Paintings in progress

Monday mornings in my little studio are my favorite as the room is filled with creativity, stories and, if we're lucky, yummy snacks brought in by one of the artists.  

Here's a look back at the paintings in process over the past two weeks.

 A large scale Hibiscus flower receives a coat of paint in various shades of red and pink - perfect for a daughters surf themed bedroom.

Mimi continues to work on a herd of gazelle's romping in the green grass - inspiration provided by a photograph from a friends recent trip.

Liquitex course texture added to the sandy background provides a nice juxtaposition to the smooth center of the oyster shell in this painting by Julia.

A photograph of what looks to be a Charleston Row House is artistically interpreted as Caroline experiments with different sized brushes and brush strokes.

Shelley, a new member of our Monday morning art class begins her first painting.  She has painted the canvas and graphed it into 2 inch squares, the photograph, which she will use for inspiration, has been graphed into 1 inch squares.  Shelley in now in the process of drawing her portrait onto the canvas.  Sometimes it helps to draw the image upside down.

Claude Monet and his impressionistic paintings continue to inspire Mary Pat as she interprets the colors and textures in this beautiful figure painting.

 As Barbara shows, the study of Monet's paintings reveal how he unified his paintings with a limited use of color.  His palette was composed mainly of titanium white, cadmium yellow light, viridian green, emerald green, cobalt blue, ultramarine, alizarin crimson and vermillion.  Black and earth tones were almost completely banished from Monet's paintings.

Barbara finished her Monet reproduction yesterday, just in time for her husbands birthday.  I love her use of color, texture and sense of movement in this painting.

I hope these ladies inspire those who shared a visit with us as much as they inspire me.  Until next week - Cathie

Open Studio

Open Studio ~ Pottery Painting

A new addition to my class schedule is an Open Studio on Friday mornings.  For the past few weeks we've been painting bisque pottery for gift giving at Christmas.

This open studio is a great time for relaxing over doughnuts, coffee and talk while working on our holiday gift lists.  Here, a beloved family pet pooch gets her portrait painted onto a bisque ball.

A Bethlehem star ornament is painted with thoughts of a baby girl whose arrival, according to her big brother, is in ten minutes. (Fortunately for us and his mother his concept of time is still a little bit off!)

While the very young grandmother to above mentioned grand-babies, paints keepsake ornaments for her daughters two boys.  A mother-daughter morning out, how perfect.

And an ornament is hand painted in thanks for a dear friend whose arms and faith are strong and dearly appreciated.

These two ladies, who easily tire of too much chatter, happily share a cozy porch bench and dream of leftover doughnut crumbs.

See you in two weeks ladies - Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!