Posted in daily painter, Travel, tagged Arizona, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on September 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »
A couple of weeks ago I told you about our trip out west to Arizona and shared all the photos of the red rocks.
I finished a painting of one. This is the reference photo of Bell Rock, just outside of Sedona, Arizona.
And this is my painted version of Bell Rock. It is an oil painting on canvas panel measuring 9″x12″ and is available for purchase at $195 by contacting me at kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com .
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on September 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Fog Across the Valley is an oil on canvas panel. This is another piece we did recently in art class. As you may have guessed this week from reading the blog, I finally brought home some pieces we did on Wednesdays in art class and photographed them to post on the blog. I didn’t realize how far behind I had gotten on that! We paint a lot in class. 🙂
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on September 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Another Fence for Pat is an oil on canvas panel that we did several weeks ago in art class on Wednesday at the Blue Ridge Arts Council. I named it for Pat because one of my art students loves to paint fences. We have done several. This one was a snow scene with a fence.
Pat’s painting turned out great! I should take some photos of the art students work to show you all. I’ll do that soon.
And don’t forget that it is the 3rd Thursday and the Art Walk is tonight from 5 – 8 p.m. in downtown Front Royal. Shops are open late, serving refreshments, and there will be entertainment. Come out and watch artist demonstrating and support the art community.
Stop by Delilah’s and say hello to Sandy who will be there this evening.
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting on September 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Here is what we will be finishing up tonight at Art Class. We started this piece last week and just have a few details to add to finish. You can see the photo above the painting. This lesson is a photo from an ad in a magazine.
We find photos and inspiration from many places.
As I have said before, anyone can paint. It doesn’t take talent but rather desire. If you want to learn to paint, or improve your painting skills, email me, kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com , and join us on Wednesdays at the Blue Ridge Arts Council. We have great fun!
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Shenandoah River on September 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Bridge Over River is an oil on canvas panel that was an art lesson for the Wednesday Night Painting class. One of the most fun parts of painting together on Wednesdays is that sometimes we paint the same thing. This was a picture brought in that several of us painted.
Each turns out a little different…but all great!
Come join us on Wednesdays. Email me if you have any questions. kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com
Posted in Recipes, Small Town Life, tagged daily painter, jelly, plums, Recipes, West Virginia on September 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Loaded with Plums
The trees out at the cabin were loaded with plums this year. There is a long row of trees along a road where we walked in the mornings there. I’ve watched them grow all summer. And finally…..
I picked them.
And washed them.
And cooked the pitted plums with a cup of water to get all that good juice going.
And once the cooked plums cooled a little, I squeezed the wonderful plum juice.
And then back into the pot the juice goes with sugar and Sure Jell. I’ve used Sure Jell for years and it always makes great jelly. Just follow their directions.
Ladle the cooked jelly into the prepared jars…
The jars go into the pot of hot water for several minutes to finish off the cooking process.
And then you have the finished product ready to share with friends. (Notice Truman, always in the background, giving instructions.)
Posted in Travel, tagged Arizona, daily painter, Vacation on September 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Cactus amazes me. I don’t understand how it works exactly but it is beautiful in its own way.
I especially like the Prickly Pear cactus seen here.
Cactus makes a nice foreground for landscape shots in the west.
I love the way it looks in the landscape of the west.
One thing I didn’t get a shot of was the cactus trees. And the amazing thing I learned about cactus trees is that they are at least 50-70 years old before an arm shoots out. I never thought about them being that old. And we passed several “cactus forests” north of Phoenix but didn’t get to stop for photos. Too bad. 😦
Posted in Travel, tagged Arizona, daily painter, Vacation on September 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Everyone who had been to it said that it was amazing….not possible to describe…you had to see it to believe it.
And they were right!
It was a beautiful clear day when we were there and you could see for miles and miles. There were huge puffy clouds hanging perfectly over the cliffs. It was almost fake looking. I said that the same people who perpetrated the fake “moon landing” must have painted a huge screen and hung it up here for people see. It just didn’t look real.
But it was real. We had a great view of the Colorado River running through it. Unbelievable!
The tower overlook at the southeast end of the canyon gave wonderful views of the canyon not to mention that it was quite photogenic itself.
Allen and Bob didn’t miss an opportunity to read about all that we were seeing.
And Sally risked standing on the edge of the world!
Posted in Travel, tagged Arizona, daily painter, Vacation on September 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Just back from the Labor Day Weekend in Sedona with friends. I hope to post some red rock paintings soon. Saw many wonderful views and landscape there. It’s hard to believe how different everything there looks compared to the Shenandoah Valley.
We hiked each day. Bell Rock and Cathedral were right down the road from our hotel so we were able to hike there easily. We saw rattlesnakes on one walk. I HATE snakes!!!
I’m not crazy about lizards either but we saw lots of them so I had to get at least one shot.
So many nice landscape views with the arid countryside in the foreground. I hope to paint many of them.
Tomorrow, our day at the Grand Canyon. Awesome!
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged daily painter, Paint Out, Small Town Life, Virginia Artist, West Virginia on September 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »
And yes, I did paint while I was at the Paint-out. There were so many wonderful feature to photograph that I did take some time to walk around the yard and by the river and creek and get some reference photos for my file.
But finally I settled in and set up my easel on the porch, where other artist had gathered to sketch, draw, and one was even knitting. And I decided to paint the trunk of this magestic old tree by Robin’s house.
This is the start of the painting, the part that I got done that morning at the Paint-out. The painting shown in the photo is stored in the canvas carrier of the easel. I am waiting for the oil paint to dry a little more so I can go in and put some of the details in the tree trunk. As soon as it is done I’ll post the results.
Many thanks again to Robin for opening her lovely home and grounds to us for the Hampshire County Paint-out. It was a perfect day for artists, creativity and fellowship.
The Studio 