"Two Fish"

"Two Fish”
Colored pencil on Black Stonehenge
Beth S. Macre © 2007

SOLD
"Two Fish" is my most recent colored pencil painting. It is prismacolor on 14" x 6" black stonehenge. This is a smaller piece than what I have done recently, but it was a fun to do. I plan to do more small pieces and to create a several pieces that are similar in technique. I recently sold a clay tile piece titled "One Fish" and just recently completely more tiles with the same theme. This one was fun to do on the black paper. I like the black paper that creates the dark contrasts. I also used the black glaze on the clay pieces to create the contrast in the cracks and crevices. This was fun to do and I want to create pieces that are fun to look at. I hope you enjoy looking.

Starry Starry Night

One of my favorite artists is Vincent Van Gogh. I love Impressionism and his painting titled 'Starry Night' has always intrigued me. I love to paint using the Impressionists techniques as well. I am planning to do some impressionist style paintings soon. But most recently, while doing some handbuilt pieces of clay, I created a vase and used the subject as the theme for this vase. Here are 2 photos of the finished piece. I may be putting it up for auction on ebay soon.

"One Fish"

SOLD

I am an art teacher, so with that job comes the opportunity to use a wide variety of materials to give my students experience with two and three dimensional media. Each year in the spring I bring out the clay. It is a nice change for my students who may be getting a little tired of drawing and painting all year. Each year I make examples for them to demonstrate and get ideas from. Last year I came across an article in an Art Journal that gave me the idea to create a tile of clay that highlights the textures of the design. I really enjoyed this process and have made several tiles since then, using this technique.

~First I rolled a slab and cut the shape that I want. Trying to avoid a stagnant square or rectangular, I cut it with some curves.

~Then I cut out shapes out of another thinner slab to attach on top of the original slab. I find the design is more interesting if it incorporates 3d forms with the design.

~After drying and firing the piece, I then cover the bisqueware piece with black glaze. After drying it, I wipe away the black glaze on the raised surfaces. The black glaze settles into the grooves and the creases between the raised forms. Then I add the rest of colors. After completing the color, I cover the entire piece with clear glaze. I like the look of the shiney surfaces, so the whole pieces comes out shiney after another round of firing in the kiln.

~This piece was recently sold on Ebay, but I have made several more pieces this year. I plan to keep using this technique and make some others. I will post the most recent ones as soon as I get some good photos of them.

"Village by the Sea"

“Village by the Sea”
Colored pencil on Black Stonehenge
Beth S. Macre © 2007

Collection of Becky Ramey

This is my latest colored pencil painting to complete. This is a commissioned piece by a coworker and friend. It is a panoramic view of the Villefranche. My coworker/friend is a French teacher and visits France usually once a year. She took some photos of this coastal village while there in 2006. I tried to capture the charming look of the tourist village. This one is done with Prismacolors on black Stonehenge paper. I hope to do some smaller pieces wih more closeup views of these little restaurants and shops along the waterfront.

Starting a new path...

I have decided that I'm going to take my art to the next level. I've been teaching my students about art now for over 20 years and I need to take my art more seriously. Actually I have taken my art seriously for several years, but I've been limited on what I could achieve with it because of my location. But with all of this new technology, I've decided its time for me to just jump in and learn how to use it. I'm going to document my journey through this journal.

My latest accomplishments have been to make my first sale online and I've just recently completed a commission. I hope to make more sales online in the near future. As soon as school begins to wind down for the year, I will have more time for my art.

In the meantime, check back in the near future to see what I'm working on.