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 Cityscapes are a relatively new subject for me, and it has definately been a learning experience for me. I chose to explore this new subject as a way to help my work to evolve and grow as I have become so familiar with my expressionistic style paintings of nature and felt that I needed to move beyond that and tackle something different.
It has taken me a little while to establish exactly how my style would translate into a cityscape without losing the vibrance and energy that I desire from my work. I’m very happy with how this painting turned out, as it captures the energy and excitement that exists in TimeSquare (which is the subject).
I know that this photo is a little skewed, but it’s just a snapshot – and the camera was at a bad angle. This painting is on an 24 x 18 museum wrapped canvas. I plan to have it on display at the Art & Hors d’oeuvres Event at the SEMVA Art Gallery on October 16th at 7:00 PM. So, if you want to get a better look, Stop by for good food and great conversation with several of the SEMVA artists.
 I’ve been doing more work with cooler colors lately, and this painting is the beginning of a series that really emphasizes cool peaceful shades of blue. This series, which I call “Moonlit” gives the feeling of a moon beam lighting up a garden. I love how this white iris appears violet in the Moonlight.
This painting is on an 18 x 14 museum wrapped canvas. I plan to have it on display at the Art & Hors d’oeuvres Event at the SEMVA Art Gallery on October 16th at 7:00 PM.
Art & Hors d’oeuvres is an annual event at the SEMVA Gallery which is nestled in the Peace Plaza in downtown Rochester, MN. Artists will be displaying their latest work and many will be on hand to meet and greet guests that evening. It promises to be a wonderful evening with a mix of conversation and food! Tell your friends, everyone is welcome.
With the summer coming to a quick end, I have one final outdoor art festival on my schedule. I will be showing my paintings at the Wausau Festival of Arts, which will be held on September 12th and 13th in Wausau Wisconsin. This annual Festival of Arts is now in its 45th year. Each year, the free celebration of the arts, decorates downtown Wausau with exceptional artwork, entertainment and children’s activities. Patrons can purchase artwork in a variety of styles and prices from over 120 juried, professional artists from Wisconsin and all over the country. The festival also features live music, a silent auction, and ‘Young Collectors’ booth where children 12 years and under can purchase artwork for 25.00 or less. What a wonderful way to finish off the season!
In August, Rochester will once again be the home to a new fine arts festival. The First Annual ARTigras is sheduled for August 22, 2009. It will be a daylong celebration of the arts to be held in Mayo Park (behind the Civic Center). Activities offered free of charge in this noon to 7 pm event include an ARTiStage, ARTiKids activities and an ARTists Village.
I will have a tent set up in the ARTists Village, so you will be able to see and buy a much larger assortment of work then is available at the Gallery on the Peace Plaza. I will be displaying my latest series of paintings (Changing Seasons) at this event, be sure to get there. You’ll also want to venture over to the Peace Plaza to check out The Blues and Barbeque Festival that will be held in the there from 4 pm to 10:30 pm. The $25 tickets for the Blues & Barbecue Festival will be pre-sold and are available through the Rochester Convention & Visitors Bureau. In addition, several downtown Rochester restaurants and businesses will offer ARTigras specials throughout the day. For more details on ARTigras visit the Rochester Arts Council website.
I recently have been working on some expressionistic landscape paintings. Staying true to the nature of expressionistic work, color is the most predominant element in these new works, as it is with most of my work. I’ve also discovered that painting my landscapes vertically instead of horizontally seems to add more interest to the piece.
As I was working on a Spring landscape filled with several green and purple hues, It occurred to me that I could change the landscape dramatically just by changing the color scheme. I decided to do a series of paintings with basically the same landscape, but use different color schemes to represent the different seasons. At first I only intended to paint Spring, Summer, and Fall, but due to some pressure from my loving husband, I also painting a Winter. I did struggle the most with the Winter scene, and at first it really looked just too cold and harsh, but after adding some brighter colors (a suggestion from my son, Miles), it really seems to complete the series quite well. I’m so lucky to have such a great supporting family. The finished Series (shown above) is called Changing Landscape.
 Coneflower I finally got a picture of my latest painting. I Painted this one, titled ‘Coneflower’ with a much cooler color pallete then most of my paintings. I think the purples and greens add a bit of serenity to the painting, but because the colors are still very intense, it still has a lot of energy.
18 Goose Statues were designed and decorated for the Goose is Loose Project. Most of the selected artists worked on the geese at the Graham Arean at the Olmsted county during the ‘Paint Off’ from June 8th until June 18th. It was a great experience working side by side with the other goose artists. Continue reading All of the Geese
The geese have been painting, and are being delivered to there new locations today. It has been a hectic 10 days, but the finished geese look so wonderful. Wednesday night Rochester Art Council hosted a reception for the geese sponsors to give them a sneak peak at the geese, and to thank them for supporting the arts. Continue reading Goose VIP Reception
 Goose in the Garden I’m so excited to be a part of the Goose is Loose Project in Rochester MN. This Project is a fundraiser for the Rochester Arts Council. I was fortunate enough to be one of several artists that were selected to design and paint goose statues which will be displayed around town during RochesterFest starting June 20th. The geese arrived on June 8th to a central location where all of the selected artists will go to work on the goose that they have designed. I started my work on the first night by starting to add some of the sculptural elements to my goose. It was great to finally get started, and to see some of the other artists and to see there designs.
I really liked working with the apoxy sculpt, and I am very happy with the way my garden turned out, but the main emphasis of my goose was the color. I chose to use Nova Color paints, because they have great pigment, but hold up great in the outdoors. These paints are used by several Mural artists. It was a little challenging painting around all of the small flowers and leaves that I sculpted, But I love the way the goose turned out. Continue reading The Goose is Loose
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