Mel Stabin Watercolor Workshop ~ Dallas ~ Art Journal Pages

Watercolor 15"x22" Sold
The client had a photo taken on a Cabo beach and asked for a painting. It was fun to paint but I had to ask for help several times. Mel is very helpful and I appreciate his calling out the colors used when he begins a demo.
I painted this in the Mel Stabin workshop during the first week of February at Artist's Showplace. This was painted on Thursday when Mel said it was "our choice" day. On Monday was landscape, Tuesday - landscape with figure, Wednesday - Something ordinary and sketched with a brush, Friday - the figure. This was my 3rd workshop with Mel and his workshops are filled with energy, his poems and quotes plus his fabulous watercolors to encourage us to a new level.
The morning was devoted to a Mel demo on a half sheet of Arches of our day's objective and then around lunch it was time for each of the 25 in the class to get down to business while Mel visited around the room. Most days ended with a great critique for each work.
We could paint from our own references or he provided some great photographs that he'd blown up to a 11x15 size. I remember at the Nicholas Simmons workshop he questioned working from 4 x 6 photos and how I could see the detail and now I understand what he meant. I'm getting some larger photos.
Cheap Joe's has a supply list for Mel if you'd like to see what colors and brushes we used, click HERE. There are no gimmicks, mask or salt for Mel. He says "I trust the brush. It can do amazing things."
In the slide show below I have shown some of his paintings and I will show more of the student work in another post.

Art Journal Page 66

Some art supplies needed for babysitting my grandchildren, some of my back fence fell over, then it's pack and pack for Mel, Dana Gioia kicks off the PCPC 3rd art festival,
and no I did not watch the Super Bowl - still trying to get every thing loaded for the workshop. Dana was chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts under President Bush since Jan 29, 2004.

Art Journal Page 67


Some sketches about the workshop, the value study where Mel corrected my car to make it larger, the bottom two sketches are my paintings.

A slide show feast of some of Mel's paintings from the Mel Stabin Workshop. Mouse over for captions.

Tony Saladino Critique Group ~ Art Collaboration ~ Art Journal Pages

16" x 20" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas with some collage elements

16" x 20" Acrylic on paper mounted on gallery wrapped canvas

Critique Group
These are the 2 paintings I took to a newly formed critique group hosted by Tony Saladino at his studio. He has a "whole house" for his wonderful studio and yes, it is full with paintings, computers, and framing supplies. Four members from the art collaboration group, Canvas by Canvas, were there (Betty, Barbara, Karen and Nancy).
Tony works in acrylics and he prepares his own supports and paints in a representative and abstract method. We loved going from room to room and seeing the works in progress and the finished pieces waiting to be shipped.
The Group
Tony wants to limit the group to about 10 members. We arrived at 9:00 for a get acquainted coffee and he explained the process. Each artist may bring up to 3 paintings any size for presentation and the artist is free to listen or participate in the discussion. A timer is set so each person gets equal time. Our paintings were placed in a separate room so each presentation would be a surprise to the rest of the group. These artists are serious about their work and are on different and various levels in their art journey, but we all have a desire to improve. One thing I learned and am going to try is work larger and simplify.
Encouraging words from Tony "Every painting has a buyer. Find a gallery. There will be a buyer. The closer you get to being you, the better your work will be." On the advantage of painting a still life "It's an easy way to paint from life and it doesn't "twitch or itch".
In the Group with a blog or web site, check out these:
Lesley Talty
Robert Standlee (I was so surprised as we have the same last name and no relation. The name is not found spelled this way very often.)
Karen Frances
We have a good group and the art talk continued at a local Mexican food restaurant, Miguelito's, and was joined by tango talk as Karen F and Tony both tango. Maybe later we can do a tango photo shoot!!
Art Journal Page 64
More soup, this time potato and Fish City Grill trip and a great western dvd, Appaloosa, about friendship. I've been practicing some watercolor moves and reading before the soon to be, Mel Stabin workshop. This will be my third Mel workshop and the last one was in San Miguel. I did some really bad plein air paintings there and no excuses this time inside, but every where you looked there was so much beauty to distract in San Miguel. Yes, I watched Barak Hussein Obama being sworn in and the inauguration. We wish him well and will watch with interest the current propaganda of Igor Panarin. At the end of the article is a map of how he thinks the U.S. will be divided.

Art Journal Page 65
Thursday was the critique and it wasn't that brutal with a thumbs up or down. I had to add a note about Lost being on Wednesday night. It is a story with many twists and turns and a review before the season started. Friday was a hair trim with Terry at Salon Purple and he has a church across the street, Sanctuary. Terry has a MySpace also. I used a gift certificate next door at Mamma Mia's Italian Restaurant for a great lasagna lunch. Then since it was 80 and sunny I decided on a drive to model home look. Maybe I'll mount the acrylic painting to a canvas before the day is over.
I got an email yesterday about LeapFish, the fastest search engine on the planet with the funny grayed out area "It's ok, you're not cheating on Google...."

I have posted a slide show of photos from Tony's critique group and Terry's photo is at the end. Enjoy.

Pear ~ SWS Extreme ~ Art Journal Page

30"x22" full watercolor sheet, Acrylic "Pear" on paper I am attempting to straighten some in my studio this week and on Thursday I found a very colorful acrylic "Pear" from a Burridge workshop and decided I needed a bright spot for my post today. It really looks big, doesn't it?


Art Journal Page 63
Tuesday was a fun trip to the La Cima Club and to see the Mustangs at Las Colinas. Canvas by Canvas will have a show in the club soon and Maryann, Karen, Cindy Y, and I went to check out the hanging possibilities. Wikipedia has a short article or you can read more about the bronze statues in a Google search. The 9 wild mustangs are the largest equestrian sculptures in the world.

Then always lunch is involved and some Santa Fe style Mexican Food at Via Real.
Wednesday evening another wonderful meal at the City Cafe before the SWS meeting. Who can think of a cabbage soup diet when you're invited to sample some new American - California cuisine in a white table clothed bistro? I enjoyed and ate every bite of some Diver U10 scallops and a tomato risotto. Maybe you already know this but I didn't. The "U" stands for "under" and it means fewer than 10 of these scallops make up a pound and they are the largest ones available. The Diver means a "real diver" picked them up instead of a scoop. Don't you just love the internet where you can look up all kinds of information? And just for the record, in case you get the idea I get to eat gourmet every day....I had a can of tomato soup yesterday when left to my own devices.
The Extreme SWS Tag Team Paint Off and Throw Down
Four of our award winning signature members, Harry Shields and Jane Jones, signature members of NWS, and Nel Dorn Byrd and Priscilla Krejci, signature members of AWS, presented SWS with a delightful evening of painting demos and laughter. We arrived to find 4 demo tables set up in the center of the room with 4 sheets of full size watercolor paper with the image drawn off and placed on the tables with the rest of the artist's supplies. Joel was the time keeper and each artist was allowed 10 minutes of painting time and the paintings were rotated, without the sketch or photograph included so it became an emotional response to what had been previously applied. This rotation continued for 4 times and on the 5th round the painting came back to the original owner with a few "Oh, my" or "Where are my whites?". There was a short break between the 4th and 5th rounds for announcements, snacks, and drying time. Since an overhead mirror couldn't be used, the members and guests were encouraged to walk around and view the paintings in progress. Thanks to Joel, Maureen, and our president Herb for a great evening of fun and to 4 artists with heart.
Each artist signed their first name to all four paintings and they were auctioned off and the money will be used as a prize award at the next SWS show.
Slide Show
You are invited to see my slide show of the event but be warned about the photo quality. These were quickly snapped and some are definitely lopsided or out of focus or both and the flash washed out some of the color.

Betty Crocker ~ Art Journal Pages

7"x10" watercolor "Betty Crocker"
Why is it when you are trying to drop a few pounds for the new year, your cookbooks fall off the shelves, screaming "try me, cook me?" I stand by my goal and painted it instead.

This is Cindy and her portrait that I painted which won a SWA award. You can read about it on my blog post HERE. Cindy is a great cat painter and one of the reasons she got her cat Clementine was to have a ready model.
Not too long ago, Cindy and I made a long car trip to Little Rock to exhibit a CBC painting and we were in the car together 10 plus hours and the conversation would always turn to food. When she was a tall, willowy New York model she wanted little to do with the cooking of food, just partaking. One week before her wedding and at age 20 Cindy had a revelation that it was soon to fall her lot to be responsible for the food that would be served in her home. At that ninth hour, her dear mother came to the rescue with a plan that each night they'd cook together a new dish for dinner, including a side dish. She got down the basics of pot roast, meat loaf, smothered steak, fried pork chops, salmon croquettes, red beans with cornbread, creamed tuna on toast, and chicken fried steak. She laughs and says for the longest time she never wavered with the side dishes that went with the main course. For instance, if she served fried pork chops always expect to see gravy, rice and LeSueur peas on the plate. Cindy relates she learned well and that first pot roast was perfect and wowed her new husband; however, she forgot the left over roast stored in the oven and about a week later they began searching for this noxious odor. These days she cooks less and spends her spare time painting Clementine.

Art Journal Page 61

The year began right with painting in my journal with friends at Maryann's and then dinner with a professional friend I'd lost contact with at Fish City Grill. On Sunday a steak at Hoffbrau and then parts 1-5 of John Adams and oh, my, it was wonderful. I have learned to spell Abigail and have since corrected it in my journal. This movie has given me a renewed appreciation for our country and the sacrifices made by our founders. David McCullough has done a great service to America to bring these characters alive.
Here's the day I painted my cookbook. This is one of my favorite possessions given to me in 1957, a first edition and fifth printing. The poetry I ever remember is on page 302 "Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze." I loved looking at instructions to make pineapple boats, grate my own coconut, and make sure I was serving my family from the basic 7 food groups. My mother sent me off to Tarleton Junior College, now Tarleton State University, in 1956 to major in Home Economics and Betty Crocker came along just like another text book that 2nd year. More boring medical stuff and oat bran muffins for cholesterol lowering and sometimes feeling like I'm moving in slow motion so - move it.

Art Journal Page 62
Cindy and I went to the Gamut Gala opening of their new Art Couture Gallery and you can read about it on the previous post and see David Fisher in the slide show. Last night, January 13, he appeared in NCIS and fortunately he wasn't killed off. David we'll be watching for you again.
On Sunday a new dish at the Macaroni Grill and parts 6 and 7 of John Adams - winner of the 2009 Golden Globe for best mini-series/tv movie. On the credit extras on the dvd, I learned that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 50 years after signing of the Declaration of Independence. Wow. Jack is back in 24 and what a horrible drawing. I put sunglasses on him to cover him up but he still looks like a kid down the street instead of big, bad Jack.
Check out our Artist Food Network for one of Cindy's Favorite Recipes.

Art Couture Gallery ~ Gamut Control Gala

Vladimir Gorsky 1953-2008
No, this isn't my painting of Clint but one of many great paintings on display at a celebrity gala on Saturday evening presented by the Art Couture Gallery and Gamut Control.
Cindy and I were invited to visit with some international artists since I have contracted with Gamut to produce my giclees. During the evening there was a tribute to Mr. Gorsky.
We met up again with actor, writer, and painter David Dayan Fisher. He has been in Hollywood's National Treasure and you can see him Tuesday evening, January 13, on CBS NCIS. David said he usually gets killed off but on this series he has been invited back.
We met Jim Lively, Michael Kypuros, Reza Sepahdari, and Kim Klatt from Art Business News and had a lovely evening after dining at the nearby Capriccio Ristorante.

Here are some photos taken during the evening:

It's All About Soup ~ Look There's a Chicken ~ Art Journal Pages

7" x 10" Watercolor sketch of some diet soup ingredients for the Artist Food Network Blog. There you will find the recipe if you want a low calorie soup recipe. This is not a new recipe but one that goes under many names such as the cabbage soup diet and I don't play by the rules either. I'm a diet cheater as if I get a chance to go to I Hop for pancakes or Hoffbrau for a steak, I'm outta here. I'm not recommending it but just saying this is what I'm doing and I've lost a few this week but it's more a "supplemental soup" than being very strict on the program. There has to be a goodbye to December's chocolate and pizza festival and I don't want to be this fluffy in 6 months.

Journal Page 56

Cleaned out another spot. Family Christmas Party and there is always food. Something new in my journal as I wanted each person there to "sign my book". What fun to look back and see that Gracie was making a backward 5 and she chose to write Gracie instead of Grace. I decided to draw my gifts instead of name them.

Journal Page 57

More gifts, more drawing and another reason I'm enjoying keeping an art journal for drawing practice and taking a closer look at objects and there is a great benefit in jogging a foggy memory. Don't you like the ornament with the woman clasping a book to her chest? It's very suitable for an ex-librarian and a lover of art books and yes, the rear view mirror chimes are hanging in my car accenting the left over Colorado french fries from our speedy trip the 14th.

Journal Page 58

I took the advice written on a gift from the previous page, a bracelet that said " Seize the day and make the most of your life." I seized it to journal and blog and stay in my bathrobe. I made a pocket from an envelope to secure the Christmas letter and attached the card on front.

Journal Page 59

Party time is over and time to reflect on the possibility of losing weight and limiting it to one English pea a day, doing some Google searches and looking at diet books, taking off to Walmart to buy some healthy groceries and finding a book I wanted to read, "23 Minutes in Hell", so I went to Luby's bought soup and came home and read the book and made soup on Sunday. The book is written by Bill Wiese and is a sobering book and more gripping than making soup.

Finally on Monday I got to go paint with 5 Canvas by Canvas members and it was mostly talking over each other and interrupted conversations when we began to say "Look there's a chicken" after I repeated the Bob Burridge joke from the Corpus Workshop. Bob was delivering a lecture on color in the 2nd story art center, surrounded by glass windows overlooking the bay when he blurted out, "Look at that orange barge on the blue horizon" then laughed and said, "I don't have ADD" and "They said I have ADD - they just don't understand OHHH, there's a chicken" and boy, oh, boy can I relate to this statement after not seeing girlfriends for several weeks and we're all a little ADD when we reconnect.

We decided that we needed to go check out Brad Pitt in the Benjamin Button movie but first an I Hop fix. One of my CBC friends described the movie as from "Depends to Pampers". After two days of fun, then computer problems, a grandson fix and I paid him in food and gas money. Vista and I do not have a good relationship.

Journal Page 60

There is "Change" in store for 2009 and we will continue to reach forward to what lies ahead. No resolutions but thoughts about trying to get my house under control, taking care of buisiness, painting more and walking (just remember to carry my id!!), and listen to my dowloaded Thru the Bible series while I walk.. Just for Today.

May you have a blessed New Year.

Christmas Floral ~ Art Journal Pages ~ Merry Christmas

12" x 12" acrylic on Canvas Board
"Christmas Floral"
Painted in the Robert Burridge "Loose and Juicy Florals" workshop in Corpus Christi in October.

Journal Page 51
A little late talking about Thanksgiving but I use an old Lone Star Gas recipe for dressing that appeared in Nov. 1960 and we sorted some old family photos from my parent's estate. I did some babysitting and we watched a lot of T.V. and ate chicken strips.

Journal page 52
My kitchen got a new Christmas gift - a new disposer and it was a surprise for sure as it just blew up and then caused an under sink clean up that moved on to other kitchen cabinets and the stove top. More days of sorting clothes and stuff that was too boring to list individually. My decorating is done when the small ceramic Christmas tree is placed on the wash stand. The boxes of decorations in the attic can wait another year. CBC had a Christmas party at Maryann's and our group photo is at the end of the post. Early the next morning some family members and I took off driving two vehicles to Denver for a grand daughter's college graduation. I'd never made it without my new GPS which I think I'm naming "Sugar Foot", a term my long ago father-in-law used for my children and I've liked the name ever since. My GPS is sure a love and a life saver especially when traveling in the dark in the snow and ice in unfamiliar territory.

Journal Page 53 - Our Christmas Party
Maryann gave us all a lovely black apron that had our name and Canvas by Canvas on it. At our Chinese auction I received a led light for my notebook computer. The faces are made up people that are fun to paint.

Journal Page 54
We drove straight through to Colorado Springs and ate sandwiches that I'd prepared and spent Friday night in Colorado Springs and on to Denver on Saturday. We drove around Manitou Springs, saw a parade and toured some around the Springs. On Sunday in Denver, we woke up to snow and lots of it. My Rav 4 has a warning system if a tire pressure needs to be adjusted so by 8:00 a.m my son and I were in Wal-Mart's tire department getting a tire repaired after a warning light appeared. We just made it to pick up Cindy and Meaghen to go to the brunch at 11:00 before Madison's graduation at 2:00. She graduated from the Metropolitan State College of Denver with 2 degrees, biology and chemistry. We were so proud of her and we were so thankful to be able to make the trip. We left one truck for Mad and headed for Raton about 5:30 and cold, brrrr, and the tire inflation pressure light comes on again and the outside temp was registering minus 2 degrees. Oh, what to do?

Journal Page 55
The tires appeared o.k. and the weather was not agreeable for stopping so on Mon. morning we were on the road from Raton and there was ice and snow with a slight snow and sleet near Clayton and all the while we were thinking "When are we going to have our flat?" Once home my first stop was the Toyota dealership and it seems the spare has one of the low tire sensors on it and the spare was LOW and the tires on the road were fine. Now to read my car book more thoroughly. Medical checkup and draw blood samples and a shingles shot - now I'm ready for Santa to come and he was good to me.
Canvas by Canvas wishes all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.