WORKSHOP CHANGES

CHANGE OF PLAN

On February 2 Marge tripped and broke a wrist. It is healing well but made
it necessary to change the dates for the planned mini workshops. A revised
flyer is printed below. SO SORRY.

Terraskin

Hello Terraskin Painters

We are planning to do a couple of Terraskin mini Workshops in March at the Elizabeth Stevens
Gallery in Towles Court. This is an announcement and an invitation to join.

Please let me know if you have other time preferences or suggestions. I look forward to hearing
from you.

This is the site we plan to use for continuing contact about Terraskin.  Happy Painting

Our Annual Artists Retreat

Try it, you will love it...

Last week I traveled to a retreat center to spend four days with a group of creative women to do art. We have been doing this since 1994. We don't cook or clean or answer the phone. We learn from doing and we learn from each other. This year there were 27 of us and it was glorious.

During the week we usually have a workshop or two led by one of our members. Participants are free to do their own work or play with the projects proposed. This year we made paper puppets and we did a still life "My Way".

I have included some images of the paper puppets. We strung them up on a clothes line in the front of our work room. At the end of the day we had a show and tell.

Here are a few pictures of our efforts. They all have movable parts and are somewhat self portraits. The live lady in the last photo is Judy Lyons Schneider, our fearless leader for this creative experience.

 

 

Someone always misses the directions. This time I was the one not paying attention.

The dragon is not really a self portrait.  But she is pretty

 

More about our Artist Retreat next week.

Digital Plein Air

After a very long pause...

in blogging that is. Painting has never stopped. More about the interim later.

Here is what's new at the moment. I am playing with digital plein air painting on my iPad mini. I use Photoshop Touch and then Painter for Fine Artists.What a fun thing to do. Here are a few examples of my very first efforts.

                                                                     
All of this has happened because I got an iPad mini and joined a group called Light Chasers. What a super group of outdoor painters. We go our together once a week to paint our neighborhood. "Two birds with one stone." I get out with nature and I paint.

The group just put up a Web Site http://lightchasersinc.org  and they let me put up a member page. Check us out. Hopefully I will get permission to post some of their work.

This is brief but heck it's my first day back.

Those Tree Images

A Year of Trees
Back to the blog again. It has been a long while. The eBay experiment went well, Over 30 small original images are out there in the possession of auction winners. Plans are to get back to eBay selling very soon...with a new twist or two..

Meantime some images are posted above. They are from Out On A Limb. my show at Pastry Art Cafe on Main Street.It was fun and different.

The Title painting (Above) was a large acrylic on canvas titled, believe it or not, Out On A Limb.

Experimenting With eBay

Trees 3 5X7" Acrylic on Paper

At last! The small images are going out to world view. The two tree paintings shown in the previous post are for auction on eBay and #3 will be added today. The process is amazingly simple. However, I was holding back because it was "season" in Sarasota. shows were coming up, meetings were happening too often...and mostly I was being timid about trying something new.

Want to bid? Go on line to eBay If you are not a member you can join (Free and Easy). Then type Marge Bennett in the empty space, choose Art as a category, and hit Search. You can be the first.

There are two images from the Tree Series showing at Elizabeth Stevens Gallery in Towles Court, Sarasota, FL. These are matted to 11X14" and look really handsome. They are shown here.

Trees 5 Acrylic on Paper 5X7"

Goals for 2010 and Other Stuff

One of my goals for 2010 is to create 100 paintings. Another is to paint at least five minis (image size of 8X10 or less) each week. I have posted a couple of these small works here. They 5x7 acrylic on paper and are part of a Tree Series. They are VERY colorful (even for me) and are more abstract than past work.


The next two minis are 7x5" acrylic on paper and are part of a Vase and Flower series.

Comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking. I must get back to those goals...

Marge

Happy Holidays 2009

Celebration by Marge Bennett

Promoting A Show

My Friend Carolyn Ritter and I have been working on a joint show at ArtCenter Manatee. Our paintings are ready (wellll, almost ready) so it is time to think about having somebody actually come to SEE the results of all our work. The art center is doing a fine job of spreading the word but we decided a personal e-mail invitation to special friends and contacts might bring in more viewers or at least more "partiers" to the reception.

Here is my my effort. I intend to send it after December 3.

I am exploring the possibilities of using e-mail and social networks to promote my art. I would like to pique interest, inform and entertain without annoying viewers. Will this work?

Artist Retreat This Time Around

At times you could hear a pin drop. At other times laughter and hilarity reigned. It was once again a wonderful retreat.

We arrived with an incredible amount of "stuff" and produced an equally incredible amount of art.

I have tried to capture a corner of our work room in the photo above.

Many of us participated in two creativity challenges.

Artist Trading Cards

We used any medium to create 2.5X3.5" cards. Each card is signed and numbered on the back and gives the artist's contact information. The cards are given to or traded with other artists.

Here are some samples of our efforts and a picture of part of the clothes lines of cards produced. We had a fun card exchange at the end of the day.


The Shoe As Art

Our shoes had varied histories. One thing they seemed to have in common was that they were worthless in their present state. Sorry, I did not think to do before and after shots.

Here are some of the final products. They are now Priceless.


We left on Thursday afternoon with these treasures, lots of memories and some fine art started, finished or just in mind. A great time. Thanks to all the 26 great artists friends who made it happen.

A Time For Art

Off To My Artists Retreat

Monday will begin a special time with 26 fellow members of Women Contemporary Artists. We will be at Day Spring Center in Palmetto Florida for our annual “retreat”.

Our cars, loaded with art making gear will arrive at our big, windowed, workroom at or around 10 am. Yours truly will be early.

.

The first order of business is meet and greet: lots of hugs and talk as we stake out a table and set up for some serious work and fun. Fueled by muffins and coffee we cover tables and chairs, don aprons, fill water containers and make the space “ours”. We get keys, find cabins and unpack tooth brushes and paint wear, and some of us will even get to work before lunch.

Ah, lunch. All meals appear without cooking, planning, shopping or cleaning up! Only a woman can fully appreciate it. And we do

This year we have two special workshops for those who wish to participate: “Shoes As Art” and “Artist Trading Cards”. I will arrive with two large brown bags of stuff carefully gathered for said projects. (With luck there will be pictures next week). For those who have other projects and can resist the hilarity and mayhem that usually accompanies these workshops, it is perfectly acceptable to work on ones own

Some things we have done in the past.

Day Spring is a beautiful, wooded property ideal for walks, reflection, or plein air painting. I am sure there are many ways for artists to “retreat”. Ours has been happening for many years, the past 10 or so at Day Spring. It has evolved with us. Try your own. It will be special too.

Vacation Inspiration

Let me begin at the end. We read a travel report that said if this fellow had only one day to stay in Copenhagen he would take a Boat Tour of the city, eat at his favorite restaurant and spend the day at Louisiana. We did two of the three. My inspiration came from the last, a visit to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Located on “The Sound” a strait between Denmark and Sweden that connects the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean the Museum sits atop a bluff and the Sculpture Gardens reach down to the water.

Inside the sprawling site there are major works by Giacometti Warhol and the like as well as special exhibitions by the contemporary avant garde. Hours of wandering and delight for any contemporary artist.

The architectural firm 3xN's Learning from Nature pavillon in Louisiana's Sculpture Park

We were there for a large-scale exhibition on sustainable architecture, “Green Architecture for the Future” The ingenuity and energy demonstrated gave a sense of optimism for the future. It was creativity in action.

Louisiana was a day in the park with wonderful art and stimulating ideas. I would love to have one of my paintings described that way.

From Russia

We are in Moscow at the moment. Spent yesterday learning about the Russian avant garde artists. Great time. We will be on the Volga and off the net for the next ten days or so.

The above painting is called Venice and was one of my favorites. (Label later.)

Ready to Go!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Ready to Go!

The luggage is packed and ready to go. Now, if we can also get ready to accompany the bags, all will be OK. That is still in some doubt.

I hope to be able to post to Art Alive while traveling. To follow the trip go to Round The World

Phone Painting

Robert Genn of The Painter's Keys had what I considered an intriguing letter about painting on an iPhone. Now I have had an iPod since my last birthday and it does most things the iPhone does except phone and take pictures. I was hot to trot.
The iPod store said yes the new Brushes App. would work and I could have it as a download for $4.99. SOLD.
The Brushes program is listed under "entertainment" and it is clearly not intended as a Professional Tool (Whatever that is.) I have a Wacom Pad and Corel's Painter Program. At this point Brushes is, for me, more like finger painting. It is indeed glorious fun.
If you want to hear more about this tool and see iphone art by David Hockney and others, check it out on Painter's Keys. You might also enjoy the comments and discussion of digital art. Sorry, Robert Genn is generous about sharing but I was unable to make a link here.

Google Search gave me lots of amazing examples of phone art and a You Tube video of a portrait being created on iPhone.

We leave tomorrow for a short vacation with family. Those air miles will slip away as I practice painting on my iPod. May even share some of the results next week.

Sorry about the links. I will try again, but just now I must go pack. We leave at 6:30 AM.

My Studio

Where it all happens.
Welcome.

My Place to Paint.

This is the corner of my studio where most of the painting happens. Note that the easel is empty because I am working flat on a series of 12x12" canvases at the moment.

My Place to Plan.
My corner for thinking, planning, reading, watching a video, or napping.

My Place to Compute and Print.

Sometimes I think my computer and printers do as much work as my brushes. I could not function without them.

A View to Feed My Spirit.

The view from that window behind my work table.

Thanks for taking my virtual tour. You are most welcome to come for a real tour. Just be prepared for a little clutter and watch where you step. That might be art underfoot.

WOW! Somebody Likes My Blog

I was given this blog award by Krista Meister, the "fearless leader" of Real Life Artists, a blog that is home to a band of artists determined to be the very best we can be. She provides a forum for our ideas and helps us keep focused on our goals. I am honored to receive the award and to be a part of the group. Thanks Krista.


The award comes with two duties: share seven things my fellow bloggers don't know about me; pass the award to seven worthy artists. So here goes.

Seven things you didn’t know about me.

As a child I was good at math and science. That was before I discovered that maybe I could do art and became this happy person with a paint brush in hand.

I am proud to be rather a good cook. Whether this is due to heredity or hours spent with gramma in her kitchen is debatable but one way or another it came from gramma.

There are currently 55 people who by accident of birth or marriage call me “Aunt Marge”. I have lost track of the “great aunt” count.

My heritage is an even mix of Irish and German. The two influences, like their source, are in constant conflict and probably keep me balanced. (sort of.).

For more than 20 years I was a teacher and I cherish the memory of every student who passed through my classroom. I love them all.

I cannot paint a cool painting. I try, but the oranges and yellows creep in every time. If you have been following my blog, you probably know this one.

Two years ago I got to fulfill one of my childhood dreams, a boat trip on the Yangtse River. I can still remember the spot in the children’s room of the local library that housed a series of books about people who lived along that river.

I grew up in the woods and love nature but I am into down town living.

And my Brush Award is given to these artist bloggers.

Kimber Scott http://kimberscott.blogspot.com/ Thoughtful posts.

Beth Rommel http://niftyartgirl.blogspot.com/ Art as nifty as the girl..

Connie Chadwell http://hackberrystreetstudio.blogspot.com/ Dance, art in motion.

Marilyn Fenn http://marilynfenn.com/blog/ A lady always on the move.

Gabrielle http://innerartist.blogspot.com/ “nature nerd”

Carol McIntyre http://www.paintingharmony.com/blog A treasure in lavender

Caroline Roberts http://carolineroberts.blogspot.com Lots of great content.

Leslie Rinchen-Wongo http://silkthangka.com/blog Fascinating art and artist

If you haven't already done so, try them. You'll like them.

"Three for Tea"

To paint or do the “other stuff”, that is the Question

This week I made the decision to paint, but not without a little guilt. After all I promised to post every week on this blog, attend a meeting, keep up with… etc.

After some refection it just seemed right to paint.

Summer in Sarasota, FL is “off season” and hot. That means it’s the time to travel to some cool place or shut yourself in with the AC and paint. I chose the latter and have finished two, revised one and completed (I think.) one new painting.

My newest entry in the “Room” series is pictured above. The sub-title is, Van Gogh, Matisse and Me. It was fun to paint and it makes me smile. How much can you ask of one canvas?

I will love any reaction you may wish to share. Thanks.

Inspiration

Simple Pleasures
Acrylic on Canvas 12 X 12” Each

Inspired by:
Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
Final melody based on a Shaker Hymn
Simple Gifts by Joseph Brackett

‘Tis the gift to be simple
‘tis the gift to be free...

What a gift: to create music that can inspire tears of joy. I love Appalachian Spring and each time I hear it I wait for this melody. It is simple and pure and universal pleasure.

These squares are my attempt to paint a response.

Rooms To Go

The Fun Rooms are… well, Fun

Some time ago I posted, A Room With City View, my entry into the American Juried Art Spring and Summer Show. At the time I was doing my “Happy Dance” because the piece was accepted. More happy dancing, because that painting won the award for Watermedia.

In the post I suggested that perhaps this summer I would spend time painting more “outrageous rooms.” The feedback was positive and the mood was right. My studio is full of the quiet chuckling of a happy painter creating fun rooms.

Pictured below is number 5 in the series.

Currently “under construction” is an acrylic on canvas, Tea For Three: Van Gogh, Matisse, and Me. Just hope I can bring my idea alive in the next weeks. If I do, you will see it here.