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Patrice Erickson | studio news
Pink Clouds 1, oil on canvas, 5 x 7 inches
\"\"Just clouds here. How can I say \"just\" clouds? Again I was inspired by the magical color display happening in the sky one evening. As the title indicates, there will be some more like this one to follow.
Underpainting for My New Landscape
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I worked up an underpainting for my new oil landscape painting today. Underpaintings help me establish the values, composition, and drawing without having to worry about color. I save that for the next layer. I can use the underpainting to influence the colors in the overpainting by allowing some of it to show through. Some of my underpaintings are quite detailed while others are not. This one is a bit loose, but will serve me well when it comes time to overpaint.
Varnishing Day
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\"\"Today I varnished 14 oil paintings. I thought I'd share with you what materials and methods I use. The top photograph shows one of my oil paintings, which is on mounted canvas by Raymar. I laid it on top of a workbench with cardboard underneath to protect the surface.

Materials:

Method of Application:
  • Gently sand the surface of the painting with the sanding sponge. This lightly etches the surface for better adhesion with the varnish.
  • Wipe off the surface with a tack cloth.
  • Pour some prepared Gamvar varnish into the dish. Dip just the end of the sponge brush in it and press it on the side of the dish to squeeze out excess varnish.
  • Make slow sweeping strokes across the painting touching the surface with the angled edge of the brush. One stroke going across from edge to edge. When you reach the edge of the first stroke snake it around crossing the painting in the opposite direction next to the row you just laid down, slightly overlapping it. Refresh the brush with more varnish as needed to complete the rest of the painting.
  • Then, without dipping the brush into varnish, make short quick back and forth strokes across the painting in the opposite direction from the strokes you just made. This is meant to be sure that varnish is in all the crevasses of the canvas.
  • Next, again without dipping the brush in varnish, make fast sweeping strokes across the painting in the opposite direction from the initial varnish layer. One stroke going across from edge to edge. All stokes going in the same direction, slightly overlapping.
  • Finally, without dipping the brush in varnish, repeat the same slow sweeping strokes made in the initial varnish layer.
  • Lay the varnished painting flat to dry for a couple of days. Sometimes it's dry in 1 day and sometimes not. It depends on how thickly you applied the varnish and the temperature and humidity of the environment it is drying in.
Twilight's Embrace, oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches
\"\"Twilight for me is a time of peace and reflection. I watch in amazement at the colors changing in the sky while at the same time drift into a state of awareness and calm. What a wonderful way to end the day.
And Now Introducing . . . Open Edition Mini Prints
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I'm now offering open edition Mini Prints of some of my original oil paintings. These giclee reproductions come matted and ready to frame. The \"mini\" size makes them easy to display just about anywhere and are great gifts!

Image Size: 4.75 x 6.75 in. (note: images cropped from original painting size to accommodate this format)
Ink: HP Vivera Pigment Inks
Paper: Museum-Grade Canson RAG Photographique,
8.5 x 11 in.
Matting: 11 x 14 in. acid-free beveled double mat in white with 4.5 x 6.5 in. opening and a 1/8 in. acid-free foamcore backing board
Framing: No
Print Longevity: >150 years if framed under glass or plastic
Signed: yes, on the back
Certificate of Authenticity: yes
Price: $23 + s&h

I'm selling them from my website where you can find more information: http://www.patriceerickson.com/prints.htm

New prints will be added in the future. Please check back often.

Evening Comes, oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches
\"\"Did you ever find yourself totally engrossed in something like writing at your desk, reading a good book, or eating a delicious meal; and then your eyes, just by chance, glance to the side out a nearby window and you're hit with a gorgeous view of the outside and you wonder why you're indoors? Suddenly you want to stop what you're doing and get out there, but you tell yourself to first finish that letter or that chapter or those mashed potatoes. Then by the time you do go outside it's totally changed from that chance glance. You hope that maybe tomorrow you'll be able to catch it again. That unique combination of light, clouds, humidity, and atmospheric particles will never occur again just like that, but another wonderful mixture will.
Lazy Daisy, oil on canvas, 5 x 7 inches
\"\"This pretty Holstein is taking it easy for the rest of us!
Blood Orange Sky, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
\"\"Sometimes titles for my paintings come to me very easily. In this case, the title was vague until I brushed on the last color glaze application. I used a very thinned down mixture of medium with alizarin crimson and cadmium orange. The effect this had on the existing colors underneath was exciting to see. Instantly I thought, \"Blood Orange Sky!\"
Stare Down, oil on canvas, 7 x 5 inches
\"\"This young handsome bull lives in northern Michigan. I think he'd be the winner of a stare down contest, don't you?
Sundown, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches
\"\"I will always be amazed by the colors in the sky and how they change throughout the day. I hope I did justice to this scene of sundown in Northern Michigan. I worked this up in layers with both brushes and a painting knife.
Sherbet Sky, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches
\"\"The colors in the sky I have painted here remind me so much of sherbet, which as I recently learned has an interesting history.

\"Sherbet has a long history and in ancient times was a non alcoholic sweetened fruit drink sold in the Middle East by street vendors during the summer months. Over time 'Sherbet', changed and alcohol was added to it so a new name 'sharbet' was given to the original non alcoholic fruit drink. By the 16th century the 'sharbet' had made its way to Europe where it became very popular. But different countries called it different names; in Italy the fruit drink was called 'sorbetto' (from the verb 'sorboire' meaning 'to sip'), in France it was called 'sorbet', in Spain it was called 'sorbete' and the English called it 'sherbet'.\" Read more here and get a recipe for lemon sherbet.

Excerpted from \"Lemon Sherbet,\" by Staphanie Jaworski, Joy of Baking, http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonSherbet.html
Gold Contrail, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches
\"\"\"What are contrails? Contrails are clouds of ice particles formed around the small particles (aerosols) which are in aircraft exhaust. When these persist after the passage of the plane they are of great interest to researchers. Under the right conditions, clouds initiated by passing aircraft can spread with time to cover the whole sky.\" Read more here.

excerpted from \"S'COOL: Observing Contrails,\" National Aeronautics and Space Administration, http://asd-www.larc.nasa.gov/SCOOL/contrails.html
My Day in the Studio - Getting Closer
\"\"I'm getting closer to my vision for these four landscapes. They all need a final once over to bring them up to completion. Working in layers with oils is a great way to achieve luminosity, which is so necessary to me for depicting how light affects clouds at different times of the day.

Each are 8 x 10 inches, oil on linen. See my last blog post for images of earlier stages of these works.
My Day in the Studio
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\"\"These two photographs show four 8 x 10 inch oil landscapes that I'm working on. I am currently having a lot of fun exploring the glorious colors of the sky. These four will be sunsets. You can see I begin with a monochromatic underpainting. I do this to establish the drawing, composition, and values before I approach color. The two you see in that color stage are not complete yet. My final stage will involve some touch ups and final glazes.

I love expressing the affects of light and the earth's atmosphere on how we see the sky, clouds, and landscape. Atmospheric perspective, also known as aerial perspective, is the sense of depth an artist creates by making changes in the color, intensity, and value in the distance, mid-ground, and foreground of a painting. A great online resource to study light can be found at http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/tutorials/light01.htm . The author explains that as wavelengths of light pass through the earth's atmosphere some make it through better than others. One example he gives is that at sunset, when the atmosphere is thicker, blue light gets scattered whereas red light penetrates because the blue has a shorter wavelength. Check out his website for more information with terrific examples.
Charitable Event - National Kidney Foundation of Michigan
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My landscape painting, Wildflower Trail , will be raffled off in the following charitable event:

Event: NKFM's Champion of Hope and Diabetes & Kidney Day
Location: Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, Big Ten Room, Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Strolling Dinner Reception: 5:30pm
Innovations in Healthcare Awards Presentation: 7:00pm
Michigan Fine Arts Competition to Include My Landscape
\"\"My landscape paintings, Field at Sunset, will be included in the following show:

Exhibition: Michigan Fine Arts Competition, juried by Sondra Freckelton
Gallery: Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, 1516 S. Cranbrook Rd., Birmingham, MI 48009, 248-644-0866
Show Dates: April 2 - May 7, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, April 2 from 6pm - 8pm

Landscape Show at Margot's Gallery
\"\"\"\"Farm in Winter Awarded Second Place!

My landscape paintings, Farm in Winter and Jersey Girls, will be included in the following show:

Exhibition: Landscape Show, juried by Robert Fionda
Gallery: Margot's Gallery & Frame , 5 S. Washington St., Oxford, MI 48371, 248-628-5398
Show Dates: March 5 - 31, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, March 5 from 7pm - 9:30pm

\"Summer Night\" Framed and Ready
\"\"I'm heading to Lawrence Street Gallery to deliver this landscape painting. It will be on exhibit there for the month of March.
Frozen Fields, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches
\"\"Another winter landscape painting of rural Almont, Michigan. I liked the pattern made by the two crop fields laying in opposite directions, and how the light of the sunset hit the icy snow caps.
Farmstead, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches
\"\"This landscape painting depicts a farmstead in Northern Michigan. My good friend, Chris, travels up there frequently and takes beautiful photographs of the area. This painting is based on one of them with my own interpretations and tweaks. Chris was very kind and burned a CD full of pictures and gave them to me. She knows the value of good reference material as she herself is an outstanding artist.
Day's End, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
\"\"This nocturnal landscape painting depicts another area along the QEW I saw during my long drive last summer. I love the feeling of peace and solitude I get from looking at those rural fields when the sun goes down.
My Winter 2010 Fine Art Newsletter for All to See

My Winter 2010 Fine Art Newsletter for all to see - http://p0.vresp.com/AMcEuq , Happy Valentines Day!

Winter 2010 Fine Art Newsletter
p0.vresp.com
I hope you're enjoying the Winter. Do you fancy being outdoors skating or skiing or being indoors sipping hot cocoa by the fire? I was a happy skater watcher at Millenium Park in Chicago not too long ago (see photo below). ...
Golden Field, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches
\"\"This oil landscapes shows a field in Canada along the QEW. I wish I remembered exactly where this is. My best guess is somewhere near Brantford, Ontario. I was attracted by the \"stripes\" and glow of the downing sun.
Two Group Exhibitions Starting This Week
\"\"8th Annual Member's Show - Starkweather Arts Center

My landscape painting, Valley Trail, will be included in the following show:

Exhibition: 8th Annual Members Show, juried by Stanley Rosenthal
Gallery: Starkweather Arts Center , 219 N. Main St., Romeo, MI 48065, 586-752-5700
Show Dates: February 5 - 20, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, February 5 from 6pm - 8pm


4th Annual Member Exhibition - Northville Art House

\"\"My landscape paintings, Jersey Girls and Red Barns, will be included in the following show:

Exhibition: 4th Annual Member Exhibition
Gallery: Northville Art House , 215 W. Cady, Northville, MI 48167, 248-344-0497
Show Dates: February 5 - 26, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, February 5 from 6pm - 9pm
Summer Night, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches
\"\"Today I revamped a landscape painting I made last month. Not totally satisfied with how it looked, I decided to change it drastically taking it from daytime to evening. This painting shows an area of Harkness Park in Waterford, Connecticut, one of my favorite places to visit as it offers everything - beaches, country walks, gardens, and even a mansion! This is an old road that's not used much that passes through tranquil fields.
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