Sorry I have been so long away! It has taken me many months to re-collect my e-mail address list so I can get notice of this Blog to you. It seems as though the first of the year always prods me to get back to this, as the last two dates for posts indicate. I have been distracted, too, with work deadlines, but now I do have the results to show you below. 2013 has been a good year. I seem to slow down in terms of how much I can get done, but hopefully am concentrating better. I am also trying to finish up some that have taken too long. There are many more in the works to finish yet.
This piece is an oil portrait of the seventh and last granddaughter of Gary and Pat Maxwell, Emma. You can see the other six in my posts below. It was a fun one to do as the background of Manito Park presented some interesting color, light and shadow. She was a beautiful girl though, which is always inspiring. I am sorry there are not more coming up! The best part of portraiture is the people I get a chance to know. Gary and Pat are two of those . I hate to have the project end. It has spanned ten years. And I love knowing where my "children" are and that they have a good home. I do get kind of attached as I try to paint until they seem to talk to me.
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27 years ago I did pastels of the two children of Gordon and Judy Rowand. This year they asked me if I would do all five of the grandkids although three are still babies. These are the first two, Kyla and Liam Welsh, children of Kristen and Jamie Welsh. I drew their mother at almost this same age. The eyes are the same, which is fun to discover as I work.
There were a couple of other drawings of my own grandchildren, Elizabeth and Brady, long overdue as gifts to their parents, John and Shannon.
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| Elizabeth starts her life on Dad's chest |
These were photos I had had for a long time, always intending to do something with them to keep the memories. There are so many things I wish I could capture of them that I will never get through the file. It is hard to see them grow out of these fun stages. I am sure it is like this with all grandparents. They tell me that all the time. I think when you are the parents you are too busy keeping up with everything to realize it.
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| The Big Bed |
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| After the Dance |
This is a pastel drawing done of Elizabeth, who posed for me. She was most unsure about it because she did not know the "moves" of the dancer…but this was not a difficult pose to hold. I was sorry to see her grow out of this fresh and wide-eyed stage.
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| Elizabeth and Brady |
before they grew up anymore,.. of Elizabeth reading and Brady about to drop asnake (in his hand behind his back) on her book. I have worked on it at demos at the Painters Chair Gallery during Art Walks in Coeur d 'Alene, Idaho, for two summers now. I need to take time to finish it and get it cast. The kids used to love to "work on it" when it was in the early stages so feel it is "their" sculpture. Brady thinks I should somehow wire his arm so that it can move up and drop the snake, somewhat like the old iron banks. I am trying to think if that is possible without making it look like a toy.
