Friday, February 28, 2014

Friday Feature: Elizabeth Pollie

"King and Crossroads" by Elizabeth Pollie
Today I bring you an exceptional Friday Feature.  Elizabeth's work was brought to my attention by Kathy Cousart.  I'm so lucky to have so many art friends that share their favorite artists with me so that I can share them with you.

Elizabeth Pollie’s exposure to the arts came at an early age. Taken to museums, enrolled in classes by her parents and influenced by her father’s love and practice of art and architecture, she was always clear about her path in life. “Working within the field of visual arts never seemed like a choice, but rather a place of true belonging”. She enrolled in college art classes while still in high school and went on to receive an education at a formal Art School. She earned her B.F.A. at The College For Creative Studies where she later taught.
Harboring a deep love of travel and art history, Elizabeth has combined her travels with her painting practice. The images that she creates are imbued with a sense of poetry, mood and depth. 
The artist paints full time and teaches from her studio, West Wind Atelier in Harbor Springs, Mi.  Her paintings reside in both public and private collections here and abroad and have received much national recognition.

To see more of her work visit her website and facebook page

How did you get your start?  What’s your artist journey so far?

Nearly every piece of my childhood led me to the visual arts. And, as is very common, it has been a journey that has felt a bit like a scavenger hunt.  I went to Art School following high school. Like so many other art schools during the 70’s, it felt overly intellectualized and was lacking in the classical training I was seeking. I left after a few years and followed a path that included travel, reading up on traditional methods, many museum visits and other art related studies. 
I became a freelance illustrator ( primarily editorial) and was lucky to have my work published in American Illustration and a few Communication Arts -Illustration Annuals. I later finished my BFA and taught a few classes at The College For Creative Studies. 
Honestly, it was not until I started taking a painting workshop here and there that I began to understand how to “see” with paint. 

Where were you born?
St. Louis, MO.
If you could live anywhere where would you live?
A silly amount of places sprinkled across the planet.

What’s your favorite thing to paint and why?
It’s very much like the previous question. Limiting myself has never been my strong suit.


"The Horse Before the Cart" by Elizabeth Pollie
Could you talk about your painting techniques?  
Once again, I have to refer to the previous 2 questions. I don’t really have a method or a technique. 
When I paint, I am really trying to create an image that conveys something more than an accurate description of a thing. I suppose I am looking for an indefinable emotional quality. I am a person who loves nuance. Nuance in painting, is not something you can necessarily achieve with a prescribed technique. So the challenge for me is that my painting abilities are good enough to translate my vision and analytical decisions. I fall short quite often but I suppose that it makes my “triumphs” all the more thrilling on a personal level. I am never bored by the process due to its unpredictable nature. I think struggle and evolution are inherently linked.

Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites?
I regularly use about 7-8 colors. Occasionally, I will have a little fling with a color until it no longer amuses me. I pretty much have a warm and a cool of each primary and orange. I tried going with out cadmium orange and it was “like a day without sunshine”. I think I just dated myself.
"The Edge of Things" by Elizabeth Pollie

Do you have a favorite artist?  Who has been your biggest inspiration?
A have a long list that have kept me company as I have evolved.
Currently I  enjoy looking at the work of the following artists;
Emil Carlson, Frederick Mulhaupt, William Nicholson, Frederick Judd Waugh, Adelsteen Normann, Luigi Loir.
There are so many others living and dead. They awe me again and again. 
Recently, when I saw a Fechin show I was deeply inspired by the overall trust he had that people would see what they needed to in the most under-described areas of his paintings. Or, he may not have cared about his audience at all. Whatever it was, it was very powerful and greatly inspiring.

What have been some of your crowning achievements?
On a professional level, being featured on the cover of Southwest Art. Winning the Silver Medal in the 2011 OPA National . Winning Best of Show in the 2010 Salmagundi Annual Non-Members Show. I simply feel very lucky, rather surprised and greatly aware that there are so many people every bit as deserving of this kind of recognition. On a personal level, planning and pulling off a surprise wedding, (with the help of 2 dear friends and my mother) for my fiancé on his 50th birthday. Also, cleaning my closet last month.

"Spark and Fury" by Elizabeth Pollie
What are five things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)
1. More than anything, it would give me incredible joy to see the people of the world become more caring toward our planet and everyone and everything in it and on it. 
2. Just as most artists wish for, I would like my career to flourish to the degree that my needs and desires are well supported. I don’t mean this strictly in financial terms.
3.There is nothing I love more than combining painting and travel. It seems to wake up every cell in the body and leaves me loving the world even more. 
4.Ok, I know this conflicts with my very last answer but I would love to learn to walk through the woods and actually be there fully. So much of my time is spent looking at the world through an artist’s lens and I wonder what it would be like to look at something without thinking “Hmmm, look the way those two values contrast.”
5. Time; lots and lots of time.

What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career?
I think I would suggest that one should really try to let their paintings marinate and ferment a bit before they present them to the world. I don’t mean work that is done with the intention that it will be a time-limited exercise/event.  Those have a value all their own and can contain great energy.
But still, writers don’t write a chapter for a novel and throw it out into the public arena after working on it for one or two days. Editing and rewriting come after a bit of distance. 
 It takes time to really see a painting. Creating work very quickly seems to be a phenomena linked to the pace of our current world. Perhaps we have come to expect quick answers and resolutions. Patience and contemplation are invaluable to an artist with regard to assessing and crafting their work. I have to tell myself to slow down and step away every single day and even then I may not see a problem or an answer until I have let my original perception of the piece go.

"No. 13" by Elizabeth Pollie
What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?
If only I could remember! Possibly when CW Mundy quoted Salvador Dali’s idea of building something first and then deconstructing it. It found it’s way straight into my brain and never left.


SPEED ROUND!

Chocolate or vanilla?
French Fries

Your dream vacation spot?
Draw a line from the upper edge of Scotland down to Gibraltar. Head east to the Greek Islands. Take a hard left and head north until you hit Krakow. Take the high road back to Scotland.
Now, paint your way through all of the territory that falls within this perimeter.

Book or movie?
Movie, only because when I am done painting my eyes are tired and my brain has left the building.

Favorite author?
I am currently reading, Small Disasters Seen In Sunlight , a book of poetry by Julia B. Levine. 
It is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Truly masterful.

Favorite movie?
A few that stand out are “il Postino” and “The Sea Inside”.
One box of Kleenex per movie is recommended.

Romance or comedy?
Romantic, with subtitles and dinner afterwards in lovely restaurant.


Favorite dessert?
Walking the beach with our dogs on a warm summer night.

Night owl or morning person?
Morningish with a spike of energy at 4 pm. 

Thank you so much Elizabeth:)


Monday, February 24, 2014

Commissioned work

Hi Everyone,
"412 S Cedar St." 10" x 13" watercolor by Carrie Waller

I have taken a break from my regularly scheduled program to complete this commission.   I had a lot of fun painting this because it is so different from my normal paintings.  I will say there is a challenge trying to make this kind of painting as dramatic as my still life paintings, especially because I didn't take the reference photos.  The reference photos were challenging so I was so thankful to Debra Keirce for telling me that she used Google Maps when she was doing this kind of work.  I could kiss her for telling me this because what a difference it made.  Google Maps is so great because you can get the street view and from all different angles.

Carrie

Friday, February 21, 2014

Friday Feature: Margie Guyot

"Bowl of Cherries" by Margie Guyot
I'm so excited about today's Friday Feature!  As soon as I stumbled upon Margie Guyot's work I was blown away.  Her compositions, colors, whimsy are all so admirable and inspirational.  I am in love with her work and can't wait to share her interview with you.
To see more of her work visit her blog website and Facebook page.

How did you get your start?  What’s your artist journey so far?

Back in grade school I basked in the glory of being “the school artist”. High school was another story, however.  The art teacher was into abstraction (it was the late 6o’s) and I was entranced by realism.  When he found out I was also in band, he told me I couldn’t do both.  So I dropped art entirely at age 15.  And majored in music education out of spite.  It’s amazing what we can accomplish out of spite.
"Granny Smiths" by Margie Guyot
Where were you born? Davenport, Iowa

If you could live anywhere where would you live? The Amazon jungle.

What’s your favorite thing to paint and why? It’s a toss-up between plein air landscapes and colorful still lifes.  I like doing landscapes because there’s a minimum of thought involved – you see it, you like it, you paint it.  Still lifes can take days to set up and they can be a pain-in-the-ass to paint.  But I love the bright colors, reflections and shapes.  In a world that seems to be going to hell-in-a-handbasket, the thought of having total control over something – and being able to solve its problems – is appealing.  I guess I just flip-flop back and forth all the time between the two.  I detest being bored.

"Banks Two Park" by Margie Guyot

"Scott Road in Winter" by Margie Guyot

"Gennet Rd" by Margie Guyot

Could you talk about your painting techniques?  

I was taught alla-prima, although sometimes layering and glazes work best (when painting glass in still lifes).

Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites? 

The best paints for me are Vasari, particularly the “grays” of Scott Christensen.  And then I do love off-the-wall shades (aurora pink by Shinhan, for example). 

Do you have a favorite artist?  I have several favorites: 

Janet Fish, Sorolla, Scott Christensen, Clyde Aspevig.  Who has been your biggest inspiration?  Definitely Janet Fish for the still lifes.  Edgar Payne – for his landscape compositions.

What have been some of your crowning achievements? 

Ha ha – I can’t think of any offhand.  I do manage to juggle both music AND art.  I still play my saxophone in several local groups.

List a few things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)

I’d love to find gallery representation in a good gallery that sells still lifes.
I’d love to be able to go painting in Iceland.
I’d love to go painting in Tierra del Fuego.

"Fish Teapot" by Margie Guyot
What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career? 

Well, there’s nothing to be ashamed about having a “regular” job.  I worked on the Line at Ford Motor Company for 30 years.  May sound tragic, but hey – it enabled me to be able to afford to take some good art workshops, studying with some of the country’s top painters.  And now I have retirement and Blue Cross.  So I’m not saddled with the problem of trying to make a buck to survive.  I am free to paint what I love, rather than trying to guess what people would want to buy.  

And – it’s important to really work at your art.  I know people who never pick up a brush unless they’re in a class.  How could they expect to improve like that?  

What I did was look at the art magazines and pick out a few painters who painted the way I hoped to paint.  Then I located where they gave workshops. Most of them will give workshop at least one week a year.  Go and spend a week with them.  Then come home and work your tail off!
"Caladiums" by Margie Guyot, shown with her set up

"Caladiums" by Margie Guyot
What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?  

Work directly from life – all the answers are right in front of you ---- Clyde Aspevig

Also – Robert Bateman told us to try to make our art look “fresh”, something like nobody’s seen before.  I decided long ago that the world did not need another somber, brownish still life with a wine bottle and spray of orchids.  

At my very first workshop with Clyde Aspevig, he handed us all a simple cardboard viewfinder.  Showed us how to use it to compose.  I used it until if fell to shreds.  Somebody gave me a nicer one out of plastic.  I use it all the time. 

Another very helpful "tool", if I could call it that, is Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".  Somebody loaned me a copy many years ago and I did all the exercises.  I was surprised that I could draw!  All it is is measuring and comparing.

And my philosophy is "Making a good painting involves learning how to control your panic!"  Don't just put anything down, thinking you'll correct it later.  Clyde told us to take the time to wipe it out re-do -- "otherwise you'll end up with a painting that's all wrong!"

"Fiesta" by Margie Guyot

SPEED ROUND!
Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate!

Your dream vacation spot? Amazon jungle

Book or movie?  It’s a toss-up

Favorite author? Bill Bryson

Favorite movie? The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Romance or comedy? Couldn’t really say

Favorite dessert? Coconut cake

Night owl or morning person? Morning

Thank you so much Margie!  I'm so inspired:)

Carrie



Monday, February 17, 2014

Gold Award from the 44th Annual Mid-Southern Watercolorist Exhibition

Hi Everyone,
"Celebration" won the Gold Award from MSW's 44th Annual Exhibition

I'm honored to share with you that I received the Gold Award from the 44th Annual Mid-Southern Watercolorist Exhibition last Friday:) The amazing Chris Krupinski was the juror and I'm beyond thrilled that she would give me this top honor.

Receiving my award

Gold and Silver Award winners.  Richard Stephens does amazing work.

Selma Blackburn, Reita Miller and I at the reception
I will be doing a painting demo and presentation on Wednesday February 19th at the Arkansas and Art Center 7p.m. - 8 p.m.

Carrie

Friday, February 14, 2014

Friday Feature: Linda Fisler

Hi Everyone,
"Ira's Boats" by Linda Fisler
  It's Friday!!!  I have a fabulous Friday Feature today.  I met Linda via Facebook and find her amazing.  She paints, writes, hosts art chats, works with Kevin Macpherson and has a television series in called Color Your World in Ohio, which can be viewed via the internet. I'm sure I've missed a few other of her many talents.  I find her to be an inspiration and am thrilled to feature her today.

To see more of her work visit her website, Facebook page and blog

How did you get your start?  What’s your artist journey so far?

This is an interesting question. My earliest memories is that I was a pretty imaginative child, very creative, but not necessary in the painting or drawing department.  I remember writing stories, telling stories to my friends and writing scripts.  I’ve done that all my life really and still doing it today.  When I was 18, just graduated from high school, my parents asked what I wanted to be, what college I wanted to attend and what major.  I said USC (anybody who knows me knows I am a big USC Trojan fan) and I wanted to be a film director or writer.  My parents laughed and said they were not going to send me to California for that.  In hindsight, they didn’t have the money for that.  Being the stubborn young lady I was, I decided that if I couldn’t go to USC for film, then I wouldn’t go to college.  I ended putting everything creative on hold except my writing when I got a job at Procter and Gamble.  Life was such drudgery.  I was like a robot!  The only time cherished was when I could write on my novel—escape by telling a story to no one but myself.   I had a number of miscarriages during late 20’s into 30’s and then the news that I couldn’t have children.  Recovering from a surgery, while lying on the couch, I told my husband there has to be more to life than just this robotic 9-5 job, that while it paid very well, provided nothing to my spiritual life/soul.   I told him then that I wanted to see if I had any talent like my cousins, who I remember watching draw and paint when I was a child.  I signed up to take painting lessons at the Middletown Arts Center under a very well known and loved instructor by the name of Larry Doud.   He turned the light on for me and I fell in love with oil painting.   That was back in 1995/96.  I lived for every Thursday night!  After another surgery for my herniated disc in my back, Procter and Gamble made it very easy for me to leave the company.  I had been promoted to management three years prior to leaving (they usually don’t promote people without a college degree so this was quite a feat!) and achieved the goals I had wanted after 26 years.  After a discussion with my husband, we agreed that I would resign from P&G in six months.  In May of 2006, I walked out the door to pursue a life of painting and writing. I am mentored by Kevin Macpherson, Joe Anna Arnett and George Gallo.  I do both (writing and painting) and I also producer/host an art chat show (Art Chat with Linda Fisler presented by Artist Network, previously known as AMO Art Chat). I just negotiated a deal with F+W Media to produce the show.  I also host a local TV show call “Color Your World”.   That TV show’s object is to foster art appreciation.  It has been a wonderful journey, all about learning through experience really.  P&G gave me fantastic business skills to enhance the creative skills. My mentors have taught me so much about art and living.  There have been valuable lessons learned throughout the years.  
"15 Standing Guard" by Linda Fisler

Where were you born?
I was born in a small suburban town outside Cincinnati, Ohio.  Reading (pronounced Redding) was a typical mid-western town.  I was a small town girl with big town dreams.  I moved to Middletown Ohio when my Tom and I married.  He worked in Dayton and I worked in Cincinnati.  It’s called Middletown for a reason.  This area is growing together with the two cities, much like Los Angeles and San Deigo are, for example.   

If you could live anywhere where would you live?
Wow—so much of the world I haven’t seen, so this is hard to answer.  Right now I would say that I’d live here in Middletown for spring, summer and early fall.  We have lots of wonderful friends here and the cost of living is perfect for our lifestyle.  In the winter, if I had the money, I would travel and live in Queenstown, New Zealand.  I’d leave early enough to catch their giant azaleas in bloom in the sprint and their summer.  Return early enough here to catch the lilacs in bloom.  
"El Capitan" by Linda Fisler
What’s your favorite thing to paint and why?
Here’s lies the problem—I’m not sure I found that yet!  I know part of a consistent body of work is that I choose a theme, but I’m really focusing on finding my own voice and style.   If you press me hard enough, I would have to say that I really enjoy painting my cats and I enjoy painting landscapes (mountains especially) and seascape/water/boats.   That is why I fell in love with Queenstown.  It has all of that in one place!   I have worked on a New Zealand series based on a trip I took to Queenstown (plein air painting trip with Kevin Macpherson) and have recently been painting Yosemite National Park.  Every day or at least every time the sun has been out, there has been wonderful light and shadow on my little kitties that I just sit and sketch or admire-which then has me wanting to pick up my knives and paint that.  Did I skirt that question well enough?  ;-)

Could you talk about your painting techniques?  
Yes!  I started out like everyone else, with brushes.  The whole time under Kevin’s and Joe Anna’s tutelage, I painted plein air and with brushes.  I personally think that I should not have started right away in Plein Air.  This is not meant to say that Kevin and Joe Anna were wrong—they were wonderfully supportive, encouraging and still are.  All three of my mentors are plein air painters and they have provided wonderful support and learning about studying nature to find the answers. It is just that plein air painting is hard enough without adding into it all the technical things you need to understand to create a really gorgeous plein air painting.  Like everyone else I struggled with that and still do to this day.   I made a conscious decision in my journey to step back from plein air painting and just practice and learn.  I wanted to slow everything down and study, learn the technique and ask myself how I wanted to paint.  That is what I have been doing over the last few years.  I found that, in a rather strange way, I have a block with my brushes.  I was really struggling with them to create what I wanted.  One day I picked up my set of odd shaped palette knives that I had bought five years earlier and never took out of the box. Doing this removed all the pressure and opened a new path of learning.  When I was done with that painting, I examined it and decided it was too hard edged everywhere and kind of gloppy.  You know, the kind of gloppy that hurts your eyes because the edges just make your eyes stop and start constantly from all the hard edges?  I started thinking about what makes a painting great and decided that the viewer doesn’t care how I create a painting, they only care about the response emotionally they have with the painting.  In other words, I don’t want the viewer to know that I used palette knives.  I don’t want them thinking how did they create that.  I know other artists will do that and that is fine.  So, my goal with the palette knives is not to have it look like I created it with palette knives.  There are calm passages in the painting that are done with knives.  The only time I use a brush is at the very beginning to lay down the shapes and create my value plan.  Then I go to my palette knives.  I have 9 or 10 different shapes and sizes.  There are times that I feel I’m sculpting (especially when I use Michael Harding’s Stack Lead White) versus painting.  The best validation that I’m accomplishing my goal was just recently.  I was asked to display my artwork in an exhibit.  At the opening reception, people were coming up to me and saying, “I love your brushwork.”   I swear I did the “Snoopy happy feet dance” all the way home.  They would follow their compliment with, “I love the texture! How did you accomplish that?”  Then I would tell them it was all palette knives and they wouldn’t believe me.  So I have to really go into how I manipulate the knives and paints.   This has really been a wonderful experience and journey.  I am constantly trying to find a way to make really soft edges with the knife and also controlling your values is really important.  
"Lady of the Lake" by Linda Fisler

Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites?
My painting palette is the primaries with white.   Just recently (last few years) with my association with Michael Harding Handmade Oil Colours, I have been trying a number of different palettes, but it is always a version of blue, red, yellow and white.  So, if it is a really warm painting, I might use Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Red and CadmiumYellow with Titanium White.  Or I may decide the red in the scene is a cool red and add Alizarin Crimson to my palette.  My standard go to palette is French Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow and Titanium White number 2 from Michael Harding.  

Do you have a favorite artist?  Who has been your biggest inspiration?
Whoever of the past Master’s work I am standing in front of is my favorite at the time!  Seriously, whenever I discover a new past masters’ work, they become my favorite for a time.  The ones I tend to return to is naturally Monet, Sorolla, Fechin, Cassatt, Sargent.  Today’s artist-my mentors naturally—Kevin, Joe Anna and George Gallo always inspire me and I enjoy their work.  Right now I am enjoying George’s color expressions and any time I talk with him he inspires me and makes me want to drop what I’m doing and go paint.   Joe Anna is always an inspiration as well—keeping drawing in the forefront for me.  I love looking at Quang Ho’s work and love talking with him about the ethereal side of art.   While I don’t have a desire to paint in the classical realism form, Michael Pearce is a good friend and provides wonderful food for thought as well.  The art chat shows have really provided lots of exposure to all the art genres that provides inspiration for wonderful growth I think. 
"A Road in the Shire" by Linda Fisler
What have been some of your crowning achievements?
Wow—this is a hard one for me because I don’t think in these terms.  I really don’t.  I don’t compete per se.  I’ve really stopped entering competitions because I’ve really been focusing on finding that voice and style.   I’ve been concentrating on capturing the viewer through emotion that the painting can draw out from people and I don’t think I’m there yet.   

So, if I think in these terms, I would say that my crowning achievements—the things that I’m most proud of to date are the teaching opportunities I’ve been given through course at Artist Network, AMO Art Chat/Art Chat with Linda Fisler (presented by the Artist Network)/Color Your World and teaching at the Middletown Arts Center.  I am most proud of my most recent palette knife work and very proud of the successful art event we had here in Middletown where we exhibited Kevin Macpherson’s Reflection On a Pond.  We had a 3 day event and raise over $20,000 for the Middletown Arts Center.  That was about 5 years ago, but it was a great success. 



What are five things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)
Five?  I’m really going to have to think here for five!
 That I finish my novel and that it is a best seller.  That it becomes a movie.
That I work on a movie with George Gallo and his wife Julie. 
That I paint a painting that grabs the viewer emotionally and that will hang in the Lourve next to the Mona Lisa and people wait in line to see both (but prefer mine---haha!—you said dream big!)
That the second novel I am working on, I can include some of my paintings done specifically for the book and is the next “Lord of the Rings” like trilogy.  That I can create a whole culture with this second novel much like JRR Tolkien did with his Rings writings. 
That I live long enough to accomplish the 4 above and they don’t kill me!   

What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career?
Take the time to really learn the techniques, drawing, and ask yourself  how can you be different from everyone else.  As I told all my mentors—I don’t want to paint like you.  I want to understand how you accomplish what you accomplish in your paintings, so don’t tell me what you did, but how you did it.  How did you create the effect?  What is that missing piece of information that you tucked away that is vitally important for me to understand how that effect was created?  Anyone can mix blue and yellow and create a green.  The really hard part is to understand what is it about that green that you can create that connects with the viewer that says “I’m standing in the place the artist was at and it looks so real.  It transcends me to the same place”? Continue to dig deeper.  Find the beauty that you are seeking and don’t stop until you do.   And even then, I bet you won’t stop there.   

What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?
Literally—“Quit putting certain artists on pedestals. Follow your own dream.” which in turn leads to this advice I give to you now. All things come and are given when the time is right.  Quit trying to hurry through it to get to the next milestone.  Art and life are journeys so follow your heart and create what is calling you.   If you like competing then by all means be competitive.  If you like creating to just capture the beauty to share, than capture the beauty and continue to learn.  To me, there are no rules about how an artist should live or what an artist needs to do to be successful.   Success is what you want it to be.  For me, success is a very nicely painted painting or a wonderfully written story that made someone experience something, to feel something.  Be true to what it is you want and go for it. 
"Sprock and Tigger" by Linda Fisler


SPEED ROUND!
Chocolate or vanilla?   Chocolate—always!

Your dream vacation spot?  Where I’m going in May—France!  The French Countryside!

Book or movie?    Has to be a movie!

Favorite author?  JRR Tolkien

Favorite movie?   Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid---really I could probably name movies I hated easier than my favorite.  

Romance or comedy? Comedy

Favorite dessert?  Mousse au Chocolat

Night owl or morning person?  Night owl



Monday, February 10, 2014

Watercolor Workshop and The Art of Watercolour magazine

I had 19 wonderful students for my workshop over the weekend.
I just got back from a  fabulous time this weekend in New Orleans.  I was hosted by the Louisiana Watercolor Society workshop chairman Susan Henning and she has hosting down to a science.  It was a wonderful experience including a dinner party and wonderful dinner out at La Provence restaurant.

I thought I would share with you some of the photos from my workshop.

"Vintage Appeal" 18" x 24" this is the work in progress I worked on in the workshop.  I also  worked on an  8" x 10" version.

I also had an exciting text from a friend while I was in New Orleans saying that he saw my painting in The Art of Watercolour Magazine.  I knew it would be out at some point but didn't know when.  My painting "Going Green" won 2nd place last summer in the 43rd Louisiana Watercolor Society's International exhibition.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Friday Feature: Carol Marine

Hi Everyone,
"Coy Cherries" by Carol Marine

I am so excited that my first Friday Feature for 2014 and is none other than the legendary Carol Marine.  Carol first caught my attention when I read that she had started daily painting while her son was napping.  Being in a similar predicament it gave me inspiration.  Carol's daily paintings have turned into a creative outlet to a full time job.  Not only does she paint daily is also highly in demand for workshops and her and her husband David started Daily Paintworks site.  She is a true inspiration and her art is phenomenal.

To see more of her work visit her blog,  Facebook page,  website and daily paintworks gallery

"Piled in a Corner" by Carol Marine

How did you get your start?  What’s your artist journey so far?

I always loved to draw and paint. I went to college for it because I couldn’t think of a single other thing I wanted to do with my life. Unfortunately I didn’t learn much in school because the professors were far more concerned with the concepts and politics behind the art than any actual skills or techniques. I was lucky enough to marry the man of my dreams my last year of school, and he supported me while I got my career going. We adopted our son in 2005 and I heard about the daily painting movement 1 ½ years later. It made so much sense for me to do one small painting each day during my son’s nap, and eventually I started selling them from my blog. I’ve been doing that, and teaching about daily painting, ever since.
"A Little Light" by Carol Marine

Where were you born?

I was born in Sheridan, Montana, but my parents moved to Harper, Texas when I was two. I don’t remember Montana except from subsequent visits there.

If you could live anywhere where would you live?

In Eugene, Oregon, which is where we live now! We moved here two years ago after our house in Texas burned down. Best move we ever made!

What’s your favorite thing to paint and why?

I don’t know that I could pin this down to just one thing. It changes from day to day. Right now I am most intrigued by painting people, though it’s probably what I am currently worst at.
"Cowabunga" by Carol Marine
Could you talk about your painting techniques?  

I think if I had to give my style a name it would be painterly realism. I prefer to paint alla prima (all in one go, OR wet into wet), whether large or small. I paint from life as much as I can, but use photos when it is more convenient.

Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites?

I use a limited palette. For most paintings I use titanium white, cadmium yellow light, cadmium red medium, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and burnt umber. Sometimes I’ll add in cadmium yellow lemon, permanent rose and phthalo blue.

Do you have a favorite artist?  Who has been your biggest inspiration?

This one is also incredibly tough to pin down. My first love was John Singer Sargent. I’m also a big fan of Normal Rockwell. A few living favorites are: Jill Carver, Jennifer McChristian, Karin Jurick, Susan Lyon, Julian Merrow Smith, Colin Page … I could go on and on.
"Straight Up Egg" by Carol Marine

What have been some of your crowning achievements?

Marrying my best friend, adopting the most wonderful kid in the world, and oh yeah, being asked by Random House to write a book about daily painting (available in the fall of 2014), teaching sold-out workshops, starting www.dailypaintworks.com, and being able to make a living doing the thing I love most.

What are five things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)

My life is pretty perfect right now, but I would love to start TAKING more workshops rather than just teaching them. Specifically I would like to learn more and get better at painting landscapes and people.

What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career?

Paint every day.

What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?

Paint every day.

"Fancy Shoes" by Carol Marine

SPEED ROUND!
Chocolate or vanilla?

Vanilla

Your dream vacation spot?

Big Bend National Park

Book or movie?

Either, depending on the mood

Favorite author?

Nevada Barr

Favorite movie?

Garden State

Romance or comedy?

Romantic Comedy

Favorite dessert?

All of them

Night owl or morning person?


Morning

Thank you Carol:)