Painting

So... The winner of my latest give-away is Monica Marlowe.. who I am trying to get in touch with! Monica if you are reading this, please email me from my website: http://megannoel.com/. If anyone knows her and is reading this - please let her know! And I'll try to post some actual ART later today!

Something exciting today! But you won't find it here. You'll have to go to Eden's blog to see it. Let me know what you think.This was so much fun. I got to see what someone else sees in my art.

This is for the lovers of green. It doesn't show up a lot in my work, but I like it. This was a demo painting I did for a class in Littleton last week.Here, the compliment (red-orange) is the highlight on a predominantly green painting. Usually for me, it's the other way around.For more information about this painting, click here to go to my website.

I find myself using the same color palette over and over again. I'm always using Golden paint's Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Transparent Red Oxide, Dioxazine Purple, Turquoise Phthalo, Quinacridone Magenta.My newest favorite (also Golden) is Green Gold. I've just started exploring the possibilities with this color. Maybe this will help me get out of my color rut.Tip: Bookmark this page for help with color.colorschemedesigner.com This site is very helpful for figuring out color combinations including analogous colors, complimentary colors, split compliments, etc. It also shows tints and shades of the primary hue.

Two days in a row! I'm on a streak! Actually I wanted to share with you what I did with that painting from yesterday. I just wasn't 100% happy with it so I made some changes...Now I like her much better. I wish you could see her in person because she's shimmery. I used metallic paint so she has a glow. What do you think? Do you like her better now?

12×12 inches oil © 2013 Takeyce Walter Available. Please email me for purchasing options. A still day, and a view out on the lake. It’s so still. I get lost in the beauty of it for a few moments that seem like forever. This painting and several others will be displayed at the SaratogaArtFest Center and Gallery Group Exhibition now through ArtsFest weekend on June 6-9, 2013. The Grand Opening Artists Reception will be held this Monday, May 20 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. The Gallery is located at 38 Van Dam Street, Saratoga Springs, NY. I am honored to be exhibiting with three other great visual artists this year – a sculptor, photographer, and another painter. I’m sure it will be a wonderful show. Kathleen Lucey, the curator always does such a wonderful job choosing pieces that are exciting and interesting to experience. If you’re local – please come out to see us! Until next time… Takeyce Visit A Fine Art Blog. Become a Fan on Facebook

Lavender SkyThis is another in my tree series featuring various collage elements. Careful inspection reveals lace paper, corrugated paper, and watercolor paper all covered securely with crystal clear epoxy resin.For more information, click here to go to my website.

Once again, it's been too long since I've posted anything...but that's because I've been busy! This past week was jam-packed with things we did. I went to a Mother's Day tea at the senior center and won a cute garden stone...Then HB and I both did the monthly walk sponsored by one of the local medical groups. And of course, I went to the painting group yesterday. Here's a picture from a week ago...not everyone was there yet...and many of us were up roaming around looking at everyone else's paintings. The instructor is on vacation this month so we're all on our own.And finally, I've been working on some new Pixie Girls. This drawing took me quite awhile to finish.I did two girls together...sisters or best friends. I may add some clothes later on but for now I'm ready to work on something else.And that's just what I did...She isn't completely finished yet but I'm going to show her anyway.I like this half-face portion of the painting.And I like this cropped version so maybe I'll do a little more work on her hair and see what happens. I was experimenting with some paint I got at Lowe's. I bought some small sample jars of paint because I loved the colors. And the sample jars were less expensive than buying tubes of paint at Michael's. When I took a few classes from Gary Reef he used house paint quite often. And if you keep your eye on the rejected paint at Lowe's or Home Depot you could get a gallon for about $5...that's very thrifty!I'll try not to wait so long between posts next time. Next Tuesday we're taking a field trip to the fashion institute so that will be fun. I'll take lots of photos if it's allowed and I sure hope it is. Until next time... have a great weekend!!

For those who want a less intense art viewing experience than the one provided by this week's huge art fairs, there is a lovely variety to chose from - a crusader against apartheid, sculpture in Berkeley, Enrique Chagoya at Kala Art Institute and poetry by the city's youth,. Helen Suzman with Nelson Mandela. AP wire ServicesKatz Snyder Gallery: Helen Suzman was one of South Africa’s most vociferous and energetic opponents of apartheid. She takes pride of place among those liberals who devoted their lives to the fight for human rights and the rule of law in South Africa. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, her valiant stand against the injustices of the apartheid regime was acknowledged by numerous institutions. From the start of a political career that spanned four decades, she worked tirelessly, never flinching from challenging the pernicious system created by apartheid.But while she challenged apartheid at a time of violent protests among the black majority, she advocated peaceful change. This policy led to changes, after her death, that she didn't do very much at all - charges which reflect the troublesome nature of current South African politics, rather than Ms Suzman's actions during the struggle. She rarely faced such criticism from South Africa’s best-known black leaders. Mr. Mandela spoke with affection of her visits to the Robben Island prison in the chilly Atlantic waters off Cape Town, where he was serving a life sentence imposed in 1964 and where he remained until he was moved to a mainland prison nearly 20 years later. Using her parliamentary visiting rights, she made her first trip in 1967 and returned frequently. (NY Times, Jan 2009).Suzman was awarded 27 honorary doctorates from universities around the world, was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and received countless other awards from religious and human rights organizations around the world. Queen Elizabeth II made her an honorary Dame Commander (Civil Division) of the Order of the British Empire in 1989.Hours: Monday – Thursday: 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.. Friday – Sunday: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. https://www.jccsf.org/Berkeley Art Center. "Origins: Elemental Forms in Contemporary Sculpture." Co-curated by Suzanne Tan and Ann Weber, this exhibition explores the primal and evolutionary impulses of shape, form, and figure as expressed through distinct works from an accomplished and diverse group of sculptors. On Sunday, there will be a panel discussion among artists included in this survey 4 p.m. Saturday. $10. (Exhibition runs through June 9.) Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., Berkeley. Reservations: (510) 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org.Their Freedom of Expression…The Recovery of Their Economy, 1984. Collection of the San Jose Museum of ArtKala Art Institute. "Their Freedom of Expression." works by Enrique Chagoya: A survey of politically charged graphic arts by esteemed Bay Area painter Enrique Chagoya, selected by Peter Selz and Sue Kubly. Time Out, 2009Chagoya's work incorporates historic and political subject matter to cast new interpretations of Mexico's history and current political events. It follows in the grand tradition of the great 20th Century Mexican muralists; But it is most indebted to the legendary exponents of art of social satire: José Guadalupe Posada and Francisco Goya. When Paradise Arrived, 1988. Courtesy of the di Rosa collectionThrough July 6. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4:30 p.m. Saturday. Kala Gallery/Kala Art Institute, 2990 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-7000. www.kala.org.Poetry at the San Francisco Public Library: The main staircase inside the library is decked out until the end of the month with colorful poems about pop culture from youth in the WritersCorps program. WritersCorps is a national program put on in San Francisco by the Arts Commission and library that has paired professional writers with more than 18,000 students since 1994.The youth will perform works from their “Step to Poetry” displa

The Three of Us 6x9 Woodcut (triptych) with watercolor This woodcut is available in my Etsy Shop. If you've been reading this blog for a time, you know I love to use family photos as reference material in the studio. The photo for this woodcut was snapped in my grandparent's back yard on my tenth birthday, just before my brothers and I joined the family for a hike in the Connecticut woods to look for watercress & flowers. We found plenty of both, as well as a couple of old stone grave markers from the 1800's, near intersections of hand built, low stone walls that still criss-cross for acres through the woods today. I remember the ice cold creek water, dappled Fall light coming through the trees, and the way soft moss and lichen resembled paintings on the stones. I also recall wishing - heartily - that my parents hadn't insisted on putting me in a dress for my birthday - with a pair of my brother's argyle socks, for a hike. As you might guess, my family rocked fashion swag back then. :) Three wood blocks carved into three siblings The woodcut in black & white The Three of Us, woodcut triptych painted with watercolor Art Quote As Flannery O’Connor said answering a similar question [why are you drawn to uncomfortable or dark subjects], “It is the nature of my talent.” That does not mean, however, that I do not enjoy the lighter side, because I do—and I find a great vent for that nature of my talent in children’s books. It’s yin and yang. To explore the dark, one must explore the light as well, and vice versa. As William Faulkner said, the only thing worthwhile is failure; but failure coming in the striving for perfection. I seriously believe that. So, therefore, all I ever strive for is perfection. But knowing that perfection is elusive at best, and impossible in fact, is the internal “fuel” that keeps me going day in and day out. Barry Moser, interviewed by Becky Crook for The Other Journal, 2009