Ocean Beach, Carmel, CA

Hi there,

This is just a little sketch in my moleskin book (4x6") that I did while sitting on Ocean Beach in Carmel By the Sea, CA. It is located at the end of Ocean Ave. A very nice family, and dog friendly beach. My family always meets there for a place to picnic (we tailgate in the parking lot) after several hours of walking around all the shops and galleries in Carmel. Then we relax on the beach before the 2 hour drive back home. I really only had about 15 minutes to create this as I spent so much time in the galleries and eating!!!!

You can see the Pebble Beach Gold Course from this beach that juts out into the ocean on a peninsula. I did this sketch in April while my daughter was on Spring Break. I just found it on my desktop and thought I'd post it.

It is nice to have your sketching supplies with you. Even if all you have is 15 minutes, you are left with a lifetime of memories the sketch creates. A visual diary!

Plein Aire Day Part 2

This post is a continuation of the post below. "Plein Aire Day"

The painting is finally completed. It is an oil on canvas, 6x12" Just a tiny one. I completed it is just a little over an hour. Could have been quicker but a lot of people kept stopping to talk to me. As you can see I am set up right at the junction in the trail. This wonderful location is barely 20 minutes from my home located in Franklin Canyon in Martinez, CA.

You can see the green grass, but it is quickly turning to gold. "California Gold" I call it.

Notice the toned canvas I paint on. My eyes just cannot take the reflection of the bright white of an un-toned canvas. Everything I need to paint with, my home-made box, my tripod it attaches to, my water, food, etc. all fit in this leather backpack you see at my feet leaning against the trail marker. I was able to hike around with everything on my back while I was looking for the perfect scene to paint. There was too many perfect scenes, I will definitely be back.

Plein Aire Day

Today I hiked in a brand new park just opened up to the public. The Fernandez Ranch. It is 702 acres that has been acquired and has just opened after the completion of the trail building, and some bridges were built so the public could travel without disturbing the natural habitat. So many scenes to paint I surely will be back.

I have to stretch the photos out over 2 posts due to the limitations on image quantity per post. I wanted to show the painting in progress. I realize when painting outdoors from nature that I have to remember to paint what I actually see and not what I know. I know this sounds silly, but when you have been painting for a long time it becomes habit to grab certain colors. I have to ask myself, "Do you really see that color?"

Do take license to edit down the scene just as a writer would a story. You don't need to include all the information to have a good story, or a good painting.

It was hot, I was hungry, and the bugs kept getting stuck in the paint. But man, what a day! It is glorious to be an artist!

Changing Colors

Changing Colors oil on canvas 12 x 12"

This is the time of year that our green hills start to fade to gold as the rains become less frequent here in CA. The poppies are still in full bloom as is the lupine. Crisp days, nice to get out and capture the wonderful area that surrounds me. Trying to select what to paint is hard as there is so much to choose from. Another day, another scene. That's what you have to tell yourself. There is always tomorrow, to come back and paint what you didn't paint today.

I don't own a tube of green paint. All my greens are mixed. That keeps it from becoming monotonous and boring. My canvas is primed with a mixture of red, yellow, and white acrylic so that I am not painting on a stark white canvas. This gives a warm tone to the skys, and the hills. You don't have to go in a touch up any bare spots either as the warm color shows through and looks nice. It also helps to keep you from getting blinded by the bright light on the white canvas when painting out of doors. Try it, one part yellow, one part red, to three parts white.

Green Diablo Foothills

Winter Colors 10X 20" oil Plein Aire Piece

It is still winter here in Northern, California. Spring will start officially tomorrow. Everything is so very green right now. I do not own a tube of green paint. I mix all my own greens, and if you do, it will give you much more variety than any tube will give you. I use primarily Cad Yellow Medium, mixed with what ever blue I am using that day. Usually Cobalt or Prussian. If you need extreme bright greens, use a Cad Yellow Light. Remember you can tone down, or cool your green with the opposite color, red. I will add Burnt Sienna for this (it acts as a red) or Alizarin Crimson.

After all the rain, it is nice to get out in the glorious sun and paint!

Messy Palette

Messy palette means I'm busy. Winter is the time to paint in the studio, frame pieces and ready yourself for the spring shows. Funny, some artists are so meticulous about the way they lay out their paint. And their palette is so neat, but they get paint all over the place when they paint. All over their hands, clothes, etc. I have a messy palette, but my hands stay clean, and my studio has a carpet that has no paint on it. Go figure. My palette works for me. I use a disposable palette and it sits in a Masterson palette box, I think it is called. It holds a 12 x 16" palette. I don't use the lid for the box. I mainly use the box to keep brushes from accidently rolling off onto the floor! Well, time to get back to the easel.

Art Festival Booth

Moonlit Rhapsody 30 x 40" oil studio piece (sold)

In honor of tonight's full moon I am posting a piece from my moon series, Moonlit Rhapsody.

Today's topic is the Art Show Booth. I have two set ups. The typical 10x10 EZ-UP canopy with grey carpeted ProPanel walls. This is really nice, however I will say that I have NEVER set this up alone, and even with my husband's help it has NEVER set up in 30 seconds as EZ-UP claims it can be. My panels are light weight, basically carpeted covered styrafoam with steel support and legs. But because of my small size and their large size I can only carry one at a time and have a hard time seeing over around them as I walk. My husbands comes and helps me set up and comes back at show's end to help tear down.

I have another set up seen photographed in this blog (look under Pacific Fine Arts archive) It consists of masonite panels that are 2' x 4' and 1' x 4'. They are in a manageable size I can carry. They notch into each other to create 2 6' tall 4' wide square kiosks. They are extremely durable. Wind proof. I set a market umbrella inside each one and weight it nicely. If it rains the umbrella affords some protection while I run for my plastics box which is basically plastic file box that I carry clear plastic and all my clamps in. I by 9' x 12' clear plastic. I cut 3 4' wide strips out of each plastic sheet. So the final cut size is 4' wide x 9' long. These are plastic drop cloths found in the paint aisle at the hardware store. Use a sturdy mil that is at least 2 or 3 mil. You don't want the cheapest one that feels like saran wrap. These sheets are folded nicely into my plastic box and at the ready for rain. Have enough small 3" clamps to put 2 clamps at the top of the kiosk and at the bottom. Drape the extra length down into the center of the kiosk, or cut it off before hand.

My masonite kiosks were used for every show until I could afford Pro Panels which are costly for a beginner. I still use my kiosks for sidewalk shows that do not have a 10x10' space.

What ever your set up, make sure your booth has a nice flow for traffic. If it is too crowded people will peek in but the will NOT enter. If one patron has to be in close contact with another, no way they will not go in. People need their personal space.

Some booths are set up with out thought. It appears as what should be their main entrance is blocked off. Your patrons should not have to search for the way in. If they have to, they will move on to the booth next door instead.

I have seen other booths that have an outside wall that is front and center to the public, and it is blank. Nothing on it. All of their work is on the inside of their booth. Use this "Prime Real Estate!" Put your best piece here front and center for all to see. Show off your best work and make the public want to come on over to your booth to see more! If you are a sculpture, glass or ceramic, artist and have all your work inside the booth on pedestals or shelves then make a nice sign for your outside wall. Possibly with a nice photo of your work. Kinkos and like places can make a large poster size enlargement for you and even mount it on foam board. Put your name really large on this sign to draw attention.

What ever you do, avoid a "flea market" type atmosphere. Keep things neat and orderly. This is your gallery for the weekend. Keep the clutter out of your booth. Use floor length tablecloths so you can use under the table as hidden storage. Avoid "Sale" signs, Half Off this weekend only type of signs. I will approach people and say to them, I am offering discount this weekend only. Other artists I know will have a stack of flyers on my table that list various paintings with their prices and then have a second column with the discounted prices.

Do be certain that every piece of art has a label with the title of the work and the price. Some people will not ask the price. They actually are quite shy or they are afraid that they will be embarrassed if it is too high and they can't afford it. My husband will walk away before he will break down and ask a stranger how much something costs.

When manning your booth, pay attention to who enters. Do not eat or smoke in your booth. If I am reading, I put my reading material aside when someone enters. I smile and pay attention to them. Make it clear that they know this is your booth. A patron should never have to walk around and ask people, "Are you the artist." If you do speak, speak only of your art. Not the weather, their dog, their outfit. You may only have 30 seconds with this person before they leave, don't waste that very valuable time.

Some artists have cut their shows way down due to the current economy. You do however have to realize, if you don't do at least a few shows, people will forget who you are. You HAVE to keep your name and image out there.

If you are reading and this and have more questions than I have answered, please feel free to comment and ask, or e-mail me. Most of all get out there and have fun!

Art Fair Business

Danville's Mountain 24x36" oil (sold)

Hi there, it is cold here in Northern CA, so I am posting one of my summer pieces to warm me up! Hills are very green right now, but will start turning gold as soon as the rains stop sometime around April. By July they are golden.

Art fairs, Street Shows, any outdoor art show start up after April. Some sooner, but as a painter I don't venture out before the end of April. Even then I may get rained of once or twice. You MUST have your clear plastic and clamps to cover your work. Professionals do not go running home when it rains. And if you did, you may not be invited back to the show.

Now is when you need to be selecting your shows and applying. Entering art shows can be and art form in itself deciding which one to enter. Take good photos of your work to send in with your applications.

Time to rethink what shows worked for you and what shows didn't. Maybe a show didn't bring in the revenue you wanted. But think about the show, how was the networking? Did you hand out a lot of cards or flyers? Did a lot of interested patrons sign your mailing list? Was there high quality art surrounding you? Has that particular show done well in the past? Do not be too quick to write off a show. Times are hard right now, I do believe it will pick up. Look at the show as an opportunity to network, and to exchange ideas with other artists. Quite often a zero $ show can actually be your best show!

Are you new to shows? Artists need to make several appearances at a show before they really are up and running with the sales. The public needs to know that you are stable. That you really do do this for a living and are not "fly by night." I have realized that people want to buy your art. Then they want to come to your booth at the next show and tell people, I bought one of her originals. Or they want to talk to me about their purchase, tell me all the complements they have received on it. They want to tell me where they hung it. Your collectors become family and they like to come visit you whenever you are in town.

Time to pour my cup of coffee and start pouring over my applications.

Next post: Rethinking your booth at the show.

Priming Canvas

El Capitan Meadow 18x24" oil

Above is an example of a painting in progress that shows the prime color that I use under my painting. I prime with acrylic paint and I use 1 part yellow, 1 part red, and 3 parts white. I tend to mix up a batch in an old butter tub and prime 10 to 20 canvases at a time. There is nothing worse for me than to have that urge to paint and to not have a primed canvas ready. You can oil paint on top of acrylic but never paint with acrylic on top of an oil painting. It will not stick and it will peel off.

I like to prime my canvas with a warm color. If I am painting outdoors it keeps the white canvas from blinding me. But I use this color under all my paintings as I feel like it really warms up the painting as it comes through some of the colors. I often paint late at night in my studio. I am not sure if it my lack of sleep or if the lighting is not good enough, but when I view my late evening's work the next morning I can see small what I call holes of white peeking through all over the canvas. I to tend to paint thin. I suppose if I really globbed on the paint like an impressionist I would not have this problem. But now the prime color shows through and I actually like the effect. Rarely do I ever go in and touch up those "holes" anymore.

Try this mix, or come up a shade of your own. I like using acrylic as it keeps me away from the thin wash of turpentine or thinner and color. Any opportunity to avoid exposure to and use less solvent is a plus health wise.

Rainy Monday

Spring Blooms 9x12" oil on canvas (sold) plein aire piece

Today we are getting dumped on in the SF Bay Area. It is really raining here. A good day to stay in the studio! The above painting is what our local landscape will look like in about another 2 months. It is very green right now, but the wildflowers are not in bloom yet. Spring Blooms is a view of Mt. Diablo in Contra Costa County, CA. from the Walnut Creek area.

I am going to sort through my brushes today. I never throw a brush away. When it gets worn, it just gets delegated to a new container to be used for a different purpose, (ie blending, scraping, etc). Well, at the moment I am counting 11 containers of brushes on my paint table that sits to the left of my easel. And as I reached for one, a moth flew out of it! When moths take up residence in your brush container, you know they haven't been used in a while..... Like I said, maybe it's time to get rid of a few.

Then I will move on to priming some canvases and cutting some boards. I want to glue canvas on to board to use for outdoor plein aire painting.

Winter days like this is a wonderful time to do all these tasks and get some studio painting done. Time to put the coffee on, I have some work to do......

Whoa, where have I been?

American Canyon 4" X 8" oil on canvas

Well, I certainly have not been very good at posting lately. Saying I suck at it would be putting it mildly. Life has its way of getting in the way most certainly.

It is a delicate balance of Art and life. Keeping dinner on the table, the garden in check, bills paid, and new art on the easel. I could sit and post that I cleaned up the garden today after our recent storms and turned two compost piles, incorporating many bags of free coffee grounds from Starbucks which promptly raised the temperature of both piles. But I know you don't care about that.......... where's the new painting? is what your thinking!

Since we had a high of 42° yesterday I painted in the studio. This little photo was done earlier than that as it was dry and ready to be photographed. I painted it from a watercolor sketch I made on location in American Canyon, Utah. Going through your field book to find something to paint is a great thing to do on a cold gloomy day when you don't want to go outside. My moleskine book is full of future paintings. And small paintings are fun and quick to paint and can be priced very reasonably for shows which helps in this economy.

Pacific Fine Arts Festival in Walnut Creek, CA

Come by and see me in Walnut Creek this weekend, Fri., Sat., or Sun., on the corner of Cypress and Locust. St. outside Sherman Clay Piano Store.  I haven't been blogging lately.  Too busy painting, and being a mom and working on the house.  A delicate balance.  Painting my muse on a daily basis even if is is late at night when no one is stirring.  No one asking me where the remote is, or what's for dinner.  As much as I love the computer I have to be careful with it.  A quick minute on it to check my mail can easily turn in to an hour!

Another Yosemite Painting

El Capitan Meadow  18x24" oil on canvas, studio piece

This is my newest painting, just delivered to the gallery.  It is an autumn scene of El Capitan Meadow in Yosemite with Half Dome in the background and El Capitan there on the left.  Again, this was done from field notes and sketches that I had done.  During the fall you can catch the meadow ablaze in color like this.  Almost appearing like it is on fire!

Yosemite is truly one of my greatest inspirations and favorite place to hike and sketch.

Yosemite Falls

Lower Yoemite Falls  20x16"  oil on canvas  studio piece

This painting was done using a plein aire sketch that I did earlier in the summer last June.  I literally finished it and then delivered it to a gallery and then realized that it was now hanging in the gallery and I didn't have a single photograph of it!

I pulled it off the wall last weekend and took a shot of it. I'd hate to see it sell and not have a photograph of it.  Be sure to always keep good records of all your work and photos of it.

In this painting I tried to show the power and energy of the falls and the calmness of the mist and haze in the atmosphere.  Balancing it all out.  I  love Yosemite.  Paint what you love and it will show in your work.

El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, CA

El Capitan, oil on canvas, 40x30"  Studio piece painted from field studies

I just finished this painting this morning.  It was done from sketches that I did in Yosemite National Park this past summer.  I did several plein aire sketches and many small pen and ink and watercolor sketches in my mole skiene book.

When I got home most of my photographs are of El Capitan as viewed from El Capitan Meadow.  It is an enormous view but encompasses so much with all the trees, vegetation, sky, clouds, and the huge El Capitan itself.  The largest single piece of granite in the world.  Remember what I said about being overwhelmed with the scene?  Too much to capture?  I simplified this painting by zeroing in on the enormous face of this rock, showing the pine trees that are dwarfed by its presence. I had zeroed my camera in on a close up scene of the rock face as well as doing a quick sketch of the view I knew I would later want to paint back in the studio.

Get yourself to Yosemite if you haven't been there yet.  There is an entire world in that 7 mile long valley just waiting to be captured on canvas!

Danville Plein Aire

8x10" oil on canvas  "Waterfront St. Cottage"

This little cottage is located at 212 Front St. in Danville, CA.  It is currently a massage business.  This little cottage sits there with the creek behind it in a row of other old cottages.  They are original dating back to the 1800's.  Sitting there on the water front, the street was named Waterfront St. and the community of Danville was later built up around these cottages.  Years later the name of the street was shortened to Front St.

This piece was painted for the historic Danville Building show celebrating the 150th birthday of Danville.  It is currently being exhibited in the Pioneer Gallery on Hartz. Blvd. in Danville, CA.  I sold this piece before I even had a chance to deliver it to the gallery along with the eucalyptus painting done at Wood Ranch, posted earlier.  The collector was nice enough to allow me to exhibit the 2 works in the show and then deliver them to her after the show closes in about 6 weeks.

I started this piece at the location, and finished it later sitting outdoors at the Pacific Fine Arts Festival last weekend.  The time of day was later afternoon and the warm golden sun was brilliant as it dappled across the roof and kissed the tips of the lavender plant out front.

The Pride Of Danville

18x24" oil on canvas, "The Pride of Danville"

This painting was done for a show celebrating 150 years of Danville, CA history.  The show opens Oct. 3rd at the Pioneer Gallery in Danville on Hartz Blvd.  Saturday night from 5 to 8PM is reception for the show. This 350 year old California live oak stands on Diablo Rd. and serves as the community tree.  They light it every Christmas season.  The citizens post birthday wishes on it.  It truly is the pride of Danville.

There are over 150 buildings on the historical register for Danville.  Because they didn't want every artist painting the same building, a lottery was held assigning various buildings to different artists.  Not being a painter of architectural structures, I tried to beg out of the show once I found out that I wasn't even going to get to pick out my subject matter.  Low and behold I ended up with the community tree! 

This was a scene that I viewed one evening in July when California was having those horrible fires all over the state.  Because of all of the smoke in the air we had the most dramatic sunsets.  The minute I turned off the freeway and on to Diablo Blvd. I knew I had to paint that sky!  Having no camera with me, this scene was painted from my memory of that evening. Gone are the fires and along with it the glorious sunset where the hills appeared to be on fire that night behind the old oak.

Come by and see the show, it really is great.  522 Hartz Blvd., Danville, CA.

Guardian at Wood Ranch

This was painted on location at the Don Wood Ranch in Danville. This big eucalyptus seemed to be standing guard as it stood at the entrance to the ranch on the driveway.  The size is 10x8" oil on canvas.  Beauty can be found in almost anything.  For me that day the gnarly bark was my muse.  Just calling for me to paint it.  The ranch was full of barns and silos, old fences, out buildings, windmills, etc.  Almost too much to take in.  I tried to simplify for the day and start with just one tree.  Keeping my brain from overloading.  Look for this painting in the Pioneer Gallery in Danville as the historic Danville show will be going up soon.

                                                                                                                                                                         

Copyright Infringement

Diablo Summer  30x48" oil on canvas  ©2003 Catherine McClure Lindberg

Last Saturday a small local paper in a nearby city ran an image of the above painting without my permission. It was a great spot, right on the back page of the paper, taking up 1/6th of the page. Nice size.........  Although there was no credit to me at all.

I phoned the paper yesterday and spoke with the art director.  I informed him that the image belongs to me and that I own the copyright.  I also explained that the public notice of copyright is posted on the front of the painting but is conveniently cropped off in the printed image in the paper.  He was appalled that someone on his staff did that. He actually had the newspaper on his desk and was just waiting for the artist to call. The first thing he said, was "What can I do? How can we fix this?"  This guy is new at this job, having come over from a big paper. He told me that he obviously has some rules to go over with his staff and journalism etiquette.

The paper is going to run a thumbnail image of the same painting and an explanation with full credit to me.

Everyone is happy, problem solved.  Never let anyone get away with using your art with out permission.  Many thanks to those who recognized my work and drew it to my attention as I don't live in that  city and may have never seen it or knew about it.

Hazardous Waste & Tightie Whities!

Today I decided to clean out my Silicoil Brush Cleaning Tank. It is basically a wide mouth jar with a metal coil in it.  It has been years since I last cleaned it!  The paint residue gunk had risen so high that it was almost above the coil.  It was mostly wet gunk and not enough usable odorless thinner.  

I went outside, got a rag from the garage and dumped the gunk out. I used a palette knife and scrapped out all that I could and then wiped it clean with paint thinner.  Well, the gunk and dirty rags were all contained in one pile that I later put in a plastic bag and tied shut. But this is hazardous waste. I need to take it to the hazardous waste disposal facility and explain to them what it is.  Now here is the tricky part........

When my husband retired from the Coast Guard, we retired all the white underwear to the rag bin.  They make great rags ..........  even the tightie whities ....... Except I never put them in my paint box or else they end up out with me when I go plein aire painting.  That is embarrassing when you are talking with someone who has approached you and you reach for your rag to wipe your brush. Your tightie whitie that is.  Talking and gesturing with my hands as I do when I talk, with a tightie whitie waving around..........  a dirty tightie whitie........... Not pleasant.  So, they are for home use only.

Back to the hazardous waste.............  I have a bag full of diry tightie whitie rags to drop off at the hazardous waste facility............... oh joy......... I have some explaining to do.........