The Secret to Painting Greens

Morning Prayers 18x12 pastel available $185 with free shipping

I remember this day so perfectly.... my daughter and I met up with one of my former Girl Scouts to visit her college, see her dorm, have lunch and do a little sight-seeing.  During our sight seeing excursion we were taken to this little park located in the heart of the hustle and bustle of this city in Delaware. What an amazing landscape this little place had.  I took so many pictures that day, but I've only painted one of those scenes since then.  Today was the day to capture the ducks!  It was such an adorable sight - the ducks all lined up in a row, and at one point they were all facing away from us and we were all scrambling to get pictures of "the duck butts" laughing the whole time. 
So in the spirit of our local Waterfowl Festival which will be taking place soon.... I give you my rendition of "the duck butts".

I've been doing a little bit of experimenting with my pastels and color combinations, and have learned that to make greens stand out and have interest, there is a secret..... and that secret is orange! It was time to put the idea to the test.  I painted all the areas that had green with an under-painting of bright orange.  Most of it got covered up with the following layers of color, but you can still see it in some spots.

Setting Aside Time Just to Draw

The Boathouse 16x20 Charcoal on Canson Board available $165.00

 I've heard it said that to be a good artist, you must be good at drawing.  I have to admit, when I was young, I loved to draw, and it was my favorite past time, but now I don't spend nearly the amount of time on the drawing for each painting as I probably should.  It had been quite some time since I completed just a charcoal drawing, but it felt good - it took me back to a time before color, before paints and before pastels.  I have always wanted to fill a sketchbook, but have never spent the time, so today I am setting another goal and that is to do at least 1 sketch a week until a sketch book is completely full. I enjoy looking through other's sketchbooks, and hopefully I will find as much satisfaction looking through my own.   I'm including some step by step photos of this piece - it's fun to see a picture slowly come to life. I used black and white charcoal on gray toned Canson Board.  The texture on this board took some getting used to, but I'm happy with the end results. 

Keeping Things Loose in the Background

Lost 12x18 Pastel available $185.00

I've been practicing abstracting backgrounds with my latest poppy paintings.  Putting in grasses like the one above can get frustrating and confusing and sometimes cause you to over paint them causing the pastels to get gummy and muddy which leaves you no choice but to brush it off and begin again - and when you're on a tight budget for purchasing pastels, this can also be pricey.  So this time I worked very slow - I began by toning the paper in a deep purple and made sure I could still see the paper through the pastel.  Then I chose 2 greens to lightly fill in area followed by the light yellowy green to give the appearance of light shining through.  It wasn't until this point that I put in the poppy, stepped back from the easel and chose colors that I thought would give interest and make the painting pop.  I followed the same color choices with this poppy as the others, but added a bit of a warm pink color in the light filled area.  The goal is to not paint every blade of grass, but let the viewer fill in the grasses with the information you present to them to see.  

I'd like to reveal the rest of the poem that I've been sharing.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.

Jennifer Grotz’s “Poppies”

There is a sadness everywhere present
but impossible to point to, a sadness that hides in the world
and lingers. You look for it because it is everywhere.
When you give up, it haunts your dreams
with black pepper and blood and when you wake
you don’t know where you are.
But then you see the poppies, a disheveled stand of them.
And the sun shining down like God, loving all of us equally,
mountain and valley, plant, animal, human, and therefore
shouldn’t we love all things equally back?
And then you see the clouds.
The poppies are wild, they are only beautiful and tall
so long as you do not cut them,
they are like the feral cat who purrs and rubs against your leg
but will scratch you if you touch back.
Love is letting the world be half-tamed.
That’s how the rain comes, softly and attentively, then
with unstoppable force. If you
stare upwards as it falls, you will see
they are falling sparks that light nothing only because
the ground interrupts them. You can hear the way they’d burn,
the smoldering sound they make falling into the grass.
That is a sound for the sadness everywhere present.
The closest you have come to seeing it
is at night, with the window open and the lamp on,
when the moths perch on the white walls,
tiny as a fingernail to large as a Gerbera daisy
and take turns agitating around the light.
If you grasp one by the wing,
its pill-sized body will convulse
in your closed palm and you can feel the wing beats
like an eyelid’s obsessive blinking open to see.
But now it is still light and the blackbirds are singing
as if their voices are the only scissors left in this world.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been thinking of  my next subject matter to work on this week, and I've decided to spend my week at the lake - so to speak.  This week, all my painting will be lake scenes.  I'm pretty excited and have some experiments with the pastels that I'd like to try out along the way.


I'd also like to announce with great joy that I was excepted into the Working Artists Forum.  I was quite worried after seeing all the paintings of the other applicants - all I can say is I'm in very good company of exceptional artists and hope to build lasting friendships and also to learn and grow as an artist with all the opportunities WAF provides.  Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers. 

Have You Ever Tried Painting on Sandpaper?

Wild Passions 9x11 Pastel available $95.00

This week has been a whirlwind of art activity in this house.  Along with trying to reach my goal for the poppy paintings, I've also been working on things in an attempt to get accepted into the Working Artists Forum group.  On Monday, I will need to submit 3 paintings and 1 drawing, framed, to be judged by a panel, and they will decide if they think my work is up to the standards of the group.  I am so grateful for all of you that "like" the paintings on Facebook and Instagram because that's how I chose the paintings for consideration.  I also met with my pastel mentor Katie yesterday, and along with her husband, who is also an artist, they helped me pick the best 3 of the 9 top "liked" paintings by all of you. So thank you for all your support and wish me luck.  I'll post the paintings that were picked after I get them framed.

I've been sharing a poem 1 paragraph at a time along with a poppy painting to go along with it, so I'd like to share the next paragraph to that poem:


There is a sadness everywhere present
but impossible to point to, a sadness that hides in the world
and lingers. You look for it because it is everywhere.
When you give up, it haunts your dreams
with black pepper and blood and when you wake
you don’t know where you are.

But then you see the poppies, a disheveled stand of them.
And the sun shining down like God, loving all of us equally,
mountain and valley, plant, animal, human, and therefore
shouldn’t we love all things equally back?
And then you see the clouds.

The poppies are wild, they are only beautiful and tall
so long as you do not cut them,
they are like the feral cat who purrs and rubs against your leg
but will scratch you if you touch back.
Love is letting the world be half-tamed.
That’s how the rain comes, softly and attentively, then

with unstoppable force. If you
stare upwards as it falls, you will see
they are falling sparks that light nothing only because
the ground interrupts them. You can hear the way they’d burn,
the smoldering sound they make falling into the grass.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The poppy painting posted for today was painted on black sandpaper.  I've been trying out different grits of sandpaper to see what kind of textures I can achieve - but just a warning if you decide to try this - you will not have a pastel left when using them on the heavier grit paper - I liked the texture, but did not like using up an entire pastel after a couple of swipes, so I trashed that painting - and began again for the painting shown above.  

Mistakes Happen

Fate of the World 12x6 pastel available through this link $75.00

I came across this photo reference on the Pixabay website early this morning and was amazed at how this picture represents exactly how I've been feeling about the world in which we are living in right now.  Morals, I feel, are becoming a thing of the past, and recent changes being made to what was once the "norm" are sending this world into certain disaster.

 I've titled this piece "Fate of the World" and can add it to my completed paintings of 7 poppies in 7 days.  I have to admit, I applied the pastel way too heavily to the flower and the colors started to become muddy.  I was trying to hurry and because of this, the flower was ruined.  So what do you do when you make a mistake like this with pastels?  The answer is a simple one.... just brush it off and begin again.  I took the brush piece off of an old paintbrush and brushed off all the pastel on the flower and began again.  The brush has to have some hardness to it - a soft brush will not get into the crevices- and with a light, circular motion, you can brush off your mistake like it never happened.

I'd also like to share another paragraph to the poem I've been posting.  The entire poem will be revealed in just a few more days.


There is a sadness everywhere present
but impossible to point to, a sadness that hides in the world
and lingers. You look for it because it is everywhere.
When you give up, it haunts your dreams
with black pepper and blood and when you wake
you don’t know where you are.

But then you see the poppies, a disheveled stand of them.
And the sun shining down like God, loving all of us equally,
mountain and valley, plant, animal, human, and therefore
shouldn’t we love all things equally back?
And then you see the clouds.

The poppies are wild, they are only beautiful and tall
so long as you do not cut them,
they are like the feral cat who purrs and rubs against your leg
but will scratch you if you touch back.
Love is letting the world be half-tamed.
That’s how the rain comes, softly and attentively, then

Setting Smaller Goals

Rare Beauty 12x12 pastel available by clicking this link $145.00

I'm setting a smaller goal this week by choosing 1 subject and doing a painting a day for 7 days.  I've participated in painting 30 paintings in 30 days, and sometimes that goal can seem daunting... so I'm setting smaller goals for myself by doing 7 paintings in 7 days and by choosing to paint the same subject means my colors are already set out for me, and I'm somewhat familiar with my subject so the painting process goes a little bit quicker.

This weeks subject is poppies, and by painting the same subject over and over again, helps me to choose which colors to use more naturally.  I started this poppy with and underpainting of brick red and very bright orange, and this layered back and forth with a rose color, bright red and the orange.  The experts say never to use a hard pastel over a soft pastel, but I break this rule constantly, and find that it works fine as long as use a light touch with each layer.  Using a light touch is something I am constantly working on with myself because I am naturally a heavy hander, it seems, with everything I do, but I am a work in progress - just like my poppy shown above.  Here are some progress photos.

For the final highlights, I wanted to try something different and used a salmon color and then a bright yellow-green.  You can see this if you zoom into the painting. I really am pleased with this color combination.

Also this week I am revealing a poem that I came across for those of you out there that enjoy poetry like myself.  I will reveal a paragraph a day along with the day's poppy painting for that day, and by the end of the week you will have read the poem in full and I am hoping to hear from some of you as to what you think about the meaning behind the poem.  Here's today's addition:


There is a sadness everywhere present
but impossible to point to, a sadness that hides in the world
and lingers. You look for it because it is everywhere.
When you give up, it haunts your dreams
with black pepper and blood and when you wake
you don’t know where you are.

But then you see the poppies, a disheveled stand of them.
And the sun shining down like God, loving all of us equally,
mountain and valley, plant, animal, human, and therefore
shouldn’t we love all things equally back?
And then you see the clouds.

A Poppy a Day Keeps the Blues Away

6x12 Pastel available $75.00

Lately I've been working hard at reorganizing the house and yard before the cold weather hits and haven't spent as much time on my artwork as I'd like, but when the day came this week that I stepped in front of the easel, I had a bout of artists block. What should I paint? I had so many choices and recent experiences from my vacations that I could share, but nothing gave me that spark I was looking for.  I skimmed through Instagram for some inspiration and came across a posting of a poppy.  I have always loved poppies and they're one of my favorite flowers to see in paintings, so I decided poppies would be my subject.  It wasn't until I completed the first poppy painting, which I'll share below, that I craved to do another, and so my quest to paint a poppy painting every day for the next week was born.  They say you can only master your subject by painting it over and over again - so here it goes. 


I also recently began reading poetry again - this also helps to inspire you for future paintings, and I came across this beautiful poem that mentions poppies.  I thought it would be fun to share the poem with you, but only a paragraph at a time.  With every poppy painting I post, I will reveal the next part of the poem until the end of the week. 


There is a sadness everywhere present
but impossible to point to, a sadness that hides in the world
and lingers. You look for it because it is everywhere.
When you give up, it haunts your dreams
with black pepper and blood and when you wake
you don’t know where you are.


Below are some progress photos of today's poppy painting, along with yesterday's painting. 

12x12 Pastel available $145.00

Both paintings have been added to my Etsy store. 

Painting on a New Surface

For the Love of Monarchs 6x18 available $125.00

I recently took part in the Academy Art Museum's Art Sale, and while there, a man approached me and asked if I'd be interested in painting a stone for his garden.  It was an interesting idea, and something I had never tried before.  He said he wanted something with monarch butterflies and flowers.  Little did he know he came to the right table - I filled him in on my love of monarchs and all the statistics of their decline and also my feeble attempts to help bring the populations numbers back.

He dropped the stone off to me a couple of days later and filled me in on the purpose of this stone.  He told me the story of how he and his wife had recently lost a set of twins, and about a memorial garden that's in place for those that have lost children.  The theme in the memorial garden is monarchs and he wanted the stone to also serve as a remembrance for the lost twins.

Along with him that day was his daughter - she was so cute! I asked her what her favorite flowers were, and also what colors she would like to see in the painting.  I took notes on her color choices and began thinking of a composition.  I wanted to do a couple of  examples, and let the family choose which one they liked the best.  The painting shown at the top of this page was the first attempt. I used my pastels and UArt pastel paper cut to the size of the stone to put down my ideas.

The finished garden stone

Because the colors in the first painting were very bright and warm, I decided to try the second painting a bit cooler.  I loved how the orange popped against the deep blue and had a calming effect.  I chose to put in 5 butterflies - 1 each for mom, dad, daughter and the twins.  Dad has his wings spread (in protection mode), mom is at the bottom, daughter is to the left and the twins are close together to the right.  The family chose the first painting and I pulled out my acrylics and went to work.  I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to recreate the look of the pastels, but in the end, I think it came out very close. Both pastel paintings are for sale in my Etsy store.  If interested, just click on the title of the painting and you will be taken to the store's site.

Wings Among Weeds pastel 6x18 available $125.00

Both examples side by side

80% Pleinair / 20% Whimsy

Blue Bird and Blooms Pastel 5x7 available $25.00

The unthinkable happened when I arrived at our painting location for PAPCB (Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay)  on Tuesday morning.  I forgot my phone at home!  Why does that make a difference?  Well I couldn't take any pictures of the location - and pictures are a MUST just in case you don't finish in the allotted time frame, which is always the case with me.  I painted this one 80% pleinair and 20% whimsy.  After I was home, I added the background grasses and the blue bird, just because without it, the painting looked a little boring. I think this will make an adorable notecard. What do you think?

The location was in Trappe Maryland -beautiful property with beautiful views of the water.  This property had an English garden kind of feel to it and also had what I think the said was Scandinavian Mountain Sheep which, to me, look a lot like goats with lions tails! I've never seen anything like that - I'm used to our sheep and goats tailless.


Next Friday night is the opening reception for our groups art show at the Nature Conservatory in Easton, Md. It will run the whole month of July.  If you live close by, you should try to come out and see the art work and meet the wonderful artists.  There will be music, wine, and snacks.  The painting below is one of paintings I chose to put in the show.  This one I shared on Facebook last week that I painted from my front yard.  I added the butterflies later that night.  All paintings in the show are for sale by each individual artist.  I'm really excited about this show and I hope to see some of you there!

Sold

Blue Birds in My Bird House Garden

Keeping Watch 9x12 Pastel available $95.00

I've set yet another goal for this summer...... to do a painting of all the songbirds found in and around the Chesapeake Bay ~ I have to admit that years ago, I didn't have much interest in birds, I guess you could say I took them for granted.  I didn't take the time to really look at them.  After moving to the Eastern Shore 20 years ago was when I really started to take notice of the beautiful markings and sounds of the birds that would show up in the yard.  I now how a "bird book" that I check off the species when I see them visiting the feeders.  If you take the time to really look at the birds that visit your own yard, I'm sure you will fall in love with them as I have.

This summer I had this idea to create a bird house garden in one of the corners of my yard.  I collected lots of bird houses and hand painted designs on just about all of them, and also put in a little picket fence which I chose to stain in a dark brown to blend in with the surrounding trees.  Already this season I've had 2 sets of blue bird eggs in 2 of the houses!  So I thought I'd share some photos of my bird house garden.

Full view - still needs mulch... maybe I'll get around to that before the summer ends

Here's Casper hanging out with me while I plant

Found this great bird house windchime at Tractor Supply

My white azalea in bloom

The second set of blue birds.  The first set chose a house to high for me to photograph

Right now, I'm working on a commission to paint a butterfly scene on a garden stone - I'm super excited to see how this turns out, and I will share the finished product when completed.  I'm also getting ready for an art show that will be held at the Nature Conservatory in Easton, Md. on June 6th - the opening reception is from 5-8 and is open to the public. I would love to have you stop by and visit.  All the information for this show can be found on my Facebook page.

What's Been Happening This Past Month

Two Roses in a Plastic Cup 8x8 palette knife painting in oil available $65.00

This past month has been a busy one in my little art world.  This past Saturday was a very successful day at this years Studio Sale at the Art Academy in Easton, Md. My wonderful pastel instructor Katie Cassidy puts in a lot of hard work to give the instructors at the Academy and the students a day to sell their works of art.  I had a goal to sell at least 1 more than I sold last year, which was 3.  This year I sold 11 and also had a commission request!  I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm already writing down plans and ideas for next years sale.  Here's some pics from the sale.

This was my table display

My son, Zach is my Sales Manager ~ He's a born salesman! He was working on his own artwork during the sale.

The street filled with shoppers

Last week I participated in a Plein Air Paint A Long class with Diane Dubois Mullaly and Sheryl Southwick, both instructors at the Academy.  What an enlightening experience.  The group visited 3 locations and painted outdoors with a critique at the end of class.  Lessons learned?  Check and double check supplies - one day I forgot to pack my paper towels and had oil paint medium everywhere! I also learned that I need a lot more outdoor painting experience - I will admit that I am not fast when it comes to producing a painting and really felt the anxiety having only 3 hours to complete something.  My work, I will say, looked like a 5 year old was painting, but I have listened to the wise words of the instructors and have worked on the pieces some more here at home and will post them when they are completed ( at least completed in my mind) It is my goal this summer to practice, practice, practice plein air painting and work on my speed.  Here's some pictures of the amazing places we were privileged to visit.

Day 1:

The Main House

1 of many beautiful horses

Our class during our lunch break in the "Man Cave"

Our host along with one of his pet "hunting" falcons 

 Day 2:

The Main House "Harleigh House" I spent 2 hours walking around taking pictures.

View from the back yard

A tree full of sculptures along one of the many woodland trails

Beautiful climbing rose covered buildings

 Day 3:

My "view" choice at Adkins Arboretum 

I have taken hundreds of photos this past month, and I can't wait to share them with you painted.  Work hard and never give up on achieving your dreams.

Trying a Little Mixed Media

Lilac Wings 12x6 Acrylic Paint and Pastels available $75.00

 Thought I'd share this new piece I did along with the steps.  I wanted to try using acrylic paints along with pastels.  I wanted to achieve a look that the painting was dripping off the page. 

 I started by putting in an acrylic wash in sap green and then did a quick sketch in vine charcoal. 

 I then filled in the butterfly in an acrylic metallic gold.  It really sparkles when the sun hits it just right.  Love working with these metallics! 

 Next, the pastels came out and I started blocking in the flowers and adding a little detail to the butterfly.

 I finished up by adding in more details to the butterfly like the fuzziness of the body and details of the wings. 

I am offering a 20% discount on all artwork in my Etsy Store from now until midnight Mother's Day in Celebration of my 20 years in motherhood.  Just click on the price listed on the painting in the first photo and you will be directed to the store. 

And to all the mothers in the world...... Have a very Happy Mother's Day!

What to do with Mini Pastel Paintings

Magnetic Bookmarks available in my Etsy Store Click here to view the store

 

I've been in awe over the mini paintings I've seen on the web and wondered how these wonderful artists can paint something so beautiful on an area the size of a playing card.  I wanted to try it out for myself with the pastels.  I also wanted these tiny treasures to be useful in some way so I combined my love of books with my art and came up with magnetic bookmarks.  After I painted these tiny paintings, I laminated them along with some pretty scrapbook papers and then added a charm or made up some cute teeny tiny tassels.  I attached to large magnets on the inside to make sure they would stay in place.  I've kept one for myself and use it to mark my page in my planner, and it works out so great for marking my page and also to hold my bills for that month. Here's a peek at the inside-

I've listed each of these available magnetic bookmarks in my Etsy Store. They work great for books, Bibles and planners/organizers, and I've began another set with a different theme soon to be unveiled.