Red, White, and Blue

Egads! It's almost July... I know, we haven't officially begun summer yet, but the warm weather is here and school is out... and there is another exhibit coming up at the St Michaels Library.

Several years ago, when I threw myself into involvement with the St Michaels Art League, I made a promise to myself that I would work to put something into every exhibit the SMAL sponsors. So far, I have kept that promise even to the extent that I entered the Oil and Acrylic Only exhibit (see posts on June 7 and June 11, 2011) - though I don't use either medium.

This year the July exhibit theme is Red, White, and Blue - original, huh? When we picked the theme, it seemed like a great idea. I have been thinking about what I wanted to enter and since I am in my 'paint children' period, I, of course, found some pictures in my file that I could tweak (change the colors) to reflect the theme.

Here is the first one:

"Red, White and Blue "               Pastel - 12x16          $150

The red suit was originally striped, the white shirt was originally purple and the blue suit was a blue, yellow, orange (I think) pattern.  Leighton, the child in the middle is very fair and her mother made her cover up that day because the sun was so strong. When I showed her mother the painting she thought that this might make Leighton feel better about the shirt (which she hated wearing) - after all, she is now the center of the painting!

We are allowed to enter two pictures in this exhibit.  Here is another one that I just finished.

"Little Wave Dancer"    Pastel - 9x12     $125

She was at the water's edge, oblivious to anyone around her.  She was just playing with the waves and dancing all by herself.  So carefree - how wonderful to be young!

The exhibit will hang in the St Michaels Library for the month of July. Drop by and have a look at what else might be Red, White, and Blue.

Happy Graduation, Maizie!

This weekend my first granddaughter, Maizie, will graduate from the 8th grade.  (Actually, my second granddaughter is also graduating from the 8th grade, but the Baltimore County schools don't make as big a deal of it as the school that Maizie attends in Vermont...so this is about Maizie.  In the interest of 'equal time' the little gymnast in a prior post was Graeme, the other 8th grader.)

Maizie has attended Orchard Valley Waldorf School in East Montpelier, VT... forever - and she is delighted to be finishing up her final year there.  She and I have talked and messaged in the past few weeks about her dress, her shoes and the upcoming festivities.  It is all very exciting - a true rite of passage.

I have been going through lots of pictures of her recently - from those very first baby ones to various visits we have made to Vermont, vacations together in Florida and visits here in Maryland.  It continues to amaze me how the time has flown by and here we are at another milestone.

There was one picture that repeatedly caught my eye - so, of course, I had to paint it! This is soooo Maizie - she just loved to get into that paint all the way. I especially love the hand print at the top. Can't you just picture her doing that?

9x12 Pastel 

WOW, next fall, she's off to high school...lots of love and Happy Graduation, Maizie!

Trinity House Church

For the past two years I have been involved with a small group at my church - the Vision Team.  We were asked by the Chapter (the governing body) to develop a new vision for our parish.

Our team has read, marked, learned and inwardly digested a lot of material.  We have interviewed parishioners about their experiences, hopes and dreams for our parish.

This started with the idea that we were in a 'financial crisis' (a place where MANY churches seem to be today) and we have concluded that we are in a 'spiritual crisis.'  Many people have complained of not being nourished by the traditional church on Sunday morning.

We believe that small groups offer a partial solution and have looked/are looking at different ways of bringing people together to experience God - to share our beliefs, voice our concerns and listen to the ways that God has touched our lives.

For the past couple of months we have offered "House Church Live"  - a gathering in a parishioner's home to share in a lay led Eucharist.  It is an opportunity to participate in the service through an exchange of ideas about the biblical message, passing the bread and wine to one another, and singing and praying together. At the end of the service there are refreshments and an opportunity to talk about the experience.

So, why does this appear on my art blog, you ask.  Well, with the help of our team we have developed a logo to go with this new program.  It is our plan that this will be 'out there'  - inviting others to join us as we experiment with this new (actually it is a very old) form of worship. But, that story is for another time.

ALL ARE WELCOME!  Our next service is Sunday afternoon, June 23 at 4:00pm.  Please be in touch with me and I'll give you directions!

How much to crop?

She had been taking gymnastics for several weeks and it was time for the class to end.  Parents and grandparents were invited to come on the last day and see what the children had learned.

I snapped a picture at the end of her 'routine.'  She's so proud of herself - she got her feet up on that bar . . .with help and . . . amazement.

Now my dilemma is this:  I really like painting relationships and I like painting children, BUT can this child stand alone without the other figure?  I think we need to see the 'helping hands' but am not sure that the helper's face and figure need to be there. They feel distracting to me.

So far, I have just sketched in the helper, but am leaning toward cropping her out. I really want to focus on the pleasure in the child's face.

Before I work on painting in the helper . . . I am asking for advice. . .

I want to call this one "Helping Hands." (I still have more work to do on it)

This one has no title, as yet . . . the helper is mostly the watercolor underpainting.

Shall I finish the helper's features and keep her in?    or shall I crop her out?

Save the Date

Last week I received an exciting email. Our little town of St. Michaels is planning a big event in August to celebrate the anniversary of the "Battle of St Michaels" which occurred in August of 1813. (You can read more about this battle in my blog post of February 6, 2013)

Well, the email was from the town's administrative clerk who is in charge of planning the event and she asked if she could use my banner image on the "Save the Date" postcard that is to be mailed to Maryland elected officials, past commissioners, town and county board members, tourism office, etc. How cool is that?

I emailed her back to say "Yes!" and we had an electronic conversation in which she told me that she thought my banner "looked like a party" and she was excited about using it to notify everyone about the event.

Another part of the August event will be an Art Show which features the banner art and other work by these St Michaels Art League artists. We are already drumming up business - it's FREE and open to all!

So, Save the Date everyone. . . August 10, 2013 from 10-5. See you at the Women's Club on St. Mary's Square in St. Michaels.

Foolin' the Brits - Watercolor & Ink

On another note - the painting I posted about on March 30 of 2012 just won Second Place in the Out of the Box exhibit at the St. Michaels Library.  It will be hanging there until the end of the month.  Stop by and see the exhibit - it's fun!

Curiosity - Pastel

YOLO - Beach Sketches

A year ago I bought myself a present - a Texting Dictionary, a handy little guide for looking up all those scrambled letters that my grandchildren are using in their texts. (I have learned that other grandmothers are doing the same thing, so I am not feeling like such a luddite)  Actually it is very useful - but I admit that I frequently just type the letters into Google and find out what is being said.

So, we are in Florida for spring break and decide to rent chairs and umbrellas from YOLO.  It never occurred to me that YOLO meant something, it was just the name of the rental place.  What a lovely surprise to learn that it means You Only Live Once (for those of you rushing to your cheat sheets). I like the idea of taking care of yourself and just relaxing by the water, because YOLO.

I had my sketchbook on the beach and of course, had to draw one of the YOLO chairs along with those little birds that my youngest granddaughter likes to chase, a sailboat out in the Gulf and the chasing granddaughter lying on her chair reading a book.

Here's another page with the golf cart - everyone had fun driving it (shhh, don't tell about the underage drivers), some shells and those crazy diving pelicans.

And, here are just a couple reminders of the palms. leaves, vines that abound.

 Well, AFAIC (As Far As I'm Concerned) this is all FTFOI (For The Fun Of It).
Enjoy the sketches and HAND (Have A Nice Day)

CUL8R (See You Later)  YOLO

The Beach

For the past few years my daughter has invited us to join her family during Spring Break.  Everyone loves the sun, the ocean and the warm temperatures. So, we have been going to Florida together. We have been fortunate to rent a house on/near the beach  - with a pool.  This has given us options for swimming and even more ways to have fun.

I take my sketchbook so that I can capture some of the fun.  A couple years ago the girls wanted to paint in my book, too.  A tradition was started. This year the younger two asked to paint - so here are their "Spring Break 2013" paintings!

This one was done by 8 year old, Winnie.  She's got it all in there - the girl in the beach chair; the sand castles; waves and water - including fish; the crazy pelican with a fish in its mouth (we watched LOTS of pelicans diving for fish!); many shells; and of course, the sky and sun.

And here is 6 year old Hildry's painting. She wrote the title "boat with people in it." She worked really hard on the planks of the boat and the waves in the water. She wondered about the boat being all one color - "that would not look good" - so we blotted the wet paint to give it some interest.  I love it that the people each hold a paddle and are saying "Hi".

Sharing my sketchbook with them has been such fun.  I love seeing their imaginations at work!