Prize in Paint the Cape Cometition

My painting, "Sunrise on the Coral Canal" won second place and $500 in the "Paint the Cape" competition this week.  It was worth all the cold fingers and feet.  The painting will be on display at Cape Harbour until tomorrow morning.  I still need to photograph it and will post the picture soon.

Two New Newspaper Articles

There are two new articles about me and my work.  One is written by Betsy Clayton and is in her column in FLORIDA WEEKLY, and the other is by Amy Williams and is in the Thursday January 7th NEWS-PRESS in the "Lifestyles" sectiion on the front page. Lots of pictures of paintings, and of me and my cat! There are no links I can find to the News-Press article.  I'll try to find one for Betsy's.  Both articles refer to the American Artist piece about my acrylic paintings, and Betsy puts the emphasis on kayaking to paint Florida's wild places.

Paint the Cape

We artists have been out on the streets and canals of Cape Coral this week trying to do some masterpieces for the Paint the Cape competition.  It has been very challenging to say the least.  Wind, cold, rain--you name it  and we've had it!  I have started two paintings.  One is a sunrise painting looking east on our canal, and the other is a painting of my bougainvilla plant that is by the water.  If I survive and don't get pneumonia I will put these pics up for you to see by Friday.  Friday evening is the reception at the Cape Harbor Pavilion.

New Stats!

I just received my prize and a certificate from the Utrecht competition, and I was amazed to learn that there were 12,000 entries from 5,200 artists! Thirteen were selected for awards. Thanks to Utrecht and to Stephen Doherty of American artist.

More thanks to Stephen Doherty for his wonderful article about my work in the January issue of American Artist. I just received my copies of the magazine and was honored to have ten painting reproduced along with his very insightful article describing my painting development and process. The January issue should be on newsstands soon, or you can order from the American Artist website: http://www.artistdaily.com/

The Real Finished Painting

Here is a better picture of the painting. I also made a couple of minor changes. can you tell what they are?

Finished Painting

Here's the finished Painting you've been watching. The title is "Clear Waters (Juniper River)" I'm probably going to enter this in a painting competition that's coming up soon.

Winning Painting

Just in case you haven't seen it on the Utrecht link, this is the painting that won first place in the acrylic painting division of the Utrecht 60th Anniversary Competition. It was juried by the folks from American Artist magazine, and there will be an article about my work in the January issue of American artist. Stay Tuned!

Discount giclees!!

The last comment suggested that I offer a 15% discount on giclee prints to the next five people who make a comment.  Well, that sounds good to me, so start commenting and saving!  These make wonderful gifts.  Holidays are coming.

I will be kayaking on the Hillsboro River for the next three days, so lots of new photos will be in the works, but the Juniper River painting will continue when I get back on next Tuesday.

Step 4

Here's the next installment of "Clear Waters" (Juniper River). You can see that I've painted in the water in the background so that I can then layer the palm fronds over it. Still lots to do! Some important details starting to emerge, but still working on layering from background to forground and defining light and dark areas. Someone had better let me know if they're interested in this or I'll give up on the idea!!

Step Three

At this stage I have blocked in the areas of color, values, and shapes and covered the canvas. I use thin layers of paint, and work until I can see the composition take shape. Next steps will involve woking in the details, enriching the paint and color with layers of paint, and detailing the water and reflections. this will take some time. Stay tuned!

Step Two: Blocking in Color

This is the second step in the process.  You can actually start to see something here! Watch for the next step tomorrow.

First step: Line Drawing in Graphite

Here is the start of my most recent painting.  I'll be photographing it as I go along, so check out the NEWS for more steps along the way.

Utrecht Painting Competition

Excitng News!  I won first place in the Acrylic Category in the Utrecht 60th Anniversary Painting Competition with my painting "Rounding the Bend"  This was juried by the editors from American Artist Magazine.  You can see the painting and other winners at http://www.utrechtart.com/contest/winners.cfm 

limpkins

I first encountered the shy limpkins in the more northern Florida rivers.  These two emerged slowly from the nettles and hemlock to feed on this log on the Wekiva River.  It is very seldom that you see these birds in the daytime, and watching a pair was very special.  I just had to paint them.  Most painters like to paint our pink birds, but this time I chose brown!!

"Limpkin Pair" Storyboard

Here's a set of five images captured as I worked on my recent painting "Limpkin Pair."


I thought it might be fun for you to see how the painting developed.


Please leave me comments on this blog and let me know if you like this idea, and/or other things you would like to see here.

"Telegraph Creek Oak" won!

"Telegraph Creek Oak" won a Richeson Art award at the ISAP Santa Cruz show. - Jeanette

I've Signed On With "My Backspash"

I've signed on with My Backspash and the tiles available can be seen on the myBacksplash.com - Jeanette

"Green Sea Turtle Gliding" in the Cape Coral Paper

There's a picture of the new turtle painting "Green Sea Turtle Gliding" in the Cape Coral section of the paper this morning. They were reviewing the "Underwater" show that's at the Cape Coral Arts League. Opening is tonite from 5 to 7.

"Stepping Out" has been accepted into the "Best of America" show

"Stepping Out" has been accepted into the "Best of America" show, sponsored by NOAPS (National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society). The show begins at the Ella Caruthers Dunnegan Gallery in Bolivar, MO and travels throughout MO until November 21. Opening and awards ceremony Sunday, Sept. 27. - Jeanette

Cape Coral Artist Hopes Work Encourages Preservation

Is news about a newspaper article meta-news? Regardless, here's a nice article from the Fort Myers, FL paper "The News-Press" titled Cape Coral artist hopes work encourages preservation - Jeanette