My Work Now at This Wonderful Gallery Space in Sandpoint

If you're in north Idaho in the coming weeks, I hope you'll drop in to see my work at the new Gallery on the Bridge, located at the Cedar Street Bridge in downtown Sandpoint.

This wonderful space with lovely natural light is perfect for an art gallery, the brainchild of gallery director Shery Meekings and others.

Co-director Steve Padgitt recently commented, "Things are going very well in our development of The Gallery. We are getting rave reviews: comments like 'This is the best gallery Sandpoint has ever had'. And, we are just getting rolling!"

Art lovers turned out for the Gallery's "soft" Opening at Sandpoint's ArtWalk 1 last week. And in the photo above right you can see some of my pieces on display, including figurative works and regional landscapes. I hope you'll drop by when you're in the area to see more!

June Painting Challenge: Sheet, Favorite Blanket, Scarf or Shawl

This month's challenge was chosen by Suzanne Berry. I actually had started a much different painting last week for this idea but changed my mind about it at the last minute and set this one up instead.

The little quilt is something I made years ago. I started it when I was pregnant with my first child, sewing together the pieces by hand on occasional car trips. I think I finally finished it during pregnancy number three and hung it over the edge of the baby crib. I dug it out of storage recently in anticipation of our first grandchild being born.
The vintage dolly is one I had as a kid long ago. After receiving the expensive toy, I promptly gave her a haircut, effectively ruining any collector value. She was loved, though, and I made little outfits for her by hand as a child from scrap material.

If you're wondering who Chloë is, she is my brand new granddaughter. Our family is very blessed and we give thanks for a safe delivery.
"Waiting for Chloë"
8x10" Oil on hardboard
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Our monthly painting group membership is now a cozy array of five. Here are the varied and imaginative pieces which the other four created in response to our June Challenge.



(above left) "Pillowcase" 18x18" Oil on canvas ©2010 Suzanne Berry
(above right) "Saturday Chores" 6x6" Oil on panel ©2010 Robin Cheers


(above left) "Le Drape" 9x12" Oil on panel ©2010 Vicki Ross(above right) "Lily of the Valley with Lace Table Scarf " 12x12" Oil on panel ©2010 Jeanne Illenye

"Smoke and Sparks" Abstract

Original 8x10" painting on canvas, painted in metallic and iridescent and textured colors, framed in contemporary frame.
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

NOW SOLD

These abstracts might seem like a departure from what you usually see from me, but on my walls are some early paintings of mine that are non-representational.

"Flaming Vapors" Abstract Daily Painting

Original oil on linen, 8x10"
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

When I'm working on detailed realism (such as the portrait I'm currently painting), I frequently work in layers. These abstracts are a fun diversion while I'm waiting for a layer to dry.

Contact me for availability or gallery information.

"Fiery Flight" Abstract

Large sized original oil on hardboard,

unframed 18"x24".
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

This one is a bit difficult for me to explain; it grew out of an idea but turned into something completely different than what I'd originally envisioned.

I made this challenge for myself and it was amazing to me how difficult it was to create an interesting painting composition from an abstract thought.

My article on Computer Use in Art Calendar

You can finally see one of the projects I've been working on during my lull in daily painting. My article "How to Manage Your Time on the Computer" appears on pages 18 and 19 of the July/August issue of Art Calendar, now available.

If you're like most folks, you know it's easy to lose track of time while using the computer for business chores, as well as updating blogs, facebook, etc. In the article I offer strategies to stay on track with various creative projects, chores, and family responsibilites.

I would enjoy hearing from you if you're a subscriber and like this piece.

Not all of the magazine's articles are available for free at their website, but there are some. One of the latest is a list of "Summer Reading Recommendations" from Art Calendar's editors and writers. For the list, I suggested a book I recently enjoyed very much and twelve additional titles were named by the other writers.

What book have you enjoyed lately?

Complement Painting

A couple of weeks ago my Challenge Group unveiled our May paintings. You may recall that the challenge was to paint only with the complements of yellow and purple. I learned a lot and had fun too.

It was such an interesting exercise that I really wanted to try it again using other complements with the simple figure study I did for "Dancer at the Bar". I am again amazed how much can be done with only two pigments (in this case, cadmium scarlet and ultramarine blue) plus white.

"Orange and Blue Study"
Oil on hardboard 7"x5"
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

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More Charcoal Sketches: Woman in Dress

Short poses and longer studies:
Charcoal and chalk on 18x12" paper

©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

These and others available with Paypal at my DailyPainters gallery page.

Charcoal Life Drawings: Three Back Views

Charcoal and chalk figure studies on 18x12" grey paper
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

These and others available with Paypal at my DailyPainters gallery page.

Figure Studies in Charcoal and Chalk on Large Paper

These two sketches were drawn on large sheets of Fabriano paper.

I thought the one on the brown paper turned out especially nice. That is, until I sprayed it with fixative.

Now it has a mottled look from the spray. The drawing on the grey paper is fine, and I'm not sure why the spray shows up that way on the brown paper. Although some might think the effect of the spray is sort of interesting, I don't think I'll order any more of that brown Fabriano.

Charcoal Figure and Hand Studies

I'm finally getting a little time (and sunshine) to photograph and document recent drawings.

Occasionally, this tall fellow poses for our local sketch group. It is quite a contrast drawing him after studying our petite female model for so long.

These studies and others are available at my DailyPainters Gallery.

May Challenge: Complements Purple and Yellow

As you may recall, each of us in my Challenge Group takes a turn choosing what we'll paint. This month, member Robin Cheers came up an interesting idea for us: "Paint your subject of choice only with purples/yellows - complements. You can add white lets say, but not black. Only mix the complements to make grays or use them in full color."

So... a painting using only purple and yellow, along with white. This was a challenge I had never attempted before: welcome but a little scary. Turns out, I really enjoyed seeing how much I could push the very limited palette. Plus, I learned a lot.

Since I didn't have any tube purples on hand, I mixed up a batch from Ultramarine Blue and Thio Violet (a magenta pigment). For yellow I considered using a transparent Hansa Yellow but decided on the more brilliant, opaque, and warmer Cadmium Yellow Medium.

I knew I could get a nice brown with my mixed purple and the yellow I chose, and some decent tans using white and little more yellow. Lavender/violet hues were a given with purple and white, but I sure missed using reds and greens.

That said, I was actually quite surprised by how much variety I achieved with only purple, yellow and white. Color comparisons had to suffice for the perceived range since the actual extent of available colors was so limited.

Layering colors worked better than mixing for some of the hues in my painting. I was able to get some fairly intense darks with layers of purple with a little yellow in the mix. And layering a lavender tone over light yellow gave me a pink of sorts. Not a luscious glowing scarlet by any means, but a semblance of pinker flesh tones,more than using just the yellow and purple mixed browns.

(left) "Dancer at the Bar"
7"x5" Oil on hardboard
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

NOW SOLD

I think all the Group's paintings are very interesting and I enjoyed going to each one's blog to read about how the artist approached this month's Challenge. I hope you will too!

(left) "Sophia" 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas ©2010 Suzanne Berry
(French Ultramarine Blue/Alizarin Crimson mix, Cadmium Yellow Medium, and Titanium White)

(above right) "Study in Complements" 8x10" Oil on Panel ©2010 Robin Cheers
(Ultramarine Blue/Quinacridone Red mix, Hansa Yellow and White)

(left)
"Sliced Plum on Wood Block"
5x5”
Oil on Panel
©2010 Jeanne Illenye
(Cadmium Red / French Ultramarine Blue mix,
Cadmium Yellow and White)

(left)
“PY Study"
9x12”
Oil on Panel
©2010 Vicki Ross
(Cobalt Violet, Cadmium Lemon,
and Titanium White)