Happy Thanksgiving

Micron pen on paper

Stacy L. Rowan

On this day of Thanksgiving, I'd like to say thank you to all the readers of this blog. I truly appreciate the time you take to look at my art, read my thoughts and leave comments.

Have a wonderful day!

Good News!

We had a lovely time at the art reception last night. Turn out was very good, as were the snacks. And the box of food donations was full to the brim.

But the best news of the night was that my painting Seasons' Reflections (shown in the last post) won second place in the watercolor category. What a nice surprise!

Paint Box Art Club Member Show

Seasons' Reflections

12" x 10" watercolor on paper

Stacy L. Rowan

This post is for anyone within driving distance to the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania. This Tuesday, November 20th is the opening reception for the Paint Box Art Club Member Show. The show is being held in the Nazareth High School Art Gallery in Nazareth, PA. The hours for the reception are 7 - 9pm. Light refreshments will be served. The club will also be collecting non-perishable food donations for the local food pantry.

All visitors are welcome to attend the reception. It is a good time to come to the show, because the artists will be there and the winners of the awards will be announced. So please come join us if you are in town.

Directions to the high school can be found here.

I have two paintings entered in the show. Seasons' Reflections which is shown above, and Sacrifice which can be found in this post with close ups here.

The show runs until December 13th. If you wish to check out the show during school hours, you must enter through the office and sign in on the visitor's log.

The Veil

untitled rose value study (WIP)

Stacy L. Rowan

The gray veil of winter has descended on eastern Pennsylvania. October is full of bright, endlessly blue skies, brilliant red and gold leaves and joyful orange pumpkins. November rolls in and replaces this celebration with a low gray ceiling, misty, rainy days and gutters full of leaves past their prime. Is it any wonder that I just ordered five tubes of colorful watercolor paints? Two oranges, a turquoise blue, a deep gold and a bright yellow. The perfect antidote to gray November days.

Gifts

3" x 2"

watercolor thumbnail
Stacy L. Rowan

Being a mom of young children, I often receive special gifts which they find for me when they are outside playing. I love these gifts and wanted to encourage the gift giving. So I decided to find appropriate vases to display them. This allows us all to enjoy their finds as long as possible.

The painting above shows some of the mini vases that I use expressly for this purpose. They are the perfect size to hold dandelions or clover flowers or grass that has gone to seed. They have also been known to contain fall leaves, flowers that have already fallen off their plants or other treasures that the uninformed might call weeds.

I love that my children are so excited to share nature's beauty with me, and I want them to know I appreciate their thoughtfulness. That's why my collection of mini vases will continue to grow. At least until they grow too old to bring me gifts from the yard.

(I'm working on a title for this. Before writing this post I was thinking about "Signs of Appreciation", but now I'm wondering if "Gifts" isn't better. Anyone want to cast their vote? If so, leave me a comment with the title you like best. Or if you have an even better one, I'm open to that too!)

Meditiation

Work in process

colored pencils on Ampersand Pastelbord

Stacy L. Rowan

Working on pencil drawings can produce a very meditative feeling for me. This is true whether I am working with graphite or colored pencils. Since the drawings build rather slowly and changes are only an eraser stroke away, I find it easy to get "in the zone". I can shut down the rather incessant analytical chatter that normally rambles on in my brain and enjoy the process. I have been appreciating these meditative mediums lately because I find they are a good balance to an otherwise busy schedule.

Graphite drawings are great for investigating and focusing on values. They reinforce the importance of working with the full value range.

Colored pencil drawings are obviously good for learning to work comfortably with color. I am using the drawing above to immerse myself in a subject that is yellow. I've drawn and painted yellow objects before, but still feel it is the most challenging hue for me.