This is one of my recent acrylic paintings, “Sundrenched Veraison at Arrington.” It is 16″ X 20″ on stretched linen, gallery wrapped. Veraison is the event of grapes ripening at their own time, producing vibrant rainbows of colors within the grape clusters themselves. I went out to Arrington Vineyards this past August and took numerous shots of the various stages of ripening. It was glorious! This year, I hope to go out and actually paint on site when the grapes burst forth with their colors.
Well, Advent 2015 has come and gone…..the above is the acrylic painting I finished for our Christmas card. And, with the new year starting, I spent time at my easel yesterday working on two of four incomplete paintings that I currently have in progress. As I finish them, I will post, with some midway shots to show my process. My goals for this year are two fold, first to continue of my acrylic painting in 2 series: “Nashville at Night” and “Wine and Vines.” Tonight is the Nashville Art Crawl and I will not only be visiting the art galleries that open their doors tonight, but trying to capture some great night images to work on in my studio towards that collection. And, second, to return to my watercolor painting that has been neglected for nearly a year now. I do love to work in watercolors, but my studio is small, and I really can’t concurrently work in both media, so it means putting the acrylics aside, albeit briefly.
As far as “resolutions” for Art Year 2016, I plan to blog more often, get my webpage up and running, and enter more shows this year. All realistic goals that I know I can achieve! I will return to the painting 5 days a week schedule that I was keeping before the holidays and homemade Christmas put it on hold……and may even try to kick it up a notch to 6 days.
Happy New Year!! Let’s begin!
As I begin this next endeavor, I thank everyone who has encouraged, critiqued, and challenged me as I found my artistic voice in cityscape art here in Nashville. I am stepping into painting a full “collection” I am calling “Nashville at Night” and this, my heart, is the anchor piece. “Noteworthy Reflections” was a painting I saw in my soul when I first saw downtown Nashville at night in the rain. The wetness quadrupled the neon lights of the honky tonks, and made the streets dance. It took more than 3 months to find the right conditions to film the scene between weather issues and crowd control, but the rewards were worth it. Now, I will find the ripe plums to pick for more Nashville art at night, and make the collection come to life. Here again, is “Noteworthy Reflections,” a 24″ X 36″ acrylic painting on stretched canvas (Currently on view at “Artlightenment” the Art and Film Festival in Nashville) and I will post updates on my progress in this series.
As an update to the Art and Film Festival results, I received “Best in Acrylic” and 3rd place Artist Audience Choice awards. Color me thrilled.
This past week I started a new challenge……….trying to reproduce a Master’s work. I chose John Singer Sargent, an American artist (1856-1925) and specifically thought I would try to recreate his beautiful portrait of Mildred Carter painted in 1908.
Since Sargent began his works in charcoal on canvas, so did I…..of course he was working with a live model and at 4 times the size of my canvas (his was 30″ X 40″…….mine a humble 16″ X 20″) but I went for the charcoal in earnest.
Perhaps too much detail, as he blocked in shapes, and not details, but after all, I am trying to duplicate his capture. Next was to start adding color…..and oh, by the way, in modern open acrylics, not the rich oil paints Sargent used over 100 years ago. I think I’ll start with the background first.
Well, that’s as far as I got as of last week. Looking forward to what this week brings……I have some adjustments to make to her hand anatomy, and then I will paint in the dress folds………the skin tones will go in next, and finally the tulle net overlay. Thank you and keep watching for updates!
I have new pieces I need to post, but was so busy prepping for this show, I am behind. So for today, I will just post an iPhone shot of me painting onsite @ the Fall Fest. Love to paint outside, even when it’s 53 and raining.
we’re back in Oregon this week (brrrr waking to 30 degree temps) and carried with us the painting I completed for our son and his wife. When I first began this blog in 2014, I posted the pencil sketch in prep for this painting, so you and see how long it takes me to paint people. 20″ X 24″ acrylic “Wedding Kiss”
Another new painting for the Hermitage Fall Fest, this one an acrylic painting 11″ X 14″ titled “Southern Belle”
Sooooo………haven’t been blogging for awhile, because I have been very busy painting! (and some trips away mixed in as well) I’m still working on paintings for the Fall Fest at The Hermitage, but took a break from that to do 3 pieces of art for the Tomato Art Festival, which was last weekend. This is the larger of the 3, (16″ x 20″) and it won an award! “Spirit of the Festival” award, to be exact, and IT SOLD!!
“Reflections on an East Bank Tomato”
and here are the other two, a mixed media (acrylic and polymer clay) piece titled “King Me” and a gouache painting “Looking at the World Through Tomato Colored Glasses”
Final work.
Spring in middle Tennessee, even though it feels more like summer! Started this 16 X 20 acrylic this past Wednesday…..lots of detail in this wildlife painting, and I’m enjoying every feather! The water, in fact, is NOT purple, that is my underpainting of some shadows. The color of that stretch of Old Hickory Lake was very green, due to the surrounding vegetation, and that will be the next step after I get the mama + 7 painted in.
Progress update on duckies.
Further progress as of this weekend. Finishing this painting this week before another trip…..mostly water highlights and duckling reflections left.
Finished and signed this one today. Varnishing in a couple weeks. Original open acrylic painting on stretched linen 11″ X 14″
Onto the next painting!
bridgetspaintings 