Thursday, April 29, 2010

Elin Pendleton Workshop

Elin Pendleton live!!! right here at VoilART!, my gallery + studio in downtown Ocala. Only a couple of spaces remain if you're interested in attending her week-long workshop.

elin pendletonI've been an admirer of Elin's paintings for many years. Now I'll finally get to meet her. Loose, energetic brushwork, beautiful color and great horses of course.

Elin teaches a color system to accurately convey every time of day, even foggy, nighttime and backlit subjects like the gorgeous painting pictured above. It's all simplified. Struggling with color? Not after Elin gets finished with you! BONUS: participants will also exhibit their paintings created in the workshop at VoilART! during the downtown First Friday Art Walk, May 7th from 6pm - 8pm.

The details:
Elin Pendleton Color Boot Camp Workshop
May 3 - 7, from 8:30am - 4:00pm
at VoilART! Gallery + Studio
108 E. Fort King St.
Ocala, Florida 34479
(located one block south of the central square directly behind Bank of America)
$450. for five intensive days of painting and learning from this renown artist.

And yes, we have parking!

Contact me soon: sharon@sharoncrute.com or my studio partner Jackie Schindehette.

"I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma." ~ Eartha Kitt

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Wild Weather at Cedar Key

Made it to the Cedar Key Art Festival this afternoon, however the weather threatened to shut it down. That's spring time in Florida. However it's always fun to spot my artist peeps working their stuff and enjoy a brief visit. ALL the artwork was top shelf and impressive.

Cedar Key My good friend Linda Ballentine Brown's booth was a colorful visual feast. This cowgirl presented a mix of the ranch life she lives and the islands close to her. I was so impressed with her creativity. Very fun.

art festivalI haven't seen Diane Cahal in quite some time. We met years ago during the Ocala "Horse Fever" project (Linda too!). Her photography is captivatingly clever. I just love this piece of an artist's figure manikin mounting a horse manikin and hanging on for dear life - then galloping off in a dreamscape. Incredible. Below is a detail.

photography
Unfortunately the weather turned nasty. The festival wrapped it up early and we were treated to marble-sized hail. Never made it to the bar for Coronas out on the deck.

"Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm. " - Marcus Garvey

Thursday, April 22, 2010

What I Learned Today

Teachers with ideas and vision: Priceless.

Teachers at the Eighth Street Elementary here in Ocala implemented a week long Art Fair along with the usual Science Fair. Local musicians and artists were recruited to help make it a go and that included moi. I was assigned five consecutive sessions with first and second graders (anyone got a Valium?). Turned out to be a fantastic way to test drive the silly riddles and horse drawings to the actual target readers of my long overdue book.

After the first session I briefly chatted with a teacher about the financial cuts to art and music in public schools. You've read the research. This particular teacher stated how the arts effectively draw children out of their shells. I don't recall that aspect in the studies I've read. Sure enough, as session two gets comfortable on the floor I spot a withdraw, sullen and seemingly disinterested child sitting at group's edge. He wouldn't look in my direction at all. As I show off my goofy drawings and invite participation, this child slowly becomes involved and by the end of the session is
actually enthusiastic! Right before my eyes...

All I can say is...wow. Think art and music aren't important in a cash strapped school system? I ask you to reconsider.

Here are some photos I promised of last weeks painting demo at Ocala Art Group. Thanks to artist Sally Smyth who is first Vice President and show coordinator for sending them to me.







“The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to.” - Marian Wright Edelman:

Monday, April 19, 2010

Evinston Paint Out

Okay, you all know I'm not cut out for plein air painting but that doesn't mean I'm not intensely curious about my fellow artists who practice the genre. Today I ventured to the highly anticipated Evinston Paint Out just a bit northeast of McIntosh and approximately 20 miles north of Ocala.

Three of my artist buds are participating: VoilART! partner Jackie Schindehette, Nancy Moskovitz and program/poster artist Linda Blondheim, all who have blogs listed at right. Directed to Fair Oaks Farm by Nancy, this spectacular property avails itself to artists and visitors alike during the paint out. Greeted by Linda and Henry (Studio Dog), we secured a golf cart (generously provided by the property owner) and embarked on a self-guided farm tour.

This is old Florida at it's pristine finest.

Fair Oaks FarmHazy skies filtered down through these fairy-tale oaks.

Evinston Paint OutThis oak is so enormous that the lower limbs bend to the ground. What history do you think these trees have witnessed? Civil War? Indian Wars? Cortez and his army? Michael is awed.

Wood and SwinkMary Jane Volkmann paints a lovely scene at the water's edge. We met at Epcot a few weeks ago.

The Evinston Paint Out continues through this week until Saturday, April 24th, ending with a reception at the President’s House at University of Florida for the Patron’s Gala at 6:30 pm.

"I don't believe in making pencil sketches and then painting your landscape in your studio. You must be right under the sky." - William Merritt Chase

Monday, April 12, 2010

Tally Ho & Dreams of Kansas

A couple of years ago I invited Florida landscape painter Linda Blondheim to a hunt meet of Misty Morning Foxhounds out of Gainesville. We both took hundreds of photos and had a grand time. Horses, hounds, nature and friendly folks who take time to enjoy life - what's not to love? And did I mention the rest breaks for mimosas?

Creating these smaller pieces provides opportunity to experiment with various color theories. One of my favorites is split complementaries. In this painting, the dominate color - a warm shade of orange in the ground the subjects are standing on crosses the color wheel to it's opposite - blue. The split is actually the colors on each side of the blue complement - here being blue-violet and blue-green. The blue-violet dominates the shadows and the blue-green occurs as a strong under painting in the background trees. It's not as complex as it sounds. A decent color wheel illustrates clearly.

foxhunting"Anticipation" oil on canvas, 11"x14"

The inspiration for the next piece came from a conversation with a mid-western collector. My imagination kicked into gear as he described the summer storms rolling across the plains in his native Kansas. He recounted bright eerie light washing over the landscape as the dark storm clouds gathered in the distance. Not unlike Florida.

Do you like my lightning?

storms"Nervous Yearlings" oil on canvas, 11"x14"

Yesterday I gave a painting demo at the Appleton Museum of Art for the Ocala Art Group. I hope I inspired them with my oddball perception to passionately embrace their subject matter and inject it with stories of their vivid experiences.

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson