Posted in Small Town Life, tagged American flag, flag, Inaugeration on January 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
From Art Camp 2011
We celebrate our flag and our country today as the Inaugural Festivities take place in Washington. This piece of art is a mixed media piece that we did in art camp a couple of years ago. The kids did a great job with paint and paper making these wonderful flags – an emblem to celebrate. We’ve painted flags several time with Kids Class. Check out Olivia here with her painting of flags. And check out more flag art from my students by clicking here.
Posted in Little Known Facts, Trivia, tagged American Foxhound, Foxhound, foxhounds, George Washington, Washington on January 20, 2013| 1 Comment »
Washington on Hunt
With all the hoopla surrounding the inauguration this week I have been seeing quite a few blogs and posts about president’s families and their pets. Did you know that “George Washington was not just the father of his country. He was also the ‘father’ of a new breed of dog—the American Foxhound. Born out of a desire to improve his hunting stock, Washington, with the help of Marquis de Lafayette in France, imported seven massive French hounds and bred them with his own black and tan hounds. The offspring became the foundation stock of the American Foxhound. Washington also devoted himself to creating a better, hardier mule and eventually produced some strong blood lines that he distributed throughout the country.” (Partial repost of an article from PetFoodDirect. Read it all here.) And did you also know that the American Foxhound is the state dog of Virginia??!!
Posted in Little Known Facts, Trivia, tagged Cezanne, Paul Cezanne on January 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Cezanne, Le Mont Sainte-Victoire c. 1897-98; Oil on canvas
Cezanne, Still Life with Bottle and Apple Basket, 1894.
Today we celebrate the birth of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). He was a Post-Impressionist French painter who helped bridge the 19th Century Impressionistic period to the 20th Century. He explored Cubism and a new line of artistic style that included exploring color options. He laid a foundation for artists like Matisse and Picasso.
He used repetitive, exploratory brushstrokes that makes his style easily recognizable.
Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, Art Class, art lessons, Blue Ridge Arts Council, daily painter, impressionism, Landscape, lighthouse, Virginia Artist on January 18, 2013| 1 Comment »
Posted in daily painter, tagged daily painting, golf, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, PGA, The Golf Channel, Virginia Artist on January 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Today in history in 1916 the PGA was formed in New York City. And staying with our golf theme, today in 1995 The Golf Channel began on some U.S. cable systems. Four years later, the world’s first 24-hour golf network was seen in over 30,000,000 homes. And thank goodness or Allen wouldn’t have anything to watch on TV. 🙂
I painted this last year. It is called GOLF, oil on canvas, 8″x10″, available at Delilah’s.
Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, fruit, impressionism, Landscape, lighthouse, strawberries, The Southerlands, Virginia Artist on January 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Miss Gaylor with Strawberries
Miss Eyeleen Paints a Lighthouse
Tuesday at The Southerlands is always delightful because I get to paint with some lovely ladies. Yesterday Miss Gaylor and Miss Eyeleen completed these paintings. They both just started painting in the last few months. Aren’t they doing great? And the best part is they are having fun painting!
Posted in Little Known Facts, Trivia, tagged Picasso and Pets, Picasso dogs, PIcassso on January 15, 2013| 2 Comments »
I had a professor in college that started his lectures with “Little Known and Useless Facts of History”. He captured our attention and of all the things I recall from history courses, these are the ones I can pull up the fastest in my mind. We all love trivia and fun facts. So today I am introducing “Little Known and Useless Facts of Art”.
Picasso’s Dog
Picasso’s Cat
I would, of course, start with the topic of pets, especially dogs. Did you know that Pablo Picasso loved animals? During his adult life he had many animals as pets including a monkey, an owl, a goat, a turtle and a pack of dogs and cats.
Here is a link to an interesting article about Picasso and his dogs by Stanley Coren in Modern Dog Magazine. This is part of that article:
“In fact, Picasso’s life was full of dogs. He had many, of many different breeds, including terriers, Poodles, a Boxer, Dachshunds, a German Shepherd, Afghan Hounds, and numerous “random bred” dogs. Many of these were “borrowed” or “stolen” from friends and associates in the same way that many of his women were. The dogs were as much a part of his life as his female companions, and they went everywhere with him. He also gave dogs to his friends as gifts, in part to ensure that he would never be in their company without a dog. When his various relationships broke up, Picasso would often leave all of his goods behind him and go off to live in a new place with a new woman. Usually, he would only arrange to have a few things returned to him, including some of his recent paintings, some of his brushes and paint, and his dog or dogs. The rest was all left to friends or to the woman whom he was leaving.”
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged art lessons, daily painter, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on January 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Summer Tree in Mini, oil on canvas, 4″x6″, available for $20.
Contact kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com for more info.
Posted in daily painter, Tips for Better Painting, tagged daily painter, sketchbook, Tips for Painting on January 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Sketch Book Notes
One of the best tips I can suggest for artists, both beginners and advanced, is to always carry a sketchbook. Cameras are great too but often they do not capture the vividness of color. And a camera can’t capture the “feel” of the scene. These are things you can jot down in your sketchbook and they become invaluable to you when you begin painting that scene. They will help you to relive the scene making for a better painting. I have a shelf full of sketch books and often refer back to notes I made years ago that reminds me of something I may have forgotten but will improve my work. Take a camera; carry a sketchbook; make notes. You’ll become a better painter.
Posted in Sale, tagged acrylic, cottage rose, daily painter, flowers, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Sale, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on January 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I mentioned at the first of the year that I was making a few changes to my daily blog. One is that I am going to try to set aside certain days for specific purposes. Saturday is going to be for sales. On Saturday I will offer an item or two at a discount. As these are originals and there is only one it will go to the first person who contacts me requesting the work. So today is the first Saturday Super Sale Day.
Garden by the Door, oil on canvas, 11″x14″, Sale Price $50.
Cottage Roses Table and Chair, Sale Price $65 for the set.
Contact kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com ASAP to receive the Super Saturday Sale price. Thanks!
The Studio 