Happy New Year!

Arc of Flight on the Shortlist

Arc of Flight

 24" x 14"
Pastel
Sheila M Evans

Every year at this time Katherine Tyrrell at Making a Mark runs an awards event that I always enjoy. You can vote for any of a number of Best of The Year artworks and blogs in several categories. I try to nominate what I feel are the best images I have seen each year, and this year I feel strongly about Sheila M. Evans' work Arc of Flight.

Here is what I wrote about this pastel in the nomination:

This multi-award winning artist from Spokane, Washington, is possibly the most talented artist I know. Her idea of presenting leaves, illuminated in sunlight, is such a fine focus that you feel immediately the warmth. There is some tension in the life cycle of her subject, and she sometimes paints them in browns to drive this home. Her handling of pastels is superb.
Arc of Flight caught me with it's unique portrait aspect, subtle coloring of the leading edges, and the simple arc of color that travels the yellow to green field. Very graceful.

Voting ends in a few hours from right now.  If you agree with me, go ahead and add your vote.

Making a Mark Vote Here.

Violet Pathway

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Violet Pathway

5" x 5.75"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Goes Like This: Ho Ho Ho!

OOO

Make It New

OOO

Christmas is Upon Us

For those who didn't see this holiday greeting card a few weeks ago, here it is again.  I offer you warm wishes, and I pray you have good health and hope you will take time to rest and reflect.

The image in the card is an interior scene of my barn.  Speaking of which, I have started a Facebook page painting challenge and have offered a photo of the barn in winter snow as the subject.  It has taken off and looks to be very fun.  You are all invited to give it a go, and I think the deadline will be Jan. 15th, 2013. Paint the Barn in Winter.

This was my review of my art year in the form of my favorite 12 works of 2012.

I always enjoy examples of courage, and the soloist in the video below is a youngster whose poise and talent burn strong.  Gives me hope for a better world.

  

My Top 12 of 2012

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To commemorate the outgoing year, I have judged my own favorite "Top 12 of 2012" artworks. Some of those that didn't make the cut I still love very much. It feels a little like the process where you send in an image to a juried show, and the one you really love yourself is not accepted. It is a good exercise, and I recommend you try it on your own body of art from the year.

The blue lettered images are still available.  Inquiries here.

 All the Colors Field

5.5" x 10.5"

Pastel

 Bald Ridge at Dusk

12.75" x 10" 

Pastel

 Barn Interior Color Sketch

7" x 6"

Pastel

 Field Colors

6" x 7"

Pastel

 Diptych

Forest Deep 1 and 2

12" x 7" each

Pastel

 Forest Pond

8" x 12"

 Pastel 

 Multi Tree

7" x 4.5"

Pastel

 Soft Canola Yellow

5" x 6"

Pastel

 Umber Fields

8" x 6"

Pastel

 Violet in the Treeline

9.5" x 6.1"

Pastel

 Violet Mountain

3.5" x 3.75"

Pastel

Windbreak

6" x 12" 

Pastel

Death and a Woman Struggling for a Child, 1911

Death and a Woman Struggling for a Child, 1911

16 1/8th. x 16 3/16ths. inches.

Etching

Käthe Kollwitz 

Yes, It Is The Bleak Midwinter, Now That You Mention It

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In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 

In the bleak midwinter, long ago. 

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. 

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay; 

Enough for Him, whom angels fall before, 

The ox and ass and camel which adore. 

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; 

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss, 

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss. 

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart. 

Verses: Rossetti; Music: Cranham, Holst.

Snow 2012 and Videos You Should See

Snow Photos 2012

Casey Klahn

Notable Post.

I enjoyed Paula Kuitenbrouwer's post about bibliophilia today.  I think many bloggers, although wired, for some reason revere the printed word.  I certainly do, and the older the book, the better. 

Other Ramblings on the Internet.  

See this video post featuring Sheila M. Evans. You'll also enjoy this You Tube interview of artist Albert Handell.

As Dewe in Aprille

I Sing of a Maiden

Studio News, Ruth Andre, Videos, and Merry Christmas!

This Christmas card to you was waiting for the right day to post, and today is it.  Merry Christmas and happy holidays to my readers!   

A holiday greeting: Christmas colors of my barn's interior.  Appropriate for the birth of the Savior, who was placed in the crib, or the trough where the animals fed.

I've been meaning to make another painting of the barn interior, but artist Ruth Andre, of Sutter Creek, California, beat me to it.  It will influence me next time, no doubt, as I am amazed at the accuracy of feeling, texture and effect she achieves. Thanks for doing this strong abstract, Ruth!

Casey's Barn 

6" x 6"

oil on canvas 

Ruth Andre

Many new artworks have been posted here over the past month, and since we took those photos, I have been in the studio daily creating more works of all sizes.  In other studio news, I have been fielding lots of workshop requests, and will be forced to do some administrative work to sort all of the paperwork out, and will be planning for these.  

The subject of Elements of Art has been the hot topic at my other blog, Pastel Workshop.  I haven't finished all of the posts, yet, but did post When Artists Unify this past week.  Thanks to my readers for the nice reception of this article, and since the series has been so well received  I am thinking about making it into a book.  It will be available in ebook form (if I can crack the code on that task) and I am looking around for the right publishing choice for the proposed hard copy.  What do you suggest?

The following video is my list of the elements of art and the dynamics of design.  In more studio news, there is an interview or studio session video in the plans for me at a professional film studio.  More on that as events progress.

I also found this following longer version of Matisse in his studio, filmed in 1946.  He lived near Nice, and it was the Hollywood of France.  His models were typically actresses and extras from that industry, and so the production of this film short was inevitable.  I wish it were longer.

A Painting Day, Ruth Andre.
Matisse film from Christie's.