April 16, 2016

Another rather sparse showing today. But we think we know why! In sharp contrast to last weekend, today was a perfect early spring day. It was clear and sunny and beautiful.... a perfect day to play hooky. Those of us who showed up had no regrets, though. We spent time chatting, laughing and, of course, painting.

Today, Madeleine put a new spin on one of our favorite genres, the travel painting.  In the painting below, Madeleine couldn't decide if she wanted to include herself or just paint the Turkish street scene. So she did both! Look closely at the painting below. Madeleine is a small separate cut-out that can be added or moved around on the painting.... or even from painting to painting. We had tons of fun coming up with ideas!

Here's what we mean. Here's Madeleine....

 ... and here's the beginning of her next painting (not to size).

Here's Madeleine standing to the side of her painting, totally out of scale, compared to the figure sketched in the painting. You can thank us now that we thought better of having Madeleine "presenting" each of today's paintings...although it seemed hysterically funny at the moment.

Another travel painting, another dual portrait... this time, it's Susan and Tony posing happily in front of a Phillipine volcano. The volcano is inactive, by the way.

Sara's made some small but telling changes to her dual portrait. She's clarified the shoulder/arm position of her subjects and added background trees. It's amazing how those small changes push the subjects forward and establish foreground/background spaces. We are liking this better each week.

Bill's been hard at work over the last weeks. Here's a sketch from his sketchbook. He loved the soft amorphous quality of these people and wanted to get that feeling in his painting of a spring scene.

Instead, he created the painting below. While he claims not to be completely satisfied with the way the painting failed to match his vision, we count this as a success. We love the Cezanne-like feel, the lush color and the sprightly brushwork. It definitely says spring.

Bill has also finished his Havana street scene below. The people and active shadows add a sense of life that we love.

Vivian is also painting people, but her subject is a monumental portrait. Unfortunately, our color correcting isn't perfect today, so know that this looks much better in real life. Notice how she's bringing the level of detail to match that of the hair? The braid remains a tour de force.

Back to Bill's sketchbook for a misty dreamy travel scene of a place Bill hasn't been to... yet. The style suits the subject admirably.

Tony's nearly monochromatic painting of Chicago makes brilliant use of color to move from the sky through the windmill sculpture to the water.

We're enamored of Ken's latest abstract. The underlying structure is the same as the last few, but the contrast of the organic "windows" with the more rigid bars works very well. Adding interest is the fact that the bars to the right have been softened with water spatter.... accidentally at first, then deliberately. Talk about a happy accident.

Finally, Elaine doesn't have much to show. All she's done is sketch and plan colors. We'll have to wait until next week... although we can tell this looks like a stone carving, so we probably won't see a riot of color. But do join us next week to see more.

And join us next week to see if Pat's fully recovered from her sewing injury. It's been a hard week for her... unable to lift a needle, much less a paintbrush. Speedy recovery, Pat!