ArtWalk tonight!

ARTWALK TONIGHT! 

5-8 Wednesday, September 29th! 

Oh, dear!  Have to admit that I didn't get today's daily finished.  It was a little larger than usual, 8x10 but that's no excuse.  I know you enjoy seeing works in progress, so thought I'd post anyway. 

So, what distracted me?  First, I had a visitor to the studio and just had to enjoy his beautiful outfit.

 Second, this happy heron came calling.  Who could resist spending some time watching him? 

If it goes well today I'll have the above painting finished and at ArtWalk at the Artist Colony on Marco tonight.   What will be happening? 

Check out my Studio Renovations!

Betty's Mom's 90th Birthday!

Bras for Life on display!

A wonderful collaborative painting by the Colony Artists!

(take a chance to win it!)

Refreshments and music!

If you are on Marco, don't miss it!

  5-8 Wednesday, September 29th! 

Heavenly Bodies preview at ArtWalk

Heavenly Bodies is my entry into the "Bras for Life," a breast cancer fundraiser to be held at the Marco Island Art Center for the Arts on October 6th.  The bras are all cleverly designed to be a fun play on words.  The members of the Marco Island Artist Colony who made bras will preview them at this months ArtWalk, Wednesday, September 28 from 5-8 pm. 

If you attend, in addition to the bras, you can wish Betty Newman's mom a Happy Birthday.  She'll be 90!  You'll also see the Artist Colony first collaborative artwork, and can take a chance on winning it! 

You will also be among the first to see renovations to my little world, my section of the studios.  I've been wanting to paint since we moved in two years ago, and never liked the green walls.  So I went to work, got a little help from my friends, and my bit of Artist Colony space went from this

to THIS in  just three days.  

It's really quite grand and I'm thrilled beyond words.  Come see for yourself! 

Twelve Palm Trees

Twelve Palm Trees

by the Artist Colony at the Esplanade

The Artist Colony at the Esplanade is just about to start the third year in our present location.  We're very grateful that in this dismal economy we have such terrific space to work in.  We've been a bright spot for Marco Island, drawing people from afar to visit our studios and see what's new. 

Today's painting is a first!  Its a collaborative painting, done in part by each of the artists.  Artist and photographer Lee Horton, conceived the idea.  He asked each of the artist in the Colony to paint a three-inch interpretation of a palm tree. He then assembled the paintings into a shadowbox and took the above photo.   

They are fabulous!  Lee took the finished mini-paintings and framed them all in a shadowbox to create this beautiful and collectible artwork. Can you guess which artist painted which piece?  Visit our website to give you a clue!  (Hint, mine is at top right)

The painting is on display at Rightside Studio.  If you like it, you can take a chance to win it in a drawing later.  I've already bought my ticket! 

With a little help from my friends, A New Day daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Before the Show, Jo-Ann Sanborn

 acrylic on board, 7"x5"

$150 framed and shipped

Things are heating up in the studio. I made a decision to upgrade my space a little since it looks like the Artist Colony might have another year in our wonderful Esplanade location. (picture me knocking on wood)

What started out as a small painting project quickly blossomed into a huge renovation! I somehow thought that I could do it myself. I made a plan, bought the materials, gathered my tools, and went to work. It quickly became apparent that I was totally delusional about my time, my strength and my tools. Reinforcements were necessary, and quick!

Fortunately for me, a family friend just happened (thank you, God!) to be on Marco, and came to my aid with superior tools and some better ideas. That, and the help of another friend who has been so good to me in so many ways quickly put the project back on track. I'm very grateful to them both, and also to my studio mates who are both patient and supportive.

The "sticks" are gone, some beautiful floating shelves have taken their place. By the time of my next scheduled shift on Wednesday the painting should be done and I'll be putting things back together.  Stop by at the next ArtWalk, September 28th and help me celebrate!   Photos, and more on our exciting September ArtWalk soon.

Learn, learn, learn!

Quiet Calm, 2011, Jo-Ann Sanborn

Acrylic on Canvas, 24"x36"

available

The list of classes at the Marco Island Center for the Arts has been posted on their new website.  There's still a few kinks to work out, but you'll be able to see the options and to sign up right there!

I'll be leading a critique class in November.  I say leading, because that's what I really believe critique is about.  Critique is about options.

You may have painted the best possible painting, but along the way you've made choices.  Once choice leads to another, and sometimes the focus of the painting is lost as well.  We'll review the principles of art, and explore successful innovation.  We'll have fun, and talk a lot of art with plenty of time for painting, too.  There won't be instruction in any special medium so you can choose your own.  You can sign up for my critique class here. 

I'm really excited about the quality of some of the workshop instructors this year. 
One of my favorites is artist Dreama Tolle Perry.  She and her partner host the delightful radio talk show Artists Helping Artists, and she's the author of several books as well.  Dreama walked into my studio last year and used my clear over-the door- shoe holder turned paint storage as a hint for artists on her show!

Her work is colorful, cheerful, and heartwarming.  She'll be teaching a three day workshop on Marco Island in January.  You can sign up for her class either on the Art Center's website or from Dreama's workshop page.  In any case, sign up early as she will only take 15 students and many of her other locations have already sold out!
Continuing to learn is important to an artist, otherwise we get stale.

Think about expanding your horizons and challenging yourself with a class or workshop. You have something to look forward to, and you'll be pleased with the results!

Odds and ends

Here's just a few things that occured during my blog hiatus.  I received this photo from one of my collectors and was delighted to see my work in this lovely setting. 

I began cleaning the garage.   I was very careful reaching into dark corners, fearful of the brown recluse spider.  My garage had gotten to the point whare a recluse would be right at home!  Didn't finish this, still working!

Lynn was the lucky winner of the quarterly daily painting drawing.  I draw a winner quarterly from those who receive my quarterly newsletter.  You can sign up here.  Once you receive the newsletter, you are eligible for as long as you receive it. 

I'm redoing our website.  If you haven't visited for a while you can see progress here.    In addition, I hope to have a big announcement by the end of the month.  Stay tuned! 

An Abstract Painting

Abstract Grid



acrylic on canvas, 30x30

Good morning.  While I still haven't resolved all the issues and work I had hoped to complete by taking a month off from writing this blog, I've missed you all and have decided that this blog, despite some problems with it, is important to me. 

I've been experimenting with both methods and materials, and really enjoyed doing this abstract piece.  While the Everglades landscape continues to be my muse, doing something completely different expands our thoughts and challenges us in new ways. 

In this piece, I used tape to block off the grid in the beginning, and added layers and layers of paint and glazes and more tape on and off, until the depth I was working toward was created.  Some layers were glazed on lightly, in other cases opaque paint was used.  There's a bit of gold in there, too. 

I'll show you some other new work and let you know what's going on in the arts on Marco Island as we go along.  In the meantime check my website for upcoming classes.  Thanks for waiting me out!