the show goes up

the show goes up

Today we are installing my art for the "Consider the Lilies" show.  My art will be displayed in St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The church was built of stone in 1949 in the Gothic Revival style. I have always loved this building, the Gothic style is my favorite type of architecture for a space of worship. Maybe it is all that time studying art history? Or is that I was privileged to visit England and France and see the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in the world?
I also love this church for the worship space and the church family within. Our children were all baptized in this place, and two of my children were married here.

just about used up all my Cadmium yellow

Fresh off the easel. Oil on canvas, 36x48. Sold already as a commission but the owner is allowing me to display it as part of my upcoming show.

a blue card

postcards in every color

postcards for fun

It is fun to design these postcards. I am going to have four of these, with different flowers on front and back to set out at my artist reception.

preparations around our town

A poster I have designed to hang about town for my upcoming art show at St. Mark's.

a year and more

I wait all year for March and April when the traditional Easter lilies are being sold to decorate for Easter Sunday. I love to draw these lilies. The pearly petals, the graceful shapes, the sacred symbolism, it is fascinating for me every year. This year I bought 6 plants and had every surface in my studio filled.
I titled this post "a year and more" because I found an Easter lily plant blooming in my yard this week. I can't bear to throw them out after the blooms fall off so I go outside and stick them in the ground in any available sunny spot. Sometimes, they bloom again. In July! Contour line drawing on Arches paper with a charcoal prismacolor pencil. I intend to finish this with watercolor washes.

preparations

Preparations are underway for my art show at StMark's Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I will be hanging the show at the end of July. I have been busy lately designing my promotional material and getting things printed. This is the front of the postcard that I have mailed out already.

And here is the reverse side where I put printed address labels and a stamp.

Where did all these weeds come from

Sketching in church again. Interesting story in Matthew today.

mountain view coffee shop

Agia Sophia (means "holy wisdom") is the name of a coffee shop in Old Colorado city, the art gallery and shopping district in Colorado Springs. Charming place with excellent books to browse while sipping or sketching. And to top it all off, a view of Pikes Peak from our window side table.

So that we love

A quick sketch of my own mother made in my sketchbook recently.

"we're made so that we love

First when we see them painted, things we have passed

Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see;

And so they are better, painted—better to us,

Which is the same thing. Art was given for that;

God uses us to help each other so,"

Fra Lippo Lippi

BY ROBERT  BROWNING

happy birthday Rembrandt

Today is the 408th birthday of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Born July 15, 1606, considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history.
The Art Institute of Chicago has a few Rembrandt masterpieces on display. A few years ago there was a special exhibit of Rembrandt art with many loaned paintings from all over the world. I had the opportunity to visit this show and here is a sketch from my sketchbook at that time.

sisters at the salon

My two sisters getting their toes pampered. I sat across sketching and was given the directive to not draw them with double chins.

view of the mountains

I lost my father five years ago. He is buried in a lovely small mountain graveyard that overlooks Pikes Peak and the mountain ranges. A fine blue spruce shades his grave. I sat in this quiet spot and sketched while visiting in June. My father loved the mountains, and this peaceful place is full of his memory.

garden adventure

 The Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark in Colorado Springs. It is also conveniently near all my family I visit when in the Springs. I spent a day in the park while visiting in the month of June. With sketchbook and traveling paintbox packed in a backpack I climbed a rock to paint my own adventure.
The amazing view with towering red rock formations and in the far distance, the front range of the Rocky Mountains.

As I painted, the sky was changing rapidly, and as often happens in the mountains, rain clouds moved in from the west. I painted enough before I had to scramble off my rock as the thunder and raindrops began.

flowers from my sketchbook

 Wildflowers from the Colorado Springs area, blue beauties blooming all over the mountainside in early June.

since we were gone

I am back and this blog is now back, returned from a vacation in body mind and spirit.  My sketchbook is filled up! I had to buy a new one for my little watercolor journals. I will be posting the remaining entries that I have missed while away.

what a lovely idea

Here is a truly lovely idea. This very polite young man is designing his own wedding invitations. He searched the web for images of peonies and came across a line drawing that I had posted when I was drawing and painting a whole series of peonies from the live flowers in my own garden. Here is the original post. And this is the drawing. I kind of like it a lot myself.

Here is some of our email exchange: "I am putting together my wedding invitations. I began by finding images of Peonies, and I stumbled across this image. This was my favorite image of peonies in all of the searching I had done.
I was using it for a design, and it occurred to me that someone had spent a lot of time on it, and I was about to use it without recognition of that. 
That would have been wrong of me.
I'm writing you to ask if there is any way I could use this image of yours. We're running a tight budget, so I can't offer you much for money, but I could put your name/signature on the invite or elsewhere. 
I understand if you would prefer that I don't use your image.
To be transparent: I'm sending out 60-70 invitations, printing the peony lightly on the background, and then using a fancy pen to write over the top. I may or may not use the image for the RSVPs as well, of which there would be the same amount. I've also attached a preview of what I was thinking for the invite."

And I replied: "First let me thank you for contacting me regarding the peony line drawing. I am a professional artist and enjoy sharing my art but it is painful to see how many bloggers or web users do find an image and just use it giving no regard to the original work and expertise that an individual has put into that image. I really do like to get paid for my work, but sadly it seems that original art is not highly valued as a financial commodity any more in our culture.
All that said, I give you permission to use my art for your wedding invitations. I am pleased and honored as to your purpose for this work of mine. These invitations will be lovely I am sure. I made original art invitations for my own daughter's wedding recently and printed them myself on my home printer. " 
Maybe I should have asked for money, but I did inform him that the original finished art is available for sale, framed and sitting here in my studio ready to be a wedding gift from someone who loves this couple.

asking permission

Recently I was contacted by a young man asking for permission to use some of my art that I had posted on my blog. What a lovely idea! Asking for permission from the artist who created the original work. I am not being sarcastic, well, maybe a tiny bit. It is a problem on the great big old world wide web to retain personal rights to anything posted. Either I hide all my art in a closet or I share it and take the risk.