The Studio

We have had company the last few days.  Ordo and Luke came to stay with us last Wednesday and boy have things been lively.  They love playing with my two smallest, Lincoln and Mamie.  Jed just tries to stay out of the way.  So this morning when I sat down to write a post this is what it looked like.  It was so cute I decided it warranted a post of its own.

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Rangers Ballpark about 60% finished

I spent yesterday working on Rangers Ballpark and got maybe 60% of it done.  The detail in these ballpark paintings is immense.  But in order for each one to be a good representation of their location I want to get as much in as possible.  Here is what I have for the Texas Rangers so far.  Hope to finish it in the next couple of days.

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Alex Sharma teaching a workshop

While I was at Hilton Head Island last week I had a chance to ride my bike down to the South Beach area.  I love it there because there is a little pier and The Salty Dog Cafe is there.  And of course,  I love that!  I was delighted to come upon a group of ladies painting in a workshop.  It was led by Alex Sharma who was kind enough to allow me to take some photos.  (You can read more about Alex here.)

Hilton Head is a great place to paint in Plein Air.  The weather is great and the scenery lovely.  Here are some more scenes from Hilton Head:

A gator decided to walk across the bike path. He was “stopped” by security.

HHI Lighthouse

Lots of lovely trees with hanging moss

A boardwalk to South Beach

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I love Edgar Degas’s work and there are so many wonderful subjects that he painted but my favorite are the ones he did of hats.  This painting, The Millinery Shop, 1882-86, is an oil on canvas measuring 39 3/8″ x 43 5/8″, is in the permanent collection of The Art Institute of Chicago.

According to the information on The Art Institute’s website about this painting, “This canvas is Edgar Degas’s most ambitious statement on the theme of the millinery shop. Although the young woman is presumably a hatmaker examining her handiwork—with her lips pursed, perhaps around a pin—it has also been suggested that she could be a client about to try on a hat, since she wears an expensive fur-trimmed dress and kid gloves.  X-ray examination revealed that this figure originally represented a customer, but in his rethinking of the subject, Degas withheld the information necessary to determine her identity.”

Because the date of the painting shows a span of time we can assume that Degas lived with this paintings and continued to adjust it over time until he felt it ready to exhibit.  It was so wonderful to see it in person at the recent exhibit at The  Met and to get to see some actual hats from that period that were on display as well.  FABULOUS!

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