New on the Easel, Pastels!

I Have started venturing into the world of pastels and am really enjoying it. This is my second attempt at portraiture. It's a portrait of one of my grand daughters. I liked the contrast of the darks and lights. I hope to continue to improve.This subject was done on 100lb Bristol vellum.


Here we have a winter scene/landscape. Again, I do hope to improve some. I am right now just experimenting on different surfaces and using different strokes and blending techniques to get certain results. I believe this subject was done on ultramarine sanded Colorfix paper.

So far I have also experimented with watercolor paper as well and sand paper 600 gritt. I do believe I am liking the Bristol vellum the best so far. I will continue to experiment!

F-4 Gibson Mandolin

More Stringed Instruments

Awhile back I had done an electric steel guitar in red and promised a series of stringed instruments. Here are two that I have completed. This first is a little Ukulele with a tropical theme.

This gem has already been claimed by my husband. It is an exact replica of Stevie Ray Vaugh's electric guitar. Complete with worn varnish and scars.
On the easel next is a Mandolin, then a Banjo.

Tornado Angel Finished

Progress Notes

I am almost finished! Just want to do some final touches and paint the sides and this painting is finished. Thank you Barbara for the inspiration . The presence of your father has been with me this whole time. I have felt him and a whole lot of other angels while working.

background going in

I've decided to go with the tornado havoc in the background on this painting to represent the clients original intent to have a painting about remembering the goodness of the "angels " that came after the tornadoes.
I still need to put in the sky and the ground, and touch up a few details here and there.
I will devote all of Monday to this painting and hopefully it will be completed then. If that is what God intends.

Daddy Angel Update

Boots and chainsaw in. Wings need tweaking/shading. I have a background sketched in but I'm not totally convinced that's where it needs to go. I think God keeps leading me to something more ethereal. So, we wait for clarity. This is the hardest thing for me to do.

Angels Among Us

Back in April of this year, Alabama suffered through some terrible tornado storms which ripped through the lives of many of my friends. One of those friends, Barbara, had a similar storm story as we ourselves did. That being the almost immediate help provided by our neighbors and by strangers alike. They came with their chainsaws and backhoes and cleared fallen trees from homes and helped us put our lives back together. Never asking for payment, never expecting it, just lending a loving hand. Barbara's mother's home and property were cleared by such "Angels". They came and they went. I'd like to think that one real angel in particular was in charge of this clean-up, Barbara's father. So, I begin this painting with him and his token chain saw slung up over his shoulder, leading the charge.

The boots have yet to come in, and the background. I will share progress reports as this painting comes to life.

Stevie Ray Vaughn's Guitar

Next on the easel! As I promised, a series of stringed instruments. This one chosen by my husband who is a major fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn. He wanted his guitar done. So it begins.

Another days work at the studio produced some more recognizable features of a guitar. As you can sort of see this guitar is all beat up. The varnish is all but strummed away. Scraped and worked out through the pulling out of the soulful blues rhythm rifts that only Stevie could do. All the fine detail and his initials are next. A little more scaring of the surface as well, oh lets not forget those soulful strings!
Stay tuned for the finished product.

Steel Guitar

This is the hopefully the first in a series of stringed instruments that I will be doing. This first one is the 'Airline String Guitar", 12"x24"acrylic on board. It has a glazed surface and will be framed, as all of them in the series will. For the music lovers out there!

Next Furniture Project

As you can see, this little table is a bit dated! Like the 80's! So, since we are well past the "crafty" phases of home decor' I decided to re-do this little table.

So, off to the gallery yard this one went for a quick sanding and spray of a light turquoise color, followed by the edges rubbed with mineral spirits to show the darker color underneath.




The finished product! Still drying hard yet, so I can't dress it up with anything. I know it looks lonely all by itself there.
Now for that awful wallpaper! ;)

My Latest Painted Project

While not a canvas, I have been busy painting on other surfaces. This table really needed updating. I asked my friend Michele Lee who does a lot of furniture finishes how to do this and she gave me a few pointers and away I went! It really wasn't all that difficult and I have already got another piece in the house I've got that needs re-doing! I will try and get that piece done tomorrow and I will post if it turns out alright. Well, even if it flops I'll show you the end result!

Hot Chocolate

Completing the series in the hot drinks is "Hot Chocolate".
These little paintings were all just for fun and mainly for teaching purposes. This last one was toned in red on an 8"x10" canvas so that the red of the mug could show through. If you look close you can still see the red toning through the creamy top. Also on top of this cup of Cocoa is chocolate curls so that the viewer knows they are looking at Hot Chocolate. Or, at least gets a hint ;)
The top background I chose dark to make the creamy top stand out. It's a Thalo blue/green. The bottom half was yellow over the red toning then burnt sienna finally with a bit of the thalo to darken the shadowing under the base of the cup for consistencies sake. I might have had to use a touch of black there too just to get the darkness in . A stroke of white or two for highlites on the handle and rim. The cup itself is also actually two reds, cad red med, and cad red light. Burnt Sienna toned through out on the cup body with the reds too. Just to tone it done a bit or it would be too bright a red. As you can see the top is just white mashed in this way and that to represent cream and then the brown is just place here and there for the chocolate around the edges , finally topped with the chocolate curls. The curls are tow toned brown and black for depth. Just double load your small flat angled shade brush for this little one stroke curl.

Next Wine and Paint Class

This Lotus Flower painting will be my next Wine and Paint class at 16 Main Gallery on October the 28th @pm. It's a BYOB. Please call and make your reservations now as classes tend to fill up early friends! 256.325. 0161.

Assorted Mini's

Today I spent the day working on some holiday mini's for sale at the gallery or just whatever, for kicks. They occupied my time and entertained me most of all. I got the Fall season represented in there and then the ever present Angels found their way into the scene of course!
Let's see we've got a couple of cornucopia's , a pumpkin, a farm with chickens and a rooster in it. Then the Angels. Two singles and a group of standing angels. The group of angels look almost child like in their stature. I hadn't got the leather hanging strap on the standing group of angels yet as I had run out of time.
That's it folks! That's how I spent today! ;)

Espresso Anyone?

To go along with the coffee painting I did yesterday I did this Espresso painting today at the Gallery during the Madison Street Fest. Lots of visitors today. We all had a great time at the Gallery visiting with the patrons and residents of the town as they got to stroll through Main street filled with vendors of all types including an Artist Alley run by our beloved director Michele Lee. Lisa R, Kristy and myself were the judges for the artists at Artist Alley. There were many great and skilled artisans there to choose from which made the judging all the more difficult. We were to choose best artist and best booth display. There was also a Peoples Choice Award. One of our photographers , Sarah B. did the photography for the ribbon and awards presentations.
Long day, happy little painting to show for it.

Midnight Madness Painting Spree

8"x8"x1 1/2" gallery wrap, (" Bad Hair Day")
10"x10"x1 1/2"gallery wrap, ("Fall's Inspiration")

8"x8", ("Cup of Joe")

10"x20", ("Abstract Angel-2")
I couldn't help myself! I went on a painting frenzy and in 14 hours , with 5 hours sleep time in there sometime, I painted these four paintings. All acrylic. All of them random as you can see. I wanted to have a few small paintings available for the Madison Street Festival this Saturday (tomorrow).
My husband likes the chicken the best, which one do you like?...........

Angels Among Us

Well, it seems that there are many angels walking among us these days and they have been very insistant that I paint them for some reason.







They are all unique and seem to have their own "mood" for lack of a better term. Anyway. There they are. The first one is an 8"x10" and the other three are 4"x12", all 1 1/2" gallery wrap textured canvas, acrylic.

Friday Night's Wine and Paint

These folks floored me with their rendition of the Abstract Angel painting. I was amazed at the way their own unique personalities came out in all their angels. The one on the left seems to be in profile and very ethereal and the center one very regal and proud! The angel on the right was stand up bold stating "here I am ", ready to do business! All a true reflection of each artist. I would love to have each of these artist come work with me again. I really enjoyed myself. Thank you!

Claudia's Earth-Sold

Yes, today this beautiful piece sold from the Gallery right out of my studio! The patron came in and instantly connected with it. Those are the words all artists love to hear as none of the paintings I do are for me. I just paint them and hope that I get to meet that someone special it was created for, that I got to channel the art for. Today was one of those days.
I also a had friend drop by who chose a piece that they just had to have as well.
All in all it was a very fulfilling day to my soul.

The Welder

I have a niece who has moved out on her own and attends college now. She loves to weld. She asked me for a painting for her new home and I was kinda stumped for awhile. I got to talking to her a bit on face book and she referred me to a you tube video of her welding. I thought, "That's it!". I froze a shot off the you tube and painted it with a bit more color. I took some creative license with it on that. So this painting is actually our Emilee, in action, welding.

Athens Art on the Squre

This painting, " The Longhorn" and

this painting, " Three Red Poppies" (a large one, and a small one) all sold at the art show in Athens Alabama Yesterday. This is what my booth looked like before the crowds descended upon us.. Kind of the quiet before the storm! It really was a nice show though. Athens is a very nice town and the people there are of the nicest You will ever meet.
The event was well planned and the layout for all the artisans was well thought out. No major ruts in the ground or soggy spots to deal with. That was a real blessing right there!

Overall I think a good time was had by all. The weather was absolutely perfect! I got to use my square device for credit card services too. I am really glad to be up and running with that this year. I started with that at the beginning of the season or so. It makes it so much easier for folks to make their purchases.
Well, that's it, my report on the show. I loved seeing all my artist friends and getting inspired by all their wonderful pieces.

Band of Angels

I had some fun putting this painting together. It's done in layers. The first is the texture layer. I used some tissue paper to get a roughened feel. Inspired by my friend at the Gallery who just happened to do a painting using this same technique. I applied the tissued with the same color background color of paint that you see here. It's a mottled beige. Next I did the edges, (oh so boring, I know) but the sequence must be told. Then came then actual angel bodies. I hung the painting on my studio wall to work on upright for this. Working rather quickly, I put in the head, then the body color. Next I outlined the body here and there and sprayed it over-all with a rather generous spray of water and let the magic happen! I chose the next angel colors and did the same process again on down the line untill all nine angels were painted. Lastly came the wings, an outline and a mist. Finally when all was dry, a nice coat of varnish was applied.
This piece brings me so much joy when I look at it, I can't express how thrilled inside it makes me feel. I wonder who will end up with this painting? You know, it's always interesting to see just who connects with a painting in just that special way.

The Biker

Yay! The Biker is finished!!!!!!
For those of you who have been following along with this piece, it's been a long time coming. I took special care to go at a slow and steady pace on this commission piece so that it remained a labor of love and not a chore. It has taught me a few things along the way, one of the greatest of which has been patience!
So, it is done. I am well pleased and I do hope the client is as well.

g,Breath of Life

This painting is multi-layered and quite beautiful in person showing much depth not seen in the photo. It is dedicated to my friend Gabriel who signs all her correspondence with a "g".
In the background is a the god head blowing the breath of life into the cosmos, vaguely seen at the center point of the point of the crystals. The three crystals are the trinity of course. and the cosmos and all the spirit selves are in the whole of the background.

Even though I just met you, I knew you. Even though you have left, I shall see you again.

Abstract Angel

I had the privilege to teach a mother daughter duo in my studio yesterday and we did abstract angels. The daughter was only 7 yrs old and she did very well with this technique. The background was too hard for her so she painted hers in but mother and I did this background that you see here with cheese cloth. We pushed the various paint colors through the mesh onto the canvas and of course it left a lovely course pattern in the background for our Angels.
The Angela were "wet painted". That's a term I may have made up. Apply your colors very rapidly with a wet brush dipped into the paints, dragged onto the canvas, then lightly sprayed with a water mister. It will run to give a nice runny misty effect. To stop the process at any point from running anyfurther, simply lay the canvas flat to dry. We did blow dry the background before applying the angels. However, do not blow dry the misted Angels or the lovely drops will get splayed in different directions and ruin the downward drip effect. Unless of course, that's what you want ; )
Hope you try this Wet Painted technique!

The Painted Bra Project

The Painted Bra Art Project

The Painted Bra Art Project is to raise awareness for breast cancer. Breast Cancer awareness month is October. The purpose of the FB page is encourage artists to paint a bra. We will use the FB page to display the painted bras and possibly create an auction during October and donate the money to the American Cancer Society. Please email a picture of your painted bra to annabraden@comcast.net by 6 September 2011 or sooner. That will allow enough time to get all the pictures loaded and several weeks to promote our exhibit. Thanks and have fun painting bras!!

My sister Jamie is a breast cancer survivor , Yay! So you know I jumped all over this little project. So... Much... Fun...! Very tough to paint on a bra though. I didn't have any kind of manikin or seamstress dummy thing to place the bra on while painting. I had a box. Ya, that's right, a box. So. I stretched that bra around the box and said, " Hmmmm, just what do I see? " Then I knew, Freedom from cancer represented by a butterfly! Just as the butterfly struggles and transforms itself from the chrysalis only to burst free, so to is our greatest hope for the cancer patient to unfurl their wings and be free from cancer too. One way or the other, our women folk do become free and fly from those strangleholds of cancer. Either to fly home with the angels or to our earth homes and continue with the message to all her sisters that this disease can be beat.
So this little project is to help carry the message for our sisters and raise some funds too.

Cherries

This little painting is for my September painting class I do believe.
My grand daughter had the job of pitting a bunch of cherries and she did a very good job of it too I might add. She pulled out a pair of joined cherries and proclaimed them twins and said I was to paint them! So, here they are.

Progress notes

Back to progress on this biker painting. Thought I forgot about it didn't ya?! Well, a little here a little there, I've been working on this painting all the time. Last night I finished the paparazzi on the right hand side. Now to finish them on the left! As you can see they are just basically roughed in on the left. I really have painted them twice! I know , I know! Seems like a lot of work to do it that way doesn't it? But I really wanted to make sure that the crowd was were I wanted them and if I wanted to move them around I could do that at this stage, no problem. They will stay faded in the back in the background though I'm thinking. At least for now. Remember, the main character has yet to make an appearance, The Biker! So, we need to save all the drama for him. He gets main stage.
okay, back to painting.........

The Tired Angel

This painting is now complete. May I introduce, "The Tired Angel". 12"x24"x1 1/2" gallery wrap acrylic on canvas with a 3D effect made with a product put out by Liquitex called moldeling paste. It's VERY sticky and difficult to work with.
Here's the story of this angels birth:
A fellow artist at the Gallery had made a 3D painting and had used this product and it intrigued me. Then, another artist at the Gallery, a potter, had me construct and hand build a clay project. If you go back a few post to my lotus flower posting you will get the story on that. All that to say that those two artists inspired me to work with my hands on a painting in a three dimensional way that I had not previously tried. Next inspiration came from a client who wanted me to teach her how to paint angels. I had done three mock up paintings of different style angels and was getting quite tired of them when God said, " Ange, why don't you just paint a tired angel then." So I turned my canvas sideways and did just that. I laid her down and made her 3D, just as all those inspiring moments came together to form and birth one little angel. I pulled out the areas closest to you in the modeling paste, painted them, then some of them were lightly sanded.
So there you have it..

Fiday Nights Wine and Paint Class

Here's a pic of this past Friday night's wine and paint class I taught at 16 Main Gallery. The painting was "Old Glory". Class was full! We learned many different techniques again as always. First texturing the canvas, sketching our images onto the canvases then all the different shadings of reds and whites and blues that go into that simple little flag. Shading for dimension and finally antiquing for a faded fabric look. Of course, there's the wine too for those that do.......

New home for an Old Soul

This is one of those paintings that just comes from a different place in my soul. It was done in 2009 and titled Psalm 30 vs 5. Today this painting went to live with a very special lady. You can look back into the history of this painting through my old blogs back to August 2009 I believe to get the story behind the painting. I couldn't have chosen a better place for this painting to be than with this lady. A more sensitive being and in tune individual I have never met. I believe she is a true empathic and uses her gift to the good of all she meets. Sherrie, enjoy. This one was always meant for you.

Progress on The Tired Angel

So here is the latest update on The Tired Angel painting in 3D. Needs a little more tweaking and she's almost there. I brought a couple of my grand daughters down to the studio today and they wanted to touch her. "Please gramma can we touch her?" they cried in unison. Of course I said, "Yes". After all, why do a 3D piece if it cannot be experienced on the physical level ya know? :)

Next Wine and Paint Class

On the Studio Easel

This is what I am working on at the studio downtown at 16 Main Gallery. Up on the easel is "The Tired Angel". She lies reclined, resting on her arm on either a cushy sofa or cloud like surface. All the areas that are close to you are brought out in modeling medium. This stuff is really difficult to work with. What you are seeing here now is a rough portrait of this angel. I will smooth a lot of the areas out with sand paper when they dry a little more. This medium is very sticky though. The next step is to paint this medium. It's supposed to take paint well.
The end product will be a monochromatic dimensional painting with raw sienna in the crevasses for depth and interest, a sort of antiquing effect. It's all a giant experiment and I am Very excited though about it.
When she's finished I'll tell you the story behind her development and birth.

On The Easel

So, I have one third of the crowd in now along the back. The remaining two thirds go along each side of the painting. They will go in next. I've had some fun with them I must say. I even added a red head in there for a bit of interest. Can you spot him?
The biker will be the very last part that I paint as is my pattern to paint the main subject matter last. That way I can see how much pizzazz and color and interest is needed to make it pop as the main focal point of the piece.
See ya next post..........