Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas tree, whose lights now shine so brightly!

I started painting these trees in 2008. 

At that time, I was playing with heavy texture on canvas. I was also doing a lot of textured tree paintings.  

With this one, I sculpted the trees, sky and snowy foreground with a sculpting medium. 

I then added layers of glazed colors, coaxing the texture out of the canvas with these layers.  I started with a dark ultramarine blue/black under-painting over the whole canvas. Then I highlighted the texture with lighter layers of turquoise and white just softly skimmed upon the raised portions of texture. 

I used warm highlights on the main tree and foreground reflections. I also painted colored lights on the main tree, and dappled some of those colors in the foreground as well.

It ended up a simple, snowy winter scene, featuring a softly lit Christmas tree glowing in the snow. 

I liked it okay, but I set the canvas aside, thinking that someday I'd like to try to add real Christmas lights to the main tree. 

Well, someday came today.

Because B's Bone Marrow Transplant is just around the corner, I knew we wouldn't be able to put up our normal Christmas tree this year. (Follow B's Journey here)

I found myself thinking this last week "Wouldn't it be nice if I had a painting of a Christmas tree to hang, so at least we'd have a tree of some sort up for this holiday."

I was lamenting that I didn't have time to paint a Christmas tree painting from scratch, when I remembered this painting I'd started so many years ago. 

I found it in my studio this morning, still waiting patiently to be finished, so I set about lighting it up. I had purchased a mini light set several years ago with this idea in mind and was delighted to find I had conveniently stored them with the painting.

The texture on the canvas was really thick, which worked out great for holding the lights. I punched holes through the textured canvas and pushed the mini lights through. I then used some gel gloss medium to attach a few shiny stars in front of the tree to mimic the lights reflecting in the snowy foreground.

Okay, so now it's far more artsy craftsy than fine art, but I still like it. It will help make our home feel more festive and I have to say, it's the easiest Christmas tree I've ever put up.

This image shows the unlit mini lights poking through the canvas. The 3-D effect looks sort of neat unlit, as well as lit. You can also see some of the heavy canvas texture in this image too.

Here's a short video of the finished painting with the lights on. 

I had a frame on hand that suited the finished piece well and now, after a few hours of fun playing with this painting,  it's hanging in our home, doing it's part to help make our season a bit brighter.
And, for the first time in almost 9 months, I got to spend some time playing in my studio.
Neato deato.

My husband, my hero.

 'You've Got A Friend'
16 x 20
Acrylic on Canvas
Detail of a work in progress.










I've always thought that the kids in this painting could've been me and Brian as kids, if we'd known each other back then.
He's my best buddy in the whole world.
And he's in a fight for his life right now.

I started this painting years ago and set it aside, unfinished. Perhaps because Brian didn't want me to sell this one, and I needed to be painting things that would help pay the bills.

I'm currently still unable to paint at all (as many of you already know) because of Brian's need for full time care. There was a nano second last month, where it looked like he was getting better and I thought I'd be painting again soon, but that was not to be.

He's really, really sick right now with a disease called Myelodysplastic Syndrome. He's transfusion dependent, unable to make blood on his own because of chemotherapy induced stem cell damage to his bone marrow.

He's also the bravest, toughest person I've ever known, facing each adversity with determination and grace.

So, I thought I'd send out this request, to all of my artblog friends and others who might wander in here for a visit.

For those of you who pray, I'd sure appreciate it if you could put in a good word for our Brian. Please pray that his bone marrow starts working again.

And, also, please ask that the painful peripheral neuropathy in his fingers, that's taken away his beautiful guitar playing, also heals.

We'd sure appreciate it. 

Click here to see his complete, up to date journey, chronicled as a subpage of this blog.

We make plans... and the universe laughs.

'Winter Trees'
15" x 30" x 3/4"
Acrylic on canvas  
Livingstone collection- Tucson, AZ


Happy New Year everyone!
2011 was a doozy, with many twists and turns we least expected.

My Brian got sick early in the year. So, I put away my paintbrushes and spent much of the year helping him through some really difficult stuff.

B's Journey is chronicled here.

December started out with Brian seriously ill in the hospital, but these last few weeks he's been improving rapidly.

He no longer needs constant care.


That being said, there's even a chance I may be painting again within a few days.
First I have to clean my very dusty (and somewhat cluttered) studio.
Then squeeze some paint on palette and dive in.
I'm sort of nervous and excited about that. I literally haven't painted a single stroke in over 4 months.

What if I've forgotten how?
I'm sure rediscovering painting will be quite an adventure and I'm curious to see what changes this 4 month hiatus may have created in my approach to painting in general.  I've got a ton of ideas I've been chomping at the bit to paint. New subjects, different cropping, and maybe, just maybe I will try oils for the the very first time. Oooh, scary!
I'm hoping to recap my 'Year in the Life' accomplishments within the next few weeks. I did get a lot done before Brian became ill.
I'm also taking the optimistic approach in making my New Year's list of Art Goals for 2012. I believe Brian will continue to improve and I will find more and more time for painting and marketing. I've got a ton of new ideas to help get my art out there and look forward to getting those ideas up and running.
Wish me luck.... and...
Happy Painting!!

Win A Mug featuring my painting 'First Christmas'!!

Congratulations to Nichol Boyle, winner of the December Mug giveaway!!
My thanks to all of you who've become followers of this blog. You will all be eligible for all future contests as well.

A print of this painting will be featured on the December Mug giveaway.



click image for larger view

'First Christmas'

11" x 14" 

Acrylic on canvas

I'm having a Dec 1st contest for all followers of this Art Blog. 

The winner of the contest will get one of my popular Zazzle Mugs, this one featuring a print of my painting 'First Christmas'.

If you're the winner, you'll get your mug in time for the holidays, to enjoy yourself, or perhaps give as a gift.

It's so easy to enter!  

Click the blue 'Join this Site' button found in the right margin over here. ►►►

Scroll down a bit, past my artist's bio and you'll find the blue 'Join this Site' button. It's just above all the little thumbnail images of my Blog Followers so far.

Simply join this blog and be entered.

All my blog followers, old and new will be eligible.

If the drawing were held today, the odds would be 1 in 34 that you'd win, because that's my blog follower count at noon today, as I post this contest. The odds will be 1 in whatever that number is on Dec 1st.

All my Blog Followers, old and new, are eligible for all my Blog Contests.

Become a blog follower before Dec 1st, and your name will be entered in this drawing for the 'First Christmas' mug giveaway.

Remember, once a Blog Follower, you are eligible for all future contests held on this blog as well. So, join today. Keep up to date on all my latest art happenings and be entered to win free stuff now and then.

Thanks for visiting ... and good luck!
View Mug here.

Win A Mug featuring 'Emma's Fireflies'!!

Hi everyone!

I'm having a Mug Contest this month. Go to FACEBOOK and like my new Millward Studios-The Fine Art of Jenna Millward Corkill  Facebook Art Page and your name will be entered in the November 1st, 2011 (next Tuesday!) drawing to win a free mug featuring my painting 'Emma's Fireflies'.  

VIEW MUG HERE 

So, click the FACEBOOK link, LIKE the PAGE, and be entered to win this mug, featuring a print of my original painting:

Congratulations to...Jason Livingstone! He won the 'Emma's Fireflies' Mug on my Facebook Art Page contest.

My thanks to the 60 folks who entered the contest by Liking my Facebook Art page.

'Emma's Fireflies' 2011

10 X 10 X 1.5"

Acrylic on canvas

Original not for sale,

but prints are available here.

click image to enlarge

I'm also having a Dec 1st Mug Contest for all Followers of this Blog. 

That Mug will feature a print of my painting 'First Christmas',

and you'll get it in time for the holidays, to enjoy yourself, or perhaps give as a gift.

All my current Blog Followers are eligible, old and new, for all my Blog Contests.

Become a new follower before Dec 1st, and your name will be entered for the 'First Christmas' mug giveaway.

I'll be having additional contests periodically for all my Blog Followers, so start following now to be eligible for all future contests as well.

(Click the blue 'Join This Site' button found in the right margin, just above all the little thumbnail images of my Blog Followers so far.)

Thanks for visiting ... and good luck!

click image

to enlarge

A print of this painting will be featured on the December Mug







'First Christmas'2004

11" x 14" 

Acrylic on canvas

'Sometimes, you just have to let it slide'

or ...
'No sense fretting about it'
~a-work-in-progress~
6" x 6" acrylic on canvas panel

I haven't decided if this one will be for sale or not.

Morning light filters through our window blinds on a few of Brian's guitar slides. 

(For those of you not familiar with what a guitar slide is,

here's video of Bonnie Raitt playing guitar with a slide.)

Placed on your finger, you make notes by sliding it on the guitar neck. They create a very distinctive sound.

Brian's got about a dozen slides, each one unique, and I think they make cool subjects for still life paintings.

I love the reflections in the metal slide.

This painting is almost done. I still need to finish bringing the sunshine in with highlights here and there, as well as a few minor tweaks on the metal slide.

I can work on these small canvases in the house, without being too isolated from Brian while I paint, so you will probably be seeing more of these smaller works from me for a while, although I am still working on the giant canvas 'Matheson Hammock Memories' too.

"Men plan and God laughs." ... old Yiddish proverb

I started this year with a plan. To chronicle, 'A YEAR IN THE LIFE' , a year in my life as an artist, with a focused plan to grow my art business and expand my art endeavors. I looked forward to seeing where that new, more focused approach would take me.

Then, on a dime, in March, the plan changed. Brian's lymphoma returned and I had to put my 'YEAR IN THE LIFE' project, along with a whole lot of painting, on hold.

Being there for, and taking care of this man, my best friend, my husband Brian, is (happily) getting almost every bit of my attention.
So, in the spirit of this painting's title, I'm learning to let (the less important) stuff slide right now. And it's ok. It's been necessary to help me these last 6 months.
My (overgrown!) flower beds are actually pretty, in a wild untamed sort of way, and adjustments with what chores are really necessary everyday, has allowed me to still find small snippets of painting time.
Using these small canvases allows me to paint near Brian, to be close by if he needs me.

This newest Non-Hodgkins lymphoma journey has certainly had it's ups and downs.
The most recent up- the chemo is working! (as per PET scan results).
The most recent down- Brian, weak from chemo treatments, fell and broke his back last Sunday night.
Our whole journey, thus far, is chronicled on my blog page, B's journey.

Thanks for visiting.... and please consider becoming a blog follower while you're here. (Click the blue 'Join This Site' button found in the right margin just above all the little thumbnail images of blog followers so far.)
My (somewhat lofty) goal is to perhaps hit 50 followers by years end.

Matheson Hammock Memories

A peek at the process.

I found time to paint today and was able to get the sky almost done on this big canvas. It just needs some minor tweaking where the black gesso is peeking through the highly textured areas a bit too much. Otherwise, I like it. My apologies, as this photo is not very good. It was taken tonight and the colors, brushwork and texture are lost in the poor lighting. It's much prettier in person.

As I was working on this big canvas, I got to thinking about some of the beaches I used to visit in the late 1960's as a teenager growing up in Miami.

One of them was Matheson Hammock Park.  A man-made atoll on the Biscayne Bay, near my hometown of Coral Gables. It was built in the early 1930's,  a part of President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corp that helped put unemployed men to work during the depression.
Back in the day, it was a beautiful place to spend a day at the beach. I hear it's not quite as nice now, which is too bad, but I'm painting it as if it's still in it's heyday.

The only photo I have of me as a baby, was taken at Matheson Hammock Park. I'm in the water, being held by my mom. I've always been fascinated by that photo, probably because it's my only baby pic and because my mom looks so happy. All heck broke loose in my family a few years later, and I pretty much rarely saw my mom happy again. Heck, I rarely saw my mom at all.

Reminiscence emotions got a hold of me and I decided to change the random location of my original beach painting, to this beach at Matheson Hammock Park.
I love it when I have an emotional connection to a painting I'm working on. It takes the painting experience up a notch.
This change of location meant I had to add the sea wall/sandbar and a few palm trees and I had to make the water calm. It's almost like a tidal pool at this beach. The water softly meets the sand, so the big waves I had started in my original layout had to go bye-bye.

Before I added the sandbar and trees to the canvas, I used a technique I learned from artist Robert Vickrey. He painted with egg tempera. When he wanted to add an element to one of his paintings, (such as a hat on a child) he would often place a piece of clear acetate on his (dry) canvas, painting the idea on the acetate first, to see if he liked it. He could move the acetate around, helping him with placement, perspective and such, before he actually painted the new element directly on his canvas.
He, of course, did not use the acetate on wet paint. So, if you use this idea, let whatever medium you are using dry first. Because I use acrylic paint, which we all know, dries in a nano second, I usually don't have to wait long if I want to use the acetate.

I use 3M Transparency Write-On Film. Sold in a box of 100 sheets (8.5x10.5) for about $22. Another neat thing about these sheets is they will static cling to the canvas. Just rub the sheet around on something to activate the cling. No tape needed.


Here are my trees, sketched on an acetate sheet to see if I liked the idea or not. I put the sandbar where one of the original waves was. You can see the lights in my studio shining on the acetate sheet.

The reference photo for my original beach/umbrella idea is one I created by mashing several photos together with photoshop.

I had a photo of a plain umbrella on the beach. I wanted a patterned umbrella, one of my own design, so I replaced the plain umbrella with a polka dot umbrella I found in an advertisement. Fortunately it's perspective jived pretty good with the original (plain) umbrella so it fit in nicely.

The polka dots became perspective reference points for me so I could create the patterned umbrella correctly. I wasn't worried about copyright issues using a published photo, since it was going to be SO different from the original. It was just a perspective tool for me.

 Here's the painting from my last blogpost, before I added the sandbar and trees. I'm glad the silly cartoon clouds seen here are gone now.

Brian's latest battle with lymphoma has kept me out of the studio quite a bit, so my painting updates will be sporadic for a while.
I can't wait to find a chunk of studio time again soon as I'm really having fun with this painting.


Thanks for visiting!

Paint it Black...

or... 'Rocky Mountain Bye'

There were several things I really liked about this painting, before I gessoed the entire canvas black! 

One was the tree canopy... the leaves....  another, the black edges peeking out here and there. I liked that concept. 

One mistake I made with this painting, was tackling a new style without a reference photo on a HUGE canvas ...what was I thinking?

Whenever I changed my mind on a composition element, it was ridiculously time consuming to make the change throughout this gigantic canvas... and then my AAADD* would kick in, making painting a chore (painting should not be a chore!) 'til I finally said "enough!".

But the biggest reason (besides not having a reference photo) for starting over on this big canvas was I simply decided I didn't want a giant Colorado landscape in my living room. This painting is for our home and this canvas is meant to go back to the same area it's hung for 10 years. It's was an (unfinished) ocean scene for 3 years, and I didn't know how much I liked having a waterscape in that spot 'til it was gone. The forest was pretty, but it wasn't water.

This poor ole canvas has been gessoed over 3 times before. It's first two incarnations were colorful abstracts, then it was the simple (unfinished) sea scene. Each time I brought the Colorado landscape in from my studio to see if I liked the colors in my living room's east light, and I'd find myself wishing I'd stuck with an ocean theme. When I mentioned this to Brian, he simply said, go with your feelings. 

Wow. Duh. I couldn't get the black gesso on the canvas fast enough. (except for a few parting photos of the spots I liked). At the time I decided to gesso the whole darn thing, I was happy with most of what I'd finished on the painting... so I took photos of the parts I liked and will use those ideas in future works.

This time, with a reference photo in hand, and a whimsical patchwork umbrella idea brewing in my head, I started this giant canvas's newest life. An homage to my hometown, Coral Gables and to the beach... my ocean. I miss the ocean.

This is definitely a work in progress. The umbrellas will all be COLORFUL, the sand almost white, and I think as soon as I'm done posting this,  those silly cartoonish clouds are going to float right on out of the painting. 

I'm trying to channel a soft, old fashioned vintage post card feel with this. Wish me luck.

 

Thanks for visiting! ... and if you like to see what this giant canvas (finally?) ends up being, please consider becoming one of my blog followers.

*AAADD- age accentuated attention deficit disorder  :o)

'Rocky Mountain High'

Under-painting of a work-in-progress-

3.5' x 4' Acrylic on Canvas

When I was a little girl, I loved crayons and coloring books.... I loved to color! I loved COLOR!

I spent a good deal of my childhood in a state-run orphanage. Sometimes, local charities would deliver donated toys and if those goody boxes had crayons and coloring books, and if  I was one of the lucky kids with a chance to use them, I was thrilled.

Back then, using the black crayon, I'd carefully trace all the lines of the design. Then I'd fill each area with color. Lots of color. Layered colors. This look of beautiful colors, outlined in black, has always been a favorite of mine. I think that's why I was drawn to becoming a glass artisan as well. I love the brilliantly colored glass bordered by the dark lead came outlines. Simply love it.

A few weeks ago, I decided to explore this idea a bit with paint. Bright colors, darkly outlined here and there. I had this big (3.5' x 4') canvas that I'd gessoed black. I started drawing, using the medium and dark colors of the under-painting (this image didn't capture the Prussian/ultramarine blue sky at all), to compose a Colorado mountain scene. Currently, I'm just playing with colors and shape. Once I'm satisfied with the composition, I'll start adding more colors with an emphasis on brushstrokes. I want to play with light. I want this painting to shimmer! 

I'm working top to bottom, and the bottom third of the painting, under the trees, is still unknown. I've got this vague image in my head of dappled light hitting the ground under the trees with a few flowers sprinkled here and there. I'm chasing that illusive idea, trying to capture it with paint. Right now, it's still mostly black gesso. 

So far, there are a few parts of this painting I sorta like, and if nothing else, it's given me a chance to simply play with paint. A little escape from the reality of my Brian's ongoing battle with cancer. He's sick today, so to stay close to him, I'm on the computer in the house rather than out in my studio (it's too isolated from B). Since he was diagnosed, there's been no time to blog....little time to paint. I wasn't even going to show any work-in-progress photos of this random experiment, but I've missed blogging (it's been 3 months), so what the heck. 

I'm only getting small, random chunks of time to paint, sometimes having to put my brushes away for days, at a moment's notice. With this newest experiment in style, I've been able to come back to this canvas days later and easily pick up where I left off. I need the flexibility this style is providing. It's allowing me to be creative....to paint.... and I need to paint. I don't know where this painting is going for sure, but if it ends up somewhere I don't like, there's always black gesso. In the meantime... I'm still chasing.

"Never take time for granted, and always, everyday, let the ones you love, know it, by your actions and your words." Jenna Millward Corkill

'Lauren and the Old Piano' 2003
Acrylic on canvas

Private collection- Tucson, AZ

This is one of three paintings I entered in this month's CFAI art challenge. Two of them star our granddaughter, Lauren.
Update 3/28- The March results are in and I didn't win, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Part of stepping outside my comfort zone this year is entering art contests and I'm doing just that. Who knows, someday, I may win one.
See all the CFAI entries submitted (including mine) here

This portrait is of three year old Lauren. She will be 16 next month, the 2nd oldest of our ten grandchildren. She is beautiful and talented young woman, who has starred in a few of my paintings. Fifteen year old Lauren is also the star of 'The Girl', a modern style portrait and another entry in the March contest. I am especially pleased that in the painting of the younger Lauren above, I was able to capture her Mom's piano and music books for posterity, as that piano is now gone and missed.

Now, on a different subject, I'm sorry to have to say, my wonderful husband, Brian, the light of my life, was told yesterday his Non-Hodgkins lymphoma has returned. 

We knew this day might come, as when they 'typed' his cancer in 2000, they told us the good news/bad news with his type of lymphoma was: 

• Good news-it doesn't like to metastasize. 
  
• Bad news-it was a persistent type that almost always comes back. 

The docs were hoping he would get 10-12 years of remission, saying that with the advances in cancer care, if/when it came back, they would have new medicines to fight it with. We got 11 years remission.

So begins another journey.

I'm not sure how much time I'll get to paint or post, but I hope I'll be able to find time to do both. I hope through this blog, to chronicle another success story for him. He has been my Superman, fighting cancer (twice) and heart disease this past decade, with courage, determination and grace. We've had three miracles and now pray for another. If any of you speak regularly with your higher power, please put in a good word for my/our Brian.