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Month: January 2011

January 26, 2011
Kathy
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Snowy Branches

Posted in Reference Photos

Snowy Branches

Hi Everyone!

More snow today!  The weather forecasters were announcing up to 1 inch of snow and rain. If they had looked out their windows they would have seen over 3 inches and heavy snow!  Sometimes Mother Nature doesn't follow the computer forecast. : – )

Seemed like a good day to take some reference photos for snow, especially snow on tree branches. I've painted several small paintings of snow scenes and it's always good to have good reference photos of how the snow sits on the tree branches. Stronger branches  will hold quite a bit of snow with no slagging. The viburnum is a good example:

             

The snow will sit on the branches and nestle in the crooks and V's of the branches. Pine trees and decorative grasses sag under the weight of snow.  Snow piles on the branches and cause the whole branch to sag under the weight.

                                 

A good understanding of how snow sits on branches with help make a snowy scene painting even better:

Here's a small example.   I'm looking forward to painting more snowy paintings.   Enjoy your day!

January 16, 2011
Kathy
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The Mighty Butterfly Bush

Posted in Reference Photos

The Mighty Butterfly Bush

 

 

Hi Everyone!

We're one of the 49 states that got snow this past week.  It's a great time to pull out the camera and get some great snow photos. I was surprised to see most of the butterfly bushes scattered around the yard have new buds and leaves. Nothing seems to stop these fun plants. Not temperatures in the single digits, not snow, not the shorter winter daylight.  They just keep on doing their thing.

 

                                  

I am looking forward to this summer when they are in full bloom, loaded with butterflies. And to finishing the large painting of these wonderful butterflies and plants that I have started.

January 8, 2011
Kathy
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Lily of the Valley

Posted in Art Work

Lily of the Valley

Hi Everyone!

I have a new painting up on Etsy.  If you are local you may have seen it hanging in a juried show at the Chester County Art Association or in the CCAA Exton Square Mall gallery.

Lily of the Valley from my gardenThis painting is based on a large patch of lily of the valley in a past home's yard. The lily of the valley bloomed every spring, hidden in the shade, under pines trees and rhododendrons. They are a beautiful flower – so dainty and tiny.  I tried to capture their daintiness and the tropical look of their leaves in this painting.

I used a medium gray base for the flowers and built up with lighter grays to white highlights to capture the daintiness of the lilies.  I used blue greens for the leaves with raspberry pinks in the shadows of the leaves to create depth to the painting. I  framed the painting with a antiqued gold frame that has flecks of maroon to emphasize the depth of the leaves and highlight the daintiness of the lilies.

A shop owner on Etsy included my painting in her beautiful treasury. A Etsy treasury is a grouping of 12 items from different shops  based on a theme. It's always a compliment to be including in one of these. If you like lily of the valley, you may enjoy this treasury:  Sweet smelling Lily of the Valley

January 5, 2011
Kathy
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Behind the Easel

Posted in Uncategorized

Behind the Easel

Hi Everyone!

In my earlier version of this blog, there was a spot to add a little quote, saying, or blog description. I never noticed the spot until much later. And since I had not changed it , for months it had the original WordPress filler: Just another WordPress.com weblog.  I found it amusing and left it as an ode to my first blog newbieism.

As we – one of my sons – began to fill out the first pages of starting up this version of the blog, we just wrote “Something Nice” as the  filler to be changed later, after the blog was up and running.  Once the blog was published, we noticed that Something Nice had it’s own prominent spot above the header.  After asking what do you think I should put in that spot and having a multitude of silliness and puns from the rest of the family, someone called out “behind the easel”.  Ah – perfect!  That describes what I envision this blog – a peak behind the easel to see  the stories behind the paintings, early sketches, finished paintings, photos I take for reference,  video clips, etc.  Perfect!

So stay tuned to peak behind the easel!  Take care and enjoy the day!