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.