Getting Ready for Market Day

Summer Art Market: This Weekend!
Here I am at the Art Market a few years ago before I started blogging so I thought I'd post a preview. Several hours after this was taken I actually fainted from the dehydration (lesson learned) but I look fairly fresh here. And just seeing this photo reminds me how much fun it is to be at a festival (fainting aside). My other tip: Metal chairs get hot even in the shade. I now have a comfy red fabric director's chair. 

Just 2 more days until the Denver Summer Art Market this weekend so continuing to tag, frame, inventory, etc. I just checked out the WeatherChannel app on the iPad and, I don't want to jinx it, but it's looking pretty good this year--mostly 80s. (Much better than the chilly non-stop rain last year.)

Thankfully, my booth partner has already owns tent (yay) so I don't have to worry about that. One time at a festival I arrived to set up and my rented tent was no where in sight. Many phone calls later a booth arrived--around 11P. As you can guess, hanging art (and this is when I used to use a lot of glass) on an old step ladder with a flash light on a bumpy urban side street is not an ideal circumstance.

Finally, I'm posting a Denver Summer Art Market Coupon (Booth 80) for all my BlogReaders, students, etc. for 10% off any framed artwork. (Just print this out and redeem in my booth. Note this is just for my Scarlet Owl Studio not for any other artist at the show.) You'll find Booth 80 on the corner of 2nd and Sherman Street. I look forward to seeing you at the Market! As a bonus, for any new students, I'll also apply this coupon to your first lesson (offer expires 7/1/2011).

Rhapsody in Blue

Today's Painting
A few weeks ago at the grocery store this iris and daffodil bouquet caught my eye. As I've mentioned before my studio cat, Dash, can merrily shred an enormous bouquet in under a minute so I tend not to buy many fresh flowers. But it had been so oddly rainy and cloudy here, that I just had to have some spring color in the studio. The vibrant violet blue/golden yellow color palette, which always reminds me of Provence, is one of my favorite floral color schemes.  
Floral Painting Books

If you like painting more organic and natural floral paintings as I usually do, I recommend checking out iconic painter  Charles Reid. . A well know workshop instructor and prolific author Mr. Reid has published several books (most only a few dollars used) on flower painting including: Painting Flowers in Watercolor and Flower Painting in Oil. I particularly enjoy his initial contour drawing approach to the subject matter. 
Get Ready to Sharpen Your Pencils!
Speaking of drawing, I saw that this Saturday, June 4, is Drawing Day 2011. If you go to the site, you'll find lots of interesting ways to share your drawing with the world online. Finally, quick welcome to all my new May and June students. I love painting in the summer with so warm light and colorful subject matter at hand and hope you will too!

Ribbons of the Rainbow

Today's Painting  
He hath ribbons of an the colours i' the rainbow--Winter's Tale, Act 4, Scene 4. This acrylic and oil abstract on gallery wrap canvas was inspired quite simply (or perhaps not!) by color. I wanted to play with aligning prismatic sections in a kind of woven painting. I was also thinking about colored ladders and steps while painting this as well as peacocks! The first step was pouring and dotting some fluid acrylics and then working with those patterns in the second layer in oils.

My New Studio Logo

Did you know that owls are found on every continent except Antarctica? After an super tough decision reviewing over 100 designs (from designers from all over the world) on Logo Tournament for my new logo, I'm thrilled to debut my new Scarlet Owl Studio logo. I wanted a logo that was natural but also contemporary. And of course it had to include a bright red owl!  Thanks designer "Klauts" who hails from Romania for an amazing job! And thanks to my friends and family who helped vote.

If you want to create your own art logo, my tip is to gather lots of examples online of logos you like (and those you do not) to help provide your design team with really clear visual direction. 
Summer Brings Art
Like many painters I'd rather be painting than doing administrative work but if want to get your work out there, it's part of the "job." As any of you know if you have ever prepared a tent or gallery show or even a corporate trade show booth--whew, exciting but exhausting. Speaking of festivals, if you are in the Denver area for Memorial Weekend be sure to check out the Downtown Denver Arts Festival.  I passed on this for the Summer Art Market, but it's a great festival with a wide variety of beautiful art and fine crafts.

5280 Feet of Color

One of the best things about teaching painting is working with a wide variety of student subject matter. It really keeps my on my painted toes! A few months ago one of my students came to me with a fun and exciting painting challenge. She said let's paint the skyline of our beautiful Mile High City--Denver, Colorado. (FYI, the 13th step our Capital Building is exactly 5280 feet above sea level.)

As many of you know, I'm usually known more for my organic and nature inspired art rather than urban scenes. But Olivia is a talented artist and high energy young Denverite with a passion for color and our  downtown scene. I was confident though with some careful planning and some time (this took a few weeks) we could tackle the challenge.

Let's Paint the Town (or your favorite city) 

Working on a longer horizontal format can be tricky if you are not used to it. Remember to consider your composition rules about not splitting the canvas in half--vertically or horizontally when you have so many lines and geometric shapes to deal with.

It helps to review a variety of photos and angles of  the city skyline including different times of day and seasons. Finally, make the painting more personal by focusing on the landmarks or city attributes that are most important to you.  Here, Olivia's"must haves" were the Millennium Bridge (the white sail shape on the left), the 16th Street Clock Tower (which is always colorfully lit for the holidays), the new Four Seasons (with the spike on top) and perhaps Denver's most iconic building, Wells Fargo or "cash register building" as we call it because of it's unique cash register shape. 


Consider including city elements that will help you break up the strong verticals and sharper angles. Here, Olivia balanced the buildings with the iconic aspen trees, paths, creek, and curved bridges along Speer Boulevard--the main thoroughfare that runs along downtown.


And of course, feel free to infuse your own sense of color and spacial relationships--as we kept saying to ourselves it's a painting not a city planning grid! To give the cooler buildings some extra color pop, Olivia decided to outline them in red. As many sports fans know blue and orange are also symbolic Denver colors, so Olivia worked with those as well.

Awesome job Olivia, I'm sure you'll enjoy this painting and colorful memento of the city so many artists call home for years to come. Thanks for letting me share it with all my readers! Hope you all have a great Spring week where ever you call home.

The Lights Burn Blue

"Lights Burn Blue" Contemporary Abstract 

Today's Painting (Title from King Richard III, Act V)
I love working in oils but there are times (getting ready for show, transporting paintings to and from a workshop, etc.) that you need a faster drying time when working. So I've been wanting to "practice" working with Open (slower drying) acrylics in an oil paint like manner, i.e. softer edges, smoother color transitions, etc. I've only used them once or twice, and while so far they don't feel to me a perfect substitute for oil paint,

Open acrylics are certainly more "blendy" than traditional heavy body acrylics. In my drier climate, they are pretty much dry to the touch by end of day with some heavier applications remaining tacky.

In this abstract painting, which is based very loosely on a western/canyony landscape, I used a relatively limited double primary (one cooerl/one warmer) palette of Golden Open Acrylics-- Thalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Indian Yellow Hue, Hansa Yellow, Quin Magenta and Pyrole Red. Here's a short video demo about Open Acrylics.

Reading in the Studio: The Art of Maynard Dixon
I think an interesting question to ask another artist would be what artist or painting would they buy if  they "won the lottery" and could own anything. For me, I think many years ago I would have quickly said an Impressionist or Post Impressionist. (I chose Corot as one of my personal heroes in a yearbook way back). So a Degas, a Van Gogh, perhaps a Matisse.

But many years later, as a Westerner, I would probably choose a panoramic painting by Maynard Dixon. The first Maynard Dixon painting I ever saw was Open Range--one of the most amazing clouds ever painted! Last week for my birthday I received this beautiful and inspiring collection by Donald Hagerty. This book is truly a breathtaking collection if you enjoy Western landscapes and southwestern subject matter.

Thanks for stopping by and have a colorful spring week!

Life of Spice

Spice Girls 8x 10 oil on canvas panel

Today's Painting
I love spicy foods--sweet and savory, as well as spicy cuisines. In fact, one of my guilty pleasure foods is anything habanero flavored. I even like raw, yes raw, jalapenos particularly on my nachos so I'm always checking out the peppers in the produce aisle. Last week I set up some bright red peppers and sunny yellow lemons for one of my acrylic painting students (thanks Kelly--great choice!). I loved the warm colors and theme so much had to try the set up as well.

Supplies and Materials
I tend to be fairly frugal in the studio, but since I also tend use a lot of warm colors in my work, I recently I upgraded to some new higher quality real (not substitute or hue) Gamblin brand cadmium oil paint pigments--cad. red light, cad yellow light, etc. These paints really pack a punch and did not disappoint in this trial run. For an interesting insight on color mixing check out Robert Gamblin's video about color mixing here.   
Painting Challenge: Eat your veggies!
Saw this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge is painting a vegetable from life. So am looking forward to going to our nearby Cherry Creek Farmer's Market later this week to find a particularly unique and interesting veggie model.

Teaching Note

Quick welcome back to my student's who have been traveling to exotic locales. Thanks for sharing your pics of Turkey and Italy--great to have you back in the studio! For more information about my painting and art classes this summer, please email me. Thanks, have a great Spring week!

Octopus Garden

Octopus Garden-22 x 30--Mixed Media/WC on paper

Featured Artwork
I'm posting a watercolor abstract today. I love working on roomy full sheet (22 x30) of watercolor paper. For my watercolor folks, this is Lana 140lb CP. My overall technique was to cover the entire sheet with shelf liner (big roll from Target). Then I cut out positive shapes into with a rolling cutter that one would use for sewing or quilting--another one of my favorite new tools.I saw a Discovery show a few weeks ago about exploring the ocean depths and that was my inspiration.   

Coming Soon: New Logo!
Quick welcome and thanks to the talented designers from all over the world at Logo Tournament who are working on my new Scarlet Owl Studio logo this week. It's been really exciting to review the designs and I can already tell it's going to be hard to pick a winner. I look forward to unveiling my winning logo to everyone within the next few weeks!

Show Announcement
In Denver First Friday is show opening and gallery hopping night so be sure to get out and enjoy the nice weather and great art. Tonight is the opening of the Art Student's League of Denver Eclectic and Inclusive (Part 1) Show (May 6-June 25, 2011). The exhibition highlights a wide variety of media and creative inspiration. One of my personal favorite large mixed media pieces is in the show, Imagine. (Think it's going to be hung by the bathroom which a gallery owner once told me is "an ideal" location!) 

2011 Summer Art Market (SAM): Save the DateJune 11-12 at 2nd & Grant. Over 300 artists--one of the best art festivals in the country! Paintings of all media and sizes, every subject imaginable, gorgeous ceramics, and best of all price ranges for every budget. On a personal art buying note, I can't tell you how many times I've seen very high end paintings at galleries around the country that I wished I'd bought years ago when the artist was less well known. So here's your chance to pick up that masterpiece. And be looking for my exclusive Colorful Connections Blog Readers SAM coupon!

Thanks for stopping by--have a wonderful, colorful weekend!