A few squeezed in...

Now that school is out for the year, I can concentrate on my art. I'm getting ready for my trip to France, but I did manage to finished a few ACEOs this week. As soon as I get back from my trip I will be listing these on Ebay or Etsy. I've just recently opened a store on Etsy. I'm still learning what all Etsy has and can do, but I like what I've seen so far, although I haven't sold anything on it yet. I like the fact that everything on Etsy is handmade. It is a site that supports artists and helps them to make a living from their art...or at least to suplement their incomes. So I'm going to give it some time to see how it goes. I will try to have more information about it after my trip.

"Single Cherry"

Beth S. Macre © 2008

3 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Colored pencil on watercolor paper

This little cherry is just a study of the cherry that went into the Bowl of Cherries. That piece was done on pastelbord and this one is on watercolor paper. I believe that I enjoy the pastelbord much better than the watercolor paper.

"Home Sweet Home Plate" Sold

3 1/2" x 2 1/2"

Beth S. Macre © 2008

Colored Pencil on Watercolor paper

This is another ACEO drawing in the baseball series. I've done several baseballs over the past couple of years. The original baseball drawing included 9 baseballs, called "The Baseball Team". Since I started the ACEOs series of baseballs, I've created single baseballs in various places on the field. You can find one here, here, and here.

I'm Going to France!

  

One Week!
I'm going to France! I get to help chaperone a group of students on their trip to France. I am so excited!
I only have two more days to work for this school year and I have 6 days until I leave for France! The end of school is always great! We all need a break from our routine of lesson plans, duty, school activities, and the students and teachers need a break from each other. But this year the excitement of packing for my trip makes this end of school year very different. Usually, I'm making lists of things to do around the house for the summer, but I haven't even started that list. I've been getting together luggage, wardrobe, passport, and money for this trip. So I don't have any new art right now, but hopefully, when I return from 'the trip' I will have lots of ideas and reference photos to work from. Here is a photo of the Eiffel tower (obviously) in 2004 when my daughter went to France. 

Links to My Trip to France:
Musee De'larmee
First Full Day in Paris 
Notre Dame Cathedral and The Louvre
The Eiffel Tower
The Arc de Triomphe

BHS Class of 2008

Congratulations Jason!

So this is how I spent my evening last night. My son graduated from high school. The weather was almost perfect. Not too windy nor too cool. It was a little warm, but not unbearable. I can't believe that he is already passing this milestone! The last 18 years really flew by.

BHS Class of 2008

Bowl of Cherries...

“Can I Join the Party?”
Colored pencil on Pastelbord

5" x 7"
Beth S. Macre © 2008

Sold

My latest effort with neocolors and pastelbord is this bowl of cherries that I've been wanting to draw for awhile. I used a white pastelbord, then blocked in the colors with the neocolor II. Then I began to build up the values and finally the highlights. When viewed up close you can see the texture that is achieved with the help of the pastelbord. I am really loving the sanded surfaces.

Final Fish Tile...For now...

This is the last fish tile for now. I fired the last load of pottery at school Friday and this came out today. It is similar to the last one, except it is long and rectangular, instead of square like the others. It is similar to the others, as far as the texture showing up with the addition of black glaze in the textured marks on the clay. The colors are very hard to get to show up accurately. I think the original has more vivid colors, but when I adjust those, the darker areas get too dark. The fish have evolved since I started them last year. So I hope you have enjoyed seeing the fish tile series. I've enjoyed creating them. Now on to some colored pencil painting...for now.

"Love is Blind"

Glazed Clay

Beth S. Macre © 2008

SOLD

Latest Tile

This is my latest tile to come out of the kiln. I tried some different shapes and colors on this one and I'm still trying to decide whether I like the combination or not. The colors aren't as bright as the last ones.
The first photo is the tile before it was fired. The second photo is after the glaze firing.

Fish Tile ~ greenware stage

Fish Tile ~ Glazedware

Beth S. Macre © 2008

I've got one more tile that will be fired Friday. That will be all of the tiles for awhile. I have started a colored pencil piece that I hope to work on this weekend and hope to post it soon after. I'm definitely counting the days until school is out! I'm preparing for my trip to France and I hope to spend lots of time at the drawing table this summer!

Hope you have enjoyed the fish tiles. I've enjoyed creating them. I like to play with my whimsical side. These little guys are lots of fun.

Down Memory Lane...

"Jason and Gramps"

Oil on Canvas

Beth S. Macre © 2008

I've been spending lots of time going through old photo albums looking for pictures of my son. Since he is a high school senior, we needed old pictures for various senior activities. I came across the photo that inspired this painting. So since I've been going down memory lane, I thought that I would share this painting and some details about it. First of all, this is an oil painting, about 18 x 24, I think. I haven't oil painted in years, but I think I would like to try it again someday. I will have to put that on my to do list.

When my children were young, we usually tried to go on a trip during the summer with my parents and sometimes my sister and her family. This trip, we went to the Alabama Gulf coast. I believe this was Gulf Shores, Alabama. We spent the day at the beach, of course, and while there I took a photo of my father "Gramps" and Jason. They were sitting on the lounge chair and looking at a camera. (But I changed the camera to a bottle of sunscreen.) Being the picture taker of the family, I took the picture because I loved the interaction between my father and his only grandson. My sister has two daughters and I have one daughter and one son, so my dad was excited to have a grandson. Because this photograph was so special to me, I decided to paint it and I gave my Dad the painting for father's day that year. (I don't remember what year it was...but it was probably around 1992 or 93.) So this painting still hangs in my parents' home. It makes me proud to see it hanging in their home.