underpainting on the board before I left home. Knowing this was a rather large piece to complete in the span of about 1 1/2 to 2 hours -- I thought it should be done. This way I did have the gist of the scene down, and I did not have to wait for the surface to dry to begin the actual pastel painting.

Here are photos of scenes that I combined elements to create the painting! The first image is the creek snaking through the pasture, and some of the background for inspiration.

The next image is for the mountains -- hopefully I have arranged these in the "blog" and it took them correctly. But, you can see the tree and pasture, and then the mountains in the distance. This scene is from Mrs. Parks property where I paint plein air quite frequently!

Here is the little creek snaking its way through the pasture and the lonely tree I have based my foreground tree upon.

The next photo shows a chicken house -- but I have not included it into the painting. I just wanted more information for the creek and the foreground grasses. And . . . the last photo in this group is for the grasses with the flowers and the creek information.

So, you can see I had my work cut out for me. I did a thumbnail at home to work out some of the elements, but I did not follow it religiously. Maybe a mistake, maybe not. So the next shot should be a view of the courtroom where the Art Center is located. You can see my underpainting, and all the appropriate stuff for me to paint with the pastels. You can even see three paintings that I brought along for reference and to show attendees what some of my work looks like.

And here is the finished product on the easel -- with Jack Morton and Jill Becker in the background. They were the emcees (did I spell that correctly?) for the evening. I think this is their third or fourth year to do the Art Auction. And, below this text is the painting itself. Remember, I only had a limited amount of time to produce the piece, get it into the frame and back out to the floor for the "live" part of the auction.

Title is "Around Blue Ridge" because many of the photos were taken around Blue Ridge, but you cannot find this actual scene if you are riding around.

Successfully finished and auctioned off to a wonderful patron of the Art Center!

Southeastern Pastel Society International Show

I promised to post a picture of the painting that was accepted into this prestigious show. I did show you the two that were not. Here is the pastel titled "Morning Mist" and it is on Ampersand Pastelbord, and the size is 18" x 24".

Best news is . . . drum roll please . . . I did win an "Exceptional Merit Award" for the piece. The judge and juror of awards was Duane Wakeham. He is a highly sought after juror and workshop instructor. But, the bad news is that our workshop associated with this show is to be his last workshop. He is signing off on teaching workshops in the future.

I also was able to take his last ever workshop. This was a special treat. He is a wonderful person and instructor. His premise for workshops has been "The thinking part of painting". It really is what I need at this time in my career. I know how to use the materials, but now I need to raise my art to the next level. Thinking and planning more before starting the painting will result in a better chance of creating what I have in my mind. Here are a few shots I took during the workshop of his demonstration and some of the students in the class. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Here is a photo from a projected image of his notebook where he was planning the structure of the painting. He brought the tree in, put it in the distance, middle of the page, left or right also. This was a shot of many he showed from a power point presentation of his planning process. This is not the plan for the demo that I will show a few shots of. The next photos are shots of his start, during the middle, and then the shot of the finish. Though he did tell us that it is not really a finished piece . . . it is a study for a larger painting and he might work on this "study" even more when he goes home.

Hope you can tell the room was quite crowded and we had to contain our supplies to 1/2 of the table. Everyone worked hard for the three days of the workshop. You can see my first day's attempt on the easel right there in front. The study for this one was on the easel behind what you can see here. It just peaks out at the top. Duane is helping another student just to the right of my painting. Karen Margulis and Nancy Belknap are the two students to the left of my painting . . . and they are previous students of mine. There were a total of 20 students in the workshop.

So much fun . . . and I got to transport Duane every day to and from the workshop venue and we had loads of time to talk about all aspects of the art world and painting. That was worth the price of the workshop! Duane Wakeham is a wonderful part of the art world in all ways -- a nice person, a thoughtful person, a wonderfully giving artist, and one of the most knowledgeable artists I know. So, until next post . . . keep on painting!

Pastel Exhibit at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta GA

This week will be a very busy one! The Southeastern Pastel Society is having their International Juried Exhibition at the Oglethorpe University on Peachtree Road in Atlanta, GA. The reception is Thursday evening from 7 - 9. It is free to attend the reception and if you are in the area, you should come! There will be some of the best pastels in the country at this exhibit!

I am also the Workshop Chairman for the SPS and so will be busy with duties for the workshop which is held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend in Norcross GA --- and I am enrolled to take the workshop from our judge and juror, Duane Wakeham. This will be his last workshop and I could not resist the opportunity to take from such a wonderful artist and teacher. I have taken a one-day intensive "thinking" session from him at the IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies) convention about three years ago.

He and I started a friendship at a convention in Raleigh, NC which was five years ago. Now everytime I see him, it is so much fun catching up. He loves to give me a little hard time about my "southern" accent!  Yes, I do have one!

Also, I do have a painting that was accepted into the show. I think the numbers were 362 pieces were submitted for jury and only 65 pieces were accepted. So . . . it is an honor to have one accepted into this show. There are many well known artists accepted into the exhibit and from quite a number of states in the US and some from Japan. It is truely an international exhibition. Our organization is one of the best in the country. I submitted three pieces and so I won't show you yet the one accepted but here are the two that were not accepted!

The "Creek Shadows" painting is on Ampersand Pastelbord and "Cypress Dance" is on gatorfoam and has a created surface of acrylic and pumic. On this one you can see the brush strokes where I laid on the pumic mixture and much of the orange underpainting shows. I love this painting! I thought it would be the one accepted if I got one in. You just never know! They are both 24" x 18" in size.

I do plan to make some changes in the cypress painting since I have had some time to look at it. The reflection is a little bright and also some of the distant tree trunks need to be "blued" a little to create a little more aerial perspective and help them recede more. The creek painting is still sitting with a cover over it and I will wait to have more input into it at a later time. I really want the focus in this creek painting to be in the middle background which is not a normal thing for me. So, I will have to figure out a way to knock those rocks in the foreground back a little more. Right now it seems the bright green leaves are stealing the show. What do I really want to be the star of the show? 

It is always fun to revisit the paintings after a space of time away from them to see what would make them better. I'll show them another time when and if I make changes.

Here is the information for the reception and show:

Southeastern Pastel Society 2010 14th International Juried Exhibition

Oglethorpe University Museum of Art
4484 Peachtree Road, N.E, Atlanta, GA 30319
404-364-8555
http://museum.oglethorpe.edu/


Exhibit Dates: May 18-June 27, 2010
Opening Reception Thursday, May 20th, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Museum hours: Tuesday-Sunday, noon - 5:00 p.m.
Come see me at the reception and all the wonderful work that our juror accepted into the show!

Fund Raisers That Do It Right by Lori Woodward

This post was an important one for me so I thought I would repost it here for others to see!

Today's Post is by Lori Woodward, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. She is also a contributing editor for American Artist's Watercolor and Workshop magazines and she writes "The Artist's Life" blog on American Artists' Forum. Lori is a member of The Putney Painters, an invitational group that paints under the direction of Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik. Find out how you can be a guest author.

The towns of Peterborough and Jaffrey in New Hampshire do their annual town fundraisers right. They understand that in order to get the best artists to participate that they partner with the artists to raise funds, not take advantage of them.

Undervaluing The Worth of Art, Hurts the Community

Many artists struggle to make a profit each year, and although it might sound noble to give art away, sometimes it does the community of artists more harm than good. Fund raisers who ask numerous artists for outright donations devalue the worth of the art in that community. When there is no minimum (reserve) price set for a work, it often sells for less than the cost for materials. Even worse, the buyers return each year to pick up unbelievable bargains, and they rarely contact the artist to pay full retail price on additional paintings. This is the kind of "exposure" that actually hurts business for artists.

Educate The Organizations You Support

The folks that put on these fundraisers are not malicious people. They just don't understand how selling donated art at low prices hurts the art community. Often, when I've explained why it isn't a good idea, the people in charge decide to go with a reserve price and percentage to the artist. It might mean that fewer paintings will be sold (at least in the first year), but I've seen that organizations that do it right often reap much higher rewards over the years because the best artists in the community begin to participate, and the scene becomes a place to buy great work for a tad less than they would pay otherwise. Everybody wins! The artists get their due, the organizations get 40% of each sale, and the collectors get great art.

Interestingly, the local towns in New Hampshire that do auctions the right way, make far more than those who accept artists full donations and sell the art for any price. That's because once the auction becomes known as the place to get great artwork, it brings out serious collectors. Usually, there is a gala dinner involved, where the tickets are pricey. I've seen expensive works (say in the $10K range) sell at these classy auctions. The best and most expensive art goes quickly. My guess is that the collectors there enjoy the competition.

Several years ago, I attended a huge show in Denver, Salon D'arts. While there, I ate breakfast with a number of artists who participated, and Scott Burdick listed his favorite fundraisers - most were invitational museum shows where the artist reaped a 75% of the selling price. Even so, the museums made a great deal of money.

The thing that I especially enjoy about participating in fundraisers that return me 60% of the selling price is that I usually pick up a new collector when my painting sells. Unlike most galleries, auctions give the artists the names and addresses of the buyers. When someone buys my work at, or near my regular retail price, they're usually pretty serious collectors.

Artists Can Only Deduct The Cost of Materials

When I've participated in auctions where I've given a full donation, the work sells for under $100, and nobody wins because the artwork was devalued, the organization only got $100, and I am in the hole for all my supplies. By the way, we artists can only deduct the amount of the supplies we used on our incomes taxes - not the value of the artwork. Alternately, if I simply give the organization a check from my business account, I can deduct the full amount of that check. They make just as much money or even more that way, and I am not out a painting that I could sell otherwise.

What if the Work Doesn't Sell?

If my painting doesn't sell, then I get the painting back and I'm out nothing. Sure the organization doesn't get anything from me, but it probably made more in the long run because it got a greater amount from the other artists whose works did sell. Nobody loses, and the integrity of the art community is not eroded.

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This article originally appeared at: http://clintwatson.net/blog/19114/fund-raisers-that-do-it-right
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I hope you have enjoyed this article. Let me know your thoughts or even what has happened to you! Marsha

Demonstration in Blue Ridge

This is just a quick note to tell everyone I will be at High Country Art & Antique Gallery in Blue Ridge, GA on Saturday, May 1 from 11:00 AM to about 4:30 PM (maybe 5:00) to demonstrate my painting techniques.

High Country Art & Antique Gallery is located at 715 East Main Street in downtown Blue Ridge, GA. It is very easy to find. The gallery is directly across from the train station and has a large green awning over the windows and door . . . about 4 or 5 businesses up from the traffic light on Main Street. The gallery is very eclectic and carries a wide variety of styles and mediums in art. Paintings of local scenes, abstract flowers, metal work, pottery, wonderful artistic jewelry, etc. can be found here. There is something for everyone.

On Saturday, I don't know yet if I will do a pastel or an oil -- haven't quite made up my mind yet. I love them both and have been alternating between both of these mediums the last year. I am more known for my pastel work, but I originally started out in oil painting. I love getting back into my oils in a big way. Lately, I have been creating oil paintings that are 4' x 3' on birch panels. But, this is too large for me to demo at the gallery. I might decide to do at least a relatively larger piece than is usually done for a demonstration -- maybe something like 18" x 24" or a similar size.

If I do plan a pastel painting, I will also do a larger one. Many times I will take several smaller pieces in and try to do 2 or 3 paintings during the course of the day. This time I am thinking larger might be a good demo change for me and the gallery visitors.

So . . . come by and see me and the wonderful High Country Art Gallery in Blue Ridge on Saturday, May 1. Be sure to let me know you saw this on my blog or on Facebook!

More From Buford Plein Air Festival

Here are the other paintings and scenes from the Buford Plein Air Festival this past weekend. The second painting on Friday was the scene across from where I painted the first one -- only a simple composition of dogwood trees. I was so depressed from painting the first one and having the view obliterated for so long, I decided to stay where I was rather than move.

I think trees with the flowers on them are beautiful, but oh so difficult to paint without all the little "dabs" of paint to be the flowers. There may be issues with all the paintings I did, but remember . . . I only think of my plein air work as studies . . . and should they be frameable, just icing on the cake!

Here are the dogwood trees I painted second. The painting is a 12x9 on a gessoboard, which is a slick surface. Look at the difference in colors I saw in real life and what the camera could see and translate into a "print". Quite a difference.

Third painting of the day on Friday was of azaleas across the street from where I was for the first two paintings -- but a little toward town. This time I did move my easel down the street on the sidewalk right in front of the home with the azaleas and scraggly dogwood tree. I simplified the background in this one because I did not want the home to take interest away from the flowers.

I love the difference in the two colors of the azaleas. One is quite warm and the other, though still in the same color family, is quite a bit cooler. I did not paint in the small amount of dogwood blossoms because they were small and few and far between. I felt they would be a distraction. Artistic license is wonderful because we get to set the stage the way we want the audience to look. What do you think? Did it work?

Next are my paintings on Saturday . . . first was setting up right along the main street in downtown and doing a painting of the buildings, cars, street, and light poles! What fun and what difficulty for me . . . remember I am a "tree" painter!

Here is the scene first:

Now here is the painting:

So, painting in downtown was quite an experience . . . cars always moving by, changing where they were parked, etc. Look how dark the camera saw the shadowed side of the buildings. In real life, they were no where near that dark!

This was quite a challenge for me. I tried to simplify many of the shapes and just create color notes for the cars and any little bits of the building fronts under the canopy of the small trees. So . . . I did get to put some trees in the painting! The painting might have some small issues, of course, but overall, I thought it was good enough to be one of the two paintings I entered into the show and competition. I wanted to be sure to enter paintings that were authentically "Buford" and not just flowers or trees that could have been painted anywhere!

The last painting before framing and entering was at the Stonehedge Bed & Breakfast property. I have a photo of the painting on the easel and the scene I painted. Then you will see the painting. I sold the painting to the owners of the B&B at the reception that evening. What good luck I had a this Plein Air Festival!

You can again see the difference in what the photograph sees and why my eyes did see. Remember also this affects my taking photos of the paintings themselves. I have to try to "tweak" the photo of the painting to look more like my painting. Not too much is really done though.

Now, I did paint something at the "Quick Draw" and the photo I took of it is terrible. I was taking the photo inside the Tannery and the glare of the lights totally obliterated some of the colors. The painting was quite wet and looks it. So, at this time I don't have a photo that will translate here very well. But, I did sell the painting to a father and daughter that watched me paint it! Another stroke of good luck at this Festival.

I had loads of fun, and spent two days outdoors painting and learning . . . won two awards and sold three pieces . . . what more could you ask for?