Open Studio

Open Studio
November 18, 2012

My students were so excited to plan and execute their first open studio! Several are new to painting but you wouldn't know it by the artwork hanging on the walls last Sunday afternoon! Some of their culinary skills came to light when the food was set out on the buffet area....especially the sweet potato pie! Ethel has been selected to be our food co-ordinator from now on!

Enjoy the pics...you might even see yourself smiling or discussing the artwork!

From the left side....Betty V, Renee S., Pat S, Ethel W, and Serena H.

Michelle wasn't in attendance but her artwork was a hit!

A big thank you to my 1st Street Painters for making this year such a success!

carly

Just Another Rainy Day at the Studio!

Rain every day for the past several weeks with cloudy skies and hot humid temperatures. Not weather that you'd want to be outside painting in, so the studio has become a second home. Yesterday I cleaned, organized and set up the classroom for next week's painting class. Can't wait for everyone to arrive and jump into painting again!

A recent trip to the Atlanta zoo inspired me with the thickets of bamboo growing along the pathways. Walking thru the bamboo, you can lose sight of everyone and feel like you're in the jungle all alone. Here's three small paintings (12 x 12 oil on gallery wrap canvas) that came from that inspiration.

 

 

I had to take the images indoors without a lot of light because of the rain but I think you get the idea.

 

 I often am asked, 'how do you get inspired if you're not painting outdoors or from life?'. well...often I'll put on music, pick up an oil stick and just create a mass of lines, dabs, and shapes on the canvas. Here's today's outcome, taking an older painting that wasn't working, adding some background color, and then while Adele sang about Rumors Having It, creating a mass of color with strokes. Sort of like  aerobics for the imagination.

 

 

Can you see the music?

 

Until next time, keep the music loud and the canvas covered with paint!

 

Never Say Never!

I know what you were thinking! She would "never" get that house painted! But....tadaaaa! Here is Tillandsia with her 'mountain smoke' cloke nestled in the live oaks with Spanish moss canopied over the rooftop! In case you can't tell, she is smiling now.

The kitchen has a new look too. I moved, or shall we say two guys and I moved, the renovated bar which was installed by the previous owner, into the corner of the room. This made space for the refrigerator by the door. Never say a woman can't find a way to move a mountain!

And last but not least, observe the open shelves in the corner above the now usable bar and cabinets! There is more planned but one small step for Tillandsia is a giant undertaking for her owner. Did I say owner...let me tell you, this place is the real owner. But don't let her know I admitted that!

What's happening in the studio, you asked. There is styrofoam boards lying about with ocean waves and sea critters taking form upon them. Yep, I crumbled beneath the weight of requests to help out with vacation bible school this year! And it's so much fun!!

So for now, keep your paint brushes wet, a summer hat on your head and enjoy painting outdoors!

carly

ps. here's one of my recent summer florals to get your imagination flowing

An Outdoor Painter!

I really didn't think that my outdoor painting talents would be put to the test on an entire house, but one nevers knows what the future holds in store, now do they? This morning I decided to chance the rain and add a bit more paint to Tillandsia's exterior. The fun part was having neighbors driving by, honking, and giving me a thumbs up on the new color....lol! Too bad no one felt the urge to stop by and join in with the project. I suppose I'm not much of a Tom Sawyer or was it Huck Finn who painted the fence?!!

Here's a view of the newly painted west side of the house (at least as far up as I could reach without a ladder)!

and here' a close up of my rock garden below the bird feeders.

Now all of you are probably thinking...where would she find rocks like that in the low country??!!! Actually they are not from this area but were brought by ships from foreign countries as ballast rocks. The ships would come loaded with rocks and unload them along the coastal area before sailing upriver to load the timber from the mills. There are actually small islands along the coast created by the ballast rocks and its illegal to take them away from the islands today. These particular rocks were unloaded near Ft. King George which is a mile east of my home. I met the lady whose mother owned this cottage years ago and she told me how, as a little girl, she remembered going out to the Fort and collecting rocks for their gardens around the house.  Some are quite large and heavy!

I feel fortunate to have a part of the history of our country as well as Darien,  in my yard!

In the Bible, you will find that individuals or groups would place stones at a specfic place for a lesson of their history to the generations to come. This has always had great meaning for me and many times I've collected stones to place at certain places for a remembrance. The ballast stones were an indication to me that this place was set aside for that purpose.

I've also learned more history of the house itself! The actual building dates back to the 1790's after reconstruction and at one time, there was an outside kitchen! If only the walls could talk!!

Til next update,

carly

Tillandsia

Tillandsia

It means "air breathing" and I was told that it sounds feminine. Spanish moss, which hangs in abundance from the live oak trees surrounding my new cottage, is tillandsia usneoides. The cottage already has a breath of fresh air with all the new paint, inside and out! So dubbed "Tillandsia" unless she decides another name is more fitting, the cottage has quickly become a welcoming home!

Many have asked for pics of the interior, so here's a few of the first snapshots I took and a fresh look, one month after closing! When I'm outside painting, neighbors will drive by, stop and tell me how much they love the new color. I heard the house was actually white before it was painted the turquoise, but I just couldn't it as a white house. The taupe gray (actually mountain smoke) was an easy choice. It lightens to the color of the Spanish moss in the sunlight....and deepens to the darker bark of the live oaks in the shade.

Here's a before of the exterior front...

and here's the front of the cottage with its new paint!

The interior has undergone quite a transformation this past month and is still a work in progress! Here's some before and after pics.
Living Room or Front Room (was called this by past owners so I'm told)and the way I first viewed it.

My bedroom is at the front of the house. Here's before and after. You can't see the fireplace in this image...it's on the wall opposite the bed.

...and what's a cottage without a guest room...actually twin beds for two guests! The long skinny shape of the guest room was perfect for facing the twin beds toward one another.

From the first time I saw this room, it was called the "hidden bedroom". You really have to look to find the door into the room!

And I'm sure, since all of you know how much I love to cook (LOL), you'll want a peek at the kitchen (wall color is custom "clay pot")

! and the gathering room that opens into the kitchen.

Enough images for one blog post!! You'll have to drop in to see all the other changes. Tillandsia is only three blocks from the Art Cottage! Drop by for lunch sometime...or an afternoon "libation"...till next time....carly

Wine & Design

What do wine and design have in common? Well, put them together with all the essentials to create a work of art from a cigar box and chosen objects and you have the makings of a fun, social evening of creating and sharing with other friends and artists! The first of such evenings will be held on Wednesday, April 11th, and Thursday, April 12th. Here's more information....

Wine & Design

April 11th or April 12th

Time: 6 pm to 8 pm

Cost: Members of McIntosh Art Assoc. $45, Non-members $50
Each class limited to 6 participants
Location: The Art Cottage, 111 First Street W, Darien, GA

Instructors: Carly Hardy and Minet Glenn

Wine & Design is a unique opportunity for you to create Your own “assemblage” art. Each participant will Receive a cigar box and choosing from materials provided, create A 3-D work of art.

Participants can also bring any items of their own that they might Like to incorporate into the “assemblage”. Items might consist of photographs, old jewelry, memorabilia, or collected items From the seashore!

Carly and Minet will guide you thru the process of design and assemblage and provide two glasses of wine and light hor d’oeuvres for each participant to enjoy while socializing and creating!

---

I hope you will join us for a fun evening! Contact me if you have any questions!

Catching UP!

The past months have been hectic with so much activity! Private lessons and group classes, plein air painting with a monthly group, a spring paintout in North Georgia, a group show for my Thursday class, paintings for outside shows! and the list goes on! The Art Cottage has blossomed into an energetic art center that I only imagined at the beginning of 2011! ....and it's branched out with new ideas!

A dream of designing artsy handbags with repurposed clothing was the beginning of "low-country gypsy bags". Designing and hand assembling these keep me busy the hours I'm not painting or teaching or 'playing the local cornhole game'! Don't laugh! I've participated in two tournaments as of this past Sunday....and my team mate (Minet) and I actually didn't do so bad this past week! If you'd like to see us play, drop by Skippers on the first Sunday of the month about 2pm!

Here's what's on my easel at the moment to show you that with all this activity, I am still painting :)!

and if you'd like to see my Low Country Gypsy Bags, you will find them on Etsy.com in The Art Cottage (if that doesn't work you can still find it in the search for key words "gypsy bag".

....and now off on a new adventure! Till next time....

Seasons United

How would you like to spend your year with just two seasons!! Well here's a story about a dyptych painting that spent five years separated from one another. Seasons was painted on two 3 x 4 foot canvases to create an 8 foot painting horizontally for the Tannery Row Artist Colony in Buford, GA, "BIG" show. After the show a lovely lady took both pieces home to see if they would fit into her dining room, but later in the day, she returned with one of the paintings almost in tears that the entire dyptych would not fit into any space in her home. So half of Seasons went to live with her and hung alone for five years. In the meantime, I was asked to sell the other half of Seasons but I couldn't bring myself to part with it. Each time I told the perspective buyer that someone else owned the other half of the dyptych, and that someday, she might want to add my Spring/Summer to her Fall/Winter scene. Spring forward five years and I've moved to The Art Cottage! The owner of Fall/Winter decides to redecorate her dining room and realizes that she now has a place to hang all of Seasons! In trying to contact me, she runs across my blog, The Art Cottage, and lo and behold, there is Spring/Summer hanging in the living room of my new home.

To make a long story shorter....here's a pic of Fall/Winter all alone on the dining room wall! So sad....

And here are Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter reunited to create "Seasons"!

....and another view to show how long the wall really is....

I'm so happy that I didn't sell Spring/Summer to another buyer! It is hanging exactly where it belongs now. Happy Ending!! But, just in case you're wondering if there is a big empty spot on my living room wall.....

"Metamorphosis" has found a new home too! Keep paintin' til next time, carly

Oil Pastel Demonstration

Sunflower Magic
Oil Pastel on 16 x 12 Ampersand PastelBord

On the fifth Thursday of each month, I do some type of demonstration for my students and anyone else who might want to attend, of a technique or with a medium which they are not familiar with. This was an oil pastel demo using several techniques that are used with traditional oil paints. First, we have the subject...a couple of tall fake sunflowers that, sort of hide, the old water cooler.

The group was quite surprised to see my initial sketch since it looked nothing like the standing sunflowers, but I explained that as an artist, we interpret the subject. We don't always want to be explicit when it's not a great scene anyway...we have options!

Here's a pic of my set up in the studio for using my oil pastels.


...and here's a couple of closer images so you can see some of my tools and oil pastels. I use several brands but this painting is done mostly with Craypas Specialist, Sennelier, and Holbeins.

The initial sketch of the sunflowers is done with an acrylic ink. I love the bottles with the squeeze tops. Having little control over the drawing gives me the ability to keep the image very abstract. The color I used for this drawing was a deep purple, a complement for the yellow of the sunflowers. I work upright allowing the drips and runs to create even more lines of interest as you'll see in the next image.

While the ink is drying (which takes about five minutes) I'm choosing several colors for the dark background keeping in mind that my foreground flowers will have an abundance of yellow. I select a dark violet, dark thalo green and ultramarine blue. Laying the sticks on the side for a 'brush-like stroke', I quickly lay in colors for the background. This becomes my underpainting stage. Using mineral spirits and a large stencil brush, the colors are blended allowing each to retain its on hue. I don't want to blend so much that all the colors get dull and lifeless.

The yellow is now stroked on and blended. I've reinforced the outer edges of the petals with lines in a deep cad yellow at this stage. If your composition needs changes, now is the time to do it! but good planning from the start is vital to a final painting that stands the compositional test. The next image also shows how I begin painting by using my same dark colors to deepen the areas in and around the sunflowers.

My blending techniques include using a tortillon, the stencil brush, and the ever faithful finger tips! Just be careful on sanded surfaces...you don't want to use the finger tips unless the paint is very thick over the surface. And!!Don't overblend!! Allow the eye to do some of the work.

I also used a scraping technique with a razor tool which allowed me to get back to the underpainting surface when I laid on a color that I felt didn't harmonize with the other colors. I don't plan all the colors ahead of time. I like to reach and grab the first thing my eye lights on. Sometimes it adds a nice surprise to the art...sometimes not...but, either way, it's always interesting!

The final image is posted at the top of my blog page. Feel free to add comments...I love to read what you have to share too! and if you're in Darien on the next "Fifth Thursday", drop by at 1 PM to see what we're up to! Until next time, keep paintin!

Biking Fun

Beautiful weather! A recent overnight trip to Fernandina Beach for an early morning bike ride! and time to get some great reference pics along the way. The ride took us thru Fort Clinch on the northern end of Amelia Island, with live oaks shading the pathway and sand dunes peaking thru the trees on the ocean side. Here's a pic of the riders in front of me! I'm always surprised at the photos I capture with one hand on the bike and one on the camera just clicking away....!!

...after the ride with the group, Deb and I biked thru the "greenway" leading back to her home. It's a beautiful natural landscape with marsh grass, canals, wildflowers, and native critters. Thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the beauty we spied that day!

Don't you love that rich orange color!

Everyone knows you can never have enough references for "pond scum"! As I was taking some pics of the scum along the canals, Deb says...be sure to get a pic of the sign behind you!

Right after taking the scum pic, I spotted a gator watching me with nothing but his eyes showing above the scum!

If you're in the lowcountry any time soon, join me for a bike ride! Never know what you might run into along the way!