I love painting apples and pears – their shapes are really figurative, and they have character. I particularly like the direction this little apple took (they do lead you in unexpected directions sometimes, if you listen, and if you let them). The pink ground was a surprise, and such a lovely one....
In the last four-week class session, I painted this little (8" x 10") painting of an apple as a demonstration painting. The idea is that you keep it small and simple – nothing too distracting or complicated – and you can play with the big shapes of the composition and the colors of the painting in a way that's much less intimidating.
I love painting apples and pears – their shapes are really figurative, and they have character. I particularly like the direction this little apple took (they do lead you in unexpected directions sometimes, if you listen, and if you let them). The pink ground was a surprise, and such a lovely one....
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I'm excited about my first workshop of 2012, Painting Landscapes I, which I'll be teaching at the Calistoga Art Center on Saturday, June 23rd, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We'll cover a lot in that time – how to create a landscape painting from a photograph, how to choose your palette and create color harmonies that work, how to approach designing your composition and painting your painting in ways that keep your inner critic at bay, and more. You'll go home with a landscape painting! We'll pack a lot into the time, and you'll go home with a full complement of techniques and ways of approaching a painting that you can incorporate into your own artwork. You can read more about it at my workshops website, NapaValleyArtWorkshops.com. Let me know if you have any questions! Last December, I spent a wonderful afternoon in the company of two remarkable artists who'd lived bohemian lives in New York during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, post-WWII and into the fifties and sixties. Willard Bond, the father of my friend Gretchen, and Jean Steubing Maggrett, whom I've known since I moved back into this area ten years ago, had never met, but had much in common. They shared memories and stories over coffee and cookies, and I listened with rapt attention. In the months that followed, Willard's health declined. He was able to move out here from upstate New York, to the California Veteran's Home in Yountville, where he was given the best of care, and where Gretchen was able to spend every day with him. On Saturday, May 19th, in Gretchen's words, Willard "cast off for the final time and set sail for his voyage into the mysterious unknown. He departed this realm under calm seas and a gentle wind." Words well suited for a sailor and marine painter, whose paintings of racing sailboats are unexcelled.... I'm very glad I got to meet him. You can see some of his work online at http://www.annapolismarineart.com/WillardBond.html You can also read about our visit in December here (scroll down to read the first post). A little addendum on June 10th: Willard Bond's obituary was published in today's New York Times (mmm - actually, it looks like tomorrow's), with a good summary of his life and artwork. You can read it at Willard Bond, Vivid Artist of Yachting, Dies at 85. The photo of Willard on his sailboat comes from the article.
The Sketchbook Project has arrived in Oakland, California – not too much more than an hour from here. I'm looking forward to visiting it sometime between now and June 17th. Hours and address are listed above, if you're in the area and want to take a look at some of the thousands of handmade sketchbooks in their traveling library (including mine). Let me know if you do!
Somehow I missed adding this in my previous posts... but, if you'd like to see my sketchbook – or other books in The Sketchbook Project – and you're not near any of the areas their marvelous sketchbook library will be visiting – you can actually see it online.
Where, you say? Why, at http://www.arthousecoop.com/library/6253. That takes you directly to my book. And please leave a comment online there, so I know you've seen it! My sketchbook – and all the sketchbooks that are part of The Sketchbook Project 2012 – moves next to Portland, Oregon, where it will be shown Friday (that's today!) until Sunday, May 11 – 13, 2012.
Then it heads up to Canada for the Vancouver show on May 16th and 17th. Wow... these little sketchbooks are logging a lot of miles.... You can learn more about their adventures on tour in the Sketchbook Project blog - here's a link to their entry about Chicago. Friday, May 4th, marked the opening reception of Take a Chance on Miniatures at the Napa Valley Museum. Who woulda thunk - my painting on the upper left shares a panel with the paintings of two friends (and former or current students!), Diane Kuykendall on the left (her painting is in the middle), and Jennifer Deutsch on the right (next to her painting). And friend and fellow Calistogan and NVOS artist Charley diLimur's painting was just on the other side of Jennifer. What good company!
The show continues for three more weeks. I've got to get my raffle tickets and decide what works I want to take a chance on – but it will be a tough choice. There are too darn many that I really like.... Are you in Chicago May 3rd - 5th? Or Portland, Oregon on May 11th and 12th? If so, you may want to head over to see The Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour as it zooms through town. My sketchbook, Travel with Me... to the Napa Valley, is a part of the show. In Chicago, Illinois, it will be at Hyde Park Art Center, on Thursday, May 3rd, from 3 to 7 pm, and on Friday and Saturday, May 4th and 5th, from 12 to 4 pm. Hyde Park Art Center is at 5020 S. Cornell Avenue in Chicago. In Portland, Oregon, it will be at The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel (yes, really!) on Saturday, May 11th, from 4 to 8 pm, and Sunday and Monday, May 12th and 13th, from 1 to 5 pm. You'll find it at 1022 SW Stark Street in Portland.
A note about the old Gliderport: both it and the old warehouses near it, which you can see in my blog post, The Sketchbook Project - I, are slated for demolition, likely to be replaced by a luxury hotel. They are treasured parts of a part of Calistoga's history, and I'm very glad they will at least live on in these sketches, long after the wonderful old, funky buildings themselves are gone. Vineyard Palm, a 5" x 7" acrylic painting on panel, is my contribution to the Napa Valley Museum's Take a Chance on Miniatures show, opening May 4th, 2012. I loved working out the aesthetic complexities of this piece (yes, believe it or not, a small size doesn't mean it's necessarily less complicated), which took me the better part of several days. I love its color – and, of course, its subject matter, a vineyard south of Calistoga. The opening reception (free for members, $5 for guests) will be Friday, May 4th, 2012, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Vineyard Palm is one of eighty pieces juried into the exhibition – which is also a fundraiser for the museum. Luck and a $5 raffle ticket could get you this painting!
Are you anywhere near Brooklyn, New York? If you are, you have one more day to see my little sketchbook, Travel with Me to the Napa Valley, before it leaves for Chicago. My sketchbook is a part of The Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour, which opened on April 14th, at the Brooklyn Art Library. Sunday, April 29th, is the last day of the show! You can find the Brooklyn Art Library at 103A N. 3rd St. in Brooklyn, New York, and you can see the show from 12 - 8 pm.
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Karen Lynn IngallsI am an artist in Napa and Sonoma Counties, in California. I paint colorist landscapes of rural California, teach art classes and lessons, and live in Calistoga, California. I also teach private, group, and corporate art workshops in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and other parts of Northern California. Archives
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