Saturday, August 18, 2007

Storing Acrylics and OIls

Several years ago I painted with Callaway Painter Barbara Robinson and she shared with me how she uses the 7 day pill boxes that you can pick up at most pharmacies and discount stores to store her left over oil paint. She didn't like the names of the days written on the top so she took sandpaper and scrubbed that off replacing those labels with labels of her own. To store the oil paint for use next time she simply puts the box in a zip-lock bag and pops the package into the freezer.

I tucked this idea in the back of my mind but never took time to try it out. Then another artist friend of mine who paints in acrylics told me that she also uses the 7 day pill boxes. I didn't think this would work because acrylic paint dries so fast, but read on. This is what she does, and says it works like a charm: "affix some sticky-back felt (from a craft supply place) inside the lids and spray that to keep it moist. No freezing of the boxes (a major no-no with acrylics!) but slip them inside a zip-lock bag with a moist paper towel and they'll be rarin' to go when you next approach the easel!" (Elin Pendleton)

In memory of our Callaway Painter Angel Jan Heberger whose memorial service was yesterday at 2:00.
Watercolor by Jan Heberger, "Rocking"


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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Split Complementary Color Scheme

Using a split complementary color scheme is another great choice for your painting. With this scheme, instead of choosing the complement of your first color choice, shift to the two colors adjacent to the complement. As an example, take a look at these:


First choice: Yellow (Primary) - it’s complement is violet, but to use a split complement, you jump to the color choice on the side of violet. Make this choice on both the right side and the left side of violet and you get a split complement color scheme. What color is it? Here they are… Yellow, blue violet, red violet.

First choice: Red (Primary) – it’s complement is green, but to use a split complement, you jump to the color choice on either side of green. What color is it? Here they are… Red , yellow-green, blue green.

First choice: Blue (Primary) – it’s complement is orange, but to use a split complement, you jump the color choice on either side of orange. What color is it? Here they are… Blue, red orange, yellow orange.

Many painters have solved the problem of making mud by applying the lessons learned by using the split primary color choices. Making mud is not always a bad thing, but to know how one gets there is a real break thru. In the end, it’s up to the artist to make color choices based on knowledge of the palette of colors normally set down by them. It’s fun to take apart the different color theories and test-drive them using our own colors in our paintings to see what happens.

Callaway painter Durinda Cheek has a watercolor painting of a red door that demonstrates the use of a single primary color (red) and choosing to use different values of yellow greens and blue greens to complete her painting. Durinda is an excellent artist and workshop instructor equally talented and knowledgeable in many mediums but best loves watercolor and oil. You can see more of Durinda’s work at www.durinda.com and keep up with her by visiting her newly created blog http://artisttravels.blogspot.com/



The next time you are setting up your palette, think in terms of the color wheel and see if you can make some choices based on the split primary color choices. If you are like me, you will be confused and confounded by what you learn and will begin to have even more questions about color and what makes them work for or against each other. This is one of the reasons there are so many different color theories for us to explore, learn from, or discard.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Monochromatic color scheme

Monochromatic means that the entire painting is organized around just one color on the wheel then using different values of that color to complete the painting. When you decide to make use of a monochromatic color scheme, value is of upmost importance and of course is a great exercise to use when you are working on getting the values correct in your paintings.

Value is the relative lightness of darknes of a color. If you don't already have a value chart to help you, go to Sherwin Williams and pick up one of the free paint selection strips that take you from a dark color to a light version of that same color. Cannonball D45-7 to Abalone D45-1 is a good gray scale and is marketed as D45 in their color selection strip charts. Using that to judge the relative lightness and darkenss of a color will help you better define your values and serve as a check point for you.

Callaway painter Barbara Robinson has a good example of a monochromatic color scheme in this painting. Good job Barbara.


11x14 oil, "Storm Coming"

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Jan Heberger

My heart has been heavy today thinking about an email I received telling me of the death of another member of Callaway Painters Jan Heberger.

Jan passed away Monday for what was thought to be an aneurysm. Carolyn Molder and Jan Heberger have been coming to paint the azaleas at Callaway for the last several years and I've really enjoyed seeing and painting with them. Both are from North Carolina and we met thru another yahoo discussion group about pastels. I was shocked that Jan died. She was not ill. It's never easy to give up someone you love and Jan was certainly loved.

I've shared this photography before, but thought you might like to see it again. Here is a picture of us this past spring. Jan has on red.

From left to right, Phyllis Franklin, Durinda Cheek, Sandra Babb, Jan Heberger, Carolyn Molder.



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Monday, August 13, 2007

Triadic color scheme

Triadic color schemes are based on three colors spaces more or less evenly around the color wheel. The colors you choose could be high-croma colors like cadmium yellow, cadmium red medium and cobalt blue or it might be colors that are more muted like burnt sienna, yellow ochre and ultramarine blue. You might think that for a painting to fall in this category the colors you would select would have to be primary colors, but that's not so, they could be three secondary colors.

In using a color scheme like this, be careful not to use equal amounts of the colors because you will lose your dominant color factor.

In looking for a painting that would fit this category I ran across a delightful painting by Callaway Painter member BJ Wright. While I haven't seen this painting in person, it looks like she has used a triactic secondary color scheme to set this painting up by using orange and green and violet as her color notes. She uses the dark violets under the trees to confirm depth and the cool of the forest, and the dominate green we all have in the south during summer, then she uses red-orange in the foreground to draw attention to the Queen's Anne's lace that was her inspiration for this painting.


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10" x 8" oil on canvas covered hardboard - painted en plein air, alla prima "Queen Anne's Lacy Meadow" B.J. Wright See more of B.J.'s work by visiting
http://beejw.blogspot.com/
Paying close attention to the colors we use will help us all learn more and more about what makes some of our paintings successful and some not. I painted at the Callaway butterfly center Saturday morning for about 2.5 hours until the air started to heat up and never could get the roof angle right, so I’ll try again, or maybe I'll take the advice that has been given to me many times and just simplfy what I'm painting and not try to paint EVERYTHING. :) With a few minor value changes back in the studio, I might be able to save the right side of this painting. Thank goodness for saws. :) Or, I might take this back to the butterfly center and work on this a bit more. Whatever I decide to do, the value of painting outside with lessons learn can not be replaced.


Saturday, August 11, 2007

Painting the same scene


Artist Andre Nobrega 11x14 oil - "Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia"

For the last several years Andre Nobrega has made a special effort to come to Callaway Gardens to paint the azaleas and other points of interest at Callaway. Andre lived in Atlanta and Callaway was a quick day trip from his home but he enjoys camping out, so he and his wife Jessica camped out close to Callaway, which is another fun outdoor thing to do. Andre and Jessica now live in California and he is painting California but does visit Georgia often and, of course, still wants to come to Callaway Gardens. You can keep up with Andre by visiting his web site at www.andrenobrega.com

When a group of artists get together to paint many times they end up painting the same view. It’s always fun to see the view expressed from another artist’s perspective. It’s even more fun when you haven’t seen it in person but run across it while surfing the net, or checking up on what your artist friends have been painting lately. This happened to me recently and I immediately said, “I’ve painted that same scene!” Sure, you’ve seen paintings of the chapel, and paintings of the walk bridge going up from the Garden’s restaurant to Overlook Garden, but take a look at this! Can you tell where we were? I had no idea that Andre had painted this, and I bet he has no idea I also painted the same path just a little beyond where he stood. I wonder if it was the same year? Did you also paint the same scene? Send it to me phyllisfranklin@hotmail and I’ll put it up on the blog for all to see.


Artist Phyllis Franklin 8x10 oil - "Sliding down Callaway"

The doors of opportunity are marked “Push” and “Pull.” ~ Ethel Watts Mumford


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Friday, August 10, 2007

What's in a name?

After you sign your name and you decide to market your painting there comes the time to name it. Over the years I’ve named my paintings by the location, by the feeling I had when I painted, by the colors, from the titles of favorite poems, after people, numbers (landscape 100, and many other creative and not so creative names. A few weeks ago someone contacted me after seeing my web site and wanted to purchase a painting I had named “Three Sisters”. She said she really liked the painting but more than that, she felt a connection to the name because she had two sisters and when she saw the name and liked the painting, she wanted to purchase. You see, it really does matter what you name your paintings. At least it does to some folks and especially now that many of us are putting our images on the web!

Did you know that the name you give your image file makes a difference too? If you put the name of your subject in the title search engines like google are more apt to show the image in their image catalog and many potential clients find art that way. Go now and plug in the name rose watercolor in google’s image search. http://images.google.com/imghp?tab=wi or just go to www.google.com and look for the link on the right hand top of your screen that says image.

Yesterday I was listening to NPR and Debussy's Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Fawn"
I really enjoyed listening but this time I immediately thought what a great name for a painting. You never know, someone might come along and have a real connection to the music and just HAVE TO PURCHASE my painting. If you want to know more about Debussy's Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Fawn "http://www.musicwithease.com/debussy-afternoon-faun.html or http://www.ralphmag.org/EP/debussy.html and listen to it here: http://frontpage4.netfirms.com/debussypage.htm

Here is my “Three Sisters” painting.




I’m so glad I didn’t name it “Stupid field of clover” … not that there is anything wrong with clover.

Keep cool, Phyllis
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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Analogous Color Scheme

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Last Spring some of you may have met Callaway Painter member Jim Carpenter who came up from Florida to paint the azaleas and spend some time with his brother who lives in Columbus. Just like so many of us, Jim said he was overwhelmed by the mass and color of all the azaleas at Overlook Garden and the Brother's Azalea Bowl. Even so, Jim painted for days and managed to take some photographs to use later as reference.

Jim will be showing his work at the Melrose Bay Gallery in Florida during the month of September. Take a look at the gallery http://www.mbagallery.smugmug.com/. While you are surfing around, take a look at Jim's elegant web site, http://www.carppaints.com

Looking at Jim's painting of the azaleas at Overlook Gardens, Callaway, I am immediately taken back to spring and the wonderful weather we had then. Jim's painting takes advantage of another of the Five Great Color Schemes that most successful paintings are based on, which is an Analogous color scheme.

Analogous means "nearly the same, or similar." In theory, this color-scheme utilizes colors beginning with a primary and moving about three or four intervals in either direction on the wheel. In practice, it often begins anywhere and might stretch as many as five or six intervals.

Jim's painting is a perfect example of using an Analogous color scheme. Painting the masses of azaleas at Overlook is interesting and fun to tackle the problem of getting a full-value painting knowing your painting is going to be mostly analogous colors. Jim shows us how using a variety of reds, yellows, and greens which are all adjacent to each other on the wheel. Notice what colors Jim has used in his background to show depth and air space. It's not blue sky! In this piece, Jim keeps his analogous color scheme going right up to the background air space between the trees.

One thing I am working on is to be careful not to paint the azaleas as little muffin puffs. Jim again shows us how to capture the true nature of the azalea branches and does a good job of keeping his dark passages and light passages connected to each other so no one passage is left like a little island with no friends around.

Good job Jim and thanks for send it in! Wishing you the best of gallery sales in September, Phyllis

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Barbara Scruggs


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Friends, I have just learned of the passing of one of our most precious members, Barbara Scuggs. Some of you may remember her painting at the Discovery Center the first year we painted as a group at Callaway. Each year Barbara tried to make each event and if she could not come, gave us all her support especially to get the word to everyone in the surrounding Grantville and Fayetteville areas. She is being missed so much for her beautiful caring spirit and most certainly for her organizational and painting skills.

I searched in vain for a photograph of Barbara painting in at Callaway and I know I have one. Hopefully it will come to the top of the pile and I'll be able to post it for all of you to see and remember her. Until then, please visit this spot on the internet, http://www.scavagroup.com/ which has a tribute to Barbara. The painting above was placed at her funeral which I feel pleased Barbara very much.

We loved you Barbara.

Complementary Colors

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Callaway Painter Betty McLendon has been busy in her studio working from plein air studies and photographs taken this past Spring at Callaway Gardens. Yesterday she mailed me a butterfly and peony painting that's on her easel now. This is an acrylic painting on 16x20 panel. While looking at it, it occurred to me that this is a great example of using complementary colors, which is one of the five great color schemes that most successful paintings are based on.


Complementary colors are directly opposite each other on the wheel. Color contrast is at a maximum. This painting plays up the red-orange tones of the peony against the blue greens of the trees and lake.

In a complementary scheme, as in any color scheme, there has to be dominant and subordinate colors, just the same as with masses and values. In Betty's painting she has placed the peony and butterfly in the foreground so the predominance of green-blue in the background will make the red-orange peony stand out. If she had chosen a different color for the peony she would have lost some of the pop this painting has. This painting is also a good example of using warm and cool colors to play against each other.

To make the trees go back even more all Betty has to do is make some value changes to go lighter and use softer edges with the background greens and blues creating the allusion of air space or distance. Using this same palette Betty can make a variety of greens which is another thing that is fun to experiment with and something I’ve been working on with my paintings this year.

Good job Betty.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

The value of values


It's hot,hot,hot outside so I know that many of us are painting inside these days. I've been looking back at some of my books and doing some self critique of my work. As a review for me I found this useful:

The Five Tone Values

The most precious factor of a paintng is getting down the five tone values. If a painting doesn't capture these, it fails to convey dimension and that is what we are after. Some think they can get by with using color or texture to convey dimension but bottom line, it all comes back to value so it's good to understand, practice, and critique your paintings for value changes. Value changes helps tell the story. Always see color in terms of value.

1. The body tone where a form is in line with the light.
2. The body shadow where a form's shape is not in line with the light.
3. A cast shadow where a forum stands in the way of the light.
4. The highlight where a concave or convex plan is in direct line with the light.
5. A reflection where general illumination bounces into shadows.
It's all about the light and to convey light we have to understand how we see value changes as light hits an object. Sure, it's painting 101, but it's a good lesson to review, review, and review for all of us.



Hope you all are having good painting days in or out of the studio. I'd love to see what you are doing. Send it to me and I'll post it for you. phyllisfranklin@hotmail.com

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Callaway paintings


To view past messages click here and visit the Callaway Painters blog.

I'll be painting at Callaway again this Friday if anyone wants to join me. 706-975-6419

8x10, oil on panel
Sliding down Callaway

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Giclée Prints

Yesterday Gretchen asked about giclée prints so to be accurate I turned a web site I go to quite often to find out what current information is available. Take a few minutes and go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet and see what the Wikipedia has to say. I found it quite interesting and did learn some things I didn't know. I'm sure you will enjoy that link too.

Commentary: Today I sat in the Southern Rivers Guild Gallery in Pine Mountain and had a really good time talking art to the visitors and customers that came in. On one of the walls in the gallery I noticed small, framed explanation of giclée prints that I thought was very helpful. This is basically what the note said.

Giclée (pronounced "gee-clay", a sophisticated and widely celebrated ink jet printing process that was introduced in the late 1980's. Designed specifically for the rigorous and precise criteria of fine art collectors and connoisseurs of museum quality limited edition prints, many worldly wide museums have accepted them into their permanent collections. The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles are among the museums that have giclée works hanging.

Giclée prints far exceed other forms of image printing and are so sophisticated that the process produces images which truly capture the artist's original intent.

I totally agree with the above statement. As an artist, making giclĂ©e Prints is a good affordable way to offer your work to those that might not wish to invest in your original work but want to enjoy having your work in their home of business. The only consideration, and one we all desire, is for the print to accurately capture the spirit of the original work in color, detail and experience. Be sure that the person you choose to create the giclĂ©e for you is actually creating a giclĂ©e and not just a ink jet print much like you can get from your home computer. I have seen some work (not at Southern Rivers) that are labeled as giclĂ©e prints that were clearly not giclĂ©es. To create a giclĂ©e takes a special print process and of course archival ink. Printers that can do this are quite expensive not to mention the knowledge and skill the printer has to have to be able to take your digital image and give you back a product you can be proud of. Giclee printing machines measure around 3 feet wide and are often affectionately referred to as a “knitting machine” as they look very similar. Just as you take care to use professional art supplies, be sure the printer you choose is also professional and be sure to ask questions about what kind of printing they do. Do your research and figure the cost expense. The subject of print giclĂ©es could go on for pages and I think we should continue to talk about them and learn all we can.

Some of you may already have giclée prints of your work and might want to share the name and phone number of the printer you use. Let us hear from you if you do. Some of you might have had bad experiences with printers and sharing that information would really help us all.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

How to become a contributing author-editor

How to Join this Blog As a contributing editor:

Send an email to phyllisfranklin@hotmail.com telling her of your interest in becoming a contributing author-editor. Then:

1. You will receive an email invitation from Phyllis Franklin (no-reply@google.com) to join a private blog: Callaway Painter’s

2. To become an author or contributing editorr, click on the link in the email.

3. Sign in to your Google Account. If you do not have a Google Account, you must create one. Click on "Create your account now."

4. Follow Google instructions. Enter your email address. This email address will not show on the blog unless you later set it to show, but it is important that the email address you submit match the email address you use for the Yahoo email group Callaway Painters. If you are not a member of the email group or don’t want to receive email alerts when a new article is written, this will not matter.

5. Enter a password. Remember your email and password. This is how you get into the blog to post.

6. Enter a display name. This is how you want your name to show on the contributor list. Some artists use their real name. Others use a screen name. You can change how your name appears any time by updating your profile. This is just your display name and not your actual ID.

7. Type in the word verification letters.

8. Accept the terms of service after you read them.

9. Click on “continue” at the lower right of the page.

10. The next page says Dashboard and Blogger Buzz. This is where you read the latest blogger news and also where you manage your blogs. You will see Callaway Painter’s listed under Manage Your Blogs. You can view the blog or you can click on New Post here and write your first post at Callaway Painters. You can also Edit your Profile here or edit your Account. Once you create a post you will notice that your dashboard has disappeared. To get back to your dashboard, just click on new post, and then from their find the link back to your dashboard. At some point in time the Google people will make navigating back to the dashboard easier but until then, the only other way is to sign out and then sign back in, which is a pain.

11. Once finished here, click on Sign out in the blue bar in the upper right hand corner of the page.


Now that you have your Google Account and have the Callaway Painters blog on your dashboard:

1. Go to http://callawaypainters.blogspot.com in your browser window.

2. Click on “Sign In” in the upper right hand corner of the page. It is way up in the banner bar where you see” Search Blog, Flag Blog, Next Blog, Create Blog and Sign In.”

3. You are now at the Blogger start page. In the upper right it says Sign in to use Blogger.

4. Enter Username. This is the email address you used when you set up your Google Account. Nothing else will work.

5. Enter your Password. This is the password you used to set up your Google Account.

6. Click on Sign In.

7. You will see your dashboard and can create a new blog of your very own which will appear with all the other blogs that belong under your email that you used to set up your google account. Or, you can post to an existing blog, one of which will be Callaway Painter’s.


8. All other buttons should be self-explanatory, but if you need additional help just email one of the existing editors or look in the blogger help files.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Field Studies

To view past messages click here and visit the Callaway Painters blog.

One of the values of painting from life is learning to observe more closely. When you get to the point in your painting career that you find you are actually learning from yourself it's a huge breakthru. What I mean by that is that you realize that it's your efforts that are the best teachers. Each time you go out to paint you learn something new either about painting or about yourself. Some how you file this new knowledge back in your memory to be used when you need it next. It's surprising how often something will jog your memory and you find it useful to have already gone down that path.

This is what we do when we go out to do field studies. A field study doesn't actually have to be any more than just that. It's a way of capturing what you see so you can use it again later maybe for a larger studio work. Plein air painters have found this act of doing field studies valuable because it takes the pressure off of doing a completed work. It's surprising how that label affords such freedom of expression and many times you end up with paintings that are completely sellable just as they are. Many collectors really enjoy collecting field studies and often times end up buying the companion studio work as well.

Today, if you have time, take a look at the field studies of Marc Hanson. http://www.marchansonart.com/ . Get inspired and if you want to go out and paint, call me and we'll go. I'll be in Pine Mountain this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'd love to paint with someone and do some field studies.

Hope you have a great plein air day, Phyllis

Thursday, July 12, 2007

What to do in the Summer months




During the Summer months its sometimes hard to get out and paint, but there are plenty of things to do to keep our supplies ready for that window of plein air opportunity. Some of us have working studios but others of us just have a shelf or maybe a closet that we keep our supplies in. Keeping our shelves organized is an on going project, but sure speeds things up when you find you need to rush out to catch the light before it changes.

What can you do today to get ready for your next plein air outing? First of all decide what kind of set up you need. If you need a pochade (po shod) box, then either make one out of a craft box, old cigar box, or purchase one from one of the suppliers like www.pochade.com/ or www.openboxm.com/ I have the pochade box made by the Judson Plein Air Outfiters and find it meets my needs, but the Open Box M looks like it would be a good box too and it will take a larger canvas. Both have accessories for different mediums. Don’t discount just taking a back pack and filling it with what you need either. You don’t have to get fancy, just get ready. I think this would be good for us to add an activity each day that we all can do to get ready for our next outing, so if you have a tip or suggestion, just chime in. All of us like to hear what other artists do to make working outside easier.

On the other end of keeping our shelves organized is the framing issue. What do you do for framing? Do you sell your work unframed and let your client select what they want, or do you make that choice for them. Do you have your framing supplies ready? We can talk about that too. In the meantime, don’t forget that we have a great sponsor in Garrett Moulding. Visit their web site at http://www.garrettmoulding.com/



Yesterday I mentioned that Carolyn Molder had won an award and some of you wanted to see a picture of Carolyn, so I dug out a photograph of some of the painters from this Aprils paint out and posted it at the top of this message. From left to right you will see, Phyllis Franklin, Durinda Cheek, Sandra Babb, Jan Heberger, and Carolyn Molder. Tomorrow I’ll show some other photos I ran across from the April paint out. I’ll post those to http://www.callawaypainters.blogspot.com/ so we can keep an archive that everyone can see and help promote our group at the same time.

Again, if you want to get out and paint any day, just post and I’m sure someone will want to go with you. Painting from life is the best way to continue to expand your painting experience, knowledge and pleasure.

Got news? Let us know. :) Enquiring minds want to know.


Get ready for your next Plein Air outing

During the Summer months its sometimes hard to get out and paint, but there are plenty of things to do to keep our supplies ready for that window of plein air opportunity. Some of us have working studios but others of us just have a shelf or maybe a closet that we keep our supplies in. Keeping our shelves organized is an on going project, but sure speeds things up when you find you need to rush out to catch the light before it changes.

What can you do today to get ready for your next plein air outing? First of all decide what kind of set up you need. If you need a pochade (po shod) box, then either make one out of a craft box, old cigar box, or purchase one from one of the suppliers like www.pochade.com/ or www.openboxm.com/ I have the pochade box made by the Judson Plein Air Outfiters and find it meets my needs, but the Open Box M looks like it would be a good box too and it will take a larger canvas. Both have accessories for different mediums. Don’t discount just taking a back pack and filling it with what you need either. You don’t have to get fancy, just get ready. I think this would be good for us to add an activity each day that we all can do to get ready for our next outing, so if you have a tip or suggestion, just chime in. All of us like to hear what other artists do to make working outside easier.

On the other end of keeping our shelves organized is the framing issue. What do you do for framing? Do you sell your work unframed and let your client select what they want, or do you make that choice for them. Do you have your framing supplies ready? We can talk about that too. In the meantime, don’t forget that we have a great sponsor in Garrett Moulding. Visit their web site at www.garrettmoulding.com

Yesterday I mentioned that Carolyn Molder had won an award and some of you wanted to see a picture of Carolyn, so I dug out a photograph of some of the painters from this Aprils paint out. From left to right you will see, Phyllis Franklin, Durinda Cheek, Sandra Babb, Jan Heberger, and Carolyn Molder. Tomorrow I’ll show some other photos I ran across from the April paint out. I’ll post those to www.callawaypainters.blogspot.com so we can keep an archive that everyone can see and help promote our group at the same time.

Again, if you want to get out and paint any day, just post and I’m sure someone will want to go with you. Painting from life is the best way to continue to expand your painting experience, knowledge and pleasure.
Got news? Let us know.











During the Summer months its sometimes hard to get out and paint, but there are plenty of things to do to keep our supplies ready for that window of plein air opportunity. Some of us have working studios but others of us just have a shelf or maybe a closet that we keep our supplies in. Keeping our shelves organized is an on going project, but sure speeds things up when you find you need to rush out to catch the light before it changes.

What can you do today to get ready for your next plein air outing? First of all decide what kind of set up you need. If you need a pochade (po shod) box, then either make one out of a craft box, old cigar box, or purchase one from one of the suppliers like www.pochade.com/ or www.openboxm.com/ I have the pochade box made by the Judson Plein Air Outfiters and find it meets my needs, but the Open Box M looks like it would be a good box too and it will take a larger canvas. Both have accessories for different mediums. Don’t discount just taking a back pack and filling it with what you need either. You don’t have to get fancy, just get ready. I think this would be good for us to add an activity each day that we all can do to get ready for our next outing, so if you have a tip or suggestion, just chime in. All of us like to hear what other artists do to make working outside easier.

On the other end of keeping our shelves organized is the framing issue. What do you do for framing? Do you sell your work unframed and let your client select what they want, or do you make that choice for them. Do you have your framing supplies ready? We can talk about that too. In the meantime, don’t forget that we have a great sponsor in Garrett Moulding. Visit their web site at http://www.garrettmoulding.com/

Yesterday I mentioned that Carolyn Molder had won an award and some of you wanted to see a picture of Carolyn, so I dug out a photograph of some of the painters from this Aprils paint out. From left to right you will see, Phyllis Franklin, Durinda Cheek, Sandra Babb, Jan Heberger, and Carolyn Molder. Tomorrow I’ll show some other photos I ran across from the April paint out. I’ll post those to http://www.callawaypainters.blogspot.com/ so we can keep an archive that everyone can see and help promote our group at the same time.

Again, if you want to get out and paint any day, just post and I’m sure someone will want to go with you. Painting from life is the best way to continue to expand your painting experience, knowledge and pleasure.
Got news? Let us know.
















Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Carolyn Molder Wins Award


Callaway painter, Carolyn Molder has won the Art Spectrum Award at the Alabama Pastel Society Member show for her 9x8 pastel painting “Fishing”. This was Carolyn's first win with pastel which she is very exicited about. The show judge was Terry Ludwig who makes custom pastels which he sells on his web site
http://www.terryludwig.com.

View more of Carolyn's work by going to http://carolynmolder.com/.

.:.

Congratulations Carolyn!








To view past messages click here and visit the Callaway Painters blog.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Maureen Smith Exhibits

To view past messages visit the Callaway Painters blog.

Maureen Butler Smith
recent works
at the Pettigrew Center
of the Fort Valley State University
Artist Series
featured artist for July 2007

On July 14th the Pettigrew Center will celebrate
its 25th Anniversary with events
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Maureen will be doing
a painting demonstration.

The Pettigrew Center
1005 State University Drive
Fort Valley, Georgia 31030-4313

Possible workshop

To view past messages visit the Callaway Painters new blog.

With Summer well on it way and the Spring Azaleas gone, many of us have retreated inside to our studios to paint from all the plein air studies we did. If you are one of these and would like to come to a workshop specifically geared to painting from your plein air studies, please let me know. I have an instructor who would like to come to the Callaway area and is fairly flexible with her schedule, so setting something up for a small group would be very possible this summer.

Hope everyone had a great day today. All the news programs kept saying how 07-07-07 was supposed to be a very lucky day. For me, every day I wake up and can go paint is a lucky day. *smile* Well, every day is lucky... right?

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Callaway 2007 Paint Out Awards

Many of you have been waiting to hear who the winners of the awards for our paint out are and I'm proud to announce I have the answer today!


This year our sponsors were Garrett Moulding out of Carrollton, Georgia and Callaway Gardens. Thank you Garrett Moulding and Callaway for supporting us in such a generous way.

We have three awards to give and three paintings to show. If you were able to attend any of the days for the Spring Festival, you will recognize these locations.


First Place Award - Rebecca Kissel , Columbus, Georgia

Second Place Award - Sandra Babb, Ringgold, Georgia

Third Place Award - Phyllis Franklin, Thomaston, Georgia ...that's me!


I have the awards at my home and will get these to you the next time we are together. Also, Garrett Moulding sent a special frame for your art work. Hope you enjoy these gifts from them and consider them the next time you need frames. I know I will. http://www.garrettmoulding.com/


Congratulations everyone. I know everyone had a great time and are looking forward to the next time we are able to get together as a group.

If any of you would like to plan an painting adventure, just post a message and tell us the when and where along with your contact information.



Phyllis Franklin, Third Place, 2007 Callaway Paint Out Award

Sandra Babb, Second Place, 2007 Callaway Paint Out Award


Rebbeca Kissel, First place, 2007 Callaway Paint Out Award


Hope you have a great plein air day.