Jan's musings

PRESTIGIOUS AWARD AT SAA EXHIBIT

2010-09-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

"DUST DEVIL" - my painting of a charging black rhino won the prestigious PRESIDENTS AWARD at the Society of Animal Artists 50th Anniversary ART AND THE ANIMAL at the San Diego Museum of Natural History. Pictured is one of the judges - Joshua Rose - editor and publisher of WESTERN ART COLLECTOR and AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR magazine.

MORNING GLOW

2010-08-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

This is the new wolf painting I have just completed. It represents a little change in my technique which is to underpaint with a Burnt Sienna (rust) color to try to create a "glow" and emphasize the reflected light. I'm quite happy with the way it came out - hope you agree!

New Bison

2010-08-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

A new bison painting. I've been experimenting with more "sizzle" in my paintings by ramping up the saturation of my color and also adding colors such as purples and blues. This is a small piece - only 11 x 14 but I'm quite happy with it.

Collectors and Experts on my work

2010-07-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

PHOTO: Me with Kip Forbes at my solo exhibition at FORBES GALLERIES, NY.

“You can almost hear the creatures breathing in Jan Martin McGuire’s paintings. More than just reality, she succeeds in capturing the soul and nobility of beasts and birds big and small”.

Chrisopher Forbes FORBES MAGAZINE

"I was captivated by Jan Martin McGuire's paintings the first time that I saw them. She paints all animal species with the same virtuosity, enabling the viewer to feel actually present in the foreground."

Tom James - Chairman of the Board, RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL

"Jan Martin McGuire is among the top women artists focusing on wildlife today. Her perennial presence in top museum-quality exhibitions is proof of her status in the wildlife art world."

David Wagner

LEADING WILDLIFE ART SCHOLAR AND MUSEUM CURATOR

"Having hunted all over the globe, I have seen and studied nature first hand. Jan's work brings the qualities of nature to the canvas. The colors and texture that she uses make her paintings realistic. Whether it is a beautiful little bird or a hard charging rhino, her work is exquisite."

Irvin Barnhart ART COLLECTOR, RENOWNED AWARD WINNING BIG GAME HUNTER AND CONSERVATIONIST

Baobab and elephant painting

2010-07-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Working on a 36 x 24" painting of elephants and a Baobab tree from our recent trip to Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. Tarangire is a Baobab forest - really unbelievable and beautiful. I'm really enjoying doing the texture of the bark!

Other photo

2010-07-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

For some reason my blog won't let me post the two photos side by side - don't know why! Anyway, here is the photo of me from last week standing in the Serengeti with 100,000+ wildebeests massing to cross into Kenya.

STOP THE SERENGETI HIGHWAY

2010-07-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

James and I just got back from our fabulous trip to Tanzania. One of the highlights was our camp in the remote Northern Serengeti where the wildebeest were massing to begin crossing the Mara river into Kenya. The one photo shows me in front of only a small portion of this herd last week, the other I took in Kenya last year of them during the migration - I am planning a major painting this on based on this.

I have seen this amazing spectacle several times and I am always speechless in awe of what is transpiring. MILLIONS of wildbeest make this trek every year but now there is a proposed highway that will cut across the Northern Serengeti which will have devastating effects on this natural wonder. There is an alternate Southern route which will help many more people and NOT impact the migration. There is a Fan Site on Facebook called STOP THE SERENGETI HIGHWAY that has all the pertinent information along with a petition. Please take a few minutes to look this up. A website is also in the making.

2010-06-11T16:45:00.002-07:00

Africa

2010-06-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

James and I are getting ready for our trip to Tanzania. We are leading a small group to Tarangire, Lake Manyara and two camps in the Serengeti. But first we are delivering some of my art and James' photos to our gallery in Arusha!

Featured in Magazine

2010-05-31T01:13:00.000-07:00

I was featured in the Museum/Events section of WESTERN ART COLLECTOR Magazine June 2010 issue. This is from the COWGIRL UP!!! exhibition.

MY STUDIO

2010-05-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been more active posting to my blog. I've gotten very involved with keeping our Fan page on Face Book updated and I keep forgetting about my blog! If you aren't a fan already on Face Book you might want to check it out. You can access it by clicking on the icon on the homepage of my webpage at www.janmartinmcguire.com

I thought you might find it fun and interesting to visit my studio. I'm a detailed acrylic painter so I sit to paint and I use a drafting table. I'm EXTREMELY messy - I don't understand when I see photos in magazines of artists with their pristine studios! I have paint all over (notice the apron in my chair) me, the floor, the painting table - everywhere!!

From the left:

FILE CABINET

I paint from photo prints - always have - and what works best for me is to have file cabinets with all my photos carefully labeled in color coded files. Now that I have digital I print a few photos from a "scene" and then write the numbers on the back of where I can find them in the computer if I want to look at more. I also have magazine pictures that

I use as back up reference in the files as well.

REFERENCE TABLE

I have a table to my left that has a variety of things, but mostly it is where I layout all

the reference I will be using for a painting. Notice the file that is open and two books on

lions which is the subject of the painting I'm working on. There are also some manilla

envelopes with some "good ideas" for future paintings

CALENDAR

I have a large desk calendar above my painting table. I write paintings on post it notes

that I have to do for exhibitions. I can move the post it notes as needed to adjust the

dates I'm working on them.

BATEMAN

Robert Bateman is my muse and mentor. I have some pages from his books of some

of my favorite paintings up to give me inspiration.

CHAIR AND TABLE

Since I sit to paint it's important that I have an ergonomically good chair. I use a drafting

table that has a handle to easily adjust the height. I paint vertically most of the time but

sometimes I will angle it or lay it flat for washes or for applying varnish.

REFERENCE PHOTOS

Notice that I have several photos taped to my painting table. I usually have one or two

primary reference that I'm working from, with several secondary as back up. I've gotten

very good at taking a good strong photo with the light and composition that I want so that

I can work pretty closely from them. But photos LIE! They don't show all details and/or

the animal can be in a weird position etc. so I ALWAYS double check everything with

back up photos and reference

PAINTING "SUPPORT"

I paint on gessoed untempered masonite. I like the smooth surface to create my work on.

I buy it in large 4 x 8 sheets and then cut it to the size I need. This is 11 x 14.

LIGHTS

I have an inexpensive shop light over my painting table. There is a warm colored bulb

and a cool colored bulb that equal out to fairly "normal" light. Both these bulbs you can

get from Wal mart etc. I disagree with the "you have to paint from natural north light" ,

people do not view your art outside! They view it in their homes under "normal" lighting

conditions!!!

Also, since I'm a detailed artist and I'm getting older, I use a good lighted magnifying lamp.

This one is designed for quilters and has a very long adjustable arm, and, it is on rollers

so I can move it back and forth across the painting as needed.

PAINT

I paint with a type of acrylic paint called Chromacolours. They are manufactured in Canada. The pigment is suspended in resin rather than polymer which I think gives them a softer finish - more like a gouche. They dry slightly slower and they also dry closer

to the color on the palette without the color shift of many acrylics.

PALETTE

I use a Masterstons StayWet palette for Acrylic paints. It has a sponge that you keep wet

and then special palette paper you also soak. This keeps the acrylics from drying out

so quickly. With the air tight lid you put on when you aren't using the paints, the paint

stays wet usually for the entire length of the painting.

HAIR DRYER

I use a hair dryer to dry the paint even faster so that I can layer quickly.

I hope you've enjoyed you little tour of my studio and find it interesting and helpful!

TWO IMPORTANT EXHIBITIONS

2010-05-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

My work has been accepted to the two most prestigious animal art exhibits on the planet - BIRDS IN ART at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum and ART AND THE ANIMAL the Society of Animal Artists annual juried membership show! The vultures - "VULTURE VIEW" was accepted into BIA and "DUST DEVIL" of the black rhino got into the SAA show. Huge honors!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

2010-04-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted recently. We are on a road trip to Florida to do some photography, met with clients and a gallery, and spend a little time with friends out on their boat. I'm SO grateful to the retired couple who stays at our house and takes care of all animals which allows us to do some traveling.

I will post photos from the trip as soon as I can!

BISON STARTED

2010-04-21T05:48:00.001-07:00

I like a clean area to work my fur/hair technique. I use to masque out with watercolor masque, but it tended to create hard edges. So now I transfer my drawing to the painting surface (just the outlines of the animals) and go back and paint them in with my purplish tinted gesso.

GRASSES

2010-04-21T05:32:00.001-07:00

I am now laying in the grasses by "scrumbling". That is, to take an old brush, and scrunch and push it up and down and sometimes around to create the underlying texture of the grass. This seems to work best in sort of a semi dry brush technique. If the paint is to thin (to much water) if creates softer edges which don't look as much like grass.

The second photo is of the grass area underpainting now done.

Lying in the background

2010-04-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

I generally paint sitting down since I am a detailed artist. However, for a large painting like this, lying in the background area I stand up. Here I'm doing the far off tree line.

DRAWINGS

2010-04-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

First I did a drawing about 8 x 10ish to present to the collector. Once approved I then created a grid on the drawing so that I could redraw larger to scale on a piece of 30 x 40" tracing paper.

Other photo

2010-04-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the photo at Wolf Park that for some reason didn't post.

NEW BISON PAINTING

2010-04-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have a big commission from a local judge of a herd of bison. I'm going to show you this painting as I work on it from beginning to end. These first two photos are me in the field researching bison. This is ongoing - I have photos in my files that I took 25 years ago. I'm always out sketching, photographing and studying nature and then when I decide to do a painting I go back into my files and sketchbooks to find materials to use as reference in my paintings.

The first photo was taken during one of my workshops at Wolf Park - www.wolfpark.org. This wonderful place is the only research facility that has socialized wolves. As part of the enrichment of the wolves the biologist periodically put them out with a healthy herd of bison. Because the wolves are well feed, and the bison are strong, there is no killing that goes on, but just interesting interactions between the two species. I'm in the white shirt and you can see in this photo all I'm doing is watching and studying.

I have had lots of research on bison through the years - Yellowstone, Bison National Refuge etc. But I am lucky in that I have three sources of bison close to me. One is a private ranch north of our town, then we also have the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve which is owned by the Nature Conservancy about 20 minutes from us. This is stocked with bison from the private ranch mentioned earlier.

Then we also have Woolaroc - www.Woolaroc.com - which is a wonderful museum and wildlife refuge 20 minutes away. James and I got special permission to go out with one of the ranch hands to photograph longhorns one day - and as you can see and added bonus were some of the bison.

POSSIBLE WORKSHOP

2010-04-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

I am toying with the idea of putting together a combination photos shoot and workshop September 24-26 in Minnesota. The shoot will be at MINNESOTA WILDLIFE CONNECTION which is where James took this wonderful photo of a red fox. At this stage I am trying to gage level of interest. If you think this is something you might be interested in please email me at mcguireandhines@aol.com and let me know1

COWGIRL UP!!

2010-04-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is a photo that was taken of myself, James and Joshua Rose, editor of WESTERN ART COLLECTOR and AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR magazine in front of my paintings, by the official photographer during the COWGIRL UP!! exhibit at Desert Caballeros Museum in Wickenburg, Az.

Photo credit: Jim Culver www.jimculver.zenfolio.com

SEDONA

2010-04-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

James and I visited Sedona on our way home from COWGIRL UP! The landscape was spectacular as seen in this photo. Unfortunately it's been 25 years or so since I've been and when I was there it was a really unique artist community with boutique shops, galleries and studios. Now it is a wall to wall tourist town with lots of tourist trap knick knack and T shirt shops - or else places where people stop you on the street to try to sell you either time shares or jeep safaris. Not my cup of tea at all. Although there was one area away from the main downtown that had a few nice shops and galleries. Yeah, I know - the only thing that doesn't change is change. . . . . . to bad. . . .

Magazine Editor

2010-03-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

James and I with Joshua Rose, the editor of WESTERN ART COLLECTOR and AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR magazine during the COWGIRL UP! exhibition at the Desert Caballeros museum in Wickenburg, Az. This was my first year but my work was well received having sold one nice piece and the museum expressing interest in purchasing another one. Had a really great time meeting some really wonderful people!

Cowgirl up!

2010-03-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday James and I went hiking and bird watching at the Hassyamba River Reserve. Got some great photos of broadtail humming birds. The couple we are staying with have Gambel's quail in the yard every morning and I've been trying to get some good photos of them - but - so far they haven't been to cooperative.

Went to the exhibit last night - very strong show with a good variety of work. Then we went to a big party and met a lot of interesting people - including Joshua Rose who is the editor of WESTERN ART COLLECTOR and AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR magazines.

Today our hosts are taking us for walk and lunch in historic Wickenburg area, and then tonight is the big night with the patrons being able to put their names in on the paintings that they want. Having a great time and hope to post many photos when I get back home!

On our way to Wickenburg

2010-03-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

We stayed the night in Phoenix and are now getting in the car to head to Wickenburg for the COWGIRL UP! exhibit. It's really beautiful here and we will be stopping along the way to photograph cactus and other landscape/habitat for future paintings. I do that quite often. Combining photos I've taken of birds or animals (many times in captive settings) and then inserting them into the correct habitat in a painting. The challenge is watch that the light is coming from the same place. We only have ONE sun so light can only be coming from ONE directions! The trick to doing this is to find a strong shadow line and then match everything to it. If the shadows are all going the same direction you have solved the light source problem!

We are having lunch with the host patrons that we are staying with during COWGIRL UP! Then tonight is the first "official" event with a big BarBQue at a local ranch. Going to be fun!!

Traveling to cowgirl up

2010-03-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Facebook

2010-03-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

If you haven't signed up on Face Book for James and my's fan page please do so! We post to that much more often than my blog or webpage and it has information about both of us. You can access it through my webpage at www.janmartinmcguire and click on the icon - or - go straight to Face Book and either search for McGuire and Hines Studios or click on the link under my profile. Hope to see you there!

Finished painting

2010-03-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here is the completed painting. 8 x 16" - "SNOW PHEASANT".

Add sparkles to the snow

2010-03-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

To add "sparkles" and texture to the snow I cover the areas I want to protect and then dip an old paint brush in white with a touch of yellow paint. I then rub my finger across the bristles causing a random spatter. I use this same technique to create dirt/sand.

Starting the feather detail

2010-03-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Now comes the FUN part!!! Sort of kidding there. . . . It's kind of like building a very complicated jigsaw puzzle! I have taken a photo of the taxidermy mount to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Lots of colors, lots of patterns all overlapping. I have a little bit of a break in that this bird is small in the painting - I can get away with giving the impression of a lot of the detail. If it was a large painting and the bird was front and center up close I would have my work really cut out for me! The painting shows the detail work I've done so far.

Pheasant blocked in

2010-03-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

The head of the pheasant is pretty much done, and the colors have been very loosely laid in on the rest of the bird. Pheasants have very complicated feather patterns that I will have to closely observe once I begin detailing out the bird.

Getting ready to start the pheasant

2010-03-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

I have blocked in the pheasant with a base coat of purple/brown paint in preparation for starting work on him. I've done a little bit more to the grass and snow.

transferring the drawing

2010-03-18T11:11:00.001-07:00

I have flipped the drawing on the tracing paper back over and using the white artist saral transfer paper I am now transferring the pheasant to the surface of the painting.

Pheasant painting continues

2010-03-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Although the snow isn't finished, I thought it was time to start adding the grasses. It's always a question - "what comes first the grass or the snow"? It's tough because there are many layers with snow piled on parts of the grass so you just have to work back and forth into it.

Starting on the snow

2010-03-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here are two pictures of the snow in progress. It's all about lots of layers and also observing colors. With this backlit snow there are lots of oranges and yellows where the sun is hitting it, and lots of blues and violets in the shadows. Snow IS NOT WHITE!!! I'm created the texture of the snow by "scrumbling" my brush - that is - taking an old brush and pushing it around all different directions.

New pheasant painting

2010-03-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have not done a pheasant in years. I decided to give it a go. I went through my pheasant file (I keep file cabinets FULL of photos I've taken over the course of my 27 year career) and came across a nice backlit captive pheasant. Since I LOVE backlighting I knew this would work well - I just had to find the right background. I went to my "grass" file and played around with a bunch of ideas, including going out and photographing some grasses in the right light. When I went to load the new photos into my iPhoto I saw a photo I taken this winter when we had a big snow of fallen over grass with lots of nice backlighting. It clicked with me and I decided I would do it with this background. Here I have drawn the drawing to size 8 x 16". It also shows my two main photo references along with a taxidermy pheasant I will use for feather detail.

Facebook

2010-03-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Please sign up as fans on James and my's FACEBOOK fan page - "McGuire and Hines Studios"!

photos of the wolf girls when they were little

2010-03-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of photos of my wolf girls when they were pups. The one in the kitchen is when they were 2 1/2 months old and we were still socializing them. They were a BIG help at dinner time - NOT!!

The other is me bottle feeding Denali. Notice that I am wearing an oven mitt. Even with her toenails clipped she would shred my hand when she feed, clawing vigoursly as she ate. The oven mitt solved that problem!

Better picture

2010-03-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

I had the cougar painting professionally scanned and the colors are SO MUCH better than the photo I had posted I decided to put the scan up so you could see what the painting really looks like!

Third painting for COWGIRL UP!

2010-03-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

Here is my third and last painting for COWGIRL UP! At the Desert Cabelleros Museum in Wickenburg, Az. It features top woman western artists. This is my first year being invited and I am very honored. I look forward to attending the opening weekend which includes trail rides, BBQ's and dinners and other events bringing the artists and patrons together. This painting is 11 x 14 of a Gambell's Quail called "DESERT DWELLER".

Working on new painting

2010-03-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Almost finished with my last painting for the museum exhibit in Arizona - COWGIRL UP! It's a gambel's quail with an agave plant that has really neat lighting. Think I'll be finished tomorrow - watch for the post!

RED ROCK REALM

2010-03-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here is the finished cougar. The photo is to blue. I had a heck of time photographing it. If I didn't make it on the "cool" side the cougar turned out a neon orange! But this will give you the general idea I hope

Our Wolves

2010-03-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

James and I have two wolves - sisters - named Denali and Willow. I have permits to keep them, but, in reality these are very high content hybrids as their grandfather had some dog in him. We got them from a small zoo that had an unexpected litter. They found another zoo to take the male, but there weren't any zoo's that wanted the females. They contacted me - and after begging James (he bargained for a new lap top), we brought Denali home first and then Willow. I had a long standing relationship with WOLF PARK www.wolfpark.org which is the only research facility in the U.S. that has socialized wolves. I would have never undertaken the task of keeping the girls without having the biologists at Wolf Park to help me. We keep them in the kitchen for 3 months, living with them 24/7, bottle raising them and socializing them. They are NOT pets. They are wolves that recognize James and I as part of their pack. They live outside now in a large enclosure. Here I am feeding them a road killed deer (yes, I have permits for that too). I only feed deer in the winter because of parasites. When I'm not feeding deer they get raw chicken and pork neck bones. Also the occasional road killed rabbit and squirrel. They will be 9 years old in April.

Final detailing

2010-03-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

I am now going back over the cougar, doing all the final detail work.

Next Step

2010-03-04T10:27:00.001-08:00

The next step is to apply a unifying wash, in this case a mixture of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna. I rub the paint before it dries with a soft rag to get rid of any brush strokes.

Working on Cougar

2010-03-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

I use a technique for fur that I learned many years ago from Carl Brenders (top wildlife artist from Belgium). The purpose of the technique is to create "depth" to the fur so that you feel as if you could put your fingers into it. It is VERY time consuming and at times I wonder if it's a waste of time. However, I remind myself that it is like building a house. You have to use studs and joists to frame it out. In the end they do not show, but without them the house would fall down.

The first step is to literally "draw" out the hair coat in a sepia colored paint. Paying particular attention to the way the fur lies and the length of it (in other words short on the face and legs, long on the body).

More work on Cougar painting

2010-03-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

I got the tree done yesterday on the cougar painting. Had a little more trouble than I expected getting it to "stand out" against the background. But a combination of using cool (blueish) washes to contrast against the warm colors of the background and bringing up the values (blacks blacker and whites whiter) did the trick. I also added some more branches than were in the original drawing. This happens many times in a painting, that once I get working on it it will "speak" to me about things that it needs. This is one of the main reasons I work in acrylic - it is easy to make changes along the way!

Cougar Painting

2010-03-02T09:05:00.001-08:00

The background is now done on the cougar painting for COWGIRL UP! I'm happy with the atmosphere and the feeling of distance. Now to start work on the tree and cougar!

Best Overall at Natureworks

2010-03-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

James and I just got home from the NATUREWORKS art show in Tulsa. What a GREAT event! 50+ top wildlife, western and landscape artists from all over the US and other countries. Opening night it was reported that the show did $225,000 in sales! James and I were honored to receive the award for best overall exhibit!

Now - back to the easel to get to work on paintings for COWGIRL UP!

New painting

2010-02-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

I have been invited to do a prestigious museum show next month called COWGIRL UP!! There are several museum shows for Cowboy Artists of America which is a men only group. About five years ago the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Az came up with the idea of doing a show with "western" women artists. The show was an immediate hit! I am the first "wildlife" artist that has been invited to participate and I am really quite excited to try this new venue for my work. This is a painting I am working on for the exhibit. It is 20 x 24 and will be a cougar in an old snag overlooking a red rock valley. Here some of the background has been started.

Natureworks

2010-02-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

James and I will be exhibiting at NATUREWORKS this weekend in Tulsa at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center. This is really the top wildlife art show in the country, drawing exhibitors from all over the U.S. and several other countries. Hope if you are in the area you come by and see us!

Dallas Zoo

2010-02-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

This is an African Wood Hoopoe at the Dallas Zoo Children's area! We walked in and she immediately flew over and landed on my shoulder! How fun is that! I got lots of great photos of her - can't wait to paint her!

Lord Derby Eland

2010-02-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

I have been commissioned by African Hunting Gazette magazine to paint a Lord Derby Eland - also called a Giant Eland for an upcoming article. Since I have not been to Central Africa where they are found I needed to get some reference. While I much prefer photographing animals in the wild, I will use zoos and other captive situations as well. A wildlife artist has to be aware of how being captivity can change the look of an animal such as being overweight or lack of muscle tone. So I always do a LOT of research in my vast library of books, videos and on the internet to make sure I am doing everything correctly including making sure the habitat fits with the animal. I was lucky in that we were in Houston visiting clients and found out that the Houston happens to have Lord Derby Elands - including a MAGNIFICENT male named Winston. We got special permission to get up close and photograph through the fence. You can can how huge this animal is next to me. Actually this species of Eland is not any larger than the other ones - but their horns are much larger than the other species. The eland is the largest antelope in the world. I'm not sure when I will actually start on the painting but I will definitely post on my blog when I do!

Wall Street Journal!

2010-02-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

I just found out that the Wall Street journal did a story yesterday called "There's Little Room For Artistic License" in which I was quoted quite a lot! This is from an interview I did for an artist's magazine that must be where they got it. I didn't know ANYTHING about it until people started emailing me! Here's the link to the story:

the online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704107204575039152044623346.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks

ORDERS!

2010-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Here's my office - full of orders we are processing from our past two conventions! Good problem to have - but space is getting tight! :)

"The Grasshopper Catcher"

2010-02-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

The finished Lilac Breasted Roller painting. This bird kept flying up and down from branches catching insects, which is how I managed to get the photos I worked from for this. At first I wasn't going to put the grasshopper in his mouth - but I decided that made it more interesting. Thus the title "the Grasshopper Catcher".

Roller in Progress

2010-02-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

In this photo I have blocked the bird in with a neutral gray and transfered my drawing on the painting surface using white seral artist transfer paper.

Worked on roller Today

2010-02-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

I worked on the roller today but unfortunately I can't post any photos right now. My iPhoto crashed and I'm having to rebuild it! Hate it when that happens! I should be able to post tomorrow. Actually the painting should be done tomorrow. I'll probably just post the finished painting. It's going very well!

Supposed to snow AGAIN tomorrow here in Oklahoma! I actually like snow - I was born and raised in Colorado. But it's VERY unusual for us to have so much snow here. Anyway, should get lots of painting done tomorrow - won't be much else to do!

Flying Roller in progress

2010-02-06T12:01:00.000-08:00

I have started on my flying roller painting. The image on the left is the photo I am working from, and the painting is on the right. The bird in the photo is not in good focus - my husband James is MUCH better than I am catching birds in flight - my reflexes are just not quick enough! But while this wouldn't make a good photo for him - it works fine for me. Using other reference and my knowledge of bird anatomy and rollers in general I am able to work out the areas that aren't clear in the photo.

I have started the painting very wet and loose - like an oil painter would do. It's much harder in acrylic but can be accomplished. While the background was still wet I also blocked in loosely the leaves of the leaves. These bushes are found all over Africa and are very unique in having little orange leaves scattered amongst the green. I knew that I knew what the bush was, but I always want to make sure so after checking all my reference books I emailed one of my experts in Kenya (my guide Preston) and he confirmed they were Croton Dichogamus.

Once this dried I went back in and detailed the leaves a little. I didn't do to much though. They are not the subject of the painting, and, they are a little in the background. I have then transfered by my drawing of the outline of the roller onto the painting with white artist saral paper.

Getting ready to start a new painting

2010-02-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'm getting ready to start a new painting - a flying Lilac Breasted Roller. One of the most beautiful birds in Africa, and one I've painted many times. . . but never flying! I just haven't ever gotten good enough reference photos before. But last June in Kenya I got some really great ones so I'm going to give it a try. I'll post in progress photos!

New Painting

2010-02-03T16:14:00.000-08:00

A new painting hot off the easel! It's a 9 x 12 and is called "Into the Light". It will be going to the Settlers West American Art in Miniature exhibition in Tucson February 13. I keep huge files of photos I take and I have 26 years worth! This photo I took in Montana over 20 years ago. When I needed a second painting for the show I went into my old files and found the photos I worked from for this. I LOVED the light and textures of the rocks and old logs. Both are pretty much hallmarks of my work. I would love to hear what everyone thinks!

James and I out looking for eagles

2010-02-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

After our marathon 3 weeks on the road going to exhibitions James and I were ready to get outside! We had another big snow storm (very unusual for Oklahoma) and so we decided to go out photographing eagles. Saw 7 but only three were mature (white heads and tails) and we didn't get any good shots. But I got some really wonderful snow and landscape reference. Here James is trying to sneak up close to a tree that had two eagles in it.

New Beginning

2010-02-02T18:15:00.001-08:00

After much thought and prompting by friends and clients I have decided to start a blog. I think it will give greater intimacy and I will be able to post more frequently than updating my webpage. I will post my creative process, natural history and art musings, travel and research in the field with my husband James. Check back frequently!