"Put Your Little Foot"

6x8

oil on Masonite :  "All about the dress"

"Just a Wave'n"

6x8

oil on masonite

This is the third painting in the series "all about the dress".  Put a dress on a little girl, put her on the beach, and it is an automatic "raise the dress and flap it"!

Two More Hilton Head Gang Mugs

Mug Portrait No. 4

6x6

oil on masonite

nfs

Nancy "The Guardian" Darling so named because of her help with rescue dogs.  She often travels with a large pack of dogs which hampers her ability to shoot but that does not prevent her from trying.  She uses the dogs to attract unsuspecting subjects then while they are being distracted...she shoots their photos.  It is a devious but very effective plan. I hear she and her pack will be heading up to Alaska to participate in the Iditarod...that may be a false lead...be on the lookout...

Mug Portrait No. 3

6x6

oil on masonite

nfs

Betsy "Eagle Eye" Stevenson deceptively innocent looking. She is a frequent world traveler who has been known to shoot in Italy and France as well as through the United States. Along with being an expert shot our sources say she may well just set up an easel and capture images on site. Beware of easels in the field...easels on the beach...beware!

Mug descriptions by: Maria Hock

"Purty Cats"

6x8

oil on masonite

I went to an art festival at the Montgomery Museum of Art recently. It was a beautiful day. There were children drawing on the pavement in these nice squared off areas. What a "feast of color".  Couldn't resist the bright red background of this one. There were several artisans demonstrating their abilities as well. 



Hilton Head Gang Mugs

Well, I am finally posting again!  After a few health issues, and I am ready to go.  This post begins with an intro. of an interesting adventure....  We took a class under Karin Jurick which was great fun.  Karin taught us many things. One demonstration was of an especially different and interesting nature. It was a small painting of a police mugshot.  Examples can be found on her website.  She paints these small 4x4 paintings to "keep her painting loose" and "painterly."  We all tried one. It was harder than it looked.  Well, on the last day a most creative student came up with the idea that we should paint ourselves!  She went around taking pictures of all of us with the instructions that you have been "arrested."  "Give us a busted look!" she said. The challenge was on!!  Her name is Maria Hock affectionately named "the Enforcer."  We were to paint each other when we got home.  She sent us one "Mug Shot" challenge a week for 19 weeks.  Along with the challenges were  creative descriptions of each of us. Funny and delightful.   During the week of the class, Karin had us take tons of photos. for future paintings....later described by Maria as shootings! 

  "What a chore" turned out to be the experience and learning that I will always owe to Maria and Karin.  I kept telling myself, "nothing worthwhile comes easy." Ha.  But it is the basic truth in everything we do. You can click  here  to preview Karin's book, "100 Faces Bust-ed"   for her amazing technique and view her other books.  My mugs turned out to be as painterly as possible but the realistic nature ingrained in me just had to come out!  I do so love the "loose style" though. Check out our blog and look at the slideshows on the right column of each of us and you will see an interesting variety of styles.

Here are two of mine....with Maria's colorful descriptions!

Mug Portrait No. 2

6x6

oil on masonite

nfs

Sherl "Red" Lott with her fiery red hair and syrupy southern accent immediately disarms her victims. She sashays into venues or onto the beach oozing that southern charm that lulls her victims into a false sense of security. Her stash of covertly taken photographs is testament to her devious nature...be on the lookout! 

Mug Portrait No. 1

6x6

oil on masonite

nfs

Allyson "Sundance" Schilb does most of her shooting in the evening. She, too, is one of the more quiet members of the Hilton Head Gang. We do know that she rides with a biker gang.  She rode all over the island...There were tales of drive by shootings.  Sundance is laying low...riding quietly and shooting unsuspecting victims...she is SLR ready and shoots at will.

Mug descriptions by: Maria Hock

"Pondering"

8x10

This picture was taken by a small pond. It was amazing how the sun was shining through her hair and dress. She looked like an angel. This was taken last spring and makes me want to skip winter! I am ready for the flowers. This little girl was enjoying being all dressed up outside and bare footed at the same time. Wouldn't mind that myself.

"All About the Boots II"

8x10

OK. I couldn't stand it. You know, we artists try to go with a certain complimentary color
pallet. That's just how things work better. Well, this is a learning experience and I am going with it... The original picture was a white dress with a white sky. So, saturating the colors is a good idea. It certainly opened the door to interesting afternoon colors in the dress. But...something was still not like what I am wanting to see in my small works. Color-color. Where can we add it to make it more of a "wow" work of art? I decided to add more interesting color in the shadows and by all means - put more effort in the heaviness of the skin! My goodness. The less one paints on the skin, we can expect flat, flat, flat. This is somehow hard to do for the realist which I am. So, I will use the corner of the brush with heavier paint if it kills me. So...if this helps you...let me know. By the way, I will be painting "All About the Boots III" next with the original photo but with an even different look. I am learning ...might as well play... Ha.

"All About the Boots"

8x10

This was a bridal photo from a photo shoot of my daughter, Sarah last June. She lives in Nashville, the home of country music. For fun she wore boots for the afternoon session and wore them after the wedding was over. She had a great time with them. Of course I loved it being as how I LOVE horses. This pictrue was interesting to me too because of the afternoon light and how it makes the shadows cool - not to mention the purples in the skin tones. The color in the white dress was interesting.

"Big Brother"

8x10
sold


It is every mother's dream for her boys to love each other. In this painting, little brother loves his "big" brother. With just a few years separating their maturity, it is a huge span to the little guy. He needs his big "bro." Big brother is stepping in as if to say, "stick with me...I will be there for you."

"The Dress"

8x10

sold

This little girl is the daughter of a good friend of mine. Melissa Lester has a wonder blog entitled A Little Loveliness. She had made and written a story about her efforts and what she learned from this. One day this little girl will know just how special her mother is. Melissa has written several books and is one of the contributing editors of Christian Woman Magazine and creates the crafts page of the magazine.

My First Post

My new sweet, sweet, and talented friends.
Karin Jurick workshop at Hilton Head Island 2011


My first post.... finally I am blogging. I have named my blog "Mini" Moments. I have been a portrait artist for twelve years now and I love it. Most of my subjects are of children. I always think of capturing a child in that moment of time. A picture can do that, we say. But, putting that moment in time into paint...nothing like it. When I think back on moments of my life - they are made of special moments...many moments. Some are small and some big but they are just that...moments.
I am looking forward to sharing special "mini" moments (mini portraits) of my day and perhaps putting a smile on your face as you relate to one that reminds you of a special time in your life.

A very big thanks to a very giving woman who just shared with a group of we artists the beauty of using many colors, the richness of them, the importance of using them. Karin Jurick poured her heart and soul into sharing of her talent with 19 of us at her workshop in Hilton Head, S.C. this past week. I will be eternally grateful. Thanks Karin.