Two Spring Demonstrations

 

Valley Bloom was painted as a demonstration forfor Mercer Isalnd Visual Arts League (MIVAL) on April 2nd 2015 (as a one hour demo).  I put another couple of hours into it at home...I think it still needs work.  But I love the Skagit Valley when it is in bloom, and I think it a worthy subject to get right.

Valley Bloom 36" x 36" acrylic

"Winters End" was painted as a demonstration for Evergreen Associations of the Arts (EAFA) on March 19 2015.  It was started as a one hour demo, and I added another hour of finishing as home.  I did a smaller study of this painting last fall.  I used a photo I took in a back alley in Cle Elum WA.

"Winters End"  36 x 24 Acrylic

Small Studies...

A while ago, I started painting small studies in my classes to illustrate the lesson .

Some of my students asked if they could purchase them, so I mounted, varnished and framed a number of them to show and sell as small works.

They are priced well below retail as they were quick impressions.

I have posted about half of the available images.

These painting will be available for sale at the Winslow Art Center in Winslow WA on Bainbridge Island, Friday December 12th and Saturday December 13th.

 



          

A Bend in the River

12 x 16

$175 

Painted to illustrate the power of using fewer pigments

 

  

                                    

A Peaceful Place

 12 x 16    

 $175

We painted this image together using several different color combinations                

 

Apple Basket

8 x 8

$100

We each painted a copy of this from a black and white photo to see if we could find warm light, cool shadows and reflected light. I had the students work very quickly to not overthink.

 

 Backlit Aspen

10 x 8

SOLD

Painted as a quick Plein Air demo several years ago.

 

Bagno Vignoni

12 x 9

$150

Plein Air demo in Italy done during a short sun break between rain bursts.

 

 

Blue Shadow

9 x 12

$150

Painted as a demonstration exaggerating the coolness of shadows in warn light.

 

 

 Bright Winter

$250

In this class exercize, I gave my students a black and white photo I took in a small town in Eastern Washington, and a copy of a winter painting by Russian Impressionist, Isaac Levitan, and we attempted to merge ideas from both images.

 

 

 

Castella Di Piano

12 x 9

Sold

 

 

 

 

 Fall Colors

16 x 20

$550

Painted as an in class demonstration at Winslow Art Center to illustrate finding the unique color harmonies of Autumn

 

 

 

 

 

 Green Magic

8 x 10

$100

Painted to illustrate using an analagous color harmony (all greens).

 

 

 

 

 

Poppy Solo

12 x 9

$150

I had my students paint this several times using different triads of colors.

 

 

 

 Red Tea Pot

12 x 12

$175

Painted to illustrate ways to light, shadows and reflections on Red

 

 

 

A Safe Place

East of the Pass 24" x 30" acrylic Dianna Shyne

Looking for Light 24" x 18" acrylic

In my childhood games of chase, there was always "Home Base", a place where you were safe and no one could get you.

Right now, my home and studio feels like "base". A safe place in a uncertain time.

This summer, my wonderful husband of three years, Michael Gotz, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting the bone marrow and blood.  Suddenly, our wonderful, blissful life of making art and music  has changed.  Stress and uncertainties loom.  Battles with the insurance provider are ramping up over what services they will and will not provide.

Michael is great.  He keeps writing music and going to gigs.  He is constantly cracking me up with his jokes, and caring for his wild birds out the window. He will play his guitar until he drops.




Walk in the Wild 16" x 20"

 

Mother of the Field 24" x 30"

One Small Gift 20" x 16"

 As I look over the work I've done in the last few months, I can see the arc of feeling and emotion...it's almost like a personal journal...The protective mother under a scorching sun, the uncertain watcher looking for hope, a bend in the river, a creator of small gifts, a blissful cat on a crooked porch.

Painting has always been the way I find joy, work through problems, work off excess energy, cope with stress, express my emotions... deal with uncertainty.  I think I'll get off the computer and go paint.

Porch Cat 16" x 20"

Studying Boats



Boats on the Arno (Florence Italy) 24" x 24" acrylic on canvas

Rowing Out From Shore (Winslow WA) 24" x 18" Acrylic on Panel

  I've recently been fascinated with the shape of boats and ships.  Like human forms, every one is unique.  My daughter is a ship captain, so painting them impressionistically under the gaze of her exacting eye is no easy task....It's a worthy study and a work in progress.  

Angelique in Winter (Camden Maine) 16 x 12



Small Boats Study (Camden Maine)  12" x 12" Acrylic on panel

In Quiet Water (Winslow, WA) 16" x 12" Acrylic on Panel (sold)










Circles

Dianna Shyne (Me)

Susan Diehl

 

Susan Diehl Painting

So why am I not painting?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My 2012 painting trip to Italy and subsequent show at the Cole Gallery (Now through Mid July 2013)  began on a dark dirt road in Glacier Nation Park in 1990 where Susan Diehl and I first met. It was to be my very first plein air painting experience. Susan and I quickly became close friends…our children were the same ages, we lived in the same town, and were taking painting classes from the same teachers…Ron Lukas, Del Gish, William Reese....

We painted together for years until Susan and her family moved to Arizona.
Susan and I still get together to collaborate and travel, we are in some of the same galleries…we travelled to Western China together in 2008 to paint. So when the opportunity to bring a group of students to Tuscany arose, Susan was my first choice as a teaching partner. We decided to present a unique workshop where all the students were encouraged to use the iconic landscapes and ancient cityscapes to develop their own poetic voice.

This trip to Italy was the completion of a circle that started when I was 16 years old on my first trip to Italy…Until then, I had never really been exposed to original paintings. My first art experience of any kind was the Sistine chapel… Michelangelos iconic ceiling half cleaned and glowing with color, half dark with the grime of centuries. Until this moment, tiny pictures in text books were all I had. I stared at the ceiling until I was ushered out….I got it…art…painting…the profound immaculate and messy beauty of it. I knew I wanted to be an artist…to learn more (everything) …to see more…

Over the years, I longed to return to Italy to experience the landscapes that inspired both a Renaissance and my own life path. It was my dream, but career, children, finances, time constraints kept me away…now slow forward forty years and here I come full circle.

Returning to Italy as an artist and teacher, bringing eager and longing student artists with me to encounter this place as an adult with a whole life of experiences in tow became something entirely new… the completion of one circle and the beginning of a new one.

I will be returning to Tuscany again this fall with another group of students…It’s just me this time. It turns out I can’t be around oil paint at all. So Susan and I have parted ways as co-teachers, but continue our friendship and collaboration with this current exhibition of paintings. http://www.colegallery.net/searchresults.php?exhibitionId=270&start=1

A Busy Week

Open Window 24" x 18" 
 

Life as an artist is never boring, but I have periods of quiet time and deep reflection where it seems like all inspiration has fled and I know I need to recharge, and periods of frantic activity to get to a deadline.  This was my frantic week last week.







A Well Worn Path 24" x 30"

Tuscan Morning 24" x 24"

 I was finishing a collection of paintings for a show at the Blue Horse Gallery in Bellingham.  This included putting finishing details on 6 of the 15 pieces, sealing the backs of the panels, signing, varnishing, photograph, cataloging, framing and wrapping the frames, putting the pieces on the website, hand building and refinishing some of the frames...teaching three classes and a workshop, and leading a critique session.....at the end of the week I found myself finishing a workshop in Winslow, and dashing to get to the ferry...to drive through Seattle rush hour traffic north to Bellingham for the show opening.  I was on the road for 3 hours.  I'm not complaining, though,  I love this pace.  It really is wonderful and satisfying.

 I usually feel weirdly out of place at show openings, but that dissipates as I take a deep breath, temporarily banish  my gigantic self doubts and go introduce myself. People are usually so kind and gracious...that helps when I have put little pieces of my heart on the wall.

Today I am facing a house and studio that look like chaos...I always seem to leave a wake of rubble in my path when there is a looming deadline.  So today I am cleaning up my house and shovelling out my studio in preparation for the next wave of crazy activity.

Evening Fire

 An October Trip to Prince Edward Island became the inspiration for these two most recent paintings. I spent a good part of December working on them when I should have been preparing to have a houseful of family for the holidays. I managed to cobble together a reasonable facsimile of Christmas, and everyone seemed happy with the results. But the pay off was that I took the time I needed to paint.

 

Evening Fire 30" x 40" acrylic on canvas

I've been working on creating mood in my landscape paintings, exploring elements in each painting that evoke the essence of mood, and how I can  use these elements to improve my next piece.  I brought these two painting into my classes this week and asked my students about the feeling or mood that they experienced when viewing them side by side. The discussion revolved around the aspects of the paintings seemed to evoke mood. I was pleased that the consensus of the students matched my goals.

   

In "Evening Fire", it is the end of a day and the end of a season. The day is shutting down, the temperature is cooling off. Everything is going quiet. The muted dark colors, soft edges and lone figure imply quiet introspection. I started this painting with cooler grays and harder edges, and the feeling was depressing and morose. When I softened the grasses and warmed the colors, the feeling of the painting became warmer as well.
I loved the fiery glow of the last ray of sun as it slid down the far bank of trees, and reflected in the buildings on the distant shore.

 

 

Canoe Cove Tide Change 30" x 40" acrylic on canvas

In "Canoe Cove", I was trying to recreate the feeling I had when first viewing the scene. It was a feeling of peaceful anticipation...of a day yet to be experienced....sun, sand and an empty beach...sand bars just exposed and ready for exploration. The complimentary colors and gentle diagonal movements in the clouds and sand seem to create a subtle energy.

 

 I am always searching for ways to improve my paintings.  It is sometimes a slow road, but I keep working.  The work itself is a reward.  I love the moments when I close the door on the studio, squeeze out the paints, ready my brushes and realize with joy that this could very well take all day. Christmas won't wait, but sometimes inspiration won't wait either.