Rocky, the Rescue Dog

My Sis-in-law adopted a rescue dog, who turned out to be highly intelligent and just all around fun as well as being loyal.  When I took a workshop with Kim Johnson of Phoenix, AZ, I decided to use "Rocky" as my portrait candidate in this "Painting Animals"  workshop.  I hope I captured his exuberant nature

Granby, Colorado

"Mullein Weeds & Daisies". 12" x 18".

Pastels.  $400. Unframed.

Summertime in the Rockies showcases a variety of greens and atmospheric colors in the landscape.  Walking in the country from our condo in Granby, Colorado, brought this scene to me.  My first rendition was a little stiff, but I put it back on my easel this week and brushed out areas I didn't like and strived to make it more painterly.  I hoped to capture nature's cheerful juxtaposition and balance of weeds and flowers.

The Smallest Studio Yet

Evening Thunderstorm,   8 x 10",  $80.

My husband and I have decided to share a home in Lincoln Nebraska with our son and grandchildren. My husband and I have developed our apartment in the basement.  It is cozy and small, but I especially wanted my own little studio space.  "Mini-studio" is an understatement in this place!

At the end of the family room is a recessed closet with about 2 feet of standing room where I could put my small Guerrilla painters box & tripod easel.

My iPad, with reference photos I have taken, sits on the shelf and any other supplies are handily right there as well.

Since we are just a week new into the house, I haven't filled all the space as I normally would. Thank goodness!  

A bright natural fluorescent light serves its purpose well. When finished I can shut the doors and the space stays neat & clean. I love it!

My "Pastiche" Jewelry work

This is my jewelry "studio" workbench.  In reality, it is a counter in the Laundry room.  I have been working in enameling  copper. I call this my "Pastiche" collection…meaning a mixture of many things.  I combine copper, bronze, brass, pewter metals, with a myriad of enameled colors, which I create in my small kiln in the garage.

I combine the components into earrings and pendants strung on faux suede cording with handmade wire clasps.

Necklaces with pendants--$59-$75.

They are colorful and very eclectic!  Perfect with dressy black or casual denim.

West Valley HQ and Birt's Bistro in Surprise  are carrying my jewelry in their gift shops.  I will be participating in an Arts Festival at the Goodyear Baseball Stadium Oct 31st-Nov 1st, 2015.  

Come see me!

Murphy's Law of Framing

Even after making numerous changes in a painting, it seems that I still missed something that only reveals itself, AFTER I have Framed and Sealed it!!

Take this pastel I painted from our South America trip to a hacienda B & B south of Santiago, Chile. 

I was pretty happy with it .  It was an upside down "L" composition with the center of interest being the small vivid red flowers that receive shelter underneath the palm tree.  However, in the frame, it looked like a dark mass with no relief on the left.

It needed some light ground peeking through the palm on the left to create depth and a normal sense of the scene. 

So I removed the tape and the glazer points, and took it out of the frame ( a real pain in the ... , well, you know) and worked on the painting. 

I also added a few hints of close grasses to aid the perspective.  It felt better now.

           "Sheltered Under the Palm"

12" x 18" (Unframed).  Pastels    $395.    

I Can Relate to DILBERT.....

Change "novel" to "blog" or "painting" and it would probably express the trepidation a blogger/painter feels when they are getting started....

But then I remember reading once that Cezanne painted over 12,000 watercolors, and I ask myself:  "Surely they weren't all keepers?"

Path through the Trees

"Path through the trees"

9" x 12".       NFS

One of my favorite artists and teachers is Liz Kenyon of Scottsdale, AZ.  She shares so willingly of herself and teaches me so many things.  This painting is from a photo she had taken and she let me use it in her workshop.  Encouraged by Liz to push the color, this was my result.


My web site:  http://GretchenOlberding.com

When a Painting Doesn't Cut It...

One of the concerns when starting any kind of  ART blog is submitting less than stellar work.  Well, this is an example.  The colors are pleasant and harmonious, but.......that's where it ends.

It has a background with three nearly similar, horizontal  shapes  that are quite boring.  Then the five bushes in front look like glowing porcupines--- all unremarkably the same.

The tree on the left has a nice, broken  shape, but color is too much the same all over.  Again...Boring!  The Joshua tree on the right is the only interesting object in this painting.

In the first glow of thinking I had a wonderful painting,  I even signed it!   I must have been in a dream to think it was finished! (And no, it wasn't Happy Hour!)
Geez!!  I have lots of work to do to improve this!

I must admit,  I am working from a photo that I took while my husband was driving and whizzing by this scene.  It still captured my interest, so I intend to return to the painting to find the magic in the landscape that interested me to begin with.  Hopefully, I will be able to post an improved painting--- I jusr won't promise when that will be.

My Joy of Place Blog

Throughout my life, I have always loved being out in nature.  From traipsing though wooded areas, barefoot fording the Republican River in Nebraska; hiking in the Arizona desert and mountains, all have afforded me great pleasure and joy. 

My best ideas come these quiet moments and I have developed a love and pride in the land and nature's special monuiments:  the Trees.  As I have pursued an art career, it has become evident that I want to paint trees and try to express their "body language."  Sometimes they are majestic; sometimes they are blowing in the wind; other times they are broken down.  The happy little cedar stretching its haphazard limbs to the sky is entirely different from the towering, stately cottonwoods. The desert saguaro is a different story altogether.

As I take on this new commitment to post a painting weekly, I will share and try to re-create those magical moments when the light and shadow play across the land and sky.  My phone camera records these adventures and then I take them back to the studio to paint.  My work is not a reproduced photo, but rather an impression and feeling gathered from being at the site and looking at the photo as reminder.

Included in my postings will be the earth metals jewelry I make:  copper, bronze, and silver creations.
In the past year I have been enameling the copper in rich, glorious colors.