Show at GWL

I had the pleasure of being part of the Art Extravaganza at the Greenwood Lake Public Library today. I was in a group of photographers and painters: Irving Fishman, Rene Fressola, Minna Harmon, Patty Kaminski and myself. This was the event for all the 2011-12 Works of Art Gallery artists to meet and mingle with local patrons. Kelly Corrado, the coordinator of the event, did a fantastic job of transforming the room and speaking about the Works of Art Gallery and its artists.

Here's a picture of my corner. I displayed my watercolors, a few abstract pieces and my portfolio. It was exhilarating to answer questions and tell the stories behind my paintings. I can't wait for the next opportunity to show my work. A bientot!

Sketcheroonies

Like countless others, I’ve been completely inspired by An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory. His website also has terrific journal samples and beautiful movies of the artists.

An Illustrated Life  has got me thinking about my own sketchbooks and what I have found useful over the years. I have several in many locations all for various purposes. A school bound note book for writing, a watercolor paper bound for painting and sketchbooks that I’ve made from my favorite heavy duty drawing paper. My tools of choice are cheap ball point pens and watercolors. And, what always seems to happen to me- I write in my painting journals and sketch in my writing journals. Most of the time, I make little “sketcheroonies” in my notebooks. Having read An Illustrated Life , I decided it is time to be more conscious of my sketchbooks and what I use. So I bought a fancy new sketchbook and made up these rules: upgrade to markers and design the page more. I am hoping my sketcheroonies will evolve!

Here is a recent sketcheroonie that elicited my EasterBreeze poem.

What about you? Any preferences about the tools you use? Have the rules you’ve imposed on yourself helped or hindered you?

A bientot,

: )

Wanna Fight? Hammering Out Conflict in a Story.

A few years ago, in Deb Lucke’s Graphic Novel and Picture Book class, I was introduced to the concept of conflict in a story. As defined, the conflict is the problem that triggers the action in a story. For example, in Sendak’s famous Where the Wild Things Are, the conflict is between Max and his Mom although we don’t actually see the argument. However, there are also stories where the conflict is literally in the story. In Potter’s Peter Rabbit, Peter disobeys his mom and almost gets caught by Mr. McGregor.

At the time, I was a little stuck on my Mama Lucia and I instantly, drew:

 I regrouped. I listed both my characters attributes and asked myself what is each character’s deepest desire:

And, after many pages through my notebook, I discovered the power struggle between the siblings for their mother’s attention.  Also, I saw how one character’s “want” got in the way of the other character’s “want”. Got any conflicts up your sleeves? I want to hear some.

And where is this story now and what have I done with it? Well, that’s another entry!

A bientot.