mARTa's Art

18x24 inches, oil on masonite board.
Not a good photo as I only had my iphone with me in class today.  And yes, this is from life.

With Myspace, Facebook, Blogger and now Twitter,   I've sorely ignored my blog.  I think it is time for it to be revitalized once again.  In time I will change the layout aiming toward a sleeker look.  I hope to be posting more often from the work I am doing in my two art classes.  I hope you'll enjoying watching my new steps.

This is the year!

Okay, it's finally finished. The suggestions Dianne gave me about the green jar helped as did the ones from my professor regarding how to paint shiny bright objects. She said not to try to paint the shine but to look closely for the shapes and values, where hard and soft edges fall and to remember shiny objects tend to have more hard edges.

This is the still life I am working on in school. I'm almost done but will have to go in on my own to work on it because it's due next Wed. and I still have at least 2 more glazes to apply. I have a purple glass on the right and a turquoise one on the left that ned to be glazed in yet. And some minor adjustments to the ribbon and shadow areas

I'm not much in the mood for Christmas. This has been a very difficult yeat for me. So much happened in my life, many changes. It began with menopause which came with oer 40 hotflashes per day, drenched in sweat, then chills and the mood swings. Hormone therapy took care of all that but left me with long and frequent menstrual cycles. Then a neighbor on drugs stabbed my son in front of our house and that left me with nightmares for months. My son ended up in the hospital but not seriously hurt. Soon after that my dear cousin who'd lost his wife a year earlier and left him widowed with 3 small children was killed in a motorcycle accident. And on top of all that my eyesight continued to worsen. I finally 'broke' and had to stop working. My salvation has been my family and friends and of course, my art.
Through my art I can loose myself, sometimes for hours and forget everything else that causes stress in my life. Through art I have made friends; at my community college art classes, at the art museum and my special online friends. My online friends are never far from reach, a blog comment to boost my confidence, an email to tell me I'm thought of, a phone call across the 'pond' when things have been bad and face to face meetings which begin and end with embracess. Yes, art and what if has brought to my life is my lifeline.
Now, I guess I really should begin thinking of Christmas and the tamale preparations!




This is a 16x20 inch oil on canvas. We are working on glazing techniques at school so I thought I'd try my own at home. This took over a week to finish because you have to wait for the glaze layer to dry before adding another layer. I think I was most succesful with the pitcher

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I've been happily painting this week; working on the perspective exercise and starting the master study.  I haven't had much time for anything else, like studying my french lessons or blogging!  I am so in love with the oil painting!  I love it's texture; thick and rich or smooth and buttery.  I  love how I can manipulate it at my whim!  For the Madras painting I've chosen to lay it on thick with marked brush strokes.  I like how up close you can see the globs of paint but as I stand back from it, it looks smooth and glowing.  I do hope it turns out nice and I can hang her up in the house.  

Oil on canvas; 24x30 inches

Still have several hours of work left on this but it can wait till Monday.

School and life are keeping me very busy.  Last week we enjoyed the beach for a few days, then Sunday in Long Beach for the 5k run which was lots of fun.  Monday began with school again where more assignments were given out in French class and Painting class.  I got the perspective drawing approved and transfered onto a canvas.  I also put together a canvas for my master study which will be 39 x 31 inches.  Rudy helped me put the stretcher bars together and then staple the canvas onto it.  This evening I put on a 2nd coat of gesso and hoping tomorrow to put on the undertone.  I have decided on a Matisse for the study.  

Almost done. I need to add a color wheel and some labels before turning it in.
What I learned: 1) Although the oil handles differently than watercolors, the mixing of hues was predictable with my knowledge of watercolor hues and properties. 2) Good ventilation and frequent breaks a must! 3) That I'm going to love painting in oils!