Continuing education :: pastel workshop with Deb Quinn-Munson

Last weekend I took a workshop organized by the Foxboro Art Association which featured Deb Quinn-Munson. The focus was on underpainting options for pastels and Deb demonstrated with an oil underpainting - something I had never tried and now just LOVE to do!

My new pastel box filled with all my pastels.
Can you tell I'm a landscape painter?
Look at all the blues and greens!

Deb's workshop and this jolt of warm weather was just the shot in the arm I needed to get my creative house in order. 

Here Deb Quinn-Munson is demonstrating underpainting with oils. Gorgeous effects!

For my birthday, I decided this Heilman backpack box was just the thing I needed to organize all my pastel sticks. It came in yesterday and was filled immediately. Today I can't wait to use it!

You can tell I like my pastels all organized like this.
Here they are in the dining room just so I could look at them. 

Here is the pastel I completed during the workshop. There are particular passages I thought were successful. 

My pastel from the workshop.
My first pastel (and not my last) with an oil underpainting!

Throughout the workshop, Deb offered numerous adages about painting. My favorite, by far, was this:

Color gets all the glory. Value does all the work. My artist friends will attest that it's so true. 

Thanks for reading!
~kmw

Nearly springtime!

Spring is on its way and I'm obsessed with the change of seasons, especially as we seem to be getting a burst of warmth sooner than usual.

Kitchen windowsill still life with daffodils

Winter drags me down and with spring I feel a new lift.

oil painting study of Sunflowers
(c)2012 Kim Morin Weineck 4x4"
Will revisit this one! 

In celebration of spring's imminent arrival next week, I've been setting up small still lifes all over my house.

Still life of kitchen veggies with my happy striped paper straws

Each one looks to me like a wee painting.

Delft and daffodils

 We'll see if I can get time to paint any of them, although probably not. I am too fussy about all the stuff in the background.

Pippa at the sandbox

The girls have been so wonderful to watch playing together in the yard. It was 70 degrees late last week and I put out all the outdoor furniture. Ahhhh, springtime!

Pippa and Lucy at the sandbox yesterday

Thanks for reading! Happy nearly Spring!!
~kmw

Two entries two ribbons!

At the Foxboro Art Association Spring Show I am delighted that I won two (!) ribbons.

AUTUMN STROLL
original pastel by Kim Morin Weineck
6x6" (c) 2012

Both were Honorable Mention and in a field as strong as this show was, all I can say is: Whooo hoooo!

TWILIGHT
original oil by Kim Morin Weineck
8x8" (c) 2012

My entries to this show were small paintings, one in oil and one in pastel. Small paintings are such fun to do.

I'm not sure who took this photo of the FAA reception, but
Tim and I are having a great time before running off
to get changed for the next reception and dinner!

Later this busy night of two art openings, Tim and I went to see the Norfolk Cultural Council show. Silly me didn't take photos of the show, but I did ask a friend, Ann Gorbett (she took 2nd place oils in the FAA show!), to take a photo of us.

Tim and I all dressed up, albeit a bit stiff looking. 

Tim and I were all dressed up for a night out in town to celebrate my birthday. We had such fun - and it's lovely to feel pretty every once in a while.

Thanks for reading!
~kmw

Walpole Public Library display

My painting group, the Neponset Valley Artists, will be the first to exhibit at the new Walpole Public Library. 

This is quite an honor and I'm thrilled for my group.

An assortment of NVA artwork at the Walpole Public Library.
My pastels are the small square ones flanking the skyscape. 

This photo is only a snippet of what is shown at the library. If you're local to Walpole, MA, please stop by. The unofficial opening is on Wednesday, February 29, 2012.

Here's a close up of the two pieces I included in the show:

Kim Morin Weineck (c)2012 BIKE REST, original pastel, 6x6"

Kim Morin Weineck (c)2012 BACKLIT AUTUMN, original pastel, 6x6"

Thanks for reading!
~kmw

Demonstration photos

My recent demo for the Taunton Art Association was such a great experience.

I nearly completed two paintings of the same scene employing two different strategies. One was painted directly on a toned sanded surface. The other had an underpainting of pastel washed with alcohol on a white sanded board. Both were such fun to paint, but the second with the underpainting felt more resolved to me at the end of the 2-hour demo.

Taunton Art Association photo of my demonstration in pastel 

Try as I might, I don't often get photos of me in progress because I'm busy painting and trying to give a good demo. Today I luckily found these two photos on Taunton Art Association's website.

Taunton Art Association photo of me doing something I don't remember.
My pastel looks pretty good, though. ;)

Frankly, they crack me up - that's me in action!

Thanks for reading,
~kmw

Art Demonstration Feb 13, 2012

The Taunton Art Association has asked me to again come to their monthly meeting and perform a demonstration for them. It's always such fun for me to share some insight about how I create my artwork, and I have been excited for this demo since they asked me months ago!

Kim Morin Weineck, BRANT POINT ROSES, original pastel (c) 2011
created by direct painting on Sennelier Pastel Card

In October I demonstrated for the Foxboro Art Association and really stretched myself doing four quick studies in 2 hours on four different pastel surfaces. Each behaves so differently, and I wanted to showcase the pros and cons of each. After the four sketches I was exhausted but in the best possible way!

For the Taunton demo I'm going to paint the same picture two times using direct painting on Sennelier Pastel Card and with and underpainting using mounted UArt sanded paper. I think the techniques showcase the most dramatic differences and the end results will excite the artists in attendance.

If you're local to Taunton, do try to come. 7-9pm. It'll be fun, I promise.

Fruit studies

 Recently I posted about some time spent painting with my girls. We did have such fun.

Kim Morin Weineck, APPLE, 7x5" mixed media (c)2012

I had been jonesing to do some watercolor and experimenting, so I took this as the perfect opportunity to try.

Kim Morin Weineck, PEAR, 5x7" mixed media (c)2012

In person, these pieces really look different because of the translucent, iridescent, and opaque materials used in combination. In this pear piece the red-violet striations seem to hover over the cobalt blue wash. 

Kim Morin Weineck, STRAWBERRY, 7x5" mixed media (C)2012

This strawberry was my first painting of our session and I like it best. I also painted from a sweet little real strawberry that Pippa kept asking me to eat. Too funny. Making little strokes with my paintbrush gave Lucy some ideas of her own. 

Lucy Weineck, STRAWBERRY TWO WAYS, mixed media (c)2012

Cool, right? Here are two watercolors by Lucy. The top right is a 'quick study, Momma," and then the other is her interpretation of the marks I was making. This little gem of my 4-year-old's work is now hanging in our kitchen. You know that Lucy couldn't be prouder.

Thanks for reading. 

~kmw