Friday Find: Time to paint



Self Portrait, 8 X 11



End of summer + Back to School = 0 time to paint

At least that's the way it seems.

When you feel you have no time to paint, try painting smaller. Work on a quarter sheet, a 9-by-12 or a 5-by-7 or even an artist trading card.

If you can carve out only 15 to 30 minutes to paint at a time, you may be more satisfied completing a small painting than you would be with the start-stop process of working on a large painting.

All of the paintings here are "fast" by my standards -- although I admit to being a slow painter. The coffee mug is a 10-minute painting, the self portrait was completed in a little over one hour, and the landscape was a 90-minute outdoor job with a few finishing touches once I got inside.

Morning Coffee, 6 X 9



Sycamore Springs, 10 x 15



Friday Finds: Good news/bad news

The good news: You can find great buys right now at the Preston Arts Center at 315 Pearl St. in New Albany. The sale started yesterday and everything I bought was marked down 25 to 30 percent. 

The bad news:  The store is closing forever. Although that means deeper discounts will follow, the 200 or so customers gathered outside the doors yesterday morning expressed sadness about the loss. The Louisville store on Bardstown Road will remain open, but the family intends to liquidate all merchandise and fixtures in the New Albany location.

The closing sale will be announced publicly Aug. 10, so get there before then for the best selection.

Pointless?
Do you have a brush that has lost its point? Here's a tip found in the most recent Daniel Smith catalog: Mix up a solution of 50% gum arabic and 50% water. Dip the brush into it and reshape the hairs into a point. Let it dry before using. I add that it's a good idea to hang it up point down for the drying part.

Friday Find: 3 days late or 4 days early...

 ...Depends on how you look at it!

In any case, here's an event I just learned about that many of you will find interesting.

Karol Stewart will demonstrate how artists and collectors can get the greatest value and return from their framing dollar Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at The Venue in Bloomington. Stewart is the owner of ReFrame Eco-Friendly Picture Framing & Fine Art Services of Bloomington. At the presentation she will advise how to distinguish and appreciate quality framing, which enhances the effectiveness and value of one's artwork. The Venue is at 114 S. Grant St.

That gut feeling...

Bryce Canyon Arch
16-3/4" X 11"

That gut feeling: Is it confirmation of a right decision? Or is it a precursor to an unsettling, unpleasant and absolutely unattractive episode?

Having just returned from the Post Office where I sent off my entry for the 2011 Watercolor Society of Indiana Juried Exhibit, I am hoping for the former.

I had a hard time deciding which painting to enter in this year's WSI juried show: Should I stick with one of my florals since I had success with that subject matter last year? Or should I go with a painting I love but is not traditional or like anything else I have ever shown publicly?

In the end I went with "Bryce Canyon Arch." It's more abstract than previous work so I am not sure how the juror (and others) will receive it. However, the painting accurately represents my 2011 artistic journey. Since January I have been delving into less realistic images, first experimenting with optical mixing of colors in a portrait of my daughter. 

My next step away from realism was following a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago's John Marin exhibit in April. I had long admired his brushwork, but the exhibition of his work demonstrated his exploration of the balance of realism and abstraction. That balance is what I'm looking for, I realized. I want just enough realism that people can relate to the image; I want the rest to be my stamp on it.

Then I started reading about other 20th century abstract artists and became fascinated with Paul Klee. His reduction of an image to blocks of color is the technique that inspired my approach to "Bryce Canyon Arch."

So that is what led me to go with my gut feeling to enter "Bryce Canyon Arch" into this year's WSI Juried Exhibit.

When I returned from the Post Office, I turned to this month's O Magazine, which features instincts and intuition as its theme. In her column, Oprah writes, "I'm a big believer in the wisdom of gut feelings -- those moments when you just know something to be true, even if you don't know how you know."

O, let it be a sign!

Friday Finds: ATC Swap and Happy Birthday

Quick! Swap those bloomin' ATCs
You can still get in on this month's ATC Swap at Nashville's Wishful Thinking shop if you get over there today with six ATCs designed around the theme of "Flower Power." Organizers have asked artists to incorporate the word "bloom" into the cards.

The deal is you drop off six by the 15th of the month and you get five in return. If you deliver the ATCs in person, you get to select the five cards from other artists plus you get a free gift.

The store is at Old School Way and Main in Nashville.

If the drive over to Nashville isn't in your cards for today, think about attending a free class on making ATCs July 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Although the class is free, store owners ask you call 812-988-7009 to let them know you plan to attend. You can trade the cards you make that day with fellow classmates or work on cards for future swaps. The theme for the August swap is "Look What the Cat Dragged In," featuring anything to do with cats -- both domestic and wild.

Happy birthday, Gabe
Stop in The Venue tonight at 6 p.m. and wish Gabe Coleman happy 30th birthday. He'll be celebrating at the Friday night reception honoring Amy Kaye Taylor, a landscape artist from Ohio.

Friday Finds: Great place to paint

When I first visited Sycamore Springs about five years ago, I knew I wanted to paint there.

When my mother took up watercolors last fall, I dreamed of painting with her and my daughter.

Yesterday, I got it all: I painted with Mom and Meredith at Sycamore Springs.

It's a beautiful, peaceful place not too far away, and on a weekday you may have it almost to yourself. We showed up around 9:30 a.m. and painted till 2:30 p.m. The only other person around was a grounds crew staff member who volunteered to move our picnic table into the shade. If you're new to plein air painting and worried about being watched, this is a good place to get your brushes wet.

The natural beauty can be stunning: Little Blue River meanders through the park, morning sun illuminates limestone cliffs, sycamores tower overhead and lush pine forests muffle the wind and scent the air.

From Bloomington, it's about a 75-minute drive down S.R. 37 South. The park is two miles southwest of English. Take the first right after the railroad (Church Street),  and you'll see signs to the park after you cross a low water bridge. If you have a GPS, use the 717 W. Tunnel Hill Road address. And if you want to know more about the park before you go, check it out at http://www.sycamorespringspark.com/. There is no admission fee.

Friday Finds: Good read and great community event

Here's a magazine you won't find on the newsstand
If you like the how-to articles in the watercolor magazines, you will LOVE Palette magazine. The entire magazine is chock-full of advice, tips, exercises and demonstrations.

I picked up a free copy at the Watercolor Society of Indiana's June meeting, and immediately pored through the 32-page issue. In the last two weeks I've gone back to the issue multiple times. To subscribe to the quarterly magazine, edited by Christopher Schink and William Lawrence, call 800-227-2788 or visit the Web site at http://www.thepalettemagazine.com. The magazine subscription is $22.95, but the Web site also offers a free e-mail newsletter.

Arts Fair on the Square
Tomorrow's a big day in downtown Bloomington. You can start with the Farmers' Market, move on to the Arts Fair on the Square and finish the day at A Taste of Bloomington. The Arts Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and features work from nearly 70 artists and craftspeople. Local performing arts groups will provide entertainment throughout the day.

Friday Finds: Hurt books and a hometown finale



Final curtain for Lotus Dickey Hometown Reunion
This weekend's Lotus Dickey music and arts festival on the Orleans Square has been billed as the last. That's sad, but it also makes it even more special than usual. The free event starts tonight at 6 p.m. and runs till 10 p.m., and then it resumes tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. and provides 12 nonstop hours of music. In addition to the stage entertainment, check out the jammers' area, the Saturday morning Farmers' Market and regional artisans and crafters.

Buy a hurt book

Interweave is selling damaged/bruised books at half price. Go to http://www.interweavestore.com/Hurt-Books-and-Overstock-Sale.html to check out the offerings. Click on either the Art or Mixed Media tab to limit the listings; otherwise, you will have to plow through lots of back magazine issues. Under the Art tab, look at 600 Watercolor Mixes: Washes, Color Recipes and Techniques and Botanical Sketchbook. Under the Mixed Media tab, my pick is Art at the Speed of Life, which promises to help you create art on a daily basis.

Friday Finds: More Zentangles and Art:21

Carla Hedges and "Feathered Flowers"

Zentangles explosion
I'm experiencing pattern hypersensitivity. Everywhere I look I see Zentangles: the neighbor's trellis, the cut-glass decanter, a palm tree's trunk, even the wallpaper in my powder room (never got around to stripping that; just hoping now for wallpaper to come back in style).

Here are a few Zentangle artworks I will share. The first is Carla Hedges' "Feathered Flowers" that I mentioned in last week's post. She will be featured in the June issue of Bloomington Watercolor Society's Brushstrokes.

I stumbled across the second one this morning while checking my blog feed. The headline, not the art, is what drew me in: "Balancing roles of artist and mother" by guest columnist Sandhya Manne. When I clicked on it, the artwork appeared. Go to http://www.artbizblog.com/2011/05/artist-mother.html .

Art:21 Must-see TV from PBS online
Since seeing the John Marin exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in April, I have been thinking about realism and abstraction. And that has led me into an exploration of more contemporary themes and works.

Art:21, a PBS series about contemporary visual arts, is now available online at http://www.pbs.org/art21/index.html . The site offers not only 20 full episodes but also slideshows of more than 2,800 images, educator's guides and online lesson library. This Web site was a hold on me for the next few months!

And remember that PBS is public funded television, so donate through your local station. In Bloomington that's WTIU and the link is http://www.indiana.edu/~radiotv/wtiu/support.html . (Full disclosure: WTIU is sort of the "family business": my husband is executive director, but I would tell you to support WTIU even if I weren't married to him.)

Friday Finds: Out with the old; In with the new

Spring cleaning: Out with the old

I confess to not doing as much spring cleaning as is needed. However, I have cleaned up my palette and, thanks to my friend Carol Rhodes, Aureolin got the old heave-ho! That’s right. I scraped the old paint out of the palette and even tossed the brand new tube of Aureolin in the trash.

Those of you who have taken my classes recognize the paint as one of the paints I’ve listed as a must have. How did it lose favor so quickly?

I had noticed that the pigment took on a brownish cast when left on my palette for very long. When Carol told me she had read that Aureolin also turns brown in paintings, I took action. To read more, go to http://www.hilarypage.com/#page7.

According to Hilary, the best substitutes are paints listed as PY175: Winsor & Newton’s Winsor Lemon, MaimeriBlu’s Permanent Yellow Lemon, Schmincke’s Chrome Yellow Lemon and Daniel Smith’s Lemon Yellow.



My first (and second) Zentangles


In with the new: Zentangles

Last week I was fascinated by a painting of Carla Hedges that is currently hanging in the Waldron’s Flashlight Gallery. The intricate design intrigued me, and because I couldn’t find Carla I asked Linda Meyer-Wright about it. (Carla and I have both taken classes taught by Linda, a mixed media artist.)

Linda described the painting as a Zentangle, explaining this has taken on almost a cult status with a following, its own language and even disputes about whether the method is an art form or a doodle. She referred me to http://www.zentangle.com, where I have spent some time reading through its archive of newsletters.

I’ve been playing with some of the Zentangle patterns on Artist Trading Cards and have found the experience to be almost meditative.

The blue card is my first Zentangle attempt; the pattern is called OOF (Out Of Focus) and was created by Zentangle co-creator Rick Roberts after visiting New York City’s Cloisters, which houses the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s medieval collection. On the yellow card I experimented with “a string,” Zentangle-speak for a free-form line that subdivides working space, and multiple Zentangle patterns.

Go to the Web site, but be prepared to “lose yourself” in the Zentangle world for a while.

Made it into the Sunday paper

Sunday HT featured Creative Aging shows in B-town this week, and the article mentioned me -- without listing my age. Glad to dodge that bullet!

http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2011/05/07/scene.qp-0389994.sto

Even better news: The painting sold!

Friday Finds: Bloomington never ceases to amaze me

Bloomington never ceases to amaze me. I’m always coming across creative people, wondrous programs and abundant resources on almost any topic.

This week I stumbled upon an annual book sale I had never heard of but plan to visit next week. The Indiana University Art History Association will offer gently used fine arts and non-fine arts books at bargain basement prices April 27 and 28. The sale will be in the lobby of the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Proceeds will benefit the Art History Association.

This afternoon in the same neighborhood three professors will discuss Andy Warhol in a program called “Genius, Charlatan or Something in Between.”  History of Art professor Dawna Schuld, Journalism professor Claude Cookman and Alex Doty, professor of Communications and Culture/Gender Studies, will examine the impact of Warhol’s art on their respective fields. Meet in the Special Exhibitions Gallery of the IU Art Museum at 3 p.m. for this FREE one-hour Art-Side Chat.

Friday Finds: Paintouts everywhere

A little warm weather, some budding trees and paintouts are popping up everywhere. Here are possibilities for next three weekends:

1. Sketchcrawl No. 31 is Saturday, April 16. Go anywhere. Paint. Submit jpg of artwork to http://www.sketchcrawl.com/2011/04/ww-sketchcrawl-31/. It's that easy.
2. Wildflower artist Betty Wagoner will lead a T.C. Steele Art Trek Saturday, April 23, at the T.C. Steele State Historic Site, which is located between Bloomington and Nashville. Bring a sketchbook and your choice of drawing medium. Betty says it's an easy two-hour walk that will allow you to see the beauty that inspired T.C. Steele a hundred years ago.
3. The Bloomington Watercolor Society will paint together at McCormick's Creek arched stone bridge on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you want to go in a group, e-mail nancy.davismetz@gmail.com.

Get your paintout bag packed so you'll be ready to go when the muse calls. Here's a handy checklist:

Traveling light:

• sketchbook
• paint (in weekly pillbox container for portability)
• palette
• pencil
• kneaded eraser
• 2 brushes (1 flat/1 round)
• water and container
• tissue pack

Painting add-ons

• paper/painting board/tape OR watercolor block
• easel
• spray bottle
• digital camera
• small trash bag

Comfort add-ons

• lawn chair or camp stool
• lunch
• drinking water
• hat with brim
• insect repellent
• sunscreen
• handiwipes
• cell phone

Friday Finds: Heads up to give you head start

Mineral Springs Hotel, Paoli, Ind. (Photo by Dan Davis)

I'm posting this week's Friday Finds a little early because you might need a "heads up" to take advantage of the information.

Paoli's spring art show
Delta Chapter of Tri Kappa sponsors an annual art show at the historic Mineral Springs Hotel on the Paoli Square. Tomorrow is the delivery date, but you should call Mary Limp at 812-723-3030 to let her know you want to enter. You are allowed two entries in each of the three categories: Oils or Acrylics, Watercolors, and Drawings (pencil, ink, charcoal, pastels, etc). You will need to drop off the work at the hotel Friday, April 8, between 5:30 and 8 p.m. Pick up is on Sunday, April 17, between 1 and 3 p.m. The show has cash awards of $75, $50, $25 and $10 in each category.

Inspiration at the IUAM
Who doesn't need an occasional quick injection of inspiration? Get yours in a one-hour exhibition at the IU Art Museum Friday at 3 p.m. The program features urban documentary photographs by Weegee, Brassai, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Andre Kertesz, Robert Frank and Gerry Winogrand. The program is free and you do not need to pre-register. Space is limited, however. Meet at the museum's third floor office.

Friday Finds: A little R-E-S-P-E-C-T

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
One of my favorite blogs is Alyson B Stanfield's ArtBizBlog. Yesterday's post, "7ways to establish that your art has value," included this advice: "Don't ever belittle your art. Don't talk disparingly about what you have created. Don't point out the flaws. Don't reveal how easy it was to make." Now that's good advice. I don't know whether it's insecurity, false modesty or an attempt to lower expectations, but I hear such comments all the time. Let's vow now to respect our work. For more of Alyson Stanfield's tips go to
http://www.artbizblog.com/2011/03/art-has-value.html.

Gallery North on the Square
First Friday in Bloomington means good art and good eats in good galleries in downtown Bloomington. If you're going tonight, make sure you visit Gallery North and take in Rose McCay's exhibit of orb photography.

Shift work at the gallery

Last week I did my first shift at the Kentucky Watercolor Society Gallery at Louisville's Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center. I successfully opened the door, adjusted the lights, reset the thermostat, talked to the few people who wandered in, reset the thermostat, adjusted the lights and locked the door!

It was a pretty uneventful first day, but exhibiting in a cooperative gallery has been pretty exciting overall. The deal is a $20 monthly rental for the half-space; plus, I work two five-hour shifts a month. KWS takes a 10 percent commission on paintings sold but nothing from the card sales.

A few weeks ago I traveled to Louisville with paintings and notecards in tow for my first Gallery Committee meeting. After chatting with some old friends and introducing myself to some new folks, I eagerly climbed the stepladder to hang my three paintings. After all, what could be more important than getting those paintings hung, right?

WRONG!
I now know that the No. 1 task at those meetings is to schedule my work shifts. While I was hanging those paintings, the calendar was filling up. By the time I got to the calendar, I had precious little to choose from, especially if you remove Wednesdays and Fridays, the days that I teach for IU and Ivy Tech. I'm hoping to get back-to-back days during the summer months, but for now I drive to Louisville, do my shift, visit my in-laws or niece and head back to Bloomington.

The "do my shift" part is a lot more fun than it sounds.  Last week's "shift work" included some painting and art book reading in between customers. I compiled a whole list of future blog topics, so stay tuned.

Friday's Finds: Three spring greens

It's spitting snow -- a hard pill to swallow after a week of temps the 70s! To fend off winter's return, I spent a while this afternoon looking for a nice mixed green evocative of that gentle greenish cast the woods take on this time of year and the crazy wild yellow of forsythia. The photography doesn't do the colors justice, so I'll add some commentary.

The best combos were:

• Winsor Blue (Red) + Winsor Yellow
• Winsor Yellow + Cerulean Blue
• New Gamboge + Cerulean Blue

All three were light, fresh and especially interesting when mixed on the paper instead of the palette.

New Gamboge also worked well with Winsor Blue (Red), but appeared weak when compared to the rich granulation that the Cerulean provided. (I never thought I'd label Winsor Blue "weak.")

I had no success with any combos including Quinacridone Gold, Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna. They all seemed too warm. Cobalt Blue with New Gamboge (the next to last sample in the picture) starts to skew warm but might work depending on the subject matter.

Please click on Post a Comment below and share your favorite mixed greens for spring.

Friday Finds: Gone fishin'

Got a bad case of Spring Fever.

Friday Finds will return March 18.

Friday Finds: A personal touch



Design your own stationery with a few

practice strokes.


Make your mark
While preparing a class session on brushwork, I was searching for ways students could apply their newfound skill. That's what inspired this stationery idea. All you need to do is apply a pale wash of any color to watercolor paper and let it dry completely. If you choose, you can splatter or sprinkle salt or use some other device to create texture, but you need to remember that you will be writing on the surface so keep the background simple. Choose a corner for your simple design and paint it with as few strokes as possible. Once that is dry, put it on a color copier and print it out. If your printer doesn't print all the way to the edges, trim off the white margins.

The one pictured here is an imaginary bunch of berries and leaves, but I have plans for shells, irises and maybe even a palm tree.

Family Arts WeekEnd
The IU Art Museum has family events Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. History and science will be featured in 30-minute gallery sessions and hands-on work stations on Saturday. Sunday's topics will  be math and literature. Families will take home the hand-on projects plus resource materials to extend the museum experience to the home. The events are part of Bloomington's ArtsWeek 2011 celebration. 

Friday Finds:

Venue features one of Bloomington's bests
Seascapes, cityscapes, still life and florals -- all are featured in a Retrospective of Jacki Frey's work now showing at the Venue, 114 S. Grant St., Bloomington. The opening reception is 6 p.m. tonight, so stop by, chat with Jacki and look at how her painting style has evolved. The show includes both old and new pieces. Jacki is one of the best watercolorists in the area, and the Venue provides a hospitable setting that is ideal for visiting with the artist as well as viewing the art.


Wanted: Tax help
If you have questions about taxes and your art business -- and a hankering for Mexican food, go to El Norteno on North Walnut Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. The newly formed Visual Art Guild United Enterprise has arranged for a CPA to present information and answer questions about taxes.

Just for fun
I stumbled across this Youtube video and loved it. I like the ink and watercolor technique but, even more, I like the idea of that being the view from her yard! Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSDovlsbQNI&feature=more_related

Friday Finds: Good values and paint pals



Label a black-and-white print with 5 values that

 correspond to the five-value chart you've painted.

 Good values

Keep reading! This has nothing to do with retail discounts or Sunday School.

The value I'm referring to is the relative lightness or darkness of colors within a painting.

It was the topic of the week for the watercolor classes I'm teaching so it's been much on my mind. I tell students, "Value does all the work, but color gets all the credit." (That isn't an original thought BTW but I don't know who said it. If you know, please click the Comment button below and give due credit.)


One way to focus on value is to paint with one color. I had occasionally done this as a study before a painting but success was limited, at best. Then I tried painting a five-value chart off to the side of the sheet I was using for the study.

A successful value study

That little value chart made all the difference. My darks got darker -- which of course made the lights look lighter. Without the chart, I never would have gone as dark.

Try it the next time you're doing a value study. If you have a lot of time and are working with a still life, take a photo and print it out in black-and-white. On the printout label the five values before you start painting. That will really keep you on track.

Pack mentality
Recently Courtney Jordan wrote in her Artist Daily blog about the benefits of painting with others. She pretty much debunked the myth of the solitary artist in a garret studio and instead described artists as a pretty social lot.

Her column made me think about all the times I have painted with others. Most of those opportunities came through Bloomington Watercolor Society either directly from their paintouts and programs or indirectly from friendships formed with other BWS members.

If you're looking for a painting pack to join, come to the next BWS meeting Monday, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m. We meet at the First Christian Church at the corner of Kirkwood and Washington. The business portion of the meeting is kept short so that we have time to paint together. Visitors are welcome, and if you can't find your paints, come anyway. Someone will share. That's just how social we are.



Friday's Find: A Sunday Special!

Admittedly, I'm a little off my game today. This post comes to you late, and my excuses are (1) a new kitten that has a thousand methods of distraction and (2) the first of my Friday morning painting classes at the Burton Kimble Farm in Orleans. Both the cat and the class have provided too much to think about and do up to this point. But it's all good...


"Jackson Pollock, One: 31, 1950" with Kids by profzucker


Today's tip: This week's "art event" has to be Sunday's focus on Jackson Pollock at the IU Art Museum and new IU Cinema. Start with the 2:15 to 2:45 p.m. Gallery Talk, "Pollock in Focus" at the IU Art Museum's Gallery of the Art of the Western World. Jenny McComas will speak about Pollock's Number 11, 1949, which is part of the the IUAM's collection. Then stroll over to the IU Cinema (formerly the University Theatre -- it's in the back of the IU Auditorium) and see if you can score a ticket to "Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock." The film tells the story of Teri Horton, who paid $5 for a painting from a thrift store, tried unsuccessfully to give it away, and then discovers it may be a Jackson Pollock worth $50 million. The 74-minute film covers her 15-year search for the provenance of the painting. The film is free but a ticket is required. Even if all the tickets have been distributed, hang out and you'll probably get in. All three of the movies I've seen there in the last few weeks have had open seats.

And, of course, here's a "tip" of the hat to tonight's Gallery Walk: It's 2011's first gallery walk, so head downtown between 5 and 8 and check out the offerings. More importantly, buy local!

Friday's Finds: Easy solutions!

Problem No. 1: You want the color but not the texture of a granulating pigment. What to do?
Easy solution: This is so easy I don't know whether to categorize it as an AHA moment or as a big "DUH?" Case in point: Cerulean. It's a great color but I've often wanted  a smooth rather than textured application of it. While browsing through the watercolor books at the Monroe County Public Library this week, I came across a solution: Turn the paper face down to dry! This forces the sediment to dry at the surface rather than down in the nooks and crannies of the paper, resulting in much less granulation. How easy is that?
Problem No. 2: You want to indulge in the guilty pleasures of eating chocolate and buying art but, oh, the guilt...
Easy solution: This weekend you can banish the guilt by combining chocolate and art with a good cause, such as Options, which partners with people with disabilities and their communities. Go to http://www.weekofchocolate.com/ and click on the Online Art Auction link to see and bid on some amazing works of art. The Art of Chocolate is this Sunday at the IU Art Museum 5:30 to 8 p.m. Art + Chocolate + Good Cause = Guilt-free Pleasure.

Problem No. 3: You want to travel light at the next paintout or SketchCrawl, but you don't want to shell out the money for one of those nifty field boxes.
Solution: Get a seven-day pillbox and squeeze out some paint in each of the compartments. All you need are a couple of brushes, a sketchbook and a paper cup for your water.

That's it for this Friday. If you have other suggestions for "traveling light" or reducing granulation, click on comments below. Also, please be a blog Follower by clicking on the Follow button at the right.

Friday's Finds: Going global and staying stateside

SketchCrawl #30
To join tomorrow's SketchCrawl, all you need is to grab your art supplies and head out to paint. I don't recommend outdoor painting unless you really love flirting with frostbite, but Bloomington has lots of inconspicuous indoor areas where you can paint or draw. Here are a few possibilities:

• Coffeeshops (Starbucks, The Copper Cup)
• Indiana Memorial Union (lots of beautiful interiors in public spaces; great for people watching, too)
• IU Art Museum (Angles coffee shop or a bench in the atrium)
• College Mall Food Court
• Comfy chair at Barnes & Noble
• Monroe County Public Library (inside looking out perhaps)

Also, consider all the locales on your typical Saturday schedule; you may discover inspiration right in front of you.
What's a SketchCrawl? In short, it's a global sketching marathon with no rules. Anyone can participate. You can draw all day or 10 minutes. You can do the SketchCrawl with friends or go solo. This recurring event was founded six years ago by Enrico Casarosa to encourage community among artists
When you get home, go to www.sketchcrawl.com for instructions on how to post your artwork. You can also browse the works of other artists from around the world.

Honoring Hoosier Women Artists
To celebrate Women's History Month in March, Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman has invited female artists from Indiana to submit images of their original artwork for consideration. The works juried into the exhibit will hang in the Lieutenant Governor's Office for one year.
Go to http://www.in.gov/lg/3106.htm for application requirements. In addition to the required art release form and instructions, the site also has links to previous winners.

Friday's Finds: Certifiable deals

You know that feeling you get when you walk into a store and discover that the dress/suit/coffeemaker/whatever that you purchased last month now costs a fraction of what you paid?

That's how I felt when I got an e-mail promotion titled "$11 Bargains for 2011" from North Light Shop.

Three of the twelve advertised books reside happily in my studio bookcase, and although my initial reaction was a kick to self for having paid too much, I decided a healthier approach was to pass on the tip to fellow painters.

Brief reviews
Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light by Elizabeth Kincaid. This is the book that taught me how to create a free, loose background by using Frisket film and fluid to protect the foreground subject. But that is only one of many great techniques. Beautifully illustrated, the 128-page book offers the experienced painter inspiration and tips on composition, color and light while providing the beginner critical information such as the balance of water to pigment, which brush to use for different tasks, and how to transfer a drawing to watercolor paper. The book's suggested retail price was $22.99.

The New Creative Artist by Nita Leland. This 2006 edition updates Leland's 1990 work of a similar title; its art, text and activities could lead any artist out of a creative doldrum. More than 100 activities are organized around eight chapters covering creativity, art and craft, drawing, design, realism, abstraction, experimentation and adventure. I coveted this book a long time before shelling out $29.99, so I'm pretty sure anyone will be really happy to get it for $11.

Finding Your Visual Voice by Dakota Mitchell with Lee Haroun. Not limited to watercolor, this book offers demonstrations, interviews with artists, informative text, questions and exercises to help readers develop their own styles. It, too, can nudge you out of a painter's block. In any case, it will make you think differently about what it is you are doing when you are creating your art. Its original retail price was $29.99

How to order
I couldn't find a direct link to the $11 sale, so here is what I suggest if any of these titles interest you:

Go to http://www.northlightshop.com and type in the item code for any book that you want in the Catalog Quick Order box on the left of the screen.

• Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light: Item # Z2791
• New Creative Artist: Item # 33423
• Finding Your Visual Voice: Item # 33486

For orders less than $25, North Light Shop charges $3 plus 99 cents per item. Shipping is free for orders over $25.

Friday's Finds:

I found this bumper sticker in Preston Arts Center in Louisville, and thought it was a good reminder to support our local economies. The sticker is part of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance's campaign to "preserve the unique community character of the Metro Louisville area by promoting locally owned businesses and to educate citizens on the value of shopping locally." For every $100 spent at a local business, $45 stays in the community, according to LIBA's Web site, whereas, only $15 of every $100 spent at a national chain remains.

Check out http://www.artshow.com. In an e-mail exchange about juried shows, Deborah Rush recommended the site, and I second her opinion. It lists hundreds of art shows, juried exhibits and competitions for artists in chronological order of application deadlines. Links are often provided for prospectuses, and the site allows viewers to search for shows within a geographic region. Plus, this section offers a link to Tips for Entering Competitions . In short, you can get tons of info in one place!

While you're at www.artshow.com, look at the tabs for "art workshops and classes" and "tips, tutorials & resources for artists." The workshop/classes listings are searchable by medium, theme and location, and the tips section offers so much I'm almost hoping for a snow day so I can explore it.

That's it for this Friday, the final one before the semester starts. I'd like to enjoy one last day before the hectic schedule starts, but already the "To Do" list beckons.