Baba 2, Watercolor Portraits

My second Baba. I took the inspiration for this Baba from a painting I did over a year ago as a commission. I posted the inspiration below. both are about  8 x 10 inches, watercolor.

Oh, and if you get a chance, have a look at these two up and coming artists.... yes, I am a proud mother!

Nick

Greg

They are still in high school... yes, I am a proud mom!

Baba

I am starting a new group of work and this is a loosening up piece that I did today. I am looking forward to exploring more of this subject. I think there are many stories to tell. I have some other Baba paintings that I did a few years ago, posted below.

This painting is the story of my grandmother's life. The main image is her traveling clothes.  The background is her as a young woman on the farm, the ship they arrived on, the church and her church clothes, roses and as an older woman in her favorite chair. She was a strong woman that I have huge respect for.

This is one of the studies that I worked on for the painting above. I have it matted and framed since the one above sold. It was a tough sale, but I found that many people really identified with the image and said it could have been their "Baba". These were all done in watercolor.

An Apple a Day

Just another quick 5x7 inch acrylic on stretched canvas.

Which way to the beach?

One of my students is going south (lucky girl) and I did a class to inpire her. When you paint water, waves, beachy scenes, remember to paint the flat water as a reflection of the sky. The waves have form with a light side, dark side and reflections too. This is simplified but something that can be done section at a time.

And this was the following class... I am really getting her ready to go... I was inspired from an image I saw on the Daily Painters of Pennsylvania's site. You can see that I simplified the project for class. We had fun!

These demonstrations are on 7x10inch paper and were done in about half an hour.

Thanks to Karin Jurick

Karin Jurick is the artist has run the Different Strokes from Different Folks challenges for over a year. As a thank you, Jill Polsby organized a painting book/gift of a portrait of Karin done by well over 100 artists. I was happy to participate and really want to thank both Karin and Jill for their time.
Pastels, 11x14 is what I chose to do mine in. Yes, I know! I will be toning down my signature so it doesn't scream in the image. See what happens when we hurry.
Check out this page to see the other paintings.   http://picasaweb.google.com/polsby/The118FacesOfKarinJurickJanuary2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLCMzN6K7LOCGg

Ukrainian Egg Classes

Every year I hold classes in Ukrainian Easter Egg decoration. I have enjoyed making them for years and the classes are always fun! I was not planning to have classes this year because I wanted to take the time to work on them myself (alittle selfish), but legend has it that the more eggs that are decorated the less bad luck can happen in the world. How can I not do my part! Classes begin the end of February.

Small Acrylic Break

I painted this small pear with acrylic on a 4x6 inch stretched canvas. It was a  nice break from the larger watercolor and pastels that I have been working on. I like to look for hints of warms and cools in the shadows and play with them till I think it works. I used a bright orange/red as an underpainting. I like how it gives the image a glow. I will post the other paintings soon. I felt like I was neglecting my blog so I did this quick pear.

Also a qucik travel note. Went to New York to the Moma to see the Tim Burton Exhibit and thought it was great. It's a nice insight to how he works, from highschool on with examples of sketches, paintings, storyboards, films, notes, models, armature, props... all really fun and a nice inspiration for the boys. Can't wait to see what they come up with now!