I Get the Worm

 

"Wilted Radishes on a Broken Plate"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

Sadly, (but happily for the morning after) the title of this post does not refer to me attending an all-night Tequila bash (Veinte de Mayo, notwithstanding). I got up around 3 am to fetch Ellie some water, cuddled with her for five minutes, went back to bed, and could think about nothing but coffee for the next hour and a half. So I got up. 

And, since I was up, caffeinated, and bagel-ed, I decided to warm up for my Monday morning "teaching" gig. I use the (air) quotes because truly, we're all learning from each other in this group. I may be learning more life lessons than art lessons, but they are precious to me. My students don't know it, but I'm absorbing as much from them and their talk of young-adult children, aging parents, world travels, and husbands - it's always the husbands, isn't it? - as they (hopefully) are from my harping on lost edges and perfecting your ellipses.

So here's this (early) morning's warmup. 25-20-15-10 brushstroke sketches:

Believe it or not, I got up SO damn early that I still had time to take - and edit - photos of everything I'd done that morning, and my painting from the weekend, besides. Which is a good thing, because my Classy Painting Ladies kept me busy until until 3 pm today. I've just run in the door with time to write this little missive before having to move on to the dreaded dinner question.

And the answer is: pizza. 

But maybe a word about this painting before I go? The title says it all, I'm hoping. But I wanted to explain that I'm not really trying to be dark and serious on purpose. Mom brought me the radishes, fresh and glowing, from Saturday market, and of course I had no time to paint on Saturday, what with putting on mascara and other unpleasantries, for my ladies night out (book club), and other random Saturday things. The leaves were so gorgeous, springy, and so many shades of green that I really wanted to drop everything and go paint them, but beauty duty called, and I left them for Sunday. By which time they were as tired as I was after yakking until all hours with my book club buds.

The broken plate is sad, in its way, though it got that way honestly. My dish-doing is spotty, and my dishwasher-loading even more so. I pulled this one out of said dishwasher so elegantly cracked that I knew its next life would be in my studio. At least this week.

And now I present to you your honorary degree in comparative literature (because compared to good literature, you know this is a mess), since you basically just read a novel. That's what happens when a blogger gets cooped up with a sick baby for a few days. A word purge. Thanks, as always, for reading.

Sickness, Sketches, and a Windfall

 

"Spring Snowballs/ sketch"

6 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

 one dollar auction  

Jump on it!

In the past, I admit, I've been a thief. But these were given to me, wholeheartedly, by a friend who sympathizes with my seasonal-bloom-painting obsession. You know who you are, and thanks! That said, I have had precious little time to do them justice this week, as my daughter has been down with a high fever and so I've been on juice, crackers, and book-reading duty for the past few days. The snuggles are precious, but so is my studio time. Hence, only a sketch, and a windfall for Sedwick collectors everywhere! Bid away....

A Nude and an Invitation

 

"Leaning on Her Elbow"

11 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

$250

click to buy

What a pose! So fun. I really started this one off lively - as you can see below. I think I liked the face more before I smoothed out that quick sketchy energy, but the blendiness does give her some serenity. 

I don't know how come this small town has so amazing models, but they are all such pros. Could you hold that position for 45 minutes without screaming? Me neither!

I promised you an invitation, and now I will deliver: 

It's an open house all evening long, in celebration of my new Gallery! Food, drink, and lots of artists. What could be better on a Summer Saturday?

A Painting Party... and also Stockholm Syndrome.

 

"An Orange for Tea"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

How do you make a Monday morning awesome? I'll tell you. Get a great group of artists together and revel in your collective creative energy!

 You've seen this studio before, and so you already know why I was overjoyed to paint there again. This informal workshop is made up of students of mine who just couldn't bear to part with me after our last session....I think they must have Stockholm Syndrome!

 Joy and Patti painting away:

 A bird's eye view of the action! From the loft above Patti's studio:

 My warmup (and cooldown) sketch - and also my newest $1 auction offering:

"No Comparison"

6 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

click to bid

$1 auction!

I Get Funny Looks

 "In the Rhododendron Garden"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

If you ever get a chance to visit Eugene, try to come in Spring. At least, try to come this spring - honestly, we usually have wall-to-wall rain until the 4th of July. Not this year! Most years, Mother's Day is Rhody day - the peak of bloom time. This year they are almost finished. I was happy to find these pink and red pals in all their glory, though. Do you ever think about how long plants like these live side by side, watching the seasons and decades come and go....?

Back to my tourism plug. If you come to Eugene, and if it's a glorious spring day, Hendricks Park is not-to-be-missed. Apparently there are hundreds of types of Rhododendrons, and you can see most of them there! (Travel Lane County, please send my check to: xxx0 xxx street, euge ---- oh just kidding.)

Here I attempt to show you the scene I was looking at, and how it eventually came to be a painting.

And here, I give you eye candy. Flowers are nice.

...And here, I demonstrate the best way to get funny looks from all passersby while plein air painting: not only wear a granny hat, but definitely, definitely smear red paint all over your face. Then act like it's completely normal.

Small Changes

"Blue Evening Light"

 8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

I don't usually include much background in my figure paintings. We place the model stand against a wall, hang a cloth behind her, and go at it - so there isn't much back there to paint anyway. This week, we got a little crazy and put the model in the center of the room. Suddenly, there was a whole new side of her to paint! And a window, and a sliver of golden Oregon evening. And the violet light on her arm and cheek....

Who Wants Quiche?

 "Cracked With a Spoon"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

In addition to my regular huge box of props, I arrived at the Art Center this morning with two big cartons of eggs and a bag each of red and yellow onions. And that was just my lunch.

Just kidding! I know, I had you for a minute there.

Anyway, today was Egg Day, with onions as a special guest star, and it was all about facing your fears, your allergies, your culinary aversions...ok, it was really just about value, color, and texture. 

First, I did a little demo:

 Then everybody got to work. Some awesome paint was slung today, and I'm totally proud of how everyone "womaned-up" to the challenge. Sometimes I think an artist could spend a lifetime painting just eggs....

Composition by Attrition

"Lone Lilac"

6 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

Sold

As previously mentioned, Lilacs don't last long in captivity. What is it with these guys? They think they're too good to hang out with me? Apparently. Well, this lovely Lilac was perfuming the air in another room, and for some reason didn't wilt like the others. Maybe it's the Gamsol fumes they object to in my studio....

Tomorrow morning is, sadly, the last installment of my workshop. Happily, though, it's Egg Day! I'm also packing a BUNCH of onions, in case any of my repeat offenders regular students want to tackle something other than eggs. 

It's going to be one hell of a good-smelling classroom!

 

P.S. What are you getting your mom for mother's day? It's only a week away (tick, tick). I have LOTS of paintings in my Etsy shop that I can ship tomorrow, with a custom-written note card attached! (And free shipping, for those in the know. Use the code SARAH at checkout.)

P.P.S. And speaking of undying love, I've entered a contest - and I'd really like to win. The prize is a free plein air workshop, here in Eugene, in August. All I need is tons of votes! So, if you have 10 seconds and a Facebook account, please help me out! Thanks. (P.P.P.S. you can vote once a day...)

The Lilac Thief, an Autobiography

 

"Lilacs and Tea"

6 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$150

click to buy

Lilacs don't last long as cut flowers, I'm finding. Not to worry, Lilac lovers, I'm out stealing more as you read this!

Spooky Plein Air

"The Old White Church"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

The Walker Church is the destination for the Plein Air Painters of Lane County this week, and yesterday dawned so incredibly lovely and sunny that as soon as I opened my eyes I knew I would be driving the 20-odd miles south to check out this new spot. The church was about as deserted as you'd expect on a Wednesday morning, and also in the middle of nowhere - the closest neighbors being some cows, a shuttered trailer, a gravel pit, and a junkyard - always love seeing that sea of derelict cars, don't you?

There were Lilacs and Iris in profusion in the small cemetery adjacent to the church, and tombstones for everyone from pioneers to the recently dead jumbled together in no particular order....and as I hiked around through the long, blowing grass, a windchime that sent chills down my spine!

Soon after the chills, I heard Patti's car crunching up the dirt driveway, and soon we were exploring together, exclaiming over the lovely old houses and picking out our painting spots. By lunchtime, we were freezing (It was about 50 degrees out, even with all that glorious sun), and so we headed to the nearest town for some hot soup and coffee.

More Lilac paintings coming soon!

One Last Fling

 "The Swedish Student"

11 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

$250

click to buy

Big, cheap, and raggedy - No, I'm not talking about my model! It is a pretty accurate description of the brush I used to paint her with, though. It's an old, cheap, number 6 flat that I keep around for applying tone to my canvases - that orangey color you see behind this one, for example. Anyway, I sort of forgot to switch brushes after toning my canvas, and once I noticed - hey, it was working, so I just kept going. 

Worn out brushes often give me one final cool-looking painting before dying completely. One last, loose, sketchy fling!

Here's my progress, taken at 45 minute intervals. I'm pretty proud of the fact that once I'd painted an area, I managed to leave it generally intact, except for some minor blending and adjusting. It's so frustrating when I feel like I'm repainting the entire thing, over and over what I've already done.

I Picked Your Lilacs

 "Lilacs and Lemons"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas
Sold

After my brush stroke workout yesterday, I was more than ready to break out a brand new brush and keep keeping it simple! New flats and brights are the best for this - their lines are so precise and crisp. If you don't clean them, or leave them sitting in your solvent jar for hours, or carry them around in a funky vintage makeup case to and from classes and open studios (as I do, yes, all of the above), that crispness doesn't last long. Believe me, I will be cleaning my brushes as soon as I hit "publish!"

...cleaning them, and then stuffing them into the aforementioned case and heading to figure painting night. Join me! (Virtually, in person, or via astral projection - your choice.)

 Sketch for "Lilacs and Lemons" approx. 5.5" square, oil on Arches oil paper. 30 minutes.

Sold
 

I Paint Like a Different Person

 

"A Landscape on the Table"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

Mondays are teaching days in my world, and this particular lesson is a tough one: the 25-20-15 stroke exercise, followed by a longer, larger piece. It seems that every time I warm up this way, I paint like a different person. Sometimes you have to force yourself to think differently - the results can be dramatic! I noticed them in my students' work too.

Here's some of that work, along with my exercise in the upper right.

 

 (clockwise, from top left: Joy, Me, Francis, a snippet of our still life setup, and Katia)

A Stay-of-Execution

"Dylan" 

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

Oh, Dylan, you miniature Don Draper you. You could be my muse if I didn't have so much f$%&ing trouble capturing your likeness. Maybe I could just pinch your bearded cheeks?

Before I moved to Oregon, I never thought of beards as attractive. Goatees - maybe - that's about as far as facial hair went in the midwest in the 90's. But I digress...

As I've already hinted, this one almost didn't make it. I literally had the palette knife poised to strike this morning when I decided to try a couple of tweaks. Also influencing the stay-of-execution, the fact that this one spent a couple of hours baking in my hot car yesterday afternoon, and was basically already dry when I went to wipe it.

Queen of the Elegant Segway

"Emily's Eyes"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

Paint, paint, paint! Life is good this week, with lots going on, at the easel and elsewhere. Here's my work from Tuesday night, getting a bit closer-in to this pose. I used a basic primary palette - red, yellow, and blue - with a little black thrown in, you know, for darkness.

Because what this model needs is a little darkness!?! I admit, I'm totally taken with her clear blue eyes and blonde, asymmetrical hair.  I feel like I should be painting her in a beautiful garden, with flowers spilling everywhere.

....Speaking of which (and I will now accept the title of 'Queen of the Elegant Segway'), Eugene is having a huge celebration of All Things Art this August - there is even a plein air paintout and competition in the works - and I have thrown myself and my hat into the ring! I'll be teaching a one-day workshop, "Painting the Figure en Plein Air" in the lovely courtyard of The Gallery at the Watershed, Saturday August 10th. It will be an all-day affair, with a lengthy demo and plenty of time for painting and individual instruction. There are only eight spots, so if you want to join me, please call Amy at the gallery right now! ((541) 844-1668 - or email amy@thewatershed.com).

I Exercise In Spite of Myself

"View of the Flower Farm"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

I should have gone running. I have 13.1 reasons to keep my legs in fighting form, at least through this weekend, but instead....

I set off this morning for Mt. Pisgah arboretum without much of a plan in mind - I was on my own, and not being too familiar with this particular park, I wandered around for a while looking for a good spot. In a lazy effort to avoid any actual hiking, I investigated a puddle-ey bridal path, saw some cows, then more cows, no views. Finally I decided to just grab my gear and start climbing. All of the trails in this park seem to head in one direction: up.

 I couldn't have gone more than 3/4 of a mile before I found a spot that felt right, and got started.

After a while, my easel almost fell over - the ground randomly attempted to swallow one of the legs(?). I caught it in time, but got white paint on some stuff. Returning minerals to the earth from whence they came. Titanium, you're welcome.

After that adrenaline rush, I took a break. These awesome pink shoes are a pair of last year's runners - all worn out for pounding the pavement, but super comfy for standing around, and the colors make me happy.

 By noon I was hot, hungry, and happy with my work. Going down was so much easier than going up!

Strange Fruit

 "Meyer Lemons on the Table"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

click to buy

I've been eyeing these strange orange lemons for a month or so in the produce section, and finally decided to take the plunge. I consider it a rule of thumb that if something doesn't look quite right in your still life setup, you'll never be able to make it come across in a painting. I'm hoping these wierdos are the exception that proves my rule. Their color is a gorgeous, delicate orange, but their shape and texture are all lemon. Hope it's working for you. I'm just indulging my whims over here.

This was painted with the remnants of my purple/yellow palette from yesterday, with some Cadmium Red added, for that orange that screams "lemon!"

Another Purple Day: Playshop!

 

 "Purple Tea" 

6 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$150

click to buy

Don't call it a workshop! The second ever teaching of "Painting, Fast and Fun" is outdoing itself in the fun department, with a great group of artists. Last time I took this exercise out for a spin, I used blue and orange, but today was all about purple and yellow.

 

 We started the day with a black and white painting, to get the whole value-first thing fast in our minds, and then dove in with our choice of complements. The idea is not to capture local color (the color of the actual object), but to use the paint mixtures to achieve correct value. If nothing else, it shakes you out of your comfort zone.....

Though there was plenty of laughing and banter (or was that just me?) for an uncomfortable group.

My wonderful students, with Liz's purple/yellow painting, unfinished at bottom right

I was having a particularly hard time photographing this intensely purple painting, so I thought I'd share some of my photo editing behind-the-scenes today.

I have a 5 year old Canon Powershot 10 megapixel camera. I always take my photos inside, in my studio, in between a window and my overhead halogen lightbulb, with the painting positioned to get the least glare --- and the pictures always come out too blue. iPhoto to the rescue! Don't ever be afraid to edit your photos prior to posting. They should look as close to the actual painting as they can. If anything, this particular piece is MORE purple than it appears on your screen. Believe it. I'm a purple person.