"Evening Song", mixed media on wood, 11"x14", FOR SALE

I finished this piece this morning and I just felt so good after completing it.  

I have had the wood piece for this for a couple of years now and have been working on and off on it.  I was never really sure what the vision was going to be for this piece.  I loved the colors that evoked nature and the forest but nothing spoke to me as the main subject or how I was going to pull it off.

I came across an idea somewhere to use colored netting in mixed media pieces.  I have used cheesecloth before but never netting.  I went and bought a few colors and found that it was fun to drape and work with.  

I have been wanting to complete some titmice paintings for awhile now and these two birds just fit the whole feel of the piece.  They were created on mixed media paper and I used Prismacolor pencils to complete them.

This piece is now available to purchase through Daily Paintworks. Click here to take a look.

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog!

Social Artworking

Soon I will start offering paint nights using paint and designs from Social Artworking.  I picked the designs from this particular company because I thought the designs were fun to do and look at.  I am available to do paint parties at your location.  Cost per participant will be $35.00 which includes all supplies.  If this is something that you are interested in doing with your friends, please contact me at lisabwiertel@gmail.com and we can talk further.  I have included some of the fall designs that I would like to offer.  I would love to know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by!

Williamsburg Plein Air Art Show 2017

Today I got to spend a relaxing day in Colonial Williamsburg.

The Williamsburg Celebrates Contemporary Art Show was this weekend along with the Plein Air Event sponsored by Williamsburg Housing Partnerships.  I had done the show once before about 2 years ago and it poured rain that day.  It was so rainy and humid that the acrylic paint on my canvas was taking a long time to dry.  That had never happened to me before.

After skipping last year, I thought I would do the show again but decided to use watercolors.  I have been playing around with watercolors a lot the past year especially when I am out "urban sketching". I bought some Derwent Inktense pencils and blended them with water and liked the effect.  It is fun to change up doing things every now and again and I am finding I am more satisfied artistically speaking if I allow myself to do multiple mediums.

I walked around Colonial Williamsburg the day before the event trying desperately to find inspiration for something to paint the next day.  Nothing really stood out for me although I did have some good ideas of places that I could go.

I got a horrible night's sleep the night before and as soon as I knew it my iPhone was sounding an early 6:15am alarm to wake me up.  Got ready, made coffee and I was off!

I am so used to seeing so many people around Colonial Williamsburg that it was odd seeing so few people there on a early Saturday morning.  I checked in at the tent and proceeded by pulling my red wagon full of stuff to the Governor's Palace.

I really thought that I would paint the Governor's Palace today.  I got there and I just wasn't feeling it. I took one look at all the windows of the palace and let out a sigh.  I have been working on a painting of the Nelson House in Yorktown and I was feeling a little burnt out from painting/drawing windows.

I spent the next hour walking around CW(Colonial Williamsburg) trying to find somewhere that I would be happy painting.  I finally decided to go behind the houses and paint in one of the backyards of the houses.  The Raleigh Tavern was to my right and I could hear the staff working.

As soon as I started I realized that I didn't bring an eraser.

I soon found myself tearing through all my supplies and found a small pencil with a usable eraser in the bottom of my purse.

Finished most of the "hard stuff" at this point.

Problem 2 arose when I let the sun shine on my Inktense pencils.  My yellow was pretty much too soft to sharpen anymore.

The sun soon moved and I had to keep positioning myself out of the sun less I get sunstroke.  The artist life is hard!

I painted from 8am-1pm.  Checked social media for about 15 minutes.  I was posting work in progress reports and enjoyed reading the comments.

I handed in my art work and learned that I was the first one in.  Immediately walked in the William & Mary bookstore to cool off.

I didn't win a prize but better yet I sold the painting!

An employee from the Housing Partnership bought it for her office.  What a compliment!  It totally made my day.

Thanks for reading about my day!

Winter Blues

I have been a funk for a long time now and I just can't snap out of it.  I would be worried if I didn't have the prior knowledge of knowing that I always feel this way this time of year.  Everything is so dead looking and the weather has been cold that it has been hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning.

Add to the fact that I know it has been a good solid 2 weeks since I have gone out for a walk.  I pretty much walk every day in the woods near my home.  Even if it is a short walk I still feel like it does wonders to my mental outlook.  This weekend it has been so cold that I can't fathom going out for a walk.

I was laying around yesterday and I finally convinced myself that I needed to have my mind engaged to temporarily get myself out of this funk.  I find that even if I spend a small amount of time in my studio using my hands to create or focus on something creative that it keeps my mind off of other things.

A typical view in my studio.  It's daylight though; I rarely have the luxury of painting during the day.

I have been meaning to paint a dog portrait of a good friend of mine's dog who passed away a couple of weeks ago.  I always feel better when I do something for someone else that I thought it would be a win-win situation.

My walking companion is down and depressed too!

I scanned her photos on Facebook to come up with some good pictures to work with.  Here are a couple:

Lexie Reference Photo #1

Lexie Reference Photo #2

I am finding that I am having more success working with bad reference photos then I did a few years ago.  I actually tried to paint "Lexie"about 6-7 years ago and absolutely *hated* the results.  The only thing that I liked was the Persian rug that Lexie was laying on.  Hence, I ended up trashing the painting.  I ended up choosing Reference Photo #1 to work with.

I am working on a 6"x6" panel which I glazed with Prussian Blue and then Quinacridone Red

I got a good start on it and started getting into it.  I worked out all of the major areas and took a break in order to make my kids dinner.

The start of my dog portrait

My plan is to finish up this painting this weekend.  Check by the blog tomorrow and I should have the finished painting.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Homeschool Art Classes in Williamsburg starting in January!

I will be teaching at a new location starting in January.

I will be teaching a homeschool art class for children from Kindergarten to 5th grade at the James City County Recreation Center starting in January.  This will be a combo art class/art history.  The goal is for the children to get a deeper appreciation for the art techniques and the artists that are known for creating these works.

I already teach this class at On the Hill Gallery in Yorktown and I am excited to be able to teach this class in Williamsburg.

Please email me if you have any questions.  Registration is being handled through James City County Parks and Recreation.

Thanks!