Another new technique - Ink Drawings

I've admired this technique done by other artists so I'm giving it a try. The challenge is to keep from overworking the ink and allowing the toned paper to show through. I'm trying to avoid using the black ink to excess. Not bad for a start. More to come....

 Back after almost a year and a half....brushing the dust off the blog. No longer involved in outdoor art shows, or indoor shows for that matter, I felt that it was time to create a new piece of artwork. For the time being I've switched back to my original medium, Prismacolor pencil. I had to brush the dust off those, too.
I was given these dried gourds about 15 years ago, and have been kicking them around since then. After arranging them for a portrait with appreciation for their texture and form, I couldn't help feeling that some extra "life" was needed to be added to the composition. Along came the chickadee, which if it were actually in this scene, would probably knock over the hollow gourds.

Virtual Judges

This is a new art fair experience for me: At the show I was in last weekend, I realized at some point on Saturday that I hadn't seen any sign of the familiar art show judges. They're the 2 or 3 clipboard-carrying folks who visit each booth, somewhat stealthily, trying to avoid too much contact with the artists, who may actually try to engage them in conversation regarding their art in order to possibly convince the judge to deem them worthy of an award. Of course, the judges are reluctant to spend time with each artist, because doing so would take too much time, so they give the display a glance and then place a circular colored sticker on the artists signage, make a check mark on the list, and move on.

Having seen none of this activity, I assumed that the show organizers had decided that awards would not be given this time. I was wrong. A man poked his head in my booth late Saturday, and said, "You should have won the 2-D award." I thanked him for the compliment and added that I wasn't aware that there were awards or judges since none visited me, even in a barely visible state. I pointed to my booth sign without stickers and said they must have skipped me. He came back several minutes later and said he found out that the there were in fact no judges present at the show, as I suspected, but that the awards were decided based on the images that we submitted for our online applications! Virtual judges! Now that's efficient, don't you think?

Buy/Sell, Revisited.

Exactly a year ago I wrote in this blog about an incident at an art show in which a vendor was discovered to be selling mass-produced items and as a result was forced to display signs stating that fact. This year, at the same show, the issue repeated itself, times three. The bogus vendors, whom I never saw in their booths, were given the choice to either leave the show or display the signs of shame. One of them chose leaving, and I saw him wheeling out his cartons of whatever he was trying to sell. I'm not sure about the fate of the others. I don't need to repeat my opinion of such opportunists, but I will say that there were more than those three at this show.

The Best Indoor Display Ever

The recent indoor show I attended had a smaller than average space and it's always a challenge to display the artwork in this setting. I believe that this time we (I admit I had help) found the best possible way to fit everything in the best way possible. It was also good to come home with a little bit less art than I came in with.

Birders' Conference

This was my display at the Birding America X Conference in Chicago on Saturday.

It was good to be around such dedicated bird people.

Still waiting...

So it has been 6 weeks or so since the last post and I've yet to see that warm day. But, I did complete another watercolor painting. It's a cardinal, by the way.

Less Depressing than the Previous Post

This painting was completed a few months ago, but until now I hadn't realized that it wasn't posted on the blog. The sumac berries are very appealing to birds, and the leaves and berries are appealing to paint.

Downy Woodpecker & Smooth Sumac, watercolor by Anne Gilna

Hibernating

This is a tough winter. The combination of cold, wind and snow accumulation has not inspired me to be creative or productive. The temperature is dropping and the north wind is making the windows rattle. There is a bit of extra daylight at the beginning and the end of the day, and I know it's increasing, but it's useless against the onslaught. Oh, for a warm day!

So the art doesn't have to be hidden away until April.

Today I hung a display of 19 original pieces at the Ela Area Public Library in Lake Zurich, IL. There is a display wall intended for artwork, and I am artist of the month for December. 

Keeping It Simple

In an attempt to offer a more more broad selection of original art sizes and price points, I've decided to produce smaller, simpler works. My thinking is to create original art for smaller spaces, and smaller budgets. This being the case, I have to still maintain a high standard of detail and accuracy, but with less going on in the composition. I also must work quickly without compromising attention to detail.
When working with an iris, speed is essential. This plant blooms and withers in no time. In less than one hour, I painted this iris bloom. It looked noticeably different at the beginning of the hour than it did at the end.

Small Iris, watercolor by Anne Gilna

I'm not thrilled with the color produced by my scanner. I'll go outside to take a photo of the piece when I can which will be more accurate.

The Art Fair Season Ends.

Yes, it's over. And it was a mixed bag, too. Sales ranged from excellent to dud-like, but all in all, I'll have a lot of paintings to work on over the off season. I also have decided to branch out slightly from my usual format, and will experiment with that idea over the long non-art fair season. That is all I have to offer on that subject until there is something to show for it in this space.

Speaking of goldfinches

While in my recent goldfinch groove, this painting was done over the summer. It was commissioned, which explains the unlikely scenario pictured here.

Four Yellow Birds, Watercolor and Colored Pencil.

This is the last goldfinch painting for a while...

...Unless someone MUST commission me to paint a goldfinch.
Until then, though, I'm through painting them until this one is sold.

At first I imagined this couple to be visiting the overly tall sunflowers in my garden. (Seriously, these plants, borrowed from a nearby unattended field a year ago, have turned into the monsters of the garden.) Then, after finishing the painting, I did actually see them on these sunflowers, for a moment, and then they took off.

Goldfinch, Revisited

I finished this painting two years ago. At the time, the male goldfinch was alone amongst the black-eyed susans. I was never completely satisfied with the design of this painting. There was too much white space in the composition, and his pose was not as dynamic as I would have liked. A few days ago, after much research, I added another goldfinch, presumably his previously unknown mate. The challenge was to have her fit within the existing design. She had to be placed behind the foliage, and had to be focused on something in the picture, and had to have a pose that was complementary to his as well as the stems, leaves, and blooms. So, here it is:

Eastern Goldfinches & Black-eyed Susans, Watercolor by Anne Gilna

Little Noisemaker

Just finished, in time for the Deer Path Art League show on Labor Day: the vocal little Carolina Wren, which I had been hearing around the neighborhood last year (but not this year for some reason) and wasn't able to see but I could identify it by its voice. Why do wrens have the ability to make so much noise, anyway? I have it perched on a Yellow Coneflower, which grows in my garden.

Carolina Wren & Yellow Coneflower, watercolor by Anne Gilna

By the Way...

I almost forgot to post a recently completed watercolor of a Robin and a just-about-to-bloom magnolia. People have told me that I have captured the Robin's "attitude" in this painting. That's a good compliment, as far as I'm concerned. This was completed in April but I fell behind in posting it until now.

Original Watercolor by Anne Gilna

Fleece and Scarf in July

I had to keep rubbing my hands together and my feet actually felt a little cold last weekend (the end of  July, according to the calendar) at the Glenview art show. After several years participating, I felt emboldened to ask for one of the coveted shady spots, and got it. Who needs a shady spot when the sky looks like metal and the temperature never rises above the 60s? Answer: no one.
It's better than dragging myself through a weekend of withering heat, humidity, and sogginess, though. And, it's good to come home Sunday night without being exhausted and dehydrated. A few more sales would have been nice, but the crowds were down,and that's how it goes sometimes.

Buy/Sell Uproar

     At the Hinsdale Art Festival this weekend, there was a major issue regarding the legitimacy of "buy/sell" art. This usually is seen with jewelry vendors, and often with silk embroidery "artists". It seems to be happening more often lately. Apparently, the applicant to this show applied using the same process as any other artist, but the jury was not able to discern from the photos that the goods were mass produced and pre-manufactured, and not created by the person (in this case, a group of people) that were selling them. It is always clearly stated in the rules of all show applications that the artists must not use premade materials and must be the creator of their work.
     Their double booth was next to mine, but as a watercolorist, I'm not as attuned to this type of scheme as are jewelers and people that possibly are just more observant than I am. To these more observant people, it was an offense to their hard work and creativity. One of them complained to the show organizers about it, and apparently they were confronted, and admitted that the jewelry was made by others. At that point, the vendors were forced to display 4 neon green signs declaring that their merchandise was made of pre-manufactured components. They were not expelled from the show, however, and there are those that feel that is the only way to clamp down on this behavior.
     It is important to not let these fraudsters have a place in fine art shows. All of us that conceive, create, and lovingly offer our fine work for sale deserve better. It cheapens our efforts, and we should not be hesitant to point out these offenders to show organizers. If there is a market for such merchandise, and I'm sure there will always be, they should find a place at flea markets or other venues.

A moment in time

The hummer was watching me water the garden and appeared to be attracted to the spray from the hose. The time was early evening, and the low light was highlighting the bird, while leaving the tree in shadow.

"A Quick Look", watercolor and colored pencil