Happy New Year!

In just a few minutes 2008 will be over and 2009 will begin. I'm sitting at my computer and listening to fireworks outside and praying nothing catches on fire with the drought we have been in.

2009 should be an interesting year to say the least, what with a new president, the economy problems, wars and rumors of wars. As the sun sets on 2008 and rises on 2009 I pray for our country and its leadership, for the economy to straighten itself out without much more governmental interference, I pray that we all are able to keep our jobs and homes and put food on our tables. I pray for our troops both at home and abroad. I pray for peace in Israel. I pray for innocent lives lost in battle. I thank God for all that I have been blessed with - that includes you reading my blog.

Happy New Year!

A Texas Sunset
12" x 10" (30.5cm x 25.4cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

The True Meaning of Christmas

It's hard not to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. Stress can mount as we attempt to buy the perfect gift, or decorate the house, or fix the perfect Christmas dinner, or host the perfect Christmas party, or try to deal with spending another holiday by yourself. In all the rush, we often forget exactly why we celebrate Christmas - so please take a few minutes to read these words from the New American Standard Bible on the true reason we celebrate.

Luke 2
Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem
1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."
16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20 The shepherds went back, (glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.


I hope as you go about your day, whether you are spending it with family, friends, or a quite evening alone, you will ponder these words and remember we have been given the most perfect gift - Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Merry CHRISTmas everyone! God Bless!

Portrait of Angela in Progress

I've been working on this commission for a couple of weeks on and off and thought I'd go ahead and share it with you. Angela is the security guard where I work. She is a very hard working and talented woman. Besides working as security guard, she has her own Christian radio talk show in the afternoons and sings too. She is very involved with her church and community. I've enjoyed getting to know her.

This is a crop of the 11"x14" pastel on velour. I just scanned the middle of the portrait to post. I still have lots of bead work to do on her hat and suit - right now it is just the underpainting on that part. She saw it the other day and was thrilled with it so far.

Sister Hallelujah - Angela

Who Me? - Different Strokes From Different Folks Challenge

I wasn't sure I'd get this done in time to participate in Karin Jurick's challenge this time for Different Strokes From Different Folks. I wasn't sure it was going to work either - putting the puppy in the composition. It was a job to get the puppy like what I imagined in my head and considering I didn't have one photo like this pose it may not be true to life. I had several different photos of dogs of all ages and a couple of breeds - nothing like making it hard on myself is there?

Oh I hate when that happens - I hit enter and it makes my post - sorry about that!


Here is my version of Karin's challenge - Who Me? I think he looks like he has been caught at his favorite pastime.

Who Me?
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 28.0cm)
Pastel on Velour
$300 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Hydrangeas in Shadow and Light - Different Strokes from Different Folks

I started working on a commission today and needed a break so I thought I'd do a quick study of Karin Jurick's challenge this week in her blog Different Strokes from Different Folks.

It didn't turn out too bad - it would make a wonderful Christmas gift for someone special.

Hydrangeas in Shadow and Light
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer by Mary Fairchild

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.

We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.

For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
For joy and health, friends and family,

For daily provision, Your mercy and care
These are the blessings You graciously share.

So today we offer this response of praise
With a promise to follow You all of our days.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! God Bless.

2008 Christmas Card - The Lord Is My Shepherd

I know it isn't Thanksgiving yet and here I am featuring my 2008 Christmas Card but I have a good reason. I thought last year's card would be hard to follow - I love that donkey - but this one holds an extra special meaning for me and featuring it before Thanksgiving is very appropriate.

The 23rd Psalm is one of the first Bible verses I memorized as a child and much to my mother's surprise I did a little presentation during vacation bible school with felt figures on a board while reciting the Bible verse.

Today it is even more special to me. You see I have a very dear friend at work who has been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in August. It's not curable. It is a very elusive cancer as they can't determine where it started and is pretty much throughout his body. He was given 6 months to live. He is only 36, married and has a 5 year old son. In fact he commissioned me to draw a portrait of him and his son a year or so ago for his wife as present. He is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, hard worker, family man - all around good guy.

As you can imagine his life has been turned upside down. He has lost 75 pounds in just a couple of months. He has gone through radiation and is currently still going through chemo and with all its bad side effects and has really had a hard time with it. They have told him the doses they are giving him are three times the normal amount they usually give someone. He told me that when he feels like he can't go on, or the pain gets too bad, or when he gets down he prays the 23rd Psalm over and over. Saying that prayer has given him much comfort when nothing else has.

Friday he called to tell me the results of his CT scan. The good news shows that the cancer has stabilized! The bad news is the doctors have started him on another regimen of chemo more potent than what he has been going through already. My heart ached for him. Happy for the good news but I knew he was dreading this new chemo round more than ever. However, he still remains positive and in his words "is continuing the fight."

I have been praying for a miracle - specifically for him to go into remission but I'm oh so thankful for this small miracle and that his cancer has stabilized!

So you see, I'm dedicating this Christmas card to my friend and figured Thanksgiving isn't such a bad time to feature it after all.
To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

The Blue Door is Back - Version 3

I just couldn't leave well enough alone - OK. This painting has been bugging me - a lot! After making the alterations in the second version it looked too plain to me - as if it needed something. So logically. . . I added chickens.

The second version doesn't exist any more - but I have chickens now and I think I like it better. The chickens aren't quite as red as they appear here but they are Rhode Island Reds.

The Blue Door
8" x 10" (20.4cm x 25.4cm)
Pastel on Velour
$75 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

I promise I won't be adding any more to this - the tooth of the paper is almost full and probably won't take much more pastel. I really am finished this time.

The Blue Door - New, Different Improved???

After some critiques on the Blue Door in another forum I took the piece I had done and redid it somewhat. The Blue Door showing here no longer exists. I took out the fountain, the bird, the rock border, the grassy area and added some shadows and lights. I hope it works because I'm done!

City Walker aka Upside Down Walker

This is another of Karin Jurick's challenges on Different Strokes From Different Folks. We were given a photo reference with instructions to paint the painting upside down - well at least 90% of it anyway. So that is what I did! I didn't stand on my head or anything like that - just turned my reference upside down and painted. I did sketch the woman out upside down before blocking in the color color upside down but it was quite fun. I found I wasn't too concerned with what I was painting - just the shape.

Actually in the past, I've turned my graphite drawings upside down from time to time to see if I had gotten all the details or to see where I was off but I've never painted something from the start upside down.

I'm fairly pleased with the way it turned out except for the face. My velour board is only 5"x7" so the face is pretty small - couldn't get the nose and shape of the face with my fat pastel sticks so guess what - a gust of wind blew her hair in her face! I also changed the shadow a bit because in the reference photo it looked like she might have x-ray vision the with way the light appeared to be coming from her glasses and it creeped me out so I moved it. It's great to be an artist!

These challenges of Karin's are just that for me - a challenge. They are usually not subjects that I would paint but I'm learning something with each one and enjoying doing something different. Thanks Karin!

The Blue Door

This is the results of a challenge on Wet Canvas by Jo Castillo. Jo had come out to the art club I belong to, Artists of the South Corridor, and did a pastel demo for us. She is a really neat lady, talented too. I started following her blog and saw beautiful photo she had posted of a blue door for the southwest challenge on Wet Canvas. I had to do it. So here it is.

I'm not sure I'm finished but wanted to post it. I'll put a price on it in a day or two when I've decided I'm through painting.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Multicultural Artists Partnership Holiday Exhibition

If you are in the Austin area, please be sure to stop by the Real Gallery on 2824 Real Street in Austin. I will be participating in the Multicultural Artists Partnership Holiday Exhibition. All work will be for sale.

The exhibition opens on Saturday, November 15 from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm and runs through Sunday, November 16 from noon to 4:30 pm. There is a reception on Saturday, November 15 from 1:00 - 5:00 pm. Admission and parking are free.

It will be a great way to start your holiday shopping, meet some local artists and enjoy some live jazz music.

One Nation Under God! Original Pastel

Karin Jurick gave us another challenge on Different Strokes from Different Folks - the Capitol of the United States. Another complicated and detailed subject matter that is kind of out of my comfort zone. I knew if I was going to participate in this I had to simplify it so as not to drive myself crazy with all the details - so the stars and stripes aren't perfect - the building may even be leaning a little, it may not have all the windows and doors in the right place - but I like it. As I was looking at the reference picture this image came into my mind. This has taken about 3 hours to do - it's very sketchy compared to what I normally do but that is intentional.

One Nation Under God!
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.4cm)
Pastel on Velour Board
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

I've entitled this "One Nation Under God!" I started to write a long post about the direction our country is going and the reason for the troubles we are seeing but it basically comes down to this:

Our nation, the United States of America, was founded by people who believed in God. "In God We Trust" they said. I believed God has blessed this nation for believing in Him and we need to get back to the basics - "One Nation Under God!" It sure would solve a lot of the problems we have today.

Moo Cows! - An Original Pastel and a Graphite

Moo!
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Another challenge from Karin Jurick on her Different Strokes from Different Folks. I enjoy these challenges, however I didn't participate in the last one. I couldn't make myself do the Wall Street scene for some reason. Too stressful I think - thinking about all that is happening these days. This cow was much more relaxing to do - an escape if you will.

I've only done one other bovine, a longhorn in graphite. It is one of my early pieces in graphite. If you look closely somewhere on the steer there is the state of Texas, with Austin and some of the major highways.

Lone Star Pride
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 28.0cm)
Graphite on Fine Art Paper
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Maybe I'll try the longhorn in pastel at some point - it would lend itself to pastels very nicely.

A West Yellowstone Grizzly Bear - Original Pastel

In June I went to West Yellowstone for an art workshop and at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center there is a pair of sibling grizzly bears living together there. It's unfortunate they have to live in confinement but it is actually a pretty nice place and given the alternative they have it pretty good.

I was able to take quite a few pictures of both of them. They were usually wrestling and playing bear games but I had a couple of shots of this one bear looking directly at me. It wasn't really threatening - just made me aware that he was aware that he knew I was there looking at him. I went there several days, one day it was even snowing. Each day though the bear would look directly at me.

The Stare
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

My Preference - What's Yours?

I know most of you probably visit as many blogs as I do - or more - and have your favorites as far as content and the way they are displayed. I know I do.

For those of you who have your blog settings set when someone makes a comment a popup window appears - thank you very much! I love this feature. I love it so much because I can still see the posting, piece of art, make sure I'm commenting correctly on what was posted. I like to look at the painting/drawing while I'm commenting. I like the easy access to the posting. In my opinion it is just so much nicer - easier - more user friendly.

Maybe y'all are more efficient when using the other format - where the comment form takes up the entire screen - than I am. I, however, invariably have to go back and take another look at the art or re-read a certain sentence in the post or something - it's just not as user friendly in my opinion. Maybe the popup blocker is the reason the full screen format is used but I'd so much rather turn the "popups okay" button on than have to go back and forth when making my comments. I'm so bad about it I sometimes opt out of making a comment rather than going back and forth which isn't good.

So I was just wondering if you have the same preference or is this something that I'm being a bit picky about? And, out of curiosity, if you use the full screen comment window - why? I'm relatively new to blogging so I don't want to miss something I should be doing for a reason I am unaware of.

Treasures in the Water - Original Pastel

Today Susan Carlin painted from a Wet Canvas photo reference on Ustream and several of us who watched decided to paint our version too. You can see mine as well as the others on Susan's blog soon - be sure to check them out.

I had a lot of fun painting this pastel with all the colors of the sea. I hope you enjoy it too.

Treasures in the Water
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm)
Pastel on Velour
$150 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park Chicago - Original Pastel

Well Karin Jurick has done it again with a challenge for all of us artist! When I first saw "The Bean" after Karin posted the reference picture, I just stared at it wondering what in the world had landed but soon became intrigued. I haven't been to Chicago's Millennium Park to see "Cloud Gate" created by British artist Anish Kapoor in person, but from the photos it looks spectacular! There should be some interesting takes on this week's challenge - be sure to take a look.

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park Chicago
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Ghost Pumpkins - Original Pastel ACEO

Ghost Pumpkins - ACEO Card
2 1/2" x 3 1/2" (6.4cm x 8.9cm)
Pastel on Kitty Wallis
$45 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Ghost Pumpkins is my version of Karin Jurick's miniature white pumpkins she posted for Different Strokes from Different Folks on Wednesday. Be sure to check out her blog - it is fun to see how different artists paint the same thing and even more fun to participate.

This is my first attempt at an ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) card. It's a lot smaller than what I'm used to working on 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". That's pretty small and I worked pretty loose - at least for me! It is also on Kitty Wallis paper, not my usual velour. It was quite a different feeling to work on. There is a lot of dust using the sanded paper but I do like some of the effects that you can't get on velour. I'm sure I'll try the paper again on something bigger.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Sunday Morning Paper - Pastel

The is another of Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks. I had a whole lot of fun painting this - hope you like it. Check out Karin's blog - you'll love seeing all the different interpretations of the same reference picture.

Sunday Morning Paper
8" x 10" (20.4cm x 25.4cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

You can check out the rest of my art on my website at http://www.karenhargettfineart.com/

Samantha - Original pastel

This is my sweet cat Samantha.

She came into my life about five or six years ago. Someone had dumped her out in the country near where I lived. She was only two months old when I found her during one extremely cold November living under my house.

I happen to be allergic to cats but couldn't resist her sweet face looking at me through my French doors. After all these years, she is still very shy of people but is gradually coming around. She follows me around the house everywhere, in fact right now she is asleep on the pillow at my feet.

Up until a few months ago she slept in the 2nd bathroom at night. In the beginning, that is where I used to keep her at night because she was so wild. It became such a habit though when it was time to go to bed she would meow and walk me to her bathroom and sit and wait for me to close the door. Now, however, she has finally stopped batting the blinds and running around like a crazy feline in the middle of the night and she sleeps quietly on my bed, between my legs.

She also has just recently has realized how nice it is to be petted and insists on being petted for a couple of minutes as soon as I sit down at the computer. I actually think it is because she doesn't have to compete with Sassy, my Cairn Terrier, at that time. Sassy occupies my lap most of the time when I'm just sitting on my love seat doesn't really give Samantha a chance to do the same. That never really bothered Sam before but I think she is learning she has been missing out on a few things from the looks I have been getting from her occasionally when Sassy is getting my attention. She is such a sweet cat and it is good to see her finally coming into her own.

Over the weekend Samantha let me take some photos of her and this pastel is a result of one of those poses she did for me.

Samantha
4" x 4" (10.2cm x 10.2cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Yellowstone's Lower Falls - Original Pastel

As you may know, I went to Yellowstone in June and had a wonderful time sightseeing. One of the sights that was most spectacular was Yellowstone's Lower Falls. It was breathtaking! Here is my interpretation of the Lower Falls from one of the photos I took.

Yellowstone's Lower Falls Original Pastel
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.4cm)
Pastel on Velour
$300 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

This may also be purchased as a limited edition of 200 giclée print.

Yellowstone's Lower Falls Limited Edition Pastel
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.4cm)
Pastel on Giclée Print
$75 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Fly By on Rehoboth Beach

Fly By
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.4cm)
Pastel on Velour
$100 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

Karin Jurick has started this wonderful Different Strokes from Different Folks blog where she posts a reference picture each Wednesday and artists submit their interpretations of the reference to her and she posts them. It is a lot of fun and great to see how so many artist can paint from the same reference and come up with so many wonderfully different pieces. Thanks Karin - what a great idea!

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

All My Ducks in a Row - Pastel Giclée Print

All My Ducks in a Row
17" x 6" (43.2cm x 15.3cm)
Pastel on Giclée Print on Acid Free Paper
$35 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

I love these ducks. I believe they are Cinnamon Teals but not absolutely sure. It is one of my favorite pastels. The original sold almost immediately but beautiful giclée Open Edition prints are still available.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Running Wild - Graphite Giclée Print

Running Wild
11 3/4" x 7 3/4" (29.9cm x 19.7cm)
Graphite on Giclée Print on Acid Free Paper
$35 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

This is a giclée print of an original graphite pencil I did of my horse Billy Bob. A couple of years ago I took this reference picture of him when I had just finished giving him a bath and he was feeling his oats. He often reminds me of a wild mustang in attitude and from time to time even in his looks. He is a bay Appaloosa but each year he has more and more white hair - he is 20 now. He definitely has that old west free spirit about him.

This is a beautiful piece and looks great framed with a nice simple white matte and black frame.

I Felt Crafty Today

I felt a little crafty today so decided to make a rain chain. Y'all know what a rain chain is right? Generally it goes on the eave of your roof where the rain ruins off and acts kind of like a down spout. I have this corner where the two pitches of my roof comes together and when it rains, since I don't have any gutters, it just really pours off there. I don't know how practical the rain chain is but I like the looks of it and the copper should patina nicely. I've seen some with little bells on it but I have a beautiful wind chime nearby and didn't really want to interfere with it.

So with this roll of copper tubing that I've had for a while I decide it was as good a time as any to make the rain chain. The plan was to make individual rings of copper of two different sizes but I didn't like the look of that so I did spirals and circles and hooked them together. I had a 2" PVC pipe and just started wrapping it around that to give it nice curves. Some I wrapped tighter than others. Then I used a pipe cutting tool to cut different lengths of links and pliers to hook the links together. It was harder to work with than I thought it would be but I kind of like it.

Since I have left over tubing I may make another one, only shorter, to hang out near my bird feeders just to be decorative and give the birds something else to perch on.

I'll let y'all know if it really works or if it is just a crazy piece of yard art.

A Stand of Aspens - Pastel Original

I started this pastel a week or so ago and didn't get very far on it and had set it aside. I almost tossed it out but tonight felt the urge to work on something and picked it up again.

I find when scanning pastels the scanner really doesn't do the colors justice. It could be my scanner as it is ancient, or the pastels since they have such a reflective quality about them, or both. I replaced the scanned picture I had posted with a photo that represents the colors better.

I think what I like about aspens as much as their leaves in the fall is the bark. It has such wonderful texture and subtle colors about it year round. This happens to be in the spring.

This original pastel is 8" x 10" on velour paper. I used Rembrandt soft pastels and Carb Othellow pastel pencils.

I Received the Brillante Weblog Award from Barb Pask

It has taken me a little while, but I haven’t forgotten that Bark Pask tagged me with the Brillante Weblog Award. This is very much like Tag. It helps us to become familiar with previously undiscovered blogs. How neat is that?! There are so many talented people doing such wonderful things I am truly amazed every time I visit a new blog – it is inspiring!

Any way, thanks Barb for the award and bringing to my attention to other bloggers I haven’t seen before!

So the rules are that if the persons receiving the award decides to participate, they must:
1 - Put the logo on their blog
2 - Add a link to the person who gave them the award
3 - Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4 - Add links to those blogs on yours
5 - Leave a message on each of the blogs nominated.These are my nominations and are included in my links, some may know me but others may not but I admire their art and visit their blogs often:

1. Marsha Robinett
2. Karen Margulis
3. Cindy Haase
4. Kendra Ferreira
5. Jennifer Bellinger
6. Diane Wright
7. Laurie McGinley

I hope you all enjoy reading these blogs - they are truly very talented artists.

Water Pearls - Pastel

This is another pastel that I did last year. I really like how the water pools on the lillypads. The pricing for the original is below, however If you are interested in a giclée print let me know.

Water Pearls
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 28.0cm)
Pastel on Velour
$260 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Primal Scream - Pastel Original

Primal Scream
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 28.0cm)
Pastel on Velour
$300 plus $10 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Great Art DVD and Video Resource

I don't know if you are aware of SmartFlix or not but they rent art and craft DVDs and videos on-line. It is a great way to see if the DVD you thought about buying is what you wanted or not as they can be pretty expensive to purchase.

Most DVDs are $9.99 and you return it after a week in a postage free cardboard mailer that it came in. They provide you with the address label and even the little tape sealers for the mailer. How convenient is that?!

I did have to be put on a waiting list since they only had a limited number of copies but it was well worth it. I just spent the afternoon watching Richard Schmid Paints the Landscape White Pines. I plan to rent more - it was a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Finished! Done! It's off the easel!

OK - I've played with this one enough. I've taken it off the easel because every time I walk by it I do something else to it. Add more reflections, take the reflections out, add more rocks, take the rocks out, add more color, less color, darker colors, lighter colors. More. . . Less. . .More. . .Less.

LOL - I've had fun working on it and I'm still trying to figure out how to do reflections and submerged rocks but I'm getting there. All in all I think it looks better than the first post. There are pieces of the other posts I like better but as a whole I'm happy - at least until I walk by it again but I'm finished this time ;-)

8" x 6" Mountain River Landscape Oil on linen cavas panel

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Final? Final? Mountain Stream Landscape

8" x 6" Oil Landscape

I've worked a bit more on this painting - flattened out the water so it's not going up hill on the side LOL and put some of the red and yellow reflection in the water. I kept going to a lot of reflection to less and this is what I came up with . I also added more rocks on the banks. I hope it is pleasing and not over done. Your comments & critiques are welcome.

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Mountain River Landscape - Final??

I couldn't help myself - I had to do something about the sky and mountain in the background. Then of course one thing prompted another thing - I worked on the water. I think I like it - how about you?

8" x 6" Oil on Canvas Panel

To see more of my work please visit my website Karen Hargett Fine Art

Mountain River Landscape

Saturday I painted with a friend of mine. It was enjoyable. She is an accomplished oil painter and kept me encouraged.
I started this one while I was there and made good progress on it until I came home and then proceeded to mess it up. So I just wiped it off and started again. This is the results. I tried to get a good reflection - hopefully I succeeded. It was a really rocky river bed and I wanted to submerge some of the rocks but I'm still trying to figure out how to get the look of transparent water.

Don't be shy about critiquing my oil painting or offering suggestions - that is one of the ways I learn. I see a lot wrong with it, the sky and mountain are rather blah and may be too cold and doesn't create the depth I had wanted, the trees could be more defined with lights and darks but I see some improvements too so all is not lost. I may still work on this but for now I'm letting it sit for a little while.

It is 8"x6" oil on a canvas panel.

To see more of my work please visit Karen Hargett Fine Art

Pool Balls Finished!

I've finally finished the pool balls painting! There are still things that I could probably spend time on and fix but if truth be told I'm tired of working on it and the person I'm giving it to will be happy with it as is - so I'm calling it finished. I would have liked to have done this looser and may try to do this or a version of it again in a much looser style of painting but I can say that I'm pleased with it the way it is. Ha - looking at it on screen I may correct that highlight on ball #1 - does it ever end? I had a bit of trouble with the numbers as you can tell - they are pretty rough but they will have to do.

My favorite ball is #10.

I find the hardest thing is painting wet on wet. Did anyone else have that problem when you just started oils? What is the secret? I did paint with thinner paint but still in critical areas where I didn't want color to mix when I was painting wet on wet they would mix.

I've found my favorite two brushes so far - at least for this painting. They are Dick Blick's Masterstroke pure sable filbert size 6 and flat size 6.

Any way that is it for this one. I'll let you know how she likes it.

I'm Still Painting

I'm still painting - trying to get the pool balls round and the proper size. I thought I was closer than I am but I can see after stepping away the red and white ball in the front on the left is way out of shape, the yellow one is the too small, the orange and white stripe one needs a bit of adjusting on the stripe and may be too large, then there is the yellow and white one. . .well I guess they all need a bit of adjusting but I'm getting there! That is the most important part - I'm getting there!I'm going to let it dry a bit tonight and start again tomorrow but I thought I'd give you an update. If you see anything that bothers you let me know.

The Art y Pico Award

This month I was honored by Marsha Robinett awarding my blog The Art y Pico Award. This is indeed a pleasure and made even more special to be selected by Marsha whom I admire very much. She is one who never fails to inspire me daily with her art, blog and creative ideas. Thanks Marsha!

I would like to pass this award on to five other artist blogs that have inspired me with what they do every day. I’m sure you will enjoy their blogs as much as I do. Some of these artists may know me and others may not but that doesn’t lessen the admiration I have for these folks in their creativity as artists and bloggers.

Virginia Vaughan
Sharon Wright
Gayle Mason
Karen Winters
Pattie Wall

FYI...The Origin of The Art y Pico Award and Rules if you choose to accept.

You might be interested in the origin of the "Art y Pico Award" The designer of the award puts it like this..."The Arte y Pico Award has arisen from the daily visits that I make to many blogs which nourish and enrich me with creativity. In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain and enrich me day to day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few.

The Rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.

3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.

4. Show these rules and the paragraph (above) explaining the awards origination.

Thanks again Marsha and to the five artists I have chosen. . . cheers!

New Painting!

After watching Susan Carlin paint on Sunday afternoon on ustream and getting a great "pep talk" from her I decided to pick up my brushes once again.

Susan was painting a great looking dog. I didn’t try that - sorry. Instead I thought I’d try to paint some pool balls as a gift for a friend at work who will be retiring after 29 years. She plays pool a lot and from what I understand she is very good. I had at first thought of doing them in pastels but then decided this might be a good one to try painting and if it didn’t turn out I would still have time to turn out a quick pastel.


I'm actually excited about this one - it doesn't look half bad so far. I had at first started focusing in on the highlights - there were some pretty cool, detailed, highlights but then took a deep breath and just did a full brush stroke instead and I was OK with how it looked! I'm not finished - I need to get the shape and sizes of the balls correct - especially on the second row - but was so pleased with how it is going I thought I'd share.

What Was I Thinking?!

I don't know what I was thinking when a short while back I made a commitment to paint 100 small oil paintings before the end of the year!

I'm realizing now that may have been a rash statement and a stretch for me to accomplish. In fact my goal was probably off a bit in more ways than one. I want to learn how to paint with oils - to paint really well with oils. More often than not, I've been frustrated with the way the paintings have been turning out - so much so, I haven't even bothered to post them and the whole process has left me rather deflated and questioning everything. That isn't a good creative place to be in.

My art has always been a source of joy for me and I don't want that to change and I was getting bogged down in what I wasn't accomplishing - the 100 paintings. It was making me crazy! So instead of agonizing over the commitment and struggling, I'm going to get back to pastels and graphite on a regular basis and concentrate on doing those really well. Then look around to see about taking some oil painting classes, find a good "how to book" and/or mentor and do the oils on the side, as a hobby so to speak - at least until I get better. Any suggestions on good books etc. let me know.

So after re-thinking what I was thinking, I sat down and did this little pastel, similar to the one oil I tried to do, and I feel so much better now.

The Hay Field

8" x 6" Original Pastel

$100

Wet Canvas Carrier

I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity to use this little trick for carrying wet canvases Virginia Vaughan taught me but it is brilliant. She devised it when she was traveling and didn't have her wet canvas carrier with her.

It's kind of like that old TV show MacGyver. You know, where Mac cleverly escapes the villains by using whatever he had in his pocket, usually his Swiss Army knife, a piece of chewing gum and well you get the idea. I don't know if Virginia had her Swiss Army knife but she did have a blank canvas, clips and some rubber bands.

First you put the clips on all four corners of your painting.

Then you place a blank canvas, face down over the wet canvas. It rests nicely on the clips. I didn't unwrap my canvas for this demonstration but it doesn't have to be wrapped. I would imagine even another dry painting would work well too.

Then you secure the canvases together with rubber bands.

And there you have it a wet canvas carrier - thanks Virginia!

THE DRAWING. . .details & notes

Breaking Point

Limited Edition of 200

Giclée Print

$75

17" x 13"

"Breaking Point" happens to be one of my favorite pastels. While drawing it my goal was to describe the powerful of the pull of the tide as the wave is formed and then capture it again as it begins to fall apart and crashes on the rocks. The color of the water was important for me to get exactly right also so that the beauty of the watery blues and greens of the ocean came across well. The velour paper helped me to describe this beautiful drawing. It lends itself well to the pure pigments of pastels. I used mostly Rembrandt soft pastels but Conte sticks were used as well in this drawing.

Looking at it I can almost smell salt in the air and feel the spray on my face - can't you?

The original is no longer available - it has been sold - but I do still have some of the limited edition giclée prints if you are interested. You can go to my website to order or send me an email.

Mountain River - Tweaked

Mountain River
7"x5" Oil on Canvas Panel

I made a few tweaks to the river - added a bit more color so it doesn't look so flat. I think it looks better.

Painting #6 - Mountain River

Mountain River

7"x5" Oil on Canvas Panel

Here is my 6th painting. I actually feel pretty good about this one. I used a palette knife on the rocks and I really like the texture it gave them. On this one I concentrated more on painting shapes instead of trying to get in a lot of detail.

New Look for My Blog

I decided I wanted a new look for my blog and they make it so easy to do. I was tired of the tan background. I like this one better - hope you do too.

#5 - The Last Bale

Here is painting number 5 entitled The Last Bale. It is 7x5 on a plein air canvas panel. Actually there were to be at least 3 bales but couldn't get the ones in the distance like I liked them so. . .it became The Last Bale.

I'm not sure if I'm finished or not. I need to decide with these 100 paintings if I'm going to just paint one in one sitting and call it finished or if I'm going to allow my eye for the details to drive me crazy and try to figure out how fix each one - that could take forever since I can find a lot that I'd like to change with each one I've done so far.

There is a lot to learn with oils and I must confess I didn't think it was going to be so hard for me. My hats off to all you oil painters out there!

Roots - # 4 - Finished?

I was hoping I would be finished with this tonight but after I saw it on screen I saw a few places I wanted to fix. Funny how that happens isn't it? I'll do those later but I'll go ahead and post last night's work and this evenings though and call it finished for all practical purposes.

This didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped but it's not too bad. Once I fix a couple of spots I'll feel better about it.

I don't know if I mentioned it or not but this is a 5x7 on a plein air linen canvas panel.

Update 7/18/08: Here is the actual final.