Hershberger & Huff Studios

4 things to do to a book....

2012-02-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

1. cut out some pages

2. scribble on the cover

3. paint on the inside

4. glue things to it

That's not exactly the way we were taught to treat our books when we were growing up. I used to feel bad if I even folded a tiny bit of corner down to save my place. I love books, I love the smell of books, the feel of books, when I see them lined up on a shelf I itch to run my hands over the spines. I saw my toddler granddaughter do just that the other day and it made my heart do a little skip for joy because I knew she was developing her love for books too. So...... why in the world would I do any of those 4 things?

Because sometimes I want to combine my love for books with my love for art. Why can't they become one? The art of altered books is the art of transforming a book into a new visual form. It's a canvas with multiple pages that can become part of the finished art or simply a base for something new.

This 2 page spread is part of the book you see above called Body of Work. This particular set of pages has sewing pattern tissue, color copies, paint and even a zipper attached to it. This book is about making a statement on women and body image but not all books have to make a statement. Like painting, the subject ideas are limitless.

Do you know what ephemera is? Take a look at the photo above. It's the stuff you pull out of your purse, your pants pockets or the junk drawer in the kitchen. It's bits of lace, torn paper, playing cards or ticket stubs. Anything you can glue down can become part of an altered book. Start collecting some of this stuff because we're doing an altered book in our next Friday Night Painting Party coming up on the 24th of this month. We're going to provide a small book for you to work on (we can't go too crazy since it's only one evening) and we'll have lots of tools, papers, paint and glue for you to play with. If you want to make it more personal bring some of your own ephemera ~ re-purpose and recycle. Reserve your seat soon, these parties fill up and class size is limited! The workshop fee is 50.00 and covers everything.

It's really ok to scribble on the pages. Think of it as taking scrapbooking to a whole new level.

Peace,

Carlynne

Party Pics

2012-01-28T09:48:00.001-05:00

Aren't they pretty? They don't even have paint on them and they're so colorful. We had just gotten done with the workshop, washed the brushes, laid them out to dry and they looked so good to me I couldn't resist taking a photo.

Busy students working on their paintings.....

they look so serious. Don't be fooled....

Many laughs later here they are with their finished works. I really love doing these classes where everyone is doing the same piece. When the work is done I get to see the personality of each person come through in the work. Everyone did such a great job!

Thanks for the fun everybody, I'm looking forward to next month's party!

Carlynne

Back in the studio

2012-01-17T11:55:00.002-05:00

I'm getting back in the swing of things. Hubby is recovering well from his surgery so I'm not needed as much as I was before. He's determined to get his own breakfast so I guess I'll let him and go spend some time in the studio. It's time to get back to the art stuff.

Above you can see my prep work for the February Friday Night Painting Party. All the previous painting parties have been paintings on canvas so I wanted to do something different next month. I'll be showing you how to do an altered book. If you're not familiar, it's an art form where you take an existing book and transform it into a different work of art. We'll be exploring painting techniques and collage elements.

Here's the painting we'll be doing THIS month on the 27th. We'll be working in acrylic on an 11x14 canvas. There are a few seats left so if you're interested be sure to let us know SOON!

This morning I was prepping canvases for the next Painting Party and some for me too.

Golden Hour

12x12

Here's the landscape I finished yesterday. As soon as the red canvases above are dry I can start on the next one. I'm loving the idea of a series of these that are just sky and branches.

Hope to see you soon,

Carlynne

Where have we been?

2012-01-12T12:23:00.000-05:00

Where in the world have we been? Well, the holiday crazies took over for a bit like they always do and Amazing Hubby had to have some surgery so I've been playing nurse (he's doing well). In spite of other 'stuff' our classes kept right on rolling.......

here are a few of our very loyal Wednesday people

Mary's working on a gorgeous sunset in colored pencil

Diane is oh, so pleased with herself!

There are some seats open so if you're looking for some direction with your painting or you're just beginning and want to know which end of the pencil to sharpen, we're here at the studio Mondays from 12:30 til 3:30 and Wednesdays from 10:00 til 1:00. The classes are only 20.00 per session. Come every week or once or twice a month. It's totally up to you. Holler if you want more info.

Oh, and by the way. Go to this link and vote for your favorite Horse Fever design. Kelli and I both have designs entered. There are 12 designs to choose from but of course I think you should pick either Petals, Sand and Sea Horse or Wishes. I did 2 of the designs, can you guess which one is Kelli's?

Quick reminder: January 27th is Friday Night Painting Party. Paint this very colorful landscape. Beginners welcome!

Heads Up

2011-12-19T12:13:00.000-05:00

Golden Leaves

11x14

Acrylic

I wanted to give you a heads up so you can pencil this in on your calendar. The next Friday Night Painting Party will be January 27, 2012. We'll be doing this colorful acrylic landscape in our 3 hour workshop. I know things are crazy right now with everyone getting ready for the holidays but when the dust settles be sure to let us know if you plan on coming. These painting parties fill up and space is limited! We'll get the details out soon but in the meantime you can post a comment here or send an email to hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com if you're interested.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Original ideas for original gifts

2011-12-19T00:30:00.000-05:00

Christmas is almost here so this is the last week to shop! Today through Thursday will be your last chance to pick up truly original and artsy gifts for the holidays. Stop in and see trees, flowers, beaches, necklaces and more. Gift certificates are available too. We're open Monday through Thursday 11-3. 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd in Ocala.

2011-11-25T12:09:00.001-05:00

I hope your Thanksgiving day was full of love and good food. Kelli and I both had a wonderful time with our families. Now the shopping season begins. I'm not out there battling the crowds and traffic, I'm here at home, nice and cozy, sitting at my computer and talking to you. I've never done the "black Friday camping outside in the wee hours, standing in line" thing. Maybe I'm missing out on a lot of fun but for right now this is exactly where I want to be and what I wanted to tell you is that everything in our Etsy shop is 30% OFF today through Monday. All you have to do is use the coupon code HOLIDAYDEALS to get the discount. There's a variety of one of a kind items so poke around and see what you can find. Happy shopping, where ever you are :)

Word Out Wednesday Carlynne Hershberger

2011-11-08T20:11:00.010-05:00

If you want to see sensational abstracts derived from nature as well as fabulous landscapes by a skilled and multi-faceted artist, you must see Carlynne Hershberger's exhibit at the Brick City Center for the Arts, downtown Ocala, FL.

I could tell you how beautifully the work combines into a display of color and shapes that make you feel like you are walking in the woods, listening to birds chirp.

I could go on and on about the light coming through the trees making the colors seem luminous.

I could describe the perceived textures created with a brush that make you think you could reach out and touch the leaves.

But I think I will just let the work speak for itself.

Prairie Walk

18x14

Acrylic

I could tell you about the use of gold leafing in some of the skies, but better yet, you really need to see this exhibition for yourself to appreciate the exquisite work.

Brick City Center for the Arts

23 SW Broadway

Ocala, FL

Through the month of November

Peace,

Kelli

Green Art

2011-11-08T18:20:00.007-05:00

This is a shot of one wall of the current exhibit at the Marion Cultural Alliance at Brick City Center for the Arts in Ocala at 23 SW Broadway. The show features local artists and their interpretation of "going green" in the art world. Visitors will see artwork created with recycled materials.

My personal favorite is this piece titled "Paul's Pants" by Nancy Ihasz. This is a portrait, in a sense, of her husband Paul and illustrates how he always has a lot of keys and other odds and ends in his pockets. It is made with real denim jeans and real keys, etc. Nancy is a good friend and one of our star students. You also might know her as a Horse Fever Artist who created "Wildfire."

My Mom's fave (sorry Nancy) is titled "Quill Scape" by David D'Alessandri. He use recycled paper attached to canvas for this creation. David is another Horse Fever Artist who painted Forest King. You can vote for your favorite piece of recycled art at the exhibit.

Please try to visit this fun and inspirational show which runs through the month of November. And see the next post for photos of Carlynne's exhibit running concurrently in the same space.

Peace,

Kelli

Where will you be?

2011-11-05T17:28:00.000-04:00

Where will you be on November 18 and 19? We hope you'll be at Hershberger & Huff Studios for our Holiday Open House. We have never before discounted all artwork and jewelry as we will for this event! Everyone gets a discount from 20, 25 and 30% off your entire order to 40% off any one item. This could be a huge savings for you, just in time before the holidays!

BE ORIGINAL BUY ORIGINAL GIVE ORIGINAL

Keep your shopping local and hand made. Support local artists and give one of a kind gifts.

Join us on November 18 and 19

from 11:00 to 3:00

Hershberger & Huff Studios

1735 NE Jacksonville Rd

Ocala, FL

I need more pencils!

2011-10-26T17:27:00.000-04:00

Yes, I do. I need more colored pencils even though I have many hundreds of them - literally. I even have some full sets that haven't been disturbed yet. They look so pretty in their metal tins, all the colors of the rainbow lined up shiny and new, the beautiful sharp points just waiting there with so much potential. I have to confess, I am a colored pencil hoarder. Although I've been working in acrylic and mixed media more than anything else these last few years, I do still have my love for the humble pencil. After all, it was my first love and only love for over 2 decades. So what is the point (pun intended) of this post you ask? Prismacolor is coming out with new colors!!!! I need them, I want them, I must have them. Some of the colors are new and some are old colors being revived.

Check out Prismacolor's blog post to see the list of 18 colors that they added to the line. They brought back 3 of the deco colors - yay! They also brought back 3 of the neon colors. Personally I would rather they left out the neons and brought back the rest of the deco colors, especially since they left out my favorite - deco orange, but hey, I'll deal. It's just fun to have some new colors to look for in the store, another ~~reason~~ excuse to buy more pencils.

While you're on Prismacolor's blog post I noticed they also have links to their lightfast ratings along with a link for tools, tips, and techniques so check those out if you're interested.

Peace,
Carlynne

Field Trip!

2011-10-18T16:08:00.000-04:00

One of our students (we'll call her Diane), has been asking (constantly nagging) us to go on a field trip to see a museum. So, given the fact that we like to give our students a well rounded education, (and like to have fun) one day we just said ROAD TRIP!!! And that is how we ended up in Deland last Wednesday instead of the usual class room. Our first stop was the Florida Museum for Women Artists (FMWA). Above you see Nancy looking at one of my personal faves, by Libby Ware titled Atlantis. You can't tell from this photo, that it's entirely made of clay. I love the white on white and the opposing shapes and textures of this piece.

Below is a detail of a painting called Daybreak. I am showing you one portion of it (apologies to the artist Chris Kling) so that you could better see the exquisite rendering of the palm trees. When you've lived in Florida as long as I have, palm trees are a dime a dozen. Carlynne and I both zeroed in on the loose but lovely quality of these.

This is another that was love at first sight for both Carlynne and I. Called Distance, this painting by Laura Varich is the most perfect blend of loose brush strokes, color, and shapes. Kudos.

Here you see one of our students, Johnie (aka Mom to me) viewing her favorite piece by Karlene McConnell titled Intersections. The artist may or may not have intended it to feel like flowers, but that is the way my Mom interpreted it. (Notice the flowers in her blouse.) I like the colors and the mix of straight and curvilinear elements.

Part of our group, Johnie, Diane (yes that one) and Cindy.

Diane, hiding.

Another fave of both Carlynne and myself. Grace Leal, the artist of this piece called Weeds, gave the curators license to arrange these small encaustic pieces any way they wanted and this is what they came up with. See closer view of individual pieces below.

Encaustic (painting with pigmented wax) is another thing that I would love to do if it didn't involve new materials and tools that I do not have. I am already crowding myself out of two studios. If only there was enough time, money and space to do everything I want to do!

Our second stop after a really nice lunch at the Mainstreet Grill (they had to put us in a separate room on the lower level so we didn't disturb other patrons), we headed to the Museum of Florida Art. Here you see Cindy playing curator in the M & M Exhibit by John Wilton. It's a wonderful interactive display of canvases all same shape in various sizes that the viewer is encouraged to arrange any way they want. Where else do they allow you to touch the artwork, (I've come close to being arrested for this)? And below you see the arrangement that Cindy and Nancy felt was just right.

I think we are fortunate in our fairly rural part of Central Florida to have as many high quality museums as we do. We have all decided that there are more field trips in our future. Hope you can join us next time!

Make art, not war.

Kelli

Paint This Landscape Yourself!

2011-10-04T12:44:00.002-04:00

Can you believe it's October already? And almost time for our October painting party/workshop. This painting is the Trinity River in California and we will be doing it in acrylic paint on Studio wrapped canvas. We supply everything and for $50 you get tools, supplies, and everything needed to create this yourself. Oh, did I mention the food, the fun and you can bring wine if you wish?!

October 28, 2011 from 7-10 PM

at Hershberger & Huff Studios in Ocala, FL.

Save the date and give us your reservation by Oct.21. Hope to see you there!

Don't miss the fun!!

2011-09-27T10:30:00.003-04:00

We have so much fun in our workshops and classes!! There's just as much laughter as there is creativity. We still have a few seats left for this Friday's painting party/workshop. Create an original abstract 12 x 12 inch studio wrapped canvas with textures in acrylic. We provide everything, you just show up. Oh, and you can bring your own wine if you like! We paint, we party, we learn, we have fun!!

Friday 7-10 PM, Hershberger and Huff Studios at 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd. in Ocala, FL. Email today to reserve your seat.

And don't forget to save the date for October's painting party. Trinity River landscape, October 28, from 7-10. Just bring yourself, we have everything else.

Peace,
Kelli

Time is running out!

2011-09-17T14:28:00.008-04:00

Time is running out to sign up for our Acrylic Texture Workshop. Paint your own abstract beach piece. Enjoy fun, food and creating with lots of guidance. No need to bring anything, unless you want to bring your own wine! $50 fee provides all materials and tools to finish a 12 X 12 inch abstract beach piece with real shells and lots of sand texture. Feel the beach, remember your summer fun, decorate your home with a natural piece that you made yourself. We have tons of fun too!

Others are doing evening painting party/workshops but not like ours!! We pride ourselves on teaching only top quality creative work that you will be proud to hang in your home when you are finished. Workshop is at Hershberger & Huff Studios on September 30, 2011 from 7-10 PM. Contact us today to reserve your seat by the deadline of September 23.

Peace and creativity,

Kelli

We're So Proud

2011-09-13T09:53:00.013-04:00

This photo shows Charles Mays, one of our star students (Chuck to us) at the opening reception for the new exhibit at Gateway Bank, beside his wife, Judy. His work is displayed along with the work of Diane Laws.

You teach your students everything you know and you hope for the best and sometimes they go out into the world and make you proud!! The colored pencil drawing above is a piece by Chuck Just a sampling of the lovely work that he and Diane Laws have currently on display at Gateway Bank on Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala, FL.

This is one of Diane's pieces, her specialty is horses with an occasional dog or landscape. Chuck draws a lot of florals and birds as well as other subjects. They have both been with us (star students) for many many years and their work shows their extensive experience.

The exhibit will be on display through September 20 at Gateway Bank. Please try to see it before it's gone. Well worth the trip!! Congratulations Chuck and Diane, we are very proud of you.

Peace and love to you,
Kelli

2011-09-12T10:24:00.000-04:00

Do you want to learn how to do fabulous texture like this?

Do you love the beach?

Put them together in the next Friday Night Painting Party.

SAVE THE DATE!!!!!!!!!

The next Friday Night
Painting Party/Workshop
At Hershberger & Huff Studios
Is set for
September 30, 2011
And we’re going back to the beach!

Come as you are, no need to bring anything,
We provide it all!
You leave with a 12x12 inch completed
Textured acrylic painting reminiscent of the beach!
For application/flyer reply to this email
Space is limited—act now!

2011-09-01T12:50:00.000-04:00

I'm having a work at home kind of day today. I've spent a lot of time down at our new studio since we opened and I love it but sometimes I just miss my home studio stuff. Yes I know.... I'm incredibly fortunate to have 2 locations to paint in. I count my blessings every day. Today I woke up with a bad headache and just feel kinda yucky so I'm enjoying the home space. As you can see it doesn't have to be kept quite so "picked up". It's loaded with supplies and it just feels good to me. It's kind of small in the photo but there's a clay pot sitting in front of the shelves. I use it to hold my wash brushes. My son made that coil pot when he was in middle school and I treasure it. I decided it needed to stay in here with my art stuff since my studio used to be his bedroom. I see it, I think of him and I smile.

Of course I had to make room in the studio for the movie collection. Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp keep me company when I paint.

There's no such thing as too many brushes. They can be a pain to store though so if you get a chance to snag a display rack from a store do it. Many times retail stores get new displays from manufacturers when new products come out. Ask them what they do with the old ones. Besides art suppliers try the craft stores, home decor places, even home improvement stores.

This is one of the handiest finds..... it's a lazy susan used for cake decorating. You can find them in the craft stores where you find Wilton products. I use it when I'm working on small canvases and want to work on the edges of the canvas without having to pick the canvas up or touch the edges. You could even do spin art with it :) Now I need to find one that will fit a 36x36 canvas!

Love and cherish your creative space,
Carlynne

Mark the October calendar

2011-08-25T13:08:00.001-04:00

So, you already know about the Friday Night Painting Party that's happening on Sept. 30. Of course it's on your calendar and you're ready to paint the really cool beach piece. Just to get a little jump ahead we thought we'd also show you what we're planning for the Oct. 28th Painting Party. We're doing this lovely little landscape. This is one of my favorite scenes from the Trinity River in CA. It's 8x10 acrylic on canvas and I'll take you through it step by step. More details to come later.

I hope you're doing something creative,
Carlynne

2011-08-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

Yep, Amazing Hubby is underneath the get up. He's getting ready to go outside and deal with the fiberglass form that is to become one of the herd known as Horse Fever.

Here he is out in the backyard working with all sorts of tools. No, you can't see more than that because it's a big secret! Sept. 29 is the big reveal.

And, here we have my horse Sunny, all wrapped up and ready to go. He was picked up last Wednesday, wrapped in blankets along with 2 of his buddies, off they went to get their clear coats. It was a feeling of relief to have him finished but at the same time I was sad to see him go. He's now out of my hands. Our students are probably relieved to have the classroom back though. They've spent a few weeks just hearing voices from the other side of the horse. Now they actually get to see who's talking at the other table during class.

Moving on.......
Peace and happy painting,
Carlynne

My Painting

2011-08-21T13:25:00.000-04:00

You know how you raise your kids and you send them out into the world and you hope they will do something to make you proud? Well this one did. Here is my piece hanging at Artful Gifts in the Circle Square Commons in Ocala, FL with my First Place Blue Ribbon beside it. Visit the Life at the Beach Exhibition while it's there if you can.

Make art, not war.

Peace,

Kelli

Save the Date!!

2011-08-16T11:50:00.003-04:00

Open House and Networking Event

2011-08-09T08:57:00.006-04:00

Our neighbor and landlord BJ Trophies is hosting an Open House this Thursday evening and we are participating! The event, which is sponsored by Ocala Business Leaders, takes place from 5-7 PM on Thursday the 11th of August. We will both be open and available for questions and networking.

BJ Trophies will be highlighting "the machine," the Roland VersaCamm printer that does the most amazing things. We are the lucky recipients of a Grand Opening sign made on the machine and are in the process of having some high quality digital art reproductions done. If you are an artist you might want to see what this printer can do with your artwork.

If you come on Thursday you will see our newest artwork and jewelry on display. Come for food, fun, networking and information.

Make art,
not war.
Peace,

Kelli

Art History

2011-08-01T15:13:00.010-04:00

Here is a piece from my new line of pendants in our Etsy shop. These are cave paintings,......well simulated cave paintings. And I think they look amazingly real. Well, OK, I've never been to Europe or seen any of the real cave paintings, but have studied them for years. I have always been fascinated by very early artwork, soooo Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as prehistoric paintings in caves have been a focus of interest for me. I have wanted to recreate them in jewelry for years and now I think I have done a pretty good job of depicting the textures, colors and the images.

This is the back of one of the pendants. They are approximately 2 inches and are on cords that are about 36 inches long. The best part is that although they look like they are done on pieces of stone, they are incredibly light weight as I started with art board. They are sold in our Etsy shop for $19 and free shipping!!!

I have used acrylic texture gels to recreate the feel of the cave and acrylic paint to simulate the colors. I seriously think that any artist worth her salt will want to wear her very own piece of Art History.

Peace and love,

Kelli

New Beach

2011-07-11T18:07:00.006-04:00

Here is the latest in the Beach Series. This one is 36" by 36."

A couple of reminders:

1. No class on Monday, the 18th of July.

2. The next Friday Night Painting Party/Workshop is on July 29 at the studio from 7-10. Food, fun, a project and lots of learning. No need to bring anything but yourself (and some wine if you choose.) We provide it all; sign up today!

Peace and creativity.
Kelli

Save the Date

2011-07-02T12:51:00.000-04:00

We all had such a good time at the Painting Party/Workshop in June that we are doing it again in July! Save the date-July 29 from 7-10 PM at Hershberger & Huff Studios, we will be painting an abstract textured beach piece similar to the one above. And yes, it's a party, BYOB (drink and paint responsibly) and we will have food and fun and instruction. You will leave with a piece of artwork that evokes memories of the beach, studio wrapped, no need for framing. Bonus discount on merchandise for attendees!

Space is limited and the first Party/Workshop was sold out, so get your reservations in by July 22. Hope to see you there.

Peace and love,

Kelli

Word Out Wednesday-Hershberger & Huff Studios

2011-06-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

Hello Ms Hershberger & Huff Studios, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.

H&H Please, my friends call me H & H.

Alright, H & H, um, can you tell us a little about your background, where were you born, did you always want to be an art studio, etc.?

H & H: Well, I was born here in Ocala and have always been a part of BJ Trophies on NE Jacksonville Rd. It took several different jobs before I was able to really find myself. I once was a photography studio and then a thrift store. And both of those were fun and good experience, but I always felt that something was missing. I became a studio/gallery when I met Carlynne and Kelli and felt that I had really found my true calling. I will always be grateful to them for that.

How did you hook up with your current owners? And whose idea was it to open the studio?

H & H: I think we make a great team and have an interesting history. Kelli actually came across Carlynne's artwork in a book, the Best of Colored Pencil while she was living in Tennessee. To make a long story short, Kelli moved here, they met at Red Swan, eventually started teaching classes and workshops together and then wrote a book, the Creative Colored Pencil Workshop. But enough about them, back to me. I connected with them when the owners of BJ Trophies who happen to be Carlynne's in-laws, asked if she would be interested in a rental space that had been empty for awhile. They knew that Red Swan was closing permanently and that Carlynne and Kelli needed a place to teach.

Do I detect resentment or some jealousy on your part toward your partners?

H & H: No, I don't really think so. You know how it is, when you have partners and one or more gets all the credit and attention. I feel at times that they could appreciate me a little more or at least show it. If not for me, they might not have the success that they do.

Do you think that they might answer differently, that you are lucky to have them, and that they made you what you are today?

H & H: Well, I don't know, maybe. You'd have to ask them that question. Anyway, above you see a few photos of my entrance and my favorite wall. I am pretty proud of these areas and of course, Kelli and Carlynne had a lot of input as well. I do think we have done a good job of turning a relatively small space into a multipurpose gallery and studio. We have tried to make it pleasant, well decorated as well as very functional and I believe we have succeeded quite well.

I would agree. I understand you recently had a very successful grand opening.

H & H: Oh, yes, it was wonderful, a very good turnout and a great chance to celebrate with friends and family. Above you see a shot of our banner that the guys at BJ Trophies made for the reception. They have always been very good to me. Below is a photo of the table before the party began. (Just between you and me, food is very important to Kelli and Carlynne.)

As it is to many of us. So you had a good turnout and has the studio been well received?

H & H: Most definitely. Our first Friday Night Painting Party/Workshop was completely sold out and everyone had great fun while making a painting. Our next one is scheduled for July 29. Here are a few more shots of the Grand Opening Reception.

So have you discussed any long range goals with Carlynne and Kelli?

H & H: Well, um truthfully, they do not include me as much as I would like into their planning. However, I see and hear a lot about what's going on. They are working on more artwork, obviously and jewelry making as well as making plans for some more books and maybe some online tutorials. They're testing different ways to make maximum and best use of my space and try many different and sometimes new activities in the arts field to see what suits them. They have said that having me, the studio, has changed everything for them and opened up endless new possibilities.

Well, that sounds to me like they really do appreciate you.

H & H: Uh, yeah, I guess you're right. Yeah, you're right!

So what's next for you?

H & H: Well, I am really enjoying this and feel that it makes the best use of my talents, so I guess I will continue the collaboration. We do seem to work well together.

Thank you for your time and good luck.

H & H:

Thank you.

Peace and creativity.

Last Night

2011-06-25T09:40:00.000-04:00

Last night was our second Friday Night Painting Party - good times :)

We did a gold leaf sky landscape painting. Here we're getting the studio ready. Yes, it's a little weird to have a life size horse in the middle of a workshop but no one seemed to mind. Anyway, we prepped the canvases by painting them magenta and drawing in the tree line. If we expected people to paint a landscape in 3 hours we figured we'd better give them at least a bit of a head start.

Playing with gold.

Looking so good.....

Everybody's smiling - our job is done.

What I love about doing this kind of class is seeing the same painting done so many different ways. Every painter puts their own hand into the subject. Now if I had remembered to take pictures of the finished pieces I could have shown you that but we were having such a good time I forgot to pick up the camera again. Maybe at the next one I'll get a line up of finished paintings.

Hope you're having a good weekend,
Carlynne

Hold Your Horses!

2011-06-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

This is what my new horse looked like going down the road yesterday. In a lightening storm no less. My husband, (he goes by the alias Boris) is a master at loading, securing and moving all kinds of odd shaped things. I could not possibly have gotten through the requirements of the last few weeks without his help. This unusual load drew lots of surprised looks and no doubt many people said, "They must be doing Horse Fever again!"

Here is Hubble Horse looking around my studio at his new neighhhhhh-bors. (Couldn't resist). I am pretty excited about sharing a working space with him for awhile.

As Carlynne said yesterday on this very same blog, we are painting horses once again for a community art project. Carlynne, her husband, Mark and I are all painting one this year. Between the three of us, this time around brings our combined total to 8 horses, 3 giant butterflies and one full size dog. We are up to our ears in naked horses now and will keep you posted on how their coats of paint are progressing.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Kelli

My day got a little sunnier

2011-06-22T17:09:00.002-04:00

So my husband and I were both chosen to paint a horse for the new herd of Horse Fever horses in honor of the 10th anniversary of the original Horse Fever. This morning we went to pick up our fiberglass forms. Here's Amazing Hubby Mark at the Signature Brands warehouse checking out the horse he's going to paint. AND, even better news..... Kelli was chosen also. We're ALL painting horses! I love it. :)

We actually got both horses in Dad's pick-up. I wasn't sure how that was going to work but work it did.

Now here's my horse "Sunny" sitting outside the studio waiting for class to be over so he could be moved inside.

The students have gone home and Sunny gets to find a spot in the middle of the tables. So far I've sanded and done the first layer of gesso. Tomorrow he gets another sanding and another coat of gesso and then it's time for laying out the design. This is the part I'm not crazy about - the prep work. It's like the prep you have to do before painting a room - hate it! I just want to get to the fun part, the color.

I don't have pictures of Kelli's horse because she's on her way to pick it up as I write this. I'll have to let her take photos. Her horse will reside at her house for the duration. I wish we had the room to paint both of them here at the studio but unfortunately, to do that we'd have to kick the students out - don't think they'd appreciate it.

Kelli and I will keep you updated on how things are going. We'll have to do more talking about it than showing pics of the progress though since the finished designs are under wraps. You'll just have to wait til September to see what we've done.

I hope you're happy and creating something,
Carlynne

Painting Party/ Gold Sky Workshop

2011-06-20T14:52:00.006-04:00

What are you doing Friday evening? If you'd like to create this Gold Sky painting yourself, sign up for our Friday Painting Party with Gold Sky Workshop! Do you work on Friday? Good news, just bring yourself (and some wine if you want to) and show up. We do all the rest!!!

$50 buys all your materials and snacks, entry into our door prize, art instruction and lots and lots of laughter and fun. And you go home with a finished painting. Friday, June 24 from 7-10 PM. 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd in Ocala. Space limited, only 4 seats left! RSVP-ASAP! Hope to see you!!

Peace and creativity,
Kelli

We're celebrating, so you get a discount!

2011-06-14T16:22:00.000-04:00

To celebrate the opening of our new studio and gallery we're having a sale in the Etsy Shop tomorrow, June 15th. Everything in the shop will be 20% OFF from 9AM until 9PM. It's a one day event so don't miss out! When you go shopping use the coupon code: studioopeningsale

Hope to see you at the opening Thursday.
Peace,
Carlynne

See What's New at the Studio

2011-06-14T14:24:00.000-04:00

We have lots of new things at the studio and not just the artwork. Here is our fabulous new sink, purchased and installed by my fabulous husband, Greg, (thanks honey, you're the greatest!). If you are an artist, you know how really fabulous a utility sink is!!!!

And this is our wonderful refrigerator, donated by our student Lea and wrapped in artwork. The stick on wrap was printed by Carlynne's husband Mark( she thinks he's wonderful, too) at his family business, BJ Trophies. thanks so much, this is really cool, one of a kind.

If you are in the area, you should join us for our Grand Opening Reception this Thursday, June 16 from 5 to 8 PM. You can see our fridge, our sink and other creative wonders. Please join us to celebrate.

Peace, love and creativity,

Kelli

Save the Date

2011-06-12T16:46:00.000-04:00

GRAND OPENING RECEPTION

Please Join Us On

June 16, 2011

from 5 until 8 PM

Hershberger & Huff Studios

1735 NE Jacksonville Rd, Suite 3

in Ocala, FL

Word Out Wednesday - Kelli Money Huff

2011-06-08T07:00:00.096-04:00

"Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light."

~ Jennie Jerome Churchill

This week I thought I'd give some attention to someone who is my BFF, my painting partner, my teaching partner and my co-author on our book and blog. You see.... today is her birthday and she deserves to be honored. She is someone who spends much of her time taking care of others and when she does so much for family and friends I think she needs a bit of a shout out.

Kelli and I have worked together for years. We push each other, help each other, critique each other and listen to each other. We share studio space, expenses, chores, art supplies, laughs and sometimes tears. We hardly ever argue (unless someone brings up "blending stumps"). I truly believe I've gotten as far as I have because of her. She makes my life richer and infinitely more fun.

Enjoy her work.

These 2 pieces are from Kelli's Beach series. I love the texture and drips!

Here she's using copper and texture.

Fabulous florals.

This gorgeous sunset is in our book on the Acknowledgements page.

And this piece.... well, this one she did for me. It's called 4 Women and it's about 4 generations in my family. She had been through an incredible journey with me and felt compelled to put it on canvas in this mixed media form. It's an amazing thing to have a friend who cares so much.

To my dearest friend - Happy Birthday. Thanks for who you are and everything you do. Thank you for being such an inspiration to me and others.
Love and peace,
Carlynne

Word Out Wednesday - Jessi Miller

2011-06-01T07:00:00.056-04:00

I'd like to introduce you to a friend of ours. She is Jessi Miller and she is one of the kindest people I know. Her heart is gold and her talent is huge. She is a designer extraordinaire. I asked her if she would share a little bit about herself so below you'll see her work and what she had to say.

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The 3 paintings above are from the Digital Paint series, mixed media on canvas - using bits from old electronics.

Can you tell us a bit about your education and work experience?

I thought I was ready to be a professional artist right out of high school! I nearly didn't go on to college. Fortunately, one of my high school art teachers who had encouraged me so much, told me I didn't know what I was doing and needed to continue my education. I listened and I'm grateful. I went to the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, worked very hard and found out how little I knew. I decided on a "practical" path, which was to work in advertising until my art took off on the side. 20 years later I still haven't quit the advertising side of art. I have worked in advertising agencies, had my own magazine in South Florida, worked for publishers and freelanced and I worked at Ocala Magazine for over 5 years. Currently I have my own marketing/branding design company (Little Black Mask Marketing) and I work and paint out of my downtown Ocala studio (Studio 9), which I share with artist Mary Verrandeaux.

The Kiss III

Acrylic on canvas

Puppy Love II

Acrylic on canvas

What was your first memory as an artist?

It took me a long time to consider myself a "real artist." While I have lots memories of drawing in my childhood, creating assignments in high school and college, and even painting, illustrating, selling and showing art as an adult – I still did it all on the side of something else. I think the first time I honestly felt like an artist was during a showing in a Ft. Myers gallery, talking with the guests about my art. Hearing their impressions, the stories they got from my paintings, the emotions that were evoked by my work, and the further thoughtfulness it provoked, made me feel that I had accomplished something with the art – as opposed to just having accomplished the art itself.

The Nurturing I - Zebra

Acrylic on canvas.

This was the first painting I made, right after college.

What does success in the art world mean to you?

It means affecting people with my art and making a living at it. I'm half way there (still not earning a living from it).

Like many artists, you're involved in many projects. How do you balance them all?

Insanity. Sometimes I think I'm not completely sane because of everything I'm doing. After all these years I have finally embraced the fact that I am not going to cut back on work and find "balance." After a particularly stressful and taxing project, I always feel the best sense of accomplishment and I realize, if I weren't so overwhelmed... if I had a calm balance... then I wouldn't be accomplishing these things. It's a sacrifice that I think a lot of great creative, driven people have made.

You have a very distinct painting style, have you always worked that way? Do you like to work in different styles?

I haven't always worked in the "square brush stroke" style that I have been doing for a few years, but I have always worked with color and composition in an unnatural and strong way. I believe that some of the boldness comes from being a graphic artist. You know, "make it pop!" Also graphic design is a way of telling a story and evoking a response with a visual, so I think that I do the same in my paintings, too. I even suspect that, the "square brush stroke" is a painted version of a pixel, further extending the graphic design concept onto the canvas.

I do like to work in different styles, actually, but have to admit that I have not for a long time. Marketing your work as an artist, it's important to be identifiable and unique, so I have focused on one style for some years now and will continue to do so until I get it out of my system. A lot of the graphic design that I do can be considered art as well, so digital art would be another style of mine.

To contact Jessi.......

www.littleblackmask.com

www.jessimiller.com/fineArt.html

325-286-8249

Thanks for sharing Jessi.

Word Out Wednesday

2011-05-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

Happy hump day everybody. This week I'd thought I'd share some stuff with you. The first thing being my favorite art magazines - Blue Canvas and Artworks. So what is it that I love about these magazines? Let me count the ways.......

Well, to start with, Blue Canvas is not just a magazine. It's a website that showcases the work of artists, it's a place for artists to interact in a community, it's a shop where artists can sell reproductions of their work and it's an organization that works with companies like Epson, Art supply Warehouse and Scion to support art schools. They truly work in support of artists and that is a HUGE thing.

What do I love about Artworks? They mean it when they say they're "a voice for the arts". There's a large focus on the visual arts but they also have features on movie makers, musicians and dancers. They encompass all the arts and sometimes we need to explore what the other arts are doing. Sometimes our lives as artists can get narrow. It's nice to see in-depth articles and interviews with people involved in other art forms.

For fun, here are a few more places to visit....

http://www.sixartistssixprairies.blogspot.com/

http://www.keshabrucestudio.com/

http://www.artsjournal.com/

http://www.doodlersanonymous.com/

http://artnews.org/cityexhibitions.php?city=New%20York

http://www.artbizblog.com/

http://www.artfagcity.com/

http://www.ebsqart.com/

http://claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com/

http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

Have fun perusing. Oh.... and just a reminder, this Friday is our first Painting Party class so let us know if you're joining us. And just another save the date - June 16th from 5-8 will be our opening party for the studio. Come by and see what we've been up to. More info to come later.

Enjoy the rest of your week and do something creative!

Peace,

Carlynne

It's Party Time!!

2011-05-24T17:26:00.003-04:00

Well, it's almost party time. Just a reminder:

When: Friday, May 27 7 to 10 PM

What: Painting Party!

Where: Hershberger & Huff Studios

How much: $25

What you get: guidance with your art project, food, punch, music (maybe a little dancing?) discount on merchandise, a door prize and

a very special demo: Hot pencils and pastels!!!

Why: Why not?????

It's more fun to paint together and why not eat and drink too!!

BYOB, yep, you can drink responsibly

Bring your own art supplies and your current project.

For more info email us at hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com

Word Out Wednesday- Diane Laws

2011-05-17T10:07:00.020-04:00

It's an unusually quiet day in Wednesday Guided Open Studio Class at Hershberger & Huff Studios. Normally the air is full of gossip, laughter, recipe exchanging and oh, yeah, a little discussion of artwork. Today is silent until from one corner of the room a confident voice says "Damn, I'm good." Ripples of laughter fill the room and we all know that Diane Laws is giving herself a pat on the back for another good job.

And well she should give herself credit, although she tries to give a lot of credit to us. Diane has been one of our students for more than 15 fun-filled years and is a highly accomplished artist. Her favorite subject is animals and all the pieces you see here are colored pencil, her medium of choice, although recently she is turning out some very high quality landscapes in acrylic on canvas. She paints most all animals but her specialty is horses. Diane has loved horses as long as she can remember and it shows in the work. In her own words, she was "touched by a magic wand to pursue drawing."

Okay, depends on what you call an "animal."

Don't you just want to pet him?

Diane didn't really consider herself an artist until she moved to Florida and started studying with us. She says that we helped her resolve issues with her artwork, encouraged her and helped her develop her own style and according to her, that is the best therapy.

A published cartoonist and book illustrator, Diane also does animal portrait commissions. As a community service, she draws portraits of service dogs for no fee. You can contact her for pricing and more information at Maggieo2@hotmail.com . Her work is on the cover of "Fourteen Years With Buster" and is included in Horseman's Handbook.

We are very fortunate to have students like Diane. Not only is she a cheerleader for our teaching, she was instrumental in helping us get our new studio open. We are grateful for her help, her sense of humor, her artwork and her friendship. Thanks Diane and damn you ARE good.

Peace and creativity,
Kelli

Save the Date - It's a Painting Party!

2011-05-16T07:14:00.006-04:00

What in the world are we doing with an electric griddle in the art studio? Not flippin flapjacks I can tell you - although they would be pretty tasty right about now, have you ever tried hot dog pancakes? Anyway, I won't be cooking but I will be melting colored pencils and maybe a few other writing or painting implements while I'm at it. I'll be doing a little demo at our studio for our first ever Friday Night Painting Party.

Here's the save the date part - it's the last Friday of the month - May 27th. The party starts at 7pm and goes til 10. Bring whatever artwork you're working on (any media) and your supplies. Kelli and I will be there to help guide you if you're stuck, help you get started if you're blank or critique if you just want some input. You can even test out the griddle. Beginners and experienced painters are all welcome. Cost is 25.00. We'll have some munchies there and a bucket of ice so along with your art stuff you're welcome to BYOB of your preferred beverage, you can even sip some wine while you paint.

In case you missed it - the studio is located at 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd., Suite 3. If you want to join the party send us an email - hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!
Carlynne

Word Out Wednesday - Dali

2011-05-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Landscape with Butterflies

Galatea of the Spheres

Since Kelli posted pictures from her trip to the Dali museum I thought I'd post pictures of Dali's paintings for WOW. When many of us think of Salvador Dali we think immediately of mustaches and melting clocks so I decided not to post anything showing his facial hair, extreme expressions and clocks draping over tree limbs. Instead I wanted to show you some paintings you may not be as familiar with.

The Face of War

Three Sphinxes of Bikini

Swans Reflecting Elephants

From the fairly simplistic Landscape with Butterflies to the disturbing Face of War to the more complex Swans Reflecting Elephants, Dali always gave us something to think about. Whether you like his work or not there are a few things that can't be denied - he was creative, thought provoking and technically good, so enjoy. What do you think of his work?

"Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad." ~ Salvador Dali

Have a great hump day :)
Carlynne

Dali Museum

2011-05-10T09:36:00.004-04:00

I am sure that if Salvatore Dali were here, he would have spent Mother's Day with his mother at his museum in St Pete, FL where I was with my family. If you haven't been to the new museum, the architecture is every bit as interesting as the artwork. It came to Dali in a dream as did most of his painted images.

When he was in art school he read Interpretation of Dreams by Freud and started making notes and sketches from his own dreams. Many of his surreal paintings (dripping clocks, etc.) were drawn from these images.

The spiral staircase inside the museum goes up to a point in a glass encased dome where you can look out over people eating on the patio or the water of Tampa Bay and the airport.

I am not related to these people or I would have asked them to move but I thought that would be rude as they are not my relatives.

When you get a chance go see the Dali Museum and the nearby St Pete Pier. The Pier will be rebuilt soon and so will be closed for awhile. Enjoy the view when you have time.

Peace and Creativity,

Kelli

Word Out Wednesday-Our Fantastic Students

2011-05-03T16:50:00.014-04:00

For this Word Out Wednesday we want to get the word out about our fabulous students who made it possible to open our new studio with lots of help and everything we needed. Their response has been absolutely overwhelming.

The list of things donated is endless, from a mini-refrigerator and microwave to chairs, tables, cleaning supplies and equipment, books, coffee supplies, utility sink, a cup rack, paper goods and many other things, including money donations. The generosity alone is astounding, but the fact that we didn't ask, didn't even mention what we needed and they just started showing up with everything!

A big giant thanks to Lea, Nancy, Jean, Betty, Maria, Jane, Rae Jean, Gisela, and Mary for so many, many things needed. Thanks to Kelli's sister Shelley in California for sending a wonderful good luck gift. We are grateful to both our mothers Jo and Johnie for their donations AND for giving birth to us. Thank you to Kelli's fantastic husband Greg for moving everything with no other manly help and doing handy odd jobs.

Last and far from least, Chuck, Diane and Cindy. Thank you for your donations but also for your time, giving up at least a weekend or more to paint and ready our new building. Kelli is particularly grateful that when she had to go out of town on a family emergency, you stepped up to the plate and were there to make sure that Carlynne did not have to do it all alone. (You made her smile and cry at the same time.)

There is no other word that means the same thing, but there are not enough Thank Yous to express how we feel about all of you. We will always remember our new studio opening with joy because of you. Someone said that your generosity reflects well on us, but I beg to differ. It says a lot about who YOU are. Thank you Hershberger and Huff Studios students, we will never forget this and you rock one and all!

Peace and love,
Kelli and Carlynne

Studio Update

2011-04-28T11:19:00.003-04:00

Here is a quick update on the new studio. This photo shows four of our students working in the Wednesday Open Studio Class. Open studio means that students can work on any and all media. From left to right, Mary is working with watercolor and colored pencil. Cindy is working on an oil painting, Betty is deciding on her next colored pencil piece, and Johnie,(my own mum) is starting a new colored pencil floral.

We have fantastic students, they are not only dedicated and skilled artists, they are incredibly kind and generous people. Next week we will talk more about the fabulous things they have done to help make this studio a reality.

Peace, love and creativity,

Kelli

Word Out Wednesday - BJ Trophies

2011-04-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

This is not just your ordinary trophy shop. Next door to our new studio is BJ Trophies - yes, it's another plug for family but hey, it's my blog. I can do what I want. Besides, it's because of them that we have a new studio to work in.

In the top photo you see the handmade pens created by Floyd, my father-in-law and owner of the shop. Above is a shot of just a few of the many items for sale in the showroom.

Here you'll find all sorts of interesting things, from frogs and other critters to crystal letter openers and wooden puzzle boxes. I even bought a tiara here.

The beautiful showroom.

And, the latest addition - the giclee printer! We are so excited about this. Those pretty colors you see coming out of the machine are a few of my paintings in the first test run on canvas. Oh, the possibilities....

To find more info about what they do at the shop, take a look here. Better yet, take a ride over, visit the showroom and then stop in and say hello at the studio.

Peace,
Carlynne

Opening Day!

2011-04-26T18:36:00.005-04:00

When I was growing up in the north woods of Michigan, Opening Day meant deer season. Now, in Florida, it means the first day that Hershberger & Huff Studios is open to the public. We held our first class at our new location, 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd in Ocala, yesterday. This photo shows Jo (Carlynne's Mom) and Nancy hard at work.

Gisela working on her painting.

Coffee or tea anyone? We have a reference library and also a lending library. We are still putting things away and setting up our new schedule. Stop in to see us when you're in the area.

Peace and creativity,

Kelli

Word Out Wednesday - Brian Hershberger

2011-04-20T07:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Wednesday! This week I want to introduce you to Brian Hershberger. Yes we're related, he's my brother-in-law and he takes the most beautiful photos.

Every time we see a photograph we're looking through the eyes of the photographer. Is it an art form? Does the camera do all the work? Anyone can push a button and sometimes even the most amateur among us get lucky. Yes, the type and quality of equipment used does make a difference but only the human behind the lens can decide on the subject and then make decisions about composition, lighting, color and exposure.

Many of Brian's photos are taken on the Silver River near our home in Florida. He recently put together a book called A DAY ON THE SILVER RIVER. In the back of his book he had this to say....

About the... Artist?

I have been making photos since childhood, and it's no wonder. Virtually every other member of my family is an accomplished artist in some medium. Many have made a living as such, others not so much, but it seems to be a genetic predisposition that I have yet to overcome.

After earning a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcasting from the University of Florida, I worked in broadcast news, feature films, television series and specials in Los Angeles and Orlando. But now, under the guise of a mild-mannered businessman I have turned my lens to the abundant beauty of the Ocala National Forest. Specifically, the inhabitants of the 5 1/2 mile long Silver River. The photos in this book were all made on or around The River in May 2009. It is my hope that the little details in these candid portraits elicit a feeling, and if they do, then I guess I am an artist.

If you'd like more info about these amazing photos or Brian's book you can contact him here.

Peace and creativity! And, remember, we'll see you at the new studio soon.
Carlynne

Almost There

2011-04-14T13:55:00.005-04:00

This is what our new studio looks like from the outside. I can't believe it's mine, mine, all mine!!!!! Well, almost, I do share with Carlynne. But that's the good part, too. As you know, most things are more fun with someone else. And less work.

This is a view of the whole building which is owned by B J Trophies. We will be at 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd in Ocala very soon. We are counting down the days now, so keep checking back here to find out the final date. We have to be out of Red Swan by the last day of April when the lease is up and they close. We plan to be holding our classes in the new studio before the end of the month. Woo-hoo!!! We're almost there!

Peace and love,

Kelli

Word Out Wednesday - Kari Haley

2011-04-13T07:00:00.012-04:00

Blue Butterfly

Welcome to the second feature for Word Out. Today I want you to take a look at work from artist Kari Haley. She's one of my peers on Blue Canvas. I was first attracted to the pencil work she did on Zuberi - superb handling! I love that she works with different media too. Blue Butterfly is acrylic over graphite and Rose is colored pencil.

Zuberi

Rose

Kari says..... "Since I could pick up a crayon I have always been making art. I had the benefit of having a father who was an artist and an art teacher ( he still paints). I attended one year at Kansas City Art Institute. Other than that I am self taught if there is such a thing as I really feel the world around us has an infinite amount of things to learn from and be inspired by. Drawing has always been my main obsession so colored pencil was a wonderful way to play with color and still draw. I have always done detailed work so now I am playing with watercolor and acrylic for a means to be quicker and more loose (but we’ll see how that goes because I love detail). Seeing other artists work online is definitely a great way to broaden my preconceptions of art especially when I otherwise have limited contact with other artists. I am constantly finding out about great artists that I have never heard of. ...my main goal is to never stop making art and to learn as much as I can in the process!"

Bat Cat

I have to say I love Bat Cat. What an attitude! Thanks for sharing your work with us Kari.

Peace and creativity everyone, Carlynne

Word Out Wednesday - Jeffro Uitto

2011-04-06T07:27:00.007-04:00

Welcome to Word Out Wednesday! I've been working on getting my work out there and finding new places to exhibit online so I made a page at Blue Canvas. I love this site. While I was wandering around the gallery pages checking out the incredible array of artwork there, I came across this chair - King Neptune.

King Neptune and the beautiful creations below were made by Jeffro Uitto from Tokeland WA. He creates the most intriguing, organic, flowing wood sculptures I've seen. He's a woodcarver who gets his material from the shore rather than the mill and what he does with nature's castaways is just sublime. Enjoy. Go visit his website to see more and take a look at his profile at Blue Canvas too.

Jeffro in his element.

Enhancing Your Environment

2011-03-28T11:46:00.012-04:00

Enhance your environment is what Laura Howard does at Decorative Designs in Ocala, FL. You see her in the photo above (left) with one of our students, Lea. Carlynne and I and several of our students recently took advantage of the opportunity to see what Laura and her crew do at an event held at her studio on SR 200 in Ocala. It was a fantastic Artists Date for us (for an explanation of Artists Date see Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way). Laura has many creative experts working for and with her and she herself has a huge amount of specialized training in faux finishes and other artistic mediums. She has trained in many places in the US as well as Italy and has over two decades of experience. Her showroom is a decorator and artists delight, a playground devoted to creative endeavors.

Here you see some of Laura's helpers at the desk with samples of faux finishes behind them. According to their website, "the possibilities are limited only by your imagination." And indeed I was amazed at what they can do with materials very similar to the ones we use on canvas. This photo shows a demonstration of applying Venetian Plaster. It was absolutly inspiring to see the textures and finishes achieved and all the exciting materials available at their location. They have all the supplies you need to enhance your environment, from faux finishes to murals, trompe l'oeil, marbeling, to texture appliactions or they can do it for you, custom designed to your wishes.

Decorative Desings is an incredbily creative place. Here you can see Diane and Carlynne examining some of the results. I was astounded at the faux marble and the textures created with a product called Wood Icing. We are now playing with a glazing cream we purchased from Laura. I strongly recommend that you join their email list and find out about classes and free demos. Here is a link to their site Visit them and enjoy. And watch here for more info on some of our favorite and most inspiring creative people. As we work on getting the word out about our work and studio, we'd like to feature the work of other artists also. We want to do this every Wednesday and call it Word Out Wednesday. If there is an artist you would like to see on our blog please let us know.

I wish you peace and creativity, Kelli

The New H & H Studios

2011-03-26T14:55:00.006-04:00

We are so excited about our new location for Hershberger & Huff Studios. Next month Red Swan Paint and Art will close it's doors for the last time and we will have our very first not-in-our homes studio.

To give you a little of our history, Carlynne and I started working together in 2002 (not exactly olden days but seems like a long time ago now). We didn't like the fact that we were both spending a lot of time teaching and not very much making our own art or furthering our own careers. We wanted to be artists that teach and not teachers that only paint once in awhile. We started meeting one day and then two days a week alternating from my studio to hers. By combining our weekly classes and teaching workshops together, we found we had less work and more time to paint. One day we discovered that we had the makings of a book with all the handouts we had written. North Light agreed and our book Creative Colored Pencil Workshop came to fruition.

There is sadness at leaving Red Swan which has been a great meeting place for artists to visit and share info over art supply purchases. Red Swan is where Carlynne and I met, wrote most of our book and painted full size horse sculptures together. There are many fond memories of the classes and workshops that we have taught there and the students who have been more much more than students to us.

But, change happens and is usually for the better. We will be in our new studio at 1735 NE Jacksonville Rd in Ocala sometime in April. It is the perfect size for us and we will have the best working space we've ever had. We are very grateful to all the people at BJ Trophies, our neighbors and landlords for giving us this fabulous opportunity. We believe that many more wonderful things will happen there and we hope you will join us. We will be posting updated info in this space as it becomes available.

Peace and Creativity,

Kelli

Going, going....

2011-03-23T15:23:00.003-04:00

Just had to share a photo of our azaleas with you as they are now fading. Spring has sprung and now is turning into warm balmy days in Florida. And that means our new studio will be open soon, so watch for more info coming in the next few weeks.

I wish you peace and flowers every day,
Kelli

Moving On

2011-03-17T15:35:00.003-04:00

History Waiting

48x36

oil on canvas

I think I showed you this painting when it was in the works, so here it is finished. It's part of the adoption series that's on-going. Personal history and memories are a large part of that series.

Well, very soon my life at Red Swan will be part of my history and nothing more than a memory. The store is closing April 30 and will be no more. I first started working there in September of 1992 - an amazing 19 years ago. For the most part I can hardly believe it's been that long but there are some days when it seems twice that. I think it's going to be bitter sweet for me. I'm going to miss seeing some of the characters who come to shop there. I'm going to miss seeing my artist friends coming in for their supplies and then staying a while to visit. I'm certainly going to miss the access to the supplies and my employee discount. The other part of me however is looking forward to something new. So, what is that new thing you ask? Kelli and I need a place to teach our art classes when the store closes so we're taking the plunge and opening our own classroom. We're over the moon excited about having our own space. It'll be part classroom, part gallery and part studio space.

I'll do another post soon with some photos, location, move in date and lots more. Stay tuned!

Peace,

Carlynne

Memories

2011-03-04T12:22:00.006-05:00

My kitty, formally known as King Tut, but usually called Kitty, died on Monday of this week after 16 years of doing all things his way. I took this photo a couple of years ago and it surprised me when I saw it on my monitor as the lighting gave it such an ethereal quality. It seemed appropriate to use on this post as he looks very angelic here, which he rarely was in life.

We mourn his passing more than we have some humans as he was a huge part of our lives for more than a decade and a half. He was cheerful, energetic, demanding and very often wild and devilish, but always a happy cat and I still look for him everywhere and am sure that I hear him many times a day.

You are greatly loved,

Good night, sweet kitty.

Peace and love to you and your pets.

Kelli

February in Florida

2011-02-26T23:27:00.016-05:00

No writing in this post, just a lot of photos that I took in my yard today. Camelia blooming time ~ my favorite time of year.

Peace,

Carlynne

Art and Guerrillas

2011-02-22T14:44:00.006-05:00

I am so happy that we finally have a place like the Florida Museum for Women Artists. I'm also ashamed to say that I had not heard of Dorothy Gillespie before this exhibit announcement. This is why we need more museums like this one. Why haven't I heard of her before? I haven't been living under a rock outside the art world. I've been to galleries and museums. I've read art magazines and spent many, many hours perusing the art sections of book stores. I've done my share of surfing. Yet.... I had no clue this artist has been out there producing art for most of her 90 years. Of course it could be that I just wasn't looking in the right places but why is it that the majority of art students in the colleges are female yet the majority of artists represented in the museums are male?

Well according to the Guerrilla Girls things have improved for women artists since the 80's but not so much at the higher levels of exhibition. Do you remember these feminist masked avengers in the art world? They're still around and doing their thing. Below is a segment from an early interview with the girls that I found on their website.

Q. How did the Guerrilla Girls start?

Kathe Kollwitz: In 1985, The Museum of Modern Art in New York opened an exhibition titled An International Survey of Painting and Sculpture. It was supposed to be an up-to-the minute summary of the most significant contemporary art in the world. Out of 169 artists, only 13 were women. All the artists were white, either from Europe or the US. That was bad enough, but the curator, Kynaston McShine, said any artist who wasn't in the show should rethink “his” career. And that really annoyed a lot of artists because obviously the guy was completely prejudiced. Women demonstrated in front of the museum with the usual placards and picket line. Some of us who attended were irritated that we didn't make any impression on passersby.

Meta Fuller: We began to ask ourselves some questions. Why did women and artists of color do better in the 1970's than in the 80's? Was there a backlash in the art world? Who was responsible? What could be done about it?

Q.What did you do?

Frida Kahlo: We decided to find out how bad it was. After about 5 minutes of research we found that it was worse than we thought: the most influential galleries and museums exhibited almost no women artists. When we showed the figures around, some said it was an issue of quality, not prejudice. Others admitted there was discrimination, but considered the situation hopeless. Everyone in positions of power curators, critics, collectors, the artists themselves passed the buck. The artists blamed the dealers, the dealers blamed the collectors, the collectors blamed the critics, and so on. We decided to embarrass each group by showing their records in public. Those were the first posters we put up in the streets of SoHo in New York .

Here's a piece of an interview that's more current.

So, are things ok for women in the art world now?

Things are better now than they ever have been for women and artists of color and we have helped effect that change. Right now there is decent representation of women and artists of color at the beginning and emerging levels of the art world. At the institutional level however, in museums, major collections and auctions sales, things are still pretty dismal for all but white guys. We believe that the economics of the art market is responsible for this. As long as art costs a lot of money and can be owned and controlled by individual collectors, it will represent the values of those people, not the larger art audience or the culture at large. We are still condemning the art world for its lack of ethics, tokenism and other bad behavior.

It's good to know that things are improving but apparently there's still a long way to go. For now we can keep on supporting not just FMWA but all museums that are including women in there line up of artists. I can't wait to see this show of Dorothy's work. Just the fact that she's 90 years old and still producing and exhibiting is amazingly inspirational. I want to be just like her when I grow up.

Peace, and go look at art somewhere...
Carlynne

Magnolias and monotypes

2011-02-21T13:35:00.005-05:00

Magnolia 2

Monotype

Well, I'm lying on the couch with my laptop - actually on my lap and listening to the gurgling of the fish tank. I'm home from work with a miserable head cold so while my head pounds I've been pounding away at the keyboard doing a variety of things. I've been emailing, reading, posting a strange mix of things on Facebook and working on the Etsy shop.

The Magnolia above is one of the new listings on Etsy. I did this piece from a photo I took of a bud on the magnolia tree in my front yard. Sadly, the tree is no more but I have the memories of it saved in the photos and paintings I've done over the years.

Monotypes are a lot of fun to do. For those of you not familiar.... a monotype is a type of original print made by first painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface such as glass or plexi. Different kinds of paint such as oil or acrylic can be used or you can use printmaking ink. The image is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the 2 surfaces together. They can be run through a printing press to make the transfer or the back of the paper could simply be rubbed with the back of a wooden spoon. Most or all of the ink/paint is removed in the process so only one print can be made, hence the name - monotype. Kelli and I actually have a small press that we share, and I do mean small, but it hasn't seen the light of day in quite a while. Hopefully we can change that soon. I'd like to do some more with monotypes.

For now I'm going to have to settle for another dose of Ibuprofen, Xango and a nap.

Be well everybody,

Carlynne

Happy to be busy!

2011-02-18T10:09:00.005-05:00

It's been a busy time in Etsy land lately! Both of these pieces above sold along with two other original paintings, a giclee and a copy of our book. I love making those trips to the post office.

Believe

5x5

Mixed Media

Remember in a previous post I had a bunch of canvas panels that I had started on? There were two with nothing but purple handmade paper glued on. Here they are finished. I just added them to the Etsy shop this week. I'm falling in love with violet and blue together. There's some more of that color combo in my future. I also want to do some more with words. Anyone have any suggestions for words they'd like to see added to a little abstract?

Purple Passion

5x5

Mixed Media

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Carlynne

Artist Date

2011-02-15T09:35:00.009-05:00

Homasassa Springs on the west coast of Florida is a wonderful place to see and photograph manatees, birds and other Florida wildlife.

We were there last Saturday and like to go about once a year. If you are like me, you get really busy with life and start to forget the really fabulous things here in Florida. I have lived in Michigan, Tennessee and Florida and visited many other states, and I can say with authority that this entire country is a smorgasbord of wonderful things to see.

Places like this are a perfect Artists Date and as we artists know, those are necessary. Have fun exploring.

Peace and love,

Kelli

If you're in Deland.....

2011-02-14T17:33:00.003-05:00

...stop by the museum. Last week Kelli and I got to deliver our work to the Florida Museum for Women Artists. We were accepted to the gift shop so our work and our book is now available at the museum. Here you see a few of my pieces waiting to find their spots on the shelves.

Here's a better view of the shop. If you look at the bottom shelf in the middle of the picture you can see the crows painted by our friend Robin Pedrero. It's nice we get to hang out with her again - kind of. Well, at least our work gets to hang out together.

Check out the museum website for exhibition info. Maybe we'll see you there sometime.

Peace,
Carlynne

Stuff......

2011-02-02T08:27:00.009-05:00

......that's undone - story of my life I guess but I see that as a good thing. It means I started something. In this case it's many somethings. Many projects are underway. Little pieces with papers collaged and texture gels added are waiting patiently for paint. These are heading for the Etsy shop when finished.

This is a bigger one - 48x36 oil on canvas. It's part of the series on adoption.

The next one in the gold sky series is also underway.

I hadn't done one of these larger textured abstracts in a while so I was in need. I have it started and I have no idea what I'm doing with it next but that's the fun of doing it.

TA DA! Something done! This one is for a special project that I'll be announcing later. This is colored pencil with mineral spirits on cold press illustration board. So, I'll keep you posted on how all these projects end up.

Go and be creative!

Carlynne

Avocado Trees - a little painting up for auction

2011-01-13T19:02:00.005-05:00

Avocado Trees

9x11.5

pastel

In our Wednesday class Jane asked me to do a demo for her. She specifically requested pastel so I did this little landscape. I had so much fun doing it that I took over her spot at the table for a little while. She finally had to shove me out of her chair so she could actually get some of her own work done. Oh, how I've missed the joy of putting stick to paper. How in the world are we supposed to find time to work in all the media we enjoy? If anyone out there has an answer please let me know. In the meantime..... how about making an offer on this little piece.

I'm going to start doing a regular auction of small original works here on the blog. The bidding will start at 10.00. If you live in Ocala we can arrange for you to pick up the work. If not, I'll have to charge for shipping so add 5.00 to the winning bid. Of course if you live in FL you'll have to add 6% for sales tax. So, either leave a comment or send an email with your offer to hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com. The bidding will be open until the end of January.

Peace,

Carlynne

Thanks Bob

2011-01-11T20:08:00.003-05:00

Thanks Bob for the gift of you. We just learned that our dear friend Bob died this past Sunday. He was truly a gift to our art class. He always brought with him a smile and a hug. If there's only one thing I could say about him, it's that I wish I had met him so much sooner. We could have shared so many more smiles. We'll miss you. We are incredibly sad.

Carlynne and Kelli

From Diane ~ "I'm going to miss my huggy bear"

Jo said ~ "Thank you for all the hugs, smiles, and compliments. You had the gift of giving others sunshine. I will miss you."

Chuck's flowers

2010-12-29T14:03:00.003-05:00

Hi everybody, it's been a while since I've posted on here. We've been crazy busy with the holidays, I'm sure you all know what it's like. Now that Christmas is done maybe our classes can start getting back to normal. Today we had a fun group, we got some painting done, had a few laughs and Chuck finished his piece. It's so gorgeous I just had to post it here! These flowers were done in colored pencil on Canson paper. The color in the photo is actually a little cooler than the piece really is. The paper is a soft yellow and the flowers have more magenta in them. I tried adjusting the color but just couldn't get it where I wanted it. (I just took it this morning with my little camera and I'm not home where I can really color correct). Anyway.... you can still see how beautifully he painted it. He's developed a hard edge, graphic style that I really like.

One of the real joys of teaching these art classes is seeing the students develop over the years. It's an interested process to watch. Like the rest of us who paint, they go through the struggles of finding a voice, figuring out how to speak in that voice, learn and build the skills they need to say something and then one day it all comes together. A beautiful painting is born.

I hope you're enjoying the holidays and I wish you peace and creativity for the new year!
Carlynne

Where Were You on Wednesday?

2010-12-16T15:06:00.004-05:00

We were at the Appleton Museum in Ocala on Wednesday of last week. We were invited to give a demonstration to the Ocala Art Group (OAG) and we received a very nice response. This photo collage was put together by Ray Jowers who played paparazzi that day.

They served us a really good lunch in the Museum Cafe and as Carlynne already mentioned, it was really fun visiting with our friends Nancy, Julie and Maggie. We don't have lunch with friends nearly often enough.

Then we talked to the goup for about an hour and a half and demonstrated ways to combine colored pencil with other media. We also took questions and sold and signed quite a few of our books. All in all it was a very good day. Thank you OAG for inviting us and Ray for taking care of all arrangements.

Peace and love to you all, especially at this time of year,
Kelli

Signature Showcase

2010-12-16T08:31:00.008-05:00

Well, the demo at the Appleton Museum for the Ocala Art Group went very well. We had a nice turn out, enjoyed lunch with friends, did our thing and sold some books. Sometime soon Kelli will be posting a photo or 2 from that day. For right now though I want to show you this.......

I got my copy of the Signature Showcase book yesterday and it's beautiful! And, I'm in it!

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since the beginning of CPSA and the letter that Vera Curnow wrote to the Artist's Magazine wondering if there were other colored pencil artist's out there. The book features work by 177 Signature members. To become a Signature member you have to be accepted to the CPSA International Exhibition 3 times within a 10 year period. Like the Best of Colored Pencil series, all the work in the book is 100% colored pencil but with this one you get to read a little something from each artist. I've been lucky enough to go to some of the conventions and meet people who are included in this book. Every time I open it and see their work I think of them and the time we had at the shows or FL chapter meetings.

The book is a limited edition so don't wait too long if you want your own copy. To order one go to this page. BTW.... the art on the cover is by the very talented Bonnie Auten.

PS: When you get your copy make sure you find page 59. :)

Peace,

Carlynne

2010-12-06T10:04:00.004-05:00

Here are two more pieces that I pulled out yesterday. These are watercolor and colored pencil on hot press watercolor paper. I haven't worked on paper in a while. I love the feel of it, the way the water flows and mingles, the way the pencil works on top..... oh, I'm feeling the urge. It may be time to get out my pile of paper and start playing.

Hope you're having a good Monday.

Peace,

Carlynne

Brick by Brick

2010-12-05T21:00:00.006-05:00

Could you tell I've been kind of scarce around here lately? The creative juices just haven't been flowing. I seem to have figured out the cycle though. Apparently I paint like crazy, produce a lot of work and then suddenly stop. The brick wall is there, I hit it and no matter how I try or what I do, it's not moving. The best thing to do is wait it out and focus on other things.

So, I've been focusing on research and today getting ready for the demo that Kelli and I are doing for the Ocala Art Group on Wednesday. In the process of looking for work to take with me I came across some pieces I really enjoyed doing. These 2 are obviously the same landscape but done with different palettes and on slightly different surfaces. Both are colored pencil on paper. I think you can tell in the photo there's more texture in the top version - I gessoed the paper first. In the bottom version I wanted some texture in the trees so did some scraping on the pencil point with an knife blade and then pressed the shavings down into the surface to make them stick. Give this a try sometime - paint the same scene multiple times and see what you can do to give them their own personality.

I think the wall is starting to shift......

Sharing

2010-11-27T13:24:00.000-05:00

Do you remember when Kelli and I did the Landfill Art Project and painted hubcaps? This one was done by Robin, a friend of ours in Orlando. I came across her video about the work and thought you might like to see it.

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!
Carlynne

Artists Making Money

2010-11-04T12:01:00.010-04:00

ARTISTS MAKING MONEY! Doesn't that sound good?! That's the title of our newest workshop presented in two half day increments at Red Swan Paint and Art in Ocala, FL. This class is designed for the advanced student artist (or hobbyist) who is doing high quality work and getting ready to sell. The basic business information in this workshop will include helping the artist to price artwork, accept commissions, approach galleries, stay out of trouble with the IRS and more.

For a long time now our advanced students, some of whom have been with us for more than 10 years and doing excellent work, have been asking us how to price their work and how to go about negotiating a commission. We've decided to compile some basic info on the business of art and present it to anyone who is at that in-between stage of not yet professional, but more than Sunday painter. This workshop will give them the foundation to sell successfully, make a profit and pay taxes.

If you need this information, comment to this post or email us at our address so that we can send you more info:

hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com

Workshop takes place from 2-5 on November 17, and Dec 1. Isn't green a beautiful color?!

Peace and creativity,
Kelli

We love our students!

2010-11-01T11:24:00.006-04:00

Jane is doing a spectacular job!

Diane's just painting away as usual, damn she's good. :)

Maria's flowers in colored pencil are so rich.

Kelli came out from behind the canvas and took over Jean's painting. She loves it when we grab the brush. The trick is getting it back.

A little detour

2010-10-28T12:59:00.007-04:00

Golden Prairie

I took a little side trip from my work on the adoption series which you can see on my other blog, to work on the gold skies again. I'd been wanting to go back to these for a while. They just intrigue me when the light hits a certain way and the look of the painting changes. It's like the sky in the painting changes with the sky outside. These 3 pieces are 12x12, acrylic, oil and gold leaf on canvas.

The Avocado Grove

Morning at the Lake

Happy Thursday!
Peace,
Carlynne

Having fun on Monday

2010-10-26T13:11:00.005-04:00

We've had some students traveling so we had a small group for class yesterday. Nancy got plenty of attention, maybe even more than she wanted. She's begun working in oil and is having a great time. I think she's doing a great job too.

Kelli let me take her photo :)

If you're in Ocala, stop in and say hello. We're in class on Monday's 12:30-3:30 and Wednesday's 10:00-1:00 at Red Swan Paint & Art.

Hope you're having a lovely Tuesday.

Peace,

Carlynne

There's just a few faces left

2010-10-25T23:40:00.004-04:00

These guys just speak for themselves - so much personality, there's no resisting their charm :) Go see the rest of the family at BJ Trophies in Ocala.

Happy Pumpkin

2010-10-15T15:40:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone,

I like to think this pumpkin is so happy just because he is living at my house now. I went to the Farmers Market in downtown Ocala this morning and brought him home with me. He was airbrushed by Carlynne's husband (she calls him Amazing Husband, but I just call him Mark). Well it is a painting of sorts. Anyway, just wanted to share this cheerful face with you.

They have more of these one of a kind pumpkins at B J Trophies in Ocala, FL and the Farmers Market in downtown Ocala takes place every Friday morning.

Peace and Love,

Kelli

For Your Amusment

2010-10-12T15:30:00.002-04:00

Hi All,

I wanted to tell you about an incident that happened in one of our regular classes a few weeks ago. It was a particularly small class that day and as those days tend to go, there was probably more gossip and exchanging of recipes than working. So there we are, Carlynne and I enjoying an easy day in class, although not a financially lucrative one, when out of the blue, one of our students, we’ll call her “Sheila” (names are changed to protect the very guilty) said, “Can you recommend a good teacher to give me art lessons?”

Now, let me remind you, this student asked this of her art teachers in the middle of an art class! At first I thought she was joking, then realized she was not. Then I thought, Wow, “Sheila” is getting dementia, but that was not likely either. I looked over at Carlynne who looked like she had been sucking on a pickle, with her face all wrinkled up in puzzlement. Then I looked back at “Sheila” who was waiting for an answer. In that moment I felt the way I imagine a parent does when they find out their only child is shooting up heroin, where did I go wrong, what could I have possibly done to cause this?

Before I could come up with an answer, another student, we’ll call her “Rosie.” (also very guilty) said, “I have always thought Bob Ross was pretty good.” Well at that point, the middle of Carlynne’s face disappeared entirely like a deflated balloon (no kidding), and I turned back to “Sheila” to try to regain control of the situation, not to mention classroom. I said, and this is a direct quote, because I remember it distinctly, “Weeeeelllllll…… I thought that was what we were doing here.” At that point “Sheila” says, “I mean to teach me how to really paint.” Even though I knew by now that I would never regain control of this situation, I repeated myself, a little more confidently this time, “I thought that’s what we were doing.” (By the way, we also mentioned that it would be hard to reach Bob Ross as he died a few years ago.)

Then it dawned on me that “Sheila” had come in to our studio class a year or two previous, waving a wrinkled up magazine swipe, (a photo of a painting, no less). She said, “I don’t want to know how to paint, I just want to copy this for a friend.” And periodically since then, she has brought in another magazine photo that she was copying for someone else. I asked her one time if she ever painted for herself and she replied that she had no interest in that and didn’t have any wall space to hang any. So, we went along like this for quite awhile with her dropping in now and then to have us help her copy something. I guess somewhere along the line, she decided that she wanted more (hallelujah!!) but for some reason didn’t think we were capable of it. That is apparently where we went wrong.

Let me just tell you right now that we have had all ages in our classes, we have taught from 6 year olds to 90 year olds, we have taught all media in classes as well as workshops in various places around the country from drawing to pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, acrylics, oil, etc. We have had students with all types of needs, from “I just want to learn how to draw horses” to “Just show me how to fill in the colors on my craft stamping.” In addition to our personal painting, between us we have also painted three full size horse sculptures, 3 very large butterflies, and one large panel on the local library. Did I mention that we also have a book out, a real honest-to-goodness-not-self-published-book?! Yep, we’ve done it all. Well, that’s what you do when you are trying to squeeze out a living while painting in every spare second of time.

Soooo back to the classroom. We finally got enough info out of “Sheila” to know that she was asking us to finally teach her how to paint. Our weekly classes are designed as studio classes and all students working in all media come together for what we think is mutual benefit. Everyone is working on their own project and we serve as guides to help them achieve their own personal goals. I’ll admit right here that I used to be a snob about art, but over the years working with so many students has taught me that everyone has a need for creativity and it takes as many forms as there are people. I have even seen people who started with paint-by-number and became very excited about learning to really paint. We also have many students who have been with us for 10 years or more and are very fine artists in their own right, doing high quality original work. In fact we are getting ready to teach a two part workshop that will help those advanced students learn about the business side of art because they are ready to sell their work.

If you live in our area and are interested in learning more about our classes and workshops, email us and we will forward info to you. I’ll sign off for now as I still have to deal with “Rosie” and her recommendation of Bob Ross.

Peace and Creativity,
Kelli

Words

2010-10-09T14:33:00.004-04:00

I have always told students that when they introduce a new medium into their work, it feels like going back to kindergarten. I am now back in kindergarten. I have worked with most media but have never gotten seriously involved with oil paint. The solvents don't like me and the feeling is mutual, difficulty breathing, rash, etc., not pretty. I have decided to paint with oils and not use any of those nasty solvents. At one point a few years ago, I tried the water-miscible oil paints and was less than thrilled. These paints are not exactly water soluble but can be used with a small amount of water and cleaned up with water before they are dry. After painting for years in acrylic, the water-miscible oils were, in my opinion the worst of both worlds.

But I have always loved and I mean LOVED the way that oil paints blend like nothing else on earth. Well, now I am using blending mediums to mix and using vegetable oil for clean up. It works beautifully and I am a happy artist. I am reading everything I can get my hands on about oil paint as I have nothing in my extensive art library on this medium. I have downloaded info from sites such as Gamblin (a very good site by the way) and Carlynne has loaned me several of her books on oil painting. There is nothing like having a new media to get you really excited about your artwork.

One line in the Complete Oil Painter by Brian Gorst, really stopped me in my tracks:

"Good painting is an art, not a science, and cannot be fully learned from any book: it is a combination of skilled craftsmanship, creative bravery, and determined trial and error."

Don't you love that-- CREATIVE BRAVERY?! I love that phrase and nothing was ever more necessary than this for quality artwork. And how true is it that good painting is a combination of skilled craftsmanship, creative bravery and determined trial and error! We were just talking in class about the role of "talent" in art. The jury is still out as far as I am concerned. I feel the same way about talent as I do about UFO's. There might be life on other planets, I am very interested in finding out, but I have not seen any proof yet. Ditto talent.

For me, quality work comes about in any field in two ways, having a profound interest in the work you are doing and practising. I always tell students that if there was a shortcut, I would have found it by now. Talent is just a word.

I wish you Peace and Creative Courage,
Kelli

Getting Unstuck

2010-10-01T15:45:00.005-04:00

There are times when you hit a brick wall. I guess this is one of those times. I'm working my way through it though. This canvas has had a landscape painting on it twice now. The sky is gold leaf and that hasn't changed at all. Everything below that however has changed multiple times. It started out with a red base coat, palette knife work put the landscape greens down and it just wasn't working. I took out a nice big brush and painted over all the land with another layer of red. Again, with some knife work and brushes, putting in the greens and yellows of the prairie. Again, hated it! This time I took out a nice big palette knife and smeared red on top - again. There's a wonderful rough texture going on, I like that part and when I put the red on this time the knife skipped here and there and left wonderful peeks of greens coming through. I may have an inch of texture built up on this thing by the time I'm done but that's okay. I'm liking it a little more each time I paint over it.

This is one that I thought was done. Funny how our vision changes with time and it's not something the eye doctor can fix. I took it out again and studied it.........

and this is where it is now..... gessoed over and new color washed on. When I did the gesso layer I left some of the original blue showing through, I liked the texture in that area. Now I'm building up layers of color and sanding in between to bring back some of the contrasting color.

I don't know where these pieces are going to end up but that's part of the fun. When I'm stuck and can't figure out where I'm going I drag out old canvases and play with them. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend,

Carlynne

2010-09-14T13:00:00.004-04:00

Yellow Flower

16x16

My sister and mother are the 2 gardeners in my family. In fact my mother is a Master Gardner. I'm the odd man out. I'd much rather be in my studio. I really don't mind yard work that much, I was always the one to do the mowing and trimming but they are the artists when it comes to growing things. This little yellow flower was growing in my sister's yard. It was so bright and proud standing there saying - look at me!

Earth Passage 11

24x24

Well, you know me..... back to the rocks. I have rocks in my head, rocks in my studio, rocks in my paintings, just can't get away from them.

Mosaic 4

16x16

This is one of the earlier pieces in the Mosaic series which is loosely based on satellite images of earth. Peeking through the mist are the colors and shapes we carve into the earth. It doesn't matter if it's earth from above or below, the patterns and colors fascinate me.

Peace,

Carlynne

Autumn

2010-09-11T14:13:00.008-04:00

Leaves 3

5x5 acrylic

Kelli

Pumpkin 2

5x5 acrylic

Carlynne

I was imbued with such a feeling of autumn today (yeah, I do remember that I live in Florida and it's in the 90's) that I had to share a couple of our Etsy pieces from the section called Seasons. Besides my friends and family, the main thing I miss about not living in Michigan any more is the beautiful fall colors. (And maybe the brisk autumnal air that seems to fill me with so much energy, but I am able to experience that with the Florida winter).

If you want to see fall inspired gifts or a trinket for yourself, visit our shop at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hershbergerhuff

.

You also might want to check out the latest Etsy Treasury that my Leaves 4 piece was included in with this link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8b9f90ed9e6d9119209506/autumn-9-hour-bnr-0-saleso

A Treasure is a group of Etsy pieces from many different sellers/artists that all have a harmonizing theme; it might be a color, a name, a season, etc. The treasuries are beautiful assemblages of lovely, unique hand made things. Carlynne and I have been fortunate to be included in many, but I enjoy looking at all of them. I have yet to see one that was not a pleasure to the eye and an inspiration to my creative bone.

Happy Fall and Peace to all,

Kelli

No, this is not a new piece, but I had such a feeling of fall that I had to share it with you. This is a small 5X5 0n canvas panel

Texture still floats my boat

2010-09-05T17:28:00.005-04:00

Mosaic 22

16x16

Mosaic 23

16x16

I'm having fun with some more abstracts and textures. Dripping, glazing, sanding, gluing and glazing some more. It's so much fun building up layers of acrylic paint and tissue paper and sanding between the layers. Organic shapes and geometric shapes come together to create contrast.

Hope you're doing something creative and fun this weekend.

What floats your boat?

2010-08-31T13:57:00.010-04:00

Rocks are inspiring, intriguing and mysterious. They sit around in the studio, I pick them up and listen to the sound of them hitting each other as I juggle a few in the palm of my hand. My fingers rub the smooth surface and wonder how I can make them part of the next painting.

I love the look of buttons in a jar. Some are big and flat, some are little and thick. 4 holes or 2 did they live on a shirt or a jacket? Did the little shiny white one live alone on the back of a little girl's dress?

The line up of spools waiting for their contents to be unwound and reshaped into who knows what.....

My brushes with evidence of washes past call to me. Some of the ferrels are getting rusty but it constrasts so nicely with the blue that doesn't want to let go.

The soft flowing paint that I pushed around with a knife now sits raised and stiff revealing itself after the grit of sandpaper brings back the ridges of color.

*Well, I tried to get creative with the layout and it didn't work, hence the weird spacing.

What's 24X24 And Purple?

2010-08-28T11:09:00.005-04:00

What IS 24X24 and purple all over? A 24 by 24 gallery wrapped canvas with purple acrylic on it, of course! Actually it's really even more purple than the photo shows. It has mostly purple with some blue and this shows more blue.

What is it going to be? I'm not telling. You're going to have to watch this blog to find out.

Peace and Love to all,

Kelli

A Diamond Day

2010-08-26T22:15:00.007-04:00

I thought I'd continue on the theme of nature photos just for the heck of it. Amazing Hubby and I went out one day with our cameras. We rode out to the west coast and just wandered around, shooting whatever.....

I spotted this heron sitting way up high in a tree and since I had my long lens on the camera I thought I'd try to capture him. I was tickled with what I got. I'm a painter, not a photographer so to be able to catch him taking off like this was great fun - gotta love technology.

That wing span is amazing! There were more shots in this sequence but I didn't want the post to drag on forever. I just picked a few of my favorites. This last shot is dark on the underside but for the others I loved being able to see the details of his feathers. Like my friend Jolene says - some days are diamonds. That's how I felt about that day.

Hope you're having fun and staying cool,

Peace,

Carlynne

Lovely Fish

2010-08-17T10:16:00.006-04:00

These koi live in a pond in the Sherman Gardens in Corona Del Mar, CA. The absolutely gorgeous photos were taken by Jim Webster, my sister Shelley's significant other. When my mother visits them in California as she did recently, they take her to all kinds of wonderful places, museums, gardens, national parks, as they do me, when I am there. I greatly appreciate both of them and I am the very happy beneficiary of the photos that Jim is so skilled at taking.

Several of my previous paintings have come from his photos. In fact the painting on the dedication page of our book, Creative Colored Pencil Workshop is from one of Jim's photos (and he is the owner of the original painting). He is the one who first introduced me to digital photography and gave me my very first digital camera. It is impossible to go back to film now.

Jim has an artist's sensibility for composing photos. He is just as likely to take a picture of moss and lichen as he is a flower. He is able to see the abstract designs that nature makes even though he is not a painter. When most people are on vacation, they take photos of the relatives in front of the Grand Canyon. Jim and I tell the relatives to get out of the way, so we can get a good shot.

Koi have been a popular subject for artists for years, possibly hundreds of years, and so have become very prosaic, but it's easy to see why they are a favorite. In these photos, the fish, which are fabulous by themselves, compete with abstract patterns of reflections on the water for attention. These photos will turn up in my paintings and maybe very soon. Thanks Jim.

Peace and creativity to all,

Kelli

No point to this post

2010-08-07T16:35:00.004-04:00

There's really no point to this post except the lusciousness of paint! Some people think that's weird but I don't really care. I'm having fun today working in the studio and when I squeezed paint out onto the canvas it was just so beautiful I had to take a photo or two. Saturday afternoon painting and listening John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt..... it's a good day. :)

hope you're having a good weekend,

Peace,

Carlynne

It's all about the pictures

2010-08-06T15:51:00.008-04:00

The 2 above are pieces in progress. I actually have 4 of these I'm working on this weekend. I haven't spent much time in the studio lately so this weekend is dedicated to painting. Today's post is all about the pictures. I think I used up all my words on the other blog. I started another blog because I felt the need to keep this one more about the art. The other one is about adoption and my experience as a first mother. So, if you want to see where all the words are they're here

Prairie Path

7x5

Oil Pastel

This one will go up in the Etsy shop soon.

Mosaic 8

8x8

Acrylic

Mosaic 7

8x8

Acrylic

These 2 acrylic abstracts were listed on Etsy today.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Peace,

Carlynne

Where have I been?

2010-07-24T10:43:00.004-04:00

I haven't traveled very far in the physical but mentally and emotionally I've been all over the place. I've been out of this world joyful over my new little grandbaby. She's amazing and lives close by so I get to bask in her super baby-ness on a frequent basis.

I've been learning, reading and meeting people in the adoption world. Meeting another mother of adoption loss can be very healing. It's incredibly sad to know how many other women have walked the same road I have but at the same time it's good to meet and share stories. We had our own therapy session over lunch and wondered what the people around us were overhearing.

In my last post I mentioned starting a painting about the Magdalen Laundries, well here's the start of it....

You might not be able to see it very well in the photo but there's a number carved into one of the stones in the wall, 30,000. That's the number of women that are estimated to have been through the laundries in it's 150 year history. Across the stone wall there will be glass shards and of course hanging above the wall is the Pope's mitre. The design is done in gold leaf, you can see the shine of the gold better below.

I was going to go with a stained glass design in the background with some other symbolism but decided it would be too busy. The sky turned out to be a better idea. Now I'm working on getting the glass shards back in place and I have text to add to the mitre. You'll see the finished piece soon. We'll see if I get any hate mail over this one. If you're not familiar with the story read here

So.... where else have I been? Kelli and I got to take off to the beach for a couple of days. Did I take any pictures while there? No! I brought the camera but never got it out, sorry, no pictures to share but we did have a great time. On the way there we went to the Florida Museum for Women Artists in Deland and met some of the artists participating in the Witness to Creativity exhibit going on there now. As always, it's a treat to talk with other artists, watch them work and get insight into what they're creating. If you're able to get to Deland, check out the exhibit.

With all this running around (a lot of it in my head) I didn't get much painting done this past week so it's time to hit the studio.

Peace,

Carlynne

Finished! TV Project #2

2010-07-09T10:25:00.008-04:00

e-flaxbow

Kelli Money Huff

Hey All,

I finally finished the second project in my Work of Art: The Next Great Artist challenge. As you may know from previous posts, I am using the television reality series as a way to stimulate my creative muse by doing all the projects assigned to the TV artists. I am waaaaaaay behind them, they are now doing the 5th project and I have just finished #2. However, as I mentioned before, my goal is different and I am not eligible to win the $100,000 that they are competing for.

The title of this episode is The Shape of Things to Come and it is a sculpture to be built from appliance/electronic junk. This is my interpretation of that challenge. Below is the inspiration for my piece.

This photo depicts a Flax Bow, a American Paiute totem that was hung in the homes of tribal members and was believed to promote harmony and good communication between family and household members. As I was looking at the junk that I had accumulated to work with, it occurred to me that the ubiquitous electronic stuff that most of us now have cluttering up our homes and our lives are all mostly about communication. (Does anyone ever have enough electrical outlets?)

Of course, true to my usual methods, this idea came to me in the middle of the night. While it is frustrating and even scary to not have any creative purpose, it is annoying to have it constantly visit in the night. I would like some sleep, thank you very much!!

Finding extremely little information on Flax Bows, even on the Internet, this was the only photo available and I am drawing my own conclusions about the name. My research turned up the fact that the Paiute used flax for weaving and other purposes and it appears that the lower part of the Flax Bow is made of strands of flax. The top which it hangs from is bow shaped. Thus that is where I believe the name came from. My piece derives it's name (e-flaxbow) from the electronic connection. Pun intended.

I like to use symbolism in my work and this piece is no exception. CD's, DVD's, cell phones, a keyboard, a mouse, and an intercom, form the whole concept of communication, both with the people in the home as well as good harmony with the electronics. The weaving which takes the place of the flax on both sides hanging down, is symbolic of the grid, both electrical and the Internet grid that is a vital and indispensable part of our lives. Numerous cables and wires of all types bind all the elements together.

You may have guessed that this is not my usual media or genre, however, I did enjoy this and even became excited about my idea. The next challenge is to create a book cover for a classic novel. I am using a book that holds lots of personal meaning for myself and my daughter, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Thanks to ennadoolf, one of our blog readers, for the idea.

As always I welcome your comments and ideas. Wish me luck.
Peace, love and creativity.

Kelli

Birthday Wishes

2010-07-06T11:48:00.010-04:00

Birthday Wishes 3

8x8

Acrylic on canvas

Birthday Wishes 2

8x8

Acrylic on canvas

SOLD

The holiday weekend is over, over way too fast in fact. It was a lovely peaceful weekend and I had time to spend in the studio. I'm working on the next piece in the Silent Voices series. This one is about the Magdalene Laundries - tough topic but I have most of the image worked out now. I'll post when I'm a little farther along.

For now what I want to show you are the candle paintings. In a previous post I showed you the the large piece with the 3 candles and the first mother's names with dates in the background. I'm continuing that theme with these small pieces. The reason for this is to support an organization that is working toward reform in the adoption industry. Origins-USA works to increase public awareness of how adoption separation affects mothers and to bring about legislative changes to protect the rights of mothers to nurture their children. Adoptees also suffer as a result of adoption. There's a lot to be done to lessen the pain of adoption and being a first mother myself this is an area close to my heart. I'm selling these small original acrylic pieces for $30 and donating half to Origins. I will personalize the painting with the first mother's name and child's date of birth if requested and I can also customize the candle color.

Please visit the Origins site and see what they're doing. If you or someone you know is interested in helping or if you just have a thing for birthday candles, leave a comment or send an email.

Peace,

Carlynne

TV Project 2: The Beginning

2010-06-26T12:19:00.004-04:00

Hey All,

I'm back with the second in the series of challenges on "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist" on Bravo. I have committed to doing every assignment no matter what (see previous posts for more info). The second project is to create a work of art using electrical appliance junk. If you saw the episode, you know that a lot of the artists focused on television sets. I do not wish to carry and store anything that big or heavy. The Realtors mantra is location, location, location. The artists mantra is storage, storage, storage. And besides I make my own rules because I am not eligible to win $100,000 and that is my consolation prize.

I have a pile of junk from computers, cell phones, cameras, cables, electrical and phone cords, etc. And what you see above is only a part of it. I have an idea that is pretty well formed in my brain but I am not going to share it until it's done. The hard part now is determining how to attache these things to each other. Wish me luck.

The next challenge, according to episode three is to do a cover illustration for a classic novel. I am not gong to use the same ones that they were assigned, as I do not wish to be influenced by the TV artists work. I welcome your suggestions and I will let you know what happens. Tune in for more.

Peace. love and creativity to all,
Kelli

Births, Birthdays and Fathers

2010-06-20T07:37:00.004-04:00

Wow! Lots of stuff going on about birthing. Kelli did the last post about me, my daughter and the adoption industry (that's not only a topic for another post, I ought to start another whole blog about it). Today of course we're celebrating fathers and how much we love them. And the biggest news of the week ~ I have a new granddaughter. Welcome to the world beautiful little Maxine Ember! It's a very special Father's Day for my son Aaron. And.... the day after Maxine arrived it was my other daughter's birthday - the quarter century milestone for Sarah. And.... today is Becca's birthday - same milestone. Becca is Maxine's mom, how's that for a birthday present! Anyone who knows our family knows we do things in groups. We have our December birthday group, now we're working on our June birthday group.

So, it's been a pretty hectic week. Not a lot of painting going on. This one is not done yet but you can see where it's going. I'm working on 2 of these to submit to Bentley Publishing. For today this piece will have to be content sitting on the easel all by itself, I just want to hug my Dad and go snuggle a baby.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there. We love you.

Peace,

Carlynne

Success!

2010-06-17T17:27:00.002-04:00

The Scarlet Letters

12" X 12"

Kelli Money Huff

Drum roll.........TA-DAAAAh!! Project number one is finished. And I am still alive. The above piece is a multi-media collage portrait of my creative partner and fellow blogger Carlynne Hershberger. If you read my previous post, I have taken on the challenge of creating every project that the artists on Work of Art: The Next Great Artist are doing and following pretty much the same parameters as the TV artists with the exception of the time limits. (Refer to previous post for particulars.)

Technique on this one is pretty straight-forward, photos of Carlynne, printed in black and white and then glued to a studio wrapped canvas. I have also added printed words, an envelope and stamp and acrylic paint. This portrait depicts my impression of her as she was about to give birth and surrender her child for adoption in 1980. (For more info on this, refer to Carlynne's previous posts.) No, I was not there and did not know her at that time, but have been a spectator as she has become an activist for change in adoption laws.

The photo is black and white instead of color because I wanted to present her as a ghost of herself as she was moving through the months of pregnancy knowing that she would have to give up this child, suppressing her real feelings in order to cope with the impending loss. The color blue represents her sadness. The envelope illustrates the letters she wrote home to her family and is pink because her baby was a girl, and the stamp shows the Madonna and child. The letters BFA stand for Baby For Adoption, the letters posted over her bed in the maternity ward and are the most important part of the piece, thus, the title, The Scarlet Letters.

I am relatively happy with the way this piece turned out, but there were many times during the process that I had serious doubts about the final results as well as my sanity. To give you an idea of how it went:

When the idea gelled: Oh, yeah, this is a great idea and I have lots of symbols to put in it. It will be fabulous. I am so excited I can't sleep! ( I really didn't sleep for 2 days.)

After I took photos and looked at them: These aren't what I thought I was getting. I'll have to take some more. Crap!

After working with the photos for awhile, enlarging and cutting and going from color to B & W: These will work just fine.

After laying them out: These aren't going to work. I'll have to start over. Man, do I have to do this?
Then: These will work better than I originally thought. Maybe it'll even be fun.

After gluing some down: This paper is crap, I'll have to do the whole thing again. I'll never be able to show this to Lynne, much less EVERYONE who reads the blog.

After arranging the smaller elements: Well, maybe I kind of like what the crappy paper is doing.
After adding some paint: This looks so amateurish. What was I thinking, this is going to be awful! What did I get myself into, now I have 9 more projects to do, or ruin!!

After adding more paint and blending it: This is better, well, maybe it's not so bad.

All I have to say is, this is going to be the longest 10 weeks of my life.
Peace and love to all,

Kelli

The Art Faeries Have Spoken

2010-06-12T16:14:00.005-04:00

Hi All,

As I reported last time I blogged, my creative well has been dry of late. I have felt that something was about to happen, but it was coming much too slowly for my taste. I am visiting gallery and museum exhibitions and reading about art to become inspired. I also look at a lot of art online but nothing really spoke to me until I watched the first episode of "Work of Art: the Next Great Artist."

I had TiVoed this program and decided to watch that day because I was feeling particularly low and needed some pleasure, some amusement, whether it related to art or not. I was pleased that they had done a good job with the format, at least in my opinion. I was prepared to not like it and was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of artists and the opinions of the judges. The first challenge of the competition was a portrait of one of their colleagues. There was a 13 hour time constraint and they worked in what I can only describe as a dream studio with what appeared to be a private art supply store, aka artist heaven. My only complaint was I wanted MORE. More of the previous work the artists had done, more about their thinking and process, more time on the screen for everything. We artists are a visual lot, we need a longer time to SEE things and examine in detail.

About half way through the program, I threw back my blanket (I had been cocooning on my bed wrapped in a blanket, no energy whatsoever) and sat upright, (light bulb over my head). I suddenly was full of ambition and ideas. My lethargy was instantly gone as I realized I had what I had been looking for. The Art Faeries had spoken and I, too, would meet each challenge that the TV artists were doing. I would take each assignment and follow it, on my own, to the best of my ability. This would get me out of my artists block, my slump, my rut. I would do all 10 (!!??) projects and see what happens. My hope is that I will be inspired by a new media, a subject, a process, an assignment that made me think outside my comfort zone.

My next thought was, oh, no the first project is a portrait and had not done one in awhile and had no interest in doing so. Then I said to myself, oh well, if you are going to do it, you will have to do them all. (Good-by comfort zone.) When I told my creative partner and fellow blogger, Carlynne that I was doing a portrait of her and why, her first question was "Are you going to set the same time limit?" Oooh, leave it to her to cut right to the heart of the matter. My answer was, well, uh, .....no. My purpose is different than theirs. For me it is not a competition but a way out of a creative dry spell. I also have a life. While I would love to be in their position, living in a hotel in NYC and doing nothing but making art all day on someone else's dime, I live in a town called the Real World. (Why do they always call these "reality shows?") I am assuming that the artists on Work of Art do not grocery shop or even cook for themselves, and I believe the extent of their chores is brushing their teeth and showering (optional). I, on the other hand have other obligations, too many. So, I am going to try to do most of each assignment in a week, but if I take longer, oh well.

I will document my journey in this blog and fill you in on all the (gory?) details. This is my commitment to you, dear reader:

1. I will work each project as described on the TV program to best of my ability to acquire the materials and equipment needed. When necessary I will improvise with something similar.

2. I may not take every project to final completion before beginning another, but I promise to show all results here, even if it's crap. (I really hope you appreciate that one. Rest in peace, comfort zone.)

3. I will try to describe my technique as well as my thought process as I go along and I welcome your feedback. In fact, I would love to hear from anyone who decides to accept this challenge with me.

Well, there you have it. Oh, about the photo above. A blank canvas. For us, that is where it all starts. Wish me luck.

Peace and creativity,

Kelli

It's All About Me

2010-06-08T15:14:00.004-04:00

As you may know from my last few blogs (and yes I know it's been awhile) I have not been able to paint recently. It just seems that my well is dry. I am not sure why. I feel there is something coming for me that will change the way I work and I am trying to be patient and do a lot of writing (sorry, some of it's personal) and not get depressed about feeling so empty. Writing is another creative activity and right now I am putting my angst into words instead of pictures. I feel that the painting will return eventually.

The other thing I am doing is observing my environment. I am mesmerized by the flowers and trees in bloom all around town. I had to share these with you from downtown Ocala. I am also going to visit a few art exhibits this week for some inspiration. I just hope the Art Faeries don't take too long to decide my fate because we creative types can be very impatient at times.

I want to thank my creative partner and blog associate, Carlynne for continuing to keep our blog going in spite of my inability to express myself of late. If you have not been following, she is working on a series of paintings that I think are her most important work yet. The series (as yet unnamed) is about adoption, the good, the bad and the ugly. She is a first (birth) mother and I am an adoptive mother, so I have followed her journey very closely and can't wait to see what is next in the series. Check out previous posts for more info.

While I am thanking people, let me say I am overwhelmed by the birthday wishes I am receiving on Face Book. Wow!!! Thank you so much to all who took the time to send me a message. It really made my day!

Peace and love

Kelli

Birthdays

2010-06-06T09:17:00.004-04:00

Hi folks, been making progress in the studio. Here's where I am on the birthday painting. The journey through this series is an emotional one. I've gotten great responses from first mothers - 9 of them wanted to be included on this canvas so their names and baby's date of birth is up there. My daughter's birth date is at the bottom with my signature. I really wanted this to have the feel of people writing all over this canvas so there's no perfect lines or letters anywhere.

If you're unfamiliar with what I'm up to..... I'm working on a series of paintings about adoption from the birth/first mother perspective, particularly during the time that is now known as the Baby Scoop Era - between 1945 and 1973. Although my daughter was born in 1980, the treatment of women still hadn't changed. Many women are now coming out of the closet and learning to heal. This series about us.

Time to put the brushes away for the day and get ready for a BBQ. We're having the Gem and Mineral society over for the end of year get together. Yep, we're rock hounds. We have rocks in the house, the garage, the shed, the yard, our heads. Guess where some my abstract designs come from......

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday,
Peace,
Carlynne

Making Progress

2010-06-01T13:53:00.008-04:00

Expectations

48x36

I got to spend some time in my studio this past weekend - my favorite thing to do - second only to spending time with Amazing Hubby and my kids! Last week I finished the first piece in the new series. You saw it in an earlier post, well now the web pattern is gold leafed and I brought some of the strands over the lily.

Here's the start of the second piece. I got 2 of the candles in, some detail stuff to do on them yet. You should be able to see where the 3rd one is drawn in. I'm still working out how I'm going to do the additions to the background. I'm going to add dates - many birthdates representing adoptees. If you're an adoptee or a birth/first mother and you'd like your birthdate included just send me a message or comment.

Hope you're having a great start to this new week,

Peace,

Carlynne

Peaceful Weekend

2010-05-31T09:40:00.008-04:00

Yesterday I had a wonderful gabfest/private art lesson with my friend Julie. We had a ball painting poppies. She's been working hard on her own too - she brought in the most wonderful little painting! It's bold, colorful and fun. Did I remember to bring my camera so I could show you that painting and what we were up to? Of course not. So instead of sharing those photos I'll share these. I was sitting on my front porch on this wet Memorial Day weekend, enjoying the peace and feeling thankful for it.

These guys are the house protectors, our rugged attack cats....they should have names I think. What should I call them?

I can't resist looking for compositions to paint.

Happy little raindrops all in a row. I thought I'd enjoy the parade of cool reflections before I rip this pain in the #$%^&* vine out of my azalea bush!!!! These things grow everywhere and drive me crazy - but for now back to the regularly scheduled peaceful weekend.

Enjoy, be thankful, be at peace,

Carlynne

Wow, it's early

2010-05-26T05:07:00.003-04:00

Good morning. I have no idea what I'm doing up. I've been awake since 3:30 so I just gave up the tossing and turning and came out here to the computer to mess around. So.....here's an acrylic landscape just for the heck of it. This was really fun to do. One of these days I'm going to do some more like this. I toned the canvas with red first and did the landscape with a palette knife. The sky and some highlights on the ground and tree trunk are gold leaf.

I have a question for any photographers out there. Are there any tricks to getting gold leaf to read a little better in a photo? I know it won't be the same no matter what but it would be nice to get some of the effect of the golden glow.

Back to bed, maybe I can fall asleep in time for the alarm to go off......
peace,
Carlynne