Peninsula Art School Workshop

I'm pretty excited to be offered the opportunity
to teach a 3-day workshop at the Peninsula Art School
in Fish Creek, Wisconsin.
Workshop Dates: June 28 - 29, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM each day.

More information:Download the Peninsula School of Art's Summer/Fall 2012 Workshop Catalog.
Page 30: http://www.peninsulaartschool.com/Workshops.html

First Promise of Spring

"Beyond Repair"  • 10" x 7-1/4" • Oil
Copyright 2011 Debra Joyce Dawson

Now that gas prices are up, I am searching harder to find new venues that are fairly close to where I live; or, I am hoping that as I drive past my favorite painting places, that I will find something new to say about what I see. Last week, I out to paint this distant view of an old green house that I discovered one morning about two years ago.

On that day in 2010, I was scouting the smaller roads in Harrison Township for something that really grabbed me. I found it! But I didn't feel comfortable parking with half of my car on the roadway in order to avoid one of the deep drainage ditches that run along both sides of most of the roads in this area. I did stop long enough to make a small line sketch of the place with a fine sharpie marker, and just blacking in the darks of the shadows. Each time I'd come across that little drawing, I'd feel the excitement that I felt that day, and I knew that someday I would have to get back out there to paint.

It happened on March 16. And then I got rained out, so I went back out same time on St. Patrick's Day to finish. This is a scanned image and the color and some values aren't totally correct, but it's enough to give you an idea of the painting. I certainly did enjoy painting this.

And the Winner is . . .

"White Wedding" by Billy Idol - 6" x 12" Oil on Panel

I'm posting the three paintings that you've seen before.

I entered them into a contest to win 8 nights in a 4-star spa resort hotel in Wexford, Ireland. The paintings had to be named with song titles. If I won, I'd go to Ireland and paint in the
2012 Art in the Open Plein Air Competition.

"English Rose" by The Jam - aka 'Hampton Court Rose Garden'
8" x 6" - Oil on 8-ply museum board


"Cliffs of Moher" 6" x 8", Oil on Canvas

On St. Patrick's Day, I received the news that I HAD won!

I celebrated by going out to paint, followed by two pints of Guinness.

I hadn't had a Guinness in quite a while.
It has lots of calories and it's very hard to get a good Guinness.

But I took the risk, and it seemed proper to do it.

Painting My Friends

Me painting at Paul Emory's farm October 2011.

I scanned two paintings that I did last October during a yearly party at Paul Emory's farm in Zanesville, OH. I'm not sure how many years this paintout/chance to buy a painting/chance to eat fabulous food party has been going on, but it seems to grow a little bigger each year. Not only is the party for artists, it's for collectors, animals and kids as well - and I always see lots of my family of artists and friends at this party!

My first painting of the day was a 'landscape with goat'. I titled the painting "Ruby's Goat". The goat didn't belong to Ruby. It was brought in as fodder for paintings. But Ruby liked it, and she wasn't happy when Dad tied it to the very tree to use as a model, the very same tree that I'd painted the year before - entitled "Ruby's Tree". I haven't bothered to take a photo of that painting because I wasn't totally happy with the painting which seemed to be all tan-ish.

After working on "Ruby's Goat" for a an hour or so, artist Sharon Visintine and her husband, John, stopped by my easel to say hello. John was all decked out for fall, and wearing his wonderful Scottish cap topped with red pom-pom.

Red in sunlight, it gets me everytime!

So, I asked John if he'd pose for me.
To my delight, he said, "yes."

My husband, Martin on the left, my model on the right, and my painting on my easel in the front.

"John" 6" x 6" Oil on Archival Canvas Panel by Utrecht
Copyright 2011 Debra Joyce Dawson

Here is the result of the sitting. I massed the shadows and darks first, and was really glad that I did, since the light came and went on John's face due to the clouds above. I had such a good time painting this wonderful man of Scottish decent. I searched for masses and colors, and feel it would have been a stronger painting if the light had stayed steady, but the shear joy of painting had a hold on me, and we won't talk about the red wine.

"Frank" 6" x 6" Oil on Archival Canvas Panel by Utrecht
Copyright 2011 Debra Joyce Dawson

I just couldn't get enough of painting now that I had models. Frank Dean was there at the right time, and I asked him if he'd pose. And he said, "yes." What a delight to be able to paint Frank's celtic ruddy-red complexion, his red hair, and creamy-colored beard!

And here is part of the 'critique while she's painting group'. Reading left to right, artist Rick Akers, Dave Terry's wife, Frank Dean, artist Edie Dean, and artist Dave Terry. Paul Emory is missing from the photo. Dave and Paul were having a field day watching me and making comments on each and every stroke of the paintings. WOW! What a way to paint. They were positive, animated, asking questions, and seemed to really enjoy watching me paint these guys.

When it was done, I just wanted another model.

By the way, I just couldn't get photos of these paintings without glare, so they sat on my counter top since last October. Then one day, I decided to try and scan them. These scanned images have no glare and turned out better than I expected!

Just wanted to share



Photo from the 2011 Door County Plein Air Festival.
Frank Gardner and yours truly, at the Gala Opening.



While looking through several blogs this morning, I found a post from the blog of Frank Gardner. I discovered his work several years ago, and he just keeps growing! What I like about his work is that he paints with his heart, and with a great command of his medium. In person, he didn't disappoint: he was friendly, kind and had his ego in check. I was excited to have the opportunity to meet him last year in Door County. I was also happy that he won the Artists' Choice Award.

He didn't take the pretty route to painting. He stayed true to who he was, and painted what was interesting to him. For instance, during a painting event for collectors to meet artists, most artists were painting water lilies or flowers. Not Frank. He chose to paint an iron dog sculpture, and it was marvelous to see that he also hung that painting on the wall. In the photo above, you can just see that framed work, just above the barn painting with the Artists' Choice ribbon next to it.



 Here's a photo of a photo of Frank painting that dog.

So why talk about Frank? Because his work inspires me. And this morning, I found his December 30, 2011 blog post which talks about artists that inspire him. It's an enjoyable read and the accompanying photos of paintings are wonderful. When you have time, check it out, and enjoy.

http://frankgardner.blogspot.com/2011/12/20-representational-painters-to-be.html

Well, here it is,
CNN and SUPER TUESDAY.

It's certainly been a super Tuesday for me!

I had an early morning date with the treadmill; then off to the grocery to get some healthy food for dinner; next, cooked some soup and prepared for a shrimp stir-fry. I received two emails from my best friends and favorite artists, Edie Dean and Ray Hassard. Yes, yes, and yes!

  And I discovered a 1/2 bottle of Italian wine in my refrigerator from my August trip to Umbria, with yet another wonderful friend and artist, Susie Astleford.

THE WINE: by Cantina TUDERNUM, "Grechetto di Todi" DOC 2010. You may well remember my "wine posts from Italy" - the first "I".


Todi, in Umbria, was our first stop, and I discovered some great Italian wine at the local pizzeria!
You may recall, it's where they cut the pizza with scissors.
And where we saw the wonderful Raffaello exhibition.

 However, as much as I loved my trip to Italy, it's certainly been INDIA, the second "I",  that has consumed my thoughts of late. India. It gets into your blood, and insidiously has crept its way back into my conscious thoughts for several weeks now. Like an internal clock, it seems to happen every year at the same time.

Sherpa Martin carrying my easel and folio of canvases.
He's also wearing my backpack.

The stars and planets aligned last night, as Martin,
(my Sherpa husband - the man my artist friends all want)
flipped through Netflix on TV and found "Outsourced".

The story of an American account exec, who is sent to India to educate
his own replacement, in a call center in India.

This film, for me, was like "going home", as much of it is shot in Banganga Tank,
a favorite haunt of Hassard's and mine.

Taken in 2009, here is the small section of the tank that I focused on painting,
which also appears in Outsourced.

 This independent film was nominated for 17 awards, and won five.
I believe it's because this is definitely a good slice of authentic India,
mixed with romance and comedy.

It featured wonderful scenes of 'the tank',

the famous laundry,

and the labyrinth backstreets of Banganga Tank
on which we have walked, albeit, a little uncomfortably,

for fear of invading the private lives of those who have little, in economic terms.

Click here for a link to a trailer, with a sampling of the music in this movie which is truly wonderful. Just perusing the website for this film made makes me want to see it again.

"Making Your Own Mark"

I'm very happy to be included in an article written by Cherie Haas for the April 2012 issue of The Artist's Magazine.

The article focuses on the artists' favorite tools. Of course I chose my beloved Lowe-Cornell J-2 palette knife.

Along with a blurb of text from me concerning my tool and how it works for me, one of my paintings was also published: 'Salisbury from Old Sarum', 4" x 8", oil, and painting on my 2010 trip to England with my husband, daughter, and granddaughter.

SOLD!

"Green Rain, Lake Erie"

8" x 10"

Oil on RayMar Linen Panel

Copywrite 2010 Debra Joyce Dawson

I was pleased to hear that I sold this painting recently
at the Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati!

The link is to my page on their site if you want to see what other works are exhibited there at this time.

I painted this during last year's OPAS Plein Air Competition,

but I didn't enter it.

All the world's a stage!

Three views of the stage at the Festival Theatre.

At the top, the stage for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
The play started with a rowboat (on wheels) moving through the fog delivering Viola from a violent storm at sea to the fantasical land of Illyria. Lots of props came and went, and great use of the trap door in this production always makes for theatrical magic!

Ah, the set for Moliere's The Misenthrope.

Except for a few upholstered stools, not much changed on stage in terms of props and scenery. The costumes were magnificent, as was the acting, and the translation from the original French into English verse was superb! If only we all had the ability to throw insults with such wit and rhyme.

Widely hailed as Moliere's masterpiece, the play opened in Paris in 1666, with the author playing the lead role of Alceste. His wife played Celimene, the female lead.

And finally, the set for Lerner and Loewe's Camelot.

The tree sat on a rotating piece of the stage. Other props came and went, usually as actors came and went, but the tree was onstage for throughout most of the play. Near the beginning, a live hawk swooped down and across the audience to sit on Merlin's hand who stood at the middle of the stage. The audience loved it!

In 1967, my parents took myself and my best friend to see Camelot, the movie, starring Richard Harris as King Arthur. In the mid-80's, I had the pleasure to see the play, starring Harris, live in Washington D.C. I sat in the front row, Harris appeared out of a tent, in tights, walked to the front of the stage and sat on the edge, right in front of me. A strong memory!

Yesterday, we returned to Columbus after 7 hours in the car. We drove straight to the Drexel Theatre to see The First Grader. A must see movie, based on a true story of a man in Kenya who goes to school at the age of 84. He died in 2009 at the age of 89.

Today, the gym crept back into our lives, and errands, before attending the final performance of Follies at The Garden Theatre in the Short North of Columbus. What a magnificent job the actors did! And a super ending to Martin's vacation.

Balzac's Paintings



Many hours have been spend in this coffee shop.
Martin works on his crosswords, and I work on my sketchbook,
and finally on this trip, I have completed two small oil paintings.



My 8" x 6" oil from Wednesday.
I worked on it a little more today, and and it's not finished,
but I figured I'd post it.

Me yesterday, trying to speed up the drying time of my watercolor.

I loved the look of the gals servicing coffee in Balzac's. They dress in black, and make great shapes. I got out the watercolors and just painted their shapes in my sketchbook, in preparation for going back today to paint them from an angle looking down the length of the coffee bar.

I was lucky that the same two girls were there today and wearing the same outfits!

 I did another watercolor painting today before starting the oil below. I wish I lived closer to this Coffee Shop, not only for the great coffee, but for the wonderful opportunities to paint these scenes.


Another 8" x 6" oil.
I will post the watercolor sketch tomorrow.

A Painting Day

Wednesday morning in the Shakespeare Gardens.
It was cold, very windy, and rainy.

Yesterday after breakfast, we hit the road with my backpack, pochade box and some small panels. We weren't going to see any plays on that day, so there was all day to paint. The weather was blustery and cold; and, who knew when the predicted rain would start?

I had on a couple of shirts, and a warm headband, but the wind went right through my shirts, and the top of my head felt cool. I donned a winter hat and a rain slicker that I'd bought in the Peak District of England some 10 years before. The slicker doesn't breath, making it great protection from the wind, but it is waterproof for only about 15 minutes if it's raining hard. Luckily, I found a glove in each pocket.


Even with gloves, my fingers were numbed by the cold. I took off a glove
in an attempt to try and feel the palette knife I was holding.

Not long after I got set up, we felt the first rain drop. It didn't rain hard, but it did build up to a steady slow misty drizzle. Between the cold, the wind and the soft rain it was getting hard to paint, so I packed it all away saying I'd clean up the edges when I could feel my fingers again.

We went for a hot drink which turned into lunch.
For me a hot bowl of lentil vegetable soup
at the York Street Cafe.

I made a quick sketch of my dessert,

a butter tart in the shape of a swan. Yummy stuff.

Next, back to Balzac's Coffee, where I finally realized my desire to paint inside the cafe. I wasn't sure that I would get a decent painting in there. The lights are dim and yellow. I decided to do some sketches and familiarize myself with the girl and the objects that were in front of me before attempting to paint. Once into the painting, it was hard to tell what colors I was truly mixing. I worked on an 8" x 6" panel, featuring one of the barristas behind the counter. I still have not seen the painting in good light, but I got several compliments from customers that were sitting near me, and Martin gave it a thumbs up.

We walked back to Looking Glass House in the rain. I enjoyed a hot shower, dressed and did some reading and writing in my book before we drove to the Raja Indian Restaurant where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner.

Van Gogh in the news again

Always newsworthy Van Gogh continues to intrigue and be a moneymaker for some.

This short article in the October 18, 2011 Toronto Star, concerns a book written by two Pulitzer Prize winning authors and their new book, Van Gogh, The Life.

I did some research after reading this article and found these links to the 60 minutes interviews and a third video with paintings and readings from Van Gogh's letters. If you like Van Gogh, these 60 Minutes videos are worth watching!
Life and Death of Van Gogh Part 1
Life and Death of Van Gogh Part 2
60 Minutes Overtime - with commentary, paintings and letters of Van Gogh

Here's a quote from Google Books concerning the new book:  "Though countless books have been written about Van Gogh, and though the broad outlines of his tragedy have long inhabited popular culture, no serious, ambitious examination of his life has been attempted in more than seventy years. Naifeh and Smith have re-created Van Gogh's life with an astounding vividness and psychological acuity that bring a completely new and sympathetic understanding to this unique artistic genius whose signature images of sunflowers and starry nights have won a permanent place in the human imagination."

Audio/Visual & Gastronomique Overload

Drinking a bowl of Cafe au Lait in Balzac's Coffee in Stratford, Ontario

Apple pancakes and Canadian bacon lovingly cooked by Jean
at the Looking Glass House B&B.

The latest version of the Yarka watercolor set, now marketed by Jack Richeson Company.

 I am not sure, but the colors themselves seem to be the same as

those in my older Yarka set. But you can see that the half pans

don't stay put in this new packaging. Frustrating.

Balzac's Cafe Latte (large size) and my sketchbook
always a work in progress!

A forbidden photo of the inside of the Festival Theatre.

I snuck this photo not long after we were seated for the performance of Twelfth Night. There were 1400 high school students at this sold out performance. They were a well behaved audience, and the applause at the end was thunderous. I am always amused by the sounds the kids make when there is an onstage kiss, or when at the end of this performance, Count Orsino tells Cesario (after it's revealed that Cesario is really Viola, a girl pretending to be a boy) that she will be his mistress. Elizabethan audiences would have known that Orsino meant she would be his wife, but the kids thought something different.

A glass case in the hallway held an exhibition on wig making.

It's always fun to walk through the halls of the theatre. On display there will routinely be designer sketches of the current season's costumes and sets. Mannequins will be wearing past costumes with photos of actors wearing that costume in a past performance. This year, I was happy to see a display case featuring wig making. I cannot imagine the patience and dedication it takes to be a wig maker. All those knots to tie!!!

A wig in progress.

A view of the net that the wig maker attaches the hair to.

My humble sketch, just a memory for my book.

We were a bit early for the performance, so while we waited I did a ball point pen contour drawing of the long wig, my favorite, since it looked so French, and later I added the watercolor later from memory.

I won't even go into dinner.