Blog Hop!

Thinking

18 x 24

Oil on Canvas

I do love painting my daughter in law, Marissa.  She is kind enough to pose for me quite often...this is one of a series I am doing of her.  

I have been invited by CJ Holt Roughton to participate in a global blog hop.  Click on CJ's name to visit her blog.  Part of the task is to answer a few questions. 

What I am working on, how I work, and why do I create what I do.

I like to tell stories with my artwork.  I feel my pieces are to be read.  One of the stories I am working on is my visions of military life.  As a military brat, and army wife and mother to an Air Force pilot I have many memories to tell.  I want to let the civilian world know a little bit about military life...the trials tribulations but also the good times.  It is an amazing way to live.

My creative process involves working on multiple projects at a time.  I usually have 4 or 5 paintings in various stages.  I begin with a concept and then flesh it out with models and props.  I paint from life or take photographs until the composition works then I begin sketching.  I sketch to get a feel for where everything is in the composition.  It is much easier to paint a composition after I have sketched it a few times.  Through classes with Elizabeth Floyd I learned to do thumbnail sketches to check my compositions   When I believe I have the best composition possible and I feel the story will unfold as the viewer's eyes travel across the canvas I can begin to paint.  When I think I am done set the painting aside for a week or so and then check it again for any changes.  

So the Blog hop continues with Linda Collins and her fabulous blog http://www.dogfaceartwork.com/blog.  

and none other than Michael Bennett Hock (yes...he is my son) and his fabulous blog badshakespeare.blogspot.com

So enjoy the blog hop!