Carolina Elizabeth

EAA welcomes Clint Stone, Artistic Director at City Arts Center Oklahoma City. He will share his experiences as an artist on Monday, February 22 at 7:00p.m. at the Edmond Arts Institute. Clint will demonstrate a bit of his creative process, including using source materials or collage, using a sketchbook as a jumping point, using water as a media for backdrop for an artwork, and using different tools and techniques to add actual or implied texture, includint oil sticks, among other tricks of the trade. I hope to see all of you there! The cost is Free to EAA members and $2.00 to everyone else.

Monarch Butterfly and Egg , Oil on Linen Panel, 6"x6" I read recently that painting an egg was one of the hardest things to paint and that supposedly, the it was the test for old master painters. That means I should practice painting an egg, if ever I want to be considered a painter of some kind one day. This is my first actual go at it. The butterfly was inspired by the French movie, The Butterfly . It is a wonderfully sweet movie. Among other loves, it is about a man’s fascination with the Isabel butterfly. He collects butterfly of all kinds and you see the walls of his apartment decorated in the butterfly trapped behind glass in picture frames. I would not dare purchase or capture a butterfly for decoration, so I gathered some old photos and painted one. The egg is of course from the OSU-OKC farmer’s market. Peonies in Glass Vase, Oil on linen panel 4"x6" Pear on Slate Tile, Oil on Linen Panel, 5"x7" The Peonies and the pear paintings are a donation ...

I am so glad that we had plenty of warning before this big snow fall. I had ample time to order linen panels and purchase the things I needed for my special box, pochade. I have a wonderful easel that my sister, Lety surprised me with on my birthday. I absolutely love it. The only problem is that working with miniatures sometimes calls for a lot smaller easel. I purchased some, but they just didn’t have everything I needed like my big easel does. So, I thought I would make my own (sort of). I purchased a large unfinished wood cigar box and some hardware (some of that was on an old box). I already had paints and gold leaf (Ezri and I have been on a metal leaf kick). A small piece of metal sits on the top so the clip, which has a magnet can be adjusted to hold on to several sizes of canvases. The bottom has a piece of ply-wood that I cut to fit for the pallet. If the pallet is lifted, there is plenty of space for brushes and a few panels. The painting is a combination of a painting of an...

I have been looking for a way to volunteer in the evenings. When I put out the request for volunteers for the Edmond Art Association Board, I decided I couldn’t send out requests without taking part myself. I now have the honor of announcing that I will be the president for the association for 2010. It is a wonderful organization with great opportunity for all artists. I first heard of the organization by Tim Rose (I shared some of his work in a past post) when he was doing a demonstration for EAA. The demonstration was impacted with invaluable information on oil painting techniques as he went through his painting process. This January 26th will be our first demonstration. Linda Kukuk will be demonstrating how she uses claybord (Ampersand Aqua Board) to create striking works of art. Linda is a self-taught artist with over forty years of experience working primarily in two media – watercolor on paper and scratchwork on claybord. She is inspired by her Choctaw heritage and her experience...

Our snow days have been perfect for getting much painting done. Some of my students will be studying the Civil War and African American art of the time. I found a quilt online created by Harriet Powers and wanted a poster to show them, instead of just a quick powerpoint picture. So, Ezri and I made a painting similar to it on a large canvas. I changed things around a little bit, but I still want the children to get the idea of Harriet's applique quilts. We had so much fun Ezri painted the below by herself. I love them both. Alexia is preparing work for contests. I will have to share that later. On my easel right now… The problem with wanting to create a painting a day is that I work on several at one time, but I am still painting every day. If you are not currently recieving Art Splash , you are missing out. Here is some of the information Melyn sent out this month. January 2010 Annual Juried Art Show at Studio 107 Studio 107 in Ardmore has this art show exhibit January 20 to Febru...

I've been catching up on TV lately, specially enjoying OETA's Art:21 . My favorite artist, well I should say the artist that I drew the most from was the talented Kerry James Marshall. He recalled how he was impacted by the introduction to Charles White. What stood out was that he noticed how ugly great art can look before "it was brought to the point of refinement". He also mentioned that he enjoys looking at artwork that is unfinished, because it shows that it is not by magic that art is made, rather through hard labor and time. This of course, means I must get back to work and remember to labor with patience. I watched ART:21 through NetFlix, which I absolutley love!

Nandina, I Oil on Canvas 4"x6" A Painting a Day? That is my New Year's resolution. This is practice for it. The OKCPS Fine Arts Department met last week at Gail Sloop's home, a wonderful artist and friend. Gail had some beautiful berries for decoration. They are so very festive. The next day I found a bush in front of my eye doctor's building and they were so kind to share a few branches with me. It's amazing how things work out that way. My plan was to use it for a still life for the kids to draw, but we ran out of time, so I brought them home. The little green ceramic piece is one that I purchased at the City Arts Center Pottery sale. I still have to work on it. I don't know why my shadow, among other things looks a bit off. I'll finish it before the Christmas and place on Ebay along with other paintings. I am very thankful that you have visited my blog throughout the year and left or e-mailed me your wonderful comments. They have been extremely del...