Bentonsport - Opening Day!

April 16th was 2016 Opening Day for the retail businesses in Bentonsport, IA. 

 (B & B's stay open year around.)  I plan to have the "Parlor Room Studio" open on as many Saturday's as possible this year.  The only reason for it not being open to the public 10-4pm would be do to workshops, other art related commitments, or a family emergency.

The Herman Greef House is located on Sanford St. in Bentonsport.  The street is the first road East of the downtown retail businesses. (a few feet from the last business along the strip in front of the Des Moines River....walking distance from all feature locations in Bentonsport) The brick home faces the Mason House Inn, Bed & Breakfast.  

Here's a shot of the main room.  I'm standing at the front door so this is the first thing you see when walking into the Herman Greef House.  The artwork and display panels here will always be changing.  So, we're hoping people will come back often to see updates.

 Here's artist MaryBeth Heikes working in the studio on a new Poppies collage. She plans to work at the studio at least 2 Saturdays a month so she may share her inspirations and techniques with others.  She has original artwork, prints, and some notecards available for purchase in the main room.  MaryBeth is also a member of the Co-op Gallery in Bentonsport.  

......and here I am posing in front of some of the originals I have in the main room at the moment.  These are a mix of "Plein Air" oil paintings of Bentonsport and a couple of Soft Pastel works .

The next date the Parlor Room Studio is open to the public is May 7th, 10-4pm.  

Bosom Buddies

5"x 7"  Oil on board

Here's a photo of the still life set up.  The highlights on the velvet fabric was amazing.

Now seeing the two snap shots together, I see subtle changes I'd make in certain areas of the painting.  Ah.....there's always room for improvement.

"Kitchen Friends "

Oil on 8"x 10" panel

Here's more photos of what I've been working on with my students at the Courtyard Gallery & Studio, Bloomfield Iowa 

We go back & forth from working from photos as reference material to challenging students to set up still life arrangements.  

I'm hoping to get more Plein Air painting in this year with the oil painting class.

Lammert paint box test

I'm so excited to announce my Lammert Paint box can handle wind gusts up to 30-40mph.  I had not tested it before & decided to go out in our backyard this afternoon to see what would happen.

Weather app on my phone said we were experiencing wind at 23 mph with gusts being 44mph.  Hanging my carrying bag from the back leg of the tripod helped with keeping the set up stable.  Nothing moved!

The Sun disappeared for awhile, making the temp drop significantly.  I'm going to finish the painting from inside the house now.  I wasn't dressed to stay outdoors for very long.

We're back in production with making the paint box & easel.  If anyone is interested in purchasing our paint box set, please send a comment on this post.  I'll answer as soon as I can.

Mother/Daughter Show

Here's Mika Sorak , my daughter, and I at the opening of our show titled 

"Earth and Sky"  now showing at 

Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, IA 

The show is from Feb 1st to March 10th and is open to the public 

Monday-Thursday 7:15am to 8:30pm

Friday - Saturday  10am to 5pm

Sunday 3:30-10pm

These are the same hours as the IHCC's library.

Below are pictures I took before the reception began on Feb.1st.   Enjoy!

My Grandson Nevan had to pose! He's in the painting to the left.  He hung out all evening with Mom and Grandma.

I didn't post all the photos I took thinking you get the jest of the show.  

I especially like this last one.  I'm so thankful that Mika and I are close.  I used to drag her to the outdoor art shows I participated in. (This began when she was 10 yrs old)   As she puts it, she was cheap labor.  At the end of shows, she would barter my work with other artists for unique items. 

Now her son Nevan does the same thing with her.  She has taken up the outdoor show circuit through out the state of Iowa.  Her studio is known as "Thymelyglass Studio".. Mika started out in the Stained Glass industry.  She has been honored with  restoration of Tiffany windows and has worked with glass artists in Denver, CO and Phoenix, AZ.

This show was a GREAT way to start 2016.  Some of these paintings will be traveling to Clinton, IA for the one person show I have at their Art Center April 7th - May22nd.

Serenity

13"x 10"   Soft Pastel on panel

I've completed a few more oil paintings for the up coming exhibit in February, and now have switched to pastels as my medium to finish up paintings I want to have in this show.   Most the work I plan to have are as you see here.....my version of "Abstract Realism".

Details again about the show titled:  "Of Earth and Sky"

Metal artist, Mika Sorak and painter, Gin Lammert....together with their creations based on the titles theme.  Showing is from February 1st through March 10th at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Artist reception is Feb. 1st 7pm to 8:30pm in the Ottumwa campus art gallery....located at the end of the school's library.  The library and gallery was once the Sanctuary and Chapel of this beautiful campus when it belonged to an all Catholic college . IHCC purchased the campus and in 1985, transformed this part of the existing structures  into a top of the line art gallery where they host 7 different shows a year.  

If you are reading this....consider the message as a personal invite to join us during the artist reception.  If you can't make it to the opening, I hope you will have the opportunity to visit this show.  It will be open to the public the same hours as the campus library. 

 Monday - Thursday: 8am to 8:40pm / Sunday - 4;30pm to 9pm.   Thank You! 

Home work space....beginning of 2016

A couple of my painting friends have posted where their home working space is.  So, keeping with the groove of sharing....here's pictures of the current conditions of my home space.

First off, I actually use 2 different rooms in our small Bungalow style house.  We don't entertain at home, so this first picture is of the "Dining room" converted to work space.  I used to give individual art lessons here and could comfortably have 3 people.  No more!!!! 

 It's turned into STORAGE! 

I dug out my old metal easel and have it set up for a station to work on pastels.  The table to the right is our Parson style dining room table....covered with foamboard to protect the surface.

Here's a closer view of the Pastel workspace.

This is a NEW addition to the room.....I purchased a metal shelf rack (found it at a bargain for less then $20.) and added small round dowels the vertical length.  It's a GREAT space for wet canvases.  As you can see.....I've already filled a lot of it up with canvases yet to be painted.  On the right is a double stack of book shelves where I have art books, painting supplies and more paper for painting.

This is the opposite side where you see the dining room table with a shelf unit my daughter gifted me with.  I think it came out of a home that was being torn down. The original intent for it was to have nothing but still life objects stored here.  Currently, the table and shelves are a mix of supplies, files, and objects.  

This space has also become my "work-out" area for my Gazelle glider.  It was stored in our bedroom.  As you can see....it leans against the tall shelving unit when I don't use it.  

Having the exercise equipment here has motivated me to use it more....to get back into the habit of daily walking.  Too cold for me outside.

Next is the 2nd room....the other "bedroom" on the main floor of our home.  I had this all organized and a cover on the side of my drafting table - converted - to - framing - table.

Full sheet matboard and frames line the walls. This room is in the NW corner of the house and I usually leave the door closed to keep the cats out.  It does help a little with keeping the cat hair down.  Thus, the space heater in the foreground.....it gets chillier in here then the rest of the house.

My hubby didn't want to get rid of his old entertainment furniture so, as you can see here, it didn't take me long to fill it up with more "STUFF".

I purchased a nice Epson printer to create my own archival giclee note cards. It sits on the top along with primer paints, and other items I keep in reach ....handy for when framing.

And....last but not least, MY OFFICE :D

I took the doors off the bedroom closet and placed shelves and a desk here.  This is the spot for our home computer (where I'm typing now) and our paperwork for almost everything we need to keep track of.  

The window here faces the North.  I have soooooo fallen in love with working from this light  that I cleared out the corner and created a painting space here.  I work mostly with oils in this spot.

Now I've shared with you how I've taken over most the main floor of our home.  I also have space in our basement for painting large panels, a stained glass area with kiln that I haven't fired up yet, (it's been sitting 2 years now) and my husband builds my frames, so his woodworking area is housed down there too.

We have one big room upstairs which has now become a very large storage unit.  I have extra frames and boxes for putting finished work in up there.  

What was originally to be a minimalist "guest" room has now turned into a storage unit for ourselves and family members.  There are designated areas where our kids, a sister and nephew have keepsakes.  

I keep watching the "Tiny House" movement and see all these really cool spaces posted online.....thinking how neat this would be.  Our house is 750 sq ft per level and to be honest...I realize now how  a smaller space JUST WOULDN'T WORK!

I currently rent a room in Bentonsport so I can teach and work in that area of where we live (East of Pulaski).  I also give on going painting classes in my friends studio in Bloomfield.  It covers teaching to the West of Pulaski.  

The ideal,of course, would be to not travel so much and have an area large enough to accommodate everything from teaching,working, storage,.....Guess what?!.....WE HAVE A METAL BARN THAT NEEDS ATTENTION :D  It has a loft and would be so cool to create a 10' x 10' deck at the top to set on and paint Sunsets.  YES....I CAN DREAM !!!!!!