Home Run

Just another pencil to stretch my wings...Home Run pencil, 8x16

Inch by inch...

One thing that most people don't understand if they are not artists, is how long pencils take to do. It may be one of the most unappreciated mediums out there. By the time this small piece is done, it will have 20-25 hours in it.

Something new...

I decided to put the oils aside for a while and tackle a few more projects. This is a pencil titled Wild Horses. I work on the pastels during the day, and do the pencils at night while sitting upstairs with my husband. So you will see the progression of several paintings at once.

Swan

I seem to be a little enamored with pencils lately. Not hard to understand because that is where I started. I have always said to my students, you can not paint unless you can draw...it is the foundation that all paintings start.
This is a trumpeter swan that I photographed in Yellowstone years ago. It has a long way to go, but I am enjoying the journey.

San Dimas Festival of Western Arts

This weekend was the 33rd annual San Dimas Festival of Western Art Show. I was honored to be featured artist this year. This is one of my favorite shows to do, the people who run this show, board members and volunteers, really do a wonderful job and take such good care of all the artists. The show was moved to the historic Walker House in San Dimas for the first time this year and proved to be a good move for both artists and collectors. The 100 year old house was the perfect setting for the collection of artwork presented by the 40 invited artists and also for the permanent collection.

I had the privilege of being one of the judges of the student art competition for the 7th year. I swear, the art of the kids gets better every year and I think that we old guys should watch out for the young artists on their way up. If this weekend is any indication of what we have to look forward to, I don't think collectors will be disappointed.

As featured artist, I was also asked to give a talk to students, artists and collectors. I was nervous, but I think it went well. I received a lot of good feedback so I hope those of you that were there enjoyed it. My topic was, "How long did it take you to paint that?"...probably one of the most asked questions we artists hear.

I was shocked and surprised to learn that 5 of my paintings were nominated for awards. At the Saturday gala, I was awarded the bronze and silver medals for Pastels, and the silver for Pencil. It was a great show and sales were good in the gallery and in the quick and slow draw auctions. A sure sign that even though the economy is struggling, we continue to appreciate good art.
Thank you to those of you who made it out to see the show, I know that you were not disappointed by the art that you saw there. And for the rest...you really missed a lot of great art, cowboy poetry, music, food and fun. Maybe you can make it next year!

Next weekend it is the Reflections of Nature show in Fallbrook.