The Great CHAIRity - Painting a Chair of Boiling Springs

The Cumberland County Historical Society in Carlisle, PA is holding "The Great CHAIRity Event" as a fundraiser for the organization. Over the past several months, about 30 artists have donated their time to paint plank bottom chairs.

The chair I submitted represents Boiling Springs, PA and 3 events that happened there in the mid-1980's and mid 1990's.

The CHAIR:



In 1992, a local resident released a pair of black swans from Australia as a gift to his wife. Text reads "Black swans on lake token of love from husband to wife. - 1992"





In 1996, my father, a local builder, donated his time to build a new gazebo at the lake. The previous gazebo had been in existence in the late 1880's and had been gone for years. Text reads "Local builder masterfully crafts new gazebo by lake. - 1996"





In 1987, a local doctor gave a large donation to the local civic association enabling them to purchase and preserve the lake for the public. Text reads "Gift preserves Children's Lake for all to enjoy. - 1987"



Underside of the chair:



The chairs will be auctioned off in May 2010. The chair I painted is currently on display at the Village Artisan's Gallery in Boiling Springs. Please stop and visit this wonderful gallery and gift shop.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy:
* Glamour Puss/Sign Artwork for Tea Room Boutique

Glamour Puss/Sign Artwork for Tea Room Boutique

Meow! Finally, the artwork on the Glamour Puss Boutique sign is complete. I started painting the sign in January. And, the final touch - steam rising from the teacup - was added this week.

Glamour Puss in all of her beauty:

The Beginning Phase: 3 layers = 3 weeks of waiting between drying time = learning patience with oil paints!

Phase 2: Kitty begins to take shape.

Phase 3: Getting all dressed up. Almost there...

My personal glamour puss and big helper girl:



The sign now goes to the letter painter. And, in a few weeks will go on the front of Camellia's Sin Tea Parlor and Glamour Puss Boutique in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Say, you want a tour of this fabulous tea room? Here ya' go:

* Camellia's Sin Tea Parlor

Thanks for taking the time to view my artwork this week! Come back again soon~

>^..^<

Painting Class/"Prom Dress Awaits"

The only artwork I've been getting done lately are the paintings for my Painting 1 class at the local community college. It's keeping me v-e-r-y busy!

My blog is getting behind, so thought it best to post a current painting. Here's the painting I created in last night's class:



Five more weeks of class to go! ;)

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy seeing this class painting from January:
* Painting Class/Apples and Hat Box

Sparkle Magazine Illo - "A Change of Heart"

Creating illustrations for Sparkle magazine are always enjoyable. This one called "A Change of Heart" depicts a sister who is feeling as though everything is unfair. The story starts with her brother getting to open a box holding a butterfly chrysalis that they found a few weeks earlier.

The final illustration:

The rough sketch:



Base colors added in:



And, a few extra little illustrations to go with the story:





If you enjoyed this post that shows the creative process, you may also enjoy:

* Illustrating a Dog-Gone Cute Christmas Card
* Bumble Bees for Sparkle Magazine

Thanks for stopping and come visit again!

Painting Class/Apples and Hat Box

Oil painting is taking over my life right now! The new semester has begun and will keep me PLENTY busy. I haven't painted with oil paints in over 25 years, and at that time I had only taken an 8 week lesson. So this newest attempt is liking starting from scratch.

In our Wednesday night class, we painted a still life with apples and other objects from the presentation table. After three hours mixing and applying colors, here's what I came up with:



We will spend half of our next class working on the painting again. I would truly appreciate your candid critique and feedback that will help me take this to the next level. Please, please, please post your artist critique in the comments!

And, on a fun little note, here is hubby hanging out with our one kitty last weekend. She's so comfy on Dad's shoulder!

Charlotte's Web - Illustrations for a Local Theater Production

How lucky can I be to have the opportunity to draw the infamous Wilbur from Charlotte's Web?! The theater program at the local community college needed promotional material illustrations for their April performance.

I have to admit, I had to google Charlotte's Web to recall the full story - it's been quite awhile since 3rd grade. ;) Web photo searches of pigs, rats, and spiders provided for an array of drawing references.

The Final Illustration: The "terrific" pig gazes at his favorite spider, Charlotte, while Templeton slumps on the barn post. Plenty of "white space" reserved for promotional text.



The Sketch: "Some Pig" came out of my pencil after quite a few rounds of 'sketch and erase'.

Revisions: After consulting with the publications director, we downsized Wilbur a wee-bit, and moved up the pig-sty dirt to allow for logos, disclosures and text at the bottom.

To Print: the final flyer produced by the college's public relations department.



Close-Ups:







If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy:

* Illustrating A Dog-Gone Cute Christmas Card - the process of drawing Shelby and Santa

* Bzzzzzz.....Bumble Bees for Sparkle Magazine

Thanks for visiting!

Influenced By Berthe Morisot - A Series of 4 Oil Stick Paintings

Learning to use oil sticks in last semester's drawing class was so fun!

For our final project, we were challenged to select and learn about a master artist, study their work to learn how they created their compositions, then develop a series of four of our own still life's that were influenced by what we learned.

My Artist: Impressionist painter, Berthe Morisot
I was drawn to Morisot's paintings because of the fancy hats and loose brush stokes of her work.

My series of four oil stick paintings depict a bust of a lady wearing colorful hats:









And, here's the process of creating the fourth and final in the series:








A Bit About Morisot:
Morisot was a woman ahead of her time. Born into an upper-middle class family, she pursued a successful profession as an artist at a time when society frowned upon a woman of class having a career. She was the only female in the elite circle of French Impressionist painters. Because of her social class, her painting subjects were limited to domestic scenes, women and children. Outside landscapes were painted at her family's summer property. Many of her paintings portray her daughter, Julie.

If you enjoyed this post, take a peek at my final project from last Spring's semester:

• Teapots - created in subtractive chalk

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my "Creative Time" blog. In a few weeks, I'll be posting an update to my neighbor's duck carving of a Hen Mallard that's she creating for the WARDs world duck competition in Ocean City, Maryland. So, please stop in again. soon!

Meet the Duck Junky - a talented duck carver!

Meet my neighbor, Deb. Otherwise known as "The Duck Junky". She started carving ducks in 1993 and has been swimming in blue ribbons ever since.

We'll take a peek at her awards and studio, then follow her progress over the next few months as she carves her next duck, a Hen Mallard, that she'll be entering in this year's WARD World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition at Ocean City, Maryland in April.

Deb and her ducks in the local newspaper:

Where it all happens. Notice the name above the door.

Ahhhhh, and all of those incredibly gorgeous colors of silky ribbons. Well-deserved after hours upon hours of time spent carving and painting to perfection....

Deb's accolades include:
Best of Show for her East Caroline (2 years!)
First Place for her Hooded Merganser in 2008
First Place for her Harlequin drake sea duck in 2009
...and several other blue ribbons at WARDS World Competition, she relays so humbly.

You'd expect nothing less than lots of duck heads gracing the shelves of her studio.

Which one of these is the real one?





The toolbox.



Grinding and sanding.



Carving the details.



The new project - a Hen Mallard.



Next Steps....The Duck Junky will be laying out the pattern and begin rough cutting the wood block. Stop back and share in her progress. It will be fun to cheer her on as she prepares for April's competition.

Please post any duck carving questions you have for Deb so I can be sure to post Deb's answers to them in future posts.

Thanks for visiting!