Hard at work....

Well, it's been several days since my last post, and it's not because I've been 'slackin off'....I'm working on a children's book. This nice little bit of work fell into my lap about 10 days ago and I'm up against an August 12 deadline to finish 18 illustrations. I'm half-way through....9 to go.

I'm also trying to work around a little "glitch" in my schedule..... my husband is scheduled for major surgery, checking into the hospital on Aug 3rd , with surgery on Monday, Aug. 4th.

Anyway, I'm working on a couple of studio pieces and I'll share them with you soon.

This image is the result of a recent plein air adventure at the Dallas Arboretum. What a lovely place to paint!

"Lofty View" - Watercolor - 10" x 7"

This painting was accepted into the Arboreatum's plein air exhibit, "May Flowers" and will be on display through October.

Latest News: August, 17th through August 24th, I'll be in Estes Park Colorado participating in the 7th Annual Paint the Parks. I'll be painting along side more than 50 nationally recognized artists as we capture the grandeur of Rocky Montain National Park and the beautiful town of Estes Park. Life just doesn't get any better than this!!!!

Saturday Paint Out

Last Saturday, 6 other painters and I gathered in the little town of Maypearl, Texas.

Home Town Pizza

9" x 12" (22.9cm x 30.5cm)

Watercolor on Arches mounted on Masonite board

 

The painting above depicts a combination of "new & old"...new business in an old building...typical of a small town. Home Town Pizza is a favorite hang out for pizza lovers. In the background is the town water tower.

Everybody finished their morning paintings about noon so we had a "show & tell" then took a break for lunch. In the afternoon, even though it was almost 100 degrees, we all found shade trees and produced another painting. I found a lovely blue cottage with a ramblin' rose climbing up the front window. Perfect color combination; red, white & blue!

Blue Cottage in Maypearl

9" x 12" (22.9cm x 30.5cm)

Watercolor on Arches mounted on Masonite board

As we all packed up for the day....covered with a layer of dirt, a little more tanned, & tired...it was agreed we'd return to Maypearl soon; there are still a lot of places & people to paint!

Uh-Oh.

Dang! Just when I think I've got the hang of managing my website (uploading, downloading, FTP, zip, flash, click & scroll), my bubble bursts. This evening, I decided that I needed to "spiffy up" the Welcome page on my website, www.tinabohlman.com . I cut, pasted, left-clicked, right-clicked, tagged, keyworded, then uploaded the new page as well as a couple other pages. I have made a royal mess! Please forgive the sad and dis-jointed appearance; with a little patience you can find your way around my site. I'm in the process of working with my system administrator (my daughter the IT professional) and we hope to have everything back in it's proper place in a few days. Meanwhile, keep checking back often. Browse through my sidebar; click on other online affiliations where I exhibit (and sell) my work.

Showtime! A Watercolor Demonstration

Yesterday I traveled to Granbury, Texas...about 60 miles west of my home in Waxahachie. The Lake Granbury Art Association commissioned me to give a watercolor painting demonstration to their membership. I'm always excited to paint before an audience. The interaction during a painting demo .... answering questions and making comments as I paint....is the ultimate in "multi-tasking"!

Through the aid of an overhead mirror, about 30 artists and photographers watched me produce a landacape painting....alla prima (all in one go). The process took me a little over an hour.

In the image below, I'm about 90% through the demonstration at this point.

This photo was taken in the mirror...it looks like I'm right handed; I'm actually a "lefty". Scroll up and look in the photo before this one. Adding texture and shadows across the road....almost through.....

Finishing up with some detail and more contrast in the foreground trees.....

The painting is on 140# cold press Arches watercolor paper that has been permanently mounted to a 11" x 14" masonite panel. Here I am with the finished painting. As is my custom, I surprise the audience with an announcement to place their names in a basket for a drawing....and a lucky person will take the painting home. Giving the painting away always creates a lot of excitement. Next to en plein air, my favorite activity is giving demonstrations and sharing my love for watercolor. I had a lot of fun with the Lake Granbury group and look forward to returning sometime soon!

"Sage-y Lady" - 8" x 10" Watercolor - Plein Air

Although it was 90 degrees by 10am, I couldn't resist painting at our local Farmer's Market today. This old International truck was parked next to the street & loaded down with flowers. The vendor kept coming over & checking my progress and finally, she said: "Ok, how much? I gotta have it". I absolutely LOVE our Saturday Farmer's Market!

Back to work!

Title: Farmer's Market Vendor

Watercolor on 300# Arches paper

The summer has arrived in North Texas; every day is close to 100 by early afternoon. The red truck made a colorful background last weekend at our Farmer's Market in Waxahachie. I painted early before the heat forced me to seek the shelter of my studio. The past couple of days I've been working on a new studio painting. I'll post my progress soon.

My Birthday!

I'm a "firecracker baby".....that's what my folks always called me. I was born on the 4th of July and I was almost 10 years old before I realized that the parades, fireworks, & Bar-b-Ques were celebrating something other than my birthday :)

Anyway, I haven't posted or painted for a few days....family summer-time activities have creeped into my painting schedule..so here's a recent plein aire painting...titled: "Browsing the Sale Table". A festive painting for a festive holiday.