December

Finally, I’ve finished the two pieces I started over a month ago and can share them with you! These were projects from my time in Coushatta, Louisiana with one of my Instagram Art idols, Karen Mathison Schmidt, learning some of her techniques. I felt so fortunate to be able to get individual attention from her while spending four days at her farm. Karen has a beautiful style that brings bold color and elements of design to domestic subject mater in ways that strongly speak to me. I’m still trying to find my way to my own voice. I welcomed the chance for inspiration and influence from Karen.

The Coushatta experience is part of this journey of exploration I have embarked upon. I don’t know where the styles and media I am exploring will land with me, ultimately melding into a style I can call my own. You will see me trying to dash off Alla Prima oils. That’s definitely a 180 turn from the colored pencil techniques I’m used to. At other times, I may dab in colors side by side and cut into the negative spaces to define the shapes as Karen does. And then, there is a technique Karen exposed me to that was completely new to me: using multiple thin, transparent overlapping glazes of acrylic paint.

The sunrise landscape below was inspired from Karen’s own photo taken in the woods near her home. I learned a great deal but have to say I struggled a lot with this one. It required reliance on instinct and imagination and required cutting in lots of negative spaces to make the leaves, branches and sky holes pop. I admire these pieces in Karen’s work but know I have a long way to go to succeed at this technique.

Karen was wise to pick up on the love of dogs and cats that we mutually share. We perused photos and ultimately decided to paint from one of my favorite photos of Biscuit, my rat terrier, taken on a trip to Anna Maria Island, Florida several years ago. She saw the potential in this image to apply techniques using transparent glazes over an underpainting of complementary colors. I took to this process like a duck to water! It shares so many similarity to what I love about colored pencil, the ability to add depth through transparent layers of color application. I couldn’t be more pleased with “Biscuit at Anna Maria Island” 12 x 12 acrylic glaze on smooth gesso board. This technique has real potential!

Thanks for everything, Karen!