Oh! What a show!

The Art Show went from December 2nd to the 4th. It's our first one and it went better than we had anticipated. We, the four painters and my husband were very fortunate to have the support from friends, colleagues, relatives and neighbors. The response was great and they loved the show. 

We were surprised that even though we live near the busiest street near downtown Scottsdale, and with good signage on the street, not many passersby came. It just shows how important to have connections.

A lot of work was put into the preparation for the show, but it was also a lot of fun. The show brought another level of friendship to all of us - Sven Helle, Gloria Cuadraz, Vanya Allison, my husband Mark Mahalik and me. Mark deserves most of the credit for putting up a flawless show from start to finish. What would I do without you, Mark? Thank you so very much!

Sven and Vanya are great Portrait and Still life painters; Gloria paints mostly Still Life. She is a prolific and well loved professor at the ASU. You can see some of their work below. 

Included in the show were the works done by the 1st graders at the Kiva Elementary School in Scottsdale during a workshop I gave them 10 days before the show. There were 26 of them! I had them work in groups with collages collected. They worked together and at the end choose a view and "framed" the final project. We decided to include their work to our show. Mrs. Judy Alway put a lot of thought and work into this. It was in Mrs. U's (Anna Udelson) class. She was great with the children!

Enjoy some photos of the event!

Art show begins in the main house living room with abstract paintings

and in the dining room

Sven, Gloria and Vanya have their wonderful paintings in the studio.

In the backyard, we post the Kiva student's collage artwork which they made 10 days before at the Kiva Elementary School where I gave a workshop. They are beautiful! Each one is unique!

They look great in the open. Vayna later wraps plastic sheets over to protect them from the rain and they still look awesome!

Each student will take home at least on piece of their work. Mark and I spent hours "framing" each work the student choose to have, which was the objective of the workshop, choosing a view.

The reception was fun in a cozy, rainy afternoon. We have over 70 guests, including some from our neighborhood.

 Music, guests, wine and friendship. Vayna's husband Ted plays guitar to entertain the quests.

*****

Here are some works by my three friends and the one and only work by my husband sold first in the show, which I love so much:

Pintings by Vanya. oil on panel

"Napa Cab" by Gloria Cuadraz, oil 12x12

Sven Helle painted himself

My husband Mark's sold painting at the show.

Wishing  you a great, good fortune for the coming New Year!

Happy Holiday!

Iris in Blue

Oil on masonite, 12"x12"

Iris has a very nice, bony face. I loved painting her.

Next weekend, December 2 - 4, my three painter friends and I are having a studio art show and sale in Scottsdale near Scottsdale Road and Camelback Road. If you're looking for something different to do, stop on by! Please see below for more information. Hope to see you there....

Please email me if you have any questions or comments, or visit my website to see other paintings.

Little Bottle and Garlic

Oil on panel, 9x12

Garlic is an interesting object for studying color - value, temperature, and, for its light, shadow, shade, reflective light, hard and soft edges, etc. It's so perfectly white all around until the spot light gives it its character.

At one point, I had to change the garlics and reposition them because when they didn't have the pointed bottom they were harder to make looking like garlics. When I started painting them they looked like purple little tomatoes. It was hilarious!

Please email me if you would like,

Or visit my web site to see more of my work.

Thanks for viewing!

"Rebecca"

Oil on Linen, 12"x12"

Portrait has never been my favorite subject matter. In open studio it has been a hit or miss for me, mainly because I didn't know certain process that could make it less of a struggle. A few days ago, I learned that, like painting a still life or a landscape, value defines. Shades and shadows sculpt light to make things look 3D on a flat surface. They define the contour of a face as well as a landscape. 

I look forward to doing more portraits in the future, even if it doesn't come by easy. It's hard to find some one who will sit still for you for a few hours (for free)! 

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Thank you for viewing!

For comments or to purchase my art, please email me or go to my web site,

"Little Brown Vase"

Oil on Gessobord, 11"x14"

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Sometimes, setting up subject matter to paint is more difficult than painting. In the studio, we juggle with the objects and try to come up with a worthy setting to paint. Often times it's a hit and miss. But the spotlight is always a lifesaver. It can suddenly bring the setting to life and create a dramatic effect. The kind of the light gives a particular temperature to the setting, ranging from cool to warm. The table cloth and the material in the background make a big difference, too.

*****

Six of my small paintings, mostly abstract, have be chosen to the 

West Valley Arts Council Mini Miniatures Show 

located at The Citadelle plaza at 19420 N. 59th Ave. Suite #A104, Glendale, AZ 85308

The exhibition will go from July 8th till August 10th.

 The opening artists reception is on July 8th from 6 to 8 PM.

Please stop by to see my work and many other wonderful artists work.

The artwork will be for sale, too.

*****

To see more of my paintings, please visit my web site.

If you're interested to write,  my email is here.

"Mr. Eucalyptus"

Oil on Linen Canvas, 14x11

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Mr. Eucalyptus is a big tree in my neighbor's back yard. A couple of hawks like to rest high on it's branches in the spring. I wanted to study painting trees and this is the closest I could find. So I did a plein air in my A/Ced studio looking out the arcadia doors of this grand tree. It was very warm at 104 degree  in Scottsdale today!

*****

Please also visit my web site.

My email is here if you have any comments or suggestions.

Yellow Roses In Vase

Oil on Telati Board, 11x14

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There are times when we are stuck in a not-so-good spot to paint a live model, we have to be more inventive and selective to move object(s) around in our mind for better composition. In this painting, I was looking at three objects evenly spaced with no overlapping whatsoever. I elected to paint the vase with roses and a little brown bottle next to it. Bad choice! I forgot about the magic of threesomes (or odd numbers). 

So, I took out the little bottles and in its place I put a rose petal, instead. I think it worked better.

"Red IV"

Oil on Canvas, 20"X20"  Sold

This painting grew from an idea of doing a painting in red.

I started by putting down alizarine straight from the tube as the darkest dark to anchor the painting. Next was to do the red by adding white, cadmium red light, or yellow to the alizarine and brushed over most of the canvas while leaving some parts untouched. At this stage, knowing when to stop and to evaluate is  the most important part of the work. From here, one can let the imagination go to work.

*****

To see my other work, please visit my web site

Thank you for viewing !

A Land to Love

Oil on Ampersand Gessoed Panel, 18x24  Sold

It's been a while since I posted here. So far this year, I've taken three workshops, one from Kim English, another from Camille Przewodek and, lastly, from Marc Hanson two weeks ago. The quick pace of the workshops was the best way to learn what I didn't know. The part that I've learned is now being digested at home by painting, and painting. But along the way, husband Mark sent an excerpt of an article by George Inness about art. In it it says:

"...Art aims is not to instruct, not to edify, but to awaken an emotion of love, pity, veneration, of hate, of pleasure, of pain, but it must be a single emotion if the work has unity, as every such work should have...."

All of a sudden I realized that years of taking up workshops and classes to brush up my skill have made me forget the joy that I used to have when i picked up the brush to paint, when everything then was purely acts of love and passion. Now I'm going to combine the two, the skill and love. I'm in a fog right now, and I know that only by painting a lot will it reveal where it's going to take me.

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Please come visit my new web site here.
Thank you for visiting!

Green Bench and Pots

Oil on Linen, 11x14

It's been so pleasant outside lately. My friends and I decided to paint a still life outdoor in my back yard yesterday. In doing this painting, I discovered that in order to show the sunniness, shadows have to be darker and the values needs to be stretched. But I also remember when I painted in the desert in the sun, everything was kind of golden, even shadows were not as dark. Then, we got into the debate about High Key or Low Key. Is this high or low key? I don't know.

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You're welcome to visit my website.

Or email me if you have any comments or suggestions.

Thank you for visiting!

Girl in Yellow Dress

Oil on Panel, 9x12

About two weeks ago I took a five-day plein air workshop with Kim English, a brilliant painter from Colorado. The workshop was grueling as the models were instructed to change post every 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes. So we painted, wiped off, changed supports quickly, trying to compose, block-in, mixed the right colors and values as best and as fast as we could. Most people got to do a lot in each painting but I could only come up with just the figures mostly, like the one above, which Kim was very fond of. It's the most valuable workshop I've attended so far and I've got nothing but admiration and respect for Kim.

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Here's my email address and my web site

Thank you for visiting!

"Plum blossoms in Vase"

Oil on gessoed masonite, 11.5"x11.5"

*****

Once we remember how forgiving oil is when we paint, we can load up the color and have fun painting! It won't be fun if we use thin, little bits of color because it doesn't blend well with the rest and will look not as juicy and rich; the richness which inspires artists like us to use oil as a medium.

Thank you for visiting! You're welcome to contact me via my email, or go to my web site to see more paintings.

"Napa Cabbage"

Oil on Gessoed Masonite, 12"x12"

*****

Lately, I've been spending a little extra time setting up still life, concentrating on creating a bit of atmosphere, or feeling. As a result, I'm enjoying painting again like I used to when I started. Instead of painting what looks right, I'm painting what I like. There's such a big difference! When I stated going to the Scottsdale Art School, I learned to paint right. Now with that, I can go back to paint what made me want to paint in the beginning, something that makes the heart warm and sing.

*****

Please come visit my web site or contact me via my email.

Thanks for visiting!

Fruit Basket

Oil on Canvas, 16x20

I'd like to say this is done, but still have reservation about the color temperature on the left. I will only glaze it with warmer color and hope I don't end up overworking it.

*****

Please email me if you would like, or visit my web site,  or my blog to see more work.

Thank you so much for viewing

"Green Tomato"

"Green Tomato", Oil on Canvas, 8"x10" $200

Happy New Year!

May the new year brings you health, wealth and prosperity.

And may we all be kind to one another.

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I've been traveling back and forth to Chicago during the Christmas season; saw my daughter, Wendy, and son-in-law, Jeff, a couple of times. They live in Lexington, Kentucky where he teaches and she works. My nephew and his wife came, too, while they visited Chicago with her relatives. It's the first time they saw the snow.  So, it was one happy time together!

*****

Please visit my web site, or email me if you're interested in purchasing my work via paypal.