What Mark are you Leaving on Earth for others to Follow?

"Sea Breeze" 30 x 24 acrylic wrapped canvas

People are so predictable. When the forest fires rage along the highways and hinterlands, we pray for rain. And what do we get? A deluge! Then we pray for the rain to abate, and the interior once again grows ripe for lightening strikes and more fires. The cycle of nature and of our whims is relentless.

In nearby Naples, flooding has contaminated waters and inundated roads, lawns and ditches. Tow trucks are having a heyday pulling vehicles from low lying areas and storm drains. Firemen are busy in the dry season, and auto shops and insurance companies thrive when it’s wet. When the citizens mourn, somebody always makes a good living.

Work-in-Progress #1

 Summer brings red tides and algae blooms both of which are toxic and dangerous. Every season, no matter where you live has its challenges. When summer is gone and the fear of hurricanes disappears, there are frosts to contend with that threaten orange trees and winter crops. We humans must adapt to changing environments and learn how to cope.

All of this is normal, even though, for us, it may be the first time we’ve experienced such drastic ups and downs. 

Work-in-Progress #2

History reminds us that there were similar or worse storms to face by our ancestors. Pioneers in early America fought off wolves and wild animals when they settled. They fought crop damage, hailstorms, fire and flood just as we do. But they pushed on, in spite of the pain. They lost much, but they started over. During their short lives their accomplishments overwhelm us.

Our forebears paved the way for all of us to achieve and aspire. 

Work-in-Progress #4

Famous American artists recorded the emotions and importance of what was happening around them: Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, John Whistler, Grant Wood, Georgia, O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Hart Benton, and Andy Warhol  to name only a few.

Looking back we may see the whole rather than the nuance or out-of-context parts of the story. History can teach us about ourselves and about the truth of our lives. Facts separate themselves from fiction and provide a clearer picture of what was rather than simply innuendo.

Artist Winslow Homer

Artist Winslow Homer

Artist Edward Hopper

What will your generation’s history tell others about you? Will your achievements offer hope and promise to those who come after? Are you setting a firm foundation that will provide guidance and strength for others to follow? Will the coming America be better than the last century? Are you building bridges to the future or stumbling blocks?

Artist John Singer Sargent

If You’re not having Fun – Re-evaluate your Priorities

"The Neptunes -- Trumpeteers" acrylic on 11 x 14 panel

Some time ago, I began to feel stressed out, pushed, and out of control. I was trying to be all things to all people. Once I started asking myself: “What do you want and need?” I gravitated back to basics and to what I felt were the most important priorities in my life.

We all get lost sometimes. We struggle with peer pressure, with other people’s expectation’s for us, and with simple lack of time. When we rediscover our own power and the freedom that we have to make choices, everything else falls into place.

Next in The Neptunes series: "Octoband" drawing (Marachi theme)

Yes, our choices belong to us. If they don’t, we’re allowing ourselves to be manipulated. Since we are the only one who is accountable for our choices, shouldn’t we be the one making those important life decisions?

Time is money. We’ve all heard that statement. We should live by it. Time is not only valuable, it is essential to our growth. If we can’t manage our time then time (and outside forces) will manage us!

We must harness the power within us to make choices that are right for us. For me that means listening to my heart of hearts and weighing and measuring those things that I consider meaningful and valuable in my life or that will help me promote my professional goals, my family goals, and my eternal goals.

Then comes the hard part: ordering those goals so that they fulfill our emotional, physical and spiritual needs. People are complex. We are not machines owned and operated by chance or fate. We have free will and determination. The power is within us to guide our own lives.

"Stepping Out" pencil drawing (prints available)

Instead of whining about what we don’t have or what we think we can’t do, we should be celebrating life itself. We are free. We can think our own thoughts, feel our own unique emotions, and allow ourselves to be as successful as our dreams.

"I'll never fly again!" from the book: "Inez
Ibis Flies again; the story of a courageous
ibis who never gave up!"

We can conquer fear. We can move forward in spite of deprivation or ill will. Through our thoughts, our choices, our determination, we can soar where we dream. If we link our hopes to a power greater than ourselves, we get a hand up and a hand out to greatness. We can be inspired. We can become.

"Bob White" drawing (prints available)

Your Name is Your Brand – Protect it at all costs!

"Collecting Sea Shells" 8x10 acrylic on panel

What’s in a Name? Ask a person who has had his identity stolen, and he’ll say everything! Ask a person who has just had her name dragged through the mud in error, and she’ll tell you how hard it was to regain her reputation.

A small business or corporation will tell you that name recognition is everything! They spend billions of dollars on advertising and marketing techniques to find the right brand for their market. Then they defend that brand name even if they have to go to court.

Men have their names for a lifetime. Women change their names, sometimes several times, before the end of their lives. But times are changing.

"Military Regatta"

I vowed I would never go through that hassle again, but yesterday I found myself sitting across a desk in the Social Security office to do just that. I did not change my name when I married my husband, and vowed I never would. People know me as his wife and they use his name, but legally, my name was my own.

We all have our reasons. As I told my husband yesterday, once you start a name change, you start an avalanche that keeps on going. Your name affects your will, your inheritance or that of your children. Your name is on census records, voting records, bank accounts, magazine subscriptions, medical records. Your name is your identity. When you change it, the world becomes topsy turvy, at least for awhile.

"Regatta" 18x24 acrylic on canvas (work-in-progress)

An artist’s name is his brand. Although, I have an artist friend who signs her paintings “Hope,” even though that isn’t her real name; that will become her brand, for better or worse. 

Name recognition is paramount in selling a product or yourself. Your name is linked to your reputation. They are inseparable. This combination becomes your character and affects your references and your repeat business. What’s in a name? Everything! Protect it at all costs.

A Lesson on Portraits, Skin Color, and Mixing Paints

"Vikeholmen Lighthouse" Skudeneshavn, Norway 16x20 Acrylic

I received a call today, from a fellow artist. She was painting from a photo and was concerned because her grandson’s portrait made him “look so old for his age.” I had just read an article from “the Artist’s Magazine,” and felt fully prepared for her questions. A few months ago, I had painted my own grandchildren from photographs and had learned the hard way what works and what doesn’t.

I explained to her that photographs generally appear darker. Laugh lines and creases show up darker making a child or an adult appear older. In sunlight, these same lines would all but disappear.

"Day Dreams" 11x14 oil on canvas

The fix? Use a lighter color to paint lines and shadows. Take the base skin color and lighten it. Try using a light red mixed with medium to lighten it even more. The Artist’s Magazine article suggested painting the areas on either side of the crease or wrinkle instead to decrease the need for detailing.

The fold of skin at the side of the nose and down the cheek is usually highlighted. Against this lighter value, the wrinkle or crease automatically becomes darker without having to paint them in. The skin on the upper lip, next to the smile fold, has a different color and value. When this upper lip color or shadow is painted next to the wrinkle or crease, our minds fill in a line without having to paint in a darker color, or value.

"With These Hands -- Love" 24x18 oil on canvas

These subtleties make the skin look more natural. My favorite skin tones were learned from Richard Kirk at the Bonita Springs Center for the Arts.

Basic Formula (oils):
1 part Cadmium Red
3 parts Raw Sienna (Grumbacher or Gamblin)

The basic formula is only a beginning. It must be mixed with Titanium White to lighten, or mixed with Ultramarine Blue or Burnt Umber for shadow. Different values of the basic formula may be made by adding 3 parts formula to 1 part Titanium White; 1 part formula to 1 part titanium white; 1 part formula to 3 parts titanium white; 1 part formula to 5 parts titanium white.

Darker skin has a somewhat different formula:  3 parts formula to 1 part Burnt Umber; 1 part formula to 1 part Burnt Umber or use straight Burnt Umber.

Another dark skinned formula: 2 parts formula to 1 part Burnt Umber and 1 part Magenta. I discovered richness in the skin tones with this last color. Another reason I like using magenta in shadow is that "overly brown portraits" according to Kirk, may appear dull and lifeless.

Experiment! It is great fun to test how many variations you can achieve with this one basic formula.

Weak tinting strength colors can adjust the formula as needed: Terre Verte, Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Rose, Thalo Red Rose, Indian Yellow or Raw Sienna.

Kirk stressed there are colors to avoid: Naples Yellow, Buff Titanium, Unbleached Titanium or any color that has white in it. What you’re doing is adding more white into the basic formula changing its color. Strong tinting colors should also be avoided.

I have seen many variations on skin tone formulas, but I continue to go back to Kirk’s formula again and again for the glow it gives to skin and by how easy it is to obtain the right value for any given skin color. The mixture that is closest to your model's skin color becomes the "key" color. This formula easily adapts to acrylics.

"Fish Market" 18X24 Acrylic

Here comes Summer! Are You ready?

I’m working on something that I can’t share with you right now; illustrations that will be used in the publication of a book. You may have noticed the repetition of paintings in my blog. Please bear with me until this project is over.

The tourists and “Snowbirds” have gone back home. The streets are once again accessible; the stores half empty (or is it half full?). Our Co-op Gallery at Coconut Point in Bonita Springs has come to an end. Our President, Marsha Bisson, shared this “thank you” with the members:

Dear Fellow Artists,
I would like to thank all of you for your part in making the Coconut Point Co-op Art Gallery into such a successful gallery, both sales wise as well as artistically. We sold over $9000 in artwork this year!
The quality and beauty of the artwork offered by all of you provided a professional and varied selection for our customers. Visitors to our gallery, both buyers and lookers, made so many positive comments about the artwork and the gallery, that next year we'll be having them write them down so we can share them with all of you!
Meeting the artists is such a positive experience for buyers. There were a lot of occasions this year with sitters selling their own work on the days they sat. It's a win win for both! And, again, congratulations and thank you to both Donna Elliot and Pat Papa who, in one, day-sold over $1300 in artwork!!! A great job!

And thank you all for your cooperation in gallery sitting and selling. . .

A triumphant ending to a wonderful winter season!

"Pelican Bay" oil on canvas

Year-round residents like us enjoy summer in spite of the heat. There are specials on dining out: two for ones, and lower prices.  The restaurants and store owners welcome our business. We enjoy the perks, but we also miss our friends and neighbors. By June our streets resemble a ghost town.

This is the time of year when I catch up on my dreams and the projects that have been waiting in the wings. Maybe even plan a vacation. My husband and I have only each other to converse with across the table in our favorite restaurants; an opportunity to renew our friendship and catch a movie or two to rekindle the former fires of dating.

"Flash Dance" oil on canvas

Summer should be a time for renewal; a time when neglected relationships are nurtured and revitalized; a time to enjoy the moment and the minutiae. The smell of charcoal and grilled burgers waft on the air currents mixed with jasmine and gardenia. Our hibiscus and Mexican Petunias are “blooming their hearts out” while we swelter in shorts and bare feet

.

The beach beckons us to enjoy the water and the sand unfettered by the winter crowds and “spring breakers.” There’s nothing like walking along the beach in the early morning hours or just before the sun goes down in the evening turning the sky a pinkie, orange lavender.

"Beach Buddies II" mixed media on canvas