sky of blue

...sea of green.

And we live a life of ease. Every one of us has all we need.
Sky of blue, sea of green.


(Words attributed to Paul McCartney.)

summer greens

Last night we had a lovely rainstorm here. So welcome after the hot and dry season so far. Being an artist I am very sensitive to changes in color and light. I looked out this morning and noticed that the grass looked so much greener, it had changed overnight.

"it is art, not just pictures"

I have posted all of the work that is displayed currently in the Glen Ellyn Library on my Facebook page. As I said before, I go through love-hate stages with social media like Facebook, but this time I have been pleased with the response I've had from all my "friends". One of the nicer things that has happened is this conversation with an old school friend. Tim and I were classmates all the way from kindergarten to high school graduation. We went to a very small school overseas which leaves our classmates with an unusual bond.
Tim gave me permission to post this conversation. I asked because he said such observant things and I felt that he really understood my artwork. An artist longs to be understood simply from the art without lengthy explanations and confusing wordy "statements".

The conversation: ( I have highlighted most important parts in blue)

Tim: I don't have time to react in full but your stuff is tremendous and should probably be priced at 10 times what you have listed.

Jan: I agree. :)

Tim: I don't have a business degree but I have been in business, sales and marketing all my life and it is so easy to under-price things but I am referring to the quality here. You technique is excellent but there is an extra quality that I note that makes me think of the early 20th century masters. What I mean to say is that it is art not just pictures. It is very hard for me to describe what I think in words.

Jan: Thank you, Tim, I appreciate that you say so. I am not having much success in sales here. I priced my large canvases much higher- average $1000. and no one buys those either! So I thought since these are smaller I would make them affordable to anyone and at an impulse buy level. I am not getting any response locally yet. I often give my art away to my good friends, which is why I don't make any money with this.

Tim: I don't know if I could sell my "children," if you know what I mean. Perhaps if they were limited edition lithographs. Anyway I have no idea why some artists sell and others don't. Of course a lot of those early 20th century artists whose paintings now fetch millions of dollars never lived to see that. Some person of means needs to start collecting Janice Skivington watercolors. 

Jan: I hope so!

Tim: It is funny my tastes in art usually runs to surrealism (like DeChirco) or abstract (like Miro) but your paintings speak to me beyond the obvious use of color, proportion and balance. To me it is what is in the spaces in between that reaches out and grabs my attention. You must first have great technique (I know you have been an artist since you were young but you have the chops, like they say in music, the practice to carry out much, much more than just pictures of flowers, which would be fine anyway but it wouldn't necessarily be art to me), then you have to have some sort of spiritual dimension which speaks to me in ways that a photograph of the same couldn't do, even though I would enjoy that. I appreciate that you mentioned that you draw from life not photographs you or others take and that to me means that you can smell them which somehow is conveyed in your drawing, as if you are my sense of smell by proxy.

I didn't mean to imply you need to make money at your art, it is it own reward and dollar value is just that. That looked like a nice exhibit at the library. I am only stating that I have been to art museums and art galleries all over the place including New York City where I think you work would pass muster easily. How does one break into that scene? Do you really want to? I am going to look at those again and again.

Jan: Tim, you have made my Day! Thank you, so so much. Your discourse here is very informed, You do know a lot about what makes something "Art". Most people can only appreciate the bright colors or the realism. It is as if you have really "looked" and seen what is me in the painting and what I really meant to say when I painted it. Yes, it is what is Not there in a piece that tells you more. An artist has a lot of information in front of her when she works and a number of skills to employ. It is the decisions, the editing that makes a work into poetry.

Jan: I have enjoyed our exchange so much, I wish I could make it public on my FB page.

Tim: You can copy any of this conversation (my suggestion, cut and paste it into a Word document and then cut and paste it into a posting) with my permission. I only made this private but now it is your choice. It will undoubtedly generate more comments.

Yes, we were Faith classmates and yes, perhaps I am a bit prejudiced but I wouldn't have bothered to write those additional comments had I not reflected on them first. Good luck and God bless. (I am going to download those photos of your art work and look at them again.)

to everything there is a season

There is a time for every season. Lately, this has been the season for weddings. We have enjoyed quite a few in just two months. I sketched this yesterday while the bride was saying her vows under a canopy decorated with pink roses.

bookmarks

I made up these single page flyers to give away next to the display at the Glen Ellyn Library that is currently showing. I thought they might be handy as bookmarks, I have them in a brochure holder right next to the art.

and even if your walls are full...room for a small one?

These are all framed, 11"by 14",  and not too big for a little  brightness on your wall.

what else?

and some more...

Someone has already asked to purchase the "Hibiscus Twins"!

what is for sale

prices and such

I have been posting about this show on facebook. Sometimes I think facebook is evil and out to steal my work and privacy. Other times, I decide to embrace all that it can do. This is one of the other times. I have heard from lots of folks on facebook, and lots of friends have questions, like which one is which size and how much? It has been great to get so much response, makes me happy. So I made up a price sheet and photo page. I put the information on my other blog too.
www.janiceskivingtonpaintsflowers.com

viewing the Show

Location: Glen Ellyn Public Library; top of the stairs, second floor. Artwork on display: 26 new watercolor paintings of flowers and more flowers by Janice Skivington.

Top four paintings are all Rose of Sharon blooms, they look like tropical hibiscus, (they are related) and they bloom in the hottest weather here (like right now). I drew these from the blooms growing in my own driveway.

Pricing is simple; larger paintings are $200.00 for 16x20 in frame and smaller paintings are $100.00 for 11x14 in frame. I hope for people to walk in, fall in love, and impulse buy. With prices like that for original art, you shouldn't have to think too long

Above; I have these orange and yellow tropical hibiscus in a pot on our deck, just had to paint them! And the other painting I just finished a few weeks ago when the peonies and irises were still blooming. Below that you can see my little brochure stand with my bio and information.

Daffodils and more daffodils. I was on a daffodil-a-day drawing and painting kick this spring. I paint flowers just because I find them so interesting. And, I like to draw from a live model, and flowers usually will hold still.

  I paint from life, not from photographs. Every one of these original artworks represents a moment in time spent contemplating a living plant. Each painting brings back a specific memory, that flower, that day.

A fascinated visitor, oh, it is my sister, here from hot and fiery Colorado Springs to enjoy hot and steamy Wheaton, Illinois.

And here are the two sides of the promotional brochure I made up to give visitors a bit of information...take one away to use as a bookmark, for the library books!

Art Show going on now!

The show of my watercolor flower paintings in the Glen Ellyn Public Library is up and ongoing through the rest of the month of July.
Last Sunday, the 1st of July, we had a powerful thunderstorm here in Northern Illinois. High winds uprooted huge trees, flung branches all about, and snapped power lines and utility poles.
I had a scheduled meeting with the coordinator of displays at the library the following Monday morning. Our power had been off all night resulting in a very uncomfortable night's rest. I was not sure if the library was even going to be open because I could see the downed power lines all over town as I drove there with my car loaded with paintings all framed and ready to hang. Not only was the library open, but it is an official cooling center and temperatures had been (and still are) in the 100 degree range. I was glad to see quite a crowd waiting to get in the library doors at 9 AM that day. The show is successfully up and I have a guaranteed audience as long as the hot weather continues and the power is unreliable.

And here is one of my first art enthusiast visitors, (actually, my sister) ready to become a great fan of mine.

in memory of

We have a group of artists from our church that meet to share our work, discuss books, and support each other.
This is a sketch from one of our gatherings of a very dear man. He passed away this week and was mourned by many who loved him.
One of the most remarkable things about this person was his great Faith and how he lived it. We have all been blessed by being part of his life.

I also sketched his wife that same day. I value her friendship and lessons in Faith through all they experienced as a couple.

Celebrations!

Feliz Navidad!
(digital art created with photoshop for a textbook and educational program)