Daddy's Christmas Angel

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

A Week of Painting at Springmaid Watermedia Workshops

Being able to paint to your heart's content for an entire week is an artist's dream. It certainly is mine.

I just returned from fulfilling that dream at the Springmaid Watermedia Workshops in Myrtle Beach SC. Out of eight available workshops, I chose the one taught by Carrie Brown. I was not disappointed. Although I've painted for years, taught everyone from kindergarten to adult ages, have my own workshops I instruct, I have learned that you can always learn something new. From Carrie, I learned a lot.

It has always bothered me when my expensive - mostly Golden brand - acrylics dry up on my palette and I have to throw away the beautiful but dried-up paint. Sometimes I have managed to peel off the bits and pieces of color to save. Once I even created a bouquet of colorful paint remnants that became a small piece of sculpture for my studio. I've used lots of items for my palette, from actual palettes made for that purpose to plastic covers and plates. I've also tried Reynolds freezer paper but didn't especially like it.

"Sea of Red" ©Mary Montague Sikes
With Carrie's instruction on taping the freezer paper to a backing--I chose lightweight foam core--I've found a palette I love. It is also a palette that is useful for saving and re-purposing my leftover acrylic paints. Once you've used this palette enough, you have an acrylic skin that can be peeled away and later adhered to a piece of canvas as part of a new painting. I love this process as a method to save paint and to also be creative at the same time. Another advantage to this process is that the palette is then reusable.

Here's an example of a skin painting. I probably will add more paint to the empty white canvas or perhaps I will leave it as it is now. I haven't decided. The paint skin is beautiful, and it gives an artist so many exciting possibilities.

What a fun week. We painted in a classroom with a wall of windows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. What could be more perfect?

"Springmaid Dock" ©Mary Montague Sikes


Saturday, November 14, 2015

Showing Art in a Different Place

Autumn is a busy time for artists. New shows open. The Metropolitan Richmond Artists Association, of which I am a member, has its annual judged exhibition. Prince George Art & Frame has its Holiday Open House. There are lots of workshops and many fundraising events. And there are new opportunities. One of those opportunities for me is showing some of my paintings in the Conference Room of the West Point Business Center, owned by Jeff Bateman, president of Integrity Food Group.

We hung a selection of floral paintings there last week, and I am pleased with the resulting show. I hope it brightens the space. Here are some photos from it.
©Mary Montague Sikes
©Mary Montague Sikes
©Mary Montague Sikes





Monday, November 9, 2015

"Ithaca" Is a Movie That Features Petersburg

Meg Ryan is one of my favorite actresses. Because of her part in "Sleepless in Seattle", I modeled the heroine of my novel, Daddy's Christmas Angel, after her. Now I am excited to know that "Ithaca", the movie she directed and plays the lead in, will soon be released.

Filmed in Petersburg during the summer of 2014, places like the Globe Department Store and Brickhouse Run Restaurant, as well as Sycamore Street are recognizable in the film, according to reports. After being connected to Petersburg for many years through Petersburg Regional Arts Center, and now The Ward Center for Contemporary Art, it will be exciting to see our street and a restaurant that we really like as part of the movie.

"Courthouse in Old Towne Petersburg" ©Mary Montague Sikes
An article by Shelby Mertens of the Petersburg Progress-Index describes Ryan's feelings as a mother that influenced the telling of this story that is set in the 1940s. Ryan found Petersburg to be an ideal setting for the story. The film crew praised the city for embracing them and allowing streets to be blocked off during the production.

Because of the historic ambiance of Old Towne Petersburg, the area is poised to become the setting of more movies in the future. Like other Virginia towns and cities, memories of the past still hang in the air and that is a factor to attract the motion picture companies.

***Please visit my new art blog, "The Artful Way".