watercolor

My watercolor class for adults is turning out to be one of my favorites! I am thoroughly immersing myself in the medium right now. I taught about mixing neutrals today and we painted from various colored stones, pinecones, acorns, leaves and some dried Queen Anne's Lace which I picked from the field close to home. I thought I'd share this quick sketch I did of one... of course there is more color variation in the original, even in neutrals (blues, greens, browns and golds) but you get the idea. I also used a Kolinsky Sable #4 brush for this and I'm loving the point that it has... it's like drawing only better!

Hope you are enjoying these last September days!

HATCH invite

Click here to find out more info!

Beginning drawing

My classes for children have started this week and I am always so amazed at what they are able to do! We started this week learning about Contour Drawing: the edges of objects which we draw as lines... the outer edges and the inner contours too. This is really a practice in slowing down and really seeing. I start with a cartoon of a cylinder (an Art Attack) from the days when I taught Middle School Art and I find that cartoons are less intimidating (and more fun!) when I'm introducing three-dimensional drawing. We talked about foreshortening and how shapes change depending on the angle of your viewpoint. We turned that cylinder into a birthday cake! Then we started looking at real objects. I showed how contour lines drawn incorrectly can make an object appear flat... or they can create the illusion of form. I used a cartoon of a snake with stripes to explain contour lines and I think it helps the kids see quickly what I mean. Ellinor drew the stick first because she thought it was easiest. Then went on to an acorn, where I was amazed at the patience she had when drawing in the top texture of the acorn cap. Then she drew the oak leaves. It is a beautiful drawing that captures the textures and contours of the three different objects. How old do you think she is? She is in Third Grade this year! Are you as impressed as I am? And this happens every time! The best part is when my students realize that drawing is in their grasp! I think every person should have the opportunity to learn visual communication skills so that they can express themselves in a variety of ways. I think she's off to an incredible start!

Kentuck Knob part 1

My favorite part of our weekend was our visit to Kentuck Knob. We had visited Falling Water years ago which is not far from there so we thought we'd explore Frank Lloyd Wright's second local home which he designed for the Hagans (of the local ice cream company) and the last home he ever designed before he passed away. I think that I actually liked this one a little better because it is built into a hillside on a huge wooded property of which you can hike and see an amazing collection of sculptures by some very famous artists. The house itself is hexagonal and is made from wood and stone which is local to the area. Frank Lloyd Wright actually designed the house for the Hagans without seeing the actual site. He did visit once during construction but only the foundation had been built. The woodwork is just incredible and he used a cantilever roofline, just like Falling Water. There is radiant floor heating and cork tile in the kitchen, as well as stainless steel and the coolest thing ever is the stovetop in which the burners flip down when they're in use and up when they're not, to provide more counterspace. There is no central air but the house stays cool in the summer since it's built into the hill. I couldn't take photos of the inside but the website shows a bit more and gives the history behind it. I am just so amazed at how "advanced" the designs in the house are, though it was built so many decades ago. This is why art history is so important... it gives us such an education about what has already been discovered because as they say, history is doomed to repeat itself if we are not educated. In this case, that would be a wonderful thing! I loved that Wright only designed a carport because he thought garages where just places that people stored junk! (Isn't that the truth?!). There is a really beautiful windchime on the back patio and several more around the property that just gently chime and look like cattails made of steel, rocking slightly in the wind. It is a very peaceful and beautiful place and I could only imagine being lucky enough to live there!

Nemacolin

Craig and I were lucky enough to be invited to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort by his manager and his wife this past weekend. It is in eastern Pennsylvania closer to Pittsburgh in gorgeous countryside. The resort is located on 3,000 acres in the Laurel Highlands and there is an endless list of things to do, whether you come with family or just as a couple. We stayed in the Chalet which was designed after the Ritz in Paris, with a huge marble bathroom and Waterford Crystal chandeliers. As soon as we got there, we went to the spa to get hot stone massages. That took away the stress of the four hour drive! And then we met 7 other couples for dinner at one of their restaurants which was designed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie homes. Then it was off to a couple different night spots and we realized we weren't used to being out so late! They have shuttle buses to take you anywhere you want to go and one of our drivers decided our group was the "party bus" and had everyone singing really bad seventies songs but it was hilarious. I am proud to tell you that at the end of the night we played pool on teams-- I was teamed with one of Craig's coworkers who coached me since I had no idea what I was doing! Rob and I won the "championship" for the evening! So I guess pool sharking is in my future. ;) We had a good breakfast and got to visit a little more before we checked out and headed to Kentuck Knob which I'll tell you all about in the next post! It was a really great time spent with some really fun people.

ninja

Here are some photos of the ninja design the kids and I came up with! I silkscreened it on t-shirts and bags for them and one for me and one for Craig. I guess Caroline wore hers to their first Martial Arts class on Friday and the instructor liked it! The kids in her class did too. They are just a lot of fun!

thank you

I was really surprised when I opened my laptop this morning and had so many really nice notes from everyone! It really means a lot to me and I'm so thankful to have such great friends. I did drop kick that grumpy girl back where she belongs... for now. I think we all have that voice that comes out, especially when things aren't going as planned. Regardless of what happens, it is okay. I'll be okay. I have to remember the most important thing, which Craig is really good at remembering for me, and that's that I am an artist and I can do that whether or not I have a studio at Hatch or anywhere else. I just have to remember to do it.

So... you're probably wondering what this really bad looking watercolor is? I followed the directions that came with my tube watercolors, just because I've never done that before, and I was able to mix numerous colors out of just four! Unfortunately this scanned image looks absolutely nothing like the original. That's why you can never look at an artist's work online or printed in a book and actually see what it really looks like. The roof on my little house actually has a bit of pink in it and the sky is pretty much gone. The greens look horrid. I used to have a much better scanner and I'm thinking of seeing if it still works because this is just not acceptable. I did have a lot of fun painting today, though, in preparation for my watercolor class coming up. Next time I'll photograph the painting and maybe you can see what it really looks like!

Hope you're having a great start to this week and I know there's lots of birthdays!!

xo b.

conversation with grumpy

I'm not having a great day. There's this little grumpy girl inside my head who keeps telling me I'm no good at anything! She says Hatch just isn't working... not enough students, not enough to sell and positively no customers anyways... plus it's just silly to spend all this time working so much but not accomplishing much at all, especially my own art, which by the way isn't so great anyways... at least that's what SHE says!!! AND she even says I'm fat on top of it, even though I've been exercising every day for two weeks now! I hate this little grumpy girl. She follows me around everywhere. She says I'll never be successful at anything and makes me want to cry. So today I'm feeling like a total failure and I feel like drop-kicking her somewhere!!!!! Hope you're having a better day...

xo bethany

happy painting

I had to share this photo with you that my sister Anne sent! My mango painting became her birthday present because the colors reminded me of her and I knew she wanted it. It makes her really happy to see it and it fits perfectly in her beautiful home! I guess it made me think about what inspires me to paint in the first place. I love making other people happy with my art. I know that's not too deep or conceptual... things that I always appreciate in other's work. But, when you hear the joy in someone's voice when they speak about how your work makes them feel, it just warms my heart so much and makes me appreciate that I have that ability.

Today is my sale at Hatch and it's been pouring rain... so much so that no one wants to come out shopping in it! But I did have a couple customers so far which is wonderful and I've gotten caught up on things I normally don't have time to do. I'm itching to print a fun design that the kids and I came up with on some t-shirts for them. I love personalized t-shirt designs! And after talking to Anne, I'm really itching to do a painting!!! Maybe I'll just doodle a bit...

new signs in the window...

simple and graphic.

Trying to save money, I created these in Illustrator, printed them out in pieces and then had to trim and fit everything together to spray mount on foam core. I do like how they turned out. I've already had a couple class registrations from the fliers that Nathaniel and I delivered door-to-door in this little neighborhood! I'm excited for the lessons to begin and for my SALE this weekend (Friday 10am - 5pm; Saturday Noon - 3pm)! I'm sorry that it's only local. Maybe, if

there is enough left, I can set up an online shop again. I think I figured out a new way to do this so it looks and works better than my previous shop. And I am crossing my fingers that I can begin working on my own art again! That's the whole reason to open a studio, isn't it? So... lots of work to do today to get ready for the sale!

Hope you're having a wonderful Thursday!!!

(BTW... Steelers play their first game tonight and I have been taping and watching HGTV Design Star... one more Sunday night and we'll see if it's Dan or Antonio! I'm routing for Dan because I picked him from the beginning and his ship sculptures were just too cool! And I love Genevieve Gorder and Vern Yip from the days when I was watching Trading Spaces all the time! Hmmm... time to decorate my own house!)

september in my yard

Palmer Cox's Brownies Illustration

Palmer Cox's Brownies! Illustration!, originally uploaded by Lisa Kettell.

I am thinking about Brownies lately

autumn mood

Anyone else in an autumn mood? There are acorns on the oak trees this year! Tons of them...

free pattern if you don't have any and want to make your own.

need this

If only I'd had these lunch bags my freshman year of high school... maybe my lunch wouldn't have been stolen from my locker! I even tried the old salt in the middle of the cookie trick but it didn't work. NOW there's the anti-theft lunch bags, keeping kids' sandwiches safe everywhere. Yes... a definite need. From perpetual kid. I also want the Holy Toast Bread Stamp... a deal at $3.99!

Rock the Vespa

Rock the Vespa, originally uploaded by jonathan ponce.

This is a WANT. by Jonathan Ponce. Cool pic and cool Vespa.

my tool of choice

This is how I wish I could do everything! No more computer programs... ugh. I've been working on my Fall Term flier for HATCH all day long and I finally finished it. I've uploaded it to my website but of course, something always goes wrong! The drawing looks fine in iWeb but not on the internet. I have no idea why. So just give me a pencil any old day and I'd be a happy camper. And just so you know... the Fall Class Calendar is up and registration is open! I'll send out all the emails tomorrow and hopefully get a thousand copies made to put into door hangers. Right now I'm off to bed! It's been such a tiring week with school starting and it will be a fun-filled weekend too... {yawn}

more color

Photos I took of Dahlias from Luther Burbank's garden in Santa Rosa, California...

color

Art In Architecture by Horst Glaesker

Some days I just feel like coloring. I think he did too.