Color of the Year

Pantone's Color of the Year

Understandably you may not have been on the edge of your seat waiting for Pantone to announce it's Color of the Year for 2018. But announce they did this last week.  It's Ultra Violet, and this is some of what Pantone has to say about it:

Inventive and imaginative, Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.

Mark and Katie's Orchid

A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future. Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own.

Two Beets

Nuanced and full of emotion,  Ultra Violet symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity, spurring individuals to imagine their unique mark on the world, and push boundaries through creative outlets.

Hug

You will begin to see this color pervade our lives in clothing, furnishings, everywhere in anything you can imagine.

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Eggplant

I always think of this hue as one bearing a Royal nature, lush and rich, deep and mysterious. Though it is not frequently in my palette when painting here are a few images where Ultra Violet was the center of attention or added some degree of interest.

The Yin and Yang of Spring

Six Figs

Split

Guadalupe Arenas Snake Weaver

Madame Butterfly

As you live each day, take a look around and watch for Ultra Violet.  Let it inspire your ingenuity and creativity.  Turns out I put on an Ultra Violet top today and I am noticing this color everywhere even though the announcement has just been made.  It will be added to my palette as I approach my next painting.  What will you do with it?

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Art Gifting

Or The Art of Gifting.

How about Gifting Art?  And what about donations of art?This is a rather controversial subject within the art world. Some of us donate our art to fund raising efforts, some do not.  It is a personal decision but one that is discussed over and over.  Artists are frequently, some say constantly, asked to make a donation of their work for one cause or another. 

Palm Springs 75

There many ways to make a donation and many items or situations an artist can donate. It doesn't need to be the art work itself.  It can be art lessons, time in the studio with the artist, a field trip with the artist to see what inspires their work.    Most of us have experience with all of it, so we make choices of how to handle these requests.

Pineapple Welcome

When it comes to donations of my art work I have chosen to support two causes/events, both benefit the arts in areas where I live, and it is the time of year for one of those events.

Three Tangelos

 99 Bucks, orchestrated by The Artist's Council of The Palm Springs Art Museum takes place this next Saturday. The funds generated support the education department for the museum, providing a wide variety of learning experiences for children, youth and adults in the Coachella Valley.  The funds raised give valley residents, who might not otherwise have the opportunity, occasions to enjoy and create visual arts.   This encourages budding artists and teaches appreciation for art.

Red Hot Chile

 Artist's and celebrities are asked to make a creation on a 5"x7" canvas which is supplied.  The canvases are then displayed anonymously in the Grand Ballroom at the Riviera Hotel this Saturday, April 12.  Each canvas will sell for 99 Bucks.  What a great price for an original art work.

Prickly Pear

 Last year there were over 700 canvases and probably almost that many people waiting patiently,  though with great anticipation, for the doors of the ballroom to open, allowing admittance.  It was a throng of patrons, jostling, viewing, ooing and ahing, buying the canvases as fast as they could.  It's crazy fun!

Fenceposts

 Pictured here are some of the little canvases I have donated to this event over the past few years.  This year I painted three which are not pictured here but most definitely show up anonymously on the web site gallery which shows all the work that will be available.  Click HERE to go to one of the pages of that gallery.

Three Dancing Girls

  If you want a little more info about 99 Bucks, click HERE to be directed to the Artist Council's on line blurb about the event.  If you are in the area I hope to see you there!

99 Bucks

Riveria Hotel

Palm Springs, CA

Saturday, April 12

4:30 - 6:30

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Desert Art

Goal Accomplished!!!

Prickly Pear Blossom II

30 x 48

It's good to set goals and even better to reach them.  So what is a goal, anyway??  In this case it is not those upright posts through which someone kicks or carries a ball, but a desire that is important enough to a person that it requires effort to reach. Earlier this week I knew I wanted to complete this painting before leaving my studio for Holiday travel,  so I set the goal of having it done by the end of the week. 

It did take some effort.  Making time to paint during this busy month took effort, so did standing there dipping the brush into the pigment and applying it to the canvas. And it took the effort of balancing the color and values. Dare I say it took effort to claim the work complete?

Effort aside, it's done, and it is the end of the week.  Goal reached, goal accomplished.  Kicked that ball through the uprights!  Metaphorically anyway.

Time to set new goals.

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Prickly Pear Painting

A Chilly Week In The Desert

Oh my.  The entire country is COLD.  To be expected in December?  Yes, but here in the studio, I continue to visualize the warm desert and work on this Prickly Pear painting.  All the paddles are in though there will be more shadowing eventually.  The time has come to work on the fantasy flower.

Most of the flower has been laid in, however I realize I would like to add one more petal, so I am leaving the computer, returning to the easel.

When an artist puts a brush in her hand, sometimes unexpected changes occur.  So from the image above to the image below, the addition of a couple petals, not just one.  It was a intuitively visual necessity. 

While working on the petals I thought I would add in the stamen and pistol parts of the flower after a slight adjustment to the base under the blossom.  The flower didn't look balanced without this change.

That's it for now.  Check back to see the painting as it comes to conclusion.  My goal is to complete it this week.  Then these cold temps will inspire Holiday themed work.   At least being cold is a type of inspiration.

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It's Good To Be Conflicted,

Or is it?

Do you remember earlier this week I posted about sketching for a new painting and having indecision about exactly what to begin next because I had two very different ideas swimming in my head?  After completing the last Desert Plant painting I planned to move forward with another, however I made a trip to the Palm Springs Art Museum to see the Diebenkorn exhibit (click HERE to visit PS Art Museum site with info)

                 Woman on a Porch
                  Richard Diebenkorn

and while there wandered into the Western/Indian exhibition section to see if there were new items being shown.  Sure enough, there was a great, yet small, basket display and I was introduced to Guadalupe Arenas, a Cahuilla, who lived and created in the Coachella Valley during the late 1800's into the early 1900's.  

Basket woven by Guadalupe Arenas

This woman fits perfectly into my Indian Women Portrait Series, so of course I was captivated and began to research her life and work and sketching for a painting which would represent her.

I settled on a composition but I am having problems finding photographs of her and since I want to know what she looked like to make a more accurate representation, and since I want to begin a new painting immediately, my decision was made.  The easel will hold a Desert Plant painting for now while I continue research on Guadalupe Arenas.  That conflict resolved.

Back into the sketch book to face more conflicting situations. Which plant and which composition?

 Barrel Cactus with side or top view?

 Fence Post Cactus?

Some composition of Prickly Pear?

I found myself drawing one and another and another Prickly Pear composition adding in large, flamboyant flowers much like that in the previous painting, shown below.

Prickly Pear Blossom

40x30

I believe these conflicted feelings were resolving themselves. Next step was to 'live' with the sketches for a few hours and after selecting one, paint a small canvas board.

Sketches with small canvas board painting.

These canvas board paintings allow me to work out color, movement, high and low lights as well as my satisfaction with the composition.  OK.  All conflict resolved.  Was it good to be conflicted?  Not sure, but I do know it is good to have a canvas on the easel and pigments in the palette, all ready to go.

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Snow Bird

It's a Strange But Apt Title.

Snow Bird.

The view last week from x-country skis.

Some of us fly south for the winter to embrace warmer climes.  Apparently I do have those wings.  The Snow Bird wings.  Last week I was enjoying the white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky both outdoors and in the studio.  Brrrr...it was cold, but delightful.

The view this week while cycling.

Now, almost magically, I am in shorts, warm air, painting tropical flowers and palm trees inspired by those that grow outside my door.  Hmmmm....it is a lovely temperature, which is also delightful.

Detail from Birds and Hibiscus, acrylic painting by Pamela Hunt Lee

I am flapping those Snow Bird wings into the studio to work with a warm colored palette on commissions and paintings for a couple invitational exhibitions.

Steuber's Date Palms

Acrylic Painting by Pamela Hunt Lee

Check back to see sketches and the progress of new work.

Barrels and Fenceposts

Acrylic Painting by Pamela Hunt Lee

Now that I have flown south, I am faced with a busy few weeks!  Join me to watch what transpires by coming back to my blog and visiting my Facebook page.

Wishes for a happy and prosperous 2013!

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