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| Peaceful Sky - Poppies 12 X 24 WS Oil on Canvas |
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Peaceful Sky - Poppy Collection, 18 X 24, Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard
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For a while now I've been MIA from my blog and I'm sorry about that. I really appreciate my readers and hate to have disappointed anyone with the lack of posting. I wonder how many of you have the same issue as I do? Finding it hard to multitask as well as I used to. I seem to be dropping balls more so lately.
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| Me demoing the CP Poppies at a local art event in Richmond |
Since I have been working in two media (my beloved colored pencil and water miscall oils) in the last year and a half, I wanted to combine them for this show. And I felt they would blend well with my co-exhibitors work. An important consideration when your doing a duo show. I also had a specific style and series in mind for this show. I've termed it Peaceful Sky but eventually some Stormy Skies may show up in the series. Stay tuned.
As you can see from the vertical piece above on the left, the poppies are in oil and on canvas. And the Poppy Collection (on the right) are in CP and on Ampersand Pastelboard. I do not enjoy working on canvas when oil painting, I think it's the bounce of the surface and the texture of canvas. But I knew I needed some larger pieces and could not find board in the dimensions I wanted. I much prefer working on board no matter the medium!
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| Backlit Poppy 5 X 7 Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard |
Two of my favorite things - Skies and Flowers. I love Poppies, always have, they remind me of the ones my grandmother grew back home which originated in her hometown in Italy. Brought to America by seed and nurtured thru the years by she and my mother. In PA they always bloomed around Memorial Day. Here in VA, the heat and humidity seem to challenge them to growing for more than an annual. So planting them in my art seemed to be a splendid idea!
The Backlit Poppy was done as an study for whether the poppies would look good on a dark or light background. As much as I do love backlighting, and I may explore this more, I wanted to combine the sky and flowers instead for my larger pieces.
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| Developing the Poppy Collection |
If your me, somedays it's hard to pay attention when driving when the sky is so fascinating! I wanted to capture the clouds in volume and lighting. I wanted the lit backsides to shine and glow as well as capture the softness and sometimes crisp edges. Placing the flowers on such a sky in a view from underneath, looking up was exactly what I had in mind. Almost as a child looks up thru a flower field. Innocence and bright color.
There is one more Oil Peaceful Sky piece in the works, but alas the drying time of my Cobra Water miscible oils
has me on a learning curve, so it did not make the show deadline for turning in. Check back as it's a big one!
Colored Pencil classes moved in June from my home studio to For Arts Sake Gallery 804-740-1400, 9770 Gayton Road, Richmond, Va 23238 www.forartssakegallery.com and will continue in an ongoing monthly schedule for Thursdays, in two sessions 9:30 - 12:30 & 1:00 - 4:00. Please contact Diana at the gallery if you are interested.
In the show are Plein Air Paintings in Colored pencil and in Oil, as well as several Studio still lives and other work, I will highlight more in my next post.
Enjoy the last of summer and stop to look up and enjoy the summer sky!
Gloria
