Allgood Art

A Bit of Bike Focus...

2012-01-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

I've been taking it easy on the painting front of late but this last week I managed to ease myself into a couple of paintings. May is National Bike Month. I thought I would take the extra time to do a few bike related art in preparation of it. I usually am in the Gallery Roll Bike Art Show in May and it might be fun to have a variety to choose from to put in the show. So here's a watercolor and an oil I worked on this last week...

"Come On! Let's Ride!" Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper.

"Jazzing Blue Bike" Oil on 12" x 12" Canvas

The oil I will admit was a bit of a new abstract approach for me, and I still kind of feel that it's not finished but I can't decide what else I can do to it. I'll put it off to the side and see if something may hit me someday. We'll see...

No. 100 & Recap of Art Show...

2012-01-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

"No.100 of 100 Salt Lake City Porches"; Oil on 12" x 16" Canvas

Here it is #100, I call it the "Toast of the Project". It's my cycling buds Bee and Peter on their porch in the late summer with their dog Astra. I wanted to do something different and special for the last porch painting and they were open to letting me take some photos of them on their porch before we had dinner one night. The sun was starting to go down and there was a wonderful twilight back light as well as the porch light. They're sipping champaign and being very patient as I took about 20 pictures from different angles. Thank you Bee and Peter!

AN ART SHOW RECAP

It ended up being a wonderful event with at least 75 people that came to enjoy the art, music, and food. Here's some photos I took when I had time towards the end of the event...

During the show, I did a sign up sheet to "Vote for Your Favorite" porch painting and everyone that voted was entered into a drawing to win their choice of one of the unsold porch paintings. The winner of the drawing is lucky JoAnn Ekstrom. In fact, she happened to purchase the favorite porch painting of the art show. She's still trying to decided which painting she would like to own.

Now for the results of the "Vote for Your Favorite" Porch Painting...
(drum roll please.....)
First Place was #87---

Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas

Second Place was #7---

Oil on 16" x 20" Canvas

AND
Third place was a tie between
#57

Oil on 8" x 10 " Canvas

and #30

Oil on 12" x 12" Canvas

Fourth Place was #47--

Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

A BIG Thank You to all who attended the event,

AND to my wonderful friends Jay & Jerry

who played their wonderful music during the event.

THANK YOU!

Art Show- This Saturday!

2012-01-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

This Saturday
please join
in a celebration
of the diversity of
Salt Lake City’s Porches!

I've spent the past year locating 100 unique Salt Lake City porches. I've used watercolor and oil painting to capture these porches. No.100 of SLC porches painting will debut at the art show.

Come see how the 100 series ends!
I call it the "Toast of the Project".
Come this Saturday and see why!

There will be free music, beverages & food to enjoy
as you browse through the art.
Additional art will be on sale too!

20% of all sales proceeds will be donated to

Salt Lake City Habitat for Humanity.

Here's the information to come join in the FUN!!
---

WHEN:

Saturday January 14, 2012

2—6 PM

WHERE:

235 West 2950 South
Salt Lake City, UT

Located above the offices of Gritton & Associates

From 2:30—4:30 PM

Come Enjoy Music By...

Os Corvos

Os Corvos (Portuguese translation of “The Crows”) is a diversely talented acoustic guitar duet of Jay Kirsch and Jerry Parsons. They perform a wide variety of musical styles including Latin, Jazz, Brazilian MPB, New Age, Flamenco, Classical, and Contemporary.

" 100 SLC Porches, No.99" & An Art Show...

2011-12-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Last night, I excitedly put the final touches on this porch painting. I emailed the picture off to the porch owner who I really hope like this. After seeing a friend's porch painted in this project, the owner of this porch approached me and ask if I would paint their porch. I thought it would be a good addition to the project, especially since I had not done any of this style or any duplex porches. So here it is...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.99"; Oil on 16" x 16" Wood Panel

AND Here's the information/ details of the Art Show...

100 SALT LAKE CITY PORCHES:

An Art Show

Saturday January 14th, 2012

From 2 to 6PM

235 West 2950 South - Salt Lake City

(Above the Offices of Gritton & Associates)

There will be FREE Music, Beverages, & Food for you to enjoy while you browse through the art. Additional art will be on sale too! 20% of all sales proceeds will be donated to the Salt Lake City Habitat for Humanity.

From 2:30 - 4:30 PM Come Enjoy Music By...

Os Corvos

Os Corvos (Portuguese translation of “The Crows”) is a diversely talented acoustic guitar duet of Jay Kirsch and Jerry Parsons. They perform a wide variety of musical styles including Latin, Jazz, Brazilian MPB, New Age, Flamenco, Classical, and Contemporary.

"100 SLC Porches, No. 98"

2011-12-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

Almost there and it's exciting to see this project reaching completion. Here's #98...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.98"; Watercolor on 12" x 12" Paper

I happen to cycle from time to time with this porch owner. She's a wonderful gal and I was having everyone telling me to swing by and check out her porch because it's a cute one. I have to agree! I took some artist license and painted it with snow. I just felt these snowman needed the snow to play up the season right. Please check out the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. Thanks for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

Auntie's Kiss...

2011-12-14T13:25:00.000-08:00

In between while waiting for parts of porch painting #98 to dry, I've been working on other smaller watercolors like this one...

"Auntie's Kiss"; Watercolor on 7" x 13" Cold Press Paper

This is based on a photo of a friend who uploaded the photo on Face Book and I thought was just TOO cute not to attempt to paint. This painting as well as others will be on display and available to purchase at the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Show that will take place on January 14th. More information about the show will be coming soon. I just need to work out some details. Thanks for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.97 & An Upcoming Show"

2011-12-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

I'm getting closer and closer to finish this 100 Salt Lake City Art Project. It's exciting as well as gratifying in actually finishing a project; rather a sense of accomplishment. This porch was suggested by my former oil painting teacher who lives just up the street. Thanks Melodie! It was a wonderful suggestion and I wish I would've spotted this porch earlier in the year because I imagine these flower beds would be gorgeous with flowers. But here it is...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.97"; Watercolor on 12" x 12" Paper

For painting this porch, I decided to keep it to a limited color pallet. I only used cerulean blue, indingo blue, golden yellow, and permanent rose. I started off with one layer of flat wash and then finished with the puddle style of watercolor.

UPCOMING SHOW...

I'm in the process of working out the details and will be trying to contact some of those that have all ready purchased their porch paintings. It looks as though there will also be some live music as well! It should be a fun little event where everyone can see all 100 Salt Lake City Porches in person.

Prelim plans for...

Saturday January 14th from 2-6PM

Please save the date!

To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project (or to request a purchase), click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.96"

2011-12-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've been eyeing this eclectic porch for a while now and trying to figure out which time of year to do. You see, the straw man that resides on the porch changes accessories from time to time- season to season. Also, in mid summer the front yard raised gardens are in full glorious bloom. It was hard choosing which version to do. I chose this latest version that I took a picture of when I cycled by about two weeks ago.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.96"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper.

My other dilemma was trying to choose which method of painting it would be best. I was playing with the idea of doing it in an oil but I've opted to do it in watercolor. I started with a couple of layers of flat washes and then worked in the puddle style of watercolor painting. To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.93, 94, & 95"

2011-11-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

It was a productive Thanksgiving Holiday. I took advantage of the time off... got in a couple of bike rides, did some reading and managed to fit some painting time in too. You could say it was my ideal vacation. Here's the latest in the porch painting scene...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.93"; Watercolor on 11" x14" Yupo.

I watched this house come into my friend Diane's neighborhood. The old house that used to be on the same plot of land came down in less than three days, and I've been watching this new striking and modern house come into being. It's energy efficient and has solar panels. It also has a very interesting angular appearance. I limited the pallet for this watercolor to just three colors- cadmium orange, french ultramarine blue, and dioxazine purple. I took the photo of this porch and the next one just after the first November snow. In fact, these two porches (#93 & #94) are on the same street.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.94"; Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper

I was thinking of the transition between Halloween to Thanksgiving and then on to Christmas when I took the photo for this porch. There was a fresh layer of snow that seemed to catch the world by surprised. I thought the combination of snow covered pumpkins, the tree topiaries and the red shutters/ front door just made me think about the transition through the holidays. I also liked how this porch is more like a deck on the front of the house. It's an extension of living space even though the furniture on this "front deck" had a layer of snow on it when I took the photo.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.95"; Oil on 12" x 12" Canvas.

I've been admiring this porch for awhile now and had hoped to have captured it earlier while all of the potted plants/flowers were in their summer fullness. But each time I went by I never seemed to be with a camera in hand being on my way to some event in the downtown area. I took a quick photo this last week after the snow melted. Leaves had blown and scattered covering most of the lawn but I think it just added to the wonderful rich color of this porch. Check out the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase one), click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you for stopping by!

"100 SLC Porches, No.92"

2011-11-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thankgiving! I'm hoping to get some more porch paintings done over the long holiday weekend. But in meanwhile, here's the latest porch painting...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.92"; Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas.

This house is a cute cottage up in the Avenues area of Salt Lake City. This painting is a commissioned piece. It's for a friend and its her bosses' house. She's giving it as a Christmas present; a neat idea. I sent her a picture last night via text and received a "Wow. Absolutely spectacular". So I'm figuring she liked it. :) I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with doing commissioned work. I know its part of being a successful artist but I sometimes still struggle with the concept of someone wanting to pay me to paint something for them. I guess its because I feel I'm still struggling (the eternal struggle) to be a good artist. To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase one of ), click here. Thank you for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.89, 90, & 91"

2011-11-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

I've been busy painting away and also have had some computer problems. So here's a bit of catching up with the last three that I've painted of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.89"; a Poured Watercolor on 12" x 15" -300 lb Cold Press Paper.

There was so much cute and color to the above porch that I felt it lend itself naturally to a pour watercolor. I used some 300 lb. weight watercolor paper for this poured watercolor. I did 4 different pours and then finished with a bit of puddle painting.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.90"; Watercolor on 10" x 15" Paper.

The last of the Halloween decorated porches (and there were a GREAT deal to chose from), I decided to do in a sepia-colored gray. I thought it helped play up a "spooky-ness". I just LOVED the line of chained arms reaching out of the ground and the cemetery that lays off to the side as you approach the porch. These porch owners really like Halloween and they've got a fun sense of humor about it too. The first gravestone to the right says..." Myra Mains.... I told you I was sick!" There was even more humor as you went along and read some of the other gravestones.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.91"; Watercolor on 12" x 16" Paper

This porch belongs to my watercolor painting teacher and I'm very curious to see what she thinks. I decided to do it at a different close up angle to give it more interest. She had SO many pretty flowers out this last summer while I was over there doing a bit of cat sitting for her. I took the camera shot in the late evening and the sun only caught part of the top corner of the south facing porch and the upper of the tall evergreen. I did this in a wet-to-dry style. I hope she likes it and I'll find out tonight. To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) the 100 Salt Lake City Porch Project, please click here. Thank you for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.88 & Playing With Alternative Methods"

2011-11-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Here's No. 88 of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, which I finished late last night...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.88"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

I spotted this porch while out driving during my lunch hour about a week before Halloween. The porch was surrounded by orange leaves and pumpkins. The black cat had sparkles on it and shimmered with each light breeze in the noon day light. It seemed to tease and beckon me. There were quite a few cutely decorated houses along this quiet street in the Sugarhouse neighborhood. I did this painting as a series of flat washes that I slowly built up upon. If you would like to view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.

Last night in my Wednesday water coloring class (taught by Colleen) we went through alternative methods; or as Colleen likes to call it-- "painting with the kitchen sink". I painted this scene below with some of those methods such as: cutting when wet, using rubbing alcohol, applying wax and table salt, pressing saran wrap, and sponging. I felt like a young kid in an arts and craft class where there was no wrong or right answer to doing things. I was having SO much FUN just experimenting. Not too sure about the finished product but HEY! I had a good time in the process of it...

"Basketed Bright Pink Bike Along the Strip"; Watercolor on 10" x 15" Paper

I welcome any feedback you may have and Thanks for stopping by!

"100 SLC Porhces, No.86 & No.87"

2011-11-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

It was a productive weekend and I managed to almost get three new porch paintings finished. The third one is about 3/4 of the way done and will probably be finished in the next day or two.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.86"- Watercolor on 11" x 14" Yupo

There was a wonderful warm Fall sunny afternoon when I took the photo of this porch. It seemed the whole world was a glow with this warm glow of yellow light. Yes, I was again on my bike and riding along with my camera. Then I saw this HUGE spider in a web on the porch. I felt I needed to do some Halloween decorated porches and I thought this one would be a fun one to do. This is puddle painting on yupo and I just had FUN with this painting.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.87"- Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas

I took the photo of this porch about a month ago and have been wanting to paint it. I remember it was on a warm Sunday afternoon that I was biking through this neighborhood. There was SO many flowers and a dappled sunniness that this porch caught my eye. To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have and thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.84 & No. 85"

2011-11-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Now that Halloween is over I can get the paints back out. I had almost 50 bicycle riders show up for the Halloween Costume ride that I lead this last Saturday. If you would like to see some pictures and read about visit here. I managed to finish up two porch paintings last night and here they are...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.84"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

This porch is rather hidden in a neighborhood up in the Olympus Cove area of the Salt Lake Valley. I liked how it's kind of Frank Lloyd Wright inspired. The stairs up are at an angle and then there are these red metallic lion statues that sit on each side of the door. This painting is a series of flat washes where I used yellow ochre, cerulean blue, and a mixed red.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.85"; Oil on 16" x 16" Canvas

One Sunday afternoon I spotted porch #85 on a bike ride down in the area of Draper which is in the very south end of the Salt Lake City Valley. It's a very modern home of wood, cement, and glass that's situated at a 90 degree angle from the street. I prepped part of the canvas with just a bit of yellow acrylic that I thinned down with water. I wiped on the yellow on in the sky area and then quickly wiped off. I wanted to leave quite a bit of the canvas untouched and white. I think it plays well with the modern edge that the home has. When I painted this I chose to limit the pallet to the colors of olive green, a warm orangey Indian yellow, and cerulean blue. To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. Thank you for visiting! I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.83"

2011-10-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've slowed down a little on this project. Recently, I've been planning and prepping for a Halloween Bike Ride. This is the 5th year I've held the bike ride. I've had to put my paints away while I had the carpets cleaned and parts of my apartment deep cleaned. I usually have a social get together at my place afterwards; which last year I ended up with a total of almost 30 people in my one bedroom apartment. It was rather cozy. I'm expecting more this year. But here's No.83....

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 83"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

This porch is just down the street from #82 and I really wanted to focus on the light with this porch. I started with a light flat wash of lemon yellow and slowly built up with a series of flat washes. I did two more flat washes with the lemon yellow increasing the value each time. I, then, did two more flat washes with phathlo blue increasing the value each time. I then did a small light wash with dioxazine purple. Then, I finished with a bit of puddle style done with almost straight pigment of the phathlo blue and dioxazine purple. I welcome any feedback you may have. You may view the progress of (or to request purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project, click here or click on the blog page tab above. Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.82"

2011-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

It was a sunny warm Fall day when I went by on my bicycle and saw this porch. The angle of the light made the evergreen shaped spirals dramatic and I thought they would be fun to paint them. It was fun and here it is number 82...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.82"; Watercolor on 12" x 11" Paper

I started to do this painting in the wet-to-dry method but then as it dried I switched to the puddle style method to work on the foreground with the spiraling topiary and the pot of golden mums on the porch. I really had fun with this painting. To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, please click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thanks for stopping by.

"100 SLC Porches, No.81"

2011-10-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

On this porch, I was entranced with the cute white light and the flowers surrounding this porch. I chose to make the house lighter. The actual house color is a charcoal gray on the shakes. It is very close to the same color of home I grew up in. It also had shakes. My mom had this special blend to get just the right shade of charcoal gray; not too dark (its not a black) and not too light.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.81"; Watercolor on 11" x 11" Paper

This painting was a bit of an experiment for me. I did a series of flat washes on hot pressed paper. I had never tried doing a flat wash on hot pressed paper. Generally, hot pressed paper doesn't absorb the water quickly and water tends to puddle; which makes it excellent for puddle painting. After doing the flat washes, I then finished off the painting with a bit of puddle painting. To view the progress of (or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.80"

2011-10-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

In between, cat sitting for a friend and catching a cold this weekend. I still managed to get a porch painting done. Here it is...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.80"; Watercolor on 11" x 11" Paper

This cute porch was nestled in a quiet Holliday neighborhood in the Salt Lake Valley. It was a late Sunday afternoon when I spotted as I was out for a Sunday drive. I could have used this one earlier in the project during the 4th of July time. But oh well, I thought it was a cute one to do anyway. I used the puddle style of watercolor on this porch painting. To view the progress of (or to make a purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback. Thank you for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.78 & No.79"

2011-09-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

I took a three day weekend and managed to get a couple of porch paintings done. Here they are...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.78"; Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper.

The above Federal Heights area porch is canopied by two trees. I took a picture of it earlier in the spring when the trees were just budding out but thought that it might be more interesting to wait till the trees filled out. Now the trees are just barely starting to turn as the temperatures start falling. I started this porch painting in a flat wash of yellow to help with the contrast of the canopied area and the rest of the painting. The rest of the porch painting is done in the puddle style of watercolor painting on a hot pressed paper.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.79"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper

I almost got rear ended by a BMW and a dirty look from the car driver on a Sunday afternoon car ride when I took the picture of this porch. It was a beautiful day and the trees surrounding this house almost secluded it in shade. I was driving slowly through the Federal Heights neighborhood scouting porches. This yellow house caught my eye and then the symmetry around the door captured me. I used phatlo blue, crimson red, and aurora yellow in this pour; which was done in four different pouring levels. To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.77"

2011-09-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

Back to the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, and here I start off with a wonderful yellow Victorian that resides in the lower Avenues. Yes, I know it's another yellow house(which I favor), but I think that you'll see that this is a very unique porch.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.77"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

I started this porch painting with a series of flat washes in yellow; building and building on the yellow. Then, I switched to some puddle style watercolor painting to finish it all off. This weekend, I did managed to get out in the car and on my bike to scout out some more potential porches. So I guess, I need to get back to the project. To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. Thanks for stopping by and I welcome any feedback you may have.

In A Flowering Mood...

2011-09-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

I've been in a bit of a flowery mood of late and am wandering into uncharted territory. As a co-worker stated recently," I never imagined you as the flowery type." I will admit that I usually am not, being more of the tom-boy type. But it's kind of been nice trying my hand at something new. Here's a couple of recent watercolors, I've done in the wet to dry method...

"Poppies A Blooming"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

"Crab Apple Blossoms"; Watercolor on 10" x 13"

I'll probably start back in with the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project this weekend and I'm hoping to be able to scout out some new porch possibilities on my bike too.

A Porch Break...

2011-09-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a short break from the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project this week. Part of the reason is that I need a bit of a break and want to paint other things. I've had some photos I have taken while out scouting porches and cycling that I've wanted to paint but just haven't had the time. Well, I thought I would take a bit of a time out this week to paint some of those. I also have started back with Colleen Reynolds Watercolor Classes. I took the summer off because I ride my bike WAY TOO much in the summer to have time for everything. Like this painting below, I've had a photo I took back at the beginning of summer of these birdhouses.

"Birdhouses in a Row"; Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper done in the wet-to-dry method.

Another part of the reason is that I am taking a break. I am in need of some more porches to paint. I've managed to get quite a variety relatively close to where I live and bike on a regular basis but now I need to venture out a little further in the Salt Lake City valley to look for some unique porches. It takes a bit more time. If any of you that are reading this know of some porches that are unique, please drop me an address via email (its2allgood4u@yahoo.com ). I would be very grateful.

"100 SLC Porches, No.76"

2011-09-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.76"- Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper

I love these little cottage like houses. There are quite a few similar to this one throughout the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake. I was especially drawn to this one because of the wildflower like landscape that surrounded it. It feels like it's nestled in a quiet garden all by itself. I also liked the detail of the small window above the door. I started this painting as a pour using permanent rose. Then I used a bit of ultramarine blue in the sky area. Then I finished the painting with the puddle style of watercolor painting and a bit of dry brushing. To view the progress (or to purchase one) of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. Thank you for visiting and please leave a comment if you are so incline.

"100 SLC Porches, No.75"

2011-09-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm amazed at myself! I'm 3/4 of the way through this art project. I've stuck with the project and used no excuses to get out of it. I've also amazed myself with the bit by bit that I've improved. It's interesting looking from the first porch and working to the later ones. Check out the progress yourself by clicking the link below and see how I've progressed along. I have had fun with this project and I've meet some really fun porch owners along the way too! Here's No.75...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.75"; Oil on 11" x 14" Canvas board.

I played loosely with this oil and tried to really focus on the light that comes through the trees and at the porch at an angle. It was fun and came together very quickly. From start to finish it took about 4 hours total to paint this porch. To view the progress (or to purchase one) of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.73 & No.74"

2011-08-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

Between pours at this last weekend's workshop, I managed to work on these two porch paintings. I worked in the pour method on both of these. It just seemed to be fitting when I'm at a workshop that focuses on that method. These were much smaller than what I was working on in the workshop and I did finish both of these off with a bit of puddle painting when I got back to Salt Lake City.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.73"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

On both of these porch paintings, I kept to a limited color scheme. On the blue and yellow, I purposely went muted and understated. The orange-ish one below, I used different valves of the same color of paint and created the mono-chromatic porch. I find its fun to play with these limited pallets to create a painting.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.74"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

To view the progress (or to purchase one ) of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have, and thanks for visiting!

A Fun Workshop...

2011-08-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Here's Leslie's wonderful finished project from the workshop. You'll see my poor excuse near the end of this posting.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I managed to get in almost 60 very scenic miles on the bike and enjoyed a fun workshop too. I learned a new approach to poured watercolors in Leslie Redhead's Pouring Luminous Watercolors Workshop. Leslie was a wonderful patient teacher and it was such a fun group to hang out with at the Pocatello Art Center too.
Here's some photos from the workshop...

Leslie demonstrating the pouring method; adding yellow watercolor on second pour.

Then, red was added on each side of the yellow.

Leslie then spread watercolor around by tipping the painting.

Then, Leslie poured off the paint.

Now here's examples of my work....

After the first pour.

Almost there....

After the 4th pour.

And then....

Here's what I ended up with. It still needs some work done to it.

A Weekend Workshop...

2011-08-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

I’m off to Pocatello, Idaho this weekend. Why Pocatello, you might ask? I’m going to be taking a “Pouring Luminous Watercolors” Workshop at the Pocatello Art Center. The workshop is taught by a wonderful watercolorist that I have been admiring on-line for awhile. Her name is Leslie Redhead. I LOVE her poured watercolors of cityscapes and buildings. Pictured here is a Chinatown Statue, a poured watercolor that I stole from her site. (I hope she’ll forgive me.) It is one of my favorites. She also has some amazing flowers; especially irises and poppies. Please click on her name and check out her artwork. It is definitely worth a visit. Leslie is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada; and I jumped at the chance when I found out she was holding a workshop so close to Salt Lake City. It’s about a 3 hour drive and, of course, I’m taking my bike in tow. I figured I could bike some new territory while I'm there. I’ve really been excited for this weekend for the last month. It’s almost like Christmas! I’ll update you and hopefully share a beautiful piece of watercolor artwork when I get back.

"100 SLC Porches, No.71 & No.72"

2011-08-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.71"; 8" x10" Oil on Canvas

I remember a few years ago going by this above house and it had been gutted by fire. I felt so bad for the people who lived there. When I was an early teenager our house had been gutted by fire, and I hate the thought of anyone having to live through that. But I'm glad as I went on my bike a couple of weeks ago with camera and saw that they had rebuilt and made improvements too. I wondered about the unique clumping landscaping. They are tufts of like long grass spaced in front of the porch area. Might these bloom later in the season? Or was it something like those small planter with the neatly trimmed grass that's kind of zen in nature? Hmmmm...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.72"; Watercolor on Yupo.

I bike by Porch #72 three times a week early in the morning on a regular bike club ride (BCC). I've been watching the ivy slowly fill up around and on the porch as the bike season has progressed along from Spring into Summer and soon heading into Fall. I decided about a week ago that the ivy had reached it's zenith of porch covering and I thought it would be fun to do kind of a hidden porch. This painting I did in the puddle style of water coloring which I always find fun to do on yupo. I limited the colors to kelly green, indigo blue, light green, dioxazine purple, and a bit of permanent rose. To view the progress (or to request a purchase) of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, visit this page. Thank you for visiting and I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.70"

2011-08-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.70"; Watercolor on 10" x 12" Paper

This porch painting I did as a cross between a wet-to-dry method and a poured watercolor style with a bit of puddle watercolor painting. So I guess you could say I used no one particular style in a way. :) I did narrow down the color scheme at least. I used kelly green, indigo blue, and dioxazine violet. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase) click here. I welcome any feedback you have have!

"100 SLC Porches, No.69"

2011-08-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.69"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Yupo.

It was the pretty purple tree of roses of sharon (or at least that's what I thought it was) in the front yard that first drew me. Then as I looked closer my eyes were drawn in by the window paned areas on each side of the front door. In this painting, I used the puddle style watercolor painting on yupo. Once a watercolor painting on yupo dries there's a certain glistening softening look that occurs that I just find fascinating. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to request to purchase), please click here. I welcome any feedback you may have and thank you for stopping by my blog.

A Shared Story...

2011-08-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

I’m always fascinated when I find out a story that’s behind a scene I have painted. This story is ties in with the swing on 100 Salt Lake City Porch painting #61, which is interesting because it was the swing in front that drew me to their porch.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.61"; A Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

The story was recently shared to me from the porch owner, a woman who is inspiring. She’s a mother and breast cancer survivor who has started a non-profit yoga classes for cancer survivors called “A Quality Life Community”. The story she shared is called Abigail’s Swing. They ended up putting the swing in the front yard after they built a garage in the place of a swing set. But Abigail still needed some where to swing, and thus, the swing was hung from the tree in the front yard. Here’s the story as written wonderfully by this inspiring woman and Abigail's mom …

Abigail’s Swing

When the world gets too noisy for my daughter, she retreats to her swing or to a rocking chair. She puts everything else on hold, then rocks it into perspective. Or perhaps she prefers to be part of the audience, not a participant. In either case, she has always done this, since the moment she could sit up independently.

Me, I’m a bouncer. I bounce against the backs of couches, love to rock in rocking chairs, and recall, as a child, the transition of outgrowing my swing set as difficult. I loved my swing set and consider my time spent swinging a significant period in my life. Like Abigail, I loved watching my brothers and sister play. I liked being in the audience once in a while, not always interactive. Swinging was my moving meditation.
Abigail can swing for hours at a time. She needs to think, and this is her place.

“I need to take a break, Mom,” she’ll suddenly say to me.

“Okay.”

I would have no idea what was jarring her world, but I understood her need instinctively.

“Have fun. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

Moving backward and forward helps her mind open up to imagination, to the clouds, to the sky where her mind takes her body to fly. She loves watching kids play. She loves watching her brother entertain the other kids. She loves being the audience to his performances. Swinging is her moving meditation, too. It’s a peaceful place for her to think. Seeing the good and feeling the peace.

This movement of back and forth has helped her cope with any perceived stress she experienced.

“I lose my mind,” she told me once.

“I feel like a cloud floating in the sky. When I look backward, it feels like I am flying.”

Then we were building a garage, and half of the swing set was in pieces. It doesn’t balance right and she frets.
“I miss being on the swing.”

"100 SLC Porches, No.68"

2011-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.68"; Poured Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper

I was slowly biking along in this neighborhood when out of the corner of my eye I caught this house. At a quick glance, it kind of looked like feather plumes in front of the upper windows. When I looked again, my eyes wandered around the front of this house. The ivy, the flowers, the shrubs, and the large trees that provided shady spots. All of this amazing almost wild landscape set off with a classic porch, red bricks, and shutters. I turned my bike around and immediately took pictures! I used a bit of medium yellow, Kelly green, permanent rose, and phathlo blue in this poured watercolor. After pouring, I did just a bit of puddle watercolor painting to finish it off. This was a very fun painting to do. Please check out the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase), click here. I welcome any feedback you may have, and thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.67"

2011-08-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.67"; Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

I started this poured watercolor with a bit of medium yellow to add a bit of sunny undertone. Then I mainly worked in light green, kelly green, and a VERY watered down indigo blue. I finished off with a bit of puddle painting in kelly green and indigo blue. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase), click here. I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.66"

2011-08-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.66"; Watercolor on 10" X 11" Paper

I used the puddle style of watercolor painting for this. It seemed appropriate to use this style when there were all kinds of puddles of light and shade over the lawn and front of this house because of large nearby trees. It was the bright red door that drew me in on this porch, and then my eyes caught the touches of red flowers. It was a fun porch to paint. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase), click here. Thank you for stopping by.

"100 SLC Porches, No.65"

2011-08-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.65"; Oil on 12" x 12" wrapped canvas

I had fun with this one. The original house is a warm yellow ochre but I decided to do it with oranges, reds, yellows and white with just a touch of cerilium blue. It's a cute cottage style home on eastside of the Salt Lake Valley nestled in a quiet neighborhood. I also decided to do something interesting and funky with the wrapped canvas edge. Check this out...

A side view of 100 SLC Porches, No.65

To check out the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, or to purchase... click here. I welcome any feed back you may have and thank you for stopping by.

"100 SLC Porches, No.64"

2011-08-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.64"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

I've been eyeing this cute house for awhile now. It's along the route of a weekly Thursday night bike ride I take. Each time I pass by, I never have a camera with me and I'm pedalling fast in vain to keep up with the guys leading the pack. Then a couple of Sunday mornings ago with perfect weather I took my camera with me on my bicycle. I managed to capture the cutie and scouted out a few more potential porches to paint while I was out. An amazingly productive morning and I hadn't even had coffee or breakfast yet. This last weekend has been productive too. I have porch #65, an oil, almost done. I hope to finish it tonight, and porch #66 is underway too. I've got it lightly sketched out in preparation for a watercolor. To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have and thanks for visiting!

"100 SLC Porches, No.63"

2011-07-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.63"; Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

There's a great deal going on with this porch and I decided to do it in the wet to dry style of watercolor painting. I limited the color pallet to quinacridone gold, ultra marine blue, and kelly green. This went quickly as usually the wet to dry style does. You can view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake Porches or perhaps to inquire about purchasing, click here. Thanks for visiting and I would enjoy any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.62"

2011-07-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.62"- 10" x 10" on Paper

I'm back from a lovely little vacation I spent in Helena,MT. Now to get serious about doing some more porch paintings. I put the finishing touches on this painting late last night. Yes, it's another yellow house and I will admit that I tend toward yellow houses. They are just SO warm and inviting; and the rocking chair on this one makes it look even more inviting. I started this painting as a series of flat washes in yellows, slowly building up the brightness of the yellows. Then I finished with some puddle style painting. To view my progress with the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project visit this page. Here's a photo that I took during the Helena 100 Bike ride that I did while on my vacation.

A picture during the Helena 100 Bike ride that went along the upper Missouri River.

"100 SLC Porches, No.61"

2011-07-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.61"; Poured watercolor on 10" x 14" paper.

It was the wooden swing that caught my eye to this porch. I could just picture a lazy Saturday afternoon watching the kids swing beneath the tree all the while I'm leisurely enjoying the shade on the porch. For this poured watercolor I used a mixed blue ( 50/50 of phathlo blue and ultramarine blue), a mixed yellow (40/30 of medium yellow and yellow ochre) and a mixed red (cadmium red with a bit of scarlet red). What can I say I was in a mood to mix? Then to finish it off a I did a bit of puddle painting where I, of course, was mixing in little puddles of water. I guess you could say it was a bit of an adult version of child's play. The porches may slow down a bit for the next week as I heading off to do a bit of vacationing up in Montana. But we'll see. I'm planning on taking my watercolor painting supplies in tow and perhaps I'll have sometime to paint between cycling and sightseeing. To check out the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. Here's a couple of photos I took this last weekend while I was cycling the Utah's Alpine Loop.

The Apline Loop near the summit.

The road from Alpine Loop to Cascade Springs Nature Reserve.

"100 SLC Porches, No.59 & No.60"

2011-07-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's definitely a patriotic theme with these two porches...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.59"
Watercolor on 11" x 14" Yupo

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.60"
Watercolor on 11" x 14" Hot Pressed Paper

Porch No.59, I spotted a while back while on a bike ride during a pretty May Day while in the Canyon Rim area of the Salt Lake Valley. I've been saving it for the patriotic time of year. I loved how the big trees in the front yard kind of framed the upper area of the porch. It's more of a side porch that runs the front length of the house. I did this in a bit of a puddle wash on yupo; which is not an easy thing to do on yupo because yupo is a very slick type surface where the water REALLY puddles up and it must be kept still till the water drys.

Porch No.60 is an older home in the Taylorsville area of the Salt Lake Valley and I thought it might be fun to do it as a red, white, & blue theme to keep it patriotic even more. I really got the idea from a painting that my friend & teacher Colleen Reynolds did. It was a scene where everything was blue & white except for a guy that was wearing a t-shirt that had a flag themed print on it. Colleen added the color red to that section of the painting. I was very fascinated the first time I saw the painting and I thought that this porch was a good candidate for this style. I started with a light flat wash of blue and built up. The last thing I did was add the red color.

To view the progress of ( or to purchase one of) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, please click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you for visiting my art blog.

"100 SLC Porches,No.58"

2011-06-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.58"; Watercolor on 8.5" x 10.5" Paper

I'm very familiar with this porch. Quite often I show up here outfitted for bicycling or running. This is the home of my favorite work out buddy Diane. It was an early evening after work when I swung by to take the photo of her porch. The flowers had just come out to bloom the weekend before. The sun catches areas here and there through the tree lined street. It's in a lovely quiet Sugarhouse neighborhood that is within blocks of all kinds of businesses and restaurants. By the way, she loved the painting! To view the progress of (or to purchase) 100 Salt Lake City Porches, please click here. I welcome any feedback! Thanks!

"100 SLC Porches, No.57"

2011-06-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.57" Oil on 8" x 8" Canvas

Recently, I found some 8" x 8" canvases on sale and purchase a couple. This porch is a minty green porch with pinkish undertones in the landscape. It's on a relatively quiet street between the Aves and the University of Utah campus. I decided not to paint the edge of the next door house. The houses in this area are older and built rather close together. Quite often if there is a garage it's off of a back alley way. But sometimes, these house are built before there were cars and all they have now is off-street parking. To view the progress of (or to request purchase)100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback.

"100 SLC Porches, No.56"

2011-06-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.56"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Cold Press Paper

This porch is another one from the lower Salt Lake Aves area. I started this one with a series of flat washes with permanent rose. Slowly, I built up the pink tones. Then I started in with some puddle painting with combinations of the colors of phthalo blue, light green, and medium yellow. I wanted to keep to similar colors of the house which were tones of pink and teal. I think it turned out to be a nice combination.

I must admit that it seems I'm getting into a bit of a theme with the flags on the last couple of porches. We are heading towards that patriotic 4th of July and I've been keeping my eyes open for some porches that have a patriotic "flare". So if any of you see in the Salt Lake City area see a porch with flags or red, white & blue contact me and I can run over on my bicycle to get a picture. To view the progress of (or to request purchase) all 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you!

"100 SLC Porches, No.55"

2011-06-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.55"; Watercolor on 11" x 14" Paper

It was a beautiful sunny day when I went by on my bicycle and this porch in the lower Salt Lake Aves grabbed my attention with the wonderful flags and pink tulips. I started this painting with a series of flat washes and finished with some puddle painting. What a wonderful painting to do on a rainy Sunday. It was a productive afternoon and I hope to have #56 porch done this evening if all goes well too. That's dependant on how long of a bicycle ride I may take tonight. :) Please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page to view the progress or to request to purchase. I welcome any feedback. Thank you.

"100 SLC Porches, No.53 & No.54"

2011-06-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.53"; Poured Watercolor on 10"x 11" Paper

In the quiet Avenues neighborhood this front porch was almost hidden amid a garden in the front yard. It seemed to just peek out a bit between the trees and say hi as I passed by on my bike the first time. I turned around and took a picture of this secluded beauty. I used medium yellow, dioxazine violet, and sap green in this poured watercolor.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.54"; Watercolor on 10" x 14"

This bricked green beauty from the lower Salt Lake Aves, I started as a series of flat washes in golden tones building and building; adding more color as it progressed. I'm really happy how this one turned out. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here. I would love to hear any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.49 to No.52"

2011-06-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

I was REALLY in the mood to paint this weekend and managed to get 4 of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches done. And here they are in order...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.49"; Oil on 12" x 12" Wrapped Canvas

No this is not the original painting I had planned to paint. That porch painting is still off to the side. This porch painting in oil came together quickly. This sunny porch was scouted out by a friend and I think what drew us both to this porch was the ceramic tiled square areas on the lower areas of each side of the porch. I also liked the fish mail box too. I kept to a pastel pallet on this one.

Below Porch #50 was also spotted by the same friend. I loved the red tree and went a bit brighter with it. This watercolor was a combination of flat washes, puddle painting, and sponge painting.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.50"; Watercolor on 9" x 13" Paper

Porch #51 has an Old English feel to it. I did this watercolor in a wet to dry method then did a bit of puddle painting to finish it off. I kept to a raw umber, indingo blue, and yellow mix (medium yellow & yellow ochre) pallet.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.51"; Watercolor on 9" x 10"Paper

Porch #52 belongs to a co-worker who had reserved the number because it was her age. I really think she wanted me to get more porches under my belt before I attempted hers. I surprised her at work this morning, and she was delighted with it.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.52"; Poured watercolor on 9" x 10" Paper

Click here to see the "100 Salt Lake City Porches" Art Project page. Check out my progress or get info. on how to purchase a porch painting.

Struggling with #49...

2011-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve been struggling with porch #49 for awhile now. It’s an oil that I’ve started over and over and over; 4 times now. It’s just not coming together and not looking right to me. It’s a version of painter’s block? Maybe. But I’m thinking I’m going to put it off to the side for later. Perhaps just start another painting tonight; maybe a watercolor. These things happen sometime for some unknown reason and I think I just need to back off from it and give it a bit of rest.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.36"; Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas

In the meantime, some of you may remember porch #36 where I asked the “chicken or the egg” question. Was the yellow trim first or were the pair of beautiful yellow forsythia trees? Well, the answer to the $ 64 question is…” the forsythia came first planted by the previous owner....and ironically I painted in the fall without even thinking about them matching!!!” ...a direct quote from current owner Deborah.

I’ve really had fun with this project and most of the fun has come from meeting and talking with the porch owners. Each porch and house has its own stories. And there have been porch owners from all kinds of backgrounds and with a wide base of interests. There’s some I could spent the afternoon with a cold ice tea hanging out on their porch talking with. In fact, the more and more I think about it. I would like to put little stories about the porches and houses in a book along with pictures of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project. I think it would make a very interesting book. I want to thank the porch owners that I’ve met and I look forward to those that I hope to meet.

"100 SLC Porches, No.48"

2011-05-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.48"
Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper

Now this one may seem very similar to porch #13. In a way I will admit that it is and I wouldn't be surprised with 100 porches if I end up with a bit of duplication. Though this painting is in watercolor and it shows the full porch at an angle. Porch #13 is closer up, shows just a portion, and is done in a limited oil pallet of purples, peach, with a bit of blue. Also, this porch has a mental work that goes across between the poles. With the flowers out front and the light, I think this porch is singing in Springtime. I did this in a flat watercolor wash method and I think it gives it a nice muted easy going feeling. I could spend an afternoon just passing the time on this porch! To view the progress (or to purchase) please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page. I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.47"

2011-05-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.47"
Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

You don't see many of these...a double level porch! They just don't seem to build large tall houses like this anymore. I imagine it's wonderful view from that top porch area; as this house is on a bit of a hill. The original house has dark almost black browns, grays, and red brick. I opted to limit the color pallet to two colors; an indigo blue and the lovely quinacridone gold. (Please don't ever ask me to pronounce what kind of gold this is. I'll surely screw it up!) I used the wet to dry watercolor painting method. It went pretty fast and it was a fun painting to do. I welcome any feedback you may have. Please visit this page to view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches. Thank you.

"100 SLC Porches, No.46"

2011-05-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.46"
Oil/Acrylic on 16" x 16" Canvas

I almost put this porch painting on my blog yesterday. I took pictures of it but then I got to looking at the porch painting and the original porch photo. It was then that I realized I missed some of the detailing on the railing area. It's all in the details; sometimes. So last night, I went home and fixed it. I took a new approach on this porch painting. The house is mostly a series of green. So I decided to start with the green acrylic that I prepped the canvas with. I thought I would just paint the actual porch and the wonderful front window off to the side of the porch. There's some beautiful details in this porch and I couldn't resist not painting in the pretty flower bed. I would love to hear any feedback you may have. To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, visit this page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.45"

2011-05-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.45"
Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

Quite often I'm cruising quickly by on my bicycle past this porch as it is along a hill in the lower Avenues area. But a couple of weeks ago I forced myself to go more slowly with my camera in tow and captured it. I like to think of this porch as an understated refined beauty. I start this porch painting with a series of flat washes in a mixed green and a watered down phathlo blue. Then, I proceeded with a bit of puddle painting to reach the final result. I limited my color pallet for this painting to phathlo blue, medium yellow, burnt sienna, and just a bit of crimson red.

"100 SLC Porches, No.43 & No.44"

2011-05-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.43"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

This wonderful porch is located over in the Federal Heights area of Salt Lake City. What drew me to this porch were the flower pots placed on each corner of the wide open porch, and the flowered wreath on the door. I used the colors of indigo blue, medium yellow, and a 50-50 mix of permanent rose with cad. red. I had fun with this poured watercolor and I hope it shows!

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.44"
Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper

This porch was nestled near the Canyon Rim area neighborhood. I chose a bit of a different approach for painting it. I started with a flat wash of medium yellow and built from there with cerulean blue and raw sienna. I felt that this style fit well with the simple clean lines of the porch. There's just something about a yellow house! I can't explain it but I seem to be drawn to yellow houses. This porch captured my eye with its simplicity and I also liked the weather vane in the front yard. That color yellow just draws me in; maybe its from growing up with a warm yellow kitchen that always seemed to be the center of activity? But I will try to not go overboard on the yellow, I'll try to pace myself and balance out the colors of the porches. I promise! But please check out the progress of the porches on this page. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thanks for visiting!

SLC Gallery Roll 2011-- Bike Art Show

2011-05-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a bit of a break from the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art project. This Friday is the opening night for the 3rd Annual Gallery Roll. It's art with a definite bike slant. The SLC Bicycle Company, located at 177 East 200 South in Salt Lake, is turning the bicycle store into an art show for the night and will have all the art on exhibit till June 5th. It’s a great chance for those that enjoy art and bikes to have the best of both worlds! Also, nearby on Friday night is a Bike Bonanza taking place at the Gallivan Plaza which is a short walk from the shop. I have three pieces in this show; two watercolors and an oil. So if you happen to be in the downtown Salt Lake area on Friday night between 6-9PM swing by and say "Hi" to me.

This piece pictured below is one of mine that is in the show. I call it; "Shadow Cycling Chalk Creek Canyon"- watercolor on paper.

"100 SLC Porches, No.42"

2011-05-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.42"
Watercolor on 11" x 14" yupo

It's been a while since I've done a watercolor on yupo. I thought that this fun yellow porch would work out nice on yupo. This porch is a few blocks from Liberty Park in Salt Lake and caught my eye as I was out riding my bike a couple weeks ago. It was too colorful and fun NOT to paint. I like to imagine that a school teacher or a family with young children live in this house. I bet it would be a fun place to visit and hang out at! To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project (or perhaps to purchase) click here. 20% of all proceeds will be donated to Salt Lake City's Habitat for Humanity.

"100 SLC Porches, No.41"

2011-05-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.41"
Mixed media on 12" x 12" wrapped canvas

This porch I did a bit differently. I usually lightly underpaint my canvases with an acrylic paint and then paint over with oil. This painting, I started with staining the canvas in places with an almost solid coat of watercolor paints. Then, I painted with oils. I found it rather fun to experiment with using watercolor and oil paints together. Water and oil don't usually go together well but I think this turned out pretty well. This porch is one of the first of many more to come from "the Avenues" part of Salt Lake. There are a great deal of beautiful porches in that area. I loved the purple and green of this porch. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase); click here.

"100 SLC Porches, No.40"

2011-05-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake Porches, No.40"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

This porch was requested by a friend. She has moved within the last year and thought it would be nice to have a painting to remember her old porch. The house has a great deal of memories for her. "It was a place of security, place of growth, friendships, and joy." She said, and I hope that she will look on this painting for years to come and find the joy in remembering. She seemed pleased when I emailed her a picture of it last night shortly after I finished.

I was holding my breath hoping that she liked what I did. I find it hard to do a "commission". As an artist I see things differently, and even among artists I can sometimes be out in left field as to how I approach subjects. Reminds me of a story of a plein air workshop up a local canyon. There was 8 or 9 of us. We were all out in the open air with our easels set up kind of in a row. As the teacher went along... mountains, evergreen trees, quaking aspens... all along different perspectives or scenes but all basically the same. The she gets to me... water pump and a hose! We are out in the middle of all this glorious scenery and I'm enamored with a water pump and a hose. Hello!? The teacher looked at me, shook her head and said," Jeanne, you are definitely a different bird!"

Some Bike Art...

2011-04-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

"The Girlie Duo"
9" x 11" Watercolor on Paper

I've been taking a bit of a break from porches, and dabbling in some bike art. In the week, I've done three watercolor paintings with bikes. This painting pictured above is the last of the three. I did it during last night's watercolor painting class. Colleen Reynolds, my teacher, seems pleased with my progress of watercolor painting. This painting was done in the wet-to-dry style. The two other watercolor paintings are currently being framed and I'm hoping they will appear in the Salt Lake City Gallery Roll. They are still taking bike art entries, if anyone out there has bike art that they would like to display. Check out this site!

"100 SLC Porches, No.38 & No.39"

2011-04-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.38"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

I've been admiring this porch for awhile. It is along one of my favorite bicycle routes; some of my cycling friends have referred to this route as my "Realtor" route. I like to ride along nice quiet residential streets where there is less traffic. I sometimes like to imagine this porch attached to a turreted castle; similar to the Knights of the Round Table. It has that quality about it. I also enjoy the wrought iron fence that opens on to an "S" curved stoned walk that leads to the porch. It all adds to the majesty of it. I chose four colors for this poured watercolor; indigo, crimson, burnt umber, and kelly green. I thought that doing it as a poured watercolor gave it a sense of mystical. I finished it off with a bit of puddle painting.

" 100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.39"
Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

I found this porch nested in a quiet neighborhood and thought it most striking. I must admit that I want to go back and visit it when the landscape is not covered with snow; as what has been happening with recent Utah weather. Spring in Utah! I love the oriental peaceful feel of it, and can imagine that the landscaping will reflect this feeling. I did this in the wet-to-dry method of watercolor painting to bring out the strikingness of this porch. To view all of the Salt Lake City Porch Paintings visit this page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.36 & No.37"

2011-04-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.36"
Oil on 8"x10" Canvas

I was drawn to this porch by the bright yellow trees flanking the porch. Then continued to look at the porch when the yellow accent trim matched the trees. It made me wonder about the age old question of..."Which came first--the egg? Or the chicken?" So, were the trees first and then someone went to the local paint store with a leaf to match the paint? Or was the yellow painted first and then the trees planted to match? I was very tempted to knock on the door to ask; but I didn't. If I ever find out the answer I pass it along. Though, I must admit that I sometimes lean toward enjoying the unanswered questions.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.37"
Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

This porch is very striking in the afternoon sun and that was the reason I chose to do this porch in a wet-to-dry method of watercolor painting. I used the three colors of phthalo blue, raw sienna, and yellow ochre. I slowly built up the shaded areas with phthalo blue and raw sienna. Then, highlighted some areas with the yellow ochre. This painting came together very quickly. To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches visit this page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.35"

2011-04-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.35"
Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

For this porch watercolor painting, I used the wet to dry method. I lightly drew in the porch with pencil and did a bit of shading. In this method, the focus seems to be on negative painting. Focus in on the shaded areas slowly, little by little building those up to be darker. I did do a bit of dry brushing in the foreground to put some emphasis on the rock path that goes to the porch. I decided to use cerulean blue, dioxazine purple, and yellow ochre. I really find the muted quality of blended colors wonderful. I welcome any feedback you may have. Please check out the progress of the porch paintings on the 100 SLC Porches page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.34"

2011-04-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.34"
Pour Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper

I found this Frank Lloyd Wright inspired porch nestled in a quiet Holladay neighborhood during a recent bicycle ride. I found it a challenge to narrow down to just the porch area of this home. There's brick, stone, wood, steel, and colorful glass in the front door windows all set amid an understated landscape. I decided to use four colors for this poured watercolor; ultramarine blue, cadmium red medium, hooker's green, and yellow ochre. I added the green to this pour because there's a great deal of green undertones in the wood of the door and there was a fair amount of a wonderful green in the glass of the door. The other challenge with this porch is that one side was in shade from the rest of the house while the other half was enveloped in warm sunshine. There were areas of snow that were reflecting light too. I would love to hear any feedback you may have on this one. Please check out the progress on the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.33"

2011-04-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.33"
Oil on 16" x 16" Canvas

I call this gem of a porch the Cape Cod Mansion. The house reminds me of a house you would find not far from the Cap Cod area. I can just imagine feeling the sea breeze on my face. I really brought out the blues in this painting and I especially enjoyed the white arch with columns around the porch area. To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches click here.

"100 SLC Porches, No.31 & No.32"

2011-03-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.31"
Poured Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper

Porch #31 was a pour I did with yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, and quinacridone gold. There's a great deal of rust tones in this porch that I wanted to capture. I thought that the rounded porch overhang with the windows surrounding the door was fascinating. I also enjoyed the weeping pine tree. You don't see many of them.

Porch #32 (below) was a pour that I used lemon yellow, phthalo blue, and crimson red. I really thought that it was a unique combo of colors. I chose the phthalo blue because it was the color I saw reflected in the windows.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.32"
Poured Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper

"100 SLC Porches, No.30"

2011-03-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.30"
Oil on 12" x 12" Wrapped Canvas

The picture doesn't seem to do it total justice. Until an oil painting has dried a couple of weeks I can never seem to get a good picture of it; too much shine. This porch went very quickly. Though, I will admit that I'm still struggling with what to do around the edges of the wrapped canvas. Right now, I have the wrapped canvas and parts of the front painted with a mix of blue and black scrubbed in. What drew me to this porch was the adorable egg Easter wreathe that was on the front door. But when I got to painting the porch, I got SO wrapped up in the sandstone around the enclosed porch that the cute wreathe was an after thought. I think I'll set this painting off to the side and simmer over how to do the edges. I welcome any feedback or suggestions on how to finish it. Click here to check out the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches.

"100 SLC Porches, No.29"

2011-03-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.29"
Poured Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper

I saw this porch when I was out riding with Diane a week ago last Sunday. It was a beautiful day and Diane pointed out this elegantly arched porch while we were cycling along the east benchs of Salt Lake. Thanks Diane! I think it was a good suggestion. I used Indigo, Yellow Orche, and Alizarin Crimson for this poured watercolor. You can view all of the porches on the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page. Who knows you might even see a neighbors porch...

"100 SLC Porches, No.28"

2011-03-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.28"
Poured Watercolor on 9.5" x 11" Paper

I loved how this poured watercolor turned out. It feels to me like a welcoming sun dappled porch. For the pour, I used purple, green, and a bit of yellow ochre. I used the same colors for the puddle painting I did after the pour. Please check out the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page to see the progress or if you would like to purchase. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you.

"100 SLC Porches, No.27"

2011-03-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.27"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper

This porch has what I think is an adorable umbrella like cover on it. Combine that umbrella cover with a bumped out stone facade and it's full of all kinds of texture and interest. For the pour, I used ultramarine blue, meduim yellow, and quinacridone gold. Then after the pour, I used those three colors in a puddle style painting to finish it off. You can check out all of the porches on the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.26"

2011-03-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.26"
Oil on 16" x 16" Canvas

On this porch I chose to use the complementary colors of blue and orange. As I went through painting this I discovered that the valve of the color of the paint is very important to give the perception of distance. At first when I painted this the main portion of the brick on the house was a brighter orange. The painting felt flat and all wrong. So I went over it, with a lighter creamier orange and I think that made all the difference. I hope the porch owner is a Denver Bronco's fan. I had a co-worker that is a fan of the Bronco's and thought it was really cool when he saw it. Please visit my 100 Salt Lake City Porches page to see the progress or if you would like to purchase. I also would love any feedback you may have, click here to drop me an email.

"100 SLC Porches, No.25"

2011-03-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.25"
Poured Watercolor on 11" x 11" Paper

It's hard to believe that I'm 1/4 of the way through this project. This porch was a fascinating one to do; not so much for the porch itself but for the interesting landscape leading up to the porch. The front walks is an "S" curve through a charming menagerie of chopped wooden logs, rocks, flowers in pots and bird houses. All of this is framed with some wonderful English ivy that gives it all a story book feel. It makes me want to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and wait to be told a wonderful bedtime story. I started this porch as a poured watercolor painting and then finished it as a puddle style watercolor on a hot pressed paper. I hope I captured it's charm? I welcome any feedback you may have or if you would like to purchase it-- click here. Also I invite you to check out the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page to view all the porches.

"100 SLC Porches, No.24"

2011-03-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.24"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 12"

This poured watercolor I did a bit differently; rather than keeping to the three primary colors (Red, Blue, & Yellow) I used watery sunset colors-- purples, oranges, and pinks. It makes me want to play and experiement with poured watercolors even more. If you would like to veiw the progress or perhaps purchase a porch painting, please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.23"

2011-02-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.23"
Oil on 12" x 12" Wooden Panel

This is painted on a new surface for me. It's a wooden 12" x 12" panel that I got at a local art store. I was curious about what it would be like to oil paint on a different type of surface. It was interesting because the wood absorbed the oil paint. It was much like staining a wood surface, and I noticed that some of the oil paints color would become a bit muted as they were absorbed by the wood. This was a first attempt on such a surface and I'm looking forward to trying some more paintings on this type of surface. It's all a learning curve. If you would like to check out the overall progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches check out this page.

"100 SLC Porches, No.22"

2011-02-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 22"
Poured Watercolor on 9" x 10" Paper

This is a poured watercolor where I poured one color at a time. It's the same method that I used on porch #17 but I think I've improved on my skills; or I should say I think I have improved but I might be a little biased? I started masking off the white areas and then poured a light yellow. Then, I applied more masking and poured blue paint.

Porch painting in process- 3rd application of masking is drying after pouring the blue paint.

Next I did some more masking and poured the red paint.

Porch painting in process-- after the red paint was poured and before the masking was removed.

Then, the all of the masking was removed and I put in shadows and details. The top picture of the painting was the result. I must admit that I've been having a great deal of FUN with this method of watercolor painting. To view the progress of the porch paintings or to purchase a porch painting, please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Page. I welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you.

"100 SLC Porches, No.20 & No.21"

2011-02-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.20"
Oil on 12" x 12" Wrapped Canvas

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.21"
Poured watercolor on 8" x 10" paper

It's been a productive President's Holiday weekend. These three day weekends are always nice to have and I managed to finish up these two porch paintings. I also managed to start 2 more paintings today. I hope to finish those soon and have pictures to show soon. If you would like to view the progress of this art project or you would like to purchase a porch painting please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page. I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.19"

2011-02-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.19" - Poured watercolor on 6.5" x 9" paper

I started two poured watercolors at class last night. This porch painting was the smaller of the two. I was attracted to the white woodwork on this porch. It's a charming little porch, and I hope I managed to capture just a bit of its charm. I like the muted colors that evolved as this painting progressed. I hope to finish the other poured watercolor porch tonight. I'm also working on an oil of a porch too. This project seems to be progressing along. Please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page to see the full progress of the project or if you are interested in purchasing a porch painting. I would welcome any feedback you may have. Thank you.

"100 SLC Porches, No.18"

2011-02-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.18"- Poured watercolor on 9" x 12" paper

This porch painting, I struggled with. I started after my watercolor class last week prior to porch #17, and I poured all three colors at once. It was a bit of a murky mess but I worked through some of it with Colleen's help last night. She made some suggestions and after a little more work on it tonight I finally feel like it's done. I look at this and think of myself sitting on the porch during a hot sultry summer evening with a cool glass of lemonade as I watch the sun dip towards the west horizon. These are nice thoughts to be thinking of during this cold February weather we've been getting here of late.

"100 SLC Porches, No.17"

2011-02-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.17"- Poured watercolor on 10" x 11" paper

This porch painting I had started on Monday night when the gym ended up being closed for the night. This is a poured watercolor where I did one color at a time. First, I drew in the porch lightly and double taped the paper to a piece of glass. I masked all of the areas that I wanted to be white. Then while that was drying I mixed up the yellow. I poured the yellow paint all over. I poured off the excess yellow paint off by standing it up in a plastic tub. I wiped the bottom and left the painting to dry overnight.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.17" - in process taped on glass before masking was removed.

Tuesday night, I masked off those parts that I wanted to be yellow. Then, when the masking was dry; I poured the blue. I added more water with my mop brush to the sky area moved the paint around to create somewhat cloud sky affect. I again stood the painting upright in the plastic tub; letting all the excess paint run off. I let that dry. Then, I masked off the areas that I wanted to keep blue or green. I let that dry overnight and took it to water coloring class tonight to finish with the last color-- Red. I borrowed Ann's little dropper and proceeded to drop the mixed red paint on the painting. I moved some of the paint around with my fingers over the masking to get in the cracks of areas between the masking. I teased Ann & Colleen that this was much like finger painting and I was having fun.

Colleen taking a photo of the porch painting before I left class.

Colleen thought that it looked like an En caustic painting before I removed the masking and asked for me to take a picture of it before we took the masking off. She was so excited to see the painting that she was helping me to remove the masking right along with me. I was cracking up the whole time. She kind of reminded me of a kid in the candy store. She even took a picture of the painting before I left class. She thought that it was pretty cool.

I did end up coming home and touching up because I had masked over the mail box and address area where there were penciled in. I went over that real quick when I got home and the finished product is at the top.

I also had Colleen help me with another porch painting that I still have a bit more work to do before I show it here. I hope to finish that tomorrow night. Oh, by the way, I'm also working on another porch painting in oil. Yep, the great American past time-- multi-tasking! Life doesn't get any better than multi-tasking a favorite hobby!

Colleen overseeing Ann's progress on a poured watercolor painting.

"100 SLC Porches, No.16"

2011-02-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.16" - Oil on 8" x 10" Canvas

This sunny little porch I spotted this Last Saturday when I was out for a bike ride. I love the warm yellow contrasting with the brick and then the bright green front door. This painting came together quickly; though I will admit that an 8"x 10" paints quite a bit faster than some of the 16" x 20" paintings I've done.

"100 SLC Porches, No.15"

2011-02-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.15"- watercolor on 8.5" x 11" paper

I did most of this porch at watercolor painting class last night learning a new style of "Pouring It On". Colleen first showed examples photos of the "Pouring It On" style of paintings. The first examples she showed were from the painter Lian Quan Zhen. He does a method of pouring watercolor that's more of a Chinese Watercolor Pouring on Style. Next, she showed paintings from Leslie Redhead who does a pouring on method that is one color at a time. Both of the styles of pouring watercolor were amazing. I especially loved the building scene paintings done by Leslie Redhead.

Out of necessity, Colleen said we will limit this month's watercolor painting class to the Chinese style of pouring on. The one color at a time does not work well in a class situation because it needs more time. There is a waiting for one color to dry completely before you pour another color. But she did suggest that we try this style as homework.

Next, Colleen did a demo of the Chinese watercolor pouring on style. She had all ready drawn and masked off the white areas of ducks in a pond. She then mixed 3 paints in separate cups; one blue, one red, and another yellow. She misted the sketched/masked off paper with her spray bottle. Then, she poured the blue in the area of the painting that would mainly be blue. Then, she poured with the yellow paint cup the areas that would be yellow or possibly green with overlapping of the blue. She took her fingers and moved the paint around on the paper to mix in certain areas. Also, dropping some of the paint in other areas for spots of green or yellow. Next she poured on the red paint in areas that the red would be. Then, took her fingers again and moved paint around on the paper mixing. She also took a straw and did some blowing through it to move paint around showing the different effects. Then, she took some paper towels and absorbed some of the extra paint.

As the painting started to dry Colleen showed us how we could do interesting things to the painting as it dried. She showed how we could take a thirsty brush and pick up paint to almost make pale white areas with gentle edges; unlike the harsher edges that masking achieves. She also put salt (both table & sea salt) on the painting. Then, there was an application of saran wrap to make subtle effects. I was getting excited by all of the possibilities~!

I then started my own pouring on painting. I had all ready drawn and quickly did a bit of masking while I mixed my 3 cups of paint. When it was time for the actually pouring on I quickly discovered that it was harder than it looked! I ended up with a bit of a psychedelic mess! But with some work and some wet to dry painting, I finally ended up with the above painting which was a pleasant surprised. But I think this is going to be a learning curve type of thing.

"100 SLC Porches, No.14"

2011-01-27T13:54:00.000-08:00

" 100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.14", watercolor on 9"x12" paper

Most of this porch came together rather quickly during a really FUN watercolor class. We had an extra person this week that was making up a class and the phrase," ...the more, the merrier..." just seemed to fit. Colleen was teacher a merry lot this week. I finished the rest of the painting within an hour of getting home. I was in the painting mode and viola! Before I knew it, porch #14 was done.

"100 SLC Porches, No.13"

2011-01-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

" 100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.13"- Oil painting on canvasboard 12" x 16"

I was in a VERY purple mood when I painted this porch last night. In fact, outside of the pre-prepped canvasboard which had peach colors with a bit of blue; I only use two different purple paints and white. But I think that it turned out very well.

A Break from Porches....

2011-01-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

I've slowed down a bit this last week with the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project. It's partially on purpose and partly not.

The partially on purpose part: I decided to do a little side project and make some handmade invitations for my annual Black Widow's Valentine's Dinner. It's a special little social event that I do with some single girlfriends to celebrate Valentine's Day. We basically dress up as widows, come with obits & pictures of pretend deceased husbands, and enjoy a nice dinner together. I try to make the invites a bit special too. So this year I did a bit with my new art form of watercolors.

The invites I did by hand.

The partly not on purpose: I'm having a bit of painter's block on porch #13 which is an oil. I'm undecided on how to proceed and thus it sits in the easel in my living room staring at me after I get home from the gym. Which is another factor... I haven't had the time to paint like I usually do during this time of year because I've been going to the gym two nights a week.

"100 SLC Porches, No.11 & 12"

2011-01-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.11- watercolor on 9"x12" paper"

I've been working the last two weeks with the sumi-e style of painting in my watercolor painting class. This week I finally felt that I produced two paintings that I could take photos of. The above porch I used a great deal of the bamboo strokes and some simple line work to produce this wonderfully simple porch that is made even more warm by the wood siding that makes up most of this house. This porch inspired me to try some of the simple and clean sumi-e brush strokes. I also had fun with the trees on this.

The other porch below held an architectural outline that suggested an oriental treatment. It's a very common house that you find in the Salt Lake Valley. They are often referred to as "Bungalow" style. I was drawn to the greens and the warm wooden railing that stretched across this one. However, on this one I was not able to stick as closely to the sumi-e style of painting because the yupo paper did not want to "play" well. In other words, I discovered the hard way that proper sumi-e painting is best done with paper that absorbs water. This is not what happens with yupo paper. So I decided to add ink to finish out the outlining on this porch.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 12- watercolor & ink on 9" x 12" yupo paper"

"100 SLC Porches, No. 10"

2011-01-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 10" - watercolor & ink on 8" x 10" paper

I found this porch a gem in green; literally! I especially liked the line of short round evergreens in front of it. I'm also very curious about the sunroom off to the side, and the gingerbread effect just enhances it all.

"100 SLC Porches, No.9"

2011-01-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.9" Oil on 16" x 20" canvas

This porch is actually right next door to SLC Porch No. 2 that I did earlier. It just goes to show you how much variety of porches there is in a short walk. I loved breaking into my tube of Indian Red oil paint. The brick of this house is painted a wonderful shade of red and I love how its set off by the teal. I decided to do this at a closer scale than some of the other porches. I think it turned out pretty well, but would invite any feedback that anyone has.

Watercolor Painting Class- Sumi-e

2011-01-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

Cherry Blossom Season from the Gallery of Kazumi Cranney.

A New Year and here I am back at my watercolor painting class. This Wednesday, Colleen focused on Sumi-e. Sumi-e is the Japanese ink wash painting that focuses on simple lines and open spaces. It's beauty lies in its simplicity. Colleen started our lesson by showing us a series of examples; quite a few of these wonderful examples were on Kazumi Cranney's website. Cranney is an amazing sumi-e artist that was born in Japan and later relocated to California. I was especially fond of her Cherry Blossom Season pictured above. Her little birds are just amazingly simple and I thought SO cute!

Next we went into practical mode and Colleen showed us examples of the simple brush strokes. She showed us how to load the brush with paint. Then, she continued on showing us how to hold the brush in order to do the brush strokes properly. She made it look very simple, and I mistakenly thought it would be simple to learn.

Here Colleen is showing us an example of the "Bamboo" brush stroke.

Then my classmate, Anne and myself "tried" these simple strokes. I can safely tell you that it's hard to be simple. I REALLY struggled with most of the brush strokes except for the "Smoosh" one. I was a natural at that one. But this is giving me ideas for trying this style with one of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project. I may try it on one of the SLC Porches in next week's class. This was Anne's second try at this style of painting and she was doing much better than I was!

A smiling Anne with her latest piece of artwork.

100 SLC Porches, No.7 & No. 8

2011-01-01T08:59:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.7"- Oil on 16" x 20" Canvasboard

I've been on an "at-home" vacation this last week. I haven't been "toiling away" at my normal everyday secretarial job and I've been away from computers. Instead, I took the opportunity during the week to do some reading and I also painted a couple more porches. So here I am catching up on the first day of the New Year and putting these on here. Happy New Year and a belated Happy Holidays!

Both of these porches are from a local Salt Lake City street that is called "Christmas Street". That is not the actual name of the street but it has over the years acquired the name because all of the houses decorate for Christmas. I had a friend that used to live on this street and as I wanted to do a couple of porches at night with Christmas lights she suggested I try it. It was very hard to narrow down the choices but here are the two that I decided to paint. Enjoy!

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.8" - watercolor on 10" x13" paper

"100 SLC Porches, No.6"

2010-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.6"- watercolor on 10" x 13" paper

This porch is within a few blocks of where I live and I often find my eyes lingering on its wide expanse. I love its detail and colors.

"100 SLC Porches, No.5"

2010-12-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.5" - 12" x 16" oil on canvasboard

This small stoop caught my eye because of the bright pumpkins and the same orange color that was duplicated in the stained glass of the window. It's a small sunny home that sits engulfed in a bit of early snow but even amidst all that snow it looks warm and inviting. I also had fun painting the white birch tree that overlaps the actual covered area of the porch.

A New Area for Watercolors...

2010-12-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

I've created a new area to show off my watercolors. I just felt that the watercolor paintings needed their own area to be displayed. As I am discovering that watercolor as a medium is quicker to produce an end piece of art. Therefore I'm figuring that I'll probably have more watercolors to show and thus I'm trying to plan ahead for an area where I can display all of those watercolor paintings. Please check it out when you get the chance. WATERCOLRS or click the WATERCOLORS with photo link down along the righthand side of my Allgood Art Blog. I welcome any feedback you may have.

"100 SLC Porches, No.4"

2010-12-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.4"- watercolor on 11"x14" yupo paper

This porch I decided to use a limited color pallet when I painted. I also tried to keep away from detailing too much of the snow on the roof line and in the yard. I really like the play of yellows and purples.

"100 SLC Porches, No. 3"

2010-12-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 3"- oil on 11" x 14" canvasboard

I was especially enamored with the orange and brown bricks contrasting with the cream. I really think it's a striking porch.

"100 SLC Porches, No.2"

2010-12-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

Here it is, I finished it last night...

SLC Porch, No.2- 10" x 14" watercolor on cold press

I was fasinated with this porch because of all the fallen leaves and snow. Obviously, not a well used porch. I chose to do it in watercolor because it has so much white that I thought it would translate well.

"100 SLC Porches, No. 1" - The Beginning

2010-11-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided to do an art project that was partially inspired by a fellow blogger. For quite a while now I’ve been enjoying the “100 Faces” of artist Karin Jurick on her blog – A Painting Today. Each new face she has painted has been unique and I am in awe of her talent. I thought it also might be a good way to challenge myself as a painter by doing “100 of” something. But I’m not talented enough yet to step up to "100 Faces" but maybe something else. But what? The idea has been simmering in the back of my mind for awhile.

SLC Porches, No.1- 8"x10" watercolor on cold press

So this last Thanksgiving holiday as I was walking/jogging, trying to burn some of those consumed calories, an idea struck! For some reason as I was going along I was noticing the porches on houses. There’s a great deal of variety of houses along my favorite route, and I will admit that is part of what has made it my favorite. Each house is unique and I was finding myself focusing particularly on the porches. Each porch is unique and I couldn’t help but feel I was being given a glimpse of the people who dwell in each house. The more and more I looked at all of these porches; I saw all of the variety and the possibilities. Boom! The light bulb went on, and I thought to myself. Why not? “100 Salt Lake City Porches”!

This last Saturday during my walk I took my camera and snapped photos of about 30 different porches. I’m not sure if all of them will translate to paint well, but it’s a start. I'm playing with the "game plan" of doing 2 porches a week. But I really don't want to focus so much on time restraints. I want to feel that I'm doing proper justice to each unique porch. I, also, want to allow room for artistic inspiration, and maybe for some that might be considered a "cop-out". But any of you that know me, know that once my mind is set on something I can be darn tenacious. I may from time to time need a "break" from porches and may feel inspired to paint something else from time to time. Thus, I'm not really giving myself a dead line to finish these 100 SLC Porches. Sunday I sat down and painted the first of many.

Oh, and if anyone sees a Salt Lake City porch, or perhaps, has a porch they would like to see painted. Drop me an email its2allgood4u@yahoo.com with an address, or a request. I also would love to hear any feedback you have on the “100 SLC Porches”. A co-worker has already requested for her porch to be #52. I guess its her lucky number, or maybe she figures that by #52 I’ll be accomplished enough to make her porch look really good? Hmmm...

Mom's 10 lb. Butterball

2010-11-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

"Mom's 10 lb. Butterball" 11" x 14" oil on canvasboard

I call this latest oil , "Mom's 10 lb. Butterball". Mom sometimes calls her cat Butterball instead of his given name-- Buddy. He's probably closer to 15 lbs. really. She was teasing me about getting him a little cat treadmill to get him some exercise. But I thought it was rather appropriate for Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving!

One Scene - Two Approaches

2010-11-19T15:15:00.000-08:00

"Arches - Focus on Light", 8.5" x 11.5" watercolor on cold press

This week, I played with the basic same scene but approached it from two different ways. One way was to focus on the light in the scene. Above you will see this scene where there's more light that shows on the stones and the wrought iron gate is perceived as white through out the darker colors of the shaded background of the arches. The other way was to focus on color. In this approach I chose to have the color and detail decide what is close to you. You will find the color focused arches scene below. Let me clarify that these are basically the same scene EXCEPT for being mirror images of one another. I'll admit that I cut corners with the one above. I did it in my watercolor painting class and in the interest of time... It was enlarged and then traced. I know that was kind of BAD of me.

The above was especially a fun water color painting class experience because it started off as a rose colored wash. Colleen showed me various ways to remove color from a water color painting where the paint has all ready been applied. I rather felt like a chemist as we mixed bleach 50/50 with water. A piece of clear acetate with cut out areas for the lighter areas (like the top arches and the windows within the arches) was placed over the rose colored wash. With the acetate taped down, an old brush was used to apply the bleach/water mix to the rose colored wash. It was interesting to see how the rose color started to disappear. Those areas were then masked off. While the masking fluid was drying, Colleen then showed me the FUN of using wax. Wax was applied to various areas of the painting to give the effect of bricks. I would color wash an area, then apply more wash, and then apply a wash with another color. Layer upon layer; it was almost like building brick by brick and added bits of various colors to each wash to create the end result.

Next, it was on to the shaded areas of the arches. The shade was built; working from greens, browns, and then finally the blues. Then Colleen showed how to remove color from the shaded arch areas to create the feeling of the wrought iron gates. A metal razor blade was randomly and lightly scratched over the dried water color paint. Thus, bit by bit the gates were formed.

" Arches with a Color Focus" 9" x 12" watercolor on yupo

The other approach was a focus on color. The closer the surface is the darker and closer it is. Therefore, on this painting there seems to be more of a focus on the wrought iron gates. The inside of the arches are further away and thus contain lighter colors. The inner arch areas almost disappear away with this approach.

So which do YOU like better? I would love to hear your input!

Win/Win-- Art, Wine, & More...

2010-11-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

Oil paintings displayed in the living room. Some of these were from the Tale of Two Mains show I did in March.

Last week I had my little private art show that I referred to as Art, Wine & More. Overall it was a Win/Win situation, and a BIG thanks to all of those who showed. A box was filled with non-perishable foods and I ended up selling 6 paintings which 10% of the proceeds is going to the Utah Food Bank.

Watercolor paintings and a couple of new oils were displayed in another room.

I held the event on both Thursday and Friday. Thursday night I had a couple of people in attendance, and I was kind of getting concerned but I know that I had a few people that had mentioned they were coming on Friday night.

Look at all of these Food Donations!

Friday night arrived and I had a co-worker that came over shortly after work. The co-worker purchased a painting. Then, a friend arrived early and shortly after that my water color teacher, Colleen, showed up. It rather kept up steady with people arriving and leaving until about the last hour. It was during this last hour that a group of friends and myself just hung out in the living room and chatted. While we chatted we enjoyed sipping beverages and sampling food. It was a very fun and relaxed atmosphere.

I ended up having about 13 people overall visit on Friday night. At the end of Friday night, 4 water color paintings and 2 oil paintings had sold. AND the Food Donation Box was practically filled. Wow~! Thus, I'm calling it a Win/Win situation. I even managed to talk a couple of friends into taking some fudge home. Can you say," I don't need that fudge on my hips!"

***- Oh and Mom- the first picture-- that's the chair I was talking about. The one that you re-upholstered which I just LOVE!

Tone-it-Up Or Tone-it-Down: Wet-to-Dry Painting

2010-10-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

At last night’s water color painting class, the focus was color tone with a wet-to-dry style of water color painting exercise. Tone implies color where value is the “grays” scale. Something just “clicked” and I finally actually understood the concept after this class. That’s amazing considering I’ve been taking art lessons off and on for years!

Colleen first showed us a tonal chart which had the gray scale on one end. Then, she spoke about the tint of a color is to lighten the color. In water color to tint, or lighten, the color you use more water. Next we learned about the shade of a color is to darken the color. In water color to shade the color you use the color’s complimentary color. So get out your color wheels and check to see what’s opposite. I happen to have almost gotten the color wheel beaten into my head enough over the years that I’ve absorbed it through osmosis! Some things just seem to sink in over time.

So for our exercise this week was our last of the wet-to-dry style of water color painting. We got to choose between two photos; one with evergreen trees covered in snow, or one with what I called a winter barn scene. Everyone chose the winter barn scene. This is what mine ended up looking like after I did a bit of finishing touches when I got home.

"Winter Barn"- wet-to-dry style water color on 9"x12" cold press paper.

For homework this week, we are supposed to do one more wet-to-dry watercolor with a good example of color tone, and then, do a tonal chart like the one Colleen showed us in class—which looks like this…

Color Tonal Chart-- my homework, YUCK!

Admittedly, I’m not too excited about doing the tonal color chart. Hmmmm… maybe the “dog ate it” excuse? Can you tell I'm not really a good student?

Oh, and P.S.--The wet-to-dry style? Well, up until last night I've been referring to it as wet-on-wet. We've only been doing it four weeks and I'm just catching on to that! Yeah, I'm not the smartest pupil in the class!

Three Point Perspective...

2010-10-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a little slow in posting this. I will admit that part of it was because I wanted to finish an example that I started in last week's water color painting class. It's always easier to give an actual example of something than to explain it.

Skyscrapers in water color and ink- 9"x12" on yupo

We started off the class by drawing a three point perspective city-scape on type writer paper. I admit part of the reason for type writer paper was because I didn't feel confident about what would turn out of my drawing it. Also, our teacher, Colleen suggested to do a smaller version of the city scene so that we could put all three points of perspective on the sheet of paper. We placed a horizon line very near the bottom of the paper. Then, we place two points of perspective on that horizon. Then, Colleen told us to draw an off center vertical line up to the top point of perspective. Having all three points on the same paper certainly did make it more manageable and ultimately allow us to get an idea of the relationship of the three different points to one another.

After we drew a three point perspective on the type writer paper then we were ready to do some painting. Colleen gave us several different pictures to use. I chose one photo and because of the limited time left in the class I very quickly drew a three point perspective but not as detailed as it probably needed to be done. I decided to do a puddle style on yupo. I have since finished it off with ink after the water color has dried.

The above painting is what I ended up with. Not too bad for a first attempt at three point perspective painting, but there's certainly room for improvement. Also, I managed to finish another puddle style water color on yupo that I started in the make up class that took place last Monday. This one I also played with adding a little ink. What do you think?

Looking into the Fountain- puddle style water color with ink on yupo- 9"x12"

Points of Perspectives in Water Color Painting Class

2010-10-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

The word for water color painting this week was "Perspective". Right away we were at Colleen's computer station looking at examples of perspectives. There's 1, 2, and 3 point perspectives. We first talked about one point perspective. Which I will be frank I have never thought of one point before. I know it boggles the mind that at times I can be a bit obtuse! I remember doing two point perspective in high school mostly city scenes with buildings wrapping around corners (that looked really horrible) but one point? I never considered it or really tried to use it before. And well, 3 point perspective... Forgit-a-boud it! But now I can see that it would be helpful to make a building see taller. Not that I'm planning on bounding any sky scrapers on any canvas in the short future.

Colleen showed us several examples of one point perspective (with a bit of 2 point) via paintings from Kathy Weber. What amazing paintings this artist has! I love her use of color-- her use of shading! It's just wonderful! Please check out her blog if you get the chance.

After all those wonderful examples, we were off to do a pencil drawing first of a one point perspective of a building disappearing into the one point on the horizon. Got out those rulers and we drew lines according to Colleen's directions. I ended up doing two different building (right next to each other-- one kind of in front of the other) working on the same one point of perspective. Nothing too elaborate but enough to get a feel for the concept. Next, we chose a photo that had a one point perspective to work on. I chose a black & white photo of a horse out at pasture. Here it is....

"Horse at Pasture"-Wet-on-wet style on cold press paper- 9"x12"

So what do you think? I think I did pretty well on the fence's perspective.

Oh, and here's some other paintings that I finished this week...

"Red Fall Leaves"- wet-on-wet style on cold press-9"x12"

"Confetti'd White Stallion"- wet-on-wet style on cold press- 9"x12"

I even broke out the oils and finished this painting...

"Cycling Cache Valley's Little Red"- Oil on canvas- 16"x20"

Water Color Painting Class-- Saturation!

2010-10-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

This week in class there seemed to be a theme—Saturation! First, Colleen discussed about how saturation of a color is relative to the vibrancy or brilliance of that color. Those colors that are lighter; like the yellows/oranges, naturally appear larger and carry more visual weight to that area of a painting. Also, those colors that are higher in intensity, i.e. pure pigments, tend to draw the eye to that area in a painting too. Colleen went on to show us several examples from Monet, Matisse, and other well known artists where they used the concept of color saturation in their composition.

Next we worked on Wet-on-Wet style of water color painting. In this we continued the concept of saturation as we literally were soaking cold press paper until it could no longer take any more water. This is the same method that we used in the prior class when we did the strawberry painting. Here again, we started by lightly drawing with pencil the outline of the painting. Colleen had us focus on the shading area of the painting. Concentrating on the darker and lighter areas of the painting would allow us also to think about the use of color saturation; as well as the values of color. I chose to do a painting based on a photo I taken up at a Sunday Silly Market in Park City. I call this painting—“Is This Hat Me or What?"

Is This Hat Me or What? - Wet-on-wet style on cold press paper

And here are a few more of the puddle paintings that I worked on this last week...

Girls Checking Out Art - water color on yupo paper

Not too bad, huh? I might be improving just a wee bit?

Spur Exhange - water color on yupo paper

Sisters on a Sunny Sunday Afternoon - Water color on yupo paper