June 2019

Snow on the Canigou or Canigou Enneige, oil on Raymar Panel, 16 x 20"

It is summer already. I just got back from Europe where I enjoyed art and friendship. I got to spend a few days with our son Gerald and his girlfriend, my brother and other dear relatives and friends. I meant to create my blog in Europe, but was stopped by technical difficulties.
 Snow on the Canigou was painted in France this summer from a photograph (and a little imagination). It is the most realistic version yet. I did get to see the Canigou myself on this trip. The weather was mostly overcast and rainy like last year and not all of it was visible.

Alamo Spring Cat, watercolor on Arches, 9 x 12"

 Before my departure, I created two new fun cat pieces and a portrait of Michelle Obama. The portrait  was painted for Honoring Women, a collection of wonderful portraits, abstracts and landscapes created by local women artists participating in the Gentileschi Aegis Gallery Association. It is on display at Our Lady of the Lake University (Moye Hall) till August 30th. The reception will be on July 21 from 2 till 5 pm. I am looking forward to it and to meeting some of my friends and local supporters there!

Josephine, Mission San Jose Cat, watercolor on Arches, 22 x 30"

Michelle Obama, oil on Ampersand wood panel (detail) whole painting is 12 x 36"

The following painting was one of the ones, I felt fortunate to see in Paris. The Nabis (Prophets) were a group of French artists who met and created art from 1888 till 1900. The group included Bonnard, Denis, Vuillard, Roussel, Vallotton and Serusier.

Paul-Elie Ranson, Nabi Landscape, or the Nabi, 1890, oil on canvas

Have a wonderful rest of the summer!

Jan-Feb 2019

Air 1, watercolor

Water 1, watercolor

 This winter, I have been enjoying some old favorite Rock Art watercolors. This series was bought by a dear friend 10 years ago. We are "watercolor sitting" it, till my friend gets back to San Antonio. Part of me is longing to get back to this kind of work. It is all from before my lessons with Edward Povey.

Fire 1, watercolor

Earth 1, watercolor

 In March my art is on display at the friendly La Tuna Grill in San Antonio, TX. This is a new location for me, where I feel at home already.
The strong Huisache tree in the front of the restaurant is starting to bloom. The round, fluffy, yellow flowers always remind me of the Mimosa trees in France. And following the purple Mountain Laurel, it adds another wonderful fragrance to the coming of Spring. I feel like a bee sometimes dizzied by all these sweet smells.

 In April, I will be participating again in the Starving Artist's Show in La Villita.

 At home, in addition to my commissions and the taxes, I have been working on new cat pieces which have brought me a lot of joy. I will share them with you in my next blog.



This painted from memory pond painting found a good home together with Julie's pond painting from my last blog.

Pond Dreams, oil, 16x20"

Recently, I acquired two works from artists' friends: a Cindy Morawski pastel of a thoughtful tiger and a Laura Lopez still life of lifelike pears.

Cindy Morawski's Tiger, pastel

All Cindy's work has beautiful color combinations and she loves nature. My photo, taken at night, does not do her rich colors justice as you can see at www.CindyMorawski.com

 Laura's painting is different from her precise iconic creations. One of the pears looks so real and golden in the sunlight and I like the bold colors. Soon Laura will have a gallery to display her art in. I will keep you posted.

Laura Lopez' Pears, 

Dec 2018

I hope you are having a wonderful Holiday season. I wish all of you a Healthy, Happy 2019!

Abbie's Trees, oil on panel, 9x12"

 Abbie's Trees were painted from a photo in the studio. I kept thinking about O'Keeffe while working on them.

Gracie, graphite on Bristol, 9x12"

 Dreamy Gracie was a challenge I enjoyed.

Pond Reflections, oil on panel, 16x20"

 Pond Reflections were painted on location, by an ever changing beautiful pond.

Springtime Canigou, oil on panel, 16x20"

 Springtime Canigou is waiting for me to have time to evaluate it. I am torn between my old detailed way of working and my new carefree approach.

 All the work above was commissioned and I am very grateful for your trust and the challenge and learning that comes with each new piece. 

 However, I am not accepting any new commissions for at least a year as I want to finish current projects and cut out some time to work on paintings of my own.

October 2018

Green Canigou, oil, 9x12"

Green Canigou is the painting I started working on just before the short television segment.  The foreground was the most difficult part of this painting.

Rosie, graphite, 8x10"

Rosie was a commission I was going to do just in graphite, but I could not bring myself not to include some color into it.

Blue Sky Canigou, oil, 9x12"

Mosaic Canigou, oil, 9x12"

Blue Sky Canigou and Mosaic Canigou were started in the SAAC Gallery at Stone Oak, where they looked tiny because of all the big canvases and the size of the room. They are color studies. I so liked the colors and glass or mineral quality of the first impasto brushstrokes of Mosaic Canigou,  that I decided to treat the rest of the mountain as grout. 

The following paintings date from my time as a student of Edwards Povey. I did not show them much. I am needing more room in my studio and so they are for sale. 

Portrait was done from a photograph taken by Edward of a dear friend who died of cancer. I thought she was beautiful and enjoyed working from a photo of such high quality. At the same time, I felt for her and her family because of her untimely passing. 

Portrait, oil, 11x14"

Inspired by Mary was interesting. We first analyzed several paintings by Mary Cassatt including a mother in bed with her baby and a tea party. Then we were introduced to a scene set up in the studio consisting of a bed with a mannequin "asleep" under the covers, a doll, a black hat and coat, old photos on the wall, a coffee pot on the nightstand, clothes on the bed and a tea set. There were a lot of us around the bed painting the scene, only a few got to paint the head of the mannequin and the doll. From my angle they were unfortunately invisible, but I enjoyed painting the rest especially the tea set and the warm and cold light on the drapery on the headboard and the red blanket on the bed. 

  

Inspired by Mary, oil on canvas board, 12x16"

The Green Line, la Ligne Verte, is a copy of Matisse's painting, done from a photograph. We had just seen a Matisse exhibit, where I had been studying his fauve works.

Copy of Matisse's La Ligne Verte, oil, 12x16"

 

September 2018

Twin Falls is ready. It was a learning experience. I like the final painting so well, I was considering not selling it. There is so much movement, it is so different from my usual static art. It looks wonderful from far away and who doesn't like to look at a waterfall in the Texas heat?

Twin Falls, 16x20", oil on canvas board

 After some much needed rain, I am writing to you about my latest Canigou paintings. I decided I needed to consult my old watercolor sketches, in order to get closer to the real Canigou. After several of these more realistic paintings, I am going to paint one more just from memory.
I realize I never explained in my blog how my Canigou series works. People prepay me to paint them a Canigou palette knife painting. September is, probably, the last month of my Canigou paintings this year. I enjoy how different they are...

Amanda's Canigou, 9x12", oil on Raymar panel

Peach Orchard Canigou, 9x12", oil on Raymar panel

I am so happy with the way Hope's portrait was framed that I decided to include it in here.

Two events in September: I will be at the Comfort Art Festival on Saturday September 15th from 10-4 pm. I will be at the 8th Street Market, Vintage and Antique Store.

I will be at Pioneer Day in Dripping Springs at the Dr Pound Historical Farmstead on Saturday September 22nd from 10-4 pm.

August 2018

Hello again. We survived the extreme heat in Texas. Temperatures are more normal now. I hope you survived the heat and are doing well.

My friend wanted a Gauguin inspired painting and I studied the Gauguin paintings I had seen in Paris this summer. I had chosen to listen to Black (a story about a dog) by Alexandre Dumas. I was enjoying the story and was in for a surprise when just as I was painting this painting the story moved to Tahiti... It was a wonderful coincidence!

Gauguin Canigou, palette knife on panel, 9x12"

Hope, graphite on Bristol paper, 11x14"

Hope, was drawn from a photograph of a beautiful, little girl I met at La Villita.

New Zealand Memory, oil on linen, 11x14"

I finished my very first palette knife from memory painting, started last fall after our trip to New Zealand. It is a subject I want to re-visit.

July 1st 2018

Canigou 1, oil on panel, 9x12", detail

Canigou 2, oil on panel, 9x12"

After a great trip, I am glad to be back with my husband and Gabriel. Misha and Kylie came to visit this weekend which was a treat!
I started a series of palette knife paintings from memory of Mount Canigou, the mountain, for us when we lived in the South of France.

Canigou 3, oil on canvas board, 10x14"

 My first attempts were to put as much information on the canvas as possible. I was filming the process, as the paintings 2 and 3 were pre-sold with their video. With Canigou 3, the computer ran out of charge and there was no way to continue filming, even after I plugged it in. My schedule was busy, I had just an hour or two to work, in order for the painting to be dry in time for my departure. I got frustrated and decided to sit back and see what this painting still needed. The more I looked, the more I became convinced that Canigou 3 was finished.

Canigou 6, oil on panel, 9x12", in progress

 Canigou 6 is a result of too much linseed oil and gamsol on the panel at the start. I had the intention of painting an image that captured just the essence, "a poem instead of a novel" as Jim McDonald calls it. I will just keep trying...

Walking in the forests around Nijmegen

 It was so relaxing to walk for hours in the forests we used to walk in with our parents, when we were little, my brother and I. My real brother was at work, but I had my "adopted brother and sister" and/or their dog with me.

Madame de Pompadour, by  M. Quentin de La Tour, pastel, detail

In the Louvre I saw an impressive pastel exhibit, it helped me realize that there are way more historic pastel portraits than I had any idea of. This beautiful, huge portrait, which I had always assumed was in oil, is one of them.