Lime Tree with Birds, oil/c, 20x16 $600 unframed

Busy time of year

Like most everyone else I have had little painting time recently.  I'd love to go to the studio and push a little paint around the canvas.  I really had great plans to do just that, but you know what happens to the best laid plans.

Back Among the Living...

The "Salute to Fort Bend" exhibit is over and I can think about something else.  If anyone is still reading this, the last few weeks have been a mish mash of things getting ready.  Myself and 6 other artists from MSG have all been rushing to put together work having to do with the past, present and future of our area.  And my super family and I dealt with all the logistics of transportation, sales, etc. (What would I do without Hal and Mary) It all happened at a  lovely benefit dinner at Sugar Land's Safari Club.  Owner Allison Wen put out the invitation for the exhibit and we were delighted.  There's not much I enjoy more than an art show.   When everything is hung and lights go on....WOW  I love it!.  I thought it was spectacular.  Now the paintings are hanging in Morton Street Gallery and we're throwing a party Saturday night, Oct. 16th. from 5:30-7:30.  It's open to the public so come on.  You can check it out at our  website www.mortonstreetgallery.net. There's a link on this page.  (I should put it here, but in case I don't do it right!)

"LATE FALL IN FORT BEND" oil/canvas, 30"x30" $1,800

MY ART CLASS

My Thursday morning art class will resume next Thursday at 10:00 til 1.  I have a few openings available.  For more info please call Morton Street Gallery.

Two more of my pieces for Salute to Fort Bend

I'm really not sure either of these is completely finished.  I just decided to take photographs and think about them a while. 

Large Painting number 2

One of the most common sights in this area is a Pecan Tree.....so I thought I'd paint that.  I drove along highway 90 A between Sugarland and Richmond making a mental study of all the trees, a mixture of live oak (my favorite tree actually) looking at the pecans.  One thing that always fascinates me is looking at the sky through the leaves... it's a little like looking through a spider web.  In the fall when the pecans begin to drop there will be cars lined up along the highway and whole families carrying bags to pick them up.  I'm sure some people sell them, but a lot will simply shell them for the enjoyment of the taste.  When I was young we would get out the bowl of native pecans and the crackers and pass the meat around.  It's a nice memory.  (Today, I must admit I prefer to buy them shelled.
Any way, having made my mental notes and taken a few photos, I looked at my big 4 x 5 foot canvas and began.   I'm still working.  It's undergone some changes along the way.  The composition seemed rather static but gets better as I progress (Thankfully)  It's kinda tiring working on a canvas so large.  I used to do it all the time, but age must be catching up with me.  I think of Chuck Close with his hydraulic lift.   Dream on!  I'm posting a few of the photos, but you will ultimately see they bare little relation to the piece.  Anyway, thanks for your interest.

Salute to Fort Bend, Painitng number 1, The Past

A NEW PROJECT JUST CAME UP

My little challenges will have to wait while I complete 3 large (4'x5') oil paintings for an event here called "Salute to Fort Bend."  I am really pleased to have been asked to do this but it will take a lot of my time for the next few weeks.  I need a painting for past, present, and future of the county.  I have one about done and the concept for the others as soon as I get the canvases built.  Fortunately I've been doing a lot of small local pieces and I plan to incorporate that into a large one.  So while I'm waiting on canvas I'll work out the compositions.
I also have a small commission for a client who bought a 10"x10" oil and wants something to go with it.  That will be another of my flowers in vase pieces.  Funny how everything sort of comes up at once. 
So I will do the best I can to keep you posted.  I have to be done by Oct. 1st.

My next challenge...

One of the most difficult things for me is to paint using at least 5 values, all very close in the upper range.  That is a "high key" painting.  The impressionists did it a lot.  So that is my next challenge to myself.  I don't have any pictures yet, because I'm still thinking about what I want it to be.  So bare with me.  This week was an"opening week" for a new gallery artist.  Next week, back to painting.  I hope some of you will send in some of your "high key" paintings or suggestions.  Til then...

SOME RESULTS

Here are two efforts to paint my challenge, one by me and one by a friend, Reg Stark, who shows in Morton Street Gallery.  I would love to see some more and to get comments.  How are we doing?

"Zinnias in Glass", 11 x 14, oil by Fran Knueppel

"White Roses" by Reg Stark, 11x14 oil

Challenge?

Felling the need to push ourselves, some of the other artists here in the gallery and I decided to try some things we hadn't done before, or at least in a very long time.  In the hope that some of you might like to join us, I'm publishing a photo of my set up.
Now, I have the advantage because I have it sitting in my studio.  So, there's really no best, or prize, it's just a  little something that might be fun.  I apologize for the glass vase on the left because it looks almost opaque because I left water in it too long once.  I only mean for you to do what you want.  The other two are glass also, also I must admit the large one looks almost black against the black background.  That said, I hope you'll join us and I'll put them on the blog.  Just send your photo to me at fgk214@gmail.com.  label it still life with glass

A small challlenge

Sometimes its a struggle!

Just so you know I'm doing something.  It's been a work of trial and error.  It's a new paper I've never used and probably won't again.  And I'm trying a mixture of acrylic and wc.  I'm not altogether happy with it and it may go the way of many a painting.  If so, it will be replaced ,by something better I hope.

ON MY DRAWING BOARD. It's Coming, slowly, slowly. Lots of interruptions

Getting back in the groove.

After not working in watercolor for a few years, I'm finding it slow going.  Just trying to get my brain in gear.  It's been a pretty busy week and I'm having to work short periods  intermittently.  Hope to have something to show you next week.  Bare with me.

Watercolor from my Past (sold)

Sketch of the "Frog Prince"

Back to the Drawing Board

After taking a week off while I dug out my studio, checked my supply of watercolors and arches paper and made a severe effort to clear my head, here I am again.  When I do watercolor I like to have fun.  The heading of this blog is a partial sample of "The Seven Deadly Sins as Personified by Frogs".  I decided I needed to let my brain frolic for awhile.  Hence, this sketch.  I'm not sure where it will go.  I hope you will bear with me, make comments and even offer suggestions and critiques while I wander through la la land.  If I can find the pics I'll show some of my previouse adventures in w/c.

Different Direction

Well, it's Monday and the Gallery is closed.  This is my day to think things over.  My thinking is that I need a change.  So, I'm going to work in Watercolor for a little while.  I like to do totally different things in WC.  It always seems a little more playful to me.  My life seems to be in a bit of limbo right now so it turns to fantasy.  I'll be back at work tomorrow and hope you'll be watching for something a little offbeat.

About "Shadows"

When we went to the National Park on Papagallo we had lunch at this hundred year old plantation house.  It was truly a beautiful place.  The surroundings were filled with native plants reminiscent of Arizona, mostly various species of cactus.  The house  itself was located on a rise surrounded by very old native trees.  That day it was hot and dry and what really struck me was the shadows cast by the old trees.  Shadows are a passion of mine probably because they are never exactly what you think they would be.  In fact they are always much more interesting than anything I could imagine.  I wanted to express the feel of the day.  I'll probably experiment more with it.  Different colors, just little things until I feel it is just right.  I'm not sure at this moment just how but it will be an interesting challenge for me.  More and more I want to capture that specific moment, just how I felt, what I thought.  I'm still somewhat of a novice at landscapes, but what always matters most to me is the emotional response.  You'd think after painting all this time it would come easily but there's always so much more I want to say.

"Shadows", oil, 11x14 $295

Well, our show is over for awhile.  I pretty much took off since to work in my flower gardens while the weather is nice.  Soon it will be too hot and I want to be through by then to enjoy the results and paint.  We had hoped for more guests, but we sold a few, made a few bucks to buy more art supplies.  I hope some of you will look at Mick McGinty's new landscapes.  They're really nice.  His link is on this site.  And the artists in the show with me, Reg Stark and Steve Conrad have some really interesting pieces.  Steve has a blog called "I'llpaintthat.blogspot.com". 

"Basket of Fruit" 5 x 7, oil in frame (we had fruit every day on the table)

"No Twilight", mixed media,, 16 x 20

Off the deck

More on Costa Rica

Have been very busy working toward a showing this weekend so I haven't had much to say.  Here are two of the pieces I have just finished.  The first photo is one I shot off our deck again in Costa Rica.  I hope you might be interested in just how I get my ideas.  I had an accomplished artist tell me once that he only painted a location after he was no longer there.  At long last I think I truly understand what he meant.  Now, several weeks later I remember mind images that I felt at the time.  One thing I remember is that at 5:30 in the evening and by 6:00pm it is completely dark.  There seems to be no twilight. So here is the photo and here is my remembrance.

This is what I saw......

...and this what I painted ."Casa in the Trees", oil, 16 x 8, $ 375, SOLD

Costa Rica

Now I am back working on some ideas that came to me from my trip to Costa Rica.  This painting is based only on some trees outside our house there.  Several of them had white trunks, and although it was March they had very few leaves.  The guide said this was because we were on the "dry" side by the Pacific.  He said to see this area green we should come in December, just after the rainy season.  My bedroom looked out over this side of the house and I could see the water through the trees.  That said, this is the painting.  I plan to put it in my upcoming exhibit at Morton Street Gallery, where I will be showing with Reg Stark and Steve Conrad.  More of their work can be seen on http://www.mortonstreetgallery.net/  or on the gallery blog,
http://www.mortonstart.blogspot.com/.  

"All in a Row", oil, 10x8, $ 95

"Pot of Gerbera Daisies" oil, 5 x 7

I was asked to paint some small florals and these daisies were blooming in my garden.  They are one of my very favorite flowers.  I am always hesitant to cut them because I love them in the garden, but I love them in the house too.  Anyway, here is one of the small pieces I did by request.  I hope you enjoy.

Some of my shots didn't come out, but this is the view from our deck.

A Few Problems

While I was on vacation in Costa Rica, the battery in my camera died.  So much so that I have just got things going again.  That's what I get for going on vacation-too much fun.  And we've had out of town guest ever since I got home.  I've squeezed in a little painting tho, and hope to be back on a roll next week.

Shady Scene, 5" x 7", oil. Available $75.00

Costa Rica

Here I am sitting in a lovely home in Papagayo Penninsula looking out over the Bay.  We went for a sunset cruise on it last evening.  It was quite an adventure, returning up a steep mountain path in the dark with only one flash light between us.  Having survived, I just returned from the club house for a delicious, but unusual lunch with a beet gaspacho, some very good bread of a sort I've never had spread with hummus or olives spread.  There is a lovely pool outside my door beckoning me.  However, I think I'm about ready for my siesta.  I have some interesting ideas for paintings if I can just get them on paper, and one that I painted in my dream which won a hugh prize.  Would that it were so.  However, I just found out I sold one of my small pieces, so I'm glad to know I'm earning something on my vacation.  Pictures later.

Going on Vacation

I'm leaving this week end for a week in Costa Rica so don't look for anything until around the 25th of April.  I am looking forward to spending the time with my oldest daughter and her family and have never been there.  But it will give me a chance to get a fresh look on things.  Thanks for stopping by.

"Talking It Over", 10"x8", oil

This couple seemed involved, but not involved.   I almost titled it, "where do we go from here".

"Waiting" oil, 8"x10" available $ 125 SOLD

I started some time back to paint people sitting on benches, and got sidetracked while working on some larger pieces.  So I decided to try it again.  Most of them are of people in the Malls.  I always wonder about people that I pass .  Things like where they're going and what is their life is like.  And I wonder if they ever look at me driving by or eating at the next table and wonder about my life.  I've thought about them as shadow people... people we see but don't see really.  Actually I would like to paint a series on "shadow people", but I have to figure out how I can do it first.  So, my bench people are sort of a prelude (hopefully) until I can work out the logistics to capture these thoughts on canvas.

Purchasing Art

Please contact me at "fran@mortonstreetgallery.net" to purchase.  We take  Amex, MC, Visa

"Red Daisies", oil, 14x11. Available. $ 95 + S&H unframed

Anniversary Party at Morton Street Gallery Over

Well, the anniversary party is over and everyone had a fantastic time.  The Snake Charmers entertained with great bluesy, rocking music along with guest singer Gail Bixler.  All the gallery artists and their friends and family stayed afterwards for a pot luck dinner and some wonderful lasagna courtesy of The Italian Maid Cafe in Richmond.  It has taken me all week to recover, but I'm back now and starting some new work.

"Cafifornia Sierras", O/C, 14x11, $ 175 unframed +S&H

Been painting again doing my "Travel Series" of smaller paintings.  They are references from photos taken when we go around the country.  This California scene was taken on one trip out that way.  It was just a shot that appealed to me.  I really like bare trees, young or old.  There is something very human about them to me.

"Morning Sun", oil on canvas, $295 unframed.

New Paintings

I finally had a chance to do some more painting today.  The rest of the week was nice because a lot of friends came by to visit.  But that doesn't leave much painting time. This painting is of my brother's back porch early one morning.  The sun on the table and the flowers just begged to be painted.  My brother is ill and this is a reminder of a lovely weekend with him in Horseshoe Bay.

"Study for Arkansas Forest" 6x5 SOLD

"A Walk in the Park", oil on canvas. 6"X6". Unframed $ SOLD

This is a study for some paintings I 'm doing of a trip to South Dakota. Hot Springs, SD is my husbands home town.  Although only cousins live there now, he loves to visit the Black Hills. This was a rest area along the road there.  As usual I have taken some liberties with it, but the escense is there.

Friends sent me a beautiful arrangement and when it died, these little purple flowere were all that was left."The Leftovers", oil, 7"x5", SOLD

Well, I finally got my "fog painting".  I think it's done.  Anyway, I learned a good bit about painting fog.  It was definitely a trial and error process, but overall  I like it.

Early Morning Fog, oil, 18x24

This tree had grown around the rocks in such an unusual way, it intrigued me

Took a trip to Horseshoe Bay and thought it interesting to see the contrast between the cactus and Lake LBJ