Can you believe it's already the end of January? Same here! Still, it's the middle of winter and Vivian makes the most of it, celebrating the beauty of the season with this lone red snow-covered Japanese maple leaf bravely hanging on through the first snowfall. Meanwhile, the stark branches cast shadows on the snow below.
Ken celebrates a different season as he paints morning glories hanging from vines in the middle of summer. The lush colors and detailed foliage form a stark contrast to the minimalist painting above.
In his latest series, Ken revisits his greatest hits from series of the past. Can anyone forget Annie his cat?
Tony continues painting landscapes. Here, he paints a gray autumn day at Montrose Harbor. You can feel the chill in the air as you watch the choppy waves.
Elaine is painting an autumn day, too—a brilliantly clear crisp one. And her subject, the Bahai Temple, sparkles against the clear blue sky. There is ground up quartz in the white concrete, so we're waiting to see if she adds glitter, but we don't think so!
As for the rest of us, we're all about the human touch. People are a favorite subject for most of us, from Hector's abstract figure....
... to Steve's merman. So far, it's a sketch, but join us next week to see the color go in.
Ellen has two subjects and a lot of texture in her flower girl painting, from the bouyant tulle skirts to the bouncy curls.
Sara is mixing media in her two-subject study, using pencils to carve out details on the second head.
And perhaps you are wondering about the beginner plaids and color wheels? Yes, Melissa and Nicola did them. And they are as uniquely lovely as others over the years. We just didn't get photographs. Whether it was shyness on the part of the painter (looking at you, Nicola!) or the fact that we were distracted by the abundance of extra-curricular riches, we just missed them. Sorry! Next week for sure.
Meanwhile, here are some paintings by one of our so-called "beginners," Melissa. She's going to fit right in! For starters, she maintains a sketchbook....
... does some lovely, complex still life paintings.....
... conceptual pieces in a unique panoramic format...
... and she paints plants and people, too. Here, Melissa began with a plant silhouette, then painted her piano teacher in the background.
More of Melissa's watercolor portraits. Her subjects range from artists...
... to her grandmother with an inviting bowl of pistachio ice cream and a wonderfully rendered spoon...
... to quick studies of her housemates.
And Melissa does self-portraits, too. Over the last year, she's done several quick studies of herself. None of these small studies took more than half an hour, but they are recognizable and very expressive.
And now she's working larger, using the mirrored salon rooms to great effect.
That's it for today. Join us next week for more news about upcoming events like Ken's next Ten Cat exhibit and a visit by our good friend, Johanna Silva.
