"Notice"

(unavailable......6" x 12"......Oils on 300 lb. HP.....Mounted on a 2.00" depth Clayboad)

"Noticing the small things gives order to the larger things." Paying attention to the small details in a process or in the habits of daily living will always help facilitate the larger things of life.

Most of the things I've learned in art have been from observing or noticing the small things that were happening during the process. For instance, I've noticed that the pressure imposed on the palette knife while dragging the paint across the surface makes a big difference in the the outcome.

It might help to write these observations down by keeping an art journal. These notations will keep them alive for you because you will not remember what you observed or did (6) months from now. Writing down a process that has worked for you immediately after it happens will ensure that you can repeat it again.

I have kept art journals for several years and it is always interesting to go back and look at some of the examples and written instructions. It will often prompt a technique for a new piece. It is not necessary to start at square one every time you try to create a piece, but by carefully building on knowledge learned from the last piece, you will soon find yourself making significant progress. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

"In Between"

(unavailable)

"In between is leaving something behind and moving to the new." The quote has everything to do with the fact that today is my 600th posting! And I really do feel as though I am moving very quickly in a new direction. Life is often like that for all of us.

While I was away, I did a lot of thinking about the things I typically gravitate to in art. And because I've seen so much art and also created a variety of things in different media...my conclusion was that my heart belongs to the "gesture". I often shied away from it because it can be very intimidating to do, but after this many postings, I am now inclined to throw caution to the wind and just do it.

The only reason I share these things is because I know (for a fact) that many of you are grappling with these same issues. You see something or you've created something that just makes you want to run to your studio everyday, but for many reasons, you simply don't think you can or you've stumbled over the next step to take. So I hope you will be encouraged by the fact that you really should just do it and get over yourself and what anyone else might think. 

For instance, I know that I still have a lot to learn about the palette knife, about gestural writing, about abstraction, but I had to tell my internal critic to go away in order to create a piece of art everyday. You will need to do the same thing. It all begins with jotting down some thoughts about what you really would like to create if there were no restrictions and see where you are by studying your own work. And then practice or find the person who can help you take the next step. That's my advice for today. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Numerous and Colorful"

($125.00....6" x 6"...Oils on Gessobord....floated on a linen mat in a custom frame)

"Letters are as numerous and colorful as the leaves." The idea of making odd comparisons is one of the hallmarks of my quotes. This one is no different. And I think we can all agree that letters can form a lot of words that are indeed colorful.

The evolution of style in anyone's artwork is ongoing. It seemed quite natural to adhere text pages to my background, partially covered by gesso with some of the lettering peeking through the painting. In a recent posting, I talked about the idea of really thinking through the ideas and techniques that continue to appear in your own artwork. 

For me, there is a continual return to the gestural mark. I love the erratic quality of the line and the palette knife is simply one more tool that will yield a lot of spontaneous movement. That's why I decided not to make the dark background trees, but rather lay the paint down in the colors of those trees, but in a gestural way. The foreground trees, of course, do look like trees with an abstract quality. 

This way of laying down the paint helps integrate the collage elements and the quote scribbled into the foreground. There are many ways to lay down paint. You can use a brush, palette knife, brayer, mono print, etc. My thinking is to try them all and see what best fits your personal vision and style. If you desire to include lettering, it is best to keep the other elements of the piece somewhat abstract because letters are abstract. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Fresh Air"

(sold)

"Fresh air is best at the top of the mountain." Taking a walk is always a refreshing thing to do, but a walk in the mountains is the best. The air is crisp and the temperature is generally cool even in the summer. Now I'm not talking about our little hills in central Texas. I'm talking about very high elevations...as in the Great Smokey Mountains!

One of the other issues any artist faces when painting in oils, acrylics, watercolor, etc. is the paints they use. Even though I know several artists who work with one red, one yellow, one blue, and white...I have chosen a double palette. My oil palette includes Cad. Lemon...Cad. Yellow...Alizarin Crimson...Cad. Red Med...Ultramarine Blue...Phtalo Blue...and White.

This will keep the color harmony in tact, but of course, there are other things to know (which I am still learning) and that is the attributes of color. An artist must learn to identify the root color of any color they see in the landscape and then determine if it has been diluted or "grayed down" and where it falls on the value scale. And that root color is always going to be one of the (12) colors on the color wheel.  

It sounds so easy until you find yourself staring at a blank canvas. The only way to learn these things is to actually do them. Painting "en plein air" is the best way, but that is sometimes impossible, especially if you are in a populated area or there is no place to set up an easel. I am still amazed that the human eye can see so much more than a camera can pick up.

Never the less, the only way to progress is to actually pick up the brush or palette knife and actually do something. And of course, you need to tell your internal critic to be quiet while you work. 

I have now painted approximately (10) paintings with a palette knife and I am told that the first (100) are the real warm up. So don't be discouraged, but join me as I press on towards my first (100). And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Hay and Stubble"

($40.00.....6" x 6"......Oils on Gessobord)

"Hay and stubble is contrasted by pumpkins and gourds." All across the "Smokies", there is a prominent display of pumpkins, gourds, hay, and corn stubble. So this is a "Happy Fall" piece.

As those of you know who have followed my blog for a long time, I am trying to hone my techniques and try new things all the time. In this piece, you are at a slight disadvantage because it is overcast here in Gatlinburg and my photograph is not showing the true color of the hay. And even apart from the photography issues, hay is a difficult thing to portray. 

I began with a very dark background so that the dark areas in the hay would show through when the lighter color was applied on top. The quote was written into that area of the painting to add even more texture. I have no doubt it would have been a bit easier with a brush, but I am quite determined to use only a palette knife. Never the less, it looks convincing from across the room. 

So the lesson in this piece is to keep pressing on, even when there are issues. And it always helps to take and break and set the piece on an easel across the room. It is always advisable to stand back from the painting during various points. What I can't see a foot in front of the piece seems to always be seen from across the room. 

One compositional decision I did make early on was to have the pumpkins and gourds form an overlapping shape from edge to edge. This is generally a better option than making them really small and placing them in the middle. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Outdoor Cathedral"

(unavailable)

"Trees can form an outdoor cathedral." I have often heard people say that they feel the presence of God even more when they are outdoors. Trees, especially large ones can definitely feel like an outdoor cathedral. It's a comforting thought.

In this piece, the stately evergreens stand in stark contrast to trees that have fully turned. Capturing that with a palette knife in a 6" x 6" space was a challenge. This is a "wet into wet" technique so it is very important to have a good strategy on which color to lay down first. My plan generally begins by thinking of the piece in layers.

Whatever appears to have the most distance from my view is what I lay down first. In addition to that strategy, I also lay down a color that will reappear if I remove some of the paint. In the case of these trees, I laid down the color of the tree trunk so that this color would reappear when I scraped back some of the additional layers. It's all very risky, but well worth the effort.

One other very important factor is realizing that only one stroke can be made before wiping off the palette knife and making another stroke. The wonderful part of this is that palette knives are much easier to clean than brushes.

Last, but definitely not least is the amount of passion brought to this process. It is well worth the effort to take care in choosing what to paint because the passion will help you bring your best effort to the painting of the piece. And if you get off to a bad start, then scrape off the panel and begin again. I guarantee you will learn something with every single piece. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

"Nature Poem"

($125.00.....6" x 6"....oils on a gessobord....floated on a linen mat in a custom frame.)

"Turning leaves are a nature poem." This piece is another oil painting created in Boone, N.C. I tried to capture the color of the leaves as well as the fog that hung over the mountain in the background.

It doesn't matter whether or not a collage is being created or an oil painting with a palette...the principle remains that paintings are made up of shapes.   In this piece, the shapes have many soft edges due to the subtle shift of values. Of course, the tree trunks helped create the divisions of space and consequently the shapes.

Normally, I like to work larger and then crop the image, but in this case, I had to work with a predetermined size.  It them becomes necessary to think about all of the elements of the composition in advance. Taking photos will help with this kind of work so I have taken app. 1500 so far. 

Photography is a great practice in your design thinking. And cropping the image on the computer before painting will assist in getting the composition right, especially when the option of cropping for the final painting is not possible.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Seasonal Change"

($125.00....6" x 6"....Oils on Gessobord floated on a linen mat in a custom frame)

"Seasonal change reveals itself in color." This is an oil painting done with a palette knife in Boone, North Carolina. The seasonal change here is all aglow in oranges, yellows, reds, and greens. It is a stunning display of God's creation!

Even if you might feel intimidated by painting a landscape with a palette knife, it is a tool I highly recommend just to experiment with the many different kinds of texture. And even though this piece was created with oils, it could also have been done with acrylics. Just by adding some retarder to the paint, you can have quite an extended period of drying time.

One of the many reasons I am exploring techniques with the palette knife is to force myself not to put every leaf on the tree or include all of the other details that one would actually see on location. It also helps to stand back away from the painting to get an accurate view of how the painting is viewed from a distance.

The one other thing that is always important to me is the inclusion of my quote. It is really not very readable, but I wrote it with the point of a palette knife going up vertically on the right hand side. It creates an interesting texture. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Sitting On The Patio"

($200.00......18" x 24".....painted on a 2" depth gessobord)


There is no quote today, but I did inscribe the title of the piece into the wet oil paint. "Sitting on the Patio" is a painting of one of my favorite pots and plants on my patio. The patio is what I call the new "front porch". Not everyone has a front porch anymore, but most people do have a deck or patio where they can share conversation with family and friends. Many happy conversations have happened on my patio as well as many quiet moments of thought and reflection. This piece is larger and was created for an upcoming exhibit at Hill Country Bible Church NW called "Come Together".  Indeed, patios are a great place to come together.

I don't post many oil paintings, but I can assure you that I have been dabbling with oils for some time now and my most successful endeavors seem to be created with the palette knife. This entire piece was done alla prima with a variety of sizes and shapes of palette knives.

The same gestural textures can be seen in the background that I also create in kiln formed glass and mixed media. I used a double palette of warm and cool colors. One of the most useful things I've done is to mix all of my primary and secondary colors with the complement (one by one) and adding white and then more white to achieve a range of grays. Those paint chips have been placed on shipping tags....labeled...and hung on a ring binder to give me a ready reference until I become totally experienced with mixing the range of grays that are in the landscape or any painting really.

My inspiration has come from artists like Sandra Pratt and Rocky Hawkins. They both use a lot of palette knife techniques. You might be inspired by taking a peak at their websites. All of these same techniques can be used with acrylics. It is best to use a retarder with the acrylics to give you a longer window of working time. Open acrylics are another option for painting outdoors with this medium. The advantage, of course, in working with acrylics is that the surface can then be prepared for lettering. Other water media cannot be placed on top of oils. And there you have it. Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"By The Creek"

($100.00.....6" x 6".....painted on a gessobord...presented in a frame)


"A morning by the creek is perfect!" Getting outdoors early in the morning is a special treat. It's even better when painting with friends. This particular scene was painted at Brushy Creek here in Austin.

So often I feel like I sound like a broken record when repeating that it takes a spontaneous technique to get a spontaneous result. Such is the case in this piece. This is an oil painting created with a palette knife. It can be very tempting to pick up a brush, but perseverance will be rewarded if you don't.

The quote is inscribed into the right hand edge going up the side vertically. I used a toothpick to write the quote. The lack of detail and erratic marks are the charming things about this technique.

Once again, attention has to be paid to division of space and values. When painting wet-into-wet it is important not to lay down too much paint in the first layer. It is also important to lay down a stroke and leave it alone. Colors will become muddy and lose their sparkling appearance if you keep "fussing". This type of painting is all about capturing the "essence" of something and then leaving it alone. It did help me to work with a double palette of warm and cool colors. I still have a lot of practice to do with the palette knife, but a girl has to start somewhere! Just playing around with this method of application will give you lots of fun and lots of erratic edges. Just something you might want to try or think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Cowhide and Cactus" (unavailable)

(unavailable......in the permanent collection of dee day)

Those of you who have traveled very far in Texas have seen this "duo" time and time again. Frankly, I don't know how one state can have so much Prickly Pear cactus, but I love it! It's part of our persona. Pause today and thank God you live in Texas! (...and if you don't we love you anyway!)

This piece is a combination of acrylics, oils, and gouache. The paste paper background was the first layer and set the placement, tone, and texture of the piece. The second layer was the cactus...painted in oils "en plein air" on our property. The third layer was the cowhide...painted on a gesso base with gouache. And finally, the lettering was written with gouache.

The final piece was sprayed with a Krylon Archival Varnish intended for oils and acrylics and after the oil paint was dry. This is important because you cannot use a spray acrylic coating on top of oil paint. Notice also the division of space. That is the loveliest part of this composition and it just happened by reacting to the space divisions created in the cropping of the paste paper. Just something to think about.

"Palm Trees" (unavailable)

(unavailable.....in the permanent collection of Dee Day) 


Visual symbols that help remind us of an important truth are great, especially if the symbol is something we see everyday. That's what I'm doing each day...selecting a contemporary icon to reveal an inspiring or humorous quote. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley (southern tip of Texas), so palm trees are one of my favorite icons.

The palm tree was painted in oils over a paste paper background using acrylic paint. The palm tree branches were deliberately painted to the edge to create more shapes in unequal sizes. I have been playing around with oils "en plein air" (painting outside) in a very loose impressionistic style. It's fun and challenging simultaneously.

For my lettering artist friends, moon palace ink (diluted with water and a drop of gum arabic) was used for the quote. As you can see, it performs beautifully over dried oil paint. For the stamp in the lower rt. corner, I used Speedball Printing Ink (water soluble). Brayer a bit of ink over a glass or smooth surface....then brayer the stamp...stamp the image. This is truly a mixed media piece!