Diving girls

These little ones are fun! Painted on recycled wood, they are sold at the Artist's Gallery in Downtown Fairhope. 

Fairhope Diving Girls , Acrylic on recycled wood, 5 x 8 inches

Day 27 of the 100 days~100 paintings

Adventures at the Mobile Museum of Art~Days 19-23

     The classes at the Mobile Museum of Art continued last week with me teaching again from 8-5. When you add in the commute to the city, I spent a total of 55 hours doing just the Museum! Wow! I love to teach and this weeks classes were no exception to the rule! Children amaze me with their talents and fun they manage to have in spite of hiccups along the way.

     This painting was based on "Picassos Harlequin" I had the children draw theirs while I drew mine and the results were fantastic. We really enjoyed painting this one together. My colors were close to those chosen by Picasso for his piece. The children were allowed to make their own color choices and some were interesting indeed! I am never surprised to see what children come up with in their minds and the work from their hands.
   
      This class reminded me of the laser focus both my girls had while growing up. Their concentration while working on their artwork was simply amazing to watch. Both of my daughters are working artists.

          Christina Chavez is a teacher and doing quite well at presenting herself. She works no less than two art programs at two different schools during the school year.  Her organization skills are fantastic! She uses her skills at the Mobile Museum of Art as the Assistant for the Art Blast Program during the summer. She also taught some classes at the Art Blast this summer as well. I have also been blown away with her painting skills increasing as she teaches classes for Paint and Pals. She is receiving commissions and is a real dynamo of talent. I am so proud of the young woman she has become and will be in the future!
      My oldest, Jessica Chavez Price has always been an artist. While this presented some challenges in school she has proven to the world that she can do anything her multiple talents put in her mind. She is a very gifted Master Cosmetologist with a flair that keeps her customers coming back for more! She also has established herself as a designer & creator of fabulous hats and fascinators that are in high demand. She also does some pretty fantastic pet portraits. No wonder she just recently received a Nappie award for Makeup and runner up for artist. She is just going no where but up!

     "Picassos Harlequin"~Loran's version 16 x 20 Acrylic on canvas.

     "Confusion" came about as a study in complements for the class. They had their choice of a fish, a turtle or the lizard. I went for the lizard! The kids were encouraged to arrange them in a fun way and they really thought carefully about the composition. We then turned to paint. They were required to paint the backgrounds in Red, Blue and Yellow, but could choose the fourth. I then wanted them to paint the complements in each of the squares. This is where I found out just how much of a football nation we are here! There were kids that absolutely refused to put orange with blue (Auburn) and Purple with yellow (LSU). I kept telling them it was just complementary colors to no avail! I gave in and let them paint it as they wanted because it just was not worth the battle. As Ricky Trione says, "choose your battles". I then painted the central lizard as a normal lizard~hence the name "Confusion" I planned to give it to the museum for the preschool room, but Christina reminded me she had a classroom too and she wanted it for her room! I am pleased that she wanted this small piece of me to go with her into her world of art for kids!

"Confusion" Acrylic on Canvas 16 x 20 This painting represents the 24th of July.

     This week also included watercolor adventures and this is no exception to the rule. Earlier in the week, we did bubble papers to use on projects. The kids always love the bubble paper project and that day was no exception. We had so much fun creating the paper! The next day, we added the crab on top of one of the pieces. On Friday, we cut and wove back together the artwork and that is what you see here. The children actually created two paintings and put them back together, while I just used the crab and bubble paper.

     "Can you see Me?" Watercolor on paper approx `15 x 20 July 25th

     The children also worked wet into wet after drawing out their turtles on paper using a stencil.
We worked our backgrounds with clear backgrounds, dropping color into the water and watching it run. This re-enforced the one rule of watercolor, "More Water Always goes to where there is Less Water" They loved watching the colors do their own thing, and I heard more than one "Cool"! We then painted the turtles the following day o the background would not move into the art they were trying to create. I was amazed at well the children did with this project and I think they had fun!

"A Trio of Turtles" 15 x 20 Watercolor on paper

This project is always a hit with the kids! The goal is learning to transfer a drwawing, ink it in, and then add color! We start with clear water adding color as we go! The water is placed on the paper first and blown with a straw to make it move. You then add color and watch it run! We then spatter color over the top, this is their favorite part! I have actually sold several of these shrimp in the galleries that represent me.

"Confetti Shrimp" 15 x 20 watercolor on paper July 26th~Day 23 of the 100 days~100 paintings

Exploring the seashore

         Exploring the seashore came about because of the trip we took to the Keys last year. On the way, we stopped again in St Augustine, Florida. We spent a few days ar the state park and rode our bicycles all over the city. Bicycles allow you to park easier, and when the traffic is really bad, get ahead of the crowd of cars waiting for the traffic lights..
         The day we arrived was our first day out from Fairhope and we were tired, but wanted to see the Atlantic ocean that evening. We were not the only people there and I observed the children playing in the water. Several camera shots later, I felt I had the pictures neccessary for some delightful paintings. I changed the bathing suit, punched up the color and just had a lot of fun painting this little girl on the beach.
          This year I am pleased to announce as well that the Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope, Alabama has asked me to teach a class about  "A Painting a Day" Look for them to announce the class soon starting in the fall. I highly recommend the practice and diligence it takes to make a painting a day. It makes you a better painter, allows you to make quicker decisions, and makes painting more profitable (if you have chosen this for your profession). It also is just plain FUN!
"Exploring the Seashore" 12 x 24 Acrylic on canvas

"Rescued and Released"

100 Days~100 Paintings!
I still cannot believe I actually undertook this challenge and completed it! The painting a day has been interesting at best, frustrating at it's worst. All in all, I am quite pleased with the series that has taken me from July to the present.

I know that I will keep painting because the response to the painting a day challenge has been terrific! I have had at least three other artists talk to me about why should they do this type of project. People are buying the paintings as well! to date I have sold no less than 10 of them with 2~4 more pending!

My goals were all met, I am friendlier with my computer, my digital camera, downloading and importing, being able to price reasonably, blogging, and most of all Painting! I am making faster decisions and doing more with less paint and time. The downloading process has gotten faster as well, When I began, it took me over an hour to photograph, download, edit, import, and blog. The whole process is now down to about 20 minutes!

I really wish to thanks my beloved husband of 30 plus years for supporting this project and offering additional challenges along the way! Many was the night he went to bed with me either finishing a painting or in the process of blogging. I also want to thank those of you that are not registered followers for commenting along the way. To my registered followers, many thanks as well! Your comments and encouragement have kept me going to the finish line frenzy! To those who started the inspiration with their own blogs a deep and respectful Thanks!

The next few days find us at the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I will be painting at the festival of that I am certain. Someone asked me recently if I ever slow down. There are so many paintings in my head I doubt I will ever be able to paint them all!

"Rescued and Released" 16 x 20 Acrylic on Canvas $125.00

Next up, I don't quite know at this moment. I only know that I have enjoyed the journey and I will continue with a painting a day....................