Two Additional Benefits from the A to Z Blog Challenge - A Painting A Day

"This Cluttered Universe" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

Today, I am highlighting two of the unexpected benefits of participating in this year's A to Z Blog Challenge, my version - A Painting A Day.

First, I was thrilled to be selected by Alex Cavanaugh for his Special Challenge Participant Feature on the A to Z Blog. Please check it out. I am delighted to have this honor!

Second, each day during the Challenge, as I created one of my animal paintings, I had some paints left over on my palette. Not to let expensive acrylics go to waste, I decided to use the leftovers on a canvas that I sketched out in charcoal several years ago. That canvas has rested against my studio wall, untouched ever since.

"This Cluttered Universe" is 30" x 42" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas. All the paint is what was left from 20 A Painting A Day creations. (Five of my paintings were done in Boone, North Carolina; one painting was created with pastels.) The only additional paint is the blue background which was done with Titanium White acrylic mixed with Pthalo Turquoise and/or Ultramarine Blue.

It was a wonderful surprise to now have another new painting hanging on the studio wall and 24 little animal paintings leaning against everything in sight. (One painting--"Casey Cat"--is hanging on my daughter's wall. "Daffodils and Dragonfly" is a pastel that is in the studio on paper and unable to lean.)

I'm not sure if this painting is finished or not. What do you think? 

Thank you, Alex and everyone who worked hard to make the A to Z Blog Challenge a big success. Cheers and happy painting and writing trails to you!

Tides Inn in Virginia - A Special Destination

Dining on the patio at Tides Inn - ©Mary Montague Sikes

This weekend we spent two days at the Art Market in Tides Inn at Irvington, Virginia. This is a beautiful setting that has become a summer destination for many, especially people who live in the metropolitan Washington DC and the Baltimore areas.

After several years with economy-related decline in guests, it was delightful to see renewed vitality and excitement at the resort that was built on an historic farm site in 1946. Located on Carters Creek in sight of the Rappahannock River, the inn quickly became an important destination not only for vacationers but also for area residents wanting a memorable dining experience on special occasions.

For years, going to Tides Inn for Memorial Day weekend has signaled the beginning of summer. However, on Saturday, the cold, windy weather felt more like late fall. I felt sorry for those heading out with tennis racquets to the courts.

For lunch on Saturday, we drove over to the famous Golden Eagle Golf Course. The dining room there features pulley-driven fans that were bought from a New Orleans restaurant and, according to our waitress, are much older than the golf course building where the restaurant facility is located.

Sunday, the weather was beautiful--perfect for all sorts of outdoor activities at the resort. As we sat on a deck overlooking the chilly water, we watched two swimmers cross the long distance to the opposite shore and back. Others were out enjoying their various types of boats. It was a lovely beginning for summer.

Sailing at Tides Inn ©Mary Montague Sikes

For the Art Marketplace, I made a few archival cards of the animals I created for the A to Z Challenge A Painting a Day. Following the show, I left a variety of those cards in the gift shop at Tides Inn.

After many years of ownership by the Stephens family, Tides Inn is now a "preferred boutique" in the Enchantment Group. They also own and operate the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona--one of my favorite places in all the world.

Too Much of Anything is Too Much in Art or in Writing - Or Is It?

During the month of April, in midst of the A to Z Challenge, I took a week-long workshop with the talented artist Pat Dews. After hearing many accolades in praise of her paintings and her teaching, I longed to experience a workshop with her.

Pat Dews giving a demo talk in Boone NC

At the beginning of her first demonstration, Pat talked about the importance of having quiet areas within a painting. I jotted down her words, "Too much of anything is too much." Sounds simple but it is so true of anything we do, especially in creative work that includes writing as well as art.

Pat Dews' workshop was full of energy and imagination. Throughout each day of painting, she showed us many different techniques she uses to give texture in her experimental water media works. All the students in her class were experienced artists. For five days, I marveled at the talent I saw all around me. I also was impressed by the strength of the design elements in everyone's work.

Creating abstract from realism and realism from abstract was a theme I observed in many of the paintings. I love working with the abstract and with color and texture in experimental art. Pat's paint palette is much different from mine, but I still love the more muted colors she uses.

One of Pat Dews' textured demo paintings in progress

Each day, after class, I went back to my project of creating a Painting a Day for the A to Z Challenge. It was amazingly difficult for me to "shift gears" to paint with acrylics on my little stretched canvas (11" x 14" or smaller) primed with bright orange after my day working experimentally with inks, dyes and other painting media on full sheets of watercolor paper (30" x 22").

Our trip to Boone NC where the Pat Dews' workshop was held is a six-hour drive from here. While in Boone, we like to stay at the Highlands on Sugar Mountain which is a 45-minute drive from Cheap Joe's Art Stuff (workshop location). With all the travel, the first couple of days back home are recovery time. I started to wonder, did I have "too much" art all at once.

It was a lot of art, but, today, after two weeks, I'm going to unpack my experimental painting starts from the workshop and see where I might go from there in developing them. I'm also heading back into my studio to paint another cat for my A to Z Challenge group of 26 paintings. (The original cat painting went to my daughter.) I have a 20" x 20" gallery stretched canvas primed with bright orange paint, and a photo ready for reference. Since my "D" painting is of a daffodil and a dragonfly and is my only pastel on paper in the series, I'm also considering creating a new painting in acrylic on canvas for that letter.

Maybe "too much" was just not enough! I really loved doing a Painting a Day, no matter what the circumstance...

Reflecting on the A to Z Challenge - A Painting a Day

This year's A to Z Challenge was invigorating, exhausting, exhilarating, trying, fun, frustrating, and a little expensive. All of that's because I chose to make the Challenge the creation of a Painting a Day. I planned it all out ahead of time--most of it anyway. So I was armed with photographs to work from to paint the animals I chose for each letter.

The letter "C" was especially emotional because I painted our daughter Amy's beloved cat, Casey, that had just crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. While creating this painting I felt an immediate connection with her kitty. From the moment I painted the eyes, they followed me everywhere in my studio.

In the midst of April, I realized I wouldn't have enough small/medium-size canvases for the entire month. That meant placing an order for more of the 11" x 14" gallery wrap canvases from Utrecht Art Supplies. At the end of the month, I decided that the 6" x 6" canvas I had left for the X-Ray Tetra was too small, so I purchased a larger canvas and am glad I did.

The last full week of the Challenge proved more trying than I expected because I was in Boone, North Carolina taking a week-long mixed media workshop. When I first started the Challenge, I thought it might work out for me to use something created in class each day for my post. I realized immediately that would never work because I was so committed to my animal theme. That meant I had to create a painting every day that week after the class ended. When the class ran well beyond 4 p.m., I reached panic mode to complete a painting, photograph it, then re-size it for the Internet before the facility closed at 5:45 p.m. That meant some really rushed paintings--more of a challenge than I needed.

Although I wanted to make some of the paintings before I left on the workshop trip, I found that was an impossible task. Along the way I had to marvel at the wonders of digital photography. Probably 10 years ago, I couldn't have done this daily project because I was still dealing with film and waiting to get it developed. It's almost magic now!

I am delighted to have an array of new paintings that might create a lively and interesting art show, as some of you have suggested. I also am interested in the idea that they could be used for a book project, as others of you suggested.

Many of you followed my blog each day to see what the new art creation would be. Thank you. I gained new followers and am delighted to have crossed over the 200 follower threshold. Thank you for that.

In all, this was a good Challenge. I learned, grew, and was inspired. I hope everyone enjoyed this Challenge as much as I did. Thank you, All, for making it possible!

Z is for Zebra - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"Zebra, Stripes and All" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

This is the last day of the A to Z Challenge, and I feel a little sad. It's been fun and actually stimulating to finally attempt a Painting a Day.

Many thanks to A to Z Hosts: founder Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out, Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Tina Downey at Life is Good, DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude 2.0, Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie, Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse, Matthew MacNish at The QQQE, Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs, Livia Peterson at Leave it to Livia, L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick, and Nicole at The Madlab Post. Having 1656 participants must have been a challenge all by itself!

Here is my last painting of the series. "Z" is for Zebra.

I now have a studio lined with new paintings, except for "C" is for Casey Cat which I gave to our daughter, Amy. Now, I'll have the challenge of painting another "C". I have an interesting bonus from this project. For several years, a fairly large painting sketched out on canvas has rested against a wall in the studio. It's been only a sketch. Until now. Because I hate to waste any of my very expensive paints, I started using the leftovers from the A to Z Challenge on that canvas. I now have a new painting well under way. Perhaps I'll share it here when it's finished!

Today's painting, "Zebra, Stripes and All" is 14" x 11" acrylic on stretched, deep gallery-wrapped canvas.

Goodbye to the Challenge.

Y is for Yellowstone Buffalo - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"Yellowstone Buffalo" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

Today's painting is "Y" is for Yellowstone Buffalo. Several years ago, we spent almost two weeks exploring Yellowstone National Park. Wild buffalo roamed everywhere. They often stopped traffic through the park as they lumbered across the roads--sometimes pausing for a while there. Although there were warnings to be cautious because of the danger of being gored by these animals, people still jumped from their cars to take photos. I took the reference photo for this painting through the car window of a buffalo lying by the side of the road.

There are approximately 4200 wild buffalo in Yellowstone National Park. Compare that to the tens of millions that once roamed free across the plains of our country. Imagine people shooting these animals from trains long ago and decimating the buffalo population. Stampeding buffalo herds were a big danger to wagon trains in the mid-1800s.

"Yellowstone Buffalo" is 8" x 10" acrylic on stretched canvas. It is the next to last art work in my Painting a Day for the A to Z Challenge.

X is for X-Ray Tetra - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

The A to Z Challenge is nearing the end. I've been creating a new animal painting each day. This week has been a special challenge for me because every day I've also been taking an amazing art workshop that was especially intense. At the end of each workshop day, I've painted a new artwork and needed to photograph it and post my blog prior to leaving the art facility before 6 p.m. For that reason, I've kept all the blog posts short. I also have been unable to go visit other bloggers in the Challenge. I'll try to make up for that when I return home.

"X-Ray Tetra" - acrylic painting copyright Mary Montague Sikes

"X" is for X-Ray Tetra, an exotic transparent fish native to the Amazon River in South America. This colorful fish is popular for home aquariums.

"X-Ray Tetra" is 10" x 8" acrylic on stretched canvas. This is the 24th painting in the Painting a Day series for the A to Z Challenge.

W is for Wallaby - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"Wallaby" acrylic painting - Mary Montague Sikes

For "W" I've chosen another animal, the Wallaby, a marsupial that inhabits Australia and Tasmania. My daughter, Amy, provided me with a photograph that she took in Tasmania that I used as my resource image. Since these animals actually live among rocks, I took some liberties with the terrain.

This painting is 11" x 14" acrylic on stretched canvas. We are nearing the end of A Painting a Day for the A to Z Challenge.

V is for Virginia Deer - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"Virginia Deer" - acrylic painting  Mary Montague Sikes

Today "V" is for Virginia Deer and the many we have seen in our woods over the years. The deer were there long before we came, and I enjoy watching them. They are a nuisance when they eat the vegetables and flowers from the garden. Still, I am glad they are there.

Today's painting is 14" x 11" acrylic on stretched canvas.

U is for Unicorn - A Painting a Day

"Unicorn" acrylic painting Mary Montague Sikes

A to Z Challenge

For today, "U" is for Unicorn in A Painting a Day for the A to Z Challenge. Unicorn isn't a real animal, I've been told. Still, it's a fascinating one, and one that fills the imagination.

I created this art using a photo I took in Colorado for my resource. This is 14" x 11" acrylic on stretched canvas.

Hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the Challenge.

R is for Raccoon - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"On the Prowl" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

Here we are at the end of the third week of the A to Z Challenge. For the letter "R", I've chosen raccoon.

Years ago, raccoon families would climb up our steps and peer through the glass of our living room sliding door. One time, I found three baby raccoons clawing at the door trying to get in. The mother was there as well. When I appeared, they all ran away.

I thought the family was cute until I realized the danger of rabies, and then I heard of a young boy being chased by one. Like anything in nature, we need to be respectful and cautious as well.

While doing this Painting a Day Challenge, I have discovered maybe it's a good thing not to keep going back into the work to make changes. Last night, we had a lot of storms come through, so I left my painting until this morning to post. I planned to work on it some more today. However, when I arrived in my studio, I decided not to make any changes. The Challenge is leading me to work faster.

Today's painting is 11" x 14" acrylic on stretched canvas.

O is for Osprey - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"Osprey Landing" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

I am continuing with my Painting a Day theme for the A to Z Challenge. Today is "O" for Osprey.

For as long as I can remember, up until our new modern bridges opened on both sides of our peninsula town, we had draw bridges with a bridge tender house situated on each bridge. Every year a family of osprey nested atop the Mattaponi River Bridge. Today, the new bridge that spans the river has no metal framework for nesting, so I wonder where the ospreys are raising their young. Perhaps on another bridge farther up the river...

Today's painting is 11" x 14" acrylic on stretched canvas. Where have the birds of prey gone?

L Is For Lion - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"Lion King" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

"L" is for lion. My original plan was to create a painting of a lion sculpture at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, using a photo I took there. As I started the project, I realized the image would not fit in with the rest of the series I've started for A to Z Challenge.

Today's painting is 14" x 11" acrylic on stretched canvas. For me, "Lion King" is the most intimidating of the creatures so far.

I am late posting it because yesterday I went to Petersburg to install a small art show in the Oak Antique Mall. For those interested in history, the store is located in the Old Town area where the Lincoln movie was filmed last summer. It's three blocks from the Petersburg Regional Art Center where I have two gallery spaces to display some of my artwork.

Monday's post in the A to Z Challenge will be the halfway point. Congratulations to everyone involved! Thanks to those who came up with the idea and followed through on it.

K is for Koala - A Painting a Day

"Koala Sleeping" - Acrylic Painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

A to Z Challenge

Here we are on the 11th day of the A to Z Challenge. I've chosen a koala for today's animal and am
using for reference a photograph that our daughter Amy took in Tasmania last November. I've never actually seen a koala and have been cautioned not to use the word bear with it because it is not a bear.

Someone asked how long it takes to paint one of these creations. I'm not sure because I prime several canvases with color a couple of days ahead of making a painting. For today's painting, I primed the canvas on Tuesday. Thursday morning I sketched in a basic drawing with my pencil on the canvas. That took just a few minutes. Thursday afternoon, I spent an hour working on the painting, then another hour that night. I am aiming to put each new painting and the post on schedule for midnight PDT. Since I live in Virginia, I have no idea why I'm on Pacific time with my blog, but I am.

Today's painting is acrylic on 11" x 14" gallery wrapped 1 and 1/2" deep canvas. I'm loving creating the paintings but am having a hard time going to the blogs of other Challenge participants. I hope to visit more this weekend.

Thanks to everyone who is following this project. It helps make it worthwhile!

Happy A to Z Challenge!

A Tribute to Casey Cat - A Painting a Day

A to Z Challenge

"In the Box" - acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

 

 

    

This is the third day of the A to Z Blog Challenge and my personal "A Painting a Day Challenge". My painting today is in tribute to Casey Cat, our daughter Amy's special kitty for almost 20 years. Casey crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in February. My painting cannot possibly do justice to this beautiful feline, so it is not of her but for her.

This is a 20" x 20" acrylic painting on stretched canvas. I probably will not do another canvas painting this large for the challenge because larger paintings take more time. This is nearly four times the size of the Bunny and Gator paintings which were each 11" x 14". I'll probably do some paintings soon using pastels on paper.

Thank all of you who are visiting my blog. I appreciate the founders of the Blog Challenge and am enjoying the opportunity to participate.

--Mary Montague Sikes