Renewed Inspiration Comes from Great Podcast

This morning I noticed a little link on the bottom of Carol Marine's blog which linked to a podcast where Carol was interviewed by Jessica Watchorn on the ArtPro Podcast. I went ahead and clicked on it and listened to the interview. It was very well done. Jessica asked great questions and Carol was very generous with her answers. Listening totally renewed my enthusiasm for daily painting which had been lagging a bit lately. After listening I immediately pulled out some oil paper and cut it into small blocks. Then I painted five small oil paintings over the course of the day while listening to other episodes of the ArtPro podcast. The idea was that each small painting was not costing much in materials or time and it didn't matter if they worked or not. It was very freeing. As it turned out, I was pleased with my efforts and decided to post them on Daily Paintworks for sale with initial bid of $3.

Here's a photo of some of today's group drying on my mini washing line with tiny clothes pins which I'd had left over from a previous project.

If you want to check out the podcast go to artpropodcast.com . I recommend it highly. Jessica is providing a wonderful service with her podcasts and the artist who have agreed to allow her to interview them are also providing a great service to the entire artist community. Thank you for watching my work develop www.jfrederickart.com

Pastel Demo Painting

Against my better judgment I was talked into doing a pastel demo at the Central Texas Pastel Society booth at the Georgetown Market Days last Saturday. Surprisingly it went pretty well despite how rusty I was with pastels. I posted the resulting painting on Daily Paintworks today and was thrilled to have them make it one of their Facebook Picks for today. Guess it's good to step outside the comfort zone once in a while. I used my new easel which I had just bought from Joshua Been when we stopped and visited him at his wonderful gallery in Salida on our way home from camping in Colorado. Even though it wasn't designed for pastels, it did a superb job for me. I loved it. Can't wait to use it as it was designed for my oils. www.jfrederickart.com

Back to the Birds!

I'm back to the bird paintings today. This one was from a photo I took on my birdbath. It was one of my favorites. I just loved the unusual pose that lent itself perfectly to this composition. www.jfrederickart.com

Don't forget to stop by Austin Java on Barton Springs to see all the paintings I have showing there this month.

PAINTING A FEELING...

I'm not sure that this painting really expresses my feelings, but I know I was feeling loss when I painted this one. I took the photo reference at a lovely little lake in Denver near the home of my sister-in-law and her beloved husband, Ron.  We took a nature walk around the lake in Ron's honor, the morning after he passed away from cancer (a year ago next week). It was one of his favorite places. They had become avid bird watchers and this lake provides a huge variety of birds to watch including this American avocet. Ron was a very sweet and gentle soul and he is deeply missed by everyone who loved him. www.jfrederickart.com

NEW SHOW AT AUSTIN JAVA - BARTON SPRINGS

If you get the chance, please stop by Austin Java, 1608 Barton Springs, Ausin, TX to see 40 of my latest paintings on exhibit through May. The collection includes landscape, still life, wildlife, figurative and floral. It's a little bit of everything I've been painting lately. They are mostly oil paintings, but I've even included a few of my best pastel paintings for variety. Purchases can be made directly through Austin Java. www.jfrederickart.com

Off On Another Direction...

I know I promised to put together a series of Arizona paintings (can a series be two?)...but I took a four day workshop with Nancy Tankersley a couple of weeks ago and have moved off in another direction. Now I'm having fun painting figures. Nancy's workshop is all about painting figures from photos. This is the second time I've taken her workshop and each time I feel like I've progressed so far. Besides all the paintings I did in the workshop, I've started painting from photos I've taken with figures in them instead of avoiding them. I'm just not scared of figures any more and I'm actually enjoying painting them. Here are a few of my most recent ones. I also tried a new painting surface. The Tijuana woman is painted on Arches Oil Paper - my first painting using that paper. I knew a lot of artists are using it and talking about it, I finally decided to try it myself. I did like it. It's really a nice surface to work on.

"Finally Got It" 6x6 oil on panel click here for more info.

"Tijuana Woman Walking" 8x4.75 oil on paper
click here for more info.

"Harvesting at Boggy Creek Farm" 10x8 oil on panel
click here for more info.

"Shell Collector" Chosen for Daily Paintwork's Facebook Pick of the Day

My painting "Shell Collector" which I posted on Daily Paintworks last night was chosen by DPW to be featured on their Facebook page as one of their picks of the day. I'm honored!

As I mentioned in the write up about this painting on DPW... Those who have taken a workshop with Nancy Tankersley may recognize the photo this was taken from. I painted it in Nancy's workshop and she gave me permission to use her photo and to sell the painting if I chose. I really liked the way this one turned out. The photo I used was simply black and white. I had to make up the colors. I made it a beach rather than grass. It could have been either from the photo. The woman's bending over posture created an appealing shape.

I really feel like I learned a lot in Nancy's workshop. If you get the opportunity to attend one of her workshops, I can definitely recommend them.

Thank you for viewing my art. If you would like to see more of my paintings please visit www.jfrederickart.com

New Arizona Series of Paintings

My painting has just become revitalized after a rather long dry spell. I'm using photos taken on our recent trip from Texas through New Mexico, Arizona, California to Tijuana Mexico and back. It was a lot of driving, but since I never get to drive I got to take a lot of photos out the windows as we sped down the highways. A lot of the photos were awful. It never fails, you frame, shoot and where did that road sign or billboard come from? Oh well. I guess if you take enough photos at least a few of them will pan out. Here are the first two paintings from photos taken on the trip. Both available on Daily Paintworks

"Sun Kissed Rocks" 6x6 oil on panel

"Saguaro Skyline" 6x6 oil on panel