More Family Paintings

I finished painting these two paintings almost simultaneously. I knew that the portrait of the "Flapper" was from a photo of my husband's grandmother. I didn't realize that the other photo I used was of the same grandmother as a little girl. I loved the way she was wearing the bow and the jewelry, very seriously involved in her presentation. I titled this "Bows and Beads". I love doing the paintings from old photos. Some are very blurry or faded and all are sepia or black and white. I have not had any hand colored photos, so I get to imagine the colors that would have been worn or in the background. I try and understand the period as well as the people involved and try to find a way to allow their spirits to flow through the art.

ProArts East Bay Open Studios Last Weekend

Photo: Barn Silo Altamont, NY

My Studio is opened on Saturday, June 14, from 11AM until 6PM. 1361 Berkeley Way, Berkeley. Number 48 on the ProArts Map. Check out the ProArts Website

Encaustic Painting difficult to Photograph

I have been trying to photograph my encaustic paintings with little success. The wax has a transluscent effect that give the pieces great depth but it is next to impossible to capture the feeling of the pieces. I think I have solved the problem with photoshop but I have to
re-photograph everything which will take a while. This piece was painted last fall. I think I finally have a photo that looks somewhat like the painting!
Come and see them in person during the East Bay Open Studios, June 7 & 14th 11AM to 6PM.

Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios

Check out the Pro Arts Website for more information about the up and coming Open Studios and related events in June.

Painting Experiments

Have been busy experimenting with a looser, more impressionistic look with thicker paint and no glazing. The still lifes have been more successful, the landscapes more challenging. I have revised a couple of older experiments.

A busy spring!

Things have been very busy, so no posts recently. I have been gearing up for the ProArts open studio in June and trying to enter some competitions, as well as take some classes in an effort to expand my horizons and my techniques. I have work in the Alameda On Camera 2008 Show in the Frank Bette Center, and will soon be moving over to Perforce Software Corporation in Alameda. It is only the second time I have exhibited straight photography. Well they are giclee prints on watercolor paper but they are still photography as opposed to Photobased artwork.

So Much to Do So Little Time

I currently have art in two spaces, Expressions Gallery in Berkeley and The Frank Bette Center in Alameda and I am in the process of launching the first Major satellite show for the Frank Bette Center at Perforce Software in Alameda called "ShowCase Alameda". It includes works from 13 FBCA artists who work in photo-based mediums, all source material from the 2007 "Alameda On Camera" event. The artists have been encouraged to expand the work that they submitted for last year's show. I had so many of my own images to work from but I am pretty much sticking to the baseball league theme that I started with last year...another encaustic painting and the addition to straight photography which is pretty scary since I don't consider myself a photographer!
This year's Alameda On Camera challenge greeted the particpants with more rain, just like last year. I really went out on a limb and decided to work exclusively with photography...okay, so I messed around with photoshop a bit and I am making giclee prints on watercolor paper, but it is still photography rather than painting. I am excited to see how this all works out.