St. Joseph's Egrets

'Egret's Rest' 12x16

I've been wanting to paint this for awhile and finally had a chance at pastel class last night. It's from a photo Jayne took on our trip to St. George Island. We were driving to St. Joseph Penninsula State Park when we saw this wonderful salt marsh...and we LOVE marshes! So we stopped and took pictures. I couldn't get close enough to theses egrets with my camera but Jayne did. Thanks for the photo!

Sapphire Beach US Virgin Islands..another one!

'The Next Cove' 12x16

When I was at Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas, I took a walk away from the crowds and discovered this piece of paradise around the bend in the next cove over. At first there was no one there...then a sailboat came into the cove and slid onto the beach. A couple got out for a swim. It was like I was watching a movie! This was truly paradise!

Laughing Gull Painting

'Shall We Dance' 9x12

"The Laughing Gull is named for its call, which sounds like, "ha, ha, ha, ha." It's a sociable bird that migrates, rests, hunts and scavenges together. Noisy, quarrelsome and aggressive, they often steal the prey and feed on the eggs and young of other birds, including those of their own species. Because gulls are so conspicuous around harbors and beaches, they are one of the most familiar of sea birds. Although they are often referred to as "sea gulls," they seldom are found far at sea."

I have many gull reference photos that I want to paint. Laughing Gulls are real clowns! I love them in their summer plummage. These two look like they are ready to dance! It's so much fun to try to capture their personalities. I really should paint them more often!

Sapphire Beach US Virgin Islands

Stephanie...if you are reading this, what is the name of the song that 'Sunny' played on our St. Thomas Tour?? I want to name this painting after the song. This is Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas. We spent a couple of hours here on our recent Caribbean Princess cruise. This is one choice for our friends Steph and Doug to hang in their travel agency. I am going to try to do some more to give them a choice. I would love to try my hand at painting a person. I want to paint the Sunshine Lady...a real character that we got a picture of on the cruise...though I don't think it would be a good choice for the travel agency office....when you see her you'll know why. Maybe this weekend I'll give her a try!

Painting of the Day

'Along Highway 60' 12x16

On the way home from the mountains last week I saw a view I just had to pull over for. I don't usually stop. I see all these wonderful things to take pictures of but I keep going. This time, I decided to stop. This field was such a brilliant shade of green...almost yellow! There were two white horses grazing in the distance. It was a picture perfect scene. I will probably do another version with the horses at some point.

Gallery Reception

Last night was the opening reception for the new 'Solstice' exhibit at David's Fine Art in Murphy, North Carolina. I had six paintings hung in the exhibit! After work we drove up to Murphy and met my parents at the Gallery. It was very well attended! David told me he had gotten a lot of positive feedback on my work which was very nice to hear. I've posted some photos...the top one shows me in front of the gallery and the 2nd one shows some of my paintings....mine are the ones in the gold frames. It was a nice evening and the sunset on the drive home was amazing!

Dunes of the Outer Banks

'Beyond the Dunes' 12x16

I love Dunes! Last night at pastel class, I painted these Outer Banks dunes. Several years ago we rented a beach house right on the dunes in Hatteras, Outer Banks, North Carolina. The view of the dunes and the Ocean was amazing...especially from the hot tub on the deck! I remember having to pull all of our beach gear up and over those dunes!

Osprey on Beach Work in Progress

'Catch of the Day' 18x27

I worked on the Osprey some more last night. I think I will bring it to class to get an opinion on how 'done' it is. I'm happy with how it turned out so far...but then I am too close to it to be objective. Besides, I love ospreys so any painting of one would make me smile!

I'm In!!!!!

Today I got a letter in the mail adressed to me in my own handwriting. For a minute I didn't know what it could be, then I remembered I had sent slides to be considered for the Southeastern Pastel Society's International Juried show. I could feel my slides through the envelope. Oh well, I thought...I didn't really expect to get in even though it would have been nice. I opened it to see how the rejection letter would read and to my surprise and delight...one of my paintings was accepted! The conch shell painting I call 'Bahamas Treasure' was juried into the show. The juror is Susan Ogilvie and I really love her work so this is an honor for me. (I sure wish I could go to the workshop but it filled up right away) Now I need to get this painting framed! It's so funny that Albert Handell advised me to stay away from birds and shells and my very first show acceptance is a Shell!!!!

Sunday Afternoon Painting

'Sanibel Sunday' 9x12

This afternoon I painted with Jayne and Sherry. They did flowers but I felt like doing this beach scene first....I figured I'd get to the flowers ...but after a break and some sparkling wine, we never did get back to painting. It was a nice afternoon. Tomorrow I hope to work more on the Osprey.

Osprey Painting Step Two

I've done some more work on my big Osprey painting. Remember it is 18 x 25 so the osprey is about life-size! I put in my first layer on burgandy Art Spectrum paper using hard pastels. I blended the background colors with pipe insulation. It looks soft and blurry because it's my first layer. I will be refining the bird but leaving the background sand soft and out of focus. Next I will continue with my softer pastels. I might not get to this tomorrow since I am getting together with Jayne, Holly and Sherry to paint and I have another idea I want to start. Stay tuned!

Osprey Work in Progress

I'm starting another bird painting! This one is 18 x 24 so the osprey is life-size! It's so much fun working large! I started by drawing the osprey on the paper with a pastel pencil. Actually I drew it first on a scrap paper to practice. This is the osprey I photographed last summer on Sanibel Island. It was the day before Tropical storm Arlene hit and the ospreys were very active on the beach. This one took it's catch of fish and landed right at the surfline to feed. Right in front of me! I didn't want to get too close but I had my 35 mm Canon camera with the big lens so I was able to get some awesome close-ups. The osprey didn't seem to be disturbed because people kept walking right by her and she just continued to eat! It was really an amazing experience.

Products available at Zazzle.com

I've been playing this afternoon! Last year I signed up with zazzle.com which is a company that will print your images on shirts, mugs, cards. I haven't done much with it but I plan to create more products so be sure to check out my store at Zazzle. If there is any painting you would like to see on a mug or T shirt, just let me know. Here is my first sample:

Just Us Pelicans
by
kemstudios

Get this custom mug at Zazzle

Favorite Beaches

As you can see I am not taking Albert Handell's advice to stay away from beaches and birds too seriously! I felt compelled to paint these two quick studies of a couple of my favorite beaches. The top one is Magen's Bay as seen from Mountain Top on St. Thomas USVI. The bottom one is the beach at Blind Pass on Sanibel Island, Florida. I think it would be fun to paint a whole series of beaches from around the United States.

Snowy Egret on the Beach

'Looking at Me?' 9x12

I couldn't resist painting this Snowy Egret. He really has attitude! I keep thinking about Ernie, the egret who was caught going through things on people's beach towels! I could see this guy doing something like that!

Pink Lady's Slipper

'On the Forest Floor' 9x12

This was fun to paint. A nice change of pace and good practice for me to do something where I use more control. I really do enjoy painting some flowers....just don't make me paint a rose!

Painting a Wildflower

Every once in awhile I feel like painting something that requires a bit more precision than my usual landscapes. I was going through the photos I took on my recent trips to the mountains and this Pink Lady's Slipper flower caught my eye. I like taking my time and really looking closely at this flower. In the photo you can see my painting's first layer along with the photo reference on the upper left and the quick study I painted to try out background colors. I am painting this on LaCarte paper. It is the 2nd time I've used it and I really like it for subjects like this flower. Ok, I am going back to work. stay tuned!

Tennessee Wildflowers

'Tennessee Wildflowers' 11x14

I painted this last night for the June Project on Wet Canvas' Pastel Forum. A photo is posted and anyone is welcome to paint their interpretation of the photo. We couldn't decide what these flowers were so I will just call them Tennessee Wildflowers because that is where the photo was taken! I am in flower mode today....working on another flower which I will post shortly.

Cedar Key Sunset

'Cedar Key Sunset' 11x14

Last week at art class, I couldn't decide what to paint so Marsha went through my pile of photos and chose a few. I had to decide which one to paint. I admit it...I felt like doing something easy so I picked this one of a sunset. Well, it was deceiving!! It wasn't easy at all. Sometimes the painting just seems to paint itself, but this one was a struggle. What will I paint tonight????

Lake Hiwassee Plein Air

After my gallery meeting on Saturday, I spent the day on my family's houseboat on Lake Hiwassee in Murphy, North Carolina. I was excited to have the entire day to paint. It turned out to be the most challenging plein air conditions I have experienced! It was very windy and I had to hold down my easel with one hand while I painted with the other. It was also a challenge to paint when the boat was rocking back and forth! There was no way I was going to get too precise! But I didn't give up and I did manage to paint three studies. I took a lot of photos too so I am sure my experience will be helpful should I decide to paint a Lake Hiwassee scene in the future!

Exciting News!

I am pleased to announce that I am now represented by David's Fine Art, a gallery in Murphy North Carolina. I met with the owner, David Vowell, on Saturday to show him some of my originals. I brought in 10 paintings, seven of them framed. He took all seven framed pieces! I was thrilled. It is a wonderful gallery with some excellent artists. I am in good company! My paintings will be hung as part of the upcoming Summer Solstice Celebration. Here is an description from the gallery's website www.davidsfineart.net
June 21 - July 4 Solstice!
Make plans to celebrate the Summer Solstice with us here at David's! On June 21st, the gallery will showcase both monochrome and wildly colorful artworks that illustrate change and mystery in our lives and in nature. The Solstice Celebration will begin at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 21st with refreshments and live music. BYOB and your own spontaneous musical celebration are also welcomed.

Studio Helpers

I couldn't resist sharing this photo of two of my critics! This is Ceara and Jazzpurr having a look at some of my framed paintings. Of course they have to help every step of the way. Ceara especially is fond of laying on top of my open pastel box! I will be heading up to the mountains this weekend and will be doing some plein air painting on the houseboat. I am looking forward to it!

Finally a Website!!!

No paintings to post today because I have been busy getting my website together and I am pleased to say it is officially launched! I still have some tweaking to do but I'd love for you to take a look. Of course I welcome your comments and suggestions. I created the site with a very user-friendly template....but it limits you in terms of getting too fancy...which can be a good thing too! Let me know if you think I am missing anything important. Thanks for looking!

www.kemstudios.com

Ernie goes Home!

I love it when I paint something and that painting touches someone else in some way. That happened with this Snowy egret painting. I really liked him and even went so far as to frame it and hang it up even though it was in my ebay store. Someone else liked him too and bought him over the weekend....let me share what she wrote to me...
"I recognized Ernie the moment I saw him; he has that characteristic "pose". Also, the way his crest curls in the wind is quite distinctive. One day, on one of our first trips to Sanibel, I was floored to see him exploring people's beach blankets! You've captured him the way I picture him. And the colors in that painting are gorgeous!"
As it turns out, this buyer has a condo at the same place we stay on Sanibel...so this very well could be Ernie! I'm glad she decided to take him home!

Busy Weekend and more Sunflowers!

Yes, more sunflowers! Jayne got a bouquet of giant sunflowers and invited me over to paint today. Actually, Sherry and Holly came too! It was great to get together and girls...we need a name! Holly didn't paint, just a visit...but Jayne and Sherry did wonderful sunflower paintings. It was good practive for our upcoming trip to the Sunflower Festival! I decided to focus in on 3 flowers. When I got home, I wasn't happy with how they were spaced so I brushed the bottom flower out and moved it in closer. I forget sometimes that you can do that!
I spent Saturday trying to frame some paintings. I have an appoinment Saturday at an art Gallery in Murphy, NC. The owner wants to see some of my paintings which is very exciting! Just to get to this step is a great feeling. I will keep you posted on the outcome of my meeting.

Mountain Views

'View from Vance Mountain' 12 x 18

Here is Friday's painting. We had internet problems this weekend so I am finally getting to post. This is the view from Vance Mountain near Murphy, North Carolina...very near to my parent's home. The view of the mountains was amazing. It felt like you could see forever! This painting is done on white wallis paper. I was going to do a watercolor underpainting....but I don't like how it buckles the paper. I will have to try it on mounted paper next time!

Thinking of Sunflowers

'A Pot of Sunshine' 9x12

I was in the mood for sunflowers yesterday. Sunflowers and lavender are my favorite flowers...oh Lilacs too! I bought packs of seeds to plant my own sunflower garden but I haven't gotten around to it yet! I am thrilled that Jayne found us some sunflowers right here in Georgia....there will be a Sunflower Festival over the 4th of July weekend in a small town outside of Atlanta. They have giant fields of sunflowers and you can cut your own bouquet! A few of us are going down to paint and take photos and of course get some flowers to take home. So this little painting was a warm up...to see if I have the righ yellows in my pastel box!