30th International Sketch Crawl

oops

Someone just pointed out that I was really planning ahead in the previous post where I announced that the Sketch Crawl is Jan 22, 2211. I've corrected it, thank you. It should, of course, be 2011. I wonder if they will still have crawls in 2211...

Sketch Crawl

Mark your calendars! If you live in the Fredericksburg, VA area, or are visiting, the 3rd Fredericksburg Sketch Crawl will take place on Saturday, January 22, 2011. This is part of the International Sketch Crawl movement (http://www.sketchcrawl.com/)
Join us at Hyperion Espresso Bar at 9 a.m. and we'll plan our day.

New paintings

Here are 3 new paintings of dried fall woodland detritus. I'm really enjoying getting back to details. I spend hours and hours on each of these and get totally lost in them. I've found it's rather like meditation. I get up from my chair after 3 hours and I'm not stiff or sore, just relaxed.

Leaves and Grasses

Watercolor on Fabriano Hotpress paper

Sumac

Watercolor on Fabriano Hotpress paper

Pine Branch with Lichen

Watercolor on Fabriano Hotpress paper

Workshop with Lara Call Gastinger

This past weekend I took the workshop with Lara Call Gastinger and 11 other students at a delightful bed and breakfast near Charlottesville. We all worked from actual bits of trees, bushes, berries, leaves, etc. I chose to draw the seed pods from a redbud tree which I have always found fascinating. We drew on tracing paper then transferred the drawing to the watercolor paper. This gave us a clean line with no erasures which disturb the surface of the paper. The paper itself was new for me as I am accustomed to using coldpress paper. I found I really liked the hotpress. I was able to get cleaner lines and the color blending was smoother. It was ironic that I've been trying to get away from being so exact and putting in every detail and here I was doing just that again. But I really enjoyed it. The only problem with the weekend was we were stuck inside and it was a gorgeous couple of days. I would much preferred to have been working outside. I did get to take a walk each day so that helped.

Hope you enjoy these. I still have a little work to do on the poppies but thought I'd put them here anyway.

Redbud seed pods

Watercolor on 140# Fabriano hotpress paper

Redbud seed pods detail 1

Redbud seed pods detail 2

Poppy Seed Pods

Watercolor on 140# Fabriano Hotpress paper

New Challenges

Two new exciting challenges for me this month: I'll be taking a workshop with Lara Call Gastinger doing botanical drawing/painting and beginning a 6-week online class with Cathy (Kate) Johnson on sketching and drawing. I am really looking forward to both of them and will post my work (good, bad, and indifferent) here for your always-welcome feedback. I love the autumn and having these artistic endeavors to look forward to makes it even better this year.

P.S. thanks to all of you who came to my opening in October and to those who visited the show later. It was an interesting experience.

Oct. 30 sketch

Oct. 30 sketch
Originally uploaded by paularaudenbush

Oct. 30 sketch

Oct. 30 sketch recto
Originally uploaded by paularaudenbush

Oct. 31 sketch

Oct. 31 sketch
Originally uploaded by paularaudenbush

Oct. 31 sketch

Oct. 31 recto
Originally uploaded by paularaudenbush

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Solo Show in October

Hope those of you who are in the area can make it to the opening of my solo show. Here is the info:
First Friday (Oct. 1) 6-9 p.m. at Studio A (1011A Princess Anne Street, upstairs). Many of the work shown below will be on display (and for sale!). Do hope you can come. The exhibit will be up through the month of October and the gallery is open MWF during the day and by appointment.
Thanks for all your support!

My screened porch where I spend a lot of time. It's a great seasonal studio.
Plus, there's a place (just out of sight) for naps!

Jack

watercolor on 300lb Arches

Mrs. Chin Sleeping in the Sun

Watercolor on Arches #300 hotpress

Pyne Mt. sheep

Watercolor on Arches 300# Hotpress

More pouring

The painting below of the Rappahannock River is another one done with the pouring method that I learned at painting camp this summer. I tried to control the colors (red, blue, yellow) as horizontal bands but they all bled into each other anyway, making for some interesting reflections of color in the water. I had a lot of fun with this one and want to do more...stay tuned.

Rappahannock River in autumn

Watercolor on 300# Arches

Painting Camp

The nine paintings below were all done at camp this summer. I was only able to be there for 4 days this year but I made the most of it. Hope you enjoy the results.

Mrs. Chin

Watercolor on 300# Arches paper

Alice upon waking

Watercolor on 300# Arches paper

Larkspur and poppy

Poured watercolor on 300# Arches paper

Under the train station

Poured watercolor on 300# Arches paper

Under the train station 2

This painting was SOLD in a show at our local library about our town.
Poured watercolor on 300# Arches paper

Plastic wrap impression with watercolor and real leaf prints plus hand carved rubber stamps.

Plastic wrap impression with watercolor and handmade rubber stamp

Canada Goose in the rain

Poured watercolor on 300# Arches paper
Mom has this one 'cause she loves Canada geese

Jerome Sunrise

Poured watercolor on 300# Arches paper

Galas

Galas, originally uploaded by paularaudenbush.

I've entered this watercolor for judging in the LibertyTown Food show for April. Now I really need to get busy on the pieces for the June show.
My 3 little girls on a tractor (see earlier blog) was finally accepted in a show (3's the charm!) at FCCA also for April.

Mrs. Chin hiding in the lemon tree.

The drawing below was accepted into the show. For those of you viewing this blog who are local, it opens Friday at FCCA for the months of March. Now on to the next project...in April I plan to do a fake journal. Stay tuned...

This is a drawing (with pencil and white watercolor pencil) on Canson paper that I did recently from a vintage photo. I have entered it for judging in a show titled "For and About Women" along with the three girls on a tractor (see earlier post). I was inspired to try this media after looking at a book of Da Vinci drawings.

Then, a cardinal!

Squirrel Antics

Happy New Year!

I hope you all have a wonderful 2010! I have been very busy with the journaling class and have now started another one called Sketching in Nature. I'm going to post some of my pages here as well as on my flickr page so I hope you enjoy them. I've found that working in a journal has given me a freedom in my work that I am very excited about. I hope it will translate to a full sheet of watercolor paper. I have two shows coming up this year (a 3-person show in June and a solo show in October) plus I'll be entering work in the local galleries throughout the year. I'm glad to have a full-time job in this economy but I find myself wishing for more time to paint.

Garden Shed Map Metaphor

This is a spread from my artists journal. We were asked to do a map

of how we see ourselves progressing in our journaling. I decided to

make the contents of my garden shed a metaphor for my journey.

New journaling class

Just started another journal (see pages below). This one was begun on a hike Sunday with the Master Naturalists. Beautiful day! Wonderful people! Great picnic after the hike! I'm also using this journal for an online course I'm taking with Cathy Johnson. There are about 95 people in the class from all over the world. Just looking at all the pages they post is a full time job! But it's so much fun. It's only for 6 weeks with one assignment each week but I have a feeling I'm going to be pretty busy. I'll try to post my homework here, too.

Journaling

Wild and Wonderful...

Great weekend in West Virginia. Good company, good food, warm fire, lovely hike. Entertained by busy chipmunks. I'm always inspired to paint the scenery up there. See the photos below.

West Virginia

Heady stuff...

I just got another painting accepted in a November show at FCCA. This one is themed "Secret Places" and I'm delighted to be part of it.
The openings last Friday were great fun and, as expected, I did a lot of running back and forth between galleries.
Took a workshop with Dave Daniels this past weekend. Learned some stuff, met some people, had fun. It's not a style I'm comfortable with and I felt like Dave was trying to make all of us paint just like him, which would be impossible, but I picked up a few things. It's fun to mix colors on the paper instead of on the palette. They stay rich and saturated and the blending together (using lots of water) creates surprises. Lovely couple of days at the beach.
This weekend is a long one so I'm hoping to be productive.
Later...

First Friday

I need to be in two places at once on Friday night but this is a good problem. It means I had work accepted at two galleries for October. I've mentioned the Regional show at the FCCA and today I heard that two works were accepted for the "About Face" show at LibertyTown. These two pieces are shown in earlier blogs below--"Rita" and "Judy." I submitted the 3 girls on the tractor but it was rejected. I think it might have been because all the other entries were a single person. It couldn't possibly be because the judge didn't like it!!! I'm honored to have 2 accepted.

I'm beginning to feel a little spoiled. Something has been accepted in every show I've entered so far. It's very validating and I'm quite humbled by it.

There's a workshop this weekend with David Daniels who does very vibrant, colorful watercolors so I'm excited about that. I'll let you know how it goes.

Below are the two paintings that were accepted in the Regional Show for October at the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts. The opening is Friday, Oct. 2.
The yellow waterlilies grow in the goldfish pond in my backyard. The Shagbark Hickory grows on Pyne Mt., WV, where I go at least once a year to recharge my batteries. It's a magical place.

Pyne Mountain

Shagbark Hickory on Pyne Mt., WV

(detail)

watercolor on Torchon paper

Waterlilies

Waterlilies

watercolor on Arches 300# paper

Hollyhock

Watercolor on Arches 300# paper
8"x10"

detail of girl on tractor

Girls on tractor

Watercolor on Arches 300# paper

16"x20"

random thoughts...

I have been on a bit of a painting high lately. Just entered 4 pieces in a juried show at the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts(the osprey, the water lilies, and the garden shed shown below, and one I completely forgot to photograph of a shagbark hickory tree that I started at Orkney Springs. Hope I will still have a chance to get a photo of it).

This weekend is the deadline for another show at LibertyTown called "About Face." I'm entering the picture of Rita and the 3 girls on a tractor. If there's time on my day off Friday, I might try to complete one more.

Then Oct. 1 is the deadline for another show at the FCCA called "Secret Places." I've got one done and 2 more almost finished so I anticipate I'll be working pretty hard this weekend.

I've sketched 9 more flower paintings from John Earl's photos so I'm anxious to get to working on them as well. Plus he has a photo of an old doorway that I want to paint. The hollyhock above is from one of John's photos.

So much to do, so little time. But what fun!