Some Stuff Happened Since July . . .

Time sure flies, and that time has been full of assorted creative and wonderful things!

Here's a list of some of what's happened since I got back from the ISSA gathering in NC (I wrote about that in the last post):

1) I completed a drawing I had just started and taken with me to NC. It was accepted into the Art at the Classic art show as part of the 2014 Draft Horse Classic and received a first place in the "Anything Goes" division. Below are some photos of "Fuzzdorable" in progress along with the finished board, it's a 5" x 5" board, colored with inks.

2) Three pieces of my dog art were in the "Dog Days of Summer" art show at Alpha Fired Arts. Velvet, the chihuahua painting sold. A portion of the proceeds benefited Front Street Animal Shelter.

3) I completed a number of mini scratchboard drawings, including this one of Pepper, who belonged to Carla Bratt, a friend of mine and a talent gourd artist. These mini boards are 2" x 2", you can see many more in this Facebook album.

4)"Show Goat" was in the Rocklin Fine Arts "Animal Kingdom" art show held in conjunction with Woofstock.

5) Six people attended my scratchboard workshop at University Art and we had a terrific time.

6) I'm gearing up "Sibling Hearts", an collaborative show with my brother (P.Y. Simpson) that's part of the Auburn Art Walk, and the 3rd annual Newcastle Art Studios Tour. Both events are on the horizon in October.

That's it for now, I have a few more things to share, but I'll wait for the next time I have the urge to write a blog post. Thanks for reading!

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New Look!

Yes, the blog is different. I've updated the color scheme to reflect the overhaul of my web site. The web site isn't ready for launch yet, but it will be eventually. It's something I've been working on for years - converting it to the Wordpress platform. It's slow going because there is a lot of material to transfer, so I work on it in fits and starts. The beta version is accessible, if you'd like to see it here. Today I decided to come up with a different header for the new web site. I wanted to use the same header for the blog, and that required an update to the color scheme. So there you have it and now you see it.

In other news, I applied for membership to Women Artists of the West (WAOW) and was accepted. I'm now an Associate member.

I'm gearing up for the first of two fall open studios this weekend. #1 is the Newcastle Art Studios Tour (October 12/13), #2 is the Autumn Art Studios Tour (November 8 - 10). My studio is full of art and just needs a good vacuuming to get rid of assorted insects and cobwebs.

The bison you see in the header is a new scratchboard drawing. I created "Call of the Prairie" for our Newcastle Tour's preview show, which is on display through the Tour weekend at Lone Buffalo Vineyards. I scanned the bison in various stages as I worked on it, you can see those images in my WIP (work in progress) album on Facebook. Scroll down to the bottom of the album. Donna Ridgway provided the terrific photo I used for reference.

"Call of the Prairie", 5" x 7" scratchboard, tinted with ink

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Past and Future

It's been over a month since my last post, I'm sorry for ignoring you, my dear blog . . .

I love blogging, but it's much quicker and more immediate to share on Facebook, and that's exactly what I've been doing. I realize and understand that many people are averse to Facebook, and I was too, at first, but now I really enjoy it. I have two pages there, one's my personal page (where I'll admit, I spend more time than I should), and the other is my professional art page. Even if you're not on Facebook, you can still see and browse my art page. So if you'd like to see what I'm doing on a more regular basis than what you will find on my blog, please check it out.

To flesh out this blog post, I'll share the condensed version of what's coming up and what I've been doing lately:

It's time for fall open studios tours and I'm participating in two of them. The first features a group of Newcastle-area artists. The second features a much larger group of artists in the western portion of Placer County. For details about both, see the invitation I just sent out to my subscribers via e-mail.

I entered two scratchboard drawings in the annual Art at the Classic juried art show at the Draft Horse Classic. One of the two, "Beginning Line Dancing" (a pair of foals) was awarded a First Place in its division (Miniature). They don't have a category where scratchboard fits, so I entered Miniature, which is based on size, not media. I also entered my drawing of Rocky the donkey, and although it was accepted but didn't place, it ended up on the web site and in the event program (click here to see the art section from the program).

I did two "tiger eggs" for the Sacramento Zoo's Wild Affair and one for the tigers' keeper. They all feature CJ the adorable tiger cub. And I had great reference photos, courtesy of the keeper. I'm making a run to the Zoo tomorrow to deliver those.

 

Completed pet portraits include these scratchboard drawings of two golden retrievers. Sampson is drawn on a white board. I used ink and ink washes (leaving the upper background white), and when that phase was complete, I tinted the dog with a light wash of watercolor. You can see the progress stages of this drawing in one of my Facebook albums.

Bear is on a black board. After completing the scratching, I tinted the drawing with ink pencils.

And then there's this - something very different for me. It was challenging and fun and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. "Glory and Power" is the Harley-Davidson "gun sight" logo on a 5" x 7" scratchboard. The only color on this is the flag, the rest is black & white. I created this piece for the The Pink Llama Gallery in Cedarburg WI, where I have some of my work. Tammie Strause, the PLG owner, put out a call for motorcycle art for an HD Anniversary Celebration that was held in nearby Milwaukee. I figured, what the heck, and gave it a shot. Thanks to Sandy O'Bleness for providing the reference photo and to her husband Mike for suggesting that the drawing should have a flag and/or eagle in it. I opted for the flag.

Well, that's a snapshot of what's been happening, check back here in a few weeks or visit Facebook for the next update!

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