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January 7, 2010
last work of 2009I am finally getting to post my last painting of the decade (he he!)--I met with my former art student for a paint out over the holidays, and we had a great time catching up while also getting some plein air painting done. This is a view of Lake Martha located on campus of Trinity Prep school where I've been teaching for seven years. Colors are perhaps a bit too muted for me, but I enjoyed doing this little study...and reconnecting with my student!
November 10, 2009
pushing forwardMy painting a day project stumbled a bit over the weekend, but I was able to get back on track with this piece today...I had fun painting all the relfections on the blue teapot! November 6, 2009
Day 10 and 11Day 10 flew by too fast, with no time to sit down for a painting...so, thinking that something is better than nothing, I did this sketch Today was a slower day, and I took a short stroll down the Lake Burkett right after my last class ended; I painted a close up view of the water. It was great to sit in the sun and ejoy the breeze...and a few minutes to myself November 4, 2009
Day 9...a tough oneMy painting a day project was endangered today...no time to spare to get outside my classroom, and I am tired of looking at the student still life and out the window...well, had to settle for a 10-minute sketch of these fruit...hope tomorrow I get to go outside and paint something more exciting November 3, 2009
Day 8Another day, another piece--since I ran out of stuff to paint from the window, I took a short trip outside my room...had only about 20 minutes to spare, so the both walk as well as the painting session were very short--and here is yet another view of Lake Burkett
November 2, 2009
Day 7Ta da! Freshly painted today--yet another view from my classroom...used an old canvas board that one of my students gave up on...some of the reds from the old painting are showing through--I love working on color backgrounds, it's less intimidating than a pristine white of a new canvas.
Painting a day...still goingHere is what I’ve been up to during the last few days… Day 4…looking out the window in the classroom…quite an overcast day, not at all typical here, but I like the moodiness of it. Day 5…well, I skipped this one, I have a lame excuse of hosting a Halloween party and all…that’s why I call this challenge doing a painting ALMOST every day. Day 6—realized I didn’t have all the paints and canvases at home as it’s been a while since I actually had time to paint at the house. Well, wanted to keep up with my challenge, so I used my 2-year old daughter’s water paints and her drawing block… we worked on our paintings together on the back porch…this is what I managed while also keeping an eye on Ally; she actually contributed to this piece by adding a blob of black in the top left corner, no worries, it all worked out fine, ha ha! October 30, 2009
Painting a day...almost!I recently stumbled upon one artist’s blog that has taken a challenge of doing a painting a day…so it gave me an idea of trying it myself…so far so good… Day 2 Today is day 4…Let’s see how long I can last October 5, 2009
Color Sketches for the book coverI had a meeting with the new book author last Friday, and we were discussing the color options for cover. We started with this sketch…
And then this one… And this one seemed to have good light but a bit too mysterious looking…
We actually ended up choosing the original color version—well, at least we made sure to explore other options!
September 29, 2009
Art showLast Friday night my dad, daughter, and I spent some time at the art show opening in the Historic Center in Sanford, FL. The works of 25 artists, including me, were showcased. Here’s a picture of us next to my pieces. This piece is of a view off of Highway 50 when heading towards Titusville—do you know that area where airboat rides are?
September 22, 2009
Book CoverFor the past few days I have been finalizing my sketches for the book cover that a new author commissioned me to paint. The book is a gentle read genre about a woman who is a Christian Science practitioner who prays for patients with healing results. Now, my artwork is anything but gentle in appearance, and I had my doubts if my style would be a good fit. The author felt strongly, however, that it would be wonderful to bring the kind of colors and sense of movement that I have in my work into his book cover. Off to the drawing board I went! Here’s my first attempt…thanks to the Photoshop program that allowed me to bring my concept ideas to life quickly. Now how about this one? And the winner is…
September 18, 2009
Fresh veggiesThe time has been flying by during this past week—lots or projects with my art students, trying to catch up on my own painting and working on the cover art commission. My daily refuge has been my time spent in the pool with my family as well as tending to my vegetable garden that I planted in my back yard a little while ago. We’re about to give our first taste to the home-grown cucumbers—I can’t believe they actually grew this big!
We’re not having as much luck with tomatoes (the flowers have been wilting off—thinking it might be too hot?), but we still managed to get these few fruits on one of the plants. September 9, 2009
New art showI just got word that my paintings have been accepted at the “Our Central Florida” art show at the Historic Sanford Welcome Center in Sanford, FL. The exhibit will open on September 25 and will showcase the works of Central Florida artists of various mediums. This is one my paintings that will be shown there. September 3, 2009
New PaintingI am happy to report that I have started a new painting yesterday—very excited about this one. Here’s what it looks like right now—this is how I start all of my paintings—I call it underpainting: with broad, energetic strokes and thin layers of oil paint. I also never use white paint at this stage, even if there are very light objects--after all, white contains all of the colors of the spectrum. Once this layer is almost dry, I continue with thicker, more precise paint applications. I will let you know how it comes along! August 30, 2009
Aspirations and InspirationsI am happy to report that I bought four canvases the other day—looking forward to starting on some new oil paintings next week! I would like to do a bigger piece of the lilacs that I sketched out in acrylics this summer in Latvia. The sketch already found it's home on the wall in someone’s house here in Central Florida, and I am looking forward to creating a larger oil study now. Just take a look at this photo—the image keeps inspiring me even though a few months have passed since I’ve seen it.
August 26, 2009
AugustMy attempts to keep a blog after my return from Latvia have been futile—well, there is nothing like another fresh start. Let’s see…New school year’s schedule is taking some time getting used to; I have great students though, and I hope to have a fun year with them. My AP art students had a summer sketchbook assignment, and one of them did an amazing job with it—check out this wild cover! This girl has some talent and no fear. I have been having a great time with my family—trying to get some time in nearby parks (we go for an hour before they close, fewer people and much lower temperatures!). It is hard to enjoy outdoors here in Florida at this time of year. Last weekend we chanced to get out for a lunch picnic in a splash park with some friends, which went great as we were lucky to have a cloudy sky and a shady table.
August 7, 2009
It's been too longWell, I’ve fallen off the blogging wagon for a few weeks. My days can be described in a few sentences—pool or splash park (this is the only kind of park that I will go to in this heat) with my daughter, small home improvement projects, gardening (my green peppers are blooming!) and cooking meals for my family. I love trying out new recipes, so black bean burgers and pork carnitas turned out scrumptious, and they’re moved to my favorite recipe folder. The no-bake peaches’n cream cheese cake made the cut too (my friends asked for seconds at a dinner get together). Great food makes life so much more enjoyable! July 25, 2009
Home, Sweet HomeI arrived back home to Orlando safely a week ago. Besides getting over my jet lag and settling in, I already planted a few tomatoes and peppers in my new vegetable garden…I was so inspired with my parents’ garden in Latvia that I started wanting my own. If you’ve been in Florida this time of year, you surely know how brutally hot it can be, especially when doing any kind of work outside. I wasn’t too put off by that though, and, with the help of my dad, we cleared a small patch of land and planted a few veggies. We decided to start off with some seeds and also purchased a few small plants at this awesome place a few miles ago, Lukas Nursery. Check it out some time, so many plants to see there! The existence of the pool in our back yard was most appreciated during this process! Now watering and waiting, weeding, watering and waiting…. July 17, 2009
Heading homeWe’ve been enjoying our last week in Latvia. Seeing friends, taking walks around town and spending time in my parents’ garden along with running on sandy river banks of the Daugava, the longest river in Latvia, has truly been fun. I covered every sheet of paper and every canvas board that I had taken with me with some paintings, here’s a pic of me working on the waterscape—my dad and my daughter Ally are on the background. With sunny and warm weather everything is blooming and growing like crazy. We are eating garden berries right off the bush or a tree, including these delicious cherries. Every vegetable on our dinner table comes from the garden, too. Fresh potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and greens—so, so good! I can’t even think of Publix produce for a long time after tasting these wonderful veggies. July 7, 2009
EstoniaMy last weekend was spent on a short trip to the neighboring country, Estonia. During our 5-hour drive we stopped in small scenic towns and saw a couple of pretty waterfalls. The soil there is very rocky, and such waterfalls are quite frequent. I loved wondering many narrow pebble stone streets and marveling over the skyline of old rooftops. All Entries |
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