Figure Show in Interlochen

I'm participating in a group show, The Figure Addressed, this month at Bird Lip Bay Gallery, 2665 M-137, Interlochen, Michigan, with my fellow artists from the Crystal Lake Figure Group in Frankfort as well as those from Traverse City's Figure on Saturday and Leland's Old Art Building group. All the work originated from our figure drawing time, and ranges from charcoal and ink sketches to large-scale finished oil paintings. The show will be up from today, July 3, through July 30, with an artists' discussion on July 18 at 4pm, open to the public, on why we draw the figure.

Frost Tomatoes
24"x 36", acrylic on canvas

Thanks to those friends (you know who you are) who have tactfully reminded me that it's been awhile since I last posted. I've been working on this big painting (big for me, anyway!) of tomatoes from my summer garden on the morning after the first frost, for the past few months, building slowly with glazes, one color at a time. I'm at a stopping point now. Maybe it's finished, or maybe a few weeks on my wall will change my mind. At any rate, I'm leaving it alone for awhile; I'll only add more to it if I really know what it needs. In the meantime, I'm stretching canvases, big and small, and making charcoal and pen-and-ink sketches for my next painting, a collection of hot peppers. This time, I plan to post a few in-progress photos so there's not another gap of three months in between posts.

Poppy (Jake & Meaghan's)
18" x 24", acrylic on canvas, SOLD

Up until now, all the posts on this blog have been of plein air oils, each a quick study of a place, usually completed on-site within two hours of beginning. Since the snow and cold have brought me back indoors, I've been experimenting in acrylic paints, and I've been amazed at how much I'm enjoying them. Because I'm not dealing with stinky solvents, I can actually paint inside my house, leave my painting up in between sessions, and work in glazes over a course of weeks, not hours. I'm now working on a series of pieces based on close-ups from my family's vegetable and flower gardens, including this poppy, my first acrylic effort.

View from Trick Dog
oil on canvas, 12"x 18", $200

Red Gate
oil on canvas, 11"x 14", $150

The Margaret, Betsie Bay
oil on canvas, 9"x 12", $75

Orange Hills, Thoreson Farm
oil on canvas panel, 12"x16", $125

I was playing around with quick, direct brushstrokes in this painting, trying to keep my initial impressions loose and the colors vibrant. I ended up with these electric orange hills, an amplified version of the scene I actually saw.