Vases With Faces and Hats

 

So this is how I've spent my summer so far!  No painting and totally consumed by my hand built ceramic class.  The workshop ended with still two pieces, tiles, yet to be fired.  Before the workshop began I planned out six pieces in color then stressed out trying to complete all of them.  The little textured vase was unplanned using up leftover scraps. Take away #1, don't give yourself unreasonable goals.   Once you have everything built, which is no small task, then you have to figure out the underglazes or glazes which ever you plan to use.  Yes there is a difference, I won't bore you with the details.  I could write a book on using underglazes.  Take away #2, the colors usually never turn out the way you planned.  I learned a ton in this eightweek workshop at the Rumriver Art Center, so eight classes in all but just as many open studio days.  While I was working on my seven pieces the other students were slamming out pots right and left and some really cool stuff.  It was overwhelming at first and it didn't help with my anxiety.  Take away #3, which I try to teach my drawing students, DON'T COMPARE, good advice for myself.  I'm super happy with my little pieces, maybe especially because they aren't perfect and highly recommend Rumriver Art Center and all their many wonderful art workshops and classes. 

https://rumriverart.com

I'll be teaching another virtual drawing class through Rumriver Art Center starting the end of September, more on that later.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Summer Buffet

Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 12x16 inchesThis piece was painted awhile back for a show with a food theme.  I thought showing fair food was a clever idea, plus I painted fun fair images on two sides of the canvas such as pronto pups and cheese curds.  It didn't go over real big for the show, most of the paintings were classical food images.  Recently I pulled the painting out to rework a few areas adding admission tickets to the third side of the canvas.  I'm not sure if I posted this piece before but it works better now and will be for sale in a new show coming up in September at the Rumriver Art Center's Johansen Gallery, Anoka MN.
Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Curious Koi

 

NFS, 6x8 inches, Acrylic on a linen panel

I painted this awhile back from another pixabay.com photo reference.  Something bothered me about the painting so it was never posted.  I never planned to work on it again but one day the problem suddenly emerged, a bothersome tail.  So tail fixed and it's ready to find a home.

This has been a summer exploring hand built ceramic pottery.  Feels so good to be challenging myself in a new creative way.  That said it's also been frustrating, working with clay is a lot harder than it looks and is taking me ages to finish projects.  So I'm taking a break from painting for the moment enjoying some 3D creations.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Grandma Time

 

My niece who is now a grandmother for the first time asked me to do a grandson painting for her.  She sent a couple of photos to choose from, this reference I knew in my heart was the best but the prospect overwhelmed me.  I had to pump up my confidence and really I thought what's the worst that could happen, a ruined  panel and a bruised ego.  Been there, done that.  Making some changes from the photo reference, I pumped up the color a bit and removed some clutter from the bottom with a few other minor changes.  The photo reference was beautiful telling such a sweet story.  Sometimes you have to put your big girl pants on and move forward, I'm glad I did.

Congrats to my niece, what a blessing to hold your new little one and show him the world.

Deborah A. Kirkeeide ©

I See You

 

Click Her For More Info: $250, 9x12 inches, acrylic on watercolor paper

I have been working on and off on this painting for over a year and truth be told, working more off than on.  Something about it bothered me so it sat (the off time) until slowly, very slowly the realization was the background trees weren't working.  What to do?  Well it should have been obvious but no, so it sat for awhile longer.  I finally made the addition of more colorful leaves covering the offending trees.  You can see the first version below.  So new additions deserved a new title and Hidden Purpose became I See You.  Now the question is:  Who is seeing who?

Deborah A. Kirkeeide ©

A Piece Of Beach

 

Click Here For More Info:  $120, 6x6 inches, acrylic on 1/8" Ampersand Gessobord

I experimented painting this four times (see previous post) changing colors, adding a horizon line in some and using different background tones.  This ended up being my favorite.  The photo reference was cropped from a much larger photo from pixabay.com with a huge beach scene including two cruise ships in the background.  

I use professional artist acrylic paints in all my acrylic paintings for permanence and longevity.  Ampersand Gessobord has a professional quality acid-free acrylic ground on a wood museum series panel.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©

Four Square Beach Scene Exercise

 

A little experiment and exercise with color and composition.  I tried using different toned backgrounds, adding a horizon line and playing with different subject colors.  The top left was my beginning point then ended up liking it best.  It seems whenever I repeat painting the same subject, the first one is always best.  The idea is to loosen up but instead the opposite happens to me .  Funny how that works.

Deborah Ann Kirkeeide ©