I was a bit negligent in getting the progress paintings posted for "Symbiotic Dance...", so here is a series of images showing the progression from day one to completion, (approximately 4 weeks). The initial concept sketch is hiding somewhere in one of my sketchbooks - so will find that and post it later. This painting measures 4foot square. Enjoy!
day 1 - sketch and blocking in
Day 2 - blocking in colors of first flower
Day 3 - blocking in and modeling the first flower
Day 4 - blocking in and modeling the 2nd flower
Day 5 - starting to take shape, colors are fairly set and movement is where
I want it to be... what about the colors and values?
Day 6 - varying the colors of the leaves and petals and shapes
Day 7 - set up a still life so I could verify the colors and shadows
and noted that the greens needed much warming up
Day 8 - not seeing a huge change here, but refined some of the
yellow petals a bit more and tweaked colors overall
Day 9 - revising the direction of the light on the
left sunflower and making sure the shadows are true
Day 10 - last day on the easel, color, value and some petal adjustments
The 2011 Desk Calendars are here! They make great gifts for that special art-lover in the family.
These innovative, ingenious, and eye-catching desktop calendars showcase a unique painting each month of the year. All the pages fit neatly in the 4”x6“ plastic case. The lid of a calendar case folds back at a 45-degree angle to form an easel to display the current month.
Please contact me if your would like to purchase a calendar. Contact via email: laura@lauragable.com, or phone: 509.308.0666 Click to see all 12 months.
This painting was completed during the summer of 2010. It measures 48" x 48" and is a richly hued oil painting full of lively reds, greens and blues. It represents the balance that is in all of nature: the yin - and the yang; the front - and the back of the objects are revealed and we learn that the back is as glorious and dynamic as the front; the dark - and the light; the red - and the green; the birth - and the death; the joy and the sorrow. Please take a moment to enjoy this lovely painting and share your comments of what you see represented here.
The painting now resides in the dining room of a local art collector. We are excited to see "her" go to a loving home.
Saturday November 13 from 11a.m. - 4p.m. and Sunday November 14 from 11a.m. - 4p.m. Please join us for a self-guided driving tour to see 14 artist's in their studios. There will be 11 stops on the tour located in the Tri Cities and the surrounding area... including one studio in Benton City. Check out the tour website for maps and artist information. My studio will be open for this festive event. I will have new calendars on sale, original paintings, and a variety of prints and cards. Call me for more information: 509.308.0666
The nested painting is now framed in a slightly muted silver leaf frame, which is absolutely beautiful. There is a sense of duality, and a equally balanced comfort in the way the nests settle in towards each other. The mother bird, very soft and enigmatic is hovering in the background. Please drop into the studio to see this painting. It is a lovely companion piece to "Birth" (painted earlier this year... http://gablewip.blogspot.com/2009/04/nest-meets-cosmos-final-prior-to.html)
Work progressed on the two nest painting. The Easter Eggs were painted over, the nest was deepened and simplified. The foreground went from textured fabric to a more abstracted version of sky and straw. The upper background,which had been scrubbed into soft tones in a previously unphotographed painting, shows the bird starting to emerge again.
Progress is crawling on this piece. I seem to have lost interest. My time has been quite fractured lately with short vacation and lots of teaching ... need some time to refill the well. (This was started before the summer). Anyway, I added a bit more background color and some more detail on the wooden eggs in the back nest. Momentum here we come!!
This is a companion nesting piece to the single nest titled "Birth". The top nest has colored wooden eggs nestled inside. I'll paint it in as I see it ... but not sure I like this confusion of color and message. We'll let it go for a while and see what transpires. At the moment I have a suggestion of a crane at the top of the image. I want it to be vague and ethereal. Let's see where that goes, too.
Here is the initial concept and rough sketch in raw sienna on buff toned canvas. It is based on two still life nests that my student brought to me. She was raising birds at the time and these were actual nests that they had built.
This un-named sunflower painting sits eagerly on the easel. There was another small tweak to the inside shape of the flower that will need to yet be posted. It's painted in oils in a bit looser style. Wanting to be more expressive, yet still show form. It's not quite impressionistic, but getting there.
UPDATE: As you see, I've named the piece Sun Seeker. It is framed in a lovely gold and black ornate frame. It has a strong presence and looks lovely hung on the studio wall next to Windows of the Soul.
My mixed media painting, "Entwined", won an award at the Larson Gallery's exhibition last month. It won the Baha'i Faith of Yakima Award for Race Unity. The gallery is located in Yakima, WA. I was very pleased, indeed.
Jordan Steele of local television station, KEPR, stopped at 3 of the artist's studios today to give the public a view of the concept of Open Studio Tour. Actually he had come out a week ago and taped all 3 segments, but it's fun to follow along as though you are traveling with him. My studio at 17 N Auburn in downtown Kennewick was the first stop. I relayed to the public, a bit of history and information about this 6th tour we've put on. The camera lady was able to capture my bird-nest oil painting in process. Check it out!!
Dennis Brunson was the second stop. Jordan was thrilled to see the clay pot come to life as Dennis worked it on the potter's wheel. Jordan admitted he had only seen it done in the movie, "Ghost". Dennis plans to demo this aspect of his process during the tour.
Last stop was Linda Andrew's glass studio. Jordan was enomored with the fact that she creates such beautiful and dynamic glass vessels with tiny strings of glass called "stringers". He also highlighted that Linda is an international artist. How fortunate the Tri-city area is to have such a high caliber artist in it's midst.
Hope you enjoy the video and if you are in our neck of the woods, please come on out to visit the 14 artists in 11 different studios scattered around the Tri-City area. The tour runs this weekend, November 14 and 15 (Saturday and Sunday) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. See you soon!!
