27 july 2014

pamela has been devotedly tackling the landscape using gouache paint. it is a very forgiving medium, with beautiful color and depth. portability is a plus as well. 
2 more from the sierras:

carousel at the cabin, 5 1/2"x8"

disappearing lake, 5"x7"

from our monday painting sessions:

douglas preserve, 3 1/2"x5 1/2"

skofield park parking lot, 4"x6"

from chase palm park:

wet rocks, 3"x6"

pedestal trunk, 3"x6"

edge, 3"x4"

reflection
3"x5"










a few of her wanderings around town:

drive-by
3"x5" 

in bloom, 4"x6"

and some stationary (but live) objects for good measure:

six pack, 3 1/2"x3 1/2"

santa barbara lotus, 3"x4"




all work is by pamela zwehl-burke

summer continued

the smith's went on a grand tour road trip of the rockies. have easel will travel.

libby smith, headwaters colorado river, 8"x10" oil on panel

libby smith, tyndal glacier, 10"x10" oil on panel

libby smith, oregon lake, 9"x12" oil on panel



westmont's 5"x5" fund-raiser show is coming up in september. here are 2 submissions:

libby smith, thunderstorm, 5"x5" oil on paper

nina warner, duck, 4"x4" gouache on paper


we have been working regularly at chase palm park - lots of challenges with water, reflections, plants, etc.

diane handloser, waterfall, 4"x7" gouache on paper

nina warner, dry creek cpp, 4"x4" gouache on paper

libby smith also has work (2 drawings) currently showing in the 'casa gallery' in santa barbara.
nina warner has 2 drawings in the 'vita art center' national juried drawing exhibit in ventura.
pamela zwehl-burke and nina warner both have work on view in the 'art-from-scrap' gallery 'buddha abides' exhibit.

summer so far

A rare treat - EDQ spent 4 days painting in the central sierra, staying in the warner cabin. low lake levels made the scene very different, but the high country was as beautiful as ever.
first - the island when it is an island:

our paintings from the drought of 2014:

pamela zwehl-burke, gouache on paper, 5"x7"

diane handloser, gouache on paper, 4"x6"

nina warner, oil on board, 10"x10

libby smith, 8"x10" oil on panel


since it was also a rare chance to paint the full moon in the mountains, we made the attempt.
it was hilarious trying to figure where the moon would actually rise, using our 'technology' - compass, moon-phase app - we were all set up when Gigi looks some 40 degrees to our right and says "is that the moon over there?". quick scramble to re-place ourselves. The best part was we tried again the next night from a new vantage point and still missed it.
very hard to photograph - we need to figure this out…
P & D did not finish their gouaches yet - we'll post when they do. in the mean time here are 2 from the second night.

nina warner, 8"x10" oil on panel

libby smith, first nocturne HL, 9"x12" oil on panel

libby smith, moonrise HL, 6"x12" oil on panel

diane handloser
6"x6"
gouache on paper

nina warner
bird feeder
4"x4"
gouache on paper

nina warner
storm from white bark
2"x3"
gouache on paper

shows

members of the école de quatre are exhibiting in several shows. 
currently in "made you look" at the westmont museum of art:

libby smith - goleta pier, oil on panel, 9"x12"

nina warner - north coast, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner, ukraine in california, oil on panel, 11"x14"

pamela zwehl-burke, shallows, oil stick on paper, 36"x48"

coming up in the "petite landscape" show at the santa barbara tennis club:

pamela zwehl-burke, palms, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner, field in france, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner, lake in sierra, oil on panel, 5"x7"

diane handloser, spring sycamores, oil on panel, 6"x8"

and coming up in solvang at the elverhoj museum "santa inés mission mills":

pamela zwehl-burke, road below the mission, watercolor on paper, 8"x10"

nina warner, santa ines mission mill, oil on panel, 6"x12"

nina warner, view toward the mission, oil on panel, 12"x12"

nina warner, view from the mission, oil on panel, 6"x12"

libby smith - east mill, oil on panel, 6"x12"

libby smith, east and west mill, oil on panel, 9"x12"

libby smith, west mill, oil on panel, 8"x16"

more for may

work done in the last few weeks  - small paintings and gouache studies. 

great portability for travel, 
working from a photo taken 
from an earlier outing




diane handloser
a k park gardens
gouache on paper
3"x3"

walking around the neighborhood 
taking photos suitable for
experimenting with the medium









pamela zwehl-burke
chase palm park pond
gouache on paper
3"x4"

pamela zwehl-burke, chase palms, gouache on paper, 3"x4"

pamela zwehl-burke, chase palms and fountian, gouache on paper, 3"x4"

pamela zwehl-burke, sidewalk shadows, gouache on paper, 3"x4"


from earlier in the month:

libby smith, skofield park mountain view
oil on panel, 5"x7"

libby smith 
camino cielo
oil on panel, 4"x4"

nina warner
camino cielo
oil on panel
9"x12"

18 may 2014

may has been quite a month so far: extreme weather (hot), lots of travel and some slogging through portrait painting. we have also pursued entering work in some local shows and have done well: L & N have work in the Westmont 'made you look' juried show, P, D & N will be represented in the 'petite landscape' show at the sb tennis club, and P, N & L all made it into the Elverhoj museum show 'santa inés mission mills'. not bad!

we have also become enamored with the small gouaches of thomas paquette that are showing at the Wildling museum: beautiful, tiny jewels of landscape.
so we are trying to see what we can do with this interesting and challenging medium.

here are some efforts from mimi:

started working from a cropped, vintage, postcard image just to get used to the paint and develop some sort of technique.


3"x3"
gouache on mat board

the colors seem too bright and un-natural


3"x2 1/2"
gouache on mat board

next came working from my own photographs, cropping the image to suit a small format. somewhat flat, but challenging to mix more muted color



3"x2 1/2"
monterey wetland preserve

3"x3"
meadow in the sierra

this was done from a photo after painting the scene in oil on site. it actually came out better than the oil.





3"x3"
view from camino cielo

time to try working from life, looking at the real thing. easier to work with natural colors and light.



3"x2 1/2"
backyard poppy

3"x3"
montecito peak