Artisticly Speaking....

Barn In Soft Spring Light 18x24 oil
I have never been able to understand my artistic moods...one day I can paint so easily the brush flies across the canvas the next it is a struggle from beginning to end and then....at the end...nothing to show for it. The last two paintings went that way for me.
So since I believe in sharing my good ones (well, I think they are good....art is subjective you know!) and also sharing my failures.....here are two paintings from this past week.
The one at the top flew out of the brush in about 14 hours...pretty fast for me.. it is an 18x24 and done pretty much alla prima...which is what I like to do the most. The one below is the itty bitty failure....in all honesty I do not know what happened....except that I was not particularly excited about the subject. I do love flowers and don't even mind painting them. I used to really hate painting them...to me they were always more fun to grow, smell and admire. I had a mentor (Barbara Courtney) that absolutely loved painting them and did an excellent job too! But alas for me I had to learn to love painting them.
I picked the daffodils in the morning and thought I had an image in my head of how they would turn out...but...it was not to meant to be. On the other hand The Barn in Soft Spring Light came out almost exactly the way I had pictured it. I must say though that the image here never looks as good as the real thing! The barn is down in Pineville next to a friends (Marilyn Carnell) home...I took pictures of it a couple of years ago when I was living in Pineville and teaching my classes. She was nice enough to invite us out for a day of photos and if I remember correctly we also painted that day....my memory is vague some days!
Today I begin working on the paintings I have been keeping secret. I hope they work! They really aren't so different...it is mostly just the subject matter and some paint application. We will see....
Until another day,
Theresa


Daffodils 8x10 oil

A Passion For......

What a very nice surprise I have received from another artist and recent blog follower! Thank you Ann Buckner for your thoughtfulness in awarding me this honor. You must run over and see Ann's work as soon as possible. First off the Koi that head her page will knock your socks off..she also has some lovely portraits and sketches. Also you must read her 7 things to gain insight into her generous and sweet soul.
I must now relate the seven things I am passionate about and then award this to 7 other artists. This always is so hard because everyone deserves it for one reason or another. Some because they are just learning and that struggle requires passion....some because they are so very accomplished and still remain fresh and energized...others because of the conditions and space they must work in and still produce excellent work. There are also those that give and share much of there information with us...and then there are those that I want to learn from because they are doing the things I love.
So first here are 7 things I am passionate about:
1. Fairness and generosity of spirit...the real kind...not the self-serving kind.
2. Painting or more plainly put....creating.
3. My life and my family...which goes back to creating
4. Gardening....which also goes back to creating
5. The feeling of being cherished and honored
6. Having a belief system and honoring it
7. Old stuff...anything...from furniture to advertising art to bits of metal, glass and fabric...I know odd...but it all fascinates me and I get a wonderful feeling from them all!
There is a whole lot more but I am only allowed 7.

And now the artists...they are all passionate and knowledgeable and express themselves very well...they are all...I believe genuinely nice people...they also do something for me...some know they do others have no clue. I really wanted to nominate about 50 artists:
Barbara Muir
Terry Miura
Bonnie Luria
David Lobenberg
Jennifer McChristian
Marc Hanson
Eldon Warren

I know that time is at a premium...we all have busy lives...so if you feel you cannot respond that's Okay!!
I am hard at work here coming up with some new work...but some of you have never seen some of my photography....so for a little change here are a few of my photos!
Have a picture perfect day!
Theresa

Hidden Heart


El Hombre Sale Del Sol


Waiting For The One



Peoples Car

Just a little for today...

Antique Bottle in Antique Frame 4x5 oil

One of the last pieces I painted for my current show...I never did post it ! It is a 4x5....that would be the smallest framed piece I ever painted. It is framed in a little antique frame I found in the attic. The other image is a plein air I did last Spring...I am getting that feeling to get outside and paint.
Little House 8x10
Not much going on doing some drawing for my new pieces. My tomatoes and all the other herbs and vegetables are up!!! The ground is turned and has the compost added to it...just waiting for the nighttime temps to improve a bit. Boy, I love the Spring!! Also been doing Spring house cleaning...just a few Oriental carpets upstairs to get done.
Aaaannnnnd......soon it will be tornado season... Oh, joy....but I still live here!
Much love,
Theresa

Slide Show As Promised.....

Here is the slide show I promised to put up. The photos were taken by me or a few other people.
I also want to say thank you to all the bloggers that have signed up and the wonderful thoughtful comments!!
I have been outside most of the day....organizing the potting shed and planting onions. The basil that I planted inside has popped up. The weather has been beautiful...so make hay while the sun shines, right?! I may get another day or two but am needing and wanting to get back to the easel. I have a few things I want to do...I do not know if they are sellers but I want to paint them. I won't go into detail as it takes the energy away from what I have planned...as Henry Moore said, " It is a mistake for a sculptor or a painter to speak or write very often about his job. It releases tension needed for his work." I believe that...I have seen it happen!
There are a few things in the works as far as some invitations for me....but until they are firmed up...I won't say much there either.
Enjoying the beauty of this pre-Spring day!!
Theresa

Returning......

Let me share something with you...this is a sample (actually today's email newsletter) of what I read everyday....or something very similar.

Never underestimate, Theresa, how many friends you have, how close you are, and how much fun you're going to have

Because, as you've seen throughout your entire amazing life, one usually gets exactly what they've been estimating.

You thrill me,
The Universe

When I am tired or down or feeling overwhelmed, underwhelmed or just plain old blue....these newsletters and the words within to cheer me up...and over time give me a renewed sense of being...other things do also but for some reason this little daily dose dose it for me. I have been feeling that way for a while overwhelmed...I have a lot of work ahead of me...and had a lot of housework and yardwork to catch up on. Before the show there was an immense amount of work...selecting paintings, touching up paintings, creating new paintings, touching up frames, selecting new frames, making a permanent address data base. The addresses in and of themselves were a monumental job!! Picture, if you will, two very large leather address books the heavy duty kind with many pages. Inside of that picture numerous slips of paper..large and small..business cards..print outs from the computer, receipts from sales, address labels from postcards, letters and notices from other artists I have met out of state...all packing these two volumes to near explosion. Each and every piece of information had to be gone through and verified in the white pages online...addresses and phone numbers! This was a compilation of roughly 7 years of stuff! Please do not follow me horrible task management! If you are building a client list or mailing list...do not delay start now and get organized. If you have already done so I commend you for your organization or delegation whichever th case may be! Believe me I would rather be painting....just painting! Not advertising, not cleaning, not keeping up with STUFF, not doing anything on the computer, not bills or any of the other worries that come with running a house, business or family! Well, I can stop raving now I have most of the tough stuff behind me now. I can go back to painting and gardening....my two main loves...although I have many more interests...I just don't have the time anymore. So there is my explanation for not posting for awhile. While I am on that subject I would like to thank several of the bloggers for writing me personally to see if I was alright. You have much power in your voice...thank you. Also for those of you that have signed up while I have not been posting thank you!!! I hope you will enjoy the past blogs and the ones still to come.....and what would I do without that core group that is also on Facebook! Thank you for your good wishes and care!

The opening last weekend was very successful in my estimation. Lots of people attended and there were many wonderful comments on my work...I was especially happy to see some of my local friends and supporters...you know who you are...and I am so very thankful for you being there! The show was sponsored by the Edward Jones Financial Group...they selected to represent me over many, many other artists! I was so very honored! They took lots of photos with me and the sponsors and some awards but I have no idea where these went to or what they where for. The photos I do have were taken by friends...as I was trying to keep up with all the guests. I have heard rumors of sales....but in this economic environment..I really don't expect much. So I will be doing two workshops and a demo next month....so I must prepare for that. There are also several shows I am obliged to enter and I need work for them and Cherry's, the gallery that represents me is dangerously low on my work.

The last piece I finished for the show is shown above...I started on it some time ago and decided to do several small pieces for the show. I finished it just in time and it was still wet when it was hung in the gallery. It is a 24x36 and is shown framed below in the pictures from the show.

I also got a nice little treat from a poet on line that used a few of my paintings to inspire others....you can see the images here . I believe there may be one more but I seem to have misplaced it. The poetry site and the image prompts she provides are spectacular.While on the subject of poetry here is a piece written by Lori DeLozier.

Lori is an extremely good poet, this beautiful little piece I found out later was about watching me draw. Lori is also a painter and was also a student for some time. She was also a very strong client...joyfully she owns several of my pieces.....they have a very good home! You can visit her website here.

There are a few photos here of the show...I will put together a slide show tomorrow some time. I am still getting some of my garden in. Max put in lettuce a while ago..I put in spinach today....and I will put in onion sets tomorrow. We have been doing some general cleaning up and I also have seeds started inside. Spring is always so very busy...but so beautiful an enjoyable in so many ways.

Much Love, Theresa

P. S. There is something going on with my font, size and color...I will try to have it corrected in the next blog!

PPS I almost forgot.... I have lost 17 pounds and holding....until the next round of HCG!!!!