It's Owl Good in the Summer

"It's Owl Good" screech owl oil painting study 8x10 on linen

SOLD--Thank you!!

Summer is flying by (no pun intended)! I’ve been enjoying the outdoors and having a great time working on art projects with my summer students. I’ve also had some challenges and frustrations working on my of key art goals for this year: Improve plein air painting skills.

Ahh...Unfortunately as much as I love nature I’m just not “outdoorsy.” It’s one of those skills that I know will come in time with patience and practice.  As I think about where to practice again in a nice shady quiet spot I decided to put in some air conditioned studio time. But in 2 weeks am off to another one day plein air workshop.(Am just hoping not to get lost in the wilderness this time...)

On a much happier note I always enjoy participating in the Daily Paintworks challenges—especially when the theme relates to birds or flowers.  There’s something really motivating about painting something that you have a strong connection with.

So you can imagine my delight when I saw this week’s challenge was—hoot, hoot—owls! If you visit my studio you’ll find a cherished international owl collection thanks to my friends, family, and students. Yep, I’m a proud “bubophile.” (That’s a fancy word for owl lover.)

So I set aside a few other art projects to quickly paint this this adorable (and sleepy) little screech owl I fell in love with at a raptor education event.  Isn’t it cool how their mottled feathers mimic tree bark?

I often paint really large colorful owls but I really enjoyed painting this little guy. Thanks again to artist Linda McCoy for posting my dream challenge this week! Finally if you're an owl fan like I am, you'll find 100 owls to inspire you on my Pinterest board. P.S. Did you know a group of owls is called a Parliament? 

The Power of the Creative Carrot

 

Who loves color? 30x40 acrylic on gallery canvas--SOLD--Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! Next Friday is the opening of my Spirits Bright holiday show at 910 Arts and I’m just about ready. Twenty paintings (gulp) didn’t sound like very many when we started to think about having a show back in the summer…No biggie, that’s just 1 or 2 small paintings a week…Right?

But as with any large creative project it usually (always?) takes more time than you think. Plus most of my paintings are oil so there’s  extra varnishing and framing time you need to account for. (FYI, my favorite quick “go to” varnish for oil and/or acrylic paintings is Kamar spray by Krylon.)

For those of you who like to make lists, goals, etc. I think you’ll agree that it can be  helpful to have rewards and incentives tied to milestones. I had an art instructor once who always splurged on a fancy cocktail dress each time she got into a gallery. For me, I prefer to have an “internal” and an “external” reward. In the case of achieving my 20 painting goal, my internal goal (or emotional goal if you will) was giving myself the permission and freedom to create ANY painting I wanted.

Any subject (or no subject at all), any medium, any size, favorite colors, etc. For example, when faced with what color to use in the background above I first choose black for the contrast--but it didn't feel quite right. So asked not what was the "correct" choice but what was my favorite color? And the answer was any blue green “sea tone” so I went with that instead.

To start, I grabbed a nice roomy 30 x 40 canvas, some acrylics (since I’d mostly been working in oils and smaller and some inexpensive big acrylic brushes. And then I asked again: What’s the painting I want? What shapes do I like? Not what color is academically or theoretically correct for this spot but what color do I simply like better? Without those usual pressures this painting emerged fairly quickly. For me this was the perfect reward.  So the next time you need a motivational creative carrot just do what you want to do to do. Holiday Cheers everyone!

The Night to the Owl

Happy Friday everyone! I'm thrilled to report the sun is out and we're warming up! My fingers can actually type again. Thanks again to my students who braved snow, freezing temps, and bad roads to keep on painting!

I thought if I posted another bird painting this week it should be at least my favorite bird, which is of course (big shock) an owl. This is mixed media on illustration board. Artistically, owls have a wonderful shape and they can symbolize so many things--wisdom, insights, mystery, intuition, longevity, bad omens, night, and even death. (My blog post title today is from Shakespeare's Cymbeline for my fellow English majors out there.)

Since I'm often asked about the origin of my studio name Scarlet Owl I thought this owl-themed post would be a good time to share the story. First, I probably should confess that one of my "other jobs" is a professional namer of products, brands, company, websites, etc. Have you ever eaten a Keebler Bistro Cracker? Yep, that was me. So as a "professional" brander I felt extra pressure to create an art studio name that I really loved and could live with for for a very long time.  

Basically, I knew I wanted a color or pigment name and an animal (or something natural) because I love to paint nature. So the brainstorming began: Mauve Moose, Cerulean Otter, Viridian Octopus, Cobalt Leopard, etc. But, believe it or not, this was during the dot com boom and many of these names were already business names or in one case, a Canadian rock band.

Finally, I thought I had a winner: Red Hawk Studio. I thought it had a sharp, robust, westerny sound. But the more I thought about it, it just wasn't unique enough. So I moved on to other reds and other fowl, and voila, there was like a red spotlight: Scarlet Owl. And a bit unusual but not too weird (at least I hope not) and for me at least it said: Creativity and Wisdom--a ying/yang balance that I thought was perfect for my panting and teaching philosophy. 

As always thanks for "giving a hoot" (sorry I couldn't resist) and stopping by. Have a great weekend and happy painting from my nest to yours!