New Painting - Fibonacci Sequence Included

I finally have a chance at a new painting.  Lots of ideas generating, and this one forced its way to the top.  Extremely interested in nature and God's creation, the Fibonacci sequence has always intrigued and fascinated me.  The entire universe is filled with examples following the spiral formed by this number sequence - sunflowers, pinecones, the way trees and plants branch, cosmos, the way animals multiply... on and on. For some time I've wanted to put it into my work, but really hadn't wanted to take the TIME to lay it all out mathematically. 

It's time.  Here's the beginning.

I'm not going to give you clues right now - but you can follow it as I progress.

This was the initial laying-out of the spiral.  Last night I transferred it to the painting's surface.

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34...

Metal Embossing at Expo

Please see previous post for information on the Artist Expo Houston.  I just finished a metal piece I'm going to take to show to my classes, as I'll be teaching metal embossing.  Here it is in all of its poorly-photographed, wrong-color glory.  I've got a pile of things I need to take to my photographer; in the meantime, you'll just have to do with my off-color photography.  This metal piece is about 18x22.

This is a close up of part of my lilies, so you can see a bit more of what's going on.  I've got a lot of layers and textures, with colors and metal shining through in places.  Remember, though, the colors are really bad in my photograph. 

Guess you'll just have to come to the Expo and see it in person!

Artist Expo This WEEK!!

Wonderful People,

This week is the Artist Expo Houston at the Waterway Marriott Hotel in The Woodlands.  I'm excited to be one of the teachers giving workshops at this great event.  If you're interested in taking some particular art classes, we have a full range to offer.  Note - they're not cheap!  Just letting you know.

HOWEVER, there will be an exhibit hall which is FREE!  Think homeschool conventions.  This is an art convention.  Now imagine the exhibit hall full of art supplies.  Yeah.  They're also usually discounted, and they have giveaways and demos that are lots of fun.  This is a fun place to learn about new supplies, try them out, and pick something nice up on a good sale.

Exhibition Hours are:

Thursday, July 17, 2014 - 9am till 5pm

Friday, July 18, 2014 - 9am till 5pm

Saturday, July 19, 2014 - 9am till 5pm

FREE ADMISSION & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!

Also, (I can't unbold this - sorry!) There will be a juried show featuring prize winning paintings from within a 100 mile radius all around Houston.  Only prize winners in particular shows are allowed, so the level of art will be very high.  This is a great place to see some wonderful art, and is also free to the public.  I am happy to say I have five paintings entered.  Once the judges have awarded ribbons, the exhibit will be open -

Saturday, from 2:00-5:00

Websites are www.artistexpohouston.com and lonestarartguild.org

Hope to see you there!

Artist Expo Next Week!

NEXT WEEK - IT'S COMING!!!!

The Artist Expo is coming to the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.  I have students coming literally from all over the United States!  Check us out and come on in for the fun!  The online registration is closed, but you can still come in and register on site.

Here's the link:
http://www.artistexpohouston.com/

I will be teaching two Metal Embossing classes, which are loads of fun, even for the beginner.  Here's a simple piece I did of a bicycle, of course.  My bicycle and I are very good friends.

Walking through Steps of an Artist Trading Card Series

This is a sweet little series of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) I made.

Not long ago I was sitting in the Panera Bread parking lot looking across the street at a line of birds on the wire.  I did a nice little sketch of them enjoying their peaceful time above Chic fil A and the din of life.

When I heard the subject of our trade was 'Things with Wings,' I knew it would be those birds.  I did, however, substitute the traffic and noise for some peaceful, cool trees.

My purse sketchbooks feed my imagination - they're like cookbooks - recipes not yet tried, but ready to be explored.  My sketchbook gave me the idea for the ATC, and now the cards I made have inspired me to do some nice paintings  I can see a new series of paintings coming out of all of this.  One idea fuels the next.

And, for those students out there - a word about MISTAKES!  As Murphy's Law requires, I went through to the very end of these cards before I made my bad mistake.

My idea of artist trading cards is developing layers.  Here are the steps I took for this set:

1 - Spray paint in the driveway.  Sheets of cool colors, sheets of warm colors.  Found some great artist's spray paint I'm liking these days. Covers well, and is archival.  Yes!

2 - Each set of colors is layered on with a number of stencils and mark makers
3 - Once dry, I cut the big sheets into many of the required ATC size, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"
4 - I cut some cool rectangles smaller to get the complimentary color thing going
5 - Gold stencils on the background
6 - The actual drawing on the cool background
7 - Stick 'em together
8 - LAST STEP:

I had intended to put the date stamp in only one place, on the right side of the blue, hanging out in the sky.  Did it.  UPSIDE DOWN!  ARG!!!  At that point I remembered there's always a way around mistakes - so I started stamping all over, in all directions.  Personally, I think the multiple stamps make the cards richer.  All because of a mistake!

Pretty sure I won't be using the date stamp on my finished paintings, well, sort of sure... but working through layers like this feeds my imagination and enriches my for-sale work.  Try it!  You might like it!

Artists working for Microsoft

Friends.  I adore these two very talented artists!  We worked well together.

Working the Microsoft Grand Opening

 Last weekend Microsoft had their grand opening in the mall.  They trained several artists to work in front of their store demonstrating their Fresh Paint program on this lovely 55" screen.  Loved it!

This is one of my former students - he came down to see me and together we worked this capital up, both signing it 'Me' in our respective corners.  Thanks for coming, Evan - it was fun to see you!

Here are Kim and I, just having fun.  Glad she stuck to the 'wear black' idea. :)

 Here I am doing demos on the smaller tablet of a little boy.  He and his parents were so happy with my picture.  This program is super easy to use.  Believe me, if I can learn it with just a short amount of training, ANYBODY can!  I've used a lot of paint and drawing programs, but this is definitely the best one I've tried.

(by the way, my hair was BRIGHT pink.  This is the very last, faded end of it.)

Here I am doing another demo for these young ladies. There's an easy pull-down menu to change colors, brushes, styles, etc.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  The store was mobbed from start to finish, and it was fun having a part in it.  I couldn't talk them into a free 55" screen, but hey, there's always that Fresh Paint program.