Pieces of Eight

Something to Crow About: Join me in going Digital

2012-03-11T16:27:00.004-07:00

Crows are in right now. I'm not sure why. But they are fun to play with. I photographed this crow on a table in the Everglades (see original photo below). He was carrying on quite a conversation with my one year old grandson Leo. Leo has a comedic grunting language all his own that sounded exactly like the crow. He and the crow seemed to be communicating, although Leo never let loose the cracker that the crow was requesting.

This photo was so easy to work with, I thought it might make a fun tutorial for anyone wanting to play with digital like I do. If you have Photoshop and are familiar with it, the following instructions provide a tutorial on making the above image. I'll repeat this in Elements soon and write that up. And Qiang's workshop gave me the idea to repeat the same exercise in Gimp. (Progress will be reported on that also at a later date.)

Grab the starting photo below. (Right click on it and choose Copy Image or Save Image As.)

In Photoshop use the Magnetic Lasso tool to select just the crow from the color image and click Copy (Control C).

Paste (Control V) him into a new blank image window sized 8x12 inches and 300 dpi.

Clean up around any edges with the Eraser tool if necessary.

Choose Image>Adjustments>Black and White and slide almost all of the color sliders to the far right. You'll know if it improves the contrast by watching the lights and darks in the image.

Choose Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. This will take all the color out. If you want to adjust light and dark some more, try playing with the sliders under Image>Adjustment>Levels.

Now comes the part I like, playing with filters. You can choose any you like. With your Crow layer selected, choose Filter>Filter Gallery. I applied the Cross Hatch filter and then added Poster Edges on top of that. I'd give you the exact numbers, but I don't know them, I just watch the window and play until I like it.

Right now the background is just white. I added a new layer, filled it with Gray and added a pattern to it using the Add a Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. You can add one of your own patterns or one of the millions available on the net.

Next, add a new layer beneath this one. Leave it blank. Make the above layer active and choose Merge Down. Why? So you can add another pattern! That's the fun part. Use a different blend mode to combine the two.

Add a new layer and add a "table" for the bird to sit on. First draw a rectangle with the Rectangular selection tool. Choose a neutral gray as the foreground color and fill it with the neutral gray by clicking the Alt plus Backspace keys.

Add patterns to it just as you did the background.

Type the word Crow or any other word and choose a font. This is Castellar at about 250 points.

Now add a layer between your crow and the table and with a soft black brush paint in some shadows. You can then make the layer as transparent as you want by adjusting the Opacity slider on the Layers Palette.

To refine the bird, add a new layer above it and use a white brush and draw a few highlights around the eyes and beak.

For fun, add a layer beneath the bird and paint some feathers poking here and there.

Of course, you don't have to do what I did with it, you can just have fun with the crow image. For example, below I turned the same image into a memory for a scrapbook page for Leo.

Day 3 of Qiang Huang Workshop

2012-03-07T06:14:00.005-08:00

I stopped in again on the final day of Qiang Huang's Oil Painting Workshop at the Artist's Guild in Melbourne. This time many of the paintings had already been put away and others were still in progress. (The photo above is a still life set up to paint.) Qiang was giving a presentation on using various tools like Gimp (free) and Photoshop (very expensive) for preparing photos of your artwork and on how to use the internet for marketing. I heard lots of comments about what a great class it was and what a wonderfully patient and brilliant teacher Qiang is. Hope he's back again next year. If he is, we're sure to announce it on this site so stay tuned. Following are a few photos I managed to take.

Above, a student painting in progress of the beautiful still life at the top of this post. Below, another still life and two of the student paintings in progress.

Below, Qiang presenting his process for preparing photos of his paintings for marketing purposes.

For those of you who would like to know more about Qiang and his work, here's that link to Qiang's blog.

Day 2 of Qiang Huang Workshop

2012-03-05T16:45:00.007-08:00

I stopped in on the Qiang Huang Oil Painting Workshop in the Artist's Guild in downtown Melbourne at the end of the day today. Some people had already packed up and left so I couldn't capture all of the exciting paintings. Qiang did another wonderful set up and painting that is captured above. He demonstrates in the morning and then assists the artists with setting up interesting arrangements and then guides them as they paint. Wonderful and intense all at the same time.

Here is a picture of Qiang captured as he was putting things away at the end of the day. If you would like to know more about Qiang and his work and future workshops you can visit his blog at Qiang Huang.blogspot.com.

Following are some photos from the day of both the beautiful arrangements, the paintings in progress and some artists still at work to give you a feel for the day.

Day 1 of Qiang-Huang Workshop

2012-03-04T15:19:00.007-08:00

Today, I stopped into the Guild to take photos of the first day of the Qiang-Huang Workshop. Qiang is an amazing oil painter and this is his second workshop held in Melbourne. If you are not familiar with Qiang and his work, stop by his thoughtful, updated almost daily, enlightening blog at Qiang-Huang.blogspot.com.

Since many of the Pieces of 8 are oil painters and followers of Qiang we are well represented at the workshop by Mary Warnick, Dennette Schweikert, Carmen Beecher, Phillis Holland and Cindy Michaud. And for that reason, I'm hoping to capture pictures of each of the three days.

Here are some of the photos from today, starting with Qiang's beautiful setup and the demonstration piece he completed in the morning hours.

Below are just some wide shots of the Guild which really is an amazing place when you fill it with such wonderful artists. I'm not only in awe of Qiang and his demo, but of all of his students and their paintings from today.

I hope to capture more tomorrow.

Altered Books Exhibit March 6th

2012-03-03T07:05:00.005-08:00

Three of the Pieces of 8 (Kathy Garvey, Cindy Michaud and newest member Fay Picardi) have altered books for the exhibit opening at the Satellite Beach Library on Tuesday, March 6th. Each artist who accepted a book was challenged to turn it into a new work. Each alteration was unique.

From within our group: Cindy took a book of poetry by Keats and turned it into a charming notebook containing cutaways and her lovely drawings, Fay converted a book about Queen Elizabeth into an actual replica of her, complete with Elizabethan collar, and my AA Road Book of Ireland became gilded pages of my feelings on Ireland and a box to contain the very special Gazetteer.

This was a first for all of us and we were amazed at how much time required to alter a book. We also learned a lot about the process and felt it would be a wonderful project for schools to take on. Our books were all collected from a library in Great Britain by Paula Steere (http://www.paulabooks.co.uk/), a well known handmade book artist who spearheaded this project. But all libraries have books available that would otherwise be sent on to recycling and it would be lovely to see any local schools take on a similar project.

The opening is at 6:30 p.m., March 6th, in the large program room outside of the main desk area of the Satellite Beach Library. Please come if you can to meet all of the local artists participating. We'd love to meet you. This is the only time for hands on access to the books before they are placed into a glass shelf at the Library for the remainder of the month.

Check out an advance announcement and beautiful pictures by Maria Sonnenberg for Florida Today at http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012302290001.

Hope to see you there.

Two of the 8 Host an Arty Party for the rest of us

2012-02-17T16:43:00.002-08:00

Carol and Donna just threw a spectacular Valentines Day Party for the 8 and their respective spouses. The table was so beautiful it could easily have been a spread in a top magazine. The food was to die for! Delectable rasberry tarts, pear tarts, chocolate covered strawberries, crab dip ... I could go on, but you can see in the pictures how awesome it was. We'll have to walk the beach every day to work off such a fantastic spread. Donna and Carol made everything! To say we were overwhelmed is an understatement. Wow!

Cindy the Muse becomes Cindy the Model

2012-02-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

In November I designed and printed a scarf inspired by both the wonderful Liguus Tree Snails with their bands of beautiful designs and my good friend and fellow "Piece" Cindy Michaud. Cindy loves black and white checks and she loves red. So, I dressed a snail in fairly traditional patterns, like swooshes and triangles and added a few black and white checks for fun. I stuck to a red, black and white color scheme. I had Spoonflower print it on both cotton silk and voile. The silk one is shown here.

The fabric I got back in December was beautiful, but not exactly red, black and white. Lesson learned - printing at Spoonflower is like printing anything - colors can be a little quirky - the red turned out sort of a coral and black is sort of gray. Nevertheless, I made up my scarves and presented a voile one to Cindy. She actually wore it out to a meeting today and made it look really good. And when I asked if I could get a photo, she was a good sport to pose as my model.

And then she became hysterically funny recreating poses she'd observed on (I'm assuming) Next Top Model! Not all of them are shown here!

I'm always so inspired by the Pieces of 8 - and they're such a hoot!

Surf's Up

2012-02-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

A few years ago my grandson, Nic came down for a visit. He is a lover of all sports involving speed and balance so we went up to Cocoa Beach for some surfing lessons. It was a great day to be on the water, a storm front was coming through so there were waves and wind. It felt a lot wilder than it was. To an eleven year old it was the pipeline on the North Shore of Hawaii.

Another Direction

2012-01-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you need to change things up. It could be trying Plein Air instead of staying in the studio or experimenting with another medium or going in a different direction altogether. Change can be scary or uncomfortable. It feels good to stick with what you are good at or can do easily, but change can be a good thing. If you just remember it is only paint and don't take it too seriously it can really be fun.

This is an abstract using acrylics. I like acrylics when doing a more free form painting because you can thin it and it has a flow to it. Also the colors can be very rich. Acrylics dry quickly so you have to paint fast which can be very freeing.

This painting reminds me of the Southwest and I have no idea why but that is what I think of when I look at it. That is the fun of abstract it can be anything to anyone.

BIG WEEK

2012-01-21T04:40:00.000-08:00

This week I learned that I have an article in International Artist Magazine with a step-by-step description of my process painting the above painting. It also shows other pieces of my work. Today I was notified that this painting and one other were accepted into the Women Painters of the Southeast exhibition at Corse Gallery in Jacksonville. I'm having an exciting week!

Posted by Carmen

Teapot with Lemon

2012-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

At our Pieces of Eight meeting this Monday Carol Schiff brought this cute little teapot and the other items in my painting. We had decided a few weeks ago that we needed to take turns deciding what we as a group would paint each week instead of each of us doing our own thing. After a brief gab session we all started to paint. I never manage to finish a painting in one session so I painted a bit on Tuesday afternoon and worked again on Wednesday for a few hours.

I have declared this painting "finished". "Teapot with Lemon" is a 6"x8" oil on canvas board. Anyone for tea with lemon?

Phillis Holland

Class Abstracts

2012-01-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

In class this week, my students tried some abstracts, using a shortened version of some techniques I learned in a John Salminen workshop.
It was a fun lesson, and here are some of the results.
Mary

Mary guides us in Watercolor and Colored Pencil

2012-01-10T14:31:00.001-08:00

The holidays make it hard to all get together, but it was fun for those of us in town to meet at the Guild yesterday and have our own Mary Warnick guide us with a small project of using colored pencils over watercolor. Thank you, Mary!

We are almost always like herding cats but Mary kept us on theme. Above are a few photos from our morning adventure. I'm not sure what order they'll appear in, but what I see is a carnation in its almost finished state by Cindy, Carol at work on her composition, Carmen on about her third wonderful watercolor, Mary demonstrating, and Donna just starting to apply pencil to her watercolor. Anyone want to post their completed project?

SOPHIE ON THE INDIAN RIVER

2012-01-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is a painting of my grandpuppy, Sophie. Sophie is our daughter, April's German Shepard. April and Sophie came to live with us for six months while April's husband is in Afghanistan. April asked if I would do a portrait of Sophie for her. Since this would be my first portrait ever, I asked my painting instructor, Lisa Mistuik if she thought that I could do it. Being the great teacher that she is, she was very encouraging. So one afternoon while we were on a river cruise in our boat, I took along the camera and made lots of pictures of Sophie in the bow of the boat. This is the portrait that I painted from the photo that April liked best. The Indian River close to where we live is in the background. I am pleased with the painting and hope it will be a reminder to April of the special times we had while she and Sophie were with us.

Phillis Holland

Memories of 2011

2011-12-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

Going to mountains with my painting buddies,
Wading by streams with our shoes nice and muddy,
Whether in Fall or in Winter or Spring,
These are a few of my favorite things...

As you can see, we never go into the wild without plenty of provisions. This is the trip that recharges our batteries every year, and this year there will be a Spring trip too, thanks to our new friend Mary Jo in South Carolina.

posted by Carmen

2011-12-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all of you who follow our blog!

Every year I paint a picture for our Christmas card,
and my husband makes the cards for me to write and
mail. This year's card is inspired by my favorite
carol, and the beauty of the North Carolina mountains.

May all of you find the Joy of this special season.

Mary

Sometimes just for fun is the best

2011-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have just returned from a family Thanksgiving in New England. This is the first time that both of my children, their spouses and all the grandchildren have been together for a holiday, and it was wonderful. I am lucky enough to have grown grandchildren, teenagers and toddlers so it made for a lot of fun, a lot of rowdiness and a lot of girlie stuff.
While I was with my oldest granddaughter she showed me where she had hung a fun little piece I did for her last year. I remember seeing this technique in a magazine by an artist named Vanessa Valencia. For some reason I immediately thought of my granddaughter, so of course I had to try it and of course I had to expand on it.
After collaging a support with quotes and sayings relevant to her, I used a wash and tissue to tone it down. I copied a photo, cut it out, glued it to cardstock, then added her dress using shredded sheet music. She always loved butterflies so I gave her one as a "Fascinator".
Seeing how much she treasured this made me realize that there are many ways to express yourself and sometimes just for fun is the best.

A Painting for Mom

2011-11-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

I painted this 6"x 8" painting in oils this autumn while the Pieces of Eight were on our retreat in North Carolina. It was a drizzly afternoon and Carol Schiff set up the still life on her back porch. Carol and I were the only ones painting that afternoon. I did not finish the painting until about a month later when we were back in Melbourne, Florida. When I looked at it later I realized that it reminded me so much of my mom. She was raised on a farm and loves to plant tomatoes and cucumbers in her little garden behind her house. She also loves to can and makes wonderful pickles. One of her favorite flowers is hydrangea and she has a bush in her back yard. So I framed this little painting and am giving it to her for Christmas. I think that she will love it.

I hope so!

Phillis Holland

SUMMER RETREAT, Carol Schiff Studio

2011-11-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

In October, our painting group joined me for a week of fun in my vacation home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
When we returned home, Kathy Garvey presented me with a CD of photos taken during the week. She also made a small book featuring events of the week. I painted this from her cover photo on the book, showing our home in fall color.

We all had a great time and I cannot wait to repeat the experience next October.

A long way home

2011-11-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

After being on the road in some form or fashion since September I finally feel like I'm home. Of course being home means being around all the things you love and feel comfortable with but it also means doing lots of catch up to get these things you love and feel comfortable with back.
First you have to wade through all of the mundane tasks that make the wheels go round, like the mail, paying bills, doing all the laundry, cleaning up the house, weeding, answering email etc. etc. After all of this is at least given a first pass you get to think about doing some painting. One of the good things that come out of having to go through and reorganize your work space is you come across a piece that you really like or enjoyed painting. This is one of the pieces that I really had fun painting. It was painted during a workshop and I loved the photo and the memories it envoked.

The Stones Speak

2011-11-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

Cindy

Fay

The Pieces of 8 showed up en masse to support fellow artist Cindy Michaud and poet Fay Picardi on the recent opening of their collaborative effort "The Stones Speak." For nearly a year the two worked on images (painted and verbal) that related to their personal experiences with stones. Amazingly a lot of the work overlapped in subject matter and thus a book became part of the creative effort featuring both the poetry and the art.

Denette and Carmen

Bob and Cindy

Originally opening in Linville, NC, the gang was happy to be there for the First Friday opening in the Allaprima Styling Group in the Eau Gallie Arts District. Fellow artist Kathy Garvey was the computer whiz behind the book. What a great night!

The red fashions were not planned, just a colorful coincidence.

Why I love Digital! Version 3

2011-10-29T17:55:00.001-07:00

The next day, I'm not sure if it was the fish, or me. But it certainly wasn't the same mood. This fish had attitude and wanted to look totally different. It took about two hours, but he ate my homework. He's not finished. But I can't wait to see what he's up to for tomorrow.

And just in case these don't show up in the order I had hoped, my message was that I love digital because it's fun and fast and dynamic and I never know where it wants to go but I enjoy the ride.

Well, darn. Thought if I built them up in order but saved them as drafts and loaded the last one first, they'd read one, two, three. But no, this blog tool is not intuitive. What it does one time is not what it does the next. So, I will try to reload. If they still don't read Version 1, 2, 3. I tried, I really tried. But some software (this blog tool) is not as awesome as other software (Illustrator and Photoshop). JMHO

Why I Love Digital! Version 2

2011-10-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

The very next day, my fish was feeling blue. He wanted a complete change of company and background, and of course, a place to go and things to do. An hour later, he's happy and maybe thinking of being a poster on my wall.

(And trying to get three simultaneous blogs to print in order by editing a second time. Wish me luck.)

Why I Love Digital! Version 1

2011-10-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun with a fish lately. He started out as a very small sketch and within an hour was a very large illustrated fish. From Illustrator he practically swam off on his own to Photoshop where he wanted to be decorated and, of course, multiplied. And then he begged for multiple backgrounds. So several hours later he was ready to be printed to fabric.

Artists' Retreat

2011-10-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures from our annual retreat. The colors were magnificent. We are so fortunate to be able to commune with nature and each other every year. From left to right, Carol, Cindy, Donna, Phillis (behind Denette), Denette, Mary, and Kathy.

Some of the trees looked neon-bright--they glowed!

Posted by Carmen

Donation to Everglades Completed

2011-10-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Just after we left on retreat I got an email that my donation to the Everglades was due on October 25th. (I really have until next July to donate, but by delivering it early, they frame it for their Christmas Show.) Since I didn't get home until October 2oth, that left me struggling to get it finalized (they wanted a version without words) and printed in time to deliver it.

I'm happy to report that a local business was wonderful to work with and printed my poster to a beautiful watercolor paper at a very reasonable price. The colors were true and the turnaround time was less that 24 hours. For those of you looking for a nice printing resource for your artwork or photos, I'd like to recommend Canvas Depot. You can find them online at http://www.canvasdepot.com/ or you can drop in to the former Christmas Cottage in downtown Melbourne where they have a booth.

And for anyone interested in Liguus Snails, let me know. I have a half hour photo heavy presentation that I'm happy to give at schools or local gatherings to tell anyone about these wonderful little creatures, their habitat, and why they are protected.

And if you want to find and photograph them for yourselves, they can only be found in Florida, between Big Cypress, the Everglades and the Keys.

Revived and Refreshed

2011-10-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well some of us are back from our week of rest and relaxation. It was really a wonderful time with lots of beautiful foliage. We really hit it at the perfect time. Every day the trees got more colorful.

This is the view from Newfound Gap (the elevation is about 5000 ft) in the park. The day was crisp and clear and you could see the shadows of mountains behind mountains in the distance.

What is this tree?

2011-10-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the weird post just before this.

This is a small fruit tree of some sort that grows in North Carolina. Does anyone recognize it. These may be seedpods,
or fruit.

I thought it very pretty, and wanted to paint it when I saw it.

Mary

Smoky Mountains, Here We Come!

2011-10-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

From left: Phillis, Mary, Kathy, Cindy, Carol, Donna, Carmen, Denette.

It's that time again, our annual retreat to the Smoky Mountains to meet the challenges of plein air painting. This is the most fun an artist can possibly have, and we hear our envious husbands are going to have some fun of their own. On the road again...
posted by Carmen

The Great Civil War Tour

2011-10-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

I spent the last two weeks traversing the countryside of Tennessee visiting Civil War sites. I have had a long fascination with this particular time in American history and have visited many battlefields in Maryland, Virginia and Georgia but my husband and I had never been to Tennessee and really wanted to visit that area.
We started our roadtrip at The Cumberland Gap (which is really in Kentucky) through Knoxville, Munfreesboro, Franklin, Nashville to Shiloh via the beautiful Natchez Trace, down into Corinth Ms and over to Chattanooga. Just for good measure we did Lookout Mountain, Chicamauga and Kennesaw Mountain Battlefields on the way back to Florida.
One of the highlights of the trip was an artillery demonstration at Shiloh. The men always come at least the day before and set up camp. They love to talk about their "company", share their feelings about why they do what they do, the importance of being authentic and the respect they have for the soldiers who fought in these battles. You cannot help but be moved when you visit any of our National Battlefields.

Blue Houseboat

2011-09-30T07:28:00.001-07:00

This little painting was started when we were all together on Monday.
Kathy took pictures while I was working on it, and I think the progression is interesting.
Mary

Our Own Carmen at AGUA Tonight!

2011-09-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

Our very own Piece of 8 - Carmen is part of a group show tonight at the EGAD Art Lab - 1405 Highland Avenue in Downtown Eau Gallie! Don't miss this lovely exhibit - all about AGUA. Stop by and say "Hi!".

We always have fun at our Monday painting sessions and this last one was no exception. While we all worked on individual pieces, Carmen was working on a very beautiful oil painting for the Agua show. This may not be its final view, but check out the mini surfer about to take a dive from this awesome wave!

The opening is from 6 to 10 p.m.

Hidden Pond Resort, Maine

2011-09-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a lovely vacation in Maine, which included some plein air painting. This was the gate at our cottage.

This area was where we could pick vegetables or flowers, do yoga (rain or shine!), or paint with the resident artist, Judith Kinsman. Of course I chose to paint, and Judith was absolutely delightful. The place even provided easels.

Posted by Carmen

Print your Art to Fabric

2011-09-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

I'm down in the Everglades photographing snails again. I love their patterns. I wanted to spread the word about putting your designs to fabric. It's so easy now that we have spoonflower.com available to artists everywhere.

Being able to print your designs to fabric quickly is very exciting. Two weeks ago I uploaded the Illustrator image shown above to spoonflower.com. It shows three of my snails and the patterns inspired by them. Less than 9 days later, the fabric arrived and I cut it apart and finished the edges. They only had a voile that was the right weight for scarves when I ordered. But, when the package arrived, it had a sample of their new cotton silk I'll try next.

I love Spoonflower.com and the possibilities it opens up for artists. If you haven't visited, check it out. It's easy as pie to have your designs printed to quilting cotton, voile, cotton silk, and more.

Paper Paintings Workshop Day 1

2011-09-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

Paper Paintings Workshop Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson/// Follow Paper Paintings on Facebook or elizabethsthilairenelson.blogspot.com

Saturday morning 16 happy, enthusiastic artists, all loaded down with years worth of the most interesting papers you have ever seen settled in for two days of learning and sharing. Elizabeth started the workshop with a demonstration of painting and stamping your own papers. We discussed different kinds of papers, how they reacted, where to find them and using common objects to make interesting designs.
After Elizabeth did several sheets we all gave it a try.

Elizabeth demonstrating hand coloring papers

She also showed us some of her work and explained her approach to collage.

Elizabeth's rabbit

After lunch we started on are apples.

Correction and a flurry of activity

2011-09-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

I stand corrected in some of the information I posted about my upcoming collage workshop. Elizabeth does not use magazines in her collages, she feels they wrinkle too much. I am really sorry about that. Of course this news inspired a new fluffy of activity on my part. I started painting papers like a madwoman.
I used all of the methods that Elizabeth suggest plus some experiments of my own. I did lots of reds and oranges for my apple and got a jump start on the blues I will need for my second painting.
I also broke out a new apron for the occasion!! I love aprons and I know this one will keep me smiling.

Getting ready for Paper Paintings

2011-09-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

This week-end I will be lucky enough to attend a collage workshop right here in Viera. The instructor is Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson and her website is www.nelsoncreative.com/gallery. Her approach is a little different in that she not only uses magazines for her collages but she makes and hand colors many of her papers. She also likes to use found and personnel papers that have a connection to what she is doing.

Taking a workshop with such a creative and talented artist is a great oppurtunity and I am so looking forward to it, especially after my unplanned hiatus from art this summer. I am hoping this will get my creative juices flowing again and bring me back to my easel.

Checking my paper supplies

Drawing my apple for our group excercise

My very rough underpainting in acrylic paint

Wetting your feet

2011-09-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

After so many weeks of inactivity it felt wonderful to hold a brush again but after several tries everything I did seemed forced and flat. I felt like I had forgotten how to paint! Where was my spark? When I took out my palette knife to scrape yet another attempt a little light came on, why not use the knife to move some paint around, play a little, put some color on the canvas?
The mind is a strange instrument. Palette knife paintings are just as challenging as using a brush but somehow it seemed to free me up. I began to enjoy myself. I stopped trying so hard and got into the process of painting, looking at blocks of color, moving the paint around and getting lost in the process. Maybe the lesson is if you can't do what you normally do, just do something.

Well, Life on the Farm is Kinda Laid Back...

2011-08-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Just returned from visiting our family in upstate Pennsylvania, and I can tell you one thing: life on the farm is anything but laid back. There is so much work, especially if it involves cows! I'll be painting some pastoral scenes soon of the beautiful place. My son-in-law's cousins were visiting too, and one is a well-known restaurateur in Chicago. The master chef cooking home-grown vegetables was foodie heaven. I was surprised to learn that parsley is a root vegetable that has wonderful healthy properties. I had no idea. Here's what the root looks like, and it tastes good, too:

As for the photo of me feeding the calf, I think I should have enhanced my look through the magic of Photoshop before posting this picture!

posted by Carmen

LOVER'S LANE

2011-08-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is the second in my series of travel cards from places that I have traveled. I created this painting from a photograph that I took in Hope Town in the Abacos which are part of the Bahama Chain. Hope Town is on Elbow Key and is one of my favorite places to vacation. We will be going for our third time in May. We love to stay in the Hope Town Villas which sit right on the entrance to Hope Town Marina. From our front porch we can watch all the boats coming into and leaving from the Marina. In Hope Town the school children ride the ferry to school each day. It is really fun to watch the ferry go by loaded with school children all dressed in their school uniforms. We usually rent a boat for the time that we are in Hope Town and boat to many of the other islands close by. The water and all of the islands are so beautiful. Each is very different from the other. Hope Town is our favorite because it is a really cute little town complete with small shops, a grocery store and bakery, post office and coffee shop. We always meet such interesting people in the coffee shope and the grocery store. Vernon who owns Vernon's grocery is a real character and a real gentelman. They have the most wonderful home made bread and pies. If you are there early enough you can get one of their famous Key Lime pies. There are also lots of great places to eat. There is nothing as wonderful as fresh coconut conch eaten overlooking Hope Town Marina. The town is also composed of beautiful little homes painted in bright Caribbean colors. The street that the little cottage in this painting sits on is really named Lover's Lane. I cannot help but steel a kiss from by hubby as we pass by.

Big Smiles!

Phillis

Calling a picture done...

2011-08-25T19:28:00.001-07:00

It takes me a long time to call a picture done. Mostly because I'm not a good enough painter yet to accomplish what I'm trying to accomplish. But, in the interest of contributing to our blog, I thought I would re-post this picture taken of a painting I started in April this year. The first photo is after three hours of painting outside with the Pieces of 8. You may recall that session, we were watching and cheering the gorgeous crews of the crew boats going by as we painted.

The second is probably after 10 more hours. (I'm slow.) I finally decided to call it finished today and put my mark on it. That's a major step for me. On my month long adventure in the Everglades I realized that I'm never going to get better at painting if I just keep falling back on digital because it's so quick and satisfying. Thank goodness for the Pieces of 8. They give me reason to keep trying.

Treasure Chest

2011-08-21T05:44:00.000-07:00

This treasure chest is compiled by the Pieces of 8 for the Pen Women Fundraiser Saturday October 8. The speaker will be the Honorable Bruce A. Smathers, former Florida State Senator and Secretary of State of Florida. The treasure chest will be one of the pieces in the silent auction, and contains original works of art as well as other treasures. Members of Pen Women Donna Vines and Carmen Beecher assembled the treasure chest for the auction, which will raise money for a scholarship fund for a deserving student in the arts.

For more info about the event and Pen Women, visit canaveralpenwomen.org.

TOUR EIFFEL, 11X14, ORIGINAL COLLAGE

2011-08-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

I went to Paris this summer, with my friend and fellow artist, Donna. It seems the right time to post my collage . Donna and I have gotten interested in collage work and occasionally spend a few hours surrounded in piles of paper and glue. We came home from Paris with huge sacks full of "all things French" to incorporate into our collages. But, life got in the way and so far we have been unable to give it a try. Here's hoping that soon we will both get in a "collage frame of mind" and continue down the road of paste and paper.

There are some interesting papers in this piece, so I encourage you to enlarge the image.

Purchase here
$120
Carol Schiff Studio

2011-08-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

BAR HARBOR, MAINE LIGHT HOUSE

This light house painting was created from a photograph that I took on a light house cruise in Bar Harbor, Maine last September. We flew into Boston for three days then traveled down to Cape Cod then back up the eastern coast line to Bar Harbor, Maine. We stopped at many beautiful little towns on our ten day driving tour. We saw wonderful light houses in most of the towns.

I am creating a series of small 5"x7" paintings of sights that we have photographed on our travels inside and outside the United States. I worked on this painting this Monday during our regular Pieces of Eight painting time. I brought it home and finished it Monday afternoon. I have several other light houses from our trip that I plan to paint and add to my series. Once I have enough painted I plan to have note cards made to give as gifts. I think that should be fun. Next week I think that I shall post a painting from Hope Town in the Abacos.

Smiles!

Phillis Holland

Happy Mondays

2011-08-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

Ask any member of Pieces of 8 what their favorite day is, and I guarantee they will say "Monday." That's when we meet to paint, cajole, commiserate, encourage, applaud, and laugh a lot. It's the best. Above, Denette and I are having our usual good time.

"Gondolas"

posted by Carmen
Photos by Kathy

Women Painters of the Southeast

2011-08-10T04:18:00.000-07:00

I have been accepted into Women Painters of the Southeast. This is my recent painting posted on that site. Check out the Women Painters by clicking on the painting.
posted by Carmen

WE HAVE A WINNER!

2011-08-08T05:21:00.000-07:00

Pat GrandMaison from North Carolina is the winner of the Dragonfruit painting! She correctly identified the fruit, and gave the following added information:

The night blooming cereus is also called sweet-scented cactus, vanilla cactus, large-flowered cactus and reina de la noche (queen of the night) in Spanish. It blooms once a year, usually in late summer, and bears the largest flower found on St. John. The flower, which is white with yellow stamens, smells like vanilla and can reach as much as one foot in diameter. It opens up so quickly that you can literally watch it unfold right before your very eyes.

Congratulations, Pat!

posted by Carmen

WIN A PAINTING!

2011-08-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

I will send you this painting absolutely FREE if you are the first person to identify this mystery fruit, meaning the big weird pink one, not the little limes (Pieces of 8 members not eligible, which goes without saying, yet I said it anyway).

P.S. The winner: Pat GrandMaison from North Carolina. See the next post.

Carmen Beecher

Back from the Everglades

2011-08-01T05:18:00.000-07:00

I had a great month in the Everglades staying right within the grounds between the Visitor Center and the front gate as the Artist in Residence for the month of July. The park is open 24 hours a day, so being right there you can take a walk at any time. Sunset and sunrise were particularly beautiful. Took over 3000 pictures of gators, lubbers, flowers, vistas and of course, my Liguus Tree Snails. I dropped the exploration of a relationship between the patterns on the snails and the marvelous Seminole patchwork because it became obvious it was a sensitive issue. So, I just enjoyed the snails for their wonderful patterns and how they inspired my art. I think they will inspire it for a long time to come. And I'm hoping to go back frequently.

Mast General Store, 6x8 by Carmen Beecher

2011-07-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

This was the scene in front of the original Mast General Store built in 1882 in North Carolina. W. W. Mast and his family tried to carry all of the items their neighbors might need - from plows to cloth and "Cradles to Caskets," which led to the popular saying, "If you can't buy it here, you don't need it." In contrast with the quaint scene here, the man is on his cell phone.

I am honored to be on the DailyPaintworks.com website now, and I am still on the DailyPainterOriginals.com site also. There are some fabulous artists on those sites, Carol Schiff being one of them, so I'm proud to be included.

Update from the Everglades

2011-07-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

I'm having a great time in the Everglades. As the Artist in Residence for July I have a wonderful little apartment right at the entrance to the park. And since the park is open 24 hours, I can come and go whenever I please. That usually means up and out the door with the sunrise, hiking the trails taking pictures til the heat and mosquitoes are too much for me at 1:30, working on cataloging my images and creating stuff in the cool of air conditioning, and then out walking again from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.

I'm finding beautiful snails, white peacock butterflies, big and little alligators, lubber grasshoppers, marvelous birds, turtles, snakes, deer, tourists from all over the world and what have to be the nicest most supportive rangers and park staff I've ever encountered. I've been here 10 days and the only downer is the lack of internet connectivity. I'm taking a short break in Miami Beach to have access. Then back to the park where you could easily while a way hours just sitting at the overlook at Pa-hay-okee marveling at how amazingly beautiful a swamp can be.

And, for everyone out there 62 or older - did you know that for $10 you can buy a Senior Lifetime Pass at ANY National Park and it's good for free entrance to ALL National Parks for the rest of your life! It has tons of other benefits also, including getting anyone else in your vehicle in free with you. This has to be one of the greatest things for seniors that this country offers. I'm loving it. Don't fail to get one if you haven't already.

Donna, Carol and Courtney do London and Paris

2011-06-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well I am back from our two weeks across the pond. It was a great trip and so special to see these wonderful cities through the eyes of a young person, with all her enthusiasm, energy and sense of adventure. Here are a few photos that Carol took of our adventures.

First things first, these shoes were $1,500 euros and worth it or so we were told.

We shopped every day for fresh fruit and of course breads

Courtney singing along in the subway

I am still tasting the coffee at the outdoor cafes. One of the true pleasures of city life.

The Great Southern White Butterfly

2011-06-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

My good friend Vincent Lamb is a wonderful nature photographer and I am a proud owner of a number of his fine photographs of Florida flora and fauna. When I saw his photograph of this composition, I knew that I wanted to paint it. Vince was kind enough to give me his permission. His photograph of the Great Southern White Butterfly was his favorite photograph for 2010. I love the way he has softened the background elements and focused on the wild aster and butterfly in the foreground. This painting is done in acrylics and is 30"x40". It was a long time in the making as I paint slowly and am not one who paints on the same thing everyday. Often I will have several things going at once. I really do like this painting and hope that Vince would be proud of what I have done from his wonderful photograph. Thank you Vince for sharing so graciously.

Phillis Holland

More collage experiments

2011-06-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow artist Carol and I decided to have some fun with collage again. We weren't quite sure of what to do so we decided to use a wonderful photograph she had of a geisha and see what we could come up with.. The contrasts between her subtly beautiful silk gown and elaborate black hair were wonderful and the mood they evoked was softness and a feeling of gentleness.

The Great Tree Snail Hunt

2011-06-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from a wonderful trip to the Everglades looking for Liguus Tree Snails. They're an inspiration for a project that I've wanted to do that explores the relationship between the patterns on these beautiful shells and the incredible designs on Seminole/Miccosukee clothing. When I first saw the collection of tree snail shells in cases at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center over 30 years ago I immediately thought of the designs in Seminole Patchwork. The relationship seemed obvious. But research back then didn't support a connection. Still, it has stuck in my head that there is one.

The cases have long since vanished - possibly in Hurricane Andrew. And speculation is that the snails with the beautiful colors I saw in those shells are now extinct. During my trip I was able to find and photograph over 50 unique snails at Royal Palm, Pinelands and Pinecrest. As you can see in the three photos of snails here, they are still amazingly beautiful and inspiring.

I also visited the outstanding Ah-tha-thi-ki Museum south of Clewiston to do research on the origins of the clothing in their library. The Museum itself is small but the exhibits are so modern and incredibly well designed it's a real treat to visit. And their collection is said to have over 4000 artifacts, much of it early clothing samples. I didn't even get to that yet!

Last month I purchased Henry's Close's wonderful book on the Liguus (The Liguus Tree Snails of South Florida) and he devoted a small chapter to the connection between the snails and Seminole clothing. And at the Museum library yesterday I found a quote from Harriet Bedell back in 1941 that totally supports the idea. The quest for more information is going to be fun! I have much more research to do and am excited to have the opportunity to be the Artist in Residence in the Everglades for the month of July to continue work on my project.

If you have an interest in Liguus or Seminole clothing, please write!

Something completly different?

2011-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I wish I could take the credit for originating this type of collage but alas I can't. I was directed to this wonderful collage artist, Danny Phillips, and just loved his use of textures, subjects and colors so much I just had to try this technique.

One of the hardest things about doing collage is the backgrounds. It is a delicate balance to find the right amount of "busyness". Not enough background can make it boring and too much can overwhelm your focal point. Using paper strips to make a weathered building look, Danny has found a wonderful way to showcase his subject matter. I used his background technique but choose a different type of subject. I love old postcards, trunk stickers, advertising and moves posters, anything nostalgic seems to appeal to me. I used some old advertising to give this a real "old barn" look.

To see Danny's work go to Etsy www.dannyphillipsart.etsy.com

Waterlily

2011-05-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the charming new president of the Art Students Guild of Brevard, Brett Pigon, and his lovely wife, Kathy, invited us to his fascinating home. This little painting is of one of the flowers in their lily pond.

posted by Mary

Beach Stride, 5x7

2011-05-18T04:22:00.000-07:00

I took this photo from the seventh floor of Mary's condo, as we were waiting for the last launch of the Shuttle Endeavor. I knew it would be a painting the minute I saw it.

It was a gorgeous day, and a gorgeous launch. It's so exciting to watch that bright, bright light breach the horizon, and to feel the rumble a few minutes after launch. Atmospheric conditions were perfect for a good rumble!

BUY

Posted by Carmen

Back on

2011-05-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Carmen and her expertise with technical stuff, I am able to post again.
This painting "Lady Jaguar" is not new, but one that my husband, Joe, likes.
Posted by Mary

Photo Shoot

2011-05-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is a photo shoot. Saying it that way makes it sound very exotic and professional instead of just saying walking around and taking pictures. Yesterday was a photo shoot day and Carol and I went to the old Eau Gallie area in Melbourne in the early a.m. and clicked away. It was great fun and just brought to mind what a beautiful and intersting area we live in. It was also wonderful to walk the neighborhoods and enjoy a bit of old Florida.

We got lots of great photos and hopefully lots of new paintings. Here is a small sampling of the many photos I took (thank heaven for digital cameras) you never know what paintings or collages will be inspired from these lovely images.

A Free Little App for Fans of the Polaroid Look

2011-05-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Pieces of 8 have been painting, but not blogging much. As proof of our efforts, I'm offering up this snapshot of Donna working away on Monday at the Guild. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing. But I gave her photo a special treatment. I'm finally getting around to checking out a pile of articles I've saved from the local newspapers. One of them is this neat little application you can download for free from poladroid.com (yes, that's the correct spelling for the link) that turns any photo into one that looks like it was taken with a Polaroid camera. I dragged the photo to it and it slowly "developed" on my desktop into the attached.

If you like that look, try it, you'll like it. I can vouch for the fact that the app is easy to download and install. It puts a small icon on your desktop that looks like an old camera. Click on it and then drag your photo to where it tells you. You can save as it develops, or let it save when it's done. The source of my information on this little treasure was an Orlando Sentinel article by Etan Horowitz. When did I clip it? I really don't know since I didn't save the date. But, thank you, Etan.

Sketching in the Park, 7x5

2011-05-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

I don't do enough plain old drawing. In fact, I sketch my paintings with my brush and now I'm not used to a pencil any more. So, when we went to the park to sketch, I took photos as well and got one that just begged to be painted. This is Mary Warnick (member of Pieces of 8) in a typical pose. I did do some pencil sketches, but was impatient to get to my easel. Love those squishy paints!
--Carmen Beecher

Is that John Wayne behind the Mesa?

2011-04-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

I have been experimenting again and this time with acrylics and gels. It all sounds very scientific and complicated but it is simple and fun. All you have to do is spread a gel onto a painting surface and then see what happens.
I wanted to try some earth tones and just started spreading some thinned acrylic paints on the canvas. I let them drip and follow the crevices made by the gel, using my brush as little as possible. As it started to take shape it reminded me of a Southwest desert scene. That is what makes this so much fun, you don't know what you will create.

Wonderful Resource for Artists...

2011-04-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

There is a great resource for artists at http://www.morguefile.com/. There are landscapes, bridges, models, animals, flowers, insects, just about anything you are looking for and with no copyright issues; the photographers are sharing their work. It's a lot of fun to just go on the site and search for things.

I especially enjoy the beautiful pictures of birds since I don't have anything close to the equipment or skill to take good pictures of them but I like to draw them. The first image above is one of my favorites and the first that I’ve experimented with. It, like many other wonderful images in the Morgue, is by photographer and IT professional Scott Liddell. You can learn more about Scott on his blog at http://www.scottliddell.com or view his wonderful photography at http://www.scottliddell.net. I took Scott's image into Illustrator, made a modified vector trace of it and then enhanced that view in Photoshop (the second image above).

There are no copyright issues when using images from this site. But when you use images from www.morguefile.com be sure to scroll down to read who the photographer is and if they want to be notified if you use their images. Scott did, and so I did.

FIT Gardens Visit, Part II

2011-04-19T06:46:00.001-07:00

More on our FIT Gardens excursion...
Mary and Carmen both took up positions in the courtyard, set up and actually painted. Occasionally students stopped and chatted with our painters. Tour groups went through on a regular basis. While they worked, Denette, Carol and I wandered around taking more pictures of the little schoolhouse, and found interesting flowers, like the wild ginger shown here.
It's nice to see so much interest in the college and the gardens. If you've never been there and want to check it out, the entrance is on Babcock Street just a few miles south of downtown Melbourne. There is no admission, and it's open to the public from dawn til dusk. Free parking is available near the covered bridge - watch for the red painted markings indicating non-student parking for the Ruth Funk Center and the Botanical Gardens.

FIT Gardens Visit, Part I

2011-04-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

On Monday, five of the Pieces of 8 still in town went on a photo shooting excursion at the beautiful, local FIT Gardens. The light was somewhat elusive down in the jungle like landscape, but when we caught it, it really highlighted the gorgeous plants along the paths. There are giant ferns that look like they've been there since prehistoric times, philodendrons, hibiscus, palms, and more. And the wildlife...(besides us) were lizards, fish, turtles, and birds. We followed small streams, meandered paths, watched the fish in the ponds, traversed little bridges, enjoyed the lovely court yard and were amazed at the frequency of student tour groups. Attached are a few photos to give an idea of the day and the location. Part II, to follow, shows Mary and Carmen who actually broke out their paints for a little plein air painting and a few more pictures from the day.

An artist's work is never done.

2011-04-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Our group decided to do some Plein Air painting before the weather got too hot to be outdoors. Phillis lives right across the canal from a rowing training camp. Rowers from all over the world come there to train, including Olympic athletes. So, being patriotic, caring, supportive women we thought we would do some judging along with our painting, show our young men some support and let them know they are appreciated and appreciated they were. Let's just say not much flora or fauna got painted that day.

Oh my!!

A small causality, Kathy realizes you cannot look through binoculars, hold up your sign and paint at the same time.

A grateful audience shows it's appreciation

Girl, In Anticipation, 16x20

2011-04-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

A little step back into the 17th Century? This is an illustration for a book, and I'm not at liberty to say any more than that right now. Stay tuned...

Posted by Carmen Beecher

Shady Spot

2011-04-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe I turned my back to the water, but I liked this inviting shady little place. It only needs a hammock.

Posted by Carmen Beecher Purchase Here

Plein Air Painting at Gleason Park

2011-04-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

On Monday, almost all of the Pieces of 8 gathered at Gleason Park in Indian Harbor Beach for a morning of Plein Air painting. The weather was beautiful and the park ended up being a busy but peaceful place to paint. We were surrounded by ibis, ducks, sea gulls, even a lovely heron and a large snapping turtle. People were jogging, walking dogs, pushing strollers and in general really enjoying this beautiful setting.

At first we each looked around for a nice view and a shady spot to set up. Carmen chose a mottled path, Mary took possession of a gazebo where two white ducks were kind enough to pose, Cindy, Phillis and Denette took up positions around the lake. I walked around with my camera. Plein Air is a challenge but we all enjoyed the day and plan to do it again soon.

I'll leave it to individuals to post their final works.

Still Lifes From the Attic

2011-04-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

Most of the time The Pieces of Eight meet in the attic of one of the buildings in historic Old Town Melbourne. It is a wonderful place to paint with lots of room to spread out. We often set up a still life to paint and watch as eight very different versions of the same set up emerge across the room. It is so much fun to take a break, step back, and see how everyone has handled the subject matter. I never fail to be amazed at how each individual adds her own magic. Our paintings are as diverse as our personalities. Above are two of the first paintings that I created in the attic. I named the one on the left "White Pitcher" and you guessed it, the one on the right is named "Red Vase" Such an imagination! The Pieces painted outside today in Gleason Park in Indian Harbour Beach. I did not finish my painting while on site but will finish it soon at home. When it is finished, I will post it and try to give it a really mysterious title.

Phillis Holland

Experimenting

2011-04-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

I have been looking at lots of different types of art lately. Collage of course, which I really am intrigued by, and some very non-traditional art which doesn't necessarily use paint but all kinds of different materials. I saw some wonderful painted figures with great dresses made out of shredded paper in an art magazine. They were so unique and whimsical I just had to try one.

My granddaughter loves Marilyn Monroe so I thought I would do a homage to Marilyn combining collage and a newspaper skirt. I had just the photo to do this. I also had an article about her and decided to use that for the collage background. If you look closely at the collage you will see that everything pertains to her and there are even some old photos included in the background. I photocopied the old photo, mounted it on card stock and then cut it out. I glued it on to the collage and then did the skirt. I only used paint on her lips and shoes. I decided to use a silver frame with an Art Deco feel for the finishing touch. My granddaughter loved it and so did I.
Donna Vines

Exercising is NO FUN!

2011-03-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

The assignment was to bring red, blue, yellow and white and we would all paint a set up of a white cup on a colorful cloth lit with a spot. The idea was to mix the colors reflected in the cup and play with the variety of shadows that the colorful cloth and cup would make. Not to mention the fact that we would need to know a bit of chemistry to mix all those colors with just a few tubes at hand.

Welllllll, most of us showed up with a cad red yada yada. The cloth beneath the cup was a gorgeous hot pink...now I am no rocket scientist but there is no way on this earth that cad red and any other color (blue? white?) will ever make hot pink. Problem #1. The next stumbling block came from the fact that to make the spot work we all 8 needed to gather close to the set up and were practically breathing down each other's necks...and some of us got a bum view. I could go on...needless to say, we all griped and moaned and groaned and sounded like a bunch of old sourpusses told they needed an exercise program. And, for artists, this is precisely what it was: an exercise. And a much needed one.

I post my painting only as testament that working at an easel is not all fun and games...sometimes you have to do the heavy lifting and it is neither fun nor very attractive. Believe it or not, as ugly as this is I did learn a few things....hope they show up in my next effort!

Cindy Michaud

Tahitierinnen taking a bath

2011-03-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

Awhile ago our group decided to practice painting the masters for awhile. This was a great excercise for us. We spent a lot of time reading about various artists that we admired and copying their paintings, trying to learn their techniques. It was so interesting to find out how various painters treated light, used and mixed color, picked subjects etc. I think the main thing we learned was that there are as many ways to paint as there are painters. You can copy anyone but that is all it is, a copy. When you really paint or do anything creatively for yourself it is you that comes through.

Or Not

2011-03-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

As we all know the creative process can be painful and long suffering, full of frustration, anxiety, self doubt and angst ... or not. Sometimes you just have to put your feet up and let it flow.

Collaborations

2011-03-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

This week the Seaside Quilters, of which our own Denette is a member and one of the originators of this great idea, had their Collaborations Show. The idea was to put together a quilter with an artist and let them decide what they would like to do. Some artists and quilters worked one on one and some artists had two quilters to work with. The result of these pairings was everything from Rhapsody in Blue to Buddha to Mosiacs to Dolls. It was a great show with lots of wonderful ideas and unique displays.

Eat, Pray, Love Carol Schiff

Florida Wildlife Carmen Beecher

Flowerings Mary Warwick

Oriental Motif Denette Schweikert

Rhapsody in Blue Cindy Michaud

Partridge in a Pear Tree Donna Vines

Back to oils and loving it

2011-03-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was a back to oils day for me. It has been a long time since I have done anything "serious" and I felt it was time. I decided to do a marsh scene because I just love marshes. They have such subtle colors and there is so much going on in them then you first realize. Each season brings it own special colors and beauty to a marsh. This photo was taken in the fall when the colors of the marsh are fading and the trees behind them are reaching their peak.
Kathy took this snapshot which shows the photo I am painting from and my painting about 3/4 of the way done. The photo is a panaramic view so I used an elongated canvas to try and get as much of the photo onto the canvas as possible.

Back to Serious Painting on Mondays

2011-03-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

The Pieces are back to Monday painting. And I wandered around every now and then with my camera to capture the activity. It's so inspiring to see what everyone is up to and to watch the magic as it's happening. (This time, I combined my photos into one because THEN I can control where it goes. Seems when I add in lots of photos they take on a mind of their own with Blogger and don't like to sit where I put them.)

Everyone was doing their own thing, from catching up on collages to serious painting (and for me, not so serious painting). I'm hoping some of the Pieces will jump in and comment about their work shown here. And if they have an updated piece, especially since I'll have to miss the next two wonderful Monday painting days, I'd love to see them here. Hint! Hint!

The Great Apple Collage Project Continues

2011-03-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

Today the Pieces continued their apple collages. We cut, clipped, discovered, glued, chatted, made a huge mess (which we did clean up), and then cut, glued and chatted more.

Did we all finish? No. Did we have a lot of fun? Yes. Progress is duly noted in the accompanying photos. I particularly love Carmen's ransom note signature which I caught her in the act of applying. More photos to come at a future date, I hope, as we're back to painting next week.

And if you missed our previous blog entry about Carol's wonderful giveaway of a beautiful bridge painting, please scroll down to view it beneath all the apples.

PAINTING GIVE-AWAY FROM CAROL SCHIFF STUDIO

2011-02-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

I am excited to say that my art is being featured on a great blog called "art by Karena". To celebrate this honor, I am giving away this painting of the famous bridge in Prague. It's 4x12" on stretched canvas. The sides are painted black, so you may hang it without framing if you so desire. To enter the drawing, just go the the blog Art by Karena and follow her instructions. The winner will be announced on Sunday March 13th. Good Luck!

See Mary Paint

2011-02-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Today and tomorrow you can visit the Brevard Watercolor Society's lovely show at the Azan Temple off of Eau Gallie Boulevard in West Melbourne. Our own Piece, Mary Warnick, is demonstrating today. When I first arrived she had just set up her beautiful tulips to paint and had a soft yellow wash on her paper. Forty minutes later I came back to beautiful pink tulips. I was sorry I had to leave before she finished and will try to post a final whenever I see it.

If you are thinking of attending the show, it's well worth visiting. It's open today and tomorrow. There are three other artists demonstrating, rows and rows of beautiful paintings, two rooms of wonderful originals and prints available at unbeatable prices and very enticing sweet rolls. Lots to do and see, including watching the demonstrators perform their wonders right in front of you.

The Pieces Piece Paper

2011-02-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

Today, our fellow Piece, Donna Vines, lead us all in a collage exercise. She schlepped supplies: piles of paper, matte and gloss varnish, brushes, scissors, small treasures and even our props - apples. She guided us with tips she's gathered from two great collage artists, namely Derek Gores (DerekGores.com) and Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson (www.paperpaintings.com). (Donna and I have both had the pleasure of taking Derek's wonderful collage class at the Brevard Art Museum and she's signed up for Elizabeth's class coming to the Art Gallery of Viera in September.)

Her information and sense of humor got us all off to a good start. These are pictures of the wonderful fun we had today while cutting, tearing, gluing, chatting and finding just the right color in the stacks of paper and magazines. We didn't want to stop, but time flies when you are having fun. More next week as we complete the great apple collage project.

My First Pieces Of Eight Vacation

2011-02-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hello Pieces of Eight fans. I am the newest piece and my name is Phillis Holland. I was lucky enough to join this wonderful group of eight creative women just weeks before the annual Pieces of Eight retreat. We headed for the mountains of North Carolina for a week of fun, food, and comradery with a bit of painting thrown in for good measure. It is such a great joy in my life to have made friends with this extremely talented group of women. They are all so nurturing and encouraging that one cannot help but grow as an artist. With the gracious help of Kathy Garvey, one of our pieces, I am finally creating my first post to our blog. I have included several pictures that I painted on our retreat. Now that I have learned the new skill, I will try to keep posting as the paintings accumulate.

A wonderful surprise

2011-02-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

Today was a very exciting day for me. I entered a small oil in the Strawbridge Art League Mini-Visions Show and won the Van Dyck Oils award. This is my first major award and I am thrilled to win an award that honors such a remarkable man.

Painting versus Digital

2011-02-12T08:39:00.001-08:00

The attached image shows three "before" and "after" photos of last Sunday's venture to Rock City Gardens. (Clicking on it should make it larger.)

My original intent (many years ago) was to use Illustrator and/or Photoshop as a starting point for planning watercolor paintings. I love watercolor, but tended to play so much with the design elements that I lost the overall composition. With watercolor, you can't really recover - there's no getting back those beautiful light colors if you paint them away!

But then, using Illustrator and Photoshop kind of took over, for several reasons. One is that I still can't paint as well as what I create in both of these tools. Another is that I found painting from something I already created boring. But probably the main reason is that digital art is so incredibly powerful and fast! I can often build what's in my head in either tool in about an hour where I used to spend twenty or thirty hours on a watercolor and still not get the look I wanted.

I still want to paint. I like putting watercolors on paper and also because my digital art at this point exists mainly in my laptop. Getting it to look in print like it looks on screen is still a major issue for me. But I'd love to hear from others how they feel about digital art versus painting. And how they feel about photo manipulation in general. I'm not a skilled photographer, so maybe that's why I don't have any qualms about changing a photo into what looks more like a watercolor. Any opinions?

Rock City Gardens is Awesome!

2011-02-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

I drove south on Sunday looking for an orange grove to get pictures to finish my image shown in an earlier post. On the way I stopped at one of my favorite places, Rock City Gardens which is a huge garden shop on US 1 several miles south of Sebastian, Florida. The sky was slightly overcast and there was very little breeze. The gardens have a lovely walking path around a lake, beautiful fountains and incredible plants - bromeliads, ferns, orchids, trees, vines, you name it, they have it. (I don't even recognize the beautiful blooming vine I captured above.) I filled up my head with garden plans and my camera's memory card with beautiful pictures. What a wonderful place! Not only do they know everything about plants, they were even able to direct me to an orange grove several miles further south. Beautiful place, beautiful plants, beautiful people! If you're a gardener or a photographer, I highly recommend a visit.

CONTEST WINNER, Three Palms with Sunrise, 8x10, Oil, Carol Schiff Studio

2011-02-07T09:54:00.000-08:00

Today is my lucky day as I was just notified that this painting won 1st Place in the January challenge of Kay Zahn's Streetview Paint-Off. To say that I am thrilled is an understatement. Kay is a wonderful lady and artist who believes in supporting original art. If you have not been to her website, or joined her challenges, I hope you will consider giving it a try. It's lots of fun.

I want to remind everyone that I am having a painting give-away on my Etsy sites. Between now and March 31, 2011, make a purchase at either site, CarolOnEdge or CarolSchiffStudio and you will be entered one time for each purchase you make. On March 31, 2011, I will draw out the name of the lucky winner and ship a 6x8 painting, a $99. value, to the winner free of charge. It could be you! Good luck!

Triplets, 8x6

2011-02-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

In response to Kathy's post with all the pears, here is my painting. Put a roomful of artists together, give them a subject, and no two results will be alike. That makes it fun.

BUY

Something Old Something New

2011-02-03T04:33:00.000-08:00

As Kathy mentioned Cindy and I worked on a few process for an old technique last Friday. I love handpainting old black and white photos but it is a long process with lots of time in between for drying. Cindy forwarded me a website that uses panpastels. The woman's name is Dianne Poinski and she has developed a wonderful way to hand color old photos using panpastels. She has an e-book and course available and you can email her at diannepoinski@aol.com for more informatin.

Fun with a Still Life

2011-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Last Friday the Pieces of 8 got together to paint. Carmen set up a beautiful still life of some wonderful pears. Denette, Phillis, Mary, Carol and Carmen braved painting the still life. Their results were beautiful and I'm waiting for them to show up here! Cindy and Donna worked on a technique for hand coloring photos. Those should be showing up here soon, also. I dabbled with my watercolors. The Pieces are so much fun to be with and I'm glad it's OK if we don't paint the set up because I've never been good at still life!

But the set up was so beautiful, I came home and played with it in Photoshop. I never know when to stop, so here are Carmen's lovely pears in a variety of views.

And because the pears reminded me of little birds and of how much fun we're all having, the final view was modified further. In case the text is too small to read... "Do you think anyone would mind if we just had a few grapes?" "Mmmmm..." "Not looking, not looking. Don't tempt me. On a diet. Don't even think about it."

The Palate is a SELL OUT!

2011-01-31T06:44:00.000-08:00

If you were lucky enough to purchase one of the limited-edition cookbooks, "The Artist's Palate," around the holidays then you will be very interested to know that we are sold out! Yep, every single book is gone and we've had requests for more. But alas, we are on to other projects so if you missed getting your own copy you will just have to borrow one or wait for next year when we unveil something new. Our goal was to share the wonderful recipes we enjoy on our annual retreat, show you the variety of art our gang produces AND put a few bucks in our "kitty" for some education or supplies. Mission accomplished, thank you all. The feedback is that they made great gifts for friends throughout the holidays.

Quite a few of us are involved in a collaboration with quilters which will open in March -- we'll share the details here so you don't miss this free event. The winter has also prompted us to dabble a bit and we've been experimenting with polymer clay, hand colored photographs and collage....it helps regenerate the idea-bank to go play in someone else's sandbox for a while! And you can bet we have had lots of discussion regarding our next great "gift-able" idea to be unveiled at our annual studio tour next December. See you there!

Cindy (for all the Pieces)

Cleaning House

2011-01-28T03:48:00.000-08:00

Now that I have finally caught up on some things and it is well into the new year, for resolutions anyway, I am tackling some photo projects. One of these is to go through old art photos and get rid of them or save them to a disc. This is really a good thing to do because you can see changes in your art and your interests as time goes by.

This photo is a hand colored black and white I did of Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, MA. I haven't done any hand colors photos for a long, long time but my interest has been piqued by some new techniques a fellow artist alerted me to. Seeing these photos reminded me how many wonderful ways there were to express yourself and how many talented people there are out there willing to share their talents and knowledge.

Orange Blossom Photoshop Experiment

2011-01-24T15:35:00.000-08:00

In Home Depot a few weeks ago, buying paints to redo a bathroom and, as always, toured the floral department. They had lovely orange trees in bloom and my camera captured a few blossoms. When I had some time to play with Photoshop this week, the blossoms were my first choice. Usually I like to experiment with my favorite filters on the entire image, choose the filtered version I like best and use that to continue whatever I'm going to do with the photo. This time I decided to keep all of the filtered versions and then mask them to each other with different blend modes. So there was a little piece of each showing that I enjoyed just playing with. (For anyone interested, the filters were Graphic Pen, Colored Pencil and Photocopy. The blend modes were Pin Light, Hard Light and Luminosity, although probably not in that order.) One circular masked area was a little dark so I copied a section of the original blossom into it. After lots of other blends and experiments that I decided against, I took the original image, copied it above all my other layers and added a gradient mask to reveal the layers underneath. I've decided it still needs something and plan to go hunting for an orange grove to photograph so I can blend it into the bottom right of this image. Anyone have a picturesque orange grove?

PAINTING GIVE-AWAY FROM CAROL SCHIFF STUDIO

2011-01-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

I am having a painting give-away on my Etsy sites. Every time you purchase a painting from CarolSchiffStudio or my other site, CarolOnEdge, between January 1, 2011 and March 31, 2011 you will win a chance in the drawing. Now I would like you to think that I will sell several hundred paintings during that time, but the truth is the number will probably be under 25-30. So your chances would be very good of wining the free 6x8" painting which is a $99. value. This is my way to thank those of you who support my Etsy sites and original art. I will announce the winner on April 1st. No Joke! Good luck!!

It's just a bunch of carrots, but it reminds me of one of my favorite meals, Beef Bourguignon. With another cold front on it's way and the possibility of more freezing temperatures, a day at home with a meal simmering in the slow cooker sounds like a win/win situation. Give it a try!

Purchase here
'Just a Bunch of Carrots'
4x12, oil

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

2 TBS olive oil
8 slices bacon, diced
4 lbs beef chuck roast cut in small cubes
Salt
Pepper 8-10 carrots peeled and sliced diagonally
4 yellow onions sliced
4 large cloves chopped garlic
4 cups red wine
2 cups beef broth
3 TBS tomato paste
1 tsp thyme
1 1/2 lbs sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup flour

Mix flour with salt and pepper. Dredge beef cubes, then brown in olive oil. Put in slow cooker.
Saute bacon, onions, garlic, more salt and pepper until slightly brown. Add to slow cooker. Add the red wine and enough beef broth to cover. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Cook on approx 8 hours, until meat is very tender. During the last hour, saute the mushrooms and add them to the stew.

Delicious smells will permeate your home all day.

I like to serve this with home made mashed potatoes or salad and crusty bread.
Think of me while you are enjoying this.
Carol Schiff

Collage Time

2011-01-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

After many delays I am starting a new collage project. I have most of the design done but need to do some practice pieces to get the feel of the process itself and see what my larger collage would look like. It is a lot of preparation but the getting messy part is lots of fun.
I have taken two wonderful workshops with Derek Gores and stumbled upon a very different but equally as wonderful artist, Elizabeth St. Hillaire Nelson. Her process is completely different and I hope to use a combination of both styles to complete my final collage. Elizabeth has a great blog www.ElizabethstHilaireNelson.blogspot.com take a look, I know you will be impressed and love her work.
This is a pear I did to get the feel of working with the glue, paper and the tearing of the paper. I think it will be an interesting, fun project and hopefully a beautiful one.

Just Playing Around

2011-01-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

I like to take a simple doodle and then play with it in Illustrator and Photoshop just to see how far I can go. (Maybe because I'm trying to learn how to stop before I kill the entire design with pattern before I ruin the composition like I often do when I paint.) So here's my first doodle of the new year. The Illustrator version was just called Broken Vase. (Not sure why I love a nicely shaped vase with a break, but all my doodled vases seem to have them.) Once I added a scene to the window in Photoshop, I decided that the flowers were thinking of escaping so the Photoshop version became Thoughts of Escape.

Keeping a New Year's Resolution or two

2011-01-10T04:48:00.000-08:00

I'm fairly new to the Pieces of 8 and one of my New Year's Resolutions was to start posting to this blog. It took me a while, but here it is! Another resolution was to submit a design to something online. The above is a fabric design submitted to Spoonflower.com for one of their contests. This contest was called Large Botanical and just required that the image use the assigned color palette. It took me a while in Illustrator and Photoshop to finally get it together and submit "Moonflower" above. Two resolutions down, only about 30 more to go! Joining the Pieces of 8 has definitely been an inspiration. Can't wait to go paint today.

Brrrr

2011-01-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well, we are sort of back, dribble by dribble. Some of the pieces were scattered to the four winds and some stayed home but we all had lots of shopping, cooking or company over the Christmas holidays. We are slowly getting back into it. We have only had one day together in a long time so our postings are a little slow but we are all excited to be back.

Even though is is not as warm as it usually is in sunny Florida, it is a heck of a lot better than most places, especially Northern England where my sister Barbara is visiting this winter. She took this photo in back of the house where she is staying. She was taking the dogs for a walk along the moors and stopped by the church cemetery for a peek. She is a wonderful photographer and I just love this photo, it is full of hard, cold, softness. I had to share it.

Derek Gores Workshop

2010-12-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I have been away for awhile but hopefully I am semi-back and after the holidays will be back in full force.

I was fortunate enough to be in one of Derek Gore's workshops recently. He is a local Melbourne collage artist with a national reputation. If you have not seen his work go to derekgores.com and see just how talented he is.

Most of the students were doing portraits but I was trying a play on The Twelve Days of Christmas, A Partridge in a Pear Tree. The pears would actually be the tree. Well it didn't exactly work out as I had hoped but I learned what not to do and how to better get where I wanted to go, which is the real purpose of a workshop, or so I kept telling myself. So, my pear tree looked more like a pear (prayer) wheel. (get it).

Here is a photo of the very beginning of my first attempt. I have already changed direction and have scraped off some of the canvas.

and some of the other students work, a portrait

and a landscape

I will not show you my end result because it was very bizarre, very un Pear Treeish but the workshop was great fun and I am ready to give it another try.
see you soon.
donna

Kathy's Birdie

2010-12-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

The highlight of every Christmas season is our Pieces of 8 celebration. There's nothing like receiving gifts from creative people, and I was so delighted with Kathy Garvey's creation, above, I had to post it. Not only is the little bird beautiful, but it is holding a teeny version of the painting I did at our Studio Sale. We are always amazed at the things Kathy comes up with!
posted by Carmen