Door County Photos

Here are a few places that Mary Ann and I visited on Saturday.

At right is a fishing shack at the Bailey's Harbor fish store. There were all kinds of neat things surrounding the parking lot of this fish store. Buoys, boats, and just paintable STUFF.

The rocky shoreline landscape with boats was found on the eastern side of the peninsula along Lake Michigan, in the area of the Lighthouse. I thought that I might get back to paint that one, but I never did.

Below is another scene of a wetlands along a coastline. So many great wild places in addition to farmlands, orchards, little harbor towns, marinas, beaches, and at the very tip, a real working fishing village.

Here's the Morninglory Restaurant. A favorite place for those painting the quick paint on the last day of the Festival. Bob Eberle, from Indiana, painted it the first year, and did a great job. With his artist eye he changed the colors from what what you see here. He used a teal color for the siding and more towards an orange for the roof line. Those colors vibrate and really pop in a painting and in the public's eye. I noticed some of those colors this year in paintings of this location. Hey, this is also a great place for breakfast or a late dinner.

Not far from the restaurant is the marina area. This day was windy and chilly. I took several photos of this couple fishing . . .

. . . and I saw this duck windsock and couldn't resist a photo of it. There is a real sense of joy in Door County, evident in the people, the places and the buzz. Winter must get awfully cold and snowy, and they revel in summer!

I am sorry to find that I never took a photo of the cherry trees. Will post some paintings of them.

My Door County Roomie

Okay folks, here she is, my Roomie, Mary Ann Davis from Indianapolis, IN. Mary Ann and I have known each other for many years, but never painted together or really got to know each other. She is a past president of Indiana Plein Air Painters, and I am a founder and past president of the Ohio Plein Air Society.

We each drove up to the Door on Friday, had all day Saturday to scout potential painting spots, and did 3 paintings. I was glad to get that under my belt because I had my granddaughter with me while my daughter was in Paris for 10 days. Consequently, this day of painting was an intergral part of my success in the coming week: Mary Ann and I were able to get comfortable with each other, and I dusted off some of the accumulated rust from not painting.

Each evening, Mary Ann and I critiqued each others work, and we helped talk each other through any momentary bouts of insecurity throughout the week. It was a positive time for us both. Thanks Mary Ann for a great week, and I hope the beginning of a closer friendship.

Here's Mary Ann with the couple that purchased her Ephraim Bay scene (hanging between them). I got to know this couple quite well after meeting them at the "Meet the Artist's Night". They'd find me painting at my easel, and they were a delight to talk with each day.

Making it Happen

Kathie, director of the Peninsula Art School
at the first "Meet the Artist's Night"



This was the first of many special event opportunities
throughout the week where Palette Sponsors
were able to meet and talk with artists.

I love this photo of Cinnamon, who worked hard on planning the 1st Annual Door County Plein Air Festival. This was the 3rd year for the Festival, and I thank Cinnamon for all of her continued hard work. Here she is flanked by the two official event photographers, Tom Groenfeldt at left, and on the right, Dennis Connolly.

Here are two young women that worked hard for us all. Left is Katie, a summer intern, and right is Jackie. (I do hope I get the names right. Someone tell me if I'm wrong so I can change spelling or wrong names.)


This is Kay and her great smile, she also has a wonderful infectious laugh. What would I have done without Kay??? Never seeming to loose her cool, she was a great point of contact for questions, hanging, and just anything that you needed. She helped me choose work for the wall, price it and even helped with titles when I was just plain pooped and not thinking straight. Thanks Kay.

And speaking of Door County Fish Boil . . .

Entitled "Fish Boil", oil painting
by Marc Hanson, Travers City, Minnesota.

Truly sorry not to have a better photo of this painting. It was probably my favorite on the wall for the Friday Night Gala Collectors Preview. I'm sure that he has a much better photo on his website or blog. Check him out, he's a marvelous painter.

This painting had the power to intrigue me from across the room. Even at a distance, I found looking at this painting was like listening to music: a great melody with all the right accents and rests and drama.

Door County Fish

I am worn out from last week's intensive Door County Plein Air Festival, in Fish Creek, WI. Thought I'd put my "down time" to good use and blog about my experience. This could take days!!!

One thing that Door County has is fish! I took this photo in a Bailey's Harbor fish shop. You could get smoked salmon or (pictured here 'cause I couldn't resist the color and sheen) smoked whitefish. Also for sale was fresh fish, frozen fish burgers, and frozen chunks to make the famous Door County "fish boil."


The fishermen hang out in the side room, cleaning their catch and telling tales. Here is the owner of the shop. And I had to post the photo of a bottle of Spotted Cow beer, from the New Glarius Brewery. Two years ago, my husband, Martin, and I toured this brewery, did a beer tasting and walked out with a case of their various kinds of beer. It was wonderful to taste it again this year with fish and chips.

View along Rt. 310

8" x 8" - Oil on Blick Panel -Painted on June 5th, along Rt. 310.

I've lived in Pataskala, OH since December 1989! Much, much longer than I'd ever expected.

This little farm has always attracted my attention. It's not a grand subject, but grand in it's own simple way.

This plein air effort was all about practicing speed, in preparation for my upcoming demo in Zanesville, and for my demos in my June 13-14 workshop, a couple of weeks ago.

I'd always wanted to paint this around 8:00 am because the sky is bright and the white house is silhouetted against the bright sky, often with cool yellow tones at that time of the morning. This painting was done around 3:00 pm, just in time to get home take a shower, dress and deliver it framed to the Sharon Weiss Gallery in Columbus before the Malcolm Baroway opening which started at 6:00 pm.

What I love is the freshness of this painting . . . and some morning, I'll return to paint at 8:00 am.

Painting Demo at the Zanesville Art Museum

I delivered the work for the two month long exhibition on May 13. 38 oil paintings in sizes ranging from 6" x 6" to 36" x 48".

The opening in this Saturday, June 6 from 1:30 - 4:00. From 1:30 - 3:00, I will doing a painting demonstration for the public in front of the museum. Should be fun if the weather cooperates.

A little more on that MacPherson Demo

So here is a better picture of how Kevin works with a field study when using it for reference for a larger painting. You can see he has it in a plastic sleeve, used tape to crop it to a format that he liked, and during the painting process he can place dabs of the colors he's mixed and see the relationships before committing to placing that color on the larger painting. Again, if he does place the color on the larger painting and the relationship doesn't seem right to him, he doesn't hesitate to continue to mix.

OPA - Kevin MacPherson Demo

Top billing at the OPA convention this year was the juror of awards, Kevin MacPherson.

This linen on foam core panel - with grid and image - was on the easel when I walked in. Audience members' camera were snapping away and the buzz in the rooom was all about the grid pattern on this panel. Much to our amusement, the first thing Kevin told us was that this was not the painting he was going to do. The drawing was from an abandoned painting, which he'd simply cut down and recylced for this demo.

MacP pulled out all the plein air studies he'd done on a painting trip for inspiration (as he does in his studio) and to remind him of what it was like at this location. The paintings were very loose, between 9x12" and 12 x 16"'s. Some were barely more than broad color notes. He passed the paintings through the audience, a treat to see these up close and personal, and hold them in your hands.

Here is Kevin with the bones of the painting to come, the shapes. He explained that once he had his shapes, interlocking like a puzzle, he next put in the darkest darks. "Then," he said, "it was just a matter of filling in the shapes with color."

Here he is filling in the blanks!

He stressed the importance of keeping the shadow and the light values separated: black in light is lighter than white in shadow." He fills in those blanks working in the shadow areas only and leaving the light areas untouched for now. He worked to build the nuances of color shifts within the shadows, but was not concerned with detail.

Once he was satisfied with the shadow areas, he scraped his palette in prepartion for the light areas.

You can see his plein air reference painting to he left of the demo painting. It is covered with a plastic sleeve and he places dabs of paint he's mixed to test his colors and values before placing them on the painting. Even then, he remixes if the color doesn't seem right for the painting.

He used a limited palette of three colors plus Gamblin's Portland greys in light, medium and dark and Titanium White. He also mixed greys, saying not to use just a grey, but to make it a blue grey, red grey, or yellow grey.

This is the palette at the end of the painting the shadow masses. he used only one brush, and had a box of Kleenex to wiping his brush.

Here's the painting after he "filled in the blanks" of the light massess. He was experimenting in the sky with filling it in with only a grey. He would later go back over that grey with other colors. The clouds at this point are still bare canvas.

Last, is the final painting. Wanda, his wife had the frame all ready to go. And the crowd gave a thunderous applause for a great demo.

You can see that he worked back into that sky with more than one color.

Three hours of fun. He really does give a relaxed and entertaining demo.

Hope you enjoyed this. If you would like me to blog more artists demos, please leave a comment. thanks for visiting.

Art-blogging - check it out!

http://www.art-blogging.blogspot.com/

And while I was at it . . .

thought I'd post this painting done a couple years back, on a swelteringly hot July day. It was the Gahanna Jazz and Blues Festival. The festival was just gearing up but there were a lot of folks milling around on the sidewalk where I was painting. I simplified the crowd as you can see, and my granddaughter renamed this painting from "Lemonade Stand" to "Slow Business". What a genius she is. 8 x 10" oil on gessoed board.

Jewelry #1

One thing that Cindy, Heidi and I had in common was a love of jewelry. It was fun to meet them in the evening and see what purchases they made at the Native American Market situated in the shade of the Palace of the Governors.

Interesting that they purchased from the same vendor whose wares I was attracted to. The vendors take only cash, and I didn't have enough with me to buy, but looking is always a pleasure. Blanket after blanket offered displays of colorful stones, silver, and what I wanted . . . a silver ring with an orange colored rectangular cut of spiny oyster shell. The band had 6 silver beads, three each on two sides of the "stone". These silver beads represented the six directions. Next time. Or when I get the name of the vender from the ladies.

I was able to purchase a very nice coral necklace, multistrand in a silver setting from Peggy Garcia from Santa Domingo Pueblo. She was setting up her wares in the hotel lobby one morning. I almost lost that necklace to another woman while cashing a check to pay for it, but I used all of my persuasive powers to get it back. Peggy wrapped the necklace and handed it to me saying, "Cherish it, cherish it."

New Friends and Margaritas

One of the joys of travel is meeting people.
I was lucky to meet these delightful California blondes on the shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. They were going to the OPA exhibition to support their artist friend, Eli, who now lives on the other side of the country. I didn't meet Eli at the exhibition, it was CROWDED, but I did meet her on the plaza on Sunday afternoon, painting.

Cindy and Heidi (me in the middle) were also staying at the Inn of the Governors. Here we are in the Del Charro Bar and Restaurant. It's advertised that Del Charro has the best margarita in Santa Fe ($6.00). They certainly had the best corn chowder, with very reasonable prices and good service.

The Inn of the Governors also has a fabulous hot & cold breakfast buffet included in the price of your room, and it certainly helps make your stay in Santa Fe more economical. I would recommend the hotel to anyone. It's just two short blocks south of the plaza, and the Sandia Shuttle will drop you off and pick you up right at your hotel, or B&B, no matter which hotel you are staying at.

OPA in Santa Fe - my hotel

I had a great time at the 18th Annual OPA National Exhibition. Once I knew my painting was in the exhibit, I started to plan my trip. My flight to Albuquerque - roundtrip American Airlines for $185 and change. There was a $15.00 fee for a checked bag each way. I was glad I booked a window seat. The irrigation patterns on the desert floor were well worth seeing.

I took the Sandia Shuttle from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. Roundtrip cost is $45, and it's reliable and easy to use. I would certainly recommend it. There is a train that runs between the two cities but it's not as convenient and a lot more expensive.

After booking the plane and the shuttle, I made an extensive online search for a hotel. OPA made their home in the La Fonda hotel. A great hotel, but $179 a night. I was going for 5 nights, so I was looking for something more economical. Martin found Garrett's Desert Inn at $88 a night. The location was good, and the price for location couldn't be beat, but . . . I found too many negative reviews and decided not to stay there.

Instead, I stayed at the Inn of the Governors. My rate was an average of $120 a night. When I got to Santa Fe, my room had been upgraded from a traditional room to a superioir king!!! Above is my comfortable bed with six pillows, and there were 4 more pillows in one of the two armoires in the room.

On one side of the bed was a writing desk and chair, a nice window that opened to the outside for fresh air, and a sitting area with two chairs and a table. At left you see the seating area dn door that went outside to a small balcony with two chairs. The view wasn't great: the parking lot and a little of the pool, but you could get a distant view of a mountain and great skies. Mostly I opened the door for a nice breeze. I wasn't really in the room long enough to sit on the balcony, but I went outside and sometimes watched the clouds in the sky. I was happy.

In addition to the little balcony, was a kiva woodburning fireplace. Very cool. I only thought about burning it once, but in the end, I didn't burn it at all. Still, it was fun to have it there and it looked good too.

In the armoire was a TV at the top and in the bottom a refridgerator with water.

Next to this armoire was another on with an ironing board and iron.

On the other side of the bed was a night table and there were three lamps in the room. The bathroom was very nice with thick towels, and great designs in the tiles, which I forgot to take a photo of. Shower was really nice. I was happy with my room.

2009 Oil Painters of America National

I've just returned from a trip to my home state of Maryland. I hadn't checked email for about six days. One email in particular stood out from the hundreds that are in that inbox . . . the one from fellow artist, a travel/paint buddy, and friend Susan Astleford. She was congratulating me on my acceptance into the Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition. This is the 4th time that I have been accepted into this pretigious exhibition, and I am thrilled to death to be a part of it all.
The 18th National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils will be housed this year in the Sage Creek Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Exhibition Dates: May 1 – 31, 2009.
www.sagecreekgallery.com
200 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 988-3444

All I can say is, I am going into the studio to paint, and finally, thank you to the committee that juried my painting into the exhibition.

Invited back to Door County Plein Air Festival

"Walk on the Wild Side" - 11" x 14" - Oil on RayMar Panel. Copyright 2007

I painted this in during the inaugural Door County Plein Air Festival Invitational.

It was a very misty morning when fellow artist Karen LaValley and I found this spot deep in the woods behind the Edgewood Orchard Gallery. Close values and a variety of greens, punctuated with a trail and wildflowers.

Near the time I was almost finished this painting, a figure in fuchsia suddenly appeared at the end of the path. Just what this painting needed. "The Lady in Red" was delivering my lunch.

I'm happy to announce that I am invited back to paint in the 3rd Door County Plein Air Competition. If you're in Wisconsin's lovely Door County stop by the Penisula Art School to see where I will be painting that day. Dates are: July 19 - August 1, 2009.

Click on the link to see all the events: https://www.doorcountypleinair.com/

More Door County

I was pleased to be asked back to compete in the 3rd Annual Door County Plein Air Festival. Wisconsin's Door County is a gorgeous place filled with art galleries, interesting jewelry shops and lots of wonderful people.

I should know, I was part of the inaugural event in 2007. Stayed with a wonderful couple, the Miller's. They couldn't have been nicer or better hosts.

Mr. Miller and I shared a common interest: growing a meadow. He'd been working on his for about three years, and it was a fabulous thing to see when I first arrived at their place.

The unfortunate part is not getting to spend more time with the family that opens their house to you. But, you have to have time to paint! So . . . you have to be out.

Last day of the festival was the Quick Draw Competition. On the waterfront, well anyway within hearing distance of the horn they blow. I found this wonderful little dinghy named Happy Day. I loved the high contrast of values and the patterns in the water. I had to paint it. 8 x 10", Oil on RayMar Panel. Sold at the live auction in the park. What an exciting time!

Snowy Weather

So here we are at the end of the first month of 2009. I don't know how many times it's snowed so far in the new year, but the storms have been lengthy and have filled me with a sense of serenity. I thought I'd post some older photos. Here's one of me out painting on Lynd's Fruit Farm a couple of years ago. The orchards are 5 miles from where I live, and they are particularly beautiful to look at in winter, and even more beautiful when there is snow on the ground.

The bark of the trees changes color in winter, taking on neutral colors with pinkish or greyish overtones. And the bark is shiny and smooth. It is wonderful to walk among the trees and see which one is calling out to be painted. And, it's a difficult subject matter. But I like the linear quality of the limbs against the snow and sky.

Here is a painting done in December 2003. There was the lightest snow falling and just a dusting on the ground which fell in the early morning. I had hosted the artists from OPAS out to paint the orchard in the morning and then have a hot soup lunch and critique back at my house. We had quite a few artists come out that first year. None of us were really hardened to painting in the cold, but we all tried. Some didn't dress smartly at all, and they wanted to get back to the house for hot coffee and heat. So, I didn't paint as long as I might have. This 16" x 20" was done in half an hour or so. It's not a sophisticated painting, but I do think that you get the feel of a raw Ohio morning. I know I was cold.

There was 12" of snow on the ground when I went out a month later in my husband's four wheel drive. It was Super Bowl Sunday but I could care less for football. The snow was coming down hard. Martin was away on a job so I went out to the orchard, sat in the car with the engine running and the windshield wipers going and painted this 10" x 12". I think you can see a big difference in the the quality of the painting, dictated by the state of comfort of the artist. I was warm while painting this one.

Like I said, these are older paintings, from around 2003 - 2004.

This next one was painted in December 2005, the year we had the massive ice storm that took out power in Central Ohio for a week or more for some. Here in "the country", we lost power for about three hours at a time and then the heat would come back on for an hour or more and the cycle would start all over again. We were relatively comfortable through it all.

The storm made for some gorgeous scenes. Among other things, sunrise through freezing fog was awesome. I got up every day at 5:30am and drove around the same route. There were paintings out there for sure. It was amazingly quiet and beautiful. Mostly, I just looked, taking in the memory of it for reference, and taking a few photos as well. I always had my easel with me, but didn't use it often. Still, one morning, I got out of the car and stood in the cold and painted this 8" x 10". Painting at dawn. I was chilled. The light changed quickly. I didn't want to fall into the trap of painting into the light, so I quit within half an hour. I think you have to agree that this is a cold scene. I sold it to someone that understood cold; the painting now lives in the great state of Alaska.

2008 OPAS Zanesville Juried Exhition

Ohio Plein Air Society had back-to-back exhibitions at the end of last year. The exhibition at the Schumahcer Gallery I just wrote about. And then there was the exhibition at the Zanesville Art Center. I entered two paintings and received two awards. Both paintings are 8 x 10's and completed on the same day. I received an Honorable Mention for a painting entitled "Carter and the Grant Wood Mural" It is a quirky kind of painting of a 15 year old fiddle player sitting on a street corner at the monthly gallery hop in Columbus, OH. Across the street from him is a huge mural of Grand Wood's "American Gothic". I will post a photo of it when I locate it.

A better painting is this one which took second place entitled "Granville on a Saturday". It's been written that Granville is one of the prettiest towns in Ohio. It's 8 miles from where I live, and this was the first time I'd painted there. It's home to Denison University where I studied printmaking with Debra Fisher and Ron Abram for a few years in the mid-90's.
The painting was completed on Main Street in October 2008, on a gorgeous October day. It was around 2:00 PM when I started to paint. I knew it was time to quit when my husband Martin delivered a rum raisin ice cream cone to the easel.

Schumacher Exhibition Awards

In November 08, I won two second place awards in the Ohio Plein Air Society (OPAS) Juried at the Schumacher Gallery of Capital University in Columbus. The 6" x 8" oil painting above is titled "8 AM, Lakeside" and was painted during the July OPAS paintout. I was mezmerized by the sun shining on the distant water. The color in this photo doesn't do it justice, it's too brown, but try as I could, I couldn't get it right.

At the end of about an hour, the light had changed dramatically. I was pretty much finished, but would have put on a few more strokes. However . . .

suddenly I saw some folks pushing off from the shore in a sunfish boat with a great striped sail. My love of pattern and color kicked in and I couldn't get the first painting off of my easel quick enough. I grabbed it off the easel and tossed it on the grassy lawn. Frantically I fixed a new panel on the easel and jumped into this second 6" x 8" painting. 20 minutes later, someone yelled that an ominous storm was moving in across Lake Erie behind us. We could feel the wind at our backs, but we didn't stop to look back. We kept on painting, with the feeling that the storm would give us some warning. We would have time to pack up and get out, even if a little wet.

Once again Mother Nature had her way, she opened up the sky pelting us with a driving rain. The easel filled up with water, but the important thing was to protect the painting. Jack Liberman had a tarp and ran over to offer us cover. We stood under the tarp for at least 20 minutes, dripping and laughing. It was an exhilirating experience!

I love these little paintings, they have lives of their own and I was pleased for them, that they received awards.

Edie Dean has a website!

Here's a photo of me painting and talking to my good friend Edie Dean. We are in the Deaf School Park in Columbus, OH.

Edie has just created a website! WOW! It looks great and she keeps adding some great new stuff, like her monoprints rock!

http://www.ediedean.com/

Sold!

I have done such a poor job keeping up with this blog.

A few posts ago I published this painting "Morning Ritual, Banganga Tank". This painting got accepted into the ViewPoint 2008 National Juried Exhibition sponsored by the Cincinnati Art Club. It came home to me from that show, and while I was away at Christmas time someone saw it on my website and asked about seeing it. I took it to my gallery and a sale took place! It now resides in a good home in Columbus, OH.

Pot Luck, Pie and Paint

Day 3 of Ray Hassard's visit. We were invited by Sharon Weiss to attend an annual pot luck lunch on the farm of two artists, Paul and Nora. Many of the artists represented by Sharon Weiss Gallery came and invited even more painters and friends. I invited Edie Dean. And there were also patrons of the arts, and small children searching for the farm cats.

Food galore . . . but, the prize for beauty (and not to mention great taste) was this gorgeous French apple raisin pie. Just look at the art of that crust! I had to add this one to my folder of fabulous food photos.

After eating and partaking of a little wine, out came my easel. I attemped an 8 x 16" oil of Paul's orange barn. I am not sure that it is finished, but Ray had to get back to Cincinnati, and Martin and I had to pack for tomorrow's drive to Canada. It was perfect weather - again.

I am going to try and figure out how to post to the blog from Stratford. Until then, have a piece of pie!

All hail the pumpkin!!!

One of my favorite places is Lynd's Fruit Farm, just 5 miles from my front door in Licking County, OH.

The day after my friend, Ray's art opening, we decided to go out painting. The day was clear and a little crisp, perfect for painting, but we were a little worse for wear after a long night of "fun and games" at the Sharon Weiss Gallery and beyond.

We thought maybe there'd be a painting at Lynd's Fruit Farm. There would certainly be a lot of color in this season of plenty. But there was more than color, there were tons of people. We may as well have been back in India. We couldn't paint in the way of hundred's of people picking out their fruits and veg and waiting in line to pay.

Lynd's had a new sales tent, a startling lime green and white striped one; but, as thrilling as that color was with the outside light shining through it, inside it gave everything a strange green cast.
We decided to take it easy on yourselves and paint somewhere else.

I next suggested Granville, about 8 miles further east. Ray and I both like to paint urban stuff, and Granville has a great Main Street with a lot of activity in town on a Saturday.

We drove up to the top of the hill where Denison University sits. I'd hoped to get a view of the town below. Too many trees, we weren't excited.

So Main Street here we come! We headed down, parked, grabbed the cameras and "cased" Main Street. My eyes were excited by the site of two umbrellas, red and light bluish green. I knew that was a painting. But we restrained ourselves and walked around a little before making the final decision to give that busy stretch of sidewalk filled with people and umbrellas a shot.

I painted over an old painting. Should have taken a photo of that painting, since the landscape in it is no more, but instead is now a Chevy dealership. As I set up my easel, I thought about how to simplify that busy scene. It took me quite a while to sort it all out, but in the end, the painting had a glow about it, and it had the publics seal of approval.

Will post it later, I am off for bed as we leave tomorrow for Stratford, Ontario and the Shakespeare Festival - and of course - some painting in between plays.

Now at the Sharon Weiss Gallery

Ray Hassard and gallery owner, Sharon Weiss, flanking Ray's wonderful pastel painting. His exhibition entitled "Fun and Games" is on this month at Sharon's gallery in Columbus, OH. A real treat for the eyes and soul! Especially in the strange times we are living in.

Congratulations Ray, on your first solo exhibition. Job well done.

ViewPoint 2008

"Morning Ritual" • 16" x 20" • Oil on Canvas
has been accepted into Cincinnati Art Club's Annual National Juried Exhibition ViewPoint 2008.

Juror is Dr. Julie Aronson, Curator of American Painting and Sculpture at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Exhibition opening:
November 7: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Exhibition continues on Saturdays and Sundays, 2:00 - 5:00 PM until November 23, 2008.

Address:
Cincinnati Art Club • 1021 Parkside Place • Cincinnati, OH 45202

Further information:
ViewPoint 2008 Chair, Jim Effler • 513.821.0459 • jeffler2@cinci.rr.com

New Blog Site Announced

Posting a photo of me at my easel during the OPAS competition in New Philadelphia, OH.

Below is a link to a new blog just established by Mary Spires for The Collage of Women Artists. We are 40 women artists in Central Ohio who come together each month for lunch and a program on art. It's brand new, but check it out!

http://thecollageofwomenartists.blogspot.com/

Thanks Edie for the Photo!

At the end of the OPAS plein air competition, with artists scrambling left and right to pack up and start their drive back home, I asked Marc Hanson if he'd pose for a photo with me and the painting he awarded 2nd Place.

Thanks to my good buddy, artist Edie Dean, for sending me this photo, and to Marc for the award.

Taken Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 in the Courthouse Square of New Philadelphia, OH.

Contemporary American Realism: 2008

"Do You Know Your Place" 30 x 40" Oil on Canvas
Copyright 2008 Debra Joyce Dawson

I am pleased to announce that the above painting was chosen for inclusion into the national juried exhibition Contemporary American Realism: 2008. The biennial exhibition is on display at the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art, in Indiana, opened September 3 and continues until November 2, 2008.
http://www.fwmoa.org/exhibits/currently/biennial08.htm

The Museum has published a high quality, four-color catalog to go with this exhibition featuring one work by each artist in the exhibition. Catalogs are for sale, and so is the art.

Admission to the Fort Wayne Museum of Art: Free to members $5 for adults $3 students (K-college) and $10 for families.
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10am - 5pm; Thursday – open until 9pm Sunday Noon - 5pm. The galleries are closed Mondays and major holidays.

Marc Hanson Workshop and OPAS Competition Winner

OPAS Plein Air Competition
2ND PLACE and ARTISTS CHOICE
"Breakfast on the Hoof"
8" x 10" - Oil on RayMar Panel

My good friend Edie Dean and I made the drive to Traverse City, MI in June 2007 to take a 5-day Marc Hanson workshop. Marc gave us an overload of information to digest: in writing, through lectures, and by watching the 7 demos he did in pastel or oil. My favorite part of that workshop was Marc's value to color exercise. Edie and I came away from the workshop with plenty of new ideas and all pumped up to paint.

When I heard that our statewide organization, Ohio Plein Air Society (OPAS) www.ohiopleinairsociety.com was going to host Marc to do a 3-day workshop in advance of our annual plein air competition, I decided to participate. It's the first time I have repeated with a workshop teacher, and I am certainly glad that I did.

Day 1: Marc condensed the things that he'd taught the year before into an intense three days. We started with an overview of materials, went on to a demo of the value to color exercise, and then we painted that exercise ourselves in the heavy duty architectural atmosphere of Dennison, OH, home to the historic Dennison Depot. http://www.dennisondepot.org/

Day 2: We were in the lovely countryside of Tuscarawas County, heart of Ohio's Amish country, beautiful rolling hills, cows, fields, barns, and weather to die for. 16 students - beginners to professionals - watched Marc do a demo on color relationships, asking us to not get bogged down in details, but to concentrate on the values and color relationships that we saw in nature. Sounds easy enough, but it didn't feel that way.

Evening of Day 2: 9:00 PM, the class convened on the Square in New Philadelphia to watch Marc demo a nocture. A real treat for us, and flash photography was not appreciated by his painting eyes!

Day 3: A new and exciting exercise: painting from memory! Marc said that the great teacher Frank Riley had used this exercise with his students. I'd been exposed to some of the ideas of Frank Riley during my classes at Captial U with Michael McEwan www.michaelmcewan.com . But, I'd never done this memory exercise, and frankly I felt pretty charged up about doing it! I think that everyone was surprised at how well we did, including Marc.

I commend Marc for taking each student in the class out of their comfort zone, since that is when you struggle and learn the most. You can read more on Marc's experience in Ohio on his blog: http://marchanson.blogspot.com

Marc went on to jury the 5th Annual OPAS plein air competition. The painting here is one that I completed just an hour or so before the jury. Entitled "Breakfast on the Hoof" • 8" x 10"• Oil on RayMar Panel. Marc awarded it 2nd Place and my peers voted it Artists Choice.

Thanks to my good friend, and fabulous artist, Ray Hassard www.rayhassardart.com for asking me to paint with him that morning. He won 3rd Prize and just a couple of hours later, he won the Quick Draw.

"The Puzzler"

I love this little painting!

At the January '08 Collage of Women Artists juried exhibition at the Lyle Gallery, in Columbus, OH, I received the purchase award for a 6" x 6" painting entitled, "The Puzzler".

The painting is of my husband and was completed as a quick draw at the Ohio Plein Air Society 4th Annual Plein Air Competition, held last year in New Philadelphia, OH.

One Painting, Two Awards

My painting of a solitary barque on the river Creuse in midwestern France hung in the National Arts Club in New York City as part of the Hudson Valley Art Association's National Juried Exhibition.

November 2007, this painting entitled Soirée sur la Creuse (24 x 30", oil on canvas) was awarded the Cincinnati Art Galleries Award at Cincinnati Art Club's annual juried exhibition, ViewPoint 2007.

January 2008, this same painting won Best of Show at the Collage of Women Artists exhibition at the Lyle Gallery, in Columbus, OH.

Create Better Paintings Interview

Recently I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with one of Columbus’ finest artists, Michael McEwan. The interview has been published online at www.CreateBetterPaintings.com

Thanks very much to the Editor in Chief for this opportunity to write for her new online publication, and also for enthusiastically embracing the idea of interviewing an artist who is not widely known. Along with the article are several wonderful images of Michael McEwan’s work, his bio and a little something about me as well.

You can use this Guest Pass to view the article, as well as access all of the other content of interest in the March issue. Please share all of the following instructions with anyone you wish:

How to Use the Guest Pass

1. Go to www.CreateBetterPaintings.com

2. Click on the Member Log-in link in the lower left, at the bottom of the navigation menu list

3. On the Log-in page, key in this e-mail address: guest@createbetterpaintings.com

4. Then key in this password: marchguests

5. Click the Log-in button (please see the note below)

6. At the top of the new page, click Go To Website Home Page

7. Once you're back on the home page, click on any article links that interest youIMPORTANT NOTE: If the system does not work, please contact the editor at editor@createbetterpaintings.com. Do NOT press the Forgot Your Password? link. This will automatically re-set the password to a random number, which will lock out everyone attempting to use this Guest Pass.

Door County Plein Air Festival

I have recently taken part in the Invitational Door County Plein Air Festival. Congratulations to the Peninsula Art School and it's Board and especially to Cinnamon Rossman for doing such a fine job organizing all of this in their inaugural year.

I will be posting photos and more text about my experience painting in this fabulous competition.

Congratulations to one of Ohio's own, Rick Dziak, OPA, for winning 2nd Place. It was a great painting spot Rick. For sure.