Sittin' In The Shade

Sittin' In The Shade © Marian Fortunati 18" x 14" Oil on RayMar Canvas Panel

I kept reminiscing about the idyllic time I had when I visited the north campus of the University Of California at Santa Barbara last month.   So, because I paint every day, and because I can't go outside to paint every day for one reason or another, I sometimes rely on photos and memories.   I had completed a 12" x 16" plein air painting while on site, (Still Water Reflections), but the area begged for more "exposure".  This painting, "Sittin' In The Shade", is the result.

There is a shady spot north of the University of California - Santa Barbara campus called Devereaux Slough.    In the grass under a beautiful old eucalyptus tree is a sign that reads that parking is only allowed for bird watchers and painters.   Obviously, many painters have found their muse there ... I felt honored to be sitting there in the shade.   It was a peaceful place to sit and enjoy the egrets and cormorants and herons that populated the slough.   A spectacular view was there for everyone's enjoyment.

When I visited the wonderful Gold Medal Show of the California Art Club I saw two wonderful paintings inspired by this same area.   One was created by Paul Panossian and another (which won an award) was painted by Marcia Burtt.

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Satwiwa Skies - California Art Club Paint Out

Comment on this

Satwiwa Skies © Marian Fortunati 14" x 11" Oil on RayMar Linen Canvas

On a cloudy day last week a group of painters met to enjoy being outdoors together.   It was the monthly paintout of the Ventura-Malibu chapter of the California Art Club.   I always look forward to these paint outs.  It's a chance to make new friends and chat with those I had painted with before.  It was a chance to visit a familiar or a new beautiful place. 

This was my second visit to Satwiwa in the same week.  The clouds and fog created a mystical day.  One time you would look at the beautiful Jawbone Mountain and it would be there.... the next time you looked it was shrouded behind the fog and low clouds.   Always beautiful and mystical Satwiwa State Park was once the home of the Chumash Indians, a peaceful group of gatherers who lived along the coastal areas of Southern California.

	Some of us stopped painting for lunch and some fun together.

Several of us painted from the top of a hillside and looked out over the gorgeous scene in front of us.   All around us were beautiful wildflowers..  Little purple ones that I later learned were called vetch.   Nearby, hiding among the rocks, there was also a very shy (thankfully) snake which I thought was a rattlesnake.  None of us wanted to get close enough to it to really find out for sure. 

What a wonderful day!

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Satwiwa Week

Satwiwa Rock Study © Marian Fortunati 8" x 6" Oil on Canvas

It was a busy week.   Tyler was off on spring break and my husband was out of town until the end of the week.  All of Tyler's friends seemed to be out of town too, so he was pretty much stuck with me.  The trouble is, he really doesn't want to join me when I paint and there were many prescheduled art-related events happening during the week.   I had committed to them before I realized that my husband was going out of town. 

I had a regular class on Monday, paintings to deliver to different locations on Tuesday and on Wednesday, and a paint-out on Wednesday.   Happily, Wednesday's drop-off location was on the way to where the monthly California Art Club paint out was scheduled -- Rancho Sierra Vista State Park or Satwiwa.    Since Tyler didn't want to join me, I arranged for him to go to "work" with my son, Jon-Paul, who owns a Paintball Store, Critical Paintball.  Tyler loves helping out and being with his uncle and all of the cool paintball guys.

Thursday was Tyler's birthday and we were going to go to Universal Studios to enjoy the day.  

So I had my ducks in a row... Tyler was looking forward to his first day at the shop and I was looking forward to my class.  I never know until Sunday evening where we will be painting... inside or outside... or what location if outside.  When I got the email saying that we would be meeting at Satwiwa, all I could say was ".................REALLY?".  
------It looked like it would be a Satwiwa week.

Satwiwa Hillside © Marian Fortunati 8" x 10" Oil on Linen

When I woke up on Monday, I saw that it was overcast and drizzling.  I was afraid it would be pretty awful painting, but it turned out to be fun.  ---  QUITE cold but fun.    The rain that wet my windshield on the way there simply dampened us but didn't wet us.  We all decided to stay and paint from the parking lot area.  I was trying to continue exploring the idea of painting grasses and bushes.   I ended up painting two small paintings.   As I said... I had fun...    I tried to concentrate on composition and values.   I don't think the paintings were anything special, but every painting is a bit of exploration and learning, so I guess it was a good thing.

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Among The Flowers

Among The Flowers
© Marian Fortunati
9" x 12" Oil on RayMar Panel

The "Thursday Irregulars"
Every once in a while on a Thursday, I join my friend, Sharon Weaver, and drive east to paint with a group of painters who paint in and around the San Gabriel Valley.   It's a fair distance for me and goes in the "wrong" direction (WITH the heavy traffic).   Thus even if the miles are the same, the drive isn't as joyful for me as going west.   However, I always enjoy painting with Sharon and I really like this group.  They paint in the morning and when they break for lunch there are a couple of artists who critique all of the work offered.   Walter McNall critiques the oils and Brenda Swenson critiques the water colors.


Arlington Gardens
A week ago Thursday we all met in beautiful Arlington Gardens in South Pasadena.  I painted there last year and found it to be an exceptionally beautiful little jewel of a community garden.  This year was no exception.  In fact there were so many gorgeous spots, I couldn't decide where to paint.


Critiques
I finally settled down with a view of Brenda Swenson painting in the middle of a field of flowers.   I had a great time.  When we gathered for lunch, I got to meet some new people and enjoyed listening to the many critiques.  (There must have been 30 or 40 artists).  Walter's job was fairly easy this week as there were far more watercolorists in the group than oil painters.  But listening to both was informative as composition, drawing, value and color are all important ingredients.  


Walter liked my painting and complimented me on my varied use of mixed greens which he said was fairly difficult to do.   He also said my placement of the figure and the bright yellow flowers was well done.  It's always nice when a someone who critiques doesn't totally pan your work!!!

Slide Show of the Day
Brenda Swenson put together a slide show of the day on her blog.   Check it out and see the beautiful gardens!!        http://brendaswenson.blogspot.com/2011/04/thursdays-en-plein-air_15.html

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Point Dume Perspective

Point Dume Perspective © Marian Fortunati 18" x 14" Oil on RayMar Panel

Point Dume, CA
The bluffs above Point Dume are a total dream in the spring.  The native coreopsis just absolutely light up the whole top of the promontory.    In this painting I am looking down the path toward the sea  from the south side of famous outcropping north of Malibu known as Point Dume.

Learning From David Gallup
I started this painting on one of the days when studying with David Gallup in his studio.   He was in the middle of painting three of the most amazing paintings for his upcoming traveling museum show about the Channel Islands.   I have seen many of his paintings after they were already painted but seeing him as he makes changes and progress is totally awesome.   It's not that he paints much while we are in class, but we were able to see the steps from one week to the next and of course David delights us with stories about his thinking and processes.   Fabulous!

Stymied
While in class, I sketched in the basic forms and began to paint the cliff and the coreopsis.  But I really wasn't getting anywhere.   David realized that I wasn't really "feeling" it and came over and mixed up beautiful (I mean absolutely beautiful) piles of paint of the same value and began dragging his brush through several of the piles.   He demonstrated painting the sea.  The direction of his brushstrokes varied - sometimes it was horizontal, sometimes vertical.   He is always telling us to vary our brushwork.  Where I would have made the strokes all horizontal, he said it didn't matter.   It was the value and the color of the work that created the motion of the water.     After that demo, I just stopped painting and enjoyed listening to David and watching what he was doing.

Studio Work
A few weeks ago I decided to try again... maybe to "channel" David.  (ha ha).   I must admit, I did have fun mixing up beautiful piles of paint -- especially for the ocean.   I also tried not to make the paint strokes uniform or in the same direction, but I'm afraid I wasn't as good at it as David was.   I LOVE the way the colors of the ocean began to make the blank canvas into undulating waves approaching the point.   I worked on the coreopsis and other plants and tried to make the path and shadows read.   I liked it.   I hope you do too.

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Letting Go.... Or Not

The Bluffs © Marian Fortunati 9" x 12" Oil on RayMar Panel

Last Monday David Gallup took his class back to Carpenteria Bluffs.   It was another lovely day, but unlike the previous Monday, I decided to stay up on the Bluffs and be less distanced from the class.   I wanted to try to paint the grasses and flowers that were so beautiful on the top of the Bluffs .... 

I kept thinking about how amazing Clyde Aspevig's "Land Snorkeling" painting series were.   I knew I could not achieve anything close to those wonderful scenes, but I wanted to explore how I might do it.   However, as I was facing a sea of grasses, I really was baffled about the approach,  so I asked David to do a demo which he happily did.  (Any excuse to paint and he's happy!)  He toned a little 5x7 with a pinkish purple and just created a beautiful little loose painting before my eyes.

David Gallup

Unhappily, despite watching it take shape before my eyes, I just couldn't get myself to let go enough to emulate David's little gem.  He was able to create a gorgeous little path for the eye by just leaving the undertone unpainted.   His grasses were created by dragging his paint brush through piles of colors (all present in the grasses) of similar values.  He created the tangled and lost edges of the far trees by twisting his brush through the greens and light blues of the sky.   It all worked!!

I know that being too literal usually creates stagnate and dullish paintings...  There's nothing for the viewer to delight over.  But wow, is it tough to find just that right place between a total mess and a delightfully loose painting.   Maybe someday I'll get there.

This little 9"x12" study is a step along a very, very long road toward "letting go". 

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Inspiration

Still Water Reflections © Marian Fortunati 12" x 16" Oil on RayMar Linen Panel

An Excuse To Visit
A few weeks back the weather was fabulous and my daughter was working from home rather than flying out somewhere, so I decided on a "two-fer".    I would drive up the coast and paint near her home then meet up with her and her husband for dinner.    Then Tyler and my husband decided to drive up later and join us all --  A "three-fer".

The Plan
My plan was to do three small paintings.  I'd start out with a 6"x8", work up to an 8"x10" somewhere else and end up with a 9"x12".  I had

Trestles © Marian Fortunati 8"x6" Oil on RayMar Panel

wanted to paint near Montecito and my daughter had suggested Butterfly Beach.   Well, THAT didn't work out so well.   I wandered around and saw some fantastic real estate....  (OMG), but couldn't find a spot I wanted to paint.   So for the first painting, I did a little 6"x8" of the train trestles behind the Andree' Clark Bird Refuge near the zoo.   It was HOT!!   I had fun, but before blistering myself, I packed up and went to search for my next inspiration.

The Inspiration!
I ended up driving north of Santa Barbara to around UCSB where I had lived and studied for four years and earned my BA (in Zoology).   My daughter and her husband also graduated from UCSB and it turns out that a surprising number of my friends and colleagues did too!  Anyway using a map I had purchased, I explored the northern part of the campus where I never remember visiting as a student.   It was the Devereux Slough area and I ended up in a place with a stunning view and found my inspiration.   No small painting was worthy.   I pulled out the largest plein air panel I had (12" x 16") and got to work.

Ya gotta LOVE this sign!!

No Bathrooms
Of course every silver lining has a cloud.   I was happily working away near a sign that allowed parking ONLY for bird watchers and painters, (can you believe it?) when I realized that there were no facilities.  Since there was a steady stream of hikers, I had to decide whether to carefully time my break or to get in the car and drive somewhere.   I timed it ----- happily without incident.   I just loved painting there in the shade of a eucalyptus.  It was cool and beautiful.  I was using a reddish-toned canvas panel and I was liking what was happening to the painting.    It is always a rush when the muse is sitting there guiding you, isn't it?

Dinner ... and later .....a little award
I finished up the painting just in time to meet my husband and Tyler.  Later we had a nice dinner out with my daughter and her husband and drove home contented from a wonderful day.   

The next Tuesday I took my painting to our local club (The San Fernando Valley Art Club) meeting and won a second place award!   I couldn't be happier!

**********************************************************************************************************************
I entered this painting in April's Fine Art Studio Bold Brush contest.   

You can see it and the other entries and I'd love it if you'd "LIKE" it by clicking on the following link and clicking "like":

http://faso.com/boldbrush/painting/19133

**********************

Comment on or Share this Article >>

A Spectacular Spring Day

Path To The Beach © Marian Fortunati 16" x 12" Oil on Wood Panel

On Monday a few weeks back I drove to Carpenteria Bluffs.  It's pretty far away but that was where David Gallup's Advanced Painting Class was meeting.   The class meets outside when the weather is nice and in his studio when it's not.  Most of his students are driving south from Santa Barbara and beyond.  I drove north.  I love this class because I so enjoy trying to learn what David generously shares with us AND when we're in the studio, I'm fascinated by seeing the progress on his various paintings and hearing the stories about his Channel Island adventures.

I had never been to Carpenteria Bluffs.   I arrived there ahead of David, so I explored well into the area and ended up on the other side of the train tracks and down a path that led to the beach.  I took one look and decided that I didn't care if everyone else was somewhere else... THIS is where I wanted to paint.  As it turned out David had to go back and forth quite a bit to work with us, but that was fine with me.  He did get a workout but I liked my spot and I was having a great time on this beautiful day.

David would come and sit on the bluff above me looking down.  I tend to work from the top down and he often has reminded me that I should cover the support with paint so that I can better compare values and color.  I had chosen a 16" x 12" toned and gessoed board rather than canvas or linen because sometimes it's fun to work on a different support.   Gessoed boards show more brushwork, it seems.  At first I felt my mountains were too dark,

David's view of my painting spot on the path

but that was probably because I hadn't covered my canvas.   Once the other values were layed in I could compare and adjust which I did.

As I left, David walked me to the car and took a last look at my semi-finished painting.  (I hadn't yet added in the branches for the tree, but I wanted to do that when the paint was a bit dryer.)  

He was satisfied and so was I!   YAY.

Comment on or Share this Article >>

FASO's FAV 15%!

Point Lobos Poetry © Marian Fortunati 24" x 36" x 2" Oil on Canvas

Okay... I confess to being ignorant.  

My main website is hosted by Fine Art Studio Online (FASO).   For a long time now, they have hosted a monthly online art contest.  Each month a different well-known artist is the juror.  For a nominal fee, anyone can enter as many images of their art as they like whether they use FASO or not, but as a "bonus" FASO users get one free entry each month.  

For many months now, I haven't remembered to enter the contest, but when I completed my "big" painting, I decided that I really liked it and decided to enter it.  As part of the contest but unrelated to the actual jurying, there is a "popularity" contest.  People try to get their friends or strangers to "LIKE" their work using the Facebook application.  It's always fun to see if other people like your work.  Happily this painting had quite a few votes. 

Now here's where the "ignorant" part comes in......  →    I have always thought that those chosen as part of the "FAV 15%" were those who had the most "likes"....  That they were the most popular as chosen by friends and strangers using Facebook.   Well, I was delighted to see that my painting, "Point Lobos Poetry" had been chosen among the "FAV 15%"!    But then I looked further and discovered that a friend's work and several others I had noticed who had many more votes than my painting WEREN'T in the "FAV 15%".   WHAT????    I was perplexed.   So I checked around and then asked several friends about it who had been in the "FAV 15%" previously.

It turns out that the "FAV 15%" isn't a popularity contest after all.   The Facebook "like" thing is just for fun... an amusing pass-time only.   The "FAV 15%" is how the website narrows down the entries to a more reasonable number so that the juror (in this month's case, wonderful Northern California Artist, Laurie Kersey) won't have to wade through thousands of entries.   Apparently this designation is a jury process in itself.  Who knew??    Well, now I'm even more thrilled and honored to have my painting included amoung the "FAV 15%"!!

The final juried selections by Laurie Kersey won't be announced until the end of the month, but I'm thrilled right now!!  -Thanks, FASO!

********

NEWSLETTEROn another note...     I will be sending out my free monthly email newsletter in the next day or so.  If you are interested in getting updates about my art and adventures, please sign up by clicking this link:

http://marianfortunati.com/email-newsletter

********

Last but not least

I decided to enter the online contest again for April.   This time I am entering a plein air piece I did up near UCSB when I was visiting my daughter for the day.   Just for fun, I'd love for you to click on the link below and "LIKE" it!   (Remember it is ONLY for fun.... it will not affect the results of the real contest.)  I'll blog about this delightful day later...    I'm really getting behind with my blogging!  

-- Bye for now.

http://faso.com/boldbrush/painting/19133

Comment on or Share this Article >>

A Painting Inspired by a Facebook Friend

Evening Song © Marian Fortunati original photo by Kathy Ikerd 14" x 18" Oil on RayMar Canvas Panel

This painting was inspired from a photo posted by a friend I met during a paint out and whom I've enjoyed getting to know a little better through Facebook.   Kathy Ikerd posted a photo from a  place near her home.  The colors and the mood immediately caught my eye, so I asked her after a bit if I could use it as inspiration for one of my paintings.   She was understandably reluctant because she liked the photo as well and will want to paint from it, but luckily for me, she did say "yes" to my request.

I know that even if Kathy and I were to stand in the same place and paint the same scene that the paintings will come out differently so no worries about that.   Kathy might even think I wasn't totally true to the photo.  ....  sorta true, but not totally.   No matter who I paint with, or how many times other people and I stand in front of the same scene, our paintings always reflect our own feelings and moods and styles which never fails to thrill me and make me smile.   I love looking through those books that show several paintings done by Impressionist friends who painted together.  All were wonderful, but totally different.  Isn't that terrific!!??

When I set about painting this I did try to use the colors to convey the peaceful mood.   The good news is that I enjoyed painting it (Thank you, Kathy!) and my husband told me he really liked it.... (sadly, a rare happening).

On another note...   I suddenly realized that I haven't posted anything in a while despite the fact that I have been painting constantly.  I was going to post a little study I did when I went up to Santa Barbara a few weeks back when I realized that I hadn't yet posted this one.  So many places... so many paintings... so little time.   

Happy painting!

Remembering A Beautiful Day - A Southern California Seascape Oil Painting

Spring Sea © Marian Fortunati 16" x 12" Oil on RayMar Linen Panel

Southern California is known for its pleasant temperate weather.    Generally our winters and early springs are cool and damp, not cold and wet.   However this winter has been a roller-coaster of weather.  Right now we're enjoying an unusual heat wave but the last several weeks have been unseasonably cold and wet.  We even got 6" of rain in one DAY a week ago!  You should realize that normally we suffer from drought and that our ANNUAL rainfall averages around 15" per YEAR.  Despite the current warm up, we're expecting a small bit of rain at the end of this week which will cool us back down again.

However, there were several weeks when I couldn't get outside to paint like I so enjoy doing.   So I painted at home.  I dragged out my photos from earlier explorations and found several from a time about a year ago when I was on the top of Point Dume enjoying an absolutely glorious day of blue skies and bright yellow coreopsis in bloom.   I spent the day painting there and came home smiling.  Since then I have painted a few different paintings from my studies and photos and memory of the day.

The scene from "Spring Sea" was from the top of the promontory looking down the track to the sea.  There are coreopsis plants along the path and the sunlight is hitting some of the flowers and grasses, but some are in shade.  The turquoise water is swirling around the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.  It was a beautiful time.    - And remembering that time was a perfect way to spend a cold rainy day!

Comment on or Share this Article >>

Where Do You Like To Play?

This weekend I am totally immersed in art and am totally innervated by it all. 

California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition
Last night was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.   I was volunteering at the California Art Club Gold Medal Show's Collector Circle Dinner.  I've helped out at the show for a couple of years now and have always enjoyed it.  It allows me a chance to really look at all the art, chat with collectors, dignitaries and artists and just have a great time.  There were so many gorgeous pieces of art exhibited that I was in a swirl of happiness.   I acted as a hostess, a sherpa (lugging goodie bags, filling goodie bags, etc) and a salesperson.   I'm happy to say I was able to help some fabulous art find new homes with happy collectors.  It was thrilling!

This is the Celebration of the California Art Club's 100th Anniversary so it was an even more special event than usual.  The dinner and music were pleasant, many collectors were thrilled with new purchases and there seemed to be a whole lot of networking going on.  Everything about the night was an artist's dream.   (Except perhaps my sore legs at the end of the evening.)  To see images of the work exhibited, you can click on this link.   100th Annual California Art Club Gold Medal Juried Exhibition   I know I have my favorites.  Which ones are yours?

Opening Night at La Galeria Gitana
Tonight (Saturday, April 2) is the opening reception for my latest exhibit at La Galeria Gitana.   This is a group show and I'm very excited to again be included with a group of other wonderful artists.  The theme is a fun one.  It was easy to paint for this show because most of us paint the beautiful places we visit on weekends and other getaways.

Matador

A Sunny Day At Hendry's Dog Beach

Farewell Anacapa

Favorite Weekend Getaways - Where LA Goes To PlayI'm already looking forward to this show.  I know many of the other artists and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's interpretations of THEIR favorite places.  I've invited many friends and I'm hoping to get to see some whom I don't usually get to chat with.  Maybe you would enjoy visiting too. 

The receptions are always lots of fun but the show will hang until June 18th, so if you can't see it tonight, try to come by another time. 

La Galeria Gitana
120 N. Maclay St. Suite E (behind Stone Cold Creamery)
San Fernando, CA
91340
(818) 898-7700
www.galeriagitana.com

Gallery Hours:   Noon - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday - Saturday

Newspaper Article
Also very thrilling for me was a wonderful write up in the Examiner.  I was the featured artist.   The writer interviewed me as I was driving home (using my built-in hands-free connection) from a visit to my daughter in Santa Barbara.   She made beautiful sense of my dialogue and wrote a very nice article.  

If you'd like to read it click on this link:    EXAMINER ARTICLE (by Christine Zeiger) ABOUT WEEKEND GETAWAYS  (AND ME!)