June 24, 2017

What a beautiful day! Perfect for painting.... and laughing, telling stories and enjoying friends.  Which is what we did. We had a few themes going, too, as you can see, beginning with Madeleine's view from a window in Ireland. The composition and subject are stellar and seem to have kicked off our fascination with environments.

...like this streetscape by Madeleine. It's also in Ireland and features dolphins on its beautiful blue facade. In case you wondered, yes, there are dolphins in Galway Bay.

Tony captures the essence of summer in the city in this sidewalk cafe scene. Look at the sun streaming through the umbrellas, the cool shadows and the beautiful planters.

Tony and Beth each have paintings with uncannily similar subjects, as you'll see. Tony experimented with very wet washes to paint this building outside our studio window. Then, he added the window washer we saw last week.

Today, lacking foodstuffs, Beth looked out the same window and painted the very same building. What a difference a day makes—not to mention individual artists' intentions and visions. Aren't they both lovely?

 Here, Beth returns to one of her favorite subjects.... food! In this mixed media sketch, she begins with a graphite sketch and adds watercolor to bring focus to her sandwich. Could she have been sketching at the cafe Tony painted earlier? (We told you their subjects were uncannily similar!)

It's official—we've turned into foodies! Susan paints a delicious steamed flatfish from a family graduation celebration. What's not to like here? The fish and the garnishes are beautifully framed by the plate and the artist has chosen to swap the actual tablecloth for a more environmentally suggestive one. This is just perfect!

Emboldened by her success with seafood, Susan goes on to paint a crab... moments before she cooked and ate it! The orange/turquoise complementary colors are an excellent choice. All this beautiful food made us very hungry.

And if the fish affected us, can you imagine what Ken's cat's reaction would be? Ken revisits his cat's eye theme after 10 years or so. In this series, his colors are more refined and his technique is tighter. And for the first time in memory, Ken has left some paper white! 

Same cat, but here Ken moves away from stripes and returns to an old technique.... the geegaw. There won't be white space, but there will be brilliant color and beautiful, mosaic-like jewels and shapes. Come back and see.

We're all into animals this week. And Bill is no exception. This little gem is a plein air painting of a backyard bird—all done in paint, no pre-sketching. We especially love the tiny bird against the texture of the weathered wood.

More animals! More series paintings! Bill revisited his painting of a dog and her boy from last week, trying to redo some of the things he was disappointed with. Here are both, beginning with the original. As you know, we love the languid feel of the scene, the touching relationship, and details like the open drawer on the table.

This is Bill's later version. He prefers the dog's fur, his grandson's face and the ottoman, but
also likes some things about the first version. He may revisit, but after some time.

What happened to all the people we were painting? Elaine may be one of the few who didn't get the memo that we've moved on! She's finished another in her series of portraits. We still don't know who this is, but somehow feel he seems like a Nigel (Nigel Wilson, maybe?). Please don't disillusion us if you know him and his name happens to be something like Bob.

Here's the place to be on a summer day. We love Sara's colors—look at the way she blends blues and yellow to form lush greens—and the way her curvilinear lines give this sweet landscape a warm, dreamy feel.

See you next week for more wonderful watercolors!

June 17, 2017

Happy Summer! We've had a string of 90 degree days and our thoughts (and paintbrushes) have turned distinctly summerlike. How do you like these apples? Alan's rich reds are absolutely luscious.

Yes, the apples were on Yupo, as is the triptych below. Alan's favorite support gives these landscapes the quintessential light of summer sun filtering through the trees.
 

And Yupo works for buildings, too, in Alan's hands!

Here is another painting highlighting the sun shining through the trees onto a field of bluebonnets. Is there any need to ask? It's Alan and it's Yupo!

Contrast the painting above with the one below. Same scene, same artist... different support. This is on standard watercolor paper, proving Alan can master both.

Here's another landscape on watercolor paper. Notice the lovely trees? There is not a speck of green in them. Alan is blending blue and yellow on the paper, which accounts for the gradation.

Sara is also painting a landscape and she's achieved a range of greens....

... but she wants more! Here she is methodically combining greens, blues and yellows for a page of greens. She's not even halfway through and already has some exquisite samples.

Ken's in a green mood today too. Green, especially olive green, features prominently in the base colors of his new series.

It's a cat's eye! This painting has all the elements, but done in a decorative manner. This may be a transitional style for Ken.

Tony's greens are even more bright and vibrant than usual, as are the flowers. He's hoping to have the planters really pop.... and they do!

Madeleine bought a new paintbrush. It's a 1/4" angled brush and she is putting it to good use on the mullions of the window below. Beyond the window, we love the colors and the composition. This is more than an excuse to try out a new toy.

Greeta is right on trend. The revisited painting below has lovely greens, beautiful water and great figures in motion. This is wonderfully evocative of summer!

And we can't let Father's Day go by without a tribute! Here Greeta begins a sweet Father/Daughter painting. Notice how she works from the outside in, saving the most defining features for last? We're sure this will be a big success for the holiday.

Bill is painting a dual portrait too. But his is of his grandson and his dog. We are in love with the composition and the languid poses of the subjects. You feel relaxed just looking at it.

We're still into portraits, as you can see from Elaine's painting below. Like Greeta, she's saved the hard parts (the facial features) for last. Tune in next week to see how the man in the corduroy jacket turns out.

We're always eager to see what our newly graduated "old masters" choose to paint. And Beth doesn't disappoint. Here's her breakfast, a delicious scone atop a brown paper bag. We applaud her skill—and also that she was patient enough to paint the scone before devouring it!

Upcoming events and important announcements
 

Have you ever wondered what the moon sounds like? You can find out on Friday night! 

You're invited. You're invited to join the International Chamber Artists (ICA) for the exciting world premiere of Sallie Wolf's Moon Project. 

In a gorgeous original composition for flute, piano, tuba, French horn and narrator, composer Patrick Godon is inspired by Chicago naturalist and illustrator Sallie Wolf, who recorded years of the moon’s north-south shifts on musical staff paper, to create a sometimes ethereal, sometimes ecstatic melody. 

The five-section piece includes a “chant” theme and musical representations of four phases of the moon, interspersed with Sallie’s reflections. Also on the program are lively, evocative, and colorful works for brass quintet by Renaissance composer Tielman Susato and 20^th century Canadian composer Morley Calvert, and the lovable Beethoven Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2. 

Where:
     St. Gregory the Great Church
     5535 N. Paulina
     
When:
     Friday, June 23, 7:30pm

Click on the poster for more information about the concert. It's free, with a suggested $15 donation.

And here is a link to Sallie's page which shows some of her work: http://www.salliewolf.com/moon.html 

 

June 10, 2017

It's been almost a month, but we're back with plenty of wonderful art. And keep reading for an invitation to a concert that is an amazing combination of music, art and science. We think you'll be as intrigued as we are, so we'll get right to the art and the invitation. Read on!

We welcome back Alan and Greeta. We've missed Alan's Yupo paintings, so we'll start with this painting of apples.

This is on regular paper and was an exercise in speed. It only took Alan 60 minutes for this. We love the background and the texture.

Alan perfectly captures a sun set. Between the gradated washes, the reflections, the shadows and the subtly painted boys, what's not to love?

Another great look at light—here the sun shines through trees and a field of bluebonnets.

Alan captures the essence of being a fan at a legendary blues performer's concert. The graphic quality of the face is perfect!

And here, Greeta captures Alan sitting at a bar by the water. We love the mood of relaxed serenity and can assure you that it looks just like Alan.

Greeta's first cat! Can you believe it? Come back to see more of these paintings. She's doing a series of paintings on a full sheet of watercolor paper folded into a booklet. The only requirement? Everything she paints has to have a face. She's right in tune with us all, isn't she?

 We're still intrigued with people, faces and portraits. Sara is finishing her series of birthday self-portraits, beginning with a sketch (not shown), a value study....

...a quick color study....

... and finishing up with the beginning of her final painting. Sara really does look better every year!

Elaine is still working on her portrait series. We're not sure if the portrait is accurate as she doesn't know the subject and is working from a black & white photo, using a new triad of paints (Daniel Smith Mayan Blue Dark, Pyrrol Orange and Quinacridone Gold). Still, it looks like a person, so she's reached her goal.

And here, Elaine has sketched a new subject—again, a person she doesn't know.

Ken has officially moved from corn to cats—in particular, cats' eyes. We're sure he hasn't yet run out of things to say about corn; he just wants to join the in-club and paint faces!

Another cat eye. But Ken is using a different technique in this series.

Susan painted two desserts—a creme brulee and a chocolate coated vanilla sundae. No wonder that cat's eye is so wide! Yum!

 

Herbie looks like he has his eye on the dessert, too. Tony painted this adorable dog—and it's not even his dog!

 

Tony also finished his Chicago cityscape...

... before beginning his experiment with a new wet-in-wet technique...

...and starting a street scene with people. Yes, Tony is all about people, too.

Madeleine effectively contrasts the graphic quality of the celtic cross with the billowing clouds and waving grass.

Here, Madeleine does a variation on her specialty—water. This feels like Georgia O'Keefe's painting of clouds, with the boats floating on the water.

Look closely at the soft texture Madeleine achieves below with a sea sponge.

Below is Madeleine's acrylic painting of Ireland. You can't tell here, but the gallery wrap canvas carries the vibrant colors around the sides.

Bill's gentle landscape sketch is the embodiment of watercolor.

As is his Turkish cityscape. He's used a minimal palette to impart a feel of cohesion.... and it works!

Like all of us, Bill loves series and studies. This Chicago gem started out as a quick sketch....

... and moved on to a more fully realized painting.

Not one to shy away from figures or experiments, Bill did this figure using line alone.

And remember Bill's abstracts? Here they are on a ceramic jar and lid. We're hoping this comes full circle and he paints the ceramic that came from a painting. Confused?

Upcoming events and important announcements

Have you ever wondered what the moon sounds like? You can find out! 

You're invited. You're invited to join the International Chamber Artists (ICA) for the exciting world premiere of Sallie Wolf's Moon Project. 

In a gorgeous original composition for flute, piano, tuba, French horn and narrator, composer Patrick Godon is inspired by Chicago naturalist and illustrator Sallie Wolf, who recorded years of the moon’s north-south shifts on musical staff paper, to create a sometimes ethereal, sometimes ecstatic melody. 

The five-section piece includes a “chant” theme and musical representations of four phases of the moon, interspersed with Sallie’s reflections. Also on the program are lively, evocative, and colorful works for brass quintet by Renaissance composer Tielman Susato and 20^th century Canadian composer Morley Calvert, and the lovable Beethoven Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2. 

Where:
     St. Gregory the Great Church
     5535 N. Paulina
     
When:
     Friday, June 23, 7:30pm

Click on the poster for more information about the concert.

And here is a link to Sallie's page which shows some of her work: http://www.salliewolf.com/moon.html 


Wolf’s Moon is unlike any other piece of music you will hear. It is at once data and song. Sallie Wolf once asked herself, “What might I see if I looked at the moon every day?” And now Patrick beautifully answers, “If you looked everyday, you might hear this.”