In process on the patio

Before I get to the nitty-gritty of this post - the winner of my giveaway was Noreen Taranto. Congratulations, Noreen! And for those who did not win: worry not! New ideas are stewing on giveaways and more. Stay tuned!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day and Tim took the girls food shopping so I could get some painting in. I set up on the patio. Ahhhh. There's no feeling like starting a new piece!

I have a bunch of pastel sets and no really great way to transport/hold/store them right now. Yesterday I was leafing through Pastel Journal and found an article on just this topic. Some research is in my future!

When I work with pastel I start at the top and work down, generally. I end up working a lot of the piece later in the process. You can sort of see in these two photos the dotted marks I make on my surface to get started. It's like a composition map in dots.

Here's the piece nearly completed. I like the light I've got going on here. I see some problems with the treeline and some of the color choices so I'll be correcting that today - hopefully on the patio again! Tim came home with a slip 'n slide for the girls and I'm setting that up right after I finish this entry.

Thanks for reading!

kmw

A giveaway!

**UPDATED POSTING***

In an effort to publicize my artwork, I thought a giveaway was in order! A week from today I'll be selecting someone to receive this painting.

©2011 Kim Morin Weineck, SPRING MARSH , original pastel 7x5" framed

A small favorite of mine which looks even better live and in person.

Here it waits on my desk for its new owner!

What do you have to do?

Easy peasy!

Comment on my blog and mention your favorite subject for a painting:
landscape, portrait, still life, abstract, or something else you just love.
(Only one comment per entrant, please. )
***For those who aren't registered to comment, I've changed settings now as to allow anonymous posters. Just tell me your name and email address in case you win!***

Follow my blog publicly for another chance.

For another entry, 'like' my Facebook page, Kim Morin Weineck's Art. All new 'likers' will be entered to win again! (If you already are a fan, please use any of the below options to enter.)

Post on Kim Morin Weineck's Art's Facebook wall for an additional entry.

Finally, if you are on Twitter, follow me @kimweineck and you'll get another chance at the painting.

Five possible chances! Pretty neat. Please help me get the word out. Share the love!

THE FINE PRINT:
This giveaway includes shipping within the 48 contiguous US states only. Should someone win internationally or in AK or HI, they can certainly opt to pay for shipping. All rights reserved. The painting is the property of the new owner, but the artist maintains rights to publishing its image, etc. etc. Winner assumes responsibility for any damage occurring during shipment. Let's keep this easy! Thanks!!

Coming soon: five blog posts of note

I read recently that there are five blog posts that every artist should write.

Feel free to link over to the website and read what was said or continue reading here for my synopsis.

1. How you became an artist.
2. Your specialty and why you chose it.
3. The story behind a piece of art.
4. Your inspiration.
5. Your creative process.

Wow. These are some pretty heady topics and ones that will be fun to answer.

One thing I've learned is that nothing really should be taken as a 'given' because everyone is approaching life from different perspectives. We're all bringing different things to the table.

When teaching, I would often use the word "just" as in, "Well, you just paint it like that" or "You just paint in the grass there." There really isn't any place for 'just' in this context. Students aren't in my head and sometimes it may be more than 'just' doing something. It warrants explanation.

And these concepts for blog posting deserve explanation, too. I can't say I'm going to post them in order as listed here, but I'm going to discuss all five of them.

Stay tuned!
kmw

Welcome!

Here is my new blog and here's to new beginnings!

After years at my former blog, I've started anew. For a while I'd been toying with the idea of a new start since so many things had changed since I had begun blogging. When I had learned that my email associated with my blog had been hacked, it seemed like as good a time as any to make the jump.

It's been a good stretch of time with many changes in my life:

I closed my store, breton bleu studio, named for my time studying in Brittany.
I got married--Yay, Tim!
We bought a cute little yellow house on the corner.
I had two daughters, Lucy and Pippa.
I began selling my artwork in new locations.
I founded the Neponset Valley Artists.
I became Gallery Director at Gallery9 in Norwood, MA.
I was juried into the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod as a signature member.
I was accepted into the Pastel Society of America.

And so it was time for a fresh start! I hope you'll come along!
Thanks!
kmw