Monthly Archives: February 2011

This drawing resulted from a trip to Grand Cayman Island when I was visiting my brother Jim Rauch. My brother lived for years right on the sandy white beaches that were next to the turquoise blue carribean ocean. The water in Grand Cayman is so clear that you can see as if you were in a swimming pool when you are snorkling. The shells and the tropical foliage were facinating to me. One day I happened to notice that certain things in flowers reminded me somewhat of some of the lines I saw in shells. This drawing was made to show a connection between the sea and the land. I call it “Genesis” because the shell is beginning a transformation into a flower.

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"Relativity" by David Craig

I thought it would be fun to share with you a fabulous drawing of Einstein that my son David Craig did.  David gave the drawing to me for a Mother’s Day gift.  The facial features have been distorted to add  interest in the face.  Its a charcoal drawing and is one of my most treasured pieces of art.

My son began drawing as soon as he was old enough to know what a pencil was.  Since I taught art for 23 years,  I could see very early on that he had been given a gift with his drawing skills.  When he was two years old his Christmas gifts were a little table and chairs, with every kind of art material that he could want to draw and paint with.  He began to draw and has been drawing beautiful pictures ever since.  I am going to share with you some of the wonderful drawings that he is now producing as an adult artist. 

“Relativity” is one of my favorites.  I will be sharing some more of David’s work with you in another post.

"Wedding Day" original acrylic

Today I added pink poppies to my new painting named “Wedding Day”.  Some of the poppies are so very pale in color that they have become nearly translucent.  I wanted to use this color so that you can easily see how fragile the poppy blooms are.  I also used it to add a dramatic element to the lights and darks in the painting.  When very light and dark colors are placed next to each other it is easy to obtain drama on the canvas. 

I also used hot pink in some of the poppies today.  The hot pinks add warmth in the painting.  If you look closely at the petals you will be able to see a few rays of sunlight dancing on the poppy blooms.  This is something that I have noticed in my own garden.  Some blossoms seem to capture the sunlight, while other blossoms hide down in the shadows. 

The other new colors you will see in the painting today are the yellows in the native grasses.  I added these yellows to add warmth in the painting,  as well as to bring the grasses forward in the painting.  When looking at the painting you will notice that the warm colors are advancing and the cool colors are receeding.  This helps to give the painting a three dimensional feeling. 

When the paint is dry I will place another coating of thinned medium on top of the entire painting.   This will add yet one more layer to the finished piece.  Tomorrow I will decide on the placement of the big red poppies.  The red poppies will be one of the most critical decisions in the painting.  I want the reds and purples to be the dominant colors.  Red and purple are Chris and Rita’s wedding colors.

This painting came from a photo trip last spring in the Texas Hill Country.  The area is located near Fredericksburg, Texas.  This particular area is absolutely stunning in the spring when the wildflowers are beginning to bloom.  The road is called the Willow City Loop.  Rick and I drive it each spring because it is so beautiful.  This was one of the most gorgeous spring days I have ever seen.  It was warm and sunny and there was a gentle spring breeze blowing.  When I got out of the car to take photos of the wildflowers I was actually at the base of a hill.  As I took the photos I noticed that there was an old windmill in the distance.  I loved the view through the camera looking up the hill towards the oak trees and old windmill.  I have painted the view I had when I was at the base of the hill looking upwards towards the blue spring sky.   I’m not sure what the bright yellow wildflowers are, but they were brilliant against the deep blue of the bluebonnets.  They are not poppies.  They looked a little like buttercups, but I don’t think that they were.  The Indian paintbrush were just beginning to pop up among the other flowers, throwing their firey red mix into the landscape.  The warm spring sunshine against the vivid colors in the wildflowers was magical!

Shipping

Small pieces – $13.00, large paintings – $25.00, large items – “inquire for quote“.