Fine art painting

"Making Syrup" 8x10 pastel $150 unframed.

I also have an 8x10 oil that is not finished of some syrup buckets hanging on some trees.  I had to stop painting to go purchase my bottle of maple syrup before the store closed!

We spent Saturday with mixed feelings painting at Burton's Maplewood Farms. We went ahead with our plans despite the destruction of a tornado in the nearby area. (Some would say this town of Medora is not nearby, some would.)

There were French and Native American re-enactors representing the mid 1700's and all of them were making maple syrup.  As I painted near them I was amazed at how they never seemed to grow tired of talking to the crowds of visitors about the process of making syrup and who they were representing.  I took a lot of photos of them for future paintings to depict their colorful red hats against the beautiful grays and browns and violets of the winter woods. So while we did manage to enjoy our day painting outside in open among the metal buckets hanging from the trees and the friendly folks around us, we also had sad feelings for the many people who lost their homes and possessions so recently.  and . . . yes, I did take some maple syrup home in a bottle for myself.

This little bird told me - told me to paint him that is.  I like birds of all kinds.  All of the 5x7 oils of black birds are all gone now.  I thought one person would acquire all of them because they would make a nice grouping.  Instead they all flew away one by one with different purchasers!  Now they are all scattered around the city so maybe it was meant to be.  Do you have a painting or drawing of some kind of a Cardinal bird in your house right now?  Maybe you just like to watch them in the winter against a backdrop of bright snow, a gray building, a group of trees or a really gray sky. Bright red male cardinals really stand out beautifully and they know it too!  All of my cardinal bird paintings have flown away as well but now if that one outside my window would not be so flighty I could paint him. 

Thank you for reading and have a great week!

"The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing."

I have read that the purpose of the words to 'The North Wind doth blow' is to ensure that a child associates security with home while empathizing with the plight of the robin.

Yes, I empathize with all things that want to be warm.  I often tuck my nose under the fuzzy blanket in my house.  Not while painting but when its quitting time.  The whole month of November is a "give thanks for"  month.  I am thankful for a home to shelter us and for the freedom to paint, draw and create in general.  I am thankful for people who hire me to paint a mural and to buy a painting just when I need it most.

Thank you for all you have done in supporting the arts and a Happy Thanksgiving to you also!

October can be such a busy month.  Our weekends are full of fun harvest themed activities.  Its as if we are rushing toward something but I think we are distracting ourselves from the fact that the season will change again and we will be more inclined to stay indoors more.  So lets make hay while the sun shines as someone said.  I have been spending weekends painting outside in various locations and weekdays teaching my favorite medium - pastel - to a group who are very enthusiastic to learn all they can.  I just hung an exhibit of fall themed paintings at Illinois Street Food Emporium on the north central side of Indianapolis.  They are open days till 4 pm and serve very nice lunches.  I am working on some small paintings for several holiday sales.  One will be in Richmond, Indiana, one in Franklin, Indiana, one in Frankfort, Indiana and one in downtown Indianapolis.  I will put these on the website under events soon.  There are only two more art shows to wind up the year on.  I am looking forward (thats a good thing!) to no more exhibit deadlines to worry about till spring so I can concentrate on some larger paintings.

Here is a 6x8 oil of what else but colorful autumn squashes.

Thanks for reading!

From the spring 2011 Indy South Magazine:

"Homeowners are leaning toward decor items that reflect their personality.  In other words, they don't want to see the same painting they have in their kitchen in their neighbor’s dining room.  The solution: buying original works of art from local artists.  Buying art doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.  When shopping for art, select pieces that speak to you and reflect your family's lifestyle." My thoughts exactly!  I am told that original artwork is still increasing in value unlike other investments.

Work shop and Classes: I taught a Pastel Painting workshop last November in Martinsville to a full room of interested artists.  I shared all that I have learned so far. (You never stop learning!) One day was not long enough and now I am offering classes once a week for 6 weeks to be held at the Southside Art League Pump House in Greenwood. They will start May 5, 2011 and run until June 9, 2011 every Thursday from 10 am to noon. A registration form can be found from my website under “Events”. 

Did you know?  You can now order custom giclee reproductions of my artwork at Fine Art America:

Printed on canvas or on a selection of fine art papers and very affordable.  Custom framing is also available and note cards too.

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/donna-shortt.html

Before I even start a new artwork, I enter the world of problem solving.  Our lives are full of problems.  Every motion I make creates a problem and I think of ways to resolve them.  These are fun "problems" -not a bad thing.  First there is a blank canvas - a problem. So I add a background.  Our parents are our background in life.  then I place objects on the background.  I am one of those objects as well as family and friends and possessions.  Sometimes these objects are not balanced.  Just like in real life.  I can fix that on the canvas by moving them around.  Prayer fixes my life when it is unbalanced.   Then there are values - Dark vs Light, Bad vs Good.  in the process I find that you can't rush to the finish and you can't fix your life all at once.  Mistakes are made and learned from. It is all about the journey anyway.  That is the joy, pain and stuggle with "Problem Solving".

Blog thoughts #1:Recently I attended an art exhibit opening and a young father had his very little child in his arms.  The dad was strolling the rooms where the exhibit was and it occured to me how significant that will be in the future when that little child grows up and goes to an exhibit remembering how he had shared that experience with his parents. A good experience.  I know that the sculptures on their pedestals were safe as long as the little fellow was in his dad's arms.  Maybe a short diversion from art exhibits will occur when he is two but they can pick it up again when he can be taught to behave himself when he is older.  It would be nice to have a generation of young people who are not intimidated by the art exhibit experience with all that finger food and wine.  After all, they are the future collectors!

Blog thoughts #2: I invite you to save any of the artwork images on this site to your smart phone, iPhone, or iPod touch.  You may set it as wallpaper or save it to your photos to view later as you wish. Feel free to share an image with friends or family by inserting into an email with a link to my website. Like they told us in Kindergarten - "Be nice and share".

Blog thoughts #3: Awards received this year: Merit award for pastel in Martinsville, Indiana; Best of Show for an oil in Greenwood, Indiana; First place for a pastel in Greenfield, Indiana; Two honorable mentions for pastels at the Indiana State Fair; Purchase award for a pastel in Muncie, Indiana; Best of Pastel in Madison, Indiana; Merit award for an oil in Cincinatti, Ohio; Merit award for a pastel in Chicago; First place for a pastel in Rising Sun, Indiana.

I have a lot of ideas to blog about but it occurred to me that the Holidays are coming! Now is a good time to order that one-of-a-kind gift for that one-of-a-kind person.  Translation-"hard to buy for person".  All you have to do is email me a good quality photo of their home taken from the front and I will paint the house on a  6x6 inch ceramic tile with a natural wood frame.  They are for decoration only to display on a table easel or the wall.  Only $75.00 plus shipping. If you are interested "contact the artist" or email me directly - dshortt@comcast.net - and we will go from there. I will also send you other examples.  These have always been a big hit for other occasions such as house warming.  If you are a real estate agent this would be a nice closing gift.

Hope you have a enjoyable fall season, Donna