There is still room in my Mixed Media Spark Session

March 1, 2 & 3, 2012! Check out what people are saying…..

“I really appreciate you as a teacher as well as an artist.  I’ve had lots of workshops with many different people – some of them quite famous.  But you have been the best at actually teaching as opposed to demonstrating or having students copy exactly what you are doing.”

Re-entering the studio is never easy after a holiday. It always requires some time to get the flow back. This year, I decided to start back with acrylic, the most forgiving medium. I’m working on a series of pieces about the dark forest. I want it to feel like a welcoming, sheltering place rather than a forbidding one. Color is my primary vehicle to communicate this, and my reference is right out the window of my studio.

"Come In" copyright Ruth Armitage 12"x12" Acrylic on Sliver Plate

This is my piece for the Art of Communication: 100 Artist’s show at Mary Lou Zeek Gallery in February. Participating artists received a blank letter through the mail and were asked to write a thought, a story, a description or whatever they so chose and then send to their “partnered” artist. That artist then interpreted the writings that were sent to them, using the writings as their starting point for their own artwork.

My partner artist is Tory Brokenshire, who sent me a wonderful Robert Frost poem about being at the edge of the woods in the evening. This is my daily routine, and one I cherish. Our hen house sits at the edge of a woods where I go to gather the eggs each night just before dusk so that I can close them in safely for the night. The cool air and shadowy rustles are calming after a long day; and I often linger quite a while just waiting for the hens to wind their way up the little ramp to their roosts. It is always a struggle to tear myself away and come in to prepare our evening meal.

It was so flattering that Tory thinks of my art in the light of this poem. I feel that she knows my heart a little bit by viewing my art. We share this common understanding through visual communication, one that neither of us felt comfortable putting into our own words, but that Robert Frost has phrased beautifully.  This is just the feeling that I am after for my work, and it feels good to have another artist recognize it.

Come In-

As I came to the edge of the woods,
Thrush music — hark!
Now if it was dusk outside,
Inside it was dark.

Too dark in the woods for a bird
By sleight of wing
To better its perch for the night,
Though it still could sing.

The last of the light of the sun
That had died in the west
Still lived for one song more
In a thrush’s breast.

Far in the pillared dark
Thrush music went –
Almost like a call to come in
To the dark and lament.

But no, I was out for stars;
I would not come in.
I meant not even if asked;
And I hadn’t been.

-Robert Frost

This show is always full of the most creative and touching art. I always look forward to seeing what each individual comes up with, and I always want my piece to be a bit different and creative. I am so curious to see Tory’s piece! It was more difficult for me to decide what to write than it was to decide what to paint: that came quite naturally this time.

In the end, I decided to write a letter as if I were writing to a friend who knows me well, or who has visited me here, even though Tory & I have barely met. That particular week we had suffered quite a scare with our chickens. I wrote about a hawk attack that happened literally under my nose and how we averted a disaster by quick action. How would you interpret that in an art piece?

I hope you’ll join me for the Artist’s Reception: February 1 5-7 p.m. at Mary Lou Zeek’s – 335 State St., Salem, OR 97301. The show will run from February 1- March 3, 2012.

A fresh start for the new year should include some clean, fresh color in the palette, and that got me thinking… I don’t think I’ve ever posted about my choice of colors or my actual palette before.

I’ve migrated between several different watercolor palettes, including the Robert Wood palette that my first instructor started me on. One thing I really loved about the Robert  Wood was the 24 wells for color. That seems to be a nice number of pigments to work with, though being a color addict, I could use more! I’ve tried the Stephen Quiller Palette (more color choices but hard to clean) and the Piggy Back Palette from Cheap Joe’s (harder to access the colors). I’ve even made my own palette out of plexiglass, cementing the wells together from tabs of plexi cut to size, but it was eventually damaged when I was shipping it to a workshop.

Now I’m using the Skip Lawrence palette, sold through Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, augmented with the addition of a porcelain flower type palette. What I love about the Skip Lawrence Palette is the ease of cleaning it. One (or two) swipes down the center and you’re done! I wish it had more wells – hence the addition of the porcelain petal dish. But ease of cleaning and access to the colors are the reasons I stick with this palette. It also fits my French Easel and seems pretty resilient to travel.  If they ever come up with an expanded version though, I’m all over it!

That said, my pigment choices have settled somewhat over the years. I’m always interested in trying new things, but I seem to consistently use my handful of basic standbys most often. Here is how I have them laid out.

I’ve used abbreviations to indicate my preferred manufacturers when applicable. C.J.’s stands for Cheap Joe’s American Journey, H. stands for Holbein, D.S. for Daniel Smith, G. for M. Graham, W.N. stands for Winsor & Newton. I notice that I need to buy more Brown Madder Quinacridone. I find DaVinci’s is almost as good as Winsor & Newton for this pigment, and I go through a lot of it! I’m also low on Andrew’s Turquoise from Cheap Joe’s. Maybe it’s time to place an order! The pigments in my porcelain flower palette tend to be more opaque, or things I’m just trying out or use less frequently. It’s easier to switch something out of the little palette than the bigger one.

I would say the dozen pigments I can’t live without are Holbein’s Indian Yellow, Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red, Brown Madder Quinacridone, Cheap Joe’s Skip’s Green, Holbein Blue Grey (or Cheap Joe’s Sky Blue), Ultramarine Blue, Holbein’s Cobalt Violet Light, Quinacridone Violet, Pthalo Green and Winsor & Newton Permanent White Designer’s Gouache. Of course there are quite a few that I use that I don’t keep on my palette all the time, but this is my regular set-up.

Recently I took a mini-workshop with Portland artist William Park in acrylic. That has influenced me to limit my acrylic palette to a very few colors. He uses just Pthalo blue, Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Yellow and Black & White. I have added Quiacridone Violet and Quinacridone Gold, two of my favorite pigments from the watercolor palette that I just couldn’t live without. In general the quinacridone-based colors are very vivid and transparent. They make beautiful mixes and glazes.

Here are some recent paintings done with the limited acrylic palette. It is amazing the range of colors one can mix with just a few pigments on the palette. I’m curious, which of these paintings do you prefer? It seems I get a different answer from each of my family members. Leave me a comment; I love hearing from you! And Happy New Year!

"Wiinter Forest" copyright Ruth Armitage, Acrylic on Paper 10"x10"

"Winter Warmth" copyright Ruth Armitage, Acrylic on Paper 10"x10"

Forest Sentinels copyright Ruth Armitage, Acrylic on Paper 11"x10"

"Red Umbrella" copyright Ruth Armitage 2011, Watercolor on Paper 15x11"

This is a painting from my workshop at Umpqua Valley Arts last month. I’ve been absent from the studio most of this month, preparing for the holidays, enjoying the camaraderie of friends and fellow artists. Thank you for your interest in my work and support over the past year here at my little internet home.

According to my stats counter, this year has seen over 18,000 unique visitors to the site. You’ve visited 41,558 times, accessing over 109,000 pages! According to Google Analytics, over 30% of you are return visitors, and the blog has been read from 46 different countries around the world. Many of you have found me via Facebook, others through Google and via other blogs and websites. However you arrived, I thank you for your visit and hope you’ll come again! If you find something that interests you, please pass my link along to a friend

I would like to say something about giving here. It is not easy to find the right gift for those dear, rare people we want to spend our lives with or those who have been entrusted to us to care for. The best we can hope, is that our overflowing hearts are imprinted on the small tokens that we choose to pass over the spaces between us. I hope that your giving and receiving contain the overflowings of many hearts this Christmas season. My gift to you below:

The Lanyard, by Billy Collins

Fast Tube by Casper

It’s been busier than usual around here, with the holidays right around the corner, kids coming and going from college, and new critters here on the farm. An art and facebook friend Katherine Dunn posted an appeal from a friend of hers who needed to re-home two wethers before Thanksgiving. We finally got around to meeting and both decided that her boys Puck & Draco would make a good addition to my herd. She had moved to an apartment in Olympia and couldn’t keep them up there, so was traveling down here to care for them and depending on a friend to help out too. They arrived early this week and are integrating well, though they still like to push my smaller nubians around when it comes to feeding time. For the time being, they have their own stall and I’ve moved the sheep to the third stall which used to house the pullets.

Puck & Draco are Alpines, so they have wonderful long beards (no horns on these guys) and sweet soft voices, much quieter than my nubians, which I love. Here they are on their first day in Oregon City with my son Tim. Aren’t they cute? I wish you could see their beards!

I’m trying to finish my decorating and cleaning by this weekend so that I can enjoy some relaxing time with the kids while they are here. This is the first year that our son Tim will not be with us at Christmas. He is leaving tomorrow to fly to Alaska with his girlfriend to spend the holiday with she & her family. I’m really going to miss him So we will open gifts with him tonight.  The tree is decorated, the garland is hung on the front door, and I’m making some chili to prepare for a cozy night by the fire. I hope you are savoring time with loved ones, delicious treats and the good tidings of peace and joy.

"Mary in the Rain" copyright Ruth Armitage 2011 Acrylic on Yupo 9x12

For some reason I thought the weather was going to be sunny again today, and I had planned to work in the garden. I have some bulbs that need to go in the ground… grape hyacinths and snowdrops. I want them to have plenty of time to soak up all this RAIN and build their beautiful blossoms for spring.

Oh well, I guess I will work on something I keep thinking about doing, but always seem to shove to the back burner. Many times I notice people who are attracted to my work, but can’t seem to bring themselves to spend the money on themselves. I know art is hard to choose as a gift, so if you know someone who has been talking about acquiring a painting for soooo long but never seems to get around to it… I may have a solution.

I am now offering Gift Certificates, in varying dollar amounts.  The certificates have no expiration date, unlike many from big-box stores. They may be used for artwork or classes offered here at my studio. They may also be combined with an additional cash payment. (Think of the gift certificate as the down payment… I do work with people on payment plans!)

The italics on the certificate under ‘no expiration’ read:

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

Art is Long, Life is Short

I hope you will consider a truly long-lasting and original gift this year, something that can be passed along to future generations of art lovers. To purchase, simply click the paypal button below. You will receive an email with the pertinent paypal information, and I will mail (or email – your choice) this handsome certificate, customized to suit your needs.

Below is an excerpt from Mary Lou Zeek’s most recent newsletter:

Did you know?

When you buy from a locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other businesses, service providers and farms.

Non-profits receive an average of 250% more support from small business owners than large businesses.

Where we shop, where we eat and have fun; all of it makes our community home. One-of-a-kind businesses are an intergral part of the distinctive character of our community.

Small local businesses are our largest employers.

Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of what they are selling and take more time to know their customers.

Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community and are less likely to leave, and are more interested in investing in the community’s future.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of sharing with friends and family. I know I did. One thing that I’m so grateful for is being able to pursue my passion for art.

I’m looking forward to sharing that with like-minded individuals at Randall Tipton’s upcoming workshop here. I asked Randall to write a bit about the workshop… only three  ONE space  left Class is full at this point. You’ll find the sign up on my Workshops page. Here’s what Randall said: Email me to join the wait list.

"Canyon Bog" watermedia on Yupo 12x36 copyright Randall David Tipton

“In this workshop I`ll focus on the versatility of combined watermedia, how to push the image much further than commonly thought possible. Through the use of various acrylic mediums, transparent watercolor can be extended and enhanced by the body and texture of these materials. The vibrant plastic paper Yupo will be the primary support I demonstrate on, traditional watercolor papers are also responsive.

Our individual motives and ideals about painting will be explored as we choose our subjects. As a landscape painter, I believe it is critical to analyze and understand my emotional reaction to what I`m seeing before I begin. These ‘feelings’ become memory and guide me throughout the many small experiments which build the painting. I refer to photos and drawings to structure a simple mental composition, then I proceed by intuition, chance and remembrance. Usually there are elements of abstraction which emphasize the aspects in the landscape that move me. The altering of ‘natural’ color, the simplification of forms,  distorting the perspective, adding pattern to convey depth, and using gestural brush work are strategies I use to get close to the essence of my subject. Visual accuracy is not too important, what I`m after is a unique and personal vision.

For many reasons, I chose to forgo a conventional education though I read extensively, visited many museums and galleries and figured out the technical requirements of painting. Through luck, I was able to work briefly with a hero to legions of painters, Richard Diebenkorn. It was a month long workshop, he didn`t say much but did seem to approve of what I was doing. That was enough. That ‘blessing’ caused a leap in my ambition and eventually led to much stronger work.

I think I have something different to contribute in this workshop; some innovative methods and techniques as well as fresh ideas about where you might want to take your painting.”

-Randall Tipton

"Tropics" watermedia on yupo 16x42 copyright Randall David Tipton

1. I’m home safe & sound from my week in Southern Oregon

2. We had a fabulous class at the Umpqua Valley Arts Center… making art and new friends

3. The last of the fall color is still lingering, despite the wind & rain

4. My sweet husband put up so many beautiful Christmas lights this weekend!

5. I found out I’m going to be teaching at Art & Soul next fall!

6. Spent time with my son, Tim & his sweetheart over the weekend

7. Getting my studio organized and ready for more painting

8. Sold a couple of paintings while I was away

9. Ideas percolating for my Christmas cards

10. Family get-together is at my mom’s this year…. yum!

"Truly, Madly, Deeply" Watercolor copyright Ruth Armitage 22"x15"

This watercolor flew home from Golden, Colorado this past weekend, fresh from the Rocky Mountain National Watermedia show, juried this year by Cheng Khee Chee. I was happy to see it traveled safely in its cushioned box I had been agonizing over which image to enter in the American Watercolor Society this year… and this one won out. I chose it because I really love the mood that the backlighting creates, and I thought the strong contrast might grab a few eyes on the jury. Although the color isn’t as prevalent as it is in much of my work, I still like the dominance of warm colors with accents of cooler colors, all of them tending toward neutral. And I love how my ‘signature’ blue highlights accent the piece. I’m keeping my fingers crossed to get into this show for once. If statistics have anything to say about it, I’m due. My work has been passed over many times… maybe this time! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I’m heading down to Roseburg today for a “Creative Spark Session” with a group at the art center there. I’m looking forward to teaching, as I truly gain as much energy from the classroom as I give. I’m just sad for my husband who will be home alone for a long stretch. He’s going to have to pull double duty with all the farm chores, plus work. I’m hoping I don’t have to use the tire chains he dug out for me… Winter is on its way here. I will try to remember photos at the workshop this time so I can share some of the students’ successes.

Yesterday I delivered work to the Riversea Gallery in Astoria. It was a great, uncrowded, day at the beach. I had the chance to pop in to White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach on the way home to visit the paintings of one of my favorite Oregon artists, Randall Tipton. When I was teaching my “October Spark Session” I showed some of Randall’s work to my students, and everyone immediately started drooling … we wondered if we could get him to teach a class… well….

I’ve been corresponding with Randall about workshop opportunities, and the great news is, he will be teaching a two day watermedia workshop here in my Oregon City studio! The dates are January 28 & 29 from 9:30-4:30. We will reserve February 4 & 5th in case of inclement weather on the 28 & 29. This class will be limited to 8 students, with each student having their own large table to work at. If you’re interested, sign up right away to avoid disappointment!

Winter Marsh, Oil on Canvas, 48x48 copyright Randall David Tipton

Those of you who’ve been to my studio know it to be pretty easily accessible, though there is a short flight of stairs to climb to get there. The very reasonable price for the workshop is $175 for the two days. Sorry, Class is now filled. If you would like your name placed on the wait list, contact me. I will also use the wait list to notify people of future classes.

Cancellations will be accepted until January 7 with a full refund. After January 7, no refund will be available unless a participant can be found to take your place.