BIG SPRING BLIZZARD

When we arrived home from Texas, back into South Dakota, a blizzard was on the horizon!

The blizzard was pretty and intense!

In all actuality there was not a LOT of snow.

About 5 inches. 

BUT, the blowing snow made for some fairly huge mounds of gathered snow.

Like here at the gate that we close at night, but open in the day for the creatures to run in the sectioned off trees.

As you see there was a little blockage.

Today is about 4 days since the blizzard was finished.

As I walk out to the hiking trees there is quite a bit of ice, from snow melting.

And a lot of snow has melted but, there is still quite a bit in places.

The critters enjoy the snow.  They played snow games and rolled in the snow and ate the snow.
Only Baby, our 15 year old Lab, had some issues walking in the snow.

In a few weeks the Gallery will re-open!

April 15th is the re-opening Open House!!!  Be sure to come in and visit with Brenda DeHaan of Rockin Crystals.  She is informative about the stones and creative with them as jewelry!

Visit:  www.stagecoachplatte.com/events  to view the start of the events this season. 

Plan to attend!!!

Lets Have a Paint Party...Okay, what do I do?

This is my THIRD attempt to bring a video into a blog post.  I HOPE I am successful with it this time!

So, you want to have a Painting Party, a wine and canvas, a girls event, a special birthday event...etc.

What do I do? 
1.)  First you contact Mary! :)
2.)  You give me the date I check the calendar. 
(IF a special day is very very important, DO NOT wait until the week before to book the event.  The chance that date is taken is high)
3.)  We discuss subject to paint.  (I get a little background about the group to get a feel for what they may like to paint)
4.)  After I ponder the subject a little bit I do a Demo to present to the initiator of the event.  They can show the group or leave that as a surprise, or use it for advertising purposes if a public event, such as a wine tasting event at a local pub.

I am going to go through a little series showing the process of a painting, one I am using as a Demo.

Video one is giving the painting a background.  I use acrylics.  For many they have never used acrylic paints.  So not only do they go home with a finished painting.  They learn a little about using unfamiliar materials.  Therefor, the party doubles as a lesson.  A sneaky happy aftermath.

I hope you enjoy my little series and follow along.

More I hope the video actually arrives this time :).  Thank you for stopping in!

As You Drive Up...The Retreat..

As I wait for Bonnie and Chad to finish getting me their outline for their classes.  I thought I would show you where the retreat July 25, 26, 27th is being held. 

This is a beautiful place.  Imagine it lush and green and the grasses in the fields grown.  The trees green.  You need to look into the future, this picture is taken today in the middle of the winter!.

Come summer, the fields will have some growth from their planted crop.  You might gaze out and see the deer feeding, at the very least the pheasants.  There are wooded trails, a huge pond all kinds of features that will be perfect for sketching and painting.

The inside of the lodge is gorgeous.  By day the living space will hold a class, probably Chads photography class, since his medium is the least messy.
The other classes are located in one of the other 2 buildings.

A communal kitchen is available for use, but there will not be any served meals.  Town is but 3 miles away and there many delicious eating establishments and a full stocked grocery store.

8 bedrooms, sharing 2 beds and a bathroom, each room.  The first 16 people interested in staying AT the lodge must be willing to share the room, or pay double.  Additionally there are 2 hotels in town and several BandB's.  This information will be forthcoming.

In the evening plan to kick back and resonate the day with the fellow participants around the fire-pit.
You can bring along your favorite evening beverage and store them in the bar area just off the fire-pit.

Come fully prepared for a stimulating yet relaxing weekend surrounded by nature, comrades that will begin friendships, imparting wonderful skills and knowledge.

Come to The Stagecoach Retreat

July 25, 26, 27 2014

 

contact:  Mary email- mshemeral@midstatesd.net

 

to join

 

Chad Phillips www.chadphillipsphotography.com photography

Chris Cernetish www.pastelchris.com pastel painting

Mary Hunt www.maryshuntstudio.com staining the glass

Bonnie Brahms watercolors

 

We look forward to seeing you here!

The BIG Lamp Reveal

Here are the final results of the lampshade and the story I hope to portray.
As you saw in the last post the paint is fired onto the lamp from the inside. This means there is NOTHING painted on the outside of the lamp. You gaze at the image when the lamp is lit. Unlit it just appears as shadows. Lamps are incredibly hard to photograph...and then I went through a gazillion images until I decided on these.
The first image shows life on the trail for the homesteader pioneering west to their piece of land...indicated with a Homestead Ticket..which is shown in the next image.

Along the way many didn't make it...indicated with the memory of a grave marker. Other places on the lamp are snippets of journals, as many pioneers documented their journey.
The grass was tall in these times usually 6 ft!

If you look at the left portion of this image and the right portion of the next image you get a sense of the 4th side..."the sod family" which is being featured in a guest post with Anne Gaal. Until then I promised to show that side (in its entirety)



In the meantime here is side 3 the journey made with the wagon, that often was home a bit longer after they made their destination.

Life as a pioneer was extreme.
Extreme bouts of weather
Extreme losses
Extreme dangers

I live in relative comfort in SD and I can admit I would not have fared well as "pioneer stock"
I probably would have made it some how...but I would have complained a LOT!

Reverse Lampshading Process...

I like the shape of a crystal lampshade, so I purchase them, which this is...lets walk through the process of reverse painting with glass on glass in traditional techniques for museum quality. Using a special mix of paint with fine ground glass and an added amount of flux so the kiln can embed these elixirs at a lower temperature keeping my shades shape, we begin with what is called the line drawing. This is painted on the inside of the shade in the reverse pattern of your intended drawing.

I am showing just 2 sides of the shade. The fist one is a pioneer family in front of their sod house...the second image is on the trail setting up camp for supper...

this becomes the first kiln firing..

Next I totally black matte the inside of the shade.

This shows the inside totally black...then with scrub brushes and picks I gently remove the matted paint to give details to the images.

This takes hours depending on how much detail you wish to portray...I am keeping it simple since the images are not going to have a lot of designs on clothes and that sort of thing they used homespun fabrics and basic basic living utensils

The letters Yous view are portraying a homestead certified ticket which would give the homesteader their location to stop...also a portion of journal recording the trip...here you can see how the scrubbed areas respond to the matte being removed...this is the same portion above "on the trail stopping for supper"

and the pioneer family in front of their sod house...

tomorrow this fires in the kiln and sets the matte process into the glass..next is color!

Last of the Christmas orders...done

these are the last 2 commissions that were to be done for Christmas! the 2 small bevel panels were shipped out today...and will arrive Thursday...close!


then the grandma platters...the first set we chose glass that plainly wanted to misbehave...which had me nervous over the whole project..what if the next glass does this too..(it can happen)

so client came and reselected a different sheet for these granny and Nana platters
the children's hands were traced and then i made a stencil of their hands


first i used frits and powders but the purple and pink colors that were to represent the girls were to close to the base composition of the substrate glass
so i ended up having to use enamels..which still set the tone of the color..even tho the bottom plate looks as if both of the pairs of hands are purple
the bigger hands are pink..just where i took the picture absorbed the true colors
these are lead free enamels

the irregular edge lends to a unique arty appeal that says i ordered this just for you
i think you are special!

done in time for Christmas gifting...


how is that list doing there for you??

ho ho ho...

Favorite Piece

What was my favorite piece of artwork....
that would be this piece
Hannah
done in acrylics
I don't do portaits as much as I used to and Hannah's piece was a limbering exercise...

enjoy the weekend
:>)

Reverse Painted Shade Traditional

"Wave Of Conflict" is a traditionally reverse painted lampshade. (in lit state)
I did this one back in the 90's and it won an award at the Museum show I had it entered. Back in Va.
I am showing you this to prepare you for the next few postings that you can follow along for how I get to the finished product.

First of all, I use finely ground grass with mineral and ores mixed to a texture that is like paint.
With a brush I lay the design onto the inside of the shade.
(think reverse of how you traditionally might paint a picture)
this much is fired in the kiln...for painting a crystal such as this shade I have to use low-firing mixtures..technically more flux is added...the temps I am taking this to are no higher than 1100 or my crystal will cave on me.
(yes it happened)

Next step is I matte the inside of the shade...A black "paint" is mixed up then put totally over the inside of the shade
everything gets covered up...then I slowly brush the matte away with special stippling brushes that will lend the texture and subtle shading to my images
after MANY hours of brush away step...the shade gets fired again.

Then each color I decide to use on the images and backgrounds get scheduled as each color matures at a different temperature. So highest temps first and so on...

The lampshade you will watch grow is about the homesteaders moving west. This shade is designated for a museum showing in OK with the Chisolm Trail group..you can see the link over to the right of this post.
Check it out some mighty fine artist are part of this group.

The show is in March ...so I have some work to be doing and fast...Right after Christmas I leave for Texas...and this needs to be done...or I have to drive my ownself down and back..and I am not much on this chore...
so
I am opting for being DONE!

More explanations will be given for each step as we follow the Homesteaders
along their trail to being a reverse shade...

Have a great week!...and thank you for coming by!

AEDM day 30

I wanted to show you these frames. They are a Polystyrene composit sold at http://www.dickblick.com
this is 1 of 9 styles, called the Metro. Some have mattes as well, I ordered the 11 x 14 for 11.99...to me this is a super price for a really nice looking frame..very sleek and contemporary. Also I mounted the painting to a piece of mixed media composition board I painted to compliment the painting...Keeping a nice light weight framed piece. I hope you like my find :)


then Sunday we put the lights on the out front tree..the extent of my decoration requirements

It was warm Sunday but snowing yesterday. I had to wait for it to be almost dark to get a decent picture.

Happy Holidays...buy original handmade artwork and crafts from your favorite artists...help support your friends and family and not the ready made from wal-mart (and the like)...the gift is better appreciated for a lifetime of admiration...just keep this in mind when you make the decision to purchase your gifts this year and to come...
birthdays/anniversaries/holidays of all kinds and ...special thank yous too!

this is the last day for AEDM the tree is my participation...but I am back in the swing of posting more regular...so keep coming back often.

Thank you for coming by!

AEDM 27-28

This is my final for Julie and Chris's Texture Town class...this was a bit more of a challenge than the last one and this time i am putting in the photo we were given.










here is the photo and my beginning
day.











I have started with some color












putting those braket things in...
and pretty much I am done...

this class is all about texture and how to replicate it..learn MORE about the Golden products...you can only grow in these classes...

thank you for coming by!
have a good week!!

AEDM day 22-23

this is my first of two exams to enter into texture town

offered by Chris cozen and Julie prichard

and you can find the information at

http://www.julieprichard.com

(oh and i passed :>) )

any way this is an intense amount of medium used to create the texture part of the painting

so it took around 48 hours to dry...then my process began to replicate a wall that was given to replicate in the lesson

it had old iron scroll work at the top then grime and rust down the stucco wall

or an interpretation of the old wall.

i have new found interest with stencils..but only a few in my possession to choose from

they are widely used in these processes and offer a great amount of relief to the overall look you might be going after in the painting.

so the stencil at the top of my painting is my

interpretation of scrolled iron work

this painting i like...i would buy this painting...rich hues that may not be coming across in the picture

of umber tones which i love..and even though i am not a contemporary fan...i like the contemporary feel to this piece...or maybe i am converting

:)

i came a LONG way from the first lesson offered in this class...

now

i have been "professionally" painting for over 30 years...(in a more traditional style)

if a seasoned professional can gain from Julie and Chris's classes don't you think the novice would...

thank you for looking and enjoy the day

Happy Thanksgiving too

we have a lot to be thankful for!

AEDM day 20-21

I have been diligently working on projects but I don't have anything complete to show...so

Here is the first piece I entered in a show that I used staining techniques...She has over 40 firings to achieve the charcoal look I was aiming for
and I was honored to receive best in show for her...more than 30 years ago!
Mata Hari

She is my own drawing from a freeze frame off the tape I ordered from the history channel "Mata Hari"


Next is the beginning for the next painting which is so heavily textured it is still in drying mode






and I have also still been cleaning the years of grime and paint away from the bevel glass in this restoration, which part is ready for the solder
panel 1 of two...

enjoy the day!
and thank you for stopping in...

go art ppl