A Show and a Sale

My Other Car Is a Jaguar, acrylic/collage, 36 x 24

by Elizabeth W. Seaver

I am pleased that this painting  was selected for a show of work by Maryland, DC and Virginia artists in February at the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts.

Wild Flowers, oil, 8 x 10, Elizabeth W. Seaver

And this painting sold yesterday to a nice lady in a state that shall remain nameless in a top secret sale.  Thank you, nice lady.

In other news, it is snowing, and really cold for Virginia.  I will keep my shoes on for the next little while for sure.  Painting has slowed down some, and I am cut off from my main studio over the weekend, unless we just don't get that much snow.  I don't drive in the stuff.

Welcome to my newest followers!

Dreaming of the Beach

WIP, Umbrella Painting 2, working title, acrylic/printmaking

6 x 18, by Elizabeth W. Seaver

I am a creature of the warm weather.  I like to go barefoot, or if I must wear shoes, let them be sandals.  To my mind, one layer of clothing is the most that ought to be required for any outdoor occasion, unless, perhaps there is a gully washer and then, a rain coat is acceptable.  And to have to wear three layers INSIDE is torture.  But it is better to be layered than cold.

There is so much to keep up with in the winter--a hat, a scarf, a coat, a sweater, and TWO gloves, for pete's sake, not to mention all the regular stuff we cart around.  It is rare that I don't leave something trailing behind me like Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs. 

That's why I love living in a small town.  Someone who knows you well (and knows your wardrobe backwards and forwards) will happen along in a minute and know the item belongs with you.  They'll look after your delinquent item until they see you later that day at church or in the store or walking the dog.  And they'll probably bring you cookies, too, because they know something must be amiss for you to have been so unaware as to have lost your mind scarf.

Once, I left my cell phone behind at the grocery store.  The cashier called the first person in my phone book.  Then, Wendy called me to say I'd left my phone at Giant.

See, Mom, someone's looking after me.  Of course, it is taking a village.....

I Conquered the Beast

Umbrella Triptych 1 (working title), WIP, acrylic/printmaking, 6 x 18

by Elizabeth W. Seaver

I did what I said I would do.  I learned to use my camera to take photos of my work, at least at the most basic level.  This painting is on the turquoise canvas which you saw here.  I turned it to the horizontal, rather than the vertical, and even though I had thought trees the canvas was thinking not.

This is part of another triptych.  I'll show another one on the morrow.  Thanks for all the support while I struggled with my learning curve.  (And it gave me someone to whom I was accountable so I would actually do what I said I would do.)

Cheers everyone, and welcome to my new followers!  Thanks for joining.

Climbing up the Learning Curve

Under Cover, acrylic/printmaking on canvas, 23 x 32, Sold

by Elizabeth W. Seaver

I will not tell you how long ago I bought a new camera, ostensibly so I could take higher resolution photos of my work.  It is a very nice camera.  It came with a very thick, technical book on how to use it.  Bleah!

This week in a fit of supreme grace I threw my point-and-shoot across the room.  It didn't survive.  Today I am faced with the choice to read the instruction book of death, or to go out and buy an new point and shoot.

Tedious reading...................shopping mall
Tedious reading...................shopping mall

I think I'll be getting to know my "new" camera today.  What the hey!  The sun is shining, at least.  Yes, it is a good day to learn to use a camera.

It is getting so excited over there on the shelf, in anticipation of an outing.  Go for a walk??!!  It already has on its leash (which I will be holding on to very tightly so as not to repeat Wednesday's fiasco!)

Since I don't have a way to show you my new stuff, I am putting up an older piece that sold but is a fore-runner of the style of work I am pursuing now.

I'll let you know when I roll down the other side of the learning curve. 

But Does She Ever Finish One?

Canvas 1/5, remember it is only at state 2, acrylic/printmaking

artwork by Elizabeth Seaver

Yes, I do.  I finish lots of them.  But if I plan to put it in a showing of new work (as is the case with some of these latest beginnings,) I intend to save the final reveal for the opening.  If it falls out of the show line-up, I will post the finished painting.

Also, I like to work on several pieces at once, and it is not a linear nor even a particularly circular process.  Some observers might say it appears haphazard, or more kindly, a puzzling, almost mystical ritual wherein the artist moves randomly from piece to piece, muttering to herself and changing her brush water with frequency.  So, I do tend to hop around showing you first this piece and then that one.  You MUST buckle your seat belt.

This piece appeared in its first state in a previous but recent post as the canvas flat on the table.  I will continue to push and pull the lights and darks as I work on it.  I also plan to create some other item of interest in the piece besides the texture--not sure what that's going to be yet.

Welcome to my newest followers.  Thanks for joining me.  All of you who comment on my posts keep me inspired with your work and encouraged by your support.  I do appreciate you!

Little Seed Eater

WIP, Little Seed Eater, acrylic/collage, 36 x 24, by Elizabeth Seaver

I began this painting last week from a photo taken in my friend Aline's wonderful garden.  She snapped several pictures of this gold finch harvesting sunflower seeds last summer.  I have been meaning to paint them ever since, but it wasn't until the icy winter that I found the time to paint the warm weather subject. 

It helps me remember that summer will return.

When I have icicles hanging off my nose. 

(A bit of an ungrateful exaggeration since we've had weather that got all the way to 60 several days in a row--hallelujah!)

The collage underpainting will be slowly covered, disguised and/or muted by the layers of acrylic paint.  This was just the progress of a couple of day's work.

I wanted to say welcome to my new followers and thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments on my January posts.  You are appreciated.

...and a Cardinal in a Green Tree.

...and a Cardinal in a Green Tree, acrylic/collage, 6 x 6, by Elizabeth W. Seaver

And I'm away on a flurry of creative activity hoping to have at the end of it a show to hang at a local venue in June and July.

This has as its foundation, a wooden box panel, 3/4 " wide.  I wrapped it with a map and then covered the map almost entirely with my little bitty block prints.  The tree appeared as I looked at the darks in the back ground, and I pulled the shape out with brush work.

It needed a bird, of course.  I was lucky one flew by.

One down, 25 to go....

Today's Beginnings

The awesome spouse took the child to do the to-ing and fro-ing in the rain today, so I got to spend lots of time in my studio.  Bliss.

Hot tea, cozy corner, wet brushes and paint-covered hands...nothing better.

I hope you all got to do something creative today.

Golden Panel, WIP

I have actually begun to lay in some of the background layers already, but thought I'd show the beginnings of the tree "reveal." 

It's fun to be back at work with several paintings going at once.  I am like a honey bee in a rose garden--or, as we say in Texas, a donkey between two bales of hay.  Earthy place, Texas.  The donkey, hay bale image really suits me better.

Until tomorrow, friends!

To My Sis' By the Sea

,

By the Sea, acrylic by Elizabeth Seaver, 15 x 13

 H A P P Y      B I R T H D A Y !

I am sorry for those of you out in blog-land who do not know my sister, Dorothy.  If you did, you'd have a friend for life.  She'd save the world, if she could, and she's trying, one kid at a time.  She's sure saved me by listening, mothering my children when I needed her to, being on my side (even when I don't deserve it), and earning daughter of the decade, trying to KEEP UP with our parents when I live so far away.

So, I'm sorry for you all, but so happy for me and mine that I have a sister like her.  Happy Birthday, my sister, my friend.  I wish we could be together to have a margarita at Ninfa's (or El Bosque, more like).  I love you.

Red Tree, Working Title

Center panel, Triptych, acrylic, 18 x 6 x 1.5

I had intended an entirely different subject matter for my triptych until I looked at the three panels with that first layer of paint on them. Trees appeared, instead of birds.  (The canvases were even supposed to layer horizontally, not vertically.)  I'll freely admit, it's not the first time a painting has talked back to me when I have dared to give it my agenda.   So, if I can't do birds, I can paint perches.

Triptych?

Must a triptych have hinges?  At any rate, you see three canvases, 18 x 6 x 1.5 and three colors.  The plan is to wind up with three trees.

I'll show the red panel tomorrow.  Follow along to see how they go...

Bolivar, Early Morning-WIP

Bolivar, Early Morning, acrylic/collage, 12 x 16

Sold

Two summers ago, I went with my family to Bolivar Peninsula on the Gulf Coast of Texas, just east of Galveston.  We were celebrating my parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary.  The following September, hurricane Ike blew across the narrow strip of land, decimating the small year-round community of Crystal Beach and larger part-time community of vacation homes.

My sister and mom went to see Bolivar about a year later.  The porch of the house where we had stayed had been ripped off, but the house was still there in large part.  Nearly all the houses around it had been flattened.  Originally, it had been on the second row of houses from the beach with a lagoon in between.  It now sits right on the water. 

I painted this from a photo that my mother had taken that summer we were all together.  This day, the sunrise was particularly breathtaking.

Student Work, Too

Corrinne, In the Garden, watercolor, pen, graphite

I took this photo through the framing glass, so it is not wonderful, but, here is the other work in the LibertyTown student show by one of my students from last year.

I teach a little bit about a lot of different things.  A lot of that teaching has to do with helping each student find his/her unique creative viewpoint and expression.  In her journey, Corrinne tried printmaking, oil painting, acrylic painting, and book arts, but she found that she loved watercolor and pen best.  She has been my student for almost two years now and has made huge strides in being able to produce work that she is proud of and is uniquely her vision.  I am truly honored to have been along for the ride.

See you next week, Corrinne!  Did I get your title right?

Bare Essentials Bag

 

Aline's Bare Essentials Purse, canvas/mixed media/fiber, front

Since I've been at LibertyTown, January has been the month to show the work of the students of the artist/teachers there.  Although I taught a great deal in 2009, many of my students are young, and the holiday season is a hard time to stress their parents (and me) out to get something framed for this show.  Which really means, I wasn't willing to push hard enough to get it to happen! Maybe next year....

So, I was very pleased that Aline (who is a Grownup) wanted to show her little bag from a workshop I taught in November called Taste of the Arts.  Two other artists and I teamed up for an all-day, make-and-take fun items workshop.  Some of the participants made gifts to give for the holiday season.  I was glad Aline kept hers, because it is lovely, just like she is.

It is on display in the main gallery at LibertyTown through January, 2010.  I also have one other adult student showing work, but, unfortunately, I don't have a photo of her framed watercolor, Garden.

This is the flip side of Aline's bag.  Blogger freaked and wouldn't let me center this image, oh well.

I will have a new piece I've been working on to share in my next post.  Happy Creating, everyone!

Coffee Break

 Coffee Break, acrylic/collage, 18 x 24

Birds take them, too, you know.  They might even smoke, although these didn't seem inclined to do so while I was painting.  It's in their contract that they get to take time off from singing songs, digging for bugs and hopping charmingly from branch to branch.  Being charming eight hours a day is exhausting.