It's snowing again???

WOW!!!! March (and the beginning of April) was a whirlwind of events.

Let's see what happened: 

I had my first ever artist reception on March 30th. It was such a surreal experience. I spent many days preparing supplies (and myself) for the showing and I still didn't quite know what to expect or really, what to do. Especially with my hands. Am I supposed to follow people around? I don't know. Still don't. And I didn't. Viewing freedom is important especially when viewing something intently. People wondered, ate delicious pastries, and bought my art!

I had a bunch of fine art prints made of the paintings I'm most proud of. The ones I was expecting to go first, didn't go at all. It's so curious to see the difference between what I like and what everyone else likes because it's usually always the opposite. I'll have the rest of the prints available on my website when I can peel myself away from the canvas.

I hand painted my flyers to hang up at the cafe. I feel it added more purpose or thoughtfulness. It was fun to experiment with this as I don't normally paint flowers, especially with acrylic. It was drying so dang fast, I just let it be.

I also had a bunch of handmade bookmarks available. When I first thought it would be a great idea to have something besides prints for people to get, I had to get the corner clipper thing. The rounded edges are so perfect and soft and it makes me want to read a million books. Also had a few mini bookmarks. They're fun, but not as practical as the normal sized bookmarks.

I used my largest watercolor paper to create many bookmarks at a time. This daisy field was super fun to make and the outcome was adorable. I used an old bookmark I found lying around to measure the size of mine. These were made with gouache (pronounced gwosh) which is a painting medium that is like a thicker, more layerable watercolor. Gouache provides the depth watercolor does not give.

I wanted to add this side-by-side of my most recent paintings (this one is a print) of a great blue heron and one of the very first oil paintings I ever did. What an upgrade! I really had no idea what I was doing early on. I am so glad I found my technique and my flow and am able to put down on paper what I image in my mind. I always feel that is the hardest part of painting. The need for it to look EXACTLY like I see it in my mind, but honestly it never turns out how I expect. I set an expectation achievable enough that I usually surpass my own expectations. Maybe I should raise them a little....

The Plain's Art Museum offers many different type of art classes. They just so happened to be having an oil painting class. Thank you to my family for the early birthday present. The first three classes of the six week course have already proved immensely helpful. I learned how to make green in the first class, how to make a painting look 3D in the second, and how to paint an orange (the most frustrating one so far) in the third.

One of the things that is the most different between the class and how I paint at home is the use of a palette knife. The instructor WILL NOT give us palette knives!!! This makes things way more "interesting" and absolutely frustrating. Which is honestly why I am taking the class. I wanted to feel the frustration of actually learning how to oil paint correctly and sort of "unlearn" my maybe not so good painting habits. But oh, man... I need a palette knife. I hate the messiness of using the paint brush to mix colors. I need it to mix the colors and to keep the palette clean. I MUST HAVE ORDER! The instructor has a valid point though. He wants us to learn how to mix colors on the canvas as well as to see what color you need to add to your painting. Informative, but still frustrating, but still loving the class!!!!! I love it.

I'm learning so much and I'm able to incorperate that knowledge into what I do with my own paintings. I'm so happy to be able to do this class.

On a more "I went to college for this stuff" note: I spent a weekend out west helping an NDSU graduate student with his field work. I was able to see my beloved grouse again and be outside, walking around gathering data, and looking at stuff. It really made me realize that this type of work is what I want to do. And paint. But for some reason I feel I can't have both! So, I'm working on trying to figure out a compromise with myself. I visited Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park and saw beautiful things. Prepare to see these pictures painted at some point.

RIP to Joann's fabrics, but also thanks for the wooden things I can paint on! We have some German wolves and a wild horse. Loved how they turned out.

Both were painted from photo references ( Phililpp Steiger Photography - wolves. Scott Wilson photoadvocacy_wilsonaxpe on instagram)

AND FINALLY

my next great idea. I have a bunch of big, old frames that my dad is so amazingly adding plywood backing to so I can glue my 50 foot roll of canvas onto. I had one thought of painting my favorite movie scenes and said "yep I'm doing it".

So, for my next "collection" or batch of paintings, I'll do scenes from The Hunger Games, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron. I am so motivated to paint them right now that they may be done for the next email update :)

"Art is not a thing; it is a way." - Elbert Hubbard

THANK YOU for taking the time to read this email/diary entry and for supporting me in anyway you can. I love what I do and I love sharing it more!

Look forward to more monthly updates about my work and progress!