Owner: Pastel & Paint: Lesly Finn's Art URL:http://leslyfinnsart.blogspot.com Join Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:44:36 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This is my blog about making art. Here you can see work in progress, view finished artworks, find art news, art talk, demonstrations and links to other artists. Site statistics:Click here
Black canvas 2 2007-04-25 05:25:00 forthcoming(acrylic on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)Here is what I have been working on today, - it was 'textured' a couple of weeks ago, since when it has been sitting in my studio while I worked out what to do next. I am not quite sure that it is finished .... maybe, maybe not. Knowing when to stop is always a problem!I am wondering whether it might be:1. Too busy?2. Colours a bit dull and dingy?3. Not abstract enough?You can get a clearer idea of what it is really like if you click on the image for the enlarged version.Criticism and/or suggestions would be very welcome!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Black
is this really me? ...... 2007-04-24 07:07:00 You Are a Dreaming SoulYour vivid emotions and imagination take you away from this worldSo much so that you tend to live in your head most of the timeYou have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all...But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficultYou are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you.Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses.Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others.Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life.Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler SoulWhat Kind of Soul Are You?
Life Drawing Workship - Final Line Drawing 2007-04-23 01:03:00 Leanne - line drawing in pencil(30 minutes, Day 2)So this is the final piece completed on the Workshop, and I am pleased with it! I have to say that the weekend went by in a flash and I learned an incredible amount over two short days. What I would really like to do is to continue with life-drawing classes on a regular basis but that is not possible at the moment. However, it is hoped that a second workshop can be arranged with Burns Pollock later this year .... I must get my name down early to be sure of a place!My thanks goes to Burns (who, by the way, bolstered our artistic energies with a regular supply of chocolate fish!) and all the great people who attended the course - we really had fun together and learned so much from each other in the process.Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Final
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Life Drawing Workship - Pencil Study Day 2 2007-04-23 00:50:00 Leanne - last pencil study(35 minutes)This was a real struggle as it was getting on for 3 p.m. on the second day and I was a little punch drunk! I started out with charcoal, scrapped it completely, then started again in graphite and completely lost my way! So, starting with her head, I went over it again with pencil accentuating the linear aspects and getting rid of some of the shading. Of course, in the process it lost any chance of freshness but I felt reasonably happy with the end result.Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Life Drawing
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Life Drawing Workshop - Figure Perspective 2007-04-23 00:40:00 Day Two saw us battling with the following exercise - 5 sketches of our model from five different angles. Time allowed 6 minutes each sketch!Leanne - Figure Perspective
Day 2(Pencil, 6 minutes each)Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Life Drawing
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Life Drawing Workshop - 10 minute sketches 2007-04-23 00:13:00 Annie with chiffon wrap(Charcoal sketch, Day 1)Annie seated(Charcoal sketch, Day 1)Leanne standing(Charcoal sketch, Day 2)Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Life Drawing
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Life Drawing Workshop - 20 second sketches 2007-04-23 00:02:00 After the frenzy of 5 second poses it seemed luxurious to have all of 20 seconds for these [on Day 2]!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Life Drawing
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Life Drawing Workshop - Quick Sketches 2007-04-22 22:09:00 Well the Workshop
was FANTASTIC ..... ! It was taken by Burns Pollock, Otago artist, and we had 10 participants. Burns is the most delightful and informative tutor and we were very relaxed and comfortable in no time. But he kept us at it without a doubt! We worked in pencil, graphite and charcoal as the spirit moved us, and I will post just some of the pile of stuff (good and bad) that I produced over the two days. We had a different model for both days (in case you notice a difference!).First off here are some quick sketches ... we did loads of these and the model only held her pose for 5 seconds or so before moving to the next. Our remit was to LOOK, SEE and draw a GESTURAL sketch that best described the pose. Tough to do!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Life Drawing
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Drawing ... so near and yet so far! 2007-04-20 04:18:00 Have been getting my stuff together for the Life Drawing Workshop this coming weekend, - paper, drawing board and assortment of drawing media. The latter include pencils, graphite sticks, Conte crayons, willow charcoal, together with eraser, putty rubber, pencil sharpener, plus small paintbrushes and a torchon for blending. It has been quite exciting!But I have also been spending some time trying out these media on scrap paper and realise just how rusty I am in their use! I feel quite ashamed that I have let my drawing lapse for such a long time. I looked out the only two remaining drawings I have left from times past .... drawn about 35 years ago (Eeeeek!)Little motherCharcoal drawing on paper11 x 14.5 insVeronicaPencil drawing on paper 15.5 x 11 insBoth drawings were done at the kitchen table from photographs. The African children were taken from a village group photograph in National Geographic, while the portrait was of our next-door neighbours baby-sitter.After my feeble attempts
worse than pulling teeth! 2007-04-18 06:19:00 More in the saga of approaching galleries .....About 4 weeks ago I went on a reconnaisance mission around three more galleries in our nearest city and approached the owner of the one I particularly liked. I asked what her policy was with regard to applications from artists and was advised that she preferred to see the actual work rather than photographs and she invited me to bring something in. Well, yesterday was The Day.I had a dentist visit to endure first .... the shaping of a cracked tooth and fitting a temporary crown - a mere 1.25 hours in the chair, but then had nearly an hour to spare while John had his teeth
seen to. So I duly toddled along to said gallery with the following canvases (chosen because they are are representative of my two new series and also because they are small and easy to carry!)To my dismay I found that my (charming) gallery owner had gone on maternity leave only the day before (and I hadn't noticed any little bump, either ... and that's not like me!). B Read more:pulling
this and that 2007-04-14 06:57:00 Oh dear, it's a long time since I posted anything, isn't it? ....... Hope that you've missed me. HA! Anyway, I'm still here and have been managing to do a bit of a foray around the Web.For your amusement here is a little video (a friend sent me the link, so thanks Carole) .... the subject is a new take on 'technical support' to be found at Bore Me ... I thought it v. funny!And I've received notice today that Blog Flux have acquired and revamped a service called Commentful which allows you to tracking actual blog conversations! RSS feeds are great to find out when a blog has a new post, but this lets you track comments on a specific post. Blog Flux explain "Any time you visit a page where you wish to track comments, you add it to your Watchlist (this can be done through our FireFox extension, bookmarklet, or through the website). Every time you visit your Watchlist, the system checks to see if there are any new comments. For those using our FireFox extension, there is no ne
Artist, Emerging: Rejection Letters, Demystified... 2007-04-05 22:21:00 Deanna Wood has another great post on gallery rejection letters, with some interesting comments being added from readers. Deanna first wrote about rejection letters earlier this year, to which I linked with my own experiences here and further here. After reading this latest posting I can see that the responses I received were at least meant to be constructive ... even if the underling message was "we don't like your work"! They could so easily have written nothing, or just ignored my portfolio altogether. Anyway, if this side of being an artist is of interest to you then scoot on over and see what's being said ........! Fascinating stuff.Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist
, Painting Read more:Letters
... taking a break 2007-04-05 21:22:00 Something great to look forward to in a couple of weeks ..... a weekend workshop in Life Drawing. I am very excited about this as it is around 5 years since I attempted any. The human figure has always been one of my favourite subjects although opportunities to work with a live nude model have been few and far between. Meanwhile I am working (but oh so slowly!) on a couple more small black canvases.But there won't be much artwork done over the next few days (for obvious reasons) ..... and I would like to take this opportunities to wish all my visitors a very relaxed and happy Easter weekend.Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting
the child within .... 2007-03-30 22:01:00 Subscribers to Robert Genn's weekly Newsletter from Painters Keys will know that the latest concerns Child Art. Reading it gave me some food for thought about my recent battles with letting go the notion of 'literal representation' in my art. Robert writes about the Austrian artist and researcher Franz Cizek:"He founded what became known as the Child Art Movement that promoted child
ren's art as sacred. To Cizek it was important to cultivate and protect the early years of childhood from the destructive influences of adult art so that the innate originality and imaginations of children might not be tainted. Cizek was particularly hostile to colouring books. He cautioned against the "adult fallacy," which is the tendency to judge children's artwork by grown-up standards. Adults, who viewed the drawings of young children as mistakes with "wrong" proportions and "errors" of perspective, did not realize the children were drawing what they knew rather than what they saw. Remarkably, this Read more:within
charity art auctions 2007-03-29 05:01:00 This past financial year has been a bit short on art sales for me and paintings have 'hung around' at various locations including my studio. However, I have twice accepted approaches from organisations to contribute paintings to their fund-raising art auctions
. Both were what I consider worthwhile causes and both offered the artist a 50/50 split of the price achieved.Reading around the subject not everyone seems to approve of auctioning art for charity, but for those who might be interested Art Business has a couple of worthwhile articles, one giving Tips for Contributing Artists and another outlining some of the pitfalls. Artist and Gallery owner, Paul Dorrell, has also written on the subject at Absolute Arts , and some relevant comments from contributors follow his article.The first auction earlier this year was a fund-raising event towards renovations of the Oamaru Opera House, a grand old nineteenth century building sadly in need of much repair and refurbishment. I donated a lar
the art of photography? 2007-03-27 21:07:00 Someone left the following comment on Art Blogs 4 U today ...."I'm curious why do you not accept blogs from artists who are photographers?"And I have just posted the following reply ..."Daniel - my choice not to include photographers is largely personal. I am a painter and I set up this blog for the benefit of other painters, and I also choose to include those who work with fabric and mixed media to create two-dimensional art. Photography does not lie within my sphere of interest and, to my mind, is a completely different form of expression. In fact, so different as to beg the question.Others may not agree with me but that is OK!" I actually found it quite difficult to compose a quick reply as the question is not something I have consciously considered before. I guess that for me at least, it goes back to that thorny old question "What is Art?" and that I instinctively feel that photography
does not 'fit' into my definition. But the more I think about it the more difficult it is to
Nellie's Needles 2007-03-27 00:25:00 And may I introduce to you one of the latest artists to sign on at Art Blogs 4 U ? .... the amazing Nellie Durand from Tennessee and Michigan! Nellie makes the most beautiful abstract art quilts. These are truly multi-media creations of sewing, painting and collage. Words cannot adequately describe them so .... GO SEE FOR YOURSELVES!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting, Abstract
Artist, Emerging: Rejection Letters 2007-02-09 04:11:00 Artist Deanna Wood has written an interesting post on rejection letters, and I thought I would just add my four-pennyworth! I have only approached four galleries so far - and with varying degrees of success (or failure, depending on my mood!).I made my first contact about 3 years ago ... just walked into one of the main galleries in our nearest city with a pile of paintings and asked them if they would like to look at them. Yikes! - how naive was that? It's a wonder they didn't throw me out on the spot. Anyway, not realising that was NOT the way to go about it, that is what I did. Well, they very kindly looked at what I had and took several paintings. But did not want any of my 'figures on the beach' paintings as they were of the opinion that 'people paintings do not sell'. My pictures remained in the gallery's painting store for eight months and did not see the light of day, so eventually I collected them and they were sold elsewhere.A couple of months later I took some work Read more:Artist
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'cockles of the heart' 2007-01-19 19:17:00 Here is something to 'warm the cockles of your heart', as my mum used to say. I have just been wandering round at Design Milk and found a post and link to artist Flora S. Bowley . And what a delight .... In her own words Flora's art aims to reconstruct the visual elements and emotional undertones of the urban and natural landscapes she inhabits. Flora states 'Fragments of bird wings, seed pods, hives, insects and petals rest along side ragged swatches of unpredictable color with sometimes subtle, sometimes not, counterpoints of pencil drawing, etching, dripping and stamping.' The results are stunning ..... 'chaotic, beautiful and ever-changing'. Enjoy!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting, Abstract
Triptych - First Stages 2007-01-16 21:32:00 This is my first Triptych
. The canvases are 8 x 8 x 0.5 ins. In this first stage I have drawn out the shapes and am laying down the first washes. I have chosen this rather bile-like green because I intend to be using quite a bit of red later. What an adventure!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting, Abstract Read more:First
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downs and ups 2007-01-16 10:54:00 Bit of a mixed bag so far this week. On the down side I played for our Bowling Club on Monday for the first time ... it was in a ladies 4's match .... and we lost. It wasn't really so very disheartening as I felt that I bowled reasonably well for a newbie and we certainly had a lot of laughs (a bit frowned upon by some, I think!). Then today I received my portfolio back from a gallery I really like in Dunedin city, with the dreaded 'thanks but no thanks' message. This was on a postcard not a letter .... so did not say too much but the general gist was (reading between the lines) that I have too many styles and no body of work in any of them. C'est la vie!But I did hear from a friend who asked us to meet her and her husband for lunch and a chat ... so that was great. AND the sun was shining ....... which was extra nice as we are having the worst summer on record weather-wise! So we ate out on the verandah of the local hostelrie at the little fishing village of Moeraki ... very pict Read more:downs
abstraction, distraction? 2007-01-13 19:23:00 Friend and artist Philip Edson has been a great source of encouragement for my abstract work and has given me much sound advice. He has suggested that I may be confusing myself by looking at works by many other artists. And do you know? I believe that he is absolutely right! As I surf around art blogs and websites I see so much that I admire that my own 'vision' gets more and more indistinct and uncertain. Also 'playing' on the Internet is the perfect alternative to working at the easel for a born procrastinator like myself! But I couldn't resist just half an hour of surfing this morning ......And I found two very interesting artists today at the artists.org - both are female but are very different in style and subject matter. Sophia Hadjipapa's paintings are largely set in and around the bathroom, of all things! Painted from a variety of angles her work is arresting, not only because of the subject matter but also because of her use of colour and design. However, the accompanyin Read more:distraction
Links and Lies 2007-01-11 04:39:00 I wonder why it is that Technorati seems unable to update the links and rankings for my blogs properly and on a regular basis. It only seems to get done after I've complained a few times and this gets pretty tedious! Lots of wasted time and energy. What with that, and the lovely Beta forever having glitches, it is a wonder one carries on trying to Blog at all!However, what I really want to say is ..... what fun it is to check out who is linking to me via Technorati. I say fun because I find people who have put a link to me on their blog who I did not know even existed .... and it really is a kind of boost. I usually follow up the links to see who they are and what kind of blog they have, which is an interesting exercise in itself. One can discover treasures that way!Today I discovered such a one, - an artist from Chile. Leonardo Maldonado paints beautiful abstracts in stunning colours, and I will be visiting his site regularly from now on. I hope that you will enjoy his work as much a
art, opera and charity 2006-06-24 05:21:00 'A little sea music' (Framed Pastel)This painting will be joining art works by other invited artists in a fund-raising Auction on 14 July 2006. The auction is to raise money for the Oamaru Opera House Restoration Fund. This is a handsome old building dated circa 1870 and which is badly in need of repair and refurbishment. Artists could elect to gift their paintings entirely or opt to donate 50% of the sale price. It would have been nice to gift the whole amount but, as framing alone cost $210, I opted for the 50% donation! Charity begins at home sometimes!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting, Lesly Finn, Pastel and Paint: Lesly Finn's Art Read more:opera
an experience at Art XP ..... 2007-05-04 21:47:00 A comment was left on my last post by ArtXP (Art Experience). This site offers an extensive on-line gallery of quality giclee prints and is well worth a visit to browse the art. The paintings can be searched by Subject or Painter, and links are simple and quick to follow. There's some interesting work to be found there!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:experience
Black canvas 3 2007-05-03 05:19:00 Night moves #3 (12" square)I haven't had a lot of time for painting this week but I have managed to do some more work to another black canvas started a couple of weeks ago. I think it needs some more glazing but I am taking my time and pausing for a lengthy review between layers!The title may be only temporary although it is night! And as you can see, it is not pure abstraction!Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:Black
Two into one ... do they go? 2007-05-07 05:11:00 This week I seem to be following the good example of artists such as Martha Marshall and Lynne Taetszch, - i.e. revisiting paintings that I am not entirely happy with and working on them some more. I have never felt completely satisfied with the 'On Reflection' series and recently I've been thinking of blanking all the canvases out and starting new ones. I've also been considering ways and means of incorporating 'figures' into my abstract work.So today I played around on the computer cropping and enlarging images of my recent 'weekend workshop' drawings and decided to have a go at changing 'On Reflection #IV'.The method of choosing which image to use was fairly primitive! .... I just printed out a few of them and then placed them in turn over the canvas held against the window (its a bright sunny day). This way I was able to get an idea of how each might look and where to place it. Then I drew the chosen image lightly on to the canvas with a permanent marker pen .... however
forthcoming change! 2007-05-05 23:31:00 So after much thought, and after viewing it at length from every angle, I did some more work on Black Canvas 2, 'Forthcoming'. I am happy with it now and it has a new name ........ fragment(acrylic, 12 x 12 ins)Technorati Tags Art, Weblog, Blog, Artist, Painting Read more:forthcoming
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