Alan's Newest Bowls

When hurricane Sandy hit us, we lost many trees (20+) in our yard.   One of them was an old cherry tree that was in our yard.  Alan has begun to use some of that wood to make bowls.  Here are  two that he has made in the past few weeks.

Winter bird

It is indeed winter in Garrett County.    I was in New England for the weekend before Christmas visiting my grandchildren and their parents.   While I was gone we had a significant (needed to be attacked by the snowblower) snowfall.   Then on the 26th we had another snow event which left us with around 8 more inches of snow.   That afternoon I noticed a gorgeous cardinal at the birdfeeder.   I went out and scattered sunflower seeds on the ground.   Next thing I knew there were 3 pair of cardinals flitting about.   I have never been able to photograph a cardinal.   I sat there in the window and clicked away.  What a treat!!!

Negative Painting

 I few years ago I went on a kick of doing negative painting. I haven't done it in a while and thought it would be fun to give it a try.  The process involves painting the negative spaces not painting positive.   The only thing in this piece that is painted positively is the figure walking into the woods. The rest of it is done by painting around the trees and path.
  I find the process both difficult and challenging and therefore fun.

 

And to you who read this. .  . . Happy Holidays and Thanks for checking in.

Recent Work

 

I haven't been able to paint much in the last few weeks.  I finally went out and threw together this little piece. I certainly had fun   Maybe  I will get out there and get to work on a regular basis.

 

Recycled Art

 

 

 

 

 

The high school students of Garrett County recently entered a state competition with recycled art.  There were some amazing pieces.    This "tin man" was really wonderful. I particularily like the dog.

 

 

 

 

Sunset Moon

A dusting of snow, full moon and a sunset in Bittinger.  

Saville Gallery Reception

The Reception for the Member's Show at the Saville Gallery in Cumberland Maryland was held Saturday night.    I was thrilled to be able to take my grandson, Erik, to it.   We had a wonderful evening looking at the art, visiting with art friends and snacking .   Here we are in with "Copper Beech"

Saville Gallery

The Allegany Arts Council hosts an annual member's show.   This is a juried show which had over 190 entries and took in 50.   I was fortunate to have a monotype of mine accepted into the show.  I always consider it an honor and privilege to hang my work at the Saville.  

Winter Corn

When the storm (Sandy) hit, most of the local farmers had not yet harvested their feed corn.   I was struck by the color of the drying corn against the snowy landscape.    It isn't a scene we usually see around here.     The corn is usually harvested before the first big snowfall.   Not this year.   We got 36 inches of snow to serve as a background for the corn.   I had to paint it.

Back to the Studio

We have spent most of the last 12 days coping with and recovering from the storm.   Today some friends came to help chain saw and clear the yard a so we can get around.   We are grateful to them for their kindness and help.
Life is beginning to be "normal" for us which means that I have actually been able to get into the studio to do some painting.  It seems like forever since I have had the time to actually execute a piece.    I so enjoy the process of getting an idea, doing the drawing, transfering the idea to the watercolor paper and finally getting to actually paint.  
I did this one the other day. It is certainly a "suearnson" landscape.

And so it goes. . . . .

Weather comes, we deal with what it brings and life goes on. . . . .thankfully.    The storm hit Monday evening, the 29th of Oct.    At one point it was snowing 3 inches an hour and then the thunder snow started.   We could hear trees falling and branches popping.  When dawn came we had 29 inches of snow, 15 trees down in our yard but we still had power.    That went out Tuesday evening as a branch came tumbling down tearing the wire out of the house.   
We are very lucky because we have water (the spring in our basement), heat (coal furnace) and can cook on the grill on the deck.   AND  there was power in the guest house , but no water.    We kept the home fires burning in our house during the day, cooked dinner and ate here and then went up to the guest house to read in the light and sleep in the warm.   
They were able to hook up our power Saturday night.    We are 'back to normal". 
We have a lot of snow, getting to fallen trees isn't happening.   Alan and I have been working on clearing up the huge hemlock that fell across the driveway.  
And life goes on.      I am back in the studio painting, Alan is at work and we are really grateful to the friends (from all over the country) who kept in touch with us.    Thank you.

View across our yard Tuesday Oct. 30

 

View from house to studio Tues. Oct. 30.

Artist Studio Tours

This past weekend was a terrific weekend of studio tours.    The people that came to visit our studios seemed to be interested in art and how we make it.    We love to explain how we make art, especially to children.  We look forward to next weekend,  October 27 and 28 from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. when we will continue to show our studios to the public.   Please come by and mention our blog when you get your free sample of a monotype.

It was a beautiful Fall weekend.   Most of the leaves have fallen but the colors are still wonderful

                      I recently took this photo of our pond.

Mountain Maryland Sale and Art Tour

 

Tour books can be picked up at The Gallery on Alder Street or the Visitor's Center

 

The Mountain Maryland Sale and Art Tour is this coming weekend (October 20 & 21) from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and October 27 and 28 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. 

There are seven Garrett County artists on the tour: Kenny Braitman(metal work),  Caroline Blizzard( photographer), Neal Blizzard(photographer), Julie Turrentine(fused glass) , Robert Yonke(watercolors), Alan Arnson(woodwork)  and Sue Arnson (watercolors, monotypes, scarves).    If you are interested in art and how it is made it would be worth your while to hit a few of these studios.   Both Alan and I will be demonstrating in our work places.   I will be demonstrating monotypes that are taken off a gelatin plate.   I will give free samples to my visitors.

Come on by and see us, it will be a fun couple of weeks.  

 

Autumn Glory



 

 

 

Fall Reflections

 

The Autumn Glory season is upon us.   This weekend is the annual Fall festival.   The Loft Shop will set up shop at Broad Ford School on Saturday ( 10-6)  and Sunday (10-4).  There is a great line up of vendors setting up at Broad Ford. We always look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new people.
Come on by the cafeteria at Broad Ford and see us.

Thanks to my pal  Brad Nesline (of Long and Foster Realty) I am able to put photos on the blog.
I couldn't figure it out, but he came over and . . . .presto, solved the problem.
So back to blog info:
Josh Brown and I have a show in the Backroom of the Gallery at 206 E Alder Street.   I have wanted to put up a collaborative show of pottery and 2 D work for a long time.   At Artist Studio Tours Josh and I talked and looked at the work I was planning to put in the show comparing my colors to his glazes.   I have to say. . . . It REALLY works.   

 

Photos don't do it justice. . . .go take a look for yourself.

 

 

 

Frustration

I am suffering from great frustration.    For some reason, unknown to me, I can't download pictures onto my blog.    I don't have a clue what is going on, but will get onto it this week.

The past few weeks have been really busy so I haven't had time to solve my many computer problems.  I have done some painting, put up a really nice show at The Gallery, entertained family and friends, etc.    I am particularily pleased with the show because Josh and I were able to coordinate my colors with his glazes, therefore making a nice presentation. If you are in the area (Garrett County) drop in The Gallery at 206 E Alder Street and check it out.

Meanwhile I will try to figure out how to get pictures on here.

New Technique

A couple of weeks ago I took a workshop given by Arwana Schwamer on painting on masa paper.   I have been curious about this for a while.   It involves wetting masa paper, slapping on paint and sumi ink then glueing the masa to watercolor paper.    When the whole thing is dry, applying watercolors using a whole different brush technique.    I had a lot of fun doing this.   The masa paper gives a really nice textured effect.

Coming show

Josh Brown (the potter) and I are doing a show together in the Backroom at the Garrett County Arts Council beginning on August 21.   The show will be up for 5 weeks.  The opening reception will be on Saturday August 25 from 5 to 7.    Josh and I have been friends for almost 20 years so the show is called

"Friends. . .pots and paintings".

 The reception is open to the public

Artists Studio Tours

Artist's Studio Tours are next weekend in Garrett County.    There are 21 artists at 7 locations.  This means that by hitting a few locations you can see plenty of artists.   We will have 5 artists at our location at The Loft Shop.
Guy Hinebaugh a photographer who does 19th centry black and white photography will be here. We will have Josh Brown, potter, from Frostburg in his tent out in our yard.   Meg Romerer who makes furniture for the "independent thinker" (whatever that means) in our guest house.   Alan will be in his workshop demoing wood stuff.    I will be in my studio demoing watercolor painting, collage, and monotypes.   I will be giving away samples of monotypes.
The studio tours are Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
If you don't know where we are. . . we are 1 mile south of the Bittinger intersection as seen below.

Whenever we are in Seattle, a "must do" is the Pike Street Public Market.    It is a festival of colors, smells, foods, flowers, fish, art, people. . . .life.     I love it and have since I was a kid.    I take photos like crazy when there, always thinking I will use them for paintings.   I usually don't because the subject matter is overwhelming.    I recently dug out a photo I particularly like and actually did a painting. I love these two women browsing along the vegetables.

                                                   

This coming weekend is Art in the Park at Deep Creek Lake State Park.   It is a fun event with many artists displaying and selling their work.    If you are in the area, be sure to come by and say "Hi ".

Dale Chihuly exhibit in Seattle

We were in Seattle Washington last week for a day and a half.   In that short time we managed to get to the new Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Seattle Center.    It is a wonderful display of his work over the years.  The size, scope and colors were overwhelming.  

The top picture is of pieces he call "macchia".  The bottom picture is of a row boat filled with glass balls that is installed on a reflecting piece of glass. 

I have been a Chihuly fan for years and this show was not disappointing.

Travels

Gram's House

We are traveling this week.   Our destination is my grandmother's house in Spokane WA where we will spend 3 days with my cousins and their families.  This is the home that I knew as "Gram's" until I was 22 years old.   I did not live in the house but all of my cousins lived there at one time or another. The house is owned by Gonzaga University.   They rent it out for weddings, retreats, reunions,etc.   It is a gorgeous home, chucked full of great memories.   We will have a fabulous time.

An Old House

This is the time of year when I am busy setting up the Loft Shop, framing and matting work that I have done over the winter.   In other words, not a lot of time painting.    I found a photo of a old, abandoned house that I had painted years ago.   In fact the original painting lives in Norway with my friend Tudi Kimmell.   I was dying to paint so did a quick one of that house.   It is interesting how different this painting is than the first one.   I wish I had a photo of the lst painting, but. . . . I don't.

Downtown Bittinger

Last week Stewart White did a painting of "downtown Bittinger" using oil paints.    I really loved his painting but was amazed that I had never thought to paint that particular scene.   I gave it  try with watercolors and this is the result.   For those of you have been here, I am sure you recognize Buckel's Store.

Sue's Studio

 Stewart White, a Baltimore MD Plein Air painter, stayed at our house during Mountain Maryland Plein Air week.    The last morning he was here, I looked out and he was standing at his easel painting.   This is the picture he painted that morning.    It is of my studio ("sanctuary") with Alan working in our little garden.

We have been without a computer for the last couple of weeks, so I will now be able to post more often.

Mountain Maryland Plein Air Event

The Mountain Maryland Plein Air Event has been fabulous.   The 28 juried artists covered Western Maryland since Tuesday, painting the wonderful scenes of the area.   Several of them painted in Garrett County capturing the beauty of our area.   Saturday morning featured the Quick Draw event.  The artists had 2 hours to begin and finish a painting and then enter it for judging.   Picture here is Stewart White, from Baltimore, painting the Embassy Theater on the downtown mall of Cumberland.   Stewart's painting won first prize in the Quick Draw.   It has been a wonderful week of sharing the beauty of Western Maryland with painters from all over the mid atlantic.   I look forward to hosting an artists again next year and getting to "talk shop" with these fine artists.    Their work will continue to hang at the Saville Gallery until June 10.

Matting and Framing season

This is the time of year that I collect my finished work from the winter and decide which pieces to mat and frame.   I had started this collage a year or so ago and decided to finish it and frame it.   

Painting and weaving



I have been working on this landscape for a few days.   And much as I love the farm that I was painting, I wasn't very pleased with the final product.   It was just another "suearnson landscape".   After sleeping on it I decided to cut it up and weave.

I haven't done a woven piece for a couple of years so it was really fun to do it. Is it any good??   I don't know but it was great to have a burst of creativity.

GCAC gallery hanging

Today is the day we rehang the gallery at Garrett County Arts Council.   I was in the Gallery on Saturday and saw the art that we will hang today.  There is a LOT of it and very interesting.    It is always a challenge to have 50-60 pieces of art coming together n that setting.   

This is the painting I am hanging.   It is a bit reminisent of my Jim McNeil days, I think.

Alan At Work

Alan has been pretty productive in his workshop now that the temperature has moderated and he can work in the shop without freezing his fingers.   These are pieces that he made this week.

Memories. .

In September Alan and I went  to Washington State ( my home state) to visit family, friends and my favorite city, Seattle.    One day we took a road trip to find the lake on which my parents owned a cabin from 1946-1956.   Ours was one of 2 cabins on the gorgeous Lake Cavanaugh. The lake is about 2 hours North of Seattle near the North Cascade mountains.  I took a bunch of photos and was recently motivated to paint a picture of the area.

Michael Petersheim, photographer

The photography of Michael Petersheim is on display in the newly renovated*  Backroom Gallery at the Garrett County Arts Council at 206 E Alder Street in Oakland, MD.   It is a gorgeous show of his works.   He prints his photographs on canvas, wood and metal.   This is a show worth seeing.   There will be an Artist's Reception from 5-7 on Friday, April 13 and the show will remain up until May 18. 

This photo is mounted on 6 metal panels.

*The Backroom has new drywall (eliminating the cracks), a door on the storage closet, paint, tracklighting and a Walker Hanging system.Thanks to the Garrett County Arts Council Board of Directors.

(FYI, Steve)

(FYI, Steve )

Frank Webb Workshop

What a workshop!!!  Frank Webb is (in my opinion ) one of the greats of  current watercolor painters.   He has a long history of teaching internationally.   The Western Maryland Watercolor Society invited him to come to Cumberland to give a workshop this past week.   Frank was delighted to come to our area.   He lives in Pittsburgh and welcomed the opportunity to teach in an area which was drivable for him.   We were fortunate  to have dinner with Frank and his darling wife Friday night.  This man is a wonderful painter and a delightful person.   It was a memorable 2 days.
These are my two paintings from the workshop.

Finally. . . .

the morning glory painting that I started working on weeks ago is just about done.   Now I am tired of it and am going to move on to other subject matter.      I am not even sure I like it. . . . . .but it is done (I think).

Alan's Debut

Saturday March 16 the Garrett Highland Pipes and Drums will be performing at 3 p.m. at the Mountain State Brewery in Mc Henry MD.   This will be Alan's debut as a drummer with the band.   About a year ago Alan decided that he wanted to learn to play the drums.   The Pipes and Drum group was offering classes.  So for the past year he has been practicing almost daily and will finally make an appearance.. 

Spring

For the first time in the 26 years we have lived in Bittinger, we have crocus blooming in March.   Unheard of!!   The birds are singing, the honeybees are buzzing and all is right with the world on this glorious spring day.
Behold the crocus!!!!

Color, color, color

The Garrett County Elementary School Art Show is on display at the Garrett County Arts Council Backroom and is colorful to say the least.  
  If you need a lift to your spirits go in and see it.   The show will be up through the month of March at 206 E Alder Street in Oakland, MD.   It is truly wonderful.

Garrett County Scenes

I am working on a series of small (8 x 10 matted and framed) paintings of Garrett County.     I have painted most of the scenes in the past but in different sizes, palatte, etc.  I am hoping to end up with 12-16 of these little guys.
So what is more "Garrett County " than the Casselman Bridge?

Art Time

It has been nice to be able to have art time.   There are times in the year that is  hard to cut out long periods of time to go to the studio and do art.   This time or year it is easier to get studio time.    I am still working on morning glories, which is a rather "tight" piece.    It is fun to put pigment into the water and let it happen.   Here is a recent piece.

New Barn

One day I was in the studio gazing about the chaos when I noticed an old watercolor sketch from a class I took from Fred Graff.   It is a monocromatic piece demonstrating light on buildings.   I sketched it on watercolor paper and used primary colors. 

Home Again

In the spirit of survival, Alan and I took our annual trip to a "beach".   We spent ten days on the islands of Turks and Caicos.  Each day began with the staking out of our place on the beach, followed by  playing in the water, reading stupid books (nothing meaningful), eating, visiting with friends and then eating(again).    It was a fabulous escape and now we are back to resume our lives.

Staking a claim on the beach