February 2015 Wrap Up Post

1. Night Shipping 10" x 12" acrylic on paper

2. Lake Tulloch 10" x 12" acrylic on paper

3. Fogline 10" x 12" acrylic on paper

4. Moon Rise and Fall 9" x 12" acrylic on paper

5. Water, Water Everywhere... 9" x 12" acrylic on paper

6. Melones Summer acrylic on wc paper 10" x 12"

"The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hill-side's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;The snail's on the thorn;

God's in his Heaven— 

All's right with the world!"

-  Robert Browning, The Year's at the Spring 

Above is a wonderful piece of poetry from Robert Browning to start out the month of March. I hope February was a good month for everyone and that March will be even better.

My trips out and about in February helped to make my studio time productive. I thought I would just include a quick description of the inspiration behind each piece.

1. Night Shipping: My drive to the Bay Area takes me through the Altamont Pass. Driving through the pass one day I saw a train going slowly by. As I drove on to Livermore, the train meandered its way through the mountains. I imagined that goods must be transported to and from every place on the earth at all hours of the day and night. That thought was the impetus for this piece.

2. Lake Tulloch: I have painted images of Lake Tulloch before. It's located just outside of Copperopolis and it is a small "created" town. Although I am always out during the day getting ideas, somehow the image of a nighttime view of the mountains surrounding the lake seemed appropriate.

3. Fogline: The first leg of my trip to the Bay Area takes me through the small farming town of Linden. Frequently during this time of year there is quite a bit of fog. For this piece I envisioned the fog sitting above a row of blue "trees" that are far back on the horizon.

4. Moon Rise and Fall: Morning time is always a good time for me to get inspiration. This piece is a conglomeration of ideas gathered on my trip through Tracy. The towers of the old Holly sugar plant and the early morning light grabbed my attention.

5. Water, Water Everywhere... Water is a recurring theme in many of my pieces. Living in the West as we all do, we view water as a necessary resource for living and greatly feel the impact of its scarcity. How this resource is allocated, protected and owned is of continual interest to me. The above piece was inspired by the Delta-Mendota Canal which replenishes the water in the San Joaquin River. Follow the link to learn a little bit more about this part of our state-wide water system. 

6. Melones Summer: The Melones Reservoir continues to provide ideas for new work.  This piece was based on a photo from one of my trips over the Parrotts Ferry bridge on my drive to the small town of Columbia. I've sketched from this spot and have taken lots of photos over the past 5 years. It never gets old for me!

Upcoming:

The Spring Obsession Art Show at Ironstone is next Saturday, Match 7th. There will be a wine and food pairing event in the evening as well as the art show during the day. It's a great venue (three of my paintings are in this large group show!) and there is lots of stuff to do in the area. Follow the above link for more info.

The third show of the Mokelumne River Reflections  event is being held at the Hotel Leger in Mokelumne Hill on Saturday, March 14th from 2-5. This is a double whammy because not only is this art show quite good but the hotel itself is a wonderful historic spot in our county. It's definitely worth a visit. 

Color Wheel Class-Town Hall Arts, Copperopolis June 5th and 19th: I will be teaching two classes in June at the gallery in Copperopolis. The class will help beginning to intermediate painters get a handle on their numerous tubes of paint! We painters are a curious lot and manage to collect a lot of colors but how do we keep them organized? This class shows how to get your tubes of paint sorted by color family and temperature and then placed appropriately onto a color wheel that will  become your own personal color tool for painting. If you are interested or know of another painter who may be in need of some "organization" please think of taking this class. Feel free to email me for information and sign up with Larry at the gallery as we get closer to the date.

Work Available: As always, work in my studio is available for sale. My website is up to date and can be found here. Just send me an email stating which piece interests you. 

Sketching/Tutoring: The weather will be getting warmer soon and now is a perfect time for sketching. I offer one-on-one tutoring in basic sketching for adults. Learn the fundamentals of observation and the benefits of sketching to record your own thoughts and feelings through simple pictures and writing. Time outdoors enjoying nature is never a waste so email if you or someone you know might want to get started sketching outdoors.

OK, here's to a great upcoming month. As always, thank you for supporting me and my art making efforts by reading these newsletter.
Thanks,
Libby