Two Paintings in Grand Prairie Arts Council 2010 Juried Show

I’m delighted to announce that “Misty Meadow” and “Cottonwood Valley” have been accepted into the 2010 Grand Prairie Arts Council Juried Art Exhibition and Sale - September 12th through September 25th. This will be the 2nd consecutive year my work will be included in the annual event.

                                                          Misty Meadow – 16x20 Watercolor

                                                     Cottonwood Valley – 11x14 Watercolor

The show opens with a Reception and Awards Presentation Sunday, September 12th at Grand Prairie Memorial Library, 901 Conover Drive, Grand Prairie, Texas. The Juror is James Behan, Professor of Art at Mountain View College, Dallas, Texas. 

 

Getting the color “right”…

It’s been way too hot to paint on location lately, so I’ve been spending more time in the studio. Today, I started color research on the Sedona, Arizona area.  I’ll be participating in the 6th Annual Sedona Plein Air Festival October 23 through October 30.  The internet is great for research and gave me a wealth of information on Sedona and the surrounding landscape. Looking over the photo images “Googled up” on my computer monitor, I discovered 2 things……(1)painting Sedona, Arizona is going to be REAL different from painting Texas…. and (2)  I don’t think the “Texas colors on my palette are going to be very useful on location in the Sedona area.  Even the greens are different.  After playing around in my palette for a while, I finally came up with some mixes that will probably be alright, and entered the following color notes in my sketchbook: 

This note gives me 2 choices with mixing Quinacridone Pink & Winsor Yellow; depending on whether I want a “flat”, even wash (on the left) or a variegated wash (on the right).  This mix, thinned with water makes a nice “glowing” pink-orange.

In this sample, I’ve used Quinacridone Pink and Lunar Earth for the light side of the “rock” and for the shadow,  a varigated mix of Lunar Blue, Carbazole Violet, and Cobalt Blue (all colors are from Daniel Smith)

The color notes here are using the above mixes with some Yellow Ochre added to the one on the right.  

 

 

Here’s a thumbnail of the red rock mesas/cliffs typical of the Oak Creek Canyon area of Sedona.  I’m close but for better color accuracy, I plan to add several more “granulating” Primatek earth colors by Daniel Smith to my paint supply.  A perfect excuse for shopping….don’t you think?  Of one thing I’m certain….an artist can never have too many tubes of paint!

Two New Oil Miniatures

Yesterday was a fun studio day for me.  When I haven’t painted for a couple of days, I usually begin my studio session with some quick watercolor sketches just to get loosened up. I opted to warm up with some color studies in oil and ended up with 2 rather nice little 5 x 7’s:

 

                              Morning In The Valley” 5x7 Oil

                                 “Changing Seasons” 5x7 Oil

I’m going to brave the heat this afternoon and paint in my back yard…the light filters in through 100 year old Pecan trees onto a lovely “natural” area with subtle value shifts of various greens and an occasional red/pink blooms mixed in.  Since I already have a batch of oil colors squeezed out, I’ll see what I can accomplish with them.  I may or may not post the result……stay tuned :-)

“LAST LIGHT” by Tina Bohlman

“Last Light” –10x20 Oil 

It’s been too hot to paint on location – even early in the morning, the temperature is in the high 80’s so 3 days ago, I went through my sketchbooks looking for inspiration. Using a little 2”x3” watercolor of rocks for reference, “Last Light” has most of the elements to hold your interest; light against dark, warm vs. cool, hard angles, soft curves & lost edges.  Even the background is mysterious.  This scene could be anywhere; on the beach, in a forest, the mountains or the desert…it takes you wherever your imagination wants to go.  Available for purchase – email: tina@tinabohlman.com for price & framing options.

New Work – 209 North Grand, Waxahachie

I’ve been practically chained to my studio easel for the past week, working on a “home portrait” commission.  This “Grande Dame” is one of dozens of  historical homes in Waxahachie.  The owner purchased the home only recently and plans to begin a complete restoration in the coming year.

I began with several on on location sketching sessions.  Above and below are sketches and preliminary color study completed on location.

This was a particularly difficult project in that the home sits on a huge lot with giant 100 year old trees all around it. The grounds haven’t been landscaped in perhaps 25 years…a lot of shrubs & bushes have grown too big.  The house is in need of a lot of repair and a good coat of paint, so part of my job was to visualize what it will look like when the owner finishes the restoration later on this year. The entire 2nd story and most of the roof aren’t visible from the street….which was the best vantage point for painting.  I had to stand up close to the front of the house, and look straight up to see how the roof, turret, and porch came together.   I snapped about 20 digital “close up, detail” images and combined with my sketches, I was able to get a drawing completed.  I trimmed bushes, cut down and relocated several trees…resulting in a much better composition. I included a couple of the owner’s personal yard decorations…the flag in the flower garden and 2 lawn chairs to finish it off.  I like the way it turned out – it’s been a good week in the studio!

      “209 North Grand Avenue, Waxahachie” – 16 x 20 Watercolor

Waxahachie Quick Draw -You Tube Video

This is a video an artist friend, Randy Saffle, made of the Paint Historic Waxahachie Quick Draw that took place on the historic downtown courthouse square last week.  This is the 5th annual paint out and I've always been busy with the "details" of producing the event....as well as being a painter participant.  This is the first time I've been able to "watch" the Quick Draw from a spectator's view.  AWESOME! 

Paint Historic Waxahachie – Day 9

Even though the “competition” is over, there’s still time to do another painting.    The paint out exhibition site is inside the historic Chautauqua Auditorium located in our city park. Also happening on this weekend in the park is an Arts & Crafts festival with artist’s tents set among the huge 100+ year old pecan & oak trees…it was a painting waiting to happen!    “Arts & Crafts-Chautauqua View” - 12”x16” – Watercolor

AND…..I’m so excited to be one of the winners announced last night at the BBQ buffet dinner and awards presentation. (the “formal” announcement is in the blog preceding this one)       I was awarded an Honorable Mention and a Jack Richeson watercolor paint set valued at $100!!! I can definitely use it….I used up a lot of paint in the past 9 days! We had 55 artists registered and painting since May 28; 220 paintings were submitted for judging and for sale. The Exhibition and Wet Paint sale will continue until Sunday afternoon at 4pm. I’ve sold a couple of paintings already and am hopeful that I’ll send another one or two home with someone tomorrow.  It’s been a long week, but what a wonderful time;  painting….painting….painting!

I love my job.