Palm #3 daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Palm #3, 2017, Jo-Ann Sanborn

Acrylic on cradled board, 4" x 4"

Another palm.  These small paintings are fun to do on cradled board.  It's a multi-layered process, first covering the block with a textured gel, then doing an abstract color layer, then finding the palm in the paint, sometimes completely changing the background, and finally the highlights. 

They can be hung just on a push pin or set on an easel.  You can find a small spot, maybe half hidden, like on the wall under a lampshade.  Every time you turn on the light, you will get the delight of finding a little gem.   

Textured Palm #2, daily painting by Everglades artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Textured Palm 2, 2017, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on cradled board, 4"x 4"

You may have seen these textured palms if you visited my studio at the Esplanade.  I'm now working at home, and they are still fun to do.  The paintings are done on a 3/4" cradled board and can be hung on push pins. They're just lovely on a small easel, too.  Hang three in a row to add color to a skinny spot in your home.  

I've got a few more and will show them in the next few days, but if you want special colors let me know.  

Textured Palm #1, daily painting by Jo-Ann Sanborn, Everglades artist

Textured Palm #1, 2017, Jo-Ann Sanborn

4x4", acrylic on cradled board

Happy Independence Day!  

You may have seen these textured palms in the studio.  They are on a 3/4" cradled board and can be hung on push pins.  I've got a few more and will show them in the next few days, but if you want special colors let me know.  Have a fabulous holiday.  

My studio, and By a Waterway, daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

By a Waterway, 2015, Jo-Ann Sanborn

acrylic on board, 5"x7"

I primarily work out of the Esplanade studio, but am setting up a home studio in the back bedroom of my new home so that I can work there, too.  There's a nice big closet for all the materials artists love to have handy.  My materials includes several types of paint--acrylic, oil, water soluble oil, watercolors, pastels, and a few inks.  Then there's the painting supports--stretched canvas, canvas boards, all kinds of papers, notebooks, sketchbooks, colored paper.  Then something to work with--brushes, pencils, pens with brush tips or not, watercolor pencils, oil and chalk pastels.

Mostly stand at my easel while painting.  I've put in a nice big table so I can sit for drawing and sketching.  That's where I'll do the drawing for an upcoming children's book. At the moment there's a daybed, too, making a comfortable place for family to sleep when the house gets crowded.  

Unlike some artists, I prefer to work in neat surroundings.  I like to know where everything is, and to put it back when I'm finished with it. It helps me to clear my mind for the work at hand, and to focus on the painting in front of me.   I'll post some photos when it's all together!

Kemper tool, and By the Water, daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

By the Water, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

oil on board, 8"x8"

 

I'm really enjoying using the oil paints, and have decided to use them on some smaller Everglades paintings until I am more comfortable with them.  It's quite a change from the acrylics, so I have to adjust to the new medium. 

 

One thing that is very different is that with acrylics I cutting in to form a lot of my large masses, and then build them up again, sometimes doing quite a few layers to get just the look I want.  This method is impossible with the oil paints.  I'm trying to learn to mix a color and put a stroke down and leave it, not to mush it around too much.  I like the colors from the layers below peaking through, and it's too easy to cover a nice bit of color if I'm not careful.   

 

Sometime, such as the grasses in By the Water, I've used a Kemper wipe out tool to draw with, helping me find objects in the painting and to define them.  It cuts right through the paint to the layer below, adding texture, and a bit of linear form.  I'm also using it to sign my oil works, right into the wet paint! 

Favorite things, Palms on a Prairie, daily painting by Everglades Artist Jo-Ann Sanborn

Palm on a Prairie, 2013, Jo-Ann Sanborn

Acrylic on board, 5"x'7"

 

Do you have a group of things that you just love? Things that you have collected through life, or things that have a personal meaning just for you? Things that bring a smile to your face or satisfaction to the soul? Favorite things, that you like to have around, on, near, or close by?

 

Although I'm a coffee drinker, I love a really good cup of tea.  I love a pastel layered dawn, hearing from my children, and having a day with nothing at all to do. I love my art books, with Wolf Kahn's Pastel book, Edgar Payne's Composition for Outdoor Painting and Gruppe on Painting at the top of the list.

 

I love the little dish sitting on my kitchen counter with the little clay pieces that represent each of my grandchildren, much of the handmade pottery pieces I use every day, and a few choice works of art by others.

 

I love the piece of coral that my late husband handed me on Puff the Magic Dragon's beach in Hana lei, and the photo of my sister and I as young mothers sharing a laugh.

 

These are just some of the first things that come to mind.  What are some of your favorite things?