Wild Acres Workshop

This picture was taken at the Wild Acres Retreat in North Carolina. Its a wonderful place to take a group of friends to rest and paint.

This photo was taken at sunrise the first morning.

This phto was taken during the day, while the moon was still out.


This is one of the painting I did in the workshop with Billy Shellburn.

The technique is simple: you use heavy illustration board. You put on very thick paint in either a "y" "z" or "x" pattern. Then you put on white ink (using an eye dropper)and spritz it. This makes breaking waves over the darker colors. The sky is painted in gesso mixing in some of the wave color. This technique works for mountains too!

Children's toys

This small 4 by 6 was painted in watercolor on paper. I may go back over this now that I see it on the screen. I like it, I just think I can make it a bit better.

I think I'll make the shadows and relflected light a bit darker.

I'm going to be doing some larger pieces over the weekend, I'll post them here for you to see. I'm going to a workshop with Billy Shellburn at Wild Acres in NC.

Southern Koi ll An aceo by Shanti Marie

I love to paint these little paintings and I had a request for a companion piece for another koi painting I painted earlier this year...this one will go with "Southern Koi". check it out... ( there is a search box on the sidebar) and see if you agree.

ACEO " koi in motion"

$15.00

I painted this little card last night and was trying out some new paper. I don't believe its my usual paper and I had some difficulty getting the paint to sink into the paper. It had a lot of sizing. After some experimentation, I think I got it to work pretty good. As an artist, its difficult to change paints or paper because all of these things contiribute to the finished appearance of your work. Changing anything can make a big difference.

Frosty night

11 by 7 60.00

I painted these trees using Friskit and waited for it to dry then painted the background, allowed that to dry, then pulled off the friskit and
dry-brushed the trees. Its a great way to paint tress at night or birch trees. The colors used in the background are ultramarine blue with some purple sometimes mixed with green. These colors are mixed in several puddles of color and painted on so that they merge together. The lighter areas of the background are lifted color, while still damp, use tissues to lift off color.

Approaching storm

$30.00

This little painting is 4 inches by 4 inches and is painted in colors I feel enhance each other.

Woodland's Light

15 by 22 $500.00

I have been so busy I haven’t had the energy to paint these last few days. I have posted an older painting I painted earlier last year.
It was part of a series of paintings of woodlands. Specifically the ground cover and flora one finds growing on the ground under the tall trees and in the woods.

Its amazing how many wild flowers grow in the woods where ever light peeks thru. This is hot press paper and it gives the piece a look which is a bit different from the cold press paper. The hot press paper doesn’t have any bumps or texture, you can’t really stroke the paint too much either. You have to put it down and leave it alone, other wise the paper seems to lose its vibrancy right away. Its a bit more difficult (you have to paint fast or think ahead) to soften edges as you go because the paint sinks right into the paper before you have a chance to go back and change things.

Lost Soul

I drew this woman and her image huanted me. I think it was her intense small eyes and the way she could looks right thru you. Someone said she looks like a ghoast or a spirit.

15 by 22 $200.0

Tiny Acorns

This little painting is 6 inches by nine inches and is for sale for 50.00

I loved the weather today, it is getting cooler 75 (F)and there was a slight breeze.

Starched White Shirt

This is a ten minute sketch 9 by 7 done in pencil at my figures session.



Boy, I finally was able to get my hair done, its been 9 weeks and I really needed it. I fell asleep with my head in the shampoo bowl. I had to sit and wait for my conditioner to do its thing (isnt that the longest five minutes?). Anyway, Art is doing a little better each day, so I thought I could leave him alone for two hours
(I was just down the street)while he took a nap. This morning we woke up at 4 am. because his heart rate dropped down to 34 beats a minute and he got the dry heaves. I hate that because there isn't anything I know to do for it. I gave him some warm peppermint tea and it seemed to help. His heart rate came back up after about ten minutes. This slow heart rate almost always comes just before a rapid heart rate which is very frigtening.

River in fall a painting a day by Shanti Marie

This little gem is 4 inches by 6 inches and is watercolor on 300 lb paper. Today was our first cool day and I wanted to commemorate this day with a fall painting.

Rolling Hills Vinyard

$50.00
This piece is 4 by 6. I grew up around a vineyard and love the way the fresh green leaves look in spring. The symmetry of the rows and how they seemly go on forever, its all so beautiful. What most folks don't know is that vineyards are full of spiders, wasps, lizards and the occasional snake. You take the good with the bad.

Ancient Ritual 24.... a painting a day

This 4 by 6 piece is another in my abstract series exploring ritual and how we as humans mark time and the events in our lives with ritual.

Vibrant Red Flowers

This painting is another in a series of red paintings I have been doing of late. I don’t usually paint with red very much but it seems I can’t stop painting red subject matter. Also if your tired of the flowers, I can’t tell you why I have painted so many lately. Usually I paint a variety of subjects. Maybe there is a color therapist out there that can tell me if the red means anything.
BTW
This red is actually combinations of yellow, orange, red ,magenta, and green. Not all at once but in glazes…. colors built up so that some of the last color shines thru. When one layer dries, you paint another so that you get a glow. Building up the layers this way makes the color look like stained glass. The darkest dark is the magenta and green mixed together on the pallette.
The actual size of the painting is 8 by 12.
This piece would look great with a large white mat. $200.00

Watercolor butterflies

I painted two of these butterflies last night. I thought they would make great companion pieces. $25.00 each 4 by 6 plus shipping
This is done in the drop in method. Basically you paint in water, then while the water is still shiny, you drop in paint and allow it to run. Sometimes you tilt the paper to guide the color other times you just let it do it's thing. Its fun to do and is one of the first lessons most water color artists learn. Sometimes I forget how beautiful the simple techniques really are.

Glass Marbles watercolor on paper

This painting is 4 inches by 6 inches and will sell for $50.00.
I was so tired yesterday, I slept and missed my painting time. Today I decided to paint something that was a bit of fun. I love painting glass. Marbles are basically spheres and they can be easily painted in a variety of colors.


Update on Art, my husband. I brought Art home from the hospital, he is on O2 and sleeps a lot but seems happier. He starts occupational therapy tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

Pink roses and buds

8 by 9.5 watercolor on paper $60.00

Yesterday's Yellow Roses

4 by 6 watercolor and pastel on paper. $50.00

ACEO Blue Lake

This little card is mixed media, for whatever reason I have difficulty photographing these small aceos, they never look as good as they should.

This one has much more contrast and refective qualities in the water. The camera seems to have flatened out the color and it has lost some of its dimension.

Ancient Ritual 21.... 4" by 4"

If you haven't noticed I tend to paint many of my abstracts using a grid method. Sometimes I will use other methods but I find I naturally paint in a grid like manner. When an artist says they paint in a grid manner, what they mean is the way the put the paint down is very much like a grid. One section down at a time in rows both vertically and horizontally. Often the rows over lap or cross over making the piece more interesting. This piece was actually 4" by 6" and I felt there were too many focal areas, so I cropped it down to a 4 by 4 and now I feel it is more soothing yet energetic all at the same time. I love these colors. I put in the circles to break up the linear shapes. The circles were actually pulled out of the wet paint to allow the paper to show thru.


You can decide which way you like it.
Here is how it looked before I cropped it.

Wild Acres - Your Invited!

I have been struggling with getting this workshop filled due to a recent accident my husband had on his motorcycle. If you know of anyone who may be interested please pass this information on to them. I only have six of the fifteen rooms filled and need let folks know about this wonderful opportunity. Usually I would go to the various art groups and organization and sign folks up but since I have been spending every available minute at the Hospital, I have only used closed friends and email to get the word out.
Remember…Non painting friends may also come along, there are plenty of things to do, napping, hiking, reading, writing, blogging.


Wild Acres September Workshop
Wild Acres and The Charlotte Art League will present a fall workshop instructed by Billie Shelburn, an artist in residence at the John C. Campbell folk school. The workshop will take place September 28 - 30, 2007 at Wild Acres, a 1600 acre mountain retreat adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and thousands of acres of the Pisgah National Forest.

Billie has studied painting with a number of prominent watercolorists privately and in workshops. She has taught art classes to both children and adults and has served on the boards of the Dunwoody Fine Arts Assoc., the Georgia Watercolor Society, and A.R.T. Station in Stone Mountain, GA. Billie is a member of the National Organization for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and is the folk schools’ Resident Artist in Painting, Drawing, and Mixed Media. Her work is represented in numerous galleries and exhibitions. Says Billie, “Watercolor can be frustrating and difficult, or… wet, wild, and wonderful!”

This class will allow 15 to 20 students to delve into creative use of materials, working with photographs, sketches, or subliminal images. The workshop will focus on learning and mastering techniques to be used in conjunction with the student’s own style of painting to produce better work. Each class will begin with a demonstration by the instructor, and end with a constructive critique session with suggestions offered. A question and answer period about successful paintings will be covered. A mini workshop on Watercolor Mixed Media will be included if desired, featuring watercolor combined with collage.

The cost of $230.00 includes instruction, all meals, and a double occupancy room. Please contact me, Shanti at 704- 678-4442 or shantmarie@aol.com to reserve your place. Single rooms may be available; handicapped rooms are available on a first come basis.
They have a great web site… check it out… www.wildacres.org

Our group is being sponsored by The Charlotte Art League. I’m the Education Director and will be glad to assist you in joining us for this wonderful experience. If you live in or around Charlotte NC, there are others who are willing to car pool.

Pink Rose bud ACEO

2.5 by 3.5 15.00

the negative and the positive

This little painting was painted quickly using the negative shapes as much as the positive. I love the fresh look of this type of work.

Tulips

11 by 7 $60.00 red tulips painted in watercolor on paper.
These tulips are easy to paint. Start out with a light yellow glaze and when the yellow has lost its shine ( but is still damp) paint in the red over portions of the yellow. In some places they will mix and in other places the red will dominate, either way it looks great! Don’t stroke the paint too much one stroke painting is fresher and will give you a look that appears less labored. Try it, if you can’t get the values right on the red and want it to go deeper, you may have to add blue or brown to the red. Also allow it to mix on the paper sometimes for a variation of color.