Arizona

One of the places I love to visit in the Scottsdale area is the Soleri bell shop.   The work of Palo Soleri is beautiful and fascinating.    It is a lovely setting with bells hanging everywhere.   The large elaborate bells are really beautiful.   I can never resist buying a small one to hang on the West side of our house.   Those bells ring and tell us when there is a shift in the weather.   They have sounded so pretty these past few days.

The Desert Botanical Garden is beautiful. I love the colors of this cactus

 Winter is here, the holidays are ending and I am back in my studio on a daily basis.   I am always curious to see what I will produce in these winter months.  Frankly right now I don't have a clue, but I know I will be out there a lot and who knows what I will end up doing.      Stay tuned. . . . .
Happy 2012!!!

Cactus in December

Last week Alan and I were in Scottsdale Arizona.    He attended a conference and I got to spend 3 days playing in the desert.   I love that part of the country and am always fascinated by the cactus plants and the topography of the land.   Coincidentally a friend had recently commissioned me reproduce a painting that I had done 7 or 8 years ago.   She loves the cactus painting and is going to give it as a gift.   Obviously I am "into" the cactus idea.   This is the cactus painting I did for my friend.     Not terribly Christmasy, but
it was lots of fun to paint it.

Kitchen Show

The Garrett County Arts Council has an interesting show in the Backroom Gallery.   The show features kitchen gifts for the holiday season.    There are all kinds of neat kitchen pieces available such as toast tongs, salad bowls, cutting boards, rolling pins, wine holders and more.   On the walls of the Backroom Gallery are paintings with a kitchen theme.   There are paintings of fruits, vegetables, kitchen tables and chairs, etc.
This is a really nice theme show that is a great place to shop for the person on your list who likes to cook.
The show will be up through the holiday season at The Gallery Shop at 206 E Alder Street in Oakland

Recent Painting

I have not had a lot of opportunity to be in the studio these past weeks.    I had knee surgery on Oct. 24 (repair a torn meniscus in my right knee).   That laid me up a bit.   Then we got into the Thanksgiving adventure of family.   Just before the surgery I pulled out a photo that I got in Seattle in September.
It was fun to paint these tulips "loosely". 

Family Fun

I enjoy doing art projects with kids.   My grandchildren, Erik (11) and Katie (8) from Gloucester Mass. have been visiting us for the whole week.    Today we did the "Tee Shirt Project".   They watercolored a design, then photographed it downloading it into the computer.    I then printed their art work onto transfer paper and ironed the art onto white tee shirts.   The shirts are really terrific looking and a great souvenir of a week at Gamma's.

Katie's painting

Erik's design.

Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving week, the sun has come out in Garrett County and I am grateful that this is the place that we live.   It has turned colder and we had a bit of snow Thursday night.   Today is a beautiful, crisp,  bluesky day.  We look forward to this week with our family (all of the Waxdals)  and sharing Thanksgiving week with them.   We will have lots of laughs and fun.    I hope that is the case for you.   I am grateful that this blog has become a way to stay connected with you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Another effort

So after seeing Jean Barnes Downs give here watercolor monotype demonstration, I went to my studio to attempt to create one.    For some reason, these are not easy for me and I go thru a lot of paper to come out with one that is even close to presentable.  (not that this one is).  However, please note that I am persisting and tenacious about this watercolor monotype thing.

                                                   

Jean Barnes Downes

Monday night was the regular meeting of the Western Maryland Watercolor Society in LaVale, Maryland.
After the business meeting, Jean Barnes Downes gave a demonstration of making watercolor monotypes.
Jean is a wonderful artist and teacher who produces lovely works of art.   That evening she creating several watercolor monotypes.   This is one of them.  

                               
I love her looseness and brilliant colors on this small piece.  So now I have my project for the next few sessions in the studio.

                suealoft@aol.com
                http://www.theloftshop.com/

Late Fall

The snow has melted in Bittinger, the sun came out, it is chilly and looks like late Fall.   The leaves are down and the forests have taken on that grayish brownish color.    I saw a flight of geese the other day and remembered this painting that I did recently.

Winter Art

I was talking to my pal Steve Schlosnagle yesterday and he commented "Well you will really have something to post on the blog tomorrow".   How right he was.   We woke up to "winter art" in the form of about 8 inches of snow.    It is really beautiful and so very quiet BUT a bit much for October.    So much for Artist Studio Tours this weekend.

Watercolor class

It has been a tough week for the Arnsons.   Last week Alan was hospitialized for a severe GI virus.   He was in Garrett Memorial Hospital for 3 1/2 days, returning home Saturday afternoon.   Needless to say he did not participate in Studio Tours last week.
I, on the other hand, had knee surgery on Monday to repair the torn meniscus that I experienced on Sept. 6th.   Happily my knee is pain free for the first time in 7 weeks and I will be able to be on Studio Tours this week.    However, the weather people are telling us that we are to get 4-8 inches of snow tomorrow (Sat. the 29th) So much for Studio Tours in Bittinger.
Back to art. . . . . . .
I recently spent a few hours working with Joan Lyons, teaching her some watercolor techniques.   We had a great time painting the Stanton Farm on Rt. 495 in Bittinger, MD from a photo I had taken years ago.
I think her piece is remarkable for a 3rd painting.

Stanton Farm by Sue Arnson

Stanton Farm by Joan Lyons

Mountain Maryland 2011 Art Sale and Tour

This coming weekend is the Allegany County Arts Council's studio tours.   There are 57 artists on the tour, 8 are in Garrett County.   Alan and I will be our studios for the 2 weekend event.  

The  Mountain Maryland 2011 Art Sale and Tour is Oct. 22,23 and 29,30 11a.m.-5 p.m.

Heritage Craft Festival

Our display

It is Autumn Glory week in Garrett County Maryland and the foliage is at its peak.   The leaves are really gorgeous.   I can't remember the last time that Autumn Glory and peak leaf season coincided. 
We will take The Loft Shop to Broad Ford School to the Heritage Craft Festival.    HCF will be open Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  There will be plenty of arts and crafts vendor, food and fun at Broad Ford and Southern Middle Schools.   We look forward to seeing old friends and customers and meeting new people.  See you there.
Have a great Autumn Glory weekend.

                        Josh Brown's display.

Pacific Northwest

I love the Pacific Northwest. I lived there for 26 years,  receiving a fine education in Bellevue WA and at the University of Washington (the" Dub") and teaching in Renton Public Schools for a few years.   As a kid I learned to swim (at an early age) in beautiful Lake Washington, waterski, snow ski, fish, hunt, sail and enjoy the great outdoors. On this past trip we spent day exploring an area north of Seattle in the foothills of the Cascades where my parents  had owned a cabin. I was thrilled to be back in that part of the state where I had such great memories of my family and our cabin. I thought I would share a couple of photos with you because it is so beautiful.
                                          
 
 

                                   
                                                              suealoft@aol.com
                                                         http://www.theloftshop.com/

Seattle

Alan and I spent a week in Seattle WA visiting family and friends. . .. .while we were there I took a painting class with Joan Archer in Edmonds.   Her subject matter was of a market and what a perfect subject since we were staying  in an apartment across from the Pike Street Market.   This is not a comfortable subject for me, but I had a great time painting and rather like my piece.   Here is it.

Flowers. . . . for Beginners

It will be fun to teach "Flowers. . . for Beginners".   It certainly will not be a thorough coverage of the subject matter, that could take weeks, but it will be a start.    Hopefully the class will get enough information to be able to begin working on florals.   I am a gardner and a lover of flowers so  I really enjoy painting them.

Watercolor class

After the class "Watercolor for Real Beginners" the students requested a follow up.   As a result I will be teaching 2 classes on September 28 and 29.   The first day will feature "Water. . .for beginners", the second day will be "Flowers. . .for beginners".  I find that I like preparing for these classes because if forces me to remember what it was like painting when I first started.    It is my goal to make it possible for the students to learn some basics and successfully execute paintings. 

These are samples that I will demonstrate for them on "water".

Tree to Bowl

There is a large hickory tree that has fallen in our woods.   We were able to wrestle a few large pieces out of the woods and into Alan's workshop.    He has made a couple of hickory bowls from that tree. Because of the light and dark colors of hickory, they make interesting bowls, especially if there is a knot in the wood.  We'll take the them to the Art and Wine Festival at the Garrett County Fairgrounds in McHenry Maryland next Saturday, September 10th.  

                              

Art and Wine

With  Labor Day weekend approaching our thoughts turn to the Art and Wine Festival on Sept. 10th. This is a benefit for the American Red Cross.    Last year it raised $50,000 for the ARC. 
  This is probably the most fun festival we go to, mainly because the people are all having such a great time tasting, shopping, and listening to good music.  It has to be good for us to haul our inventory to the Garrett County Fairgrounds for a 6 hour event.    Here are a couple of (not so great) photos from last year.
Come see us if you are at the event.

Who are these two goofs??

Original paintings on cards

I have been taking miniture paintings and mounting them on cards.  Each painting is about 3" x 4".  I sell the cards for $8 each (and people buy them).   Each painting is an original watercolor , not a reproduction.
Actually it is a pretty good deal.. . .$8 for a painting.
Here are a few of the pieces/cards.

suealoft@aol.com

http://www.theloftshop.com/

Lake Paintings

It has been an interesting season at The Loft Shop.    The summer of 2011 has been unusual, to say the least.   The  number of visitors to the shop have been inconsistant and sporatic.   The sales have been remarkably good considering the economy.    We have found out:
1. Our rack cards are a great marketing tool.
2. Paintings sell. I have sold 30 + paintings since the first of July.
3. People come whenever they want, not particularily concerned about our official "hours" or days we are open.
This past weekend a lady observed that I didn't have any "lake paintings" in my inventory.  (I had sold 3 last week).    I assured her that there would be some by the end of the weekend.  So I quickly snapped into action and turned out these two painting.    (an easy, familiar scene for me)

This painting is on 140 # Arches watercolor paper.   It is matted for a 16 x 20 inch frame .

I like to work on different kinds of paper, so I did the same scene on Masa(rice) paper. It is a whole different look.

It is matted for a 11x14 inch frame.

Pottery by Lynn Lais

The Garrett Council Arts Council is sponsoring a show by Lynn Lais.    Lynn is the resident potter at Spruce Forest Artisan Village in Grantsville, Maryland .This is an extraodrinary show.   Lynn's work is wonderfully creative and beautiful.   This show is not a duplication of the work you see in his shop at Spruce Forest.   It is new and original.  If you are in Garrett County, let me urge you to stop by the Gallery at 206 E Alder Street to see his work in the Backroom. 

Let me assure you that my photos do not do justice to his work.   Maybe they will be a teaser for you to go in and see his show.

                                                                            suealoft@aol.com
                                                                         http://www.theloftshop.com/

Collage

Artist Studio Tours, which were sponsored by Garrett County Arts Council, were a huge success. The five artists who were at The Loft Shop had a wonderful time displaying and explaining their art. Collages are my success story for 2011. People seem to love and buy them. Here are the two I was able to do over the weekend.

Studio Tours

Garrett County Artists Studio Tours are this weekend, July 30 and 31.    There are over 20 artists at 9 locations in Garrett County.   The nine host artists will have their studios open for visitors, the visiting artists will be available to talk about the process they use to create their art.    All artists will have work for sale.
The hours on Saturday are 10-4 and on Sunday
 noon - 4.
If you enjoy art, this is a great opportunity to meet many artists and see a lot of their work in one place.
We will have 5 artists at our location.. . #8.
Josh Brown, a potter from Frostburg will be here.   Lois McManus is a wonderful jeweler who has not shown her work in Garrett County.   It is a chance to see a "new" inventory of metal work.
Meg Romaro makes "furniture for the independent thinker". . . her work is stunning.
Alan will be in his shop turning things and explaining his process.    I will be in my studio demonstrating watercolors, monotypes and collage. 

 Pick up a brochure at the Visitor's Center, The Gallery Shop on Alder St. or at one of the Artists Studios.
                or call 301 245 4528

How to Collage

It is a rather warm day here in Garrett County Maryland.   I am using the heat as an excuse to be in my studio working on collages.   They have gotten a lot of attention lately so I thought I would give a brief explanation of how I make a collage.  
I start with  white rice papers of all kinds of textures.  I tear the paper into chunks about 8x 10 and stain them with my watercolors.   I try to get a variety of values for each color on my palatte.   When the papers are dry, I bag them in 1 quart ziplock bags so that I have a whole color palatte of rice papers which are now colored.
I do a piece the same way I approach doing a painting.  First quick value sketch, transfer it to a board and start ripping up the rice papers and glueing.    It is a mess with little papers all over my table, glue on my fingers and a kind of weird progression taking place on the piece.   Eventually it seems to come together into a "painting" which is really a collage.  It is always a surprise to me when one turns out.

A Summer's Day In Garrett County Maryland

It has been a glorious summer's weekend in Garrett County.  I had to go to Cumberland MD today to pick up my pieces at the Saville Gallery.   It was 95 degrees and roasting.    It was wonderful to get back to Garrett County and a reasonable 80 + degrees.   Yesterday we had friends from Cumberland visit.   We lolled around our yard under the weeping cherry tree, enjoyed Donkey Hote, had a lovely lunch they had brought, had a swim in the pond, we did an art project with the ladies.    I showed them how to use watercolors in a shape and then make a card.  We ended the day by attending the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's classical music concert at the WISP resort.  It was a wonderful day. . . . the best of summer.

The cards

Yard art. . . . . . . .Donkey Hote

Art in the Park

Last weekend was Art in the Park at Deep Creek Lake State Park.    We were fortunate to have two of Garrett County's most beautiful summer days in a wonderful setting along the shore of Deep Creek Lake.
There were many vendors with their 10 x 10 pop up tents lining the service road from the parking lot to the Discovery Center.   It is always interesting to see what people are attracted to in our tent.    Alan's wood got a lot of attention and my collages seemed to interest  people.
I create the collages by staining various textures of rice paper with watercolors (all of the pigments on my palatte).  After I have done a value sketch, I begin ripping the rice papers and glueing them on a board.   Eventually a picture is formed.  I occasionally go in and paint in some details (the small branches in this piece).  

                      This piece was sold at Art in the Park

I still have this piece ("Pissaro's Neighbors") in the Loft Shop.

suealoft@aol.com

http://www.theloftshop.com/