Sunday in the Park with Frederick

"The beauty of the park... should be the beauty of the fields, the meadow, the prairie, the green pastures, and the still waters. What we want to gain is tranquility and rest to the mind." - Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., landscape architect and designer of parks

Sign at Olmsted Linear Park in Atlanta Georgia

Site of the Inaugural Olmsted Plein Air Invitational

Held April 22-26, 2015

http://www.olmstedpleinair.com 

"Sign up for the Quick Draw," my artist friend, Patricia Fabian said. "Sure, after all, how many people know about either this event or Olmsted Linear Park?", I replied.

Turns out, a lot.

Everybody came out after Atlanta's rainy spell for the Quick Draw event on Sunday, April 26. We had two hours to pick a spot, set up, and complete a painting. So much to choose from. Tick-tock, time, time, time. I set up in the shade. Although it's April, it was h-o-t (80°) in the sun. From there, I could see trees, paths, the event tents, dogs, dogs, and more dogs. Dogs love art events. They'd paint except for that opposable thumb thing. 

I had never heard of Olmsted Linear Park before. Turns out its designer, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., also designed another little city park... Central Park in New York City. Heard of it? 

He did a great job with Atlanta's Linear Park, which is called that because it is a narrow park that stretches lengthwise over 45 acres.

As you may recall, I am practicing my palette knife technique, so I went cold turkey and left all my brushes at home. Turns out it's a pretty clean way to paint outdoors. I also used water-soluble oil paints. (No, really, such a thing exists.) I think Frederick would have approved since he was an original "go green" type of guy.

After the judging, everyone was invited to view and buy the art. The "Sold" signs were going up on the easels pretty quickly and a very nice person bought my little jewel. Here's a photo of it and it's titled Spring in Olmsted. A much better title than "My Goodness, Who Put All That Green Out There", don't you think?

Our day ended at a nearby country club where we saluted the organizers of the event with champagne. Such a hard life, but someone's got to live it.

Until Olmsted Plein Air 2016, keep painting!

Happy Birthday, Joan Miró (2015)

"I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music." - Joan Miró, artist

Happy Birthday, Joan Miró (2015)  by Joan Terrell

Original palette knife oil painting

6" x 6" museum quality gessobord™ panel

© Joan Terrell

Click here to purchase the original (framed)

Prefer a print? Click here and explore all the options.

Back story & art tips at http://www.joanterrellart.blogspot.com  

Hope it makes you smile!

April 20, 1893

Dear Joan,

Please forgive my tardiness in wishing you a happy birthday, but I've been out on the farm. Viewing the tilled fields reminded me to bake you this multi-layered cake. Hope you like peanut butter.

Hope you've been well and that people have stopped pronouncing your name as JoAnn, which is a small irritation that I, myself have endured. I must confess, my dear, that when I first saw your name, I thought I had found my mirror image, but then alas. 

Maybe I can see your sketch of the head of this peasant sometime soon and am sure you have expressed my likeness exactly. The next time you visit, I will serenade you with a birthday song, if not too much of a melancholic singer.

Now this farmer's wife must return to tending her horse, Red, and making sure her husband's pipe doesn't burn down the barn. 

Remember, dearest friend, you are welcome to drop by any time and I'll keep an eye out for you. 

Fondant forever,

Joan

Room with a View

"I was raised on a song there, I done right I done wrong there, and it's true I belong there, and it's true it's my home" - from Piney Wood Hills by Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer, songwriter, artist

Room With A View by Joan Terrell

Original palette knife oil painting

6" x 6" museum quality gessobord™ panel

© 2015 Joan Terrell

Click here to purchase the original (framed)

Prefer a print? Click here and explore all the options (See the Classical Baroque framing option.)

It's raining in Georgia... still. Since Sunday. Raining through the coming weekend. Raining. 

So what's a plein air painter supposed to do? Some brave the elements and create paintings of the rain, in the rain. Yours truly is not that intrepid, so I sent myself back to school. Back to basics.

Artists have their strengths and weaknesses. My weakness is values (or tonality). I tend to end up doing the backstroke in the mid tones. One of the best lessons in values came from artist Mike Rooney. I kept the black and white values chart he had each of us make. It sure has come in handy. The lightest value is white (a 1) and goes to the darkest at a 6. 

So while a symphony of rain played on, I put a photo and a blank 6x6" panel up on the easel, determined to conquer this values thing. You can see my handwritten sticky note analysis below: Clouds (1 to 2), Sky top (3), Sky bottom (2), Back mountain (3-blue), Mid mountain (3 green), Foreground mountain (5), Foreground bushes/trees (4 with 3 highlights and 5 shadows)

First, I determined the values of the oils straight out of the tubes: Cad Yellow Medium (4), Alizarin Crimson (5), Thalo Green/yellow (5), Sap Green (6), Ultramarine Blue (6), Titanium White (1). Then I mixed some colors according to my sticky note analysis and wrote their value numbers beside them on the palette liner paper.



My eyes get so confused that when I look at colors, my brain blocks on their tonal values, so I turned the color photo to B&W. H-mmm, pretty close. It's starting to make sense now. Mental note, always take photos and turn them B&W, especially when painting outdoors.

 

At the same time, I'm trying to hone my palette knife skills and am enjoying letting texture help color with the heavy lifting. Here are some closeups.

As Ms. Sainte-Marie ends her song... "I'll return like a poor man, or a king if God wills, but I'm on my way home to the piney wood hills." Amen, sister.

Happy Birthday, Vincent

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream." - Vincent Van Gogh, born March 30 1853

A Cupcake for Vincent (2015)   $85 framed (3" gold plein air)

© 2015 Joan Terrell   Click here to purchase

An original 6" x 6" oil painting on museum-quality gessobord™ panel

A happy birthday and an homage to a great artist, Vincent Van Gogh. He never dreamed he would become this famous, after all, rumor has it that he only sold one painting during his lifetime. And his brother, Theo, was an art dealer in Paris, no less.

This cupcake has quite a history, click here to view previous posts about it. Be sure to scroll down and click Next or Previous to see more.

We end our birthday saga with some closeups. Enjoy and keep dancing!

Follow Me to Wildcat on a Wing Gallery

"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." - George Bernard Shaw, playwright

Looking for a wide assortment of art for that north Georgia mountain cabin? Follow me to Wildcat on a Wing gallery in Ball Ground, Georgia for unusual gifts and pieces for home and garden. They carry regional and national artwork, all handmade in the U.S.A. 

The dramatic natural light inside (a must see) shines on everything from copper-roof birdhouses to original paintings, jewelry, furniture and everything in between, See the photo below for the background of this gallery's unusual name:

Some of my small original oil paintings are now in the Wildcat gallery and hopefully stealing places in hearts, too. Sized perfectly for bookshelves or those kitchen nooks.

Next time you're heading to Big Canoe or just touring the mountains, why not give your senses a feast? And many of my pieces are sized to fit into a Harley tour pack, box and all. Just sayin'. 

Until then, visit online at Wildcat on a Wing or give Julie a call at  770-735-6923 to let her know you're on the way. Also visit Julie and David's related art website: Wildcat Works for more of those wonderful copper-topped birdhouses, wind directionals, and garden art.

Oh, and don't forget to stop in historic downtown Ball Ground for a Cajun meal at Les Bon Temps and then get some fresh made sausages (such as Andouille, my favorite) to go at the German place next door. Although it was Napoleon Bonaparte who said "An army marches on its stomach." I'd have to say "and so do artists and art collectors!".

A Whimsical View from Queen Emma Bridge

"I feel we are all islands - in a common sea." - Anne Morrow Lindberg, author and poet

View from the Bridge by Joan Terrell Click here to purchase   $250 

24"W x 12"H x 3/4" deep on stretched canvas
An original plein air oil painted with a palette knife for rich, impasto texture

In keeping with the spirit of Plein Air Curaçao 2015 (Feb. 26 - March 7), this painting was created outside - in my north Georgia backyard. Hellen Chirino-Roosberg, event coordinator, made me promise to be true to plein air and paint outside. I used my computer outside for a satellite web cam and also used reference photos that I took when in Willemstad, Curaçao in 2013. 

This painting is a playful interpretation of the capital's colorful skyline as seen from the Queen Emma Bridge. My goal was to capture the excitement of seeing this famous cityscape for the first time.

First the initial sketch, using fingerless gloves and soft vine charcoal. Yep, that's snow in the background.

 


I then went over the charcoal with black acrylic to create a bold, black outline. Next, I glazed colorful acrylics. Like the pink sky?

It's important to note that a glazing medium was used and the acrylics were not thinned with water. I used a brush to glaze because using oil paint with palette knives later will create all the rich, thick impasto needed.
  

Now it's time to use the palette knives and apply oil over the glazed acrylics. This is definitely adhering to the "fat over lean" principle.

Time to go inside and warm up! Thanks for visiting and did you enjoy our colorful excursion to the island? If so, please leave a comment and don't forget to apply more sun lotion.
For more information about the event, see http://www.pleinaircuracao.com/en/

Green Pears in Silver Bowl

"You've got to go out on a limb sometimes, because that's where the fruit is." - Will Rogers, American Humorist

Green Pears in Silver Bowl   Click here to purchase - $150

An original oil painting created by using only a palette knife by Joan Terrell

12" x 12" x 3/4" deep. 

Painted on museum-quality panel. Sides painted black. Unframed.

Ready to hang or place on a display easel.

Here's the start. You can see some of the sketch and a beginning of the subject. I'm painting the subject first because later, when the background is painted wet-into-wet, the subject won't look as if it was cut out and glued onto the background. You can see the plan for the shadow on the wall, the tabletop horizon line and silver bowl handles. It was hard not to obsess on those ornate handles. 

What is it about pears and artists? I don't know why they are such a popular subject. Maybe it's because they're not round. 

Maybe it's because pears take on the personality (or shape) of the artist. Adding highlights to a stem here.

Reflections are fun to paint, whether reflections of sailboats in the water or of shiny objects. This is what I call a secondary reflection. It's where the inside of the shiny bowl is saying "backatcha" to the pear's bottom. I love the interplay of light and shadow and how reflections bounce around.

Maybe it's because pears are delicious after you're through painting them. Shocking. 

Follow Me to Burton Gallery

“The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.” - Anton Chekhov 

Why create art and why keep creating art? I honestly don't know, but when I go a week or so without painting, I get really grumpy. Eventually, there has to be an outlet for art and thank goodness for galleries. Gallery owners and those who work in galleries are angels. Like Marlene of Burton Gallery in Clarkesville, Georgia for example. Many of my original oil paintings are now on her gallery walls and hopefully stealing places in hearts, too.

Next time you're heading to Lake Burton or your cabin in the mountains, why not veer off that beautiful winding road and give your eyes and motorcycle muscles a rest. Many of my pieces are sized to fit into a tour pack. Just sayin'. 

Until then, visit online at Burton Gallery or give Marlene a call at 706-947-1351  to hold one aside for you because you're on the way.

Oh, and when the sign on that road says "Dip Ahead" it means it! So slow down and smell the kudzu. 

Let's Sail Away

"Let me sail, let me sail, let the Orinoco flow..." from Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) by Enya

Sail Away was painted entirely by using a palette knife. The thick texture displays the ripples of paint as the sunlight ebbs and flows over the reflections of these colorful sails.

Sail Away by Joan Terrell (sold)

14"w x 11"h x 3/4d  cradled museum quality panel

An original palette knife oil painting

On a clear day with a slight breeze, who wouldn't be tempted to sail away? This painting was inspired by a song by Enya, whose music frequently fills my studio. These are the water soluble oil paints I used and the colors were kept to a minimum. Water soluble seemed like the way to go for a sailboat painting.

I pre-mixed the colors into little piles. I was working from a photo, but am not showing the photo here because I changed it drastically for the painting. Artistic license and all that, you know?

Here's a closer look at my palette. There were three three sizes of palette knives involved, and as you can see, it's handy to keep a pair of pliers around for those pesky, sealed shut, paint tube caps. I scrape the glass palette with a razor blade to clean it and use disposable palette paper on the "wings". It's amazing the amount of paint that can be pre-mixed in a small space. Can you see part of the sketch on the easel/panel?

Then it was just a matter of getting into the groove while listening to Enya and thinking of far away places. The Orinoco river is one of South America’s longest and winds its way through Venezuela and Colombia. I don’t think the Orinoco goes to all the places Enya mentions in her song, but we could certainly picture ourselves in Fiji if we wanted.

There can only be one original painting and many thanks to Jean S. for giving this original oil painting a good home. If you would like to buy a print of Sail Away, please visit my print site at ImageKind.com. There are lots of sizes and options to explore there.

Happy sailing!

Hearts and Flowers

Hearts and Flowers    © 2014 Joan T. Terrell

An original oil painting on panel with black 3/4" cradled sides that act as a frame, but could be put into a traditional type of frame if desired

6"H x 6"W

Do you want to re-paint every single artwork you've done? I do. The first go around was OK, but didn't seem to have the joie de vivre that my friend, Katie (the bride, in case you hadn't guessed) emanates. Wonder if you recognize this painting from its first version in this post from May named Spring Trio (hint, it's the one on the left).

After taking another look at the photo, turning it this way and that, I had a flat forehead moment. There were hearts everywhere... my favorite thing to embed subliminally in my paintings. Even  her wedding gown bodice was forming a heart. Here's a look at the colorful acrylic block-in stage, pointing out just a few of the heart shapes.

I got so wrapped up in this one that I forgot to take step-by step photos, so here's a look at the final again. Notice the lacey squgglies around the bouquet? That's an Italian art technique called sgraffito. It means "to scratch" and is used to score into wet paint to reveal the dry layer of color beneath.

Here are some of the details. Are there additional hearts and flowers revealed in the sgraffito? You betcha. Can't have too many, you know.

  

A famous piece of music titled Hearts and Flowers was written by Theodore Moses Tobani in 1893 and is used frequently as mood music for dramatic scenes in silent films. You'd recognize it if you heard it. And isn't that what love, marriage, and baby carriages are all about? Ah, life. 

Gimme Shelter

"Oh, a storm is threat'ning my very life today if I don't get some shelter oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away..." - from Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones (written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)

Yesterday, September 11, was the first annual Paint the Town plein air event at Flowery Branch, Georgia. My artist friend, Patricia Fabian, and I met on Main Street. Flowery Branch is a charming town with colorful storefronts that remind me of Curacao. Wisely, Patricia had parked and set up in the shade of one of the large oak trees that line the downtown streets. It was a hot, muggy day with threat of storms. Sometimes the location of shade provides the inspiration when painting en plein air.

I parked in front of her and found a scene of what could have been a pantry for an old southern home. It was attached to the house, so I don't think it was the kitchen, which usually was built outdoors so the heat and threat of fire was kept outside. Everything old is new again, huh?

Wish I had taken a reference photo to show you, especially of the huge wasp nest hanging in the overshadowing magnolia tree next to the bump out. It was so big that some city maintenance employees drove by to make sure I knew the nest was there. It was still an active nest, so I steered clear and set up out of its way. As the temperature rises, so does the ornery temperament of hornets until, at the end of August/early September, they are spoiling for a fight. It was a little smaller than the one we found hanging from our satellite dish recently. Yikes!

Here's the first take using colorful, straight out of the tube, acrylics and Liquitex® glazing medium. Glazing medium works a lot better than water. Just a touch goes a long way and gives acrylics that clear, stained glass look. Don't know if there's a method to my madness, but I seem to be trying to establish a three tone value pattern with yellow showing where the sun would shine when it wasn't behind a cloud, magenta being the darkest area, and green being sort of a middle tone (although I wish I had brought a pretty blue with me instead). Following the 'fat over lean' principle, I'll finish the painting with oils.

After a hard morning's work, Patricia and I walked to the nearby Common Grounds restaurant. A fellow artist had recommended the grilled cheese sandwich, so that's what we got. This was no ordinary grilled cheese. It was pepper jack on a dark, dark wheat with panini grill marks. Although the bread was whole wheat, it wasn't that annoying "can't bite, can't chew, and it's so healthy it falls apart in my hands" type. It was more like a dark rye.

The path back to our easels took us right past a hand made right there on the spot gourmet chocolate shop. Imagine that! The dark chocolate mango filled hit the spot. Patricia left to check on her dog, Miko, which had just had surgery the day before, but I really liked the start she had gotten on her painting. So talented. I headed by to my hornet city easel. I tell you it was hot. So very hot, and humid, and not even the slightest of breezes. Not even the occasional, "I feel so sorry for you humans down there" type of breeze. Nada. Not a thing. I set up my easel in the shade with my subject matter around the corner where I could take an occasional peek and commenced to painting fast, because there were only three hours left before having to turn our artwork in for judging.

Here's how the final turned out, along with it's info sheet for the judges. It's name is Shelter because it safeguarded the family's pantry goods and because the magnolia tree beside it gave it shelter from the elements like loving arms.

Shelter      © 2014 Joan T. Terrell
An original oil painting on panel with black 3/4" cradled sides that act as a frame, but could be put into a traditional type of frame if desired
Painted en plein air at Main & Mitchell streets in Flowery Branch, Georgia
14"H x 11"W

The rest of the lyrics for Gimme Shelter talk about war and general maladies, which adds another layer to this plein air adventure. Yesterday was September 11 and because of those hot-headed nasty hornets, I am praying for cooler weather. Not only for north Georgia, but for all of the hot spots of the world. May cooler heads soon prevail.

Getting outside and painting gives me shelter from the news about wars and rumors of war. Until next time, get up, get out, and get lost in doing something fun!

Color and icing and pattern, oh my!

My Big Fat Fauve Cupcake
An original oil painting by Joan Terrell
Dimensions: 6" x 6" x 1/8"D on gessobord™ panel
Unframed
© 2014 Joan T. Terrell

One down, one to go of this colorful, fauvist cupcake. Layered on the icing using a palette knife.

Hungry this morning and wishing that was real icing instead of oil paint. Used Rembrandt Cadmium Yellow Lemon straight out of the tube for this accent. Look at all that luscious "icing".

I'm signed up for Leslie Saeta's palette knife workshop in October and can't wait. Leslie's the genius behind Artists Helping Artists Blog Radio (see link over to the right).

Here are some closeups of the finished painting. Visit past blogs to see step-by-step photos.

Washing the paint and solvents off of palette knives is sure easier than wiping and washing brushes. I love the heavy texture this technique adds to my paintings, too.

Really enjoyed painting the illusion of the intricate pattern. Love the illusion of impressionism. Hopefully just enough suggestion so your mind fills in the rest.

Signed by yours truly. Signing is difficult. More on that in a future post. Looking for tips and tricks. Got any? Be sure to let me know by adding a comment to this post.

Later, cupcake!