An Appointment with a Professional Photographer

 "Sienna Square"

 24 x 36

"San Francisco"

30 x 40

I've been concentrating on putting the final touches on several paintings in preparation for my first appointment with a professional photographer.  (Funny how a commitment can do wonders to build a fire under you.)  Yesterday, my sister and I packed close to thirty of my works on canvas into our two cars and headed over to the photographer's warehouse-like studio.  

Of course, this very experienced photographer has his system down to a science, but still, the whole process took about three and a half hours with lots of moving around the space as my sister and I grouped paintings by size and orientation, and he set up the background and lighting, hammered nails into the wall, and moved his tripod back and forth.   After each grouping of similarly-sized paintings was photographed, the photographer and I would move back to his computer and work with adjusting the hue, saturation and lightness in Photoshop, while my sister,-- thank you very much -- packed paintings back into the cars.  I came away with both tiff and jpeg images of each painting; some that were uncropped (i.e., showing the background) for gallery owners, and some that were cropped to show the image, only.  The photographer also created a folder of files formatted to 4"x 6", ready to be printed as postcards. One the best parts of the whole deal??  Images of all of my paintings are now easy to find in two folders on my computer, which is such an improvement over my existing hodgepodge filing system!  Such a time saver for me!

Anyway, the above paintings are not recent, but I've never been able to capture good photographs of them. It's so nice to have these!

Portland is heavy with cloud cover and rain, and lush with foliage and flower.  A nap would be perfect!

Happy weekend!

"Bands" In Progress

"Bands" in progress

24 x 30

This painting has existed in my mind for several months now, so I'm happy that it is finally underway.  I'm attempting to achieve some areas of graphic clarity and some of receding vageuness in the composition, which is a current goal that I have in mind for my paintings in general.

In keeping with the palette of this painting, our yard is ablaze with luscious rugosa roses in various shades of pink and cream.   Their scent is heavenly. . . especially in the evening.

Thank you for visiting!

"The Sentinels" and Judy Hokanson's Mural

 "The Sentinels"

30" x 30"

Acrylic on canvas



Outdoor Mural by Judy Hokanson

(with motorcycle parked in front)

My most recent painting, "The Sentinels", is resting while I continue to contemplate the addition of pencil linear detail.  I like the simplicity and serenity of it the way it is and might decide that it is finished.

Imagine looking for a parking space and coming upon this huge, mural-size painting on canvas.  So amazing!  Although it was not signed, I did a little research and found it had been painted by Portland artist, Judy Hokanson, who sadly, is no longer living.  Such a gift she left for us to behold.  And therein lies the beauty and awesomeness of art:

Art moves spirit through space and time.

So keep making art and beautiful things!

Oh, That Golden Hour of Light!

 

Not much happening around here in the way of art this week. 

But spring cleaning is underway and order is being restored in my home and studio.

And these were the views from my house one evening; with trees silhouetted out front

and trees and sky all aglow out back.

Amazing beauty.

Sentinels, Remnants and Roots

"Three Sentinels" (Detail)

30" x 30"

 

Remnants

It's been a little quiet in this virtual space.  But I've been keeping up with what's been going on in others' studios by making my rounds of the blogosphere.   And I haven't been totally idle in my own studio.  The detail, above, is of the painting that's currently demanding my focus.  It's a spare, rather minimalist painting at this point; 30" x 30" on wrapped canvas.  I like it spare. It's front and center in my field of vision as I move through our house; with each passing, trying to decide whether to add some graphite line details or leave well enough alone.

My husband's family has deep roots on this Washington peninsula; akin to these old (but shallow) sprawling roots of the spruce tree that might have stood there more than a hundred years ago, before the bay claimed the land. 



"Roots"

Monoprint with vintage stamp

4" x 6" 

I did this monoprint over a year ago, long before I came upon the spruce roots.  Each time I have viewed the print since then, I have rotated it back and forth, vertically, to determine if I liked the image best when it evoked downward or upward growth.  I finally committed to the roots orientation a few weeks ago and added the collage elements.  And then I discovered the gorgeous remnants of the spruce.

Happy Weekend!

 

That Diversionary Project

So here's a peek at that little diversionary project that I mentioned in my last post.  I'm not at all sure where I'm headed with this, but so far, it's been fun!

Regarding my painting on the panel, I went through the steps of the decision-making process I mentioned and in the end, decided that simple drafted lines were all that was needed for this graphic piece.  And as for the addition of the waterbased varnish??  It cut the waxy, reflective quality created by the Prismacolor pencils perfectly while leaving a soft look to the surface of the painting.   DONE!

here

Cheers!

Painting on Panels . . . In Progress

Untitled. . .In progress

10" x 10" on plywood

Well, I put that other, shall we say, diversionary project aside this week and got back to the business at hand, which was to accept the challenge of my sister and daughter to paint on wood panels. I'm at the point in this piece where I'm attempting to decide whether to leave the simple composition as is or to introduce one or two more shapes.  (Always so many decisions to make as you move a piece along!)  To help me in the decision process I'll probably print multiple wallet-size photos of this image and use Prismacolor pencils to try all sorts of possibilities, or maybe I'll quickly paint pieces of paper and cut out assorted shapes of the various shapes to temporarily affix to the painting.  Or, maybe I'll do both.  And then I'll move forward, finish the details, and wrap it up.

By the way, if you've been following, you'll recall that I put out a call to followers for tips for painting on panels and a wonderful illustrator, Grace of Silver Swan, who was previously unknown to me, stepped forward and suggested using Prismacolors.  Such a great suggestion because the grain of the wood allows you to lay down color on just the raised fibers.   Prismacolors, being very waxy, also add a film to the surface, which is soft and lovely, but I imagine I will add waterbased varnish layers to this and I'm not certain what effect that will have on the filmy surface. 

So this was a warm-up exercise.  I have two more small panels to paint on before graduating to my 24" x 24" panels. :)

It's gorgeous in Portland.  I swear trees sprouted 1/2" leaves in a matter of hours yesterday!  A couple of nights ago, the neighborhood coyotes serenaded us and everyone's dogs joined the chorus!!

Here's to a terrific weekend.  And thank you for your interest in what's happening here!

Along that Ol' Country Road

  

 

 Too bad I wasn't able to truly do justice to these pussy willows with my photography.  They were spectacular in the grey light against the alder trunks when I went for a walk.  But. . . story of my life. . . I did not have my camera.  I went back out later, but of course the light had changed.  I must say, the pussy willows were the main event along this road.  But the fern wreath was a lovely discovery, too, no doubt only in view during the winter months when the deciduous leaves are down. 

Still haven't started painting on that silly panel yet.  Instead, I spent a few hours this weekend cutting paper in preparation for a couple new pieces.  Hope to have something to show for my efforts soon.

And I'm still working on getting the hang of Facebook.  My initial attempts were thwarted by having gotten the cart before the horse:  I set up a "page" not realizing that I was supposed to set up a profile first!  I spent a couple of weeks backing myself back out of that one, but finally, Gloria Freshley Studio is up and running!  I'm not certain I'll ever establish a Twitter account, so theoretically, my professional studio page will be the place where I'll  post very short updates about what's going on in my art world.  Hope you'll stop by, when you get a moment. . .

And if the above photos leave you in want of color, check out the work of Becca Stadtlander and Martyna Zoltaszek.   Becca's mastery of pattern and detail is amazing, and Martyna's world of animals is dreamlike. 

Cheers!