Feed: The Mind of the Artist - AggScore: 47.5

Tidepool

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Shortly after arriving in Charleston, South Carolina, I was inspired to paint the dunes.  The interesting thing about this particular island we visit is that the sands are always changing shape.  One year there will be a tide pool, but the next there won't.  This year there were three tide pools, this one tucked behind the major one that families frequented.  We didn't discover it till a few days after we got there.  These pools hold fish, usually small minnows, but sometimes fish large enough for a meal. "Tidepool" Watercolor 12 X 16 inches [...]

First Painting, Age 13, Lighthouse, New Haven, Connecticut

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"Lighthouse"  Acrylic on canvas paper, 5 3/4 X 8 3/4 inches If you haven't realized by now, I love the sea.  I love walking by the sea and it inspires me to paint.  Lighthouses are part of that love.  For me they are part of the mysterious past when they were manned without automation, and each lighthouse saw storms and fog, alerting approaching ships of the dangerous shores.  Finding lighthouses is rare as they are few and far between.  No wonder one of my early photographs was of a lighthouse. At the age of 13, my parents hired an art teacher for me. [...]

Floral Workshop

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"Rose Study", Watercolor The weekend of May 14 I attended a floral workshop taught by Janet Rogers, known for her florals and portraits.  The workshop was sponsored by Sandy Maudlin, http://sandymaudlin.blogspot.com, who has a wonderful teaching studio set up in her home in beautiful Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  For anyone living nearby, I recommend taking classes from Sandy because she has a fantastic set-up, complete with a mirror over the demo area, as well as plenty of supplies you can buy on the spot.Many students brought flowers either from their gardens or the store and the room was filled with color and fragrance!   The [...]

RSS Feeds Explained - Part 2

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Part 2   In Part 1 of this article, I covered subscribing to RSS feeds using the built-in RSS reader found in Web browsers, using Internet Explorer as the example.  It's pretty easy to save an RSS feed, but the tricky part was knowing where to find it later.  The limitation of this method is to get your alerts, you always have to use the same computer you saved the feed on to get the update alerts.   Before I go further, I want to pass on some feedback from Part 1.  RSS would sound simpler if it always had the word "Follow" next to [...]

RSS Feeds Explained - Part 1

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  Part 1 In a previous email newsletter, I informed my readers that they can use RSS to follow my original works and blog.  You've probably noticed the RSS feed buttons on my Web site and other Web sites you frequent.  But what is RSS and how do you use it?  It stands for "really simple sindication".   I've tried to use these, but never got the notification that something new was waiting for me.  I'd click on the RSS feed icon and think I was subscribing, but didn't know how to be notified of changes to my favorite blogs, so it didn't seem [...]

Watercolor Workshop in Myrtle Beach

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  Last week I attended an amazing watercolor workshop taught by Jean Grastorf.  Jean has refined a technique where instead of painting with a brush, the colors are instead applied as poured colors.  The workshop covered all the aspects of this process. The workshop was held at Springmaid Beach Resort, which is located right on the coast.  Each hotel room has an ocean view with a balcony!  While the weather was a bit chilly, as expected for March, each day was mostly sunny and cheery.  Our classroom was situated on the third floor of the conference room where we also had an [...]

Lago di Garda (Lake Garda29

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This is Lake Garda, a mountain lake in Italy.  I went there while on a trip meeting my third cousin's on my dad's side of the family.  The region is fairly mountainous.  Not as mountainous as Colorado, but more mountainous than the Appalachians.  What's interesting about the geology is that the fossils found in the area date back to the same era as fossils found in Kentucky.  In fact, one afternoon in the square of the town where we stayed, Vanza, some children were sorting through some fossils they had collected that day and seeing my interest gave me a couple [...]

Facebook Woes

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This recovering perfectionist, A-student, computer-programming geek watercolor artist has hit a technology roadblock:  Facebook.  "Facebook! " you exclaim.  "How can Facebook be a technology roadblock when it's so EASY??" It's true.  I'm so stuck I can't get started.  I guess I was absent when someone explained how to set up a Fan page, or why I would put a link to my Facebook Fan page from my main Website, www.peggybishop.com.  Isn't this Web site where my art is getting broadcasted to whomever wants to see it? Still, the art marketing articles say it's the thing to do.  So I said, "Fine, I'll research how to do it." The [...]

Petunias

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I did this sketch of some beautiful petunia's at a house in North Carolina last year. I was struck by the shiny blue pot with purple flowers.  It took me about an hour and the shadow moved as I painted.  I don't paint en plein air much and so I did take a reference photo after I finished the painting in case I wanted to try again.   I'm sure I won't... Petunias on a Stone Patio  5 X 8 inches [...]

Mystery Classic Car

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Here is a car that I'm doing a watercolor portrait of. Does anyone know what it is? I photographed it at the Concourse d'Elegance in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2009. Mystery solved!  It's a 1935 Packard. [...]

Dreamin' about Spring

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This is an old watercolor painting from a photo I took of Gratz Park in Lexington, Kentucky.  The blue house is now a cream or taupe color.  I preferred the blue.  The blooming crabapple tree wasn't actually blooming at the time; I changed it for effect.  Gratz Park is near Transylvania University and is a very historic place with lovely architecture.  Our current warm weather is making me anxious for Spring flowers.  I think I see crocuses blooming by the road as I write this... "Gratz Park" watercolor, 16 X 20 inches [...]

Valentine's Day Rose

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I was feeling the need to produce something for Valentine's Day so I went through my floral photos and found one I thought I could render quickly, meaning 1-2 hours.  Well, it took 6 hours.  Still, that's not bad considering my big paintings normally take 16 - 24 hours.  I took a photo of this painting and made a Valentine's Day card for that special someone in my life... "Valentines' Day Rose", watercolor, 10 X 14 inches [...]

The Twenty-Minute Challenge - Two Apples"3B

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  Last year I read about a site that challenges artists to spend twenty minutes doing a painting.  The twenty minutes includes any sketching.  I decided to give it a try and believe me, some of the results aren't good!  But this one turned out quite well.  The exercise is a bit nerve-wracking because my desire to have a good painting is still strong, despite the odds against me!  Some artists are quite good at it, (or they're only sharing their successes), and you can see their works at http://twentyminutechallenge.blogspot.com/. [...]

Les Contamines in French Alps

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Here is a scene from the French Alps.  Living Kentucky, but being from parts of the US where there is a lot more snow in the winter, I was craving a snowy vacation.  I had recently discovered some French cousins on my father's side, and after meeting them for the first time the previous summer in Milan, Italy, I managed to get myself invited for a "ski vacation".  Now, by this time  in my life I hadn't skied in 16 years.   In preparation I went to the gym three times a week and worked out, but my skiing really sucked.  I fell down [...]

Christmas Jubilation

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I did this painting in a rush.  It was October and I knew I needed to get it finished and printed.  The first painting I did was based on an outdoor snow scene from my yard, but I didn't like it.  Yep, you'll never see it!  Everyone who received this card said they loved it!  [...]