The State of my Studio

 

This is what my studio looks like currently. Having just moved 2 weeks ago from Denver, Colorado to Bartlesville, Oklahoma has really put a crimp in my painting! I keep reassuring myself that it is only a matter of time and it looks worse than it is...RIGHT?! Another week and I will be back to work painting ferociously!

Saturday Pastel Workshop

Last Saturday, I participated in a one-day pastel workshop led by local Colorado pastel manufacturer Terry Ludwig. There was one thing that I learned very quickly....one can never have TOO many of those little coloured sticks! Unlike with painting, where with a certain amount of skill and patience I can mix any colour I desire to apply to my canvas, pastel painting is limited to the colours in your box. For Christmas I received a 30-piece pastel landscape set, which I HAD thought would be adequate for a newbie such as me...but NOOO...for one who loves colour, I felt that I was on a diet - 30 colours - no more, no less. To be fair, the instructor brought oodles of sticks available for purchase at $3 bucks a stick, and generously treated all students to extras sticks to try out. I snapped up the free sticks, but didn't purchase any additional. I kinda felt that part of the experience of working in pastel is recognizing that sometimes you have to "make do" with what you have. I "painted" 3 landscapes on Saturday. Posted above are two that I was reasonably happy with.

Zion in the Snow

We just returned from a trip to Zion over Thanksgiving weekend. It seems to be tradition for us to visit a national park during the holidays. Last Thanksgiving, we visited Yosemite National Park. In other years we have been to the Grand Canyon and Arches in Utah.

Zion was spectacular! The night that we arrived 8" of fresh snow fell, which made hiking the next day a little challenging, but the quality of the light on the red formations was magical. We ran about with cameras in our hands, (along with everyone else that was in the park) snapping pictures of one stunning view after another. We bought Yaktrax to slip on the bottom of our hiking boots to navigate the icy slippery terrain and hiked the Emerald Pools trails and the Canyon Overlook trail. It is definitely a national park that we would like to return to. I had on my bucket list that I would like to visit ALL of the national parks, but NOW but I would like to see each of them in the different seasons; fall, winter, spring and summer!

Daytripping @ Kenosha Pass

  

Today we drove up HWY 285 to do some leaf-peeping at Kenosha Pass. The Aspens were glorious, some of them covered in leaves a delicious shade of lime green, some aspens had leaves that had turned golden, others more orange in colour. We walked through a grove of aspen, their tall spires rising up on either side of us; I felt like I was in a cathedral as their trunks rose up and formed an arch over our heads. We passed other leaf-peepers with smiles pasted on their faces. There is nothing like a walk in the aspens in the autumn!

Summer Hike in Poudre River Area

The photograph (top) shows my husband and daughter on a meadow hike in the Poudre River area. (they are both way ahead of me, of course, while I try to shoot every thing that I see with my camera). The lower image is a 9" x 12" acyrlic painting on standard width canvas that I completed last week. It is ready to be framed.

Finally Finished!

This is a larger painting (18" x 24") that I have been working on for a while. The top photo I shot back May. Then, I put the painting aside for awhile. When I finally looked at the painting again, I was able to see it with fresh eyes. In the top photo, I felt that the bottom right corner was too busy. I kept removing blossoms until I was happy with the movement through the painting. I also increased the colour saturation of the background and added the impression of a flower on the right middle edge, to redirect the viewer's eye back toward the centre of the canvas. I like the contrast of the bright lime green background with the purply colour of the flowers. At LAST I think it is finally finished!

Painting "down the road"

Notice the similiarities? The first painting I did many years ago, when I had first started painting. The second painting I finished last week. I like the exuberance of the brushstrokes in the second piece. In the first one, the strokes are laid down in a more slow, careful manner.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Last weekend we drove to Great Sand Dunes National Park. The dunes are the tallest in North America. We climbed to the top of the tallest dune for a view of one of the most unusual landscapes that I have ever seen. When painting,  I look for repetition of shapes and patterns. I found the shapes and patterns of the sand fascinating!

Solo Exhibit at Aurora's Municipal Center

Canyon Approach is one of twelve pieces of work on
display at the Aurora Municipal Center now until August 13th.
Finished in gallery wrap style the paintings vary in size from
12" x 12" to 24" by 36". The images range from landscapes of
Colorado to more intimate portraits of flowers.

See Deana Miller's article in the HUB for more information.

"If we did all the things
we are capable of doing,
we would literally astonish ourselves"

THOMAS EDISON

Fall Rhythms

These are four little paintings that I created to hang as a group.

Each of them measures 5"x 5" and they are all edge-painted.

I added bits of copper leaf for shine. The challenge was to make

each piece work individually, but also as a group.

Okay I know that two pieces together is a diptych,

three a triptych, but what do you call four?

Mixed Media Weekend Workshop

Last weekend, I attended a mixed media workshop. It forced me to break out of my comfort zone! For support we used MDF board, (which is new for me). MDF is a  piece of pressed wood board that can be picked up at Home Depot inexpensively. They will even cut it to size for you! We gessoed and then textured the support with "custom patch" which is also available from Home Depot. The instructor supplied us with US Post mailer envelopes made of that plasticky paper. These we painted with acrylic paint, then ironed until they shrunk up and became bubbly. We adhered the shrunken bits of plasticky paper to our support with YES, which is an archival glue that can be found at Michaels. We also added metallic finish to our work using metallic paint or paper, thin pieces of copper, gold and silver leaf and grommets and nails. Lots of experimentation and lots of fun! Above are some materials used. Below is one of my finished pieces that I titled "Ribbons of Gold". I am looking forward to creating more pieces using these new techniques!

"I try to apply colors like words that shape poems,
like notes that shape music"

JOAN MIRO

Elements of Autumn #4

4th in a series of six,

I liked applying dynamic brushstrokes of colour 

over a strong background.

Elements of Autumn #3

Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

3rd in the series of six.
This grouping was inspired by images that I shot at Cherry Creek State Park last fall.

Elements of Autumn #2

Acrylic Painting on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas

by Janice Wright

This painting measures 12" x 12" and is part of a series of six. A departure from my more representational work, I enjoyed pushing the limits of what defines a landscape painting.

I have lived in Denver for just over 5 months now, and today we had our first snow fall. Big fat flakes swirled down this morning, it was exciting to see my small, little world change overnight at the whim of Mother Nature. More new possibilties to paint...