Waiting For Harvest II

                                Waiting For Harvest II - Colored Pencil On Ampersand Pastelboard

I finally finished the second Waiting For Harvest piece and an addition to my Wine Series.  Again it is the same size as the first one (16 X 12) which was Pinot Grigio grapes from the Castello di Colognoli vineyards in Greve, Italy (which is in Tuscany).  These were Sangiovese grapes to be used for their Chianti wine that the family makes at the castle.  And one of my favorite red wines.  What attracted me to this cluster of grapes was the large knobby vine  and it was so large you knew the age of Tuscany was inside and out.  They were very sweet to eat and I believe were harvested just after we left in late Sept. 2009.

This will probably be the last of my wine series as I begin work on a commission piece for a client, that I will post after Christmas so I don't give away any surprises.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday everyone and have some wine it's good for your Heart!  Red Wine that is.
Gloria

Nectarines And Wine

                                          Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard  16 X 20

In Getting ready for my showing at several of the Wineries and Wine Festivals this year here is the second Still Life finished last week just before Powhatan's Festival Of The Grape, our local wine festival.  Turn out yesterday was somewhere near 7500 - 8000 wine lovers, and great weather.  Not bad for such a small rural county in VA.   My most local and newest art association Fine Arts Of Powhatan had our 2nd show at the festival.  I donated my tent and screens for the event so Powhatan could see the fine artists in their midst.   I myself had my 3 recent wine themed paintings there, this one included.  It's a good thing it didn't sell because I hadn't had it photographed yet.

It of course is on pastelboard and finished with UV Archival Varnish to protect it like all my other pieces on this board.  I did get the usual comments of "That can't be colored pencil!"  This still life was set up in my kitchen on my granite countertop with a few nectarines I had around with one of my favorite blue wine glasses.  A pale blue draped fabric covered the background board which I thought was a nice complimentary color to the yellow of the napkin and the Fess Parker Chardonnay (which I love).

Now on to my last of the series, for a while, which has to be done before my next winery show.  I'll leave you all in suspense, but realize that since I've started my "part time day job" to pay for this Art Habit I have it may not be a short wait.  Now back to coloring.

Gloria

Additional Painting To My Wine Series

                       Waiting For Harvest 16 X 12 Colored Pencil On Ampersand Pastel Board

In full swing of Art Festival/Exhibit Months, it seems my goals to get new work completed for the Wine Shows to come meet with distraction on a daily basis.  I attended the Exhibit at Glenview Mansion in Rockville, MD on Sunday of the CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America) Disctrict Chapter in DC, of which I am a member.  The mansion is a beautiful and artsy place to exhibit with so many shows going on besides ours.  I have three paintings in the show and received nice comments from the other members on them.  A must see if you are in the area.

Now for the painting seen above, it's finally finished and I'll do another similar with red grapes soon but it will have a distinctly unique feature, stay tuned.  Both of the references for the 2 grape harvest pieces are from my 2009 trip to Castello di Colognoli, in Tuscany.  This of course the white grapes on the vine waiting for the harvest, thus the title.  The photos were taken late in the afternoon just after dinner and the warm setting Tuscan sun was setting.  The feeling of being there comes back to me as I work on these, remembering the sweet taste of these white grapes.  But I've started a wine still life to give me a break from all the grape drawing, and Still Life are one of my best sellers.

I've got frames to order and at least 2 more paintings to finish by then ......so back to it.

Landscapes in Colored Pencil - Bodie Island Light 24 X 18

I finished this colored pencil painting just before my vacation last week and needed to settle on it a while, you know like we all do with newly finished work.  Set it aside, look at it, put it in a frame to check it out, look at it some more and then leave it for a week to see - is it really done.  Well, I guess so as I photographed it today, and here it is.  Done except for the 6 - 8 final coats of UV Varnish which I'll do tomorrow.  I like to shoot it after I spray it with matte fixative but before the varnish as I think the added coats make it harder to photograph.  It's done on Ampersand Pastel Board.  So it can hang without glass, protected by the UV Varnish.

The lighthouse in lower Nags Head, NC is a familiar site for vacationers to the outer banks.  And is one of the reference shots from our Trip at the end of May.  The view is from the marsh lands looking back to the light from the deck platform.  Catching the reflection in the marsh water was a unique shot of this often photographed lighthouse.  One of the many pieces I will be working on for a gallery in the outer banks.  I hope you enjoy my take on it.

The Wave - A study on water

                                                    The Wave a 8 X 10.5" study

I've been working on this study  for a few weeks off and on, trying to get the look of the ocean, it's color and action.  This was an exercise for a larger piece coming next and my first try on Canson Edition paper.  Not sure I like this paper as it doesn't take the layers my normal Stonehenge does or for that matter what my HP Watercolor paper does.  But a Study is just that but I do see some uses for this paper in adding it to my artists journal as is is supposed to handle mixed media too!  For this I used 100% colored pencil, no wc pencil under painting.  But I will have to try that out when I add it to my artist journal.

After dealing with many on going internet issues (2 months with Verizon checking my lines, modems and such) I hope to get caught up on blogging and other communications.  But today I'm planning on getting my newest water themed piece of and running.  Line drawing, and transfer to board on the agenda.  Will show you the progress in a few days. 


What art have you created today!

Gloria

New Painting Photo'd and ready for framing

                                            Spring Thaw   16 x 20 Colored Pencil On Pastelboard

Now that the big Easter egg hunt for the grand daughters is over, dinner cooked (with too much ham left over) I was finally ready to get this newly finished painting photographed.  Getting a true likeness of my painting via the camera and then Photoshop is always an ordeal for me since I'm now on my own for this task.  (My son is off to bigger and better things.)  A photo reference of melting icicles with the VA creek rushing by, prompted this painting.  The attempt to capture the coldness of the ice yet the awakening of the moss and lichen growing on the rocks was my goal.  Full of abstract shapes - this really had me checking my left brain at the door!  It will go into a very nice Expresso /blackish frame that is 3.5 inches wide.

On other news, I have been assembling my newly purchased pastels for a trek into the PA Mountains for a plein aire outing.  With my sole goal of finding a faster medium to get more accomplished with a saturation of color and the Plein air experience.  No I'm not going to replace my beloved cps,  but I hope to use the pastels to do more saturated studies for future works to be done in cp, along with the gained skills of working from life.   And I really don't want the mess of pastels in my studio, outdoors the dust and mess will be easier to live with.  Now I may go around an entire day with colored dust on myself for the world to see but my studio should still be clean.  Okay, I know I'm a bit of a clean freak when it comes to art supplies, but I have to admit shopping for those pretty colored pastels had a rush that put me over the potential messes to come.  The Terry Ludwig set of 60 Maggie Price came today and they look so good!  I'll save the set up for my Plein air box/kit for a future article, that is after I figure out how to pack for just this one new media.............

Back to the wonderful work of painting,
Gloria



 


  

Tabletop Marbles Finished

As I promised, here is my latest colored pencil work finally scanned and ready to frame.  It's an odd size and I won't go into the reasons why but needless to say it started out to be a demo piece I worked on during a Christmas event at Crossroads Art Gallery where I show my work.  After liking how the first few marbles turned out I kind of kept going until I had it all down on the HP watercolor paper I started on.  And since I haven't used that in a long time (preferring to work on Stonehenge paper or a sanded surface), I surprised myself that I didn't mind this paper again.   Oh, it's 8 x 13 - see a weird size but I think it will frame nicely in the 12 x 18 black frame I have for it.  That is after I cut the mat.

I guess my biggest accomplishment this weekend was to get this all scanned, stitched, color corrected and ready for the website all alone.  You see I'm trying to take on the image management and eventually the website management from my son, Chris, who has done so much for me in the past.  But his new job takes up so much of his time, I need to be able to get things kept up to date sooner.  And besides I need to be the big girl I am and make myself learn all the image/computer stuff.   (I cringe at having said this out loud, having put this off onto my son for far too long.)   

The weekend seemed to rush by me without getting any pencil onto paper except to make a new list of what I need to get done before we go to Florida.  However I did get some accounting work done for my job as treasurer at BAAA, my local art association.  

Next to do list item is to find some images to take on my trip, for pieces small enough to pack and work on while I'm away.  If I have enough room (we are flying) in my bags I'll try to take my pastel pencils.  Making an attempt to try them out as a plein aire media instead of my cp's.  But packing light isn't my strong suit.  Wish me luck.