Saturday, July 31, 2010

Workshop in Fairfield

Yes.....no mistake with the photo posted. This is my son playing in Vegas a few weeks ago. I just had to post it here. I'm very pleased that my children are following there passions and wanted to share what they're doing here.

That stated......just giving an update on the latest workshop that was held July 29th and 30th in Fairfield, IA. I had a wonderful time and the students were eager to explore the world of Pastel. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the workshop to share with everyone.

Next Outdoor show I'm participating in is coming up in a few weeks. August 28th in Albia, IA. I'll be posting new works that I plan to have for sale at this show.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

At Marshalltown, IA Show


Click image to enlarge
Here's a photo of my daughter,Mika Sorak, at the Lin Creek Arts Festival. She was set up two booths away from where I was. I'm excited that she's embraced her passion to create and has come up with some interesting pieces of work. My favorite are the newest item.....Flower bells. I call them Fairy bells. I think that's what she calls the small ones.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Iris in a Bottle

Click on image to enlarge
11.5"x8.5" Soft Pastel on LaCarte pastel paper
Finished this yesterday while @ Iron & Lace, Bentonsport, IA. The Iris was one of many from the flower bed just outside the store. It was put in water and sat on the front desk for a few days. I decided to keep the background and items around the Iris out of focus. It was a busy scene with the candyball machines behind the Iris and glass lamp/papers beside the bottle. The color of the flower was definitely the show stopper.
Taking this painting to show in Marshalltown, IA this weekend. It's Sunday - "Linn Creek Art Festival" 10am to 5pm held at the Fisher Community Center in Marshalltown.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Bloomfield, IA 1st Plein Air event


Here's a group shot of the artwork created by 5 artists yesterday at our first official "Plein Air" event held in Davis Co., IA. Artists that live in a 50 mile radius of Bloomfield, IA participated in this year's activities. Most area artists that wanted to be involved sent letters of regret that they couldn't participate..........a busy weekend everywhere with today being the 4th of July.
Click on image to enlarge.........the small oil on the piano is my work.
I helped with setting up the days activities . We had a generous donor of money and the funds were used to give a cash prize to a competition we decided to hold. We had the public VOTE for their favorite art creation while artists were painting around the square. It created an opportunity to have the public involved instead feeling more like bystanders in the days event. Every artist was given a number and when they completed a work, we had a general area we sat finished creations so those individuals that didn't vote while witnessing the works in progress were able to vote without knowing who the artist was. It was interesting to watch and hear the comments of those voting.
We're planning to make a "Plein Air" event an annual affair for Davis Co. I think the date will be changed and we're considering the idea of picking a new location in the county for every year. I'm excited to see the variety of work artists create using the locations in the county.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Southern IA Landscape

Size: 4"x6"~ Soft Pastel on Wallis Pastel Paper
I'm beginning to like the Wallis paper for creating pastel paintings. (It really does feel like sand paper) I like the way it holds the pastel and I'm not spraying fixitive on these small art pieces. I've been really shaking them and banging them back and forth on the inside of my trash can to shake off the access pastel dust. Amazing how little comes off after such violent shaking. I figure, they'll hold up to all the moving around I do going to outside art shows. I've been creating small 4"x6" pastel paintings all week while in Bentonsport, IA. Some leave my easel and find new owners before I get the chance to record them with my digital camera.