Back Again......

Backstage 16x20 Sold

  I have been gone way too long...not going to say to much at this point but will be catching up with all the work I have done, sold and exhibited. Thank you all who have continued to ask me to post again and all the new followers that have signed on!
 I have an art page on Facebook and links on my website...if you would be so good as to like anything there it would be my honor!
 I will star of by posting a recent commission. The photo is one of mine that I took backstage at a performance by The Dancers Studio in Carthage, Missouri. It is owned by my partner, Max's daughter..I take her as my own. She is also the artistic director and choreographer and teaches a large amount of students there. Max and I help out with props from time to time.
Here is a bit of a progression. Have a fantastic painting week ahead! Theresa

In progress

Closeup of faces

Soon to be a small painting

Closeup of central figure-Our neighbors daughter

The Rest Of The Story.......

The previous blog dealt with the central image of a violinist for a suite of ten paintings requested by a collector.
In this blog I will put together the rest of the images. As I chose the pictures I had it in my mind that they should all face toward the center image.....as if he were the Soloist and the rest of the musicians were in the symphony. Here is were I had one problem....aside from just putting paint on canvas in a mature and direct way.
My client had requested certain instruments. So I looked through my file of what I had and traveled the internet for inspiration. I would say all of the paintings came out pretty much the way I wanted them to......except one. I had found a picture of a trumpet player. I really loved the image and could see it translated into paint immediately. There was only one thing wrong....he was facing the wrong way. What to do....I flipped the picture.....problem solved....right??? .......Nope...wrong! What happened was he ended up playing the trumpet in an impossible way because the instrument cannot be played that way....and I had completely painted it and thought it was fantastic (if I do say so myself)! As I brought it downstairs and out of the studio for Max and I to gaze upon and contemplate it's beauty.....Max, a trumpet player, noticed something. Yep....that's when I got the word....! Darn...darn...darn! What to do know? Only one thing....find another image and do it right!
I sent the image and an email to my client and explained what happened...in good conscience I couldn't let it out of the studio with it so wrong. My client emailed me back and said whatever I wanted to do was fine with him.....but he really like the painting anyway....felt it was very strong and I would have to agree. Well.....two weeks later after I had finished two more pieces for him......and what do you think happened? He still had to have the painting because he liked it so much! What's an artist to do??? Well....for me the truth never hurts, first of all. I did have another person interested in it...but explained the issue....and her son was a trumpet player also. So, of course she declined. In the long run...it all worked out. Everyone is happy!
Lesson learned......if you are going to work from photos.....check everything twice and beware.....there really is no substitute for painting from life. I have done my fair share and still do paint from life or studies from life for the most part. I just didn't think about how most musical instruments (I am aware of a few left-handed instruments...but not many) are only played one way. It won't happen again!!! I have added the rest of the images in the progression they were done below. Let me know your thoughts!


The first painting and the inspiration for the suite was sold several months ago. When I painted this I had not thought about a series.
My client was inspired to order several more paintings in a symphony series.


The second piece...a pianist.....One of my favorites.



The third....there must be a conductor! Hands....arrgh!
I need practice....so good to have someone who has faith in the fact that I will just get better!

I next decided to get the big one out of the way. This is a 16x20 the rest are all 8x10.
This makes the fourth piece.


The client was anxious for a classical guitarist....this may well be the best one!
This is number five. I believe I am getting better!!!

Before I got to this one I had to stop on the series and produce a few other pieces and some other plein air activities. I did a still life with a stuffed turkey....more on that turkey later!!
The client requested woodwinds...I chose the Bassoon...I just like the shape of it! This makes number six.


My client then asked for a trumpet player. This is the painting that was wrong.....but sold anyway! He should be reversed. Number seven.


This is the replacement for the backward trumpet...also sold. I like it!!! Learning a lot!
Number eight.


Tuning the Timpani....number nine.

One left the harpist...she is giving me fits......:)
See you later,
Theresa

"Painting is so damn hard, that if it weren't for the occasional win, it would kill us."

Summer Dreams...Sold


Snow On Jenkins Creek....Sold


Scaling Eggs...Sold



Approaching Storm II....Sold

Well, as usual I am constantly playing catchup! Again I find myself with less and less time for writing...but spend a lot of time thinking about it. My thought process generally run along art...I visualize constantly...painting a picture in my head, considering the effects of light....color and edges...which brings me to MY big problem for this year.
Every year I paint, I consider certain key aspects of painting...in the beginning it was drawing, composition, color, handling paint, subject matter, mass, photo or life..each subject taking a self-imposed year of consideration....then how to paint from a photo and make it look like it was from life. Then I started painting a whole lot more from life....that took care of the photo issue....pretty much. I still use photos...but I don't like to.
Then came marketing...that took up a whole lot of time! The time I spent marketing has definitely helped....In the last two months I have painted three paintings...all sold and the few remaining from last year have sold also! I still feel weak in so many areas. That really is okay....since this is a constant learning process....and I will be learning for years to come..hopefully!
This year...it's edges...more and more I find my edges unsatisfactory...sometimes I like them...most of the time I am weak in that area. So this year I am going to concentrate more on edges...any advice from people out there is more than welcome. I find lifting the brush at the end of a stroke works well....painting wet into wet and also using a paper towel to scumble the edges...also a value change at the edges also works in many cases. At any rate...I still work at getting better....constantly!
Things have also been selling well....thanks to the marketing time I guess....I actually have a collector that has a "Theresa Rankin Room"...now that is an honor!! Here are some pieces that sold recently and the step by step I promised a month ago which got waylayed while I was sick and finishing a commission!
One can never know how grateful I am to have people actually buy my work!! I will continue to work hard...through the daily "stuff"...the hard times.....the emotional ups and downs..and the dreaded blocks! In the case of blocks I highly recommend Terry Miura's post and all the replies...well worth reading....we are not alone!!!!


The Start......Approaching Storm III



Some more work


Ugh....readjusting the composition (took out the foreground shrubs)


Adjusting yet again....Took out a hay bale....What do you think?....input please!

I will be heading to Los Angeles in the next week....so I may not post until I get back!!
Thank you, everyone who has joined up and who has commented....it really tickles me..I learn much from the other bloggers...every single one of you!!
Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On,
Theresa

Time Flies....

Quiet Determination...posted on Every Photo Tells A Story

Time flies when you're having fun....right? Right! I haven't been doing much of anything else other than that. Playing outside in the sun and trying to keep the yard up. Entered two shows and was juried into both of them. I have also been fortunate enough to gain a mentor....his work is highly respected, in many galleries and I am honored that he would critique my work and coach me along. I am looking for a house in this market....I would like to use it as my studio and also teach there and hold workshops. Max and I have helped, Inez, his daughter move out and she is really looking forward to having her own place. We attended a ballet performance she was in....and I went backstage and took pictures. Max's son graduated high school...whew!...last one for him and he will becoming to visit soon. I will also be leaving for Phoenix later this month to visit old friends and family. Facebook is taking up a lot of time (especially Farm Town) I may have to cut back there considerably! But it is a great way to connect!
I would like to mention that I am so honored that so many people have decided to follow me here and on Facebook....I am truly in awe by this..I will try to provide interesting stimulus for those who are following along.
Last but not least....I have begun painting after a long break. Here are a few pictures of the start. Also Nancy over at Every Photo Tells A Story has used one of my paintings on her June 5, 2009 blog. She has also described my work in a beautiful way!! Thank you Nancy!
Here are the photos of the start....

The beginning...consists of a violet wash over the canvas, quick sketch, thin darks and an indication of the brushwork I am looking to achieve.

Just a close up of the area worked on from the first photo.

A considerably more amount of work....still keeping the darks thin...conscientious color choices...begin working on water and weedy area. At first my biggest concern was the perspective...looking down on the young woman in the water. I think i have managed to make that work...the color choices are a triad of various mixtures of violet, orange and green...one of my favorites...I will post the photo reference when the painting is complete. I would also like to mention...I really do not like working from photos anymore....but sometimes....I must!
We are heading into summer here and it will be so humid I will hardly be able to bear going outside....but I will try! I am really a cold weather girl...:)
Happy Spring Days To All,
Theresa

Under the weather..

There is cotton in my head and
Tissue clouds beside my bed...
Hazed over thinking through
Overcast eyes....
Variable high pressure head storm brings in
A rainy disposition......
Hands as damp as the Fall leaves outside
Forecast turning chilly and no longer sunny.....
Lethargic movement stalling
Atmospheric activity....
A mottled nose followed by
frost tipped digits...
Three days coming...
Three days staying...
Three days going....
This is the forecast...
I'm sick....and.......
I am sick of being sick..........

LOL!

I am making light of my condition today and doing it in an attempt to be poetic....or is it prose? I am not a poet although I would love to be able to paint with words. ( My apologies Lori and all other writers for my abysmal attempt at what you are all so good at!) But I had fun trying!
Inez is home and is becoming used to her handicap of a broken wrist. Her dance studio gave her a little party for her birthday last night and she valiantly attended before promptly going to her room to rest. Poor thing, she is annoyed and I don't blame her one bit.....I have never broken anything...and pray I never do. I have had some serious events and surgeries in my life but my hands were never afflicted. I thank God for that!
Today is her birthday....so HAPPY BIRTHDAY INEZ!!!!!
I will probably putter around the house today before going to be abused at the Women's Center in Joplin. Today I have a mammogram and bone density scan. Doesn't THAT sound like fun! Which brings me to a request I have of the ladies who read my blog.
I joined the Army of Women the minute I heard about it.....a month ago. It is a website devoted to curing breast cancer by Dr. Susan Love during her lifetime.

Excerpt from their website follows:

The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation, a global leader in breast cancer research, joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women.

Our revolutionary initiative has two key goals:

• To recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.
• To challenge the scientific community to expand its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women.

I lost my Mother to untreated breast cancer and have an Aunt who had it also....fortunately she recovered. Because of my heredity it makes me what they consider a high risk. I have had exams regularly since I was 41 and hopefully all women do this regular preventative program. I urge you to join this month as it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. You may join here.

In a strange way the painting posted today seemed apropos to what was discussed in this blog. It is painted on textured canvas. I use thick gesso and make it thicker in some areas than others. I also try to give it an interesting surface texture by using a house painters brush and jabbing at the canvas to remove some of the gesso. I will also use a knife to give an almost Spanish stucco wall appearance. It was painted last year.
Love, Theresa

Frequent Flyer.......

Catching up to speed is sometimes a real challenge. I think I need to reorganize my time or at least make it more efficient. I must say I have been pretty consumed with politics and the news of late. I also believe I would be better off not indulging in so much of it. But, alas, this is a historical and unprecedented event or events in our history and just as I was in the 60's....I am very much a part of it today, wanting to know every little detail, poll, upswing and downturn. I am not going to politicize this blog...but I do have very strong feelings for one candidate and am hoping that everyone takes it upon themselves to truly look at the facts and search out all the info and please, please vote. Enough said an now back to my little microcosm!
Max's birthday was a great success! All of the kids were there for dinner except for Wyatt (who lives in Houston but did call and gave his rendition of "Happy Birthday" over the phone to his Dad)!
Dinah his oldest was there and we had a great visit. Inez his second oldest was also there and we always have a great time! Obviously from my last blog there was plenty of food to go around and everyone thoroughly loved it...I sent some food and cake to the kids grandparents and a piece of cake to the mother of one of Max's oldest friends to enjoy....and we still had leftovers!
When Max read my blog...which he does every time I post...he discovered the painting was his birthday present. He cried and I was touched by this man's obvious heartfelt emotion. Men don't cry right? Phooey...they do and it means the world to me to see how much he was touched.
So today my friends I will be packing and taking care of a few loose ends. We will be leaving first thing in the morning for our flight out of Tulsa to Phoenix. I am looking forward to our little family visit.
I believe this will be our last trip for awhile. I have two one woman shows next year and two galleries to keep filled. That means I need to settle in for the winter and paint all of the ideas I have in my head. I am very excited about many of them and some need to sit on the backburner and stew for awhile until all the flavors come together.
Today's painting is something from another visit to Arizona ( I am generally out there 4 or 5 times a year). There is a lovely little bistro in Scottsdale....or was it Chandler?.....Darn! I can't remember but this was my take on it! It was an award winner and is also sold. It is in the possession of one of the Board Members at SPIVA Center For The Arts......our local Arts Center here in Joplin, Mo.
I will be gone for about 5 days and I am not sure if I will be posting....guess I will have to wait and see!
Love, Theresa

Filled Up and Overflowing.....

I"m baaaack! I have missed a week of blogging...My brain has hatched several new ideas....Gone through the photos of our vacation....and I have had my entire mind consumed with my new painting (yes, Lori you hit the nail on the head)
To clean up some old issues I received the Brilliante Weblog Award one more time....and I will use fellow blogger David Lobenbergs' style of delivering this award. I am suppose to pass this award onto 5 other blogs that I highly admire (and I know that this award is suppose to circulate), but I humbly submit my "Fav. Links" on the right...more than 5 for sure, but they are all fantastic, and I just can't bring myself to edit. Sorry. Straight from the horses mouth!
The painting I started three days ago took a day of thought to paint it in my head first. When I had the image secured in my head I sketched it out on a 50x40 canvas. THE biggest canvas ever, to date, that I have painted on! The painting is from a photo Max took of me around my 60th birthday and it turned out so well I just had to paint it. It is not for sale unless, of course, you have around $30,000....lol!
In the first picture is the sketch and a wash of transparent oxide red with a touch of ultramarine blue to cool it down some. I work from dark to light blocking in the shadows first then the middle values. Highlights are wiped out of the paint with thinner. The next image is the work I did on the second day....mostly the bedclothes and trying to keep the shapes simple and the shadows thin. The third day I started the body and added more washes to the background. Worked on the sheets a little more and just about finished Okra Winfrey one of our cats.
This is a quick blog....there should be some new slide shows on here also.
Back to painting,
Theresa

Alls Well That Ends Well....No Pun Intended!!

A Winters Evening 30x24

Yesterday was a busy day!! Thank goodness I have Max to help drive me around while I do some of the things I really do not like to do in regards to my art....the business side! We started out by dropping off a new painting at my gallery that Cherry has framed beautifully. Then on to the bank where I was asked to display a painting, some handouts, business cards and my bio in regards to the upcoming Midwest Gathering of Artists. Then over to Sandy Higgins house to pick up invitations for my clients and posters and handouts to put up around town. I finally delivered about 20 posters to the businesses in town and met some great people along the way. Max said I was a "good little soldier" about getting this done....I occasionally have an aversion to interacting with people that I don't know. I like people...a lot...but I get pretty nervous. It was good practice and it all went fine. Even a few prospective clients! I know it's silly to be that way....but I "soldiered" through. LOL! After we got that done...we were in dire need of groceries, etc. so onto the supermarket and finish up that chore. After we got everything put away...we remembered we had a dinner invitation with some friends. Sooooo....a comb through the hair, a dash of lipstick and changed my top and off we went!

It was a delightful evening...a few drinks and some pretty good pizza...talk of politics, books and just generally catching up. Susie has brand new baby canaries.....not an easy thing to raise. The are cute in a rather ugly way...ha! Little hairless bodies...great big yawning mouths waiting for food...wobbly....but really adorable! She has done a great job getting them that far and she also has some juveniles from hatching's also!! One guest was someone Max worked with many, many years ago...TV repair...with tubes....imagine that!! We had a real nice time...and then....went home...lights out immediately....boy was I tired!
It seems there are a few people who need to have done what Max had done the other day. As the doctor said their is no reason for people to have colon cancer with these regular examinations. Some have mentioned they need to "git 'er done"!! Here is a brief description, that hopefully will ward off any fear that some of you have about this. Although the preliminaries of cleansing the system are a bit uncomfortable....no food, only clear liquids, drinking Phospha-Soda to help clear the intestines....it is a small discomfort that lasts about 4 to 5 hours. Nothing more to eat or drink after midnight. The next day you go to the outpatient surgery...you are given something to relax you...sedated with Versed (which causes you to forget most of what happened that day...for instance Max was relating to the attendant that they are now powering the Hallmark Card Company in Kansas City with recycled natural gas....pumped in from who knows where!!! not true...but this is what happens with that kind of short term sedative. LMAO!!).....you are examined with a camera scope and polyps found at the time are removed. In Max's case two were found and removed. The problem is when they are not removed....that is when they become cancerous. You will also find out if you have the beginnings of diverticulosis..(diverticulitis is when you already have the infection) something that does happen with age and a low fiber diet. He was 100% back to normal the next morning and their are no after effects...except that you are pretty hungry after the anesthesia wears off. You will also need someone to drive you around that day and are cautioned not to make any decisions or sign any papers. He has been eating much better since he met me...my Mother was a Jack LaLanne fan and health fanatic. I myself did not get to have sugar until I was 6 years old and we ate mostly whole foods. (Not even Wonder Bread!!) I have since made up for the sugar thing...but I try to keep it in moderation! I had mine done a while back and everything was fine. But, alas, I am about due to go again! So if this is something you have been putting off...I encourage you to git 'er done!! It really isn't that bad considering the consequences!
The painting I have posted today is a studio painting...the one that I am exhibiting at the bank...and one I have been asked to sell several times....but I like it...and do not know if I will sell it. I have a few like that. Well I am off to another busy day!
Best to everyone and git 'er done!!!
Theresa