Plein Air Painting at Langford Park Sat. Mar. 19

The azaleas are blooming! Dickson Azalea Park is directly across the street.  I'll probably be there between 9-10 am along with Sy Rosefelt painting en plein air.  Here's a map and more info if you would like to join us or would just like to enjoy a day in a beautiful park or two.

Here's a picture of Sy Rosefelt painting at the docks behind the Cornell Museum of Art on the campus of Rollins College in Orlando, Florida.  We were there with Rudy Drapiza and Paul Peters painting en plein air.  Rudy, Sy and I stayed until dark.  I got one evening painting done.  No pic of it yet so I thought I'd post this one in the meantime.  It was taken with the camera on my old phone.  It kinda looks like an old polaroid picture, doesn't it?

As darkness enfolded us Sy and Rudy told me a story about how one time when they were painting at a dock in Sanford, the wind blew Sy's palette with all his paint into the water!  He said that "it sank like a stone."  Rudy valiantly tried to rescue it but was smart enough to test the water first with a very long pole to see if he could walk out into the water to retrieve it.  The pole kept going down and down and down and they said it must have been at least 20 feet deep right off shore.  No rescue was possible.

Once a week I've also been doing some life drawing where artists paint or draw from a live model at the Crealde School of Fine Art in Winter Park, Florida.  I'll post some *discreet* pictures of those later as the models pose nude and I wouldn't want to offend anyone!

And I'm working on a couple of commissions of horse portraits for two people at Brookmore Farms.  I just have a sketch right now that I need to send to the client's for approval.  That's one great thing about the internet and art these days that I like.  Back "in the old days" one had to either schedule and meet in person or mail photos via snail mail *or* (gasp) complete the entire portrait, meet the client with the finished product and hold your breath as it was unveiled before them for the first time!  That was very nerve wracking!  Now it is less so as I know the pose, leg and head positions are already approved.

With my trusty old camera phone I hope to post more often to this blog which gets automatically posted to my FB fan page at www.tinyurl.com/karensfanpage.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Freedom Ride at 4H Show April 2010

Video of the Freedom Ride horses, riders and volunteers at a 4H show.

Cavallo at Freedom Ride March 2010

Short video - show got rained out.

Wekiva Invitational Plein Air Paint Out 2010

On the last day of the paint out I went to Wekiva Island to see some artists at work and look at all the paintings they did over the week-long event.

Ken Austin Workshop March 2010

I attended my first watercolor workshop held by the Central Florida Watercolor Society last week. Ken Austin is an awesome artist! This class re-awoke the things I learned in my design courses years ago in college!

Pet Portraits

I was contacted recently via email to do a portrait of three pets, a dog and two cats, all on one sheet. It was specified to do the portrait in watercolor so I got right down to work! Below are two pictures. One is of the work in progress about half-way done and the next one is completed!

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Hello, Lady! Wake up!

Hello, Lady! Wake up!

You'll understand the title a little later. This will be a slightly long blog entry. I, too, was surprised when I went on what I thought would be a fairly unvenventful but pleasant bike ride on the Cady Way Trail in Orlando, Florida, one afternoon after work.

I started out writing in a little book every 1/2 mile or so to make notes about possible painting sites and shade.  But as I rode along I discovered and experienced many interesting things. As I progressed and wrote more in my book I realized it might be nice to share my short ride in my blog with everyone. 

Now, come ride with me.

The late afternoon sun is warm but the humidity is low (for Florida). I am expecting a fairly cool ride so there is no need to change clothes. I wore the same clothes at work all day. They are comfortable and unconstricting. My purse is slung backpack style on my back.  Before taking off I make sure my camera and notebook are within easy reach.

The Cady Way trailhead is tucked behind a USPS (United States Post Office) behind the Fashion Square Mall. A quarter-mile in I stop to note that I am riding along the edge of Baldwin Park (homes) where I find a couple of guys fishing. Around the half-mile mark I cross Humphries Road. Now there are businesses along the trail.

Further on there are homes that are not a part of Baldwin Park. The streets are narrow and a little busy. You have to watch out for motorized vehicles at the intersections. But the drivers I encounter seem watchful and are courteous.

I have no idea where I am right now. I come to Beach Road and Old Cheney Highway. There's a 1 1/4-mile marker. I see a very shaded part of the trail now up ahead. It's very nice with lots of trees on both sides. I'd expect in full summer there are lots of mosquitos here. But today there are none to pester me.

I seem to be riding alongside Old Cheney. There are older homes on the right and newer ones (Baldwin Park again) on the left. Now I see the road on my right has ended and it is dirt leading to the back of an apartment complex. It reminds of my younger days.

An electric scooter shooshes by me. It says "Lithium Powered" on the side. Cool! There is another road up ahead. The scooter turns onto it and is gone.

I pass the 2 1/4-mile marker and arrive at the intersection myself. I have two choices in front of me. The trail splits. I can make a sharp right or go straight ahead.

I see a woman pushing a stroller cautiously crossing the intersection towards me. When she reaches my side I decide to ask her if she knows where the trail to the right goes. She says she doesn't know. But if I go straight it goes to the Cady Way Park and Showalter Field plus there is lots of shade that way.  I choose the shade!

After crossing I realize that on my right I can see a bit of the Winter Park Pines Golf Course. Then I come to more homes behind fences. On the right I can see down into some of the yards because the trail is elevated a few feet. Baldwin Park is still on my left.

There's a sharp turn up ahead. I stop at this one for awhile to write some more and take a short breather. (And to give my butt a rest from the bicycle seat!) This is one of the many places you can stop on this trail for water or to sit on a shaded bench. There is also an emergency call box.

It's actually warmer to stand still than keep moving so I get on my bike again. Ah, a nice cool breeze now.

At three miles I come to Winter Park High School.  Then Summerfield Road. I decide to turn around at Cady Way Park and head back to my car.

On this trail bikes and skaters are asked to stay on the 10-foot-wide trail away from the people walking or jogging on their own parallel trail. I obeyed this rule. But you have to watch out for the guys riding fast on their 10-speeds with the skinny tires. They are serious about their exercise.

At one point I was on the far right side of the bike trail looking around. I was enjoying my afternoon ride. It was so pleasant and quiet. I saw one of these fast cyclists approaching from the opposite direction.  He yells out, "Hello, Lady! Wake up!" I say back to him that, "I was just looking around!"

Later, a couple of other cyclists complimented my bike. My shirt was a bright flowery print. You couldn't miss me on that trail. I didn't look like everyone else!

On the way back I heard loud music coming up from behind. One of the fast cyclists was smart. He had a radio on full blast (or at least very loud) on his handlebars to alert people.

I heard lots of other things. Strangely enough, it seems there is an ice cream truck that plays Jamaican metal drum music. It was very pleasant and accompanied me as I rode past the Winter Park Pines area. 

A girl walking ahead of me with a cell phone to her ear and with fluffy house slippers on  her feet exclaimed "Ew!" as I rode by. I don't think she was talking about me!

And I can't forget the evil squirrel that tried to drop nuts or *something* on me. I was going to fast for him! Ha Haaaa!

Lookin Good!

What is the most significant thing I did since my last post? How about saving a little bird? I found him behind the building where I work near the loading dock. It was lunchtime and I was on my way to the library. I don't know what made me look down but I'm glad I did! There was this cute little bird staring straight up at me. He didn't try to get away or anything. He just kept looking at me. So I got a friend who is a birder to help me. He told me it was an Oven bird which is a type of Warbler. I went to find a small box. Then he found a local bird rescue lady and took him there on his way home from work. She told him the prognosis was good. At least now he is comfortable instead of trapped on a hot sidewalk with no shade, food or water. And he now has shelter from the afternoon storm

The painting is the second in a series of three 24x48 works. Actually, I painted this one simultaneously with the third which I will post later. While painting the first one (Hello, There!) I had worked out a lot of the colors (palette), methods and design issues. Then I went to one of Elin Pendleton's official "Color Bootcamp's" and learned more about using color in a painting. There are just some things you can't learn from reading a book or watching a video! You can subscribe to my new eNewsletter here or You can see my entire blog here or If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Hello, There!

And now some more paintings of horses! I have to say it. These paintings are cool. For awhile they are going to be the center point of any venues they fit into -- literally. Here's the story of how they happened.

When another horse or horses were in the show arena others are prepped for the next act in their stalls. As I was walking around looking for pictures to take I noticed how this was done. The stall doors were partially open so you could see inside while the horses peeked out. In my minds eye I immediately saw the potential for several vertical paintings. When I saw that some large 24"x48" canvas on sale at Michaels I bought three of them.

Each of these paintings is $1000 USD. They are done in acrylic and are unframed but ready to hang. When they were hanging in the main room at the University Club they looked magnificent. The one pictured here is the first one I started painting back around February 2009.

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Beach of Dreams

I have a great friend who LOVES Hawaii. He has been there several times and is going again very soon to vacation for two weeks. During each visit he is great at taking lots and lots of photos. I used one as a reference in a painting workshop. It is not an exact representation of everything in the photo. I added some people and simplified the background. I also didn't put in all the trees that were in the photo and moved some around to make interesting shadows. It is an acrylic on 8x10 canvas framed for $125.00.

Several people have asked me why I don't have prints for sale of my work. But I do! For example, most people ask about prints of my pencil drawing "2 Horses of Rothenberg". I joined a website where anyone can order prints, posters or even t-shirts with the image. The item is mailed directly to the customer making it easy for both my clients and myself as I do not have to maintain an inventory of prints. The page lists the photographic prints first but if you scroll down you can see the options for prints on canvas or chromalux. I have not yet ordered any items for my own use. Although I'd love to get a t-shirt with my drawing on it! However, from samples I've received the quality is very, very good.

I have received advice from many friends and clients asking about giclees, but I don't do them. The reason is they are expensive both to produce and to purchase and my prices would definitely have to go up. If I thought many, many people would buy all my paintings or even some of them as giclees I would be more than happy to work with a local professional printer to produce them. But at this time it just isn't worth the cost to me. However, if anyone is interested, just let me know and I'll price it out for you.

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Decadent

This is the third in my newest set of paintings inspired by Herrmans Lippizans -- but just from head shots I got at some of their shows while they were at Freedom Ride. The entire set of 3 was available for $250, but Tasteful (below) sold at the opening. If anyone is interested in the last two as a set I offer them together for $200. That would be this one, Decadent, plus Delicious (below). They are each acrylic on 12x12 canvas with no frame, but ready to hang. Speaking of hanging ... I thought I might add a piece of advice I recently gave to a friend of mine.

Pop the hood of your car once-in-awhile and take a look. You don't need to be a mechanic to see a potential problem in the making. In this case, one of the battery terminals was completely corroded. It finally got so bad the car would not start. I advised my friend to pour some Coke on it. Sure enough, that's exactly what the tow truck driver did. Then he jumped the car and it started right up. My friend didn't even know how to open the hood of their car. The bottom line is this: Dare to take a peek and try to learn how thinks work under there. You never know when a little bit of knowledge will come in handy.

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