Tag Archives: painting

Art Break Wednesday: Ann Goble’s Fine Art

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Today I have a special treat – for me and for you!

First, I get to meet my friend Ann Goble for lunch.  We try to do this every once in a while – not nearly enough!  Ann has been a dear friend for many years, as we’ve both raised our kids and pursued creative careers as well.  Our sons just graduated, but I know our friendship will long continue.

Now the treat for you – I thought I’d share a bit of Ann’s work here to brighten your day.  I’ll have her back for a real interview soon, but I wanted to whet your appetite.21096_805145ss ann b w head shot

Ann began seriously painting in1999.  She has studied under renowned painters including Roseta Santiago, David Leffel, Gregg Kreutz and Marc Chatov.  Her work has garnered numerous awards and hangs in galleries and private collections.

Her paintings are breathtaking.  Here are some of my favorites:

the-boss goble

The Boss – ©Ann Goble. All rights reserved.

camelia-on-white goble

Camellia on White – – ©Ann Goble. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

amber goble

Amber – – ©Ann Goble. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

Ann begins her artist’s statement, “Painting is for me a search for beauty.”  I think you’ll agree she’s found it! You can learn more about Ann and see additional paintings here.

 

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Horses of Los Cob – © Ann Goble. All rights reserved.

But wait – there’s more!  Ann’s mother,  Ruth I. Money, is also an accomplished painter.  (You know, the apple doesn’t fall…)  Ruth and Ann have exhibited their paintings in the same shows before, and if you happen to live in north Georgia, you can see an exhibit celebrating both their careers.  “Mothers and Daughters” runs until July 19 at The Bowen Center for the Arts.  Click here for more info, directions, and images of paintings –  and feel free to leave some love in the comments below.

Art Break Wednesday – Happy New Year, and Painting with Pencil?

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Happy New Year!

I hope 2013 brings you lots of creative inspiration.

I’ve enjoyed reading other folks’ resolutions and plans for the coming year.  I have lots of projects up my sleeve, but at the risk of expending energy in the wrong place (talking about them) rather than the right place (um, doing the work), I’ll keep most of mine close to the vest.  I know myself too well.

Stumbled upon this great quote this week:

    Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)  (G.K. Chesterton quotes are the best.)

I’m already starting the year off a wee bit behind, as I’m getting today’s post up in the afternoon, rather than having ready to go just after midnight each week, which is what I try to do.  But, life isn’t perfect and neither am I;  may as well get all that out of the way early in this New Year.  (Confession:  I still have to take down our Christmas decorations and deliver a couple of “Christmas Eve” gifts… .)

In the spirit of drawing the line somewhere, though, I decided to take a break today from the “urgent” and spend a few minutes actually sketching in my journal.  (One of my goals for this year is to do more of that – sketching.)  AND, I decided to break open a fun new product I ordered in the fall – Pam Carriker’s “Liquid Pencil” Sketching Ink by Derivan.

Step One:  Find my sketch journal. (Yes, I had to look for it.)

Step Two:  Find a suitable subject.  I started out with the tiny young Chihuahua we rescued over Thanksgiving.  She was an eager subject but way too active.  I then settled on a wonderful small red vintage oil lamp that I bought on Etsy a month or so ago.  It has a lovely shape and a variety of textures with its metal base and glass globe.

Step Three:  Jump in.

I was a little skeptical about this pencil-in-a-bottle – what’s wrong with drawing with an actual pencil?  But I tried it on a brush and even a dip pen, and I must admit – it’s fun.

You get that lovely graphite look and feel, but with loose strokes and washes, and concentrated darks for contrast.  I simply used varied amounts of water here and there to thin the solution before dipping in.  A tortillon worked great for blending, and I tried a kneaded eraser in a spot or two with good results as well.

I give Liquid Pencil two smudged thumbs up!  (And don’t let the small size of the bottle fool you… this is potent stuff, so a little goes a long way.)  Be sure to check out the video with application examples at the link above.  I just played before watching, but the video might give you even more ideas.

I look forward to experimenting and “playing” creatively throughout the New Year.  How about you?  Can you “begin where you are” and let loose your Muse?  Thanks for visiting, and please share any thoughts about creativity below.

(And I do hope you’ll drop by each Wednesday.  Let’s see what we come up with this year!)

Art Break Wednesday: Painter and Illustration Contest Winner Beth Rommel!

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This past spring, I had the lovely good fortune to fall into a wonderful artists’ critique group.  We met through our amazing SCBWI Southern Breeze region.  I’ll share more about our small band in future posts  (Beth Rommel, Kathleen Bradshaw, Prescott Hill, Paula Puckett, and yours truly).

Beth Rommel

Beth came to see me at Mule Camp!

TODAY, I want to celebrate our “fearless leader” – or, at least, the one of us brave enough to host us in her home each month and keep our calendar on track. Why are we celebrating?  Because BETH ROMMEL just won first place in the SCBWI Southern Breeze 2012 illustration contest, as announced this past weekend at our fall conference in Birmingham!  Woo-hoooo!!!!!  The contest was judged by Debra Kaplan, Vice President and Executive Art Director at Penguin Young Readers.  (Yes, you should be impressed!)

Beth came to the Atlanta area in June 2011.  She grew up in Louisiana, and her work has been widely exhibited in Texas and the Southwest, and in Florida, where she later lived.  Her work experience includes graphic design, editorial, production, public relations, and education.  Now you can find Beth and her wonderful paintings here in Georgia!

The prompt for this year’s contest (coordinated by our own Kathleen Bradshaw, by the way) was:  “PJ tried and tried…”

Wouldn’t you know it, Beth was not able to attend this weekend because she was the special guest at another art event in Atlanta featuring her oil paintings. So I snapped a quick picture on my iPhone of her work up on the BIG screen:

image ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a better picture of her painting:

“PJ tried and tried to make friends with the horses.” ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Beth kindly offers this peek into how she created her winning picture:

I am so surprised to have won this because as a painter my style is very different from traditional children’s book illustration, which I really admire.

In coming up with a way to complete the prompt “P.J. tried and tried” I spoke with fellow artist Prescott Hill who said he was trying to remember things he had done as a child.  I was always doing something with horses in my childhood, riding them, showing them, trying to catch them in a field, make them my friends (carrots and apples always helped that process). 

Because of that constant contact their form is intuitive. It is well embedded in my Visual Catalogue, a term I coined recently. (I define it as a registry of the images kept in one’s mind. The images are derived from experiences of all descriptions.) I wanted to convey the feeling of being in a field surrounded by horses, some are friends, some are a little wild, some threatening, and others completely ignore you. This whole cast of characters I knew as a child. Wearing mismatched clothes was not an issue in the country early in the morning when all I wanted to do was get outside and get on a horse. In my dad’s big jackets or a flannel shirt I would walk the wet fields in Louisiana trying to track down these creatures and hope they wouldn’t run away before I could catch one for the ride home.

I used a palette of mixed media: acrylic paint, white ink, collage papers on coldpress 140 lb. watercolor paper. The original is proportionally twice the size as the final printed piece as I work better in a large format. I have tried to imagine what it would have been like to see my horses on a large screen at the conference! I sure wish I had been there; thank you again for sending me the photo. I am walking on air.

Thanks so much for this behind-the-scenes look, Beth!

Here is a taste of some more of Beth’s vibrant works.  These are all oil paintings.

portraits: Co-Directors of the World Shakespeare Project. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Admired Woman. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Nancy and Andy. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Chicken was Back Again. ©Beth Rommel. All rights reserved.

Can’t wait to see what else Beth has in store.  You can keep up with Beth at her new art blog,  bethrommel.com.

What feelings does Beth’s artwork evoke in YOU?  Let her know in your congratulations in the comments!