Inspired inaction

"You cannot plough a field by 

             turning it over in your mind."

 I am in a dilemma, stuck between two art disciplines and as a result, my art making is frozen in place. I have ideas swirling in my head that are struggling to come out. They are contrary to my usual mode of working, so they sit there, impatient to arrive but imprisoned by my lack of action. It is so easy to continue to stay stuck whenever you are trying to embrace a new way of working that chafes at your comfort zone and forces a new direction. I could sit here in inaction, fearful that my new direction will be a poor route and that I may get lost on the way. I could forget about the new and continue stolidly along the path of what I've always done. Or I could boldly hit the ground running, embrace the new in excitement that good things come by way of experimentation, inventiveness and the willingness to forge my way through unknown territories.  Ok, let's get moving already!

Having new eyes

The voyage of discovery

is not in seeking new landscapes

but in having new eyes.

– Marcel Proust

My recent works for the Colorado Pathways show are once again glimpses from my playground, the western Colorado landscape. This quote rings so true as I look with new eyes at the views around home and continue my explorations of the pathways through the rural landscape. What one day appears mundane with no interest, the next day reveals a stunning view with dramatic color and drama.

I am painting like crazy to prepare for "Colorado Pathways," my upcoming July show at Around the Corner Art Gallery in Montrose, Colorado. Here is a recent painting reminiscent of our adobe landscape from a paint out that Dan Deuter and his wife, Ellie, so kindly hosted. This scene is an 18x14 original oil painting on panel. I'm using the palette knife more frequently these days. The painting knife creates a luscious, thick paint surface that you can carve and create textures on. The drawback is that the thick paint dries ever so slowly which gets concerning when you need to wait for the painting to dry before adding more effects.

Red & Mighty

Mr. Rooster, a proud red leghorn gentleman, was vibrant and colorful to paint. Painted on a 10x10x2 inch cradled panel, a frameless design & ready to hang.

Home Sweet Colorado

Mr. "Rowdy", this year's icon for us artists to decorate was an inspiration and fun to paint. For the benefit of the Ridgway Public Library fundraiser, "Home Sweet CO" headed to Ridgway this week where it will be displayed, along with numerous other Rowdy's, at local businesses until the auction held on May 19th.  It's amazing seeing the variety of the artist's interpretations and styles painting the very same silhouette.

Fights of Fancy

My latest flight of fancy is a facination with our little (and big) fine feathered friends. "Red Flirt" is part of a show titled simply "Red" at Around the Corner Gallery in Montrose, CO. Still on the red kick, I'm now working on a bright painting of a rooster with lots of red, orange and cerulean blue... what fun, vibrant colors in time for spring!

The coming days will be filled more and more with the joyful trill of returning birds as they busy themselves with finding mates, making nests and bringing a smile to us gardeners.

I hope you enjoy the following poem,
"Hope" by Emily Dickinson

_____________________________________



Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune--without the words,

And never stops at all,



And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.



I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

The bare beginnings

Here's the initial wash on a little 8x8 cradled panel I started today. It's inspired by a photo I took of a scene in the Velarde area of New Mexico along the river. This time around I wanted to share with you the stages of the painting surface. Before starting the painting, I complete a quick sketch of the scene. Even though I don't always love drawing, I feel this is such an important step to define and focus on what excites me about the scene and lay down the boundaries and basic composition.

Now I'm ready to paint! I start by laying down a wash of cadmium orange, alizarin crimson and mineral spirits over the canvas. I begin to sketch in the shapes using a varied mixture of cobalt blue, alizarin crimson & burnt sienna. Areas I know I want to remain light, I often wipe off the color to show the white of the canvas. I try to keep my paint strokes loose and adjust shapes as needed to tie the pieces together as I go along. Nothing is rigidly defined yet.

In my next post I'll show the layering of color and developing painting.

Exhibit in New Gallery

I'm excited to exhibit again at the Creamery Art Center in Hotchkiss, Colorado and will have my art delivered by June 24th. The Creamery has a large array of different artists, jewelers and potters. They also offer art classes to adults and children and have a large pottery studio and glass arts studio. It's great to be in the mix of this diverse pool of creativity.

My gardening has been a big distraction. Now that the vegetable garden and perennial beds are somewhat weed free, the landscape projects completed, and the heat is on, I'm at last back in the studio.
Now I need to get my butt in gear and ramp up the painting of my little landscapes in oil so I have a fresh body of work! These new works will be a mix of Colorado inspired landscape scenes and my new interest in closeups of our feathered friends.

Out of the West ~ Opening Reception

The opening reception for the "Out of the West" exhibit was a great success. The 3 artists represented in the exhibit include, as seen in photo above, Barbara Churchley, Dan Deuter and myself. I enjoyed the great conversations, meeting new friends and seeing old friends again. The opening of a reception is so good for getting out there with the public, talking art, and getting a perspective from the viewers on new pieces that had not yet seen the light of day in an open forum. At the same time, it is rather exhausting and I wouldn't want to do it every week! The show continues through March at Around the Corner Gallery in Montrose Colorado.

This thing called social media

It's winter and although not as cold here in Colorado as these winter hares huddled under the tree, with the short days and cold nights it's difficult some days to feel charged up and creative in my cold studio. So while not creating, I'm trying to wrap my non-technical mind around blogging, twitter, and all the many ways one can now share their art on the internet. How overwhealming is that?!

For those of you who discovered this blog and enjoy my paintings, I've added Subscribe options on the Upper Right of this blog. You can either receive an email when I add a new painting/posting or you can subscribe to an RSS Feed. I promise to never send you postings too frequently ... that might cut too much into my studio time! Hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Gina

Art on Trout Road

It's been a hectic couple of months gearing up for the Art on Trout Road show. I've been busy creating paintings in a new size for me... 6x6 inch cradled canvas. I've shown a few of the new ones previously on here and Facebook. What a fun size to try new concepts, different compositions, and enabling a freedom to experiment and try more palette knife work, more abstracted works and to play with those images that have been on my mind but I haven't wanted to commit to a large painting. I have learned so much and have created little slices of the western and southwestern landscape in an affordable size. Some of these may evolve into larger paintings.

So next weekend, November 20th & 21st is the Art on Trout Road weekend in Montrose, CO with Bill Wilson, ceramics and Kurt Isgreen, watercolor landscapes. Should be great fun and as always, enjoyable to visit with all and talk art.

Here's the link for more information:  Art on Trout Road

San Juan Serenade

Around the Corner Art Gallery in Montrose asked me to paint in front of the gallery during our popular Main in Motion summer event. Main Street is closed off to traffic and all can stroll through the downtown visiting friends, shopping, listening to the street bands, checking out the arts and crafts booths and get a bite to eat from street vendors. I stood in the middle of the street with my sketchbook, plein air setup and reference photo and tried to focus on painting through the commotion of passerbys, live music and some very enjoyable art conversation breaks with those who stopped by to visit. It was fun and great practice for painting in public places. This painting of the San Juan Mountains and Mt. Sneffels was the result. I finished 3/4 of it that night on the street, then a few days later in the studio, refined it to completion.

Ouray Paint Out

Last week I greatly enjoyed participating in the Ouray Paint Out that was part of the art goings on for the "Artist's Alpine Holiday" 50th Anniversary celebration of their annual juried art exhibition. Such an inspirational old mining town with most of it's historic buildings & charming victorian homes preserved. The day was cloudy with the threat of rain as we rushed to finish our paintings within 1 1/2 hours. I am not used to painting so quickly so it was a great exercise in focusing on quick and painterly strokes. I started with a red toned panel and my previously completed line drawings of my subject. I sketched in the composition with a mixter of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue & alizerin crimson, as I often do, to lay in the foundation. I then quickly blocked in the large shapes, simplifying the details down to the core lines and shapes that I wanted to emphasize. I had barely enough time to add some detail to the courthouse and surrounding vegetation. The red toned background was left to peek through the painting.

I was thrilled that the painting was successfully auctioned off that afternoon in spite of the rain that started just as the auction began and with the buyers that remained thinned out considerably once we relocated out of the rain.

I'm thrilled and honored that Public Art eXperience (PAX) has chosen my oil painting, “Last Light on Little Cimarron” for this year’s raffle fundraiser. Get your tickets now for a chance to win this large 24"x36" original oil painting and support public sculpture in Montrose! Tickets can be purchased at Around the Corner Art Gallery, Montrose City Hall, or the Montrose Act offices! To learn more call 240-1420, or visit PAX online at www.cityofmontrose.org/art.

I found the inspiration for this painting while traveling on highway 50 going east from Montrose, CO towards Gunnison, CO through part of the Uncompahgre National Forest. The light on the foothills was incredible and gave the sheep a golden glow. It was a challenge painting even a small herd of sheep and striving to give each sheep individual attention and charactor.