Now Showing at Fine Line Designs

It's an honor to be able to say that my art is now available in one of the premier galleries in Door County, Wisconsin. I've been visiting Fine Line Designs Gallery (http://www.finelinedesignsgallery.com/), north of Ephraim, for several years, and finally got the courage to submit my portfolio for consideration. Here are a few of my paintings that are now available there:

 

"Fireflies" by Kathleen Eaton

on the far wall of this pretty vignette

 

Three more paintings in the stairwell leading upstairs.

I have a total of eleven paintings at Fine Line Designs, so please ask to see more if you don't see them all! Thank you for your support!

Summer's Over? Hardly!

Doesn't it seem like summer just started? Every year it flies by so quickly. I'm still in the thick of it, with several painting events coming up in the next couple of weeks. Here is my schedule:

Friday, September 12 - Quick Paint from 2-5pm in downtown Delafield, WI with and opening reception for the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Members Show "Brush With The Wind" at the Delafield Art Center that evening. (http://wipapa.blogspot.com/)

September 13-14 - My work will be on display in the River's Edge Gallery booth at the Hidden River Arts Festival (http://www.wilson-center.com/hidden-river-art-festival)

September 17-20 - Plein Air Shorewood, a plein air painting festival in Shorewood, WI (See their website for a schedule of events: http://pleinairshorewood.com/) The Show and Sale is Saturday, September 20 at 6:30pm at the Shorewood Public Library. There are also events during the day that will allow you to preview the work. I hope you can come!

September 28 - Opening reception, "The Art of Preservation" - Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, WI

I thought I'd share a quick study and the finished studio painting I did from the study to show one of my methods of working out the kinks in my paintings. It really helps to have the opportunity to paint from life whenever possible. I painted the study from life at the Green Bay Botanical Garden in about an hour. The studio work took about a week. The study is 11x14, while the finished studio work is 24x30. I've accumulated hundreds of photos from similar scenes to work on throughout the winter, so the small studies that I've done will help. The finished studio painting shown here will be on display (and available for purchase) at the Rahr-West Museum in Manitowoc, WI, from September 28 to November 2, 2014.

A Day at the Botanical Garden by Kathleen Eaton

Where In The World Is ...

This lovely little spot is a garden located adjacent to my local public library. Beauty can be found in the least expected places sometimes! And speaking of beauty, I'll be in Fish Creek, WI, this Saturday, July 26, participating in the Dockside Quick Paint. You can come and watch the artists work from 9am-11am, and see the works on display during a reception at the Peninsula School of Art that evening. And a shameless plug - please vote for mine while you're there! The People's Choice winner is invited to participate in the week-long plein air festival the following year. I hope to see you there!

Plein Air Painting

I've had several people ask me what "Plein Air" means. Simply, it means painting in the outdoors. It also means being prepared for cold, fog, rain, sun, heat, wind, bugs, dehydration, starvation, criticism, and anything else that comes with painting outdoors. There are also a lot of positive things about painting outdoors. I have the opinion that it keeps me "honest" in my work. When you paint outdoors with all the colors and elements there before you, it can be the best teacher. I also enjoy being able to re-connect with artist friends that I haven't seen in a year.

I'm in Cedarburg, Wisconsin participating in its annual Plein Air Festival - a 10 day event featuring 160 artists from around the country. Here is how it works:

Check in on a Wednesday. Paint in Port Washington, WI.
Thursday - paint in Cedarburg or Port Washington
Friday - paint in Cedarburg
Saturday - QUICK PAINT. Each artist must check in at the registration table in town with a blank canvas. The volunteers stamp the back of the canvas, and record the time that you check in. You are given 2-1/2 hours to get to where you want to paint, set-up (it's wise to lay out paints before you check in), sketch out and paint an entire painting, frame it, and return to the registration table with it. It sounds intimidating, but is actually exhilarating.
Sunday-Thursday - paint in Cedarburg
Thursday morning - Turn in paintings. Each artist can turn in their "best" two paintings from the Cedarburg days, and one painting from Port Washington.
Friday (June 27) - Come and see all the works on display!

Saturday and Sunday (June 28-29) is Strawberry Festival in Cedarburg. If an artist wishes, they can participate in "Paint the Festival." I won't be painting the festival this year, but it can be a fun experience. This festival draws tens of thousands of people and is the climax of the Plein Air Festival. Most of the artists will opt to leave any unsold paintings at the Cedarburg Cultural Center, to be on display until August 9.

I've also been asked how difficult it is to transport wet oil paintings. For those who aren't familiar with oils, they can take up to six weeks to dry. These panel carriers have come in very handy: https://www.raymarart.com/Wet-Painting-Carriers-Wet-Panel-Carriers-s/21.htm. I like to paint on panels when painting outdoors. The thicker surface keeps light from shining through from the back side.

Here is one of the paintings I worked on while here:

Cedarburg is a lovely community!

Painting People Outdoors

I'm finally catching up on some "house keeping" regarding the many paintings I've done in recent months. This one caught my attention after not looking at it for a while, and I thought I would give my thoughts on the art of painting people outdoors.

This young lady was kind enough to model for a few of us during an outdoor painting session with friends. I don't do as much painting from life outdoors as I do in a studio, but certain things about this painting made me want to analyze it more.

This was a quick study done in about 2 hours, so it doesn't have the refinement of my commissioned portraits. As I recall, it was early August, and the late morning sun was beating down on the small shelter we shared in a park. Green grass, trees, and other vegetation surrounded us.

I must have been "in the zone" while I painted, as my colors in the skin tones are much more pronounced, vibrant, and reflective of outside sources than usual. In the photo below I point out specifics.

1. Note the blue reflection on one side of her face. I would say that this is reflected light from the sky, but the darker color at the top of her forehead (5) is likely the result of shade from the shelter that we were under. This leads me to believe that the blue reflections are coming from the sun shining off a light gray-blue roof that was on a building not too far away.

2 & 3. Her youthful glow reflected the many greens that were prevelant in the area we were in. Because we were sheltered, and the light was diffused, I attribute this to the strong summer sun all around us that didn't hit directly, but instead provided soft, colorful shades to appear.

4. Although she wasn't wearing light colors, there is still a reflected light that appears on her neck. That is probably from the roof reflection as well, but could be from the cement base of the shelter. I see that I captured some of the stronger reds directly under her chin and on her left cheek. I would like to think that this is part of the beauty that comes with youth, but it may be a combination of the sun penetrating her translucent skin, or the warmth of the day.

Because this was a group setting, it's not as easy to "set-up" a model to your exact needs or desires, but this was a good practice in painting from life en plein air. I hope to be able to paint Katie again in a more planned pose and clothing. She was a great model!

The combination of warm and cool colors on her face is quite fascinating to me. Here is a link to a site of Daniel Gerhartz, an artist that I admire, and who is a master at painting the figure outdoors:

http://www.danielgerhartz.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=36476&Akey=HTDFQTVK

He recently launched a new video, The Beginning of Autumn, in which he speaks extensively to the joys and difficulties of painting a figure outdoors.

And finally, here is another link to an artist, Daniel Maidman, who's blog post here tells more about the process of painting outdoors:  http://danielmaidman.blogspot.com/2013/09/daylight-on-skin-filtered-through.html

Thank you for visiting!

Painting Fast

On Saturday I participated in my third annual Dockside Quick Paint in Fish Creek, WI. This annual event is in conjunction with the week-long Plein Air Festival sponsored by the Peninsula School of Art. The energy is contagious and the joy of painting with other artists is invigorating. Between 100-200 artists each year gather in about a 4-block area, surrounded by curious onlookers. A horn blows at 9am, and the artists must create a painting from a blank canvas in two hours. At 11am, the horn sounds again, and brushes must be put down.

I enjoy talking with people when I paint outdoors, but this competition is nerve-wracking. Most of the observers understand that, and stand back to watch the paintings come together, talking in low tones about the progress. It can be very encouraging to hear whispers of "look at how she did that" and "I love how the light hits there." Because of the size and detail in this work, I chose to work mainly with a pallet (or painting) knife with thick paint. The outcome is a much "looser" work than I normally would do, and it helps me to skip the detail and paint quickly.

I have to admit, I was shaking at the start, and was pretty focused throughout most of my effort. This is the first year that I painted right up to the second horn, and wished I had a little more time. I may have bitten off more than I should have with the complication of this piece in such a short time slot, but all-in-all I was happy with the outcome. And someone else was happy enough with it to buy it at the reception that evening. I hope they realize that oil paints can take a long time to dry!

Here is my painting, "Linger." It depicts a lovely little coffee shop in downtown Fish Creek, WI - in the middle of Door County. Thank you to all the volunteers who help make this event successful!