Now this is Exciting: 6" Squared

I am soooo excited and honored! These two pieces have been chosen out of 1200 to participate in the second 6" Squared show, sale and competition at the Randy Higbee (aka King of Frames) Gallery in Costa Mesa CA. Birthed on Facebook the first of these events (held in Dec 2010) brought an absolutely amazing body of work together from around the globe and savey collectors flocked to the show. All the works are 6"x6"...no exceptions. I have learned to love working in this format as it offers some exciting compositional challenges...Wish me luck!


The Event:

The Randy Higbee Gallery is hosting the second 6" Squared Exhibition and Sale. Once again, we will bring Nationally acclaimed traditional representational artists to a spectacular venue in Orange County, California. A Gala Artists' Reception will be held Saturday, April 16. The show will run through May 6th.

Click here for more info!!: 6" Squared Exhibition and Sale: Spring 2011

Silly me...I forgot to tell you...

Hey all...I have been neglecting you...I'm so sorry. For over 6 weeks I was away from home in Florida and I came back renewed and refreshed. Also full of new art ideas. I decided to work in a series as I just fell in love with the Florida birds. Below you will find the link to the blog I created for this purpose so if you've been missing me you can also follow me here! THANKS for your support of my art!...Wendie

Feather and Brush...my new blog

Square #38 Wandering the Creek Bed (Oil 6x6)

For some reason this image makes me think about the immigration debate in our country. Desperate people trying to get into America and desperate people trying to keep their homes and families safe from drugs and violence. there are no easy answers...and so my three young ones wander the Creek Bed afraid of what is behind and afraid of what may lie ahead.

Square 34: Sundrops

6x6 pastel $100 unframed

Squares 33 and 34 Winter and some Sunlit Dogwoods!6x66

6x6 oil $100 unframed and shipped

6x6 oil $100 unframed and shipped

Ahhhhh....Plein Air: Square #32 and and Orange Tree!

Square #32 6x6 oil (plein air)
$100 unframed

Winter's Orange 8x6 oil (plein air)
$120 unframed

Square 31: Painting in my car, Impossible Beauty and 3 Pheasants!!

                                                            Square 31 6x6 oil (Plein Air)

So thanks to my Facebook friend Lawrence Chrapliwy who encouraged me to paint in my car and having already bought a wooden box to do just that...today I hopped in my car and drove down one of my favorite country roads not far from my home.

Stunning beauty abounds and I drove about 15 mph snapping photos when 3 pheasants hopped across the road right in front of me!! I lifted my camera to snap and...bam...out of batteries. I never go anywhere with out them so as I am fumbling to find them.... thinking I have surly missed the opportunity...they disappeared into the wooded area just off the roadside. I thought ...oh well...at least I saw them...so I drove ahead and turned around about a mile down the road. But as I came back they had appeared again! I stopped about 10 feet from them ...dropped my window and for the next 20 minutes or so these three beauties posed for me! Then they had had enough and off they went...magical!

So I continued to a small clearing in the snow I had eyed up before. It was a big problem trying to simplify the incredible sights everywhere around me...I got out the box...set up and started to paint. It was 18 degrees out and sunny so I opened my window and turned off the car...silence...me, paint and sparkling snow. I will defiantly be doing this again!

A word about my "box"...it is a old wine box (12"x10"x3 1/2) found at Goodwill for 2 bucks and the lid will accommodate an 8x10. It fits on my lap in the drivers seat as long as the seat is all the way back and when open the lid rests on the steering wheel. My friends at Ace Hardware were kind enough to fit it with a piece of plexi which I clipped a hinged paper clip from so I could remove it easily. I glued 4 small blocks in the corners under the plexi creating a small space which I can fit tubes of paint, brushes, a view finder, a scraper, and some paper towels. I put my turp in my cup holder. No doubt I will be rigging this further now that I know it will work.

Ok so here's the big question for all my plein air friends (some real purists in the bunch) ...If I painted in my car is it still considered plein air? If I had the window down so nothing was impeding my view? And what if I didn't.....what's your opinion?

Squares 28, 29, and 30!

Square #30
6x6 oil $100 unframed

Square # 28
6x6 oil $100

Square #29
6x6 oil $100

Busy day...:)

Square #22 : A Winter Walk through the Dolomites, Italy

6x6 0il
$100 unframed

Just in time for Christmas: 20% off my Prints!!!

As my Christmas gift to you I am offering a 20% discount on prints of my work through Fine Art America. Use coupon code GKYRSR when ordering! Just click on the link below to get started!!!


http://wendie-thompson.artistwebsites.com/

Happy Holidays to all!!!

Productive Day in Plymouth!

After an beautiful early morning drive to the Plymouth Plein Air Competition I arrived about an hour after planned.. I evidently took the long way but I didn't mind it was an incredible autumn morning! Here's my days work!! Quick paint on Saturday!!

 Watertower 12x16 oil

 The Witches House 12x12 oil

Legion's Roses 7x5 oil

Mid Summers Brush, Oconomowoc's Plein Air Competition 2010

"The Old Launch" 20x16 oil

Zion II 20x10 oil

Before the Rain 12x16 oil

Elm Grove, plein air and Business cards!

"Elm Grove Rush" 10x20 oil

Flooded Path 12x12 oil

I went twice this week to the beautiful community park in Elm Grove WI to paint. Saturday Morning I painted with Anthony Sell after it had flooded in the area for three days and the forecast was a morning full of the same. However, although the sky looked very threatening, not one drop fell and we painted till noon. The community has planted prairie flowers all around the area which were proliferating... black eyed susan, purple cone, queen Anne's lace and more. Aginst the dark sky it was incredible.

Then in sunny skies I went back again Monday Evening to paint with Judith Reidy....very different light and just as stunning...I can't seem to get enough.

It seems that I will never learn...I forgot my business cards and postcards again...I wonder how many patron opportunity's I have missed as a result of this when painting outdoors! People love to watch you paint and I have learned that they like to purchase from artist's they know...I must get better at this!!!!

Starting August 7th and ending on Aug 14th I will be participating in Mid Summers Brush, Oconomowoc's Plein Air Competition. Come out and watch as Artists paint and then bid on the work generated from Friday evening through Sat. afternoon. Followed by a street dance...it should be a world of fun!!

All the Trees of the Field shall clap their Hands!

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12

Trees Clapping II 12x12 oil

Trees Clapping I oil 12x16

Ok... so at about 5:15 this morning I opened one eye and saw such a beautiful misty morning I couldn't believe it! I rarely bolt out of bed but that is what I did indeed! The field across the street from my house was sure to be incredible as the sun came up and burned through the fog. I dressed quickly against the mosquitoes that I was sure would be breakfast hungry... grabbed my cart and raced across the street. The bottom picture is what it looked like when I first got there. The 3rd from the top what it looked like about 45 minutes later...what an incredible change! It was still so beautiful I decided to try for one more before full out sun. I dashed back to the house for my needed umbrella...set it up and worked on the second one...very different light! I am writing this at about 8:15 after I have made coffee , downloaded the photos and lit up the computer so you get some idea of how fast these went. I am content!

Wauwatosa: 2010

Monarch Trail 12x16 oil

Trailers and Tracks 20x10 oil

Little Red Store 16x12 oil

So I started painting about 9 am today. Beautiful day...not too hot, sunny and breezy. I painted till about 3pm and then had a great lunch with a good artist friend. I was tired but still wanted to paint so I drove out to an area I had spotted a few days before and set up. It was 7:30 before I looked at my watch again....I'm a little tired! (it was worth it!)

Cedarburg: 7 paintings, 4 Frame-able, only two for the competition!

What a wonderful week we have had in Cedarburg and it's not over yet. I have painted a lot and now I have to decide which two to submit....so here they are...what do you think??

"Refuge" Cedarburg "Quick Paint" 2010

"Refuge"

8x10 oil

Cedarburg Plein Air Competition: Quick Paint

2 1/2 hours from the time your canvas is stamped to turn it in framed and wired...no pressure or anything!

Today's plein air Painting!

Today's painting...."Old and New" 8x10 oil on panel

by Wendie Thompson (plein air) Available $75

The space between two mediums: How big is it really???

As predominantly an oil painter, I switched to a new medium for the entire winter...pastel. I greatly enjoyed this and have learned a great deal (mostly about optical color) from doing it. However, I have not been able to get comfortable with doing pastels plein air which is my big passion....soooooo I have gone back to my oils and just feel like I need to say ahhhhhhhhhhhhgh!

Ok...so I'm a little frustrated! Here is a work in progress which I wiped off my canvas 3 times yesterday. That is not normally a good sign. After the 3rd time I finally got to where I felt things were going in a direction I liked but oh man....Anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions?

I won an award!! Brush with the Wind" WIPAPA's first juried show!

"A Place in the Shade" 8x10 oil on panel

available $225

This piece took one of 3 first place awards at the Brush with the Wind show!! I feel so honored!!

I painted this at Old World Wisconsin http://oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org/) which is an outdoor museum of sorts. It is a beautiful place where they have moved old barns from all over the state and created small ethnic villages denoting the varies ethnic groups who settled the state. The day I was there was a free day right after the kids got out of school...it was crowded! I had a hard time keeping the kids from putting their hands in my paints!! Just look at these munchkins!!

Check out this video! http://www.youtube.com/user/OldWorldWisconsin