Jumpstart Workshop!

Yesterday I attanded a half-day workshop at the Lakewood Arts Council gallery taught by Jeanne Mackenzie, a talented and well-known oil landscape artist from near Ft. Collins, CO. She was teaching about using photographs as reference material for our paintings...it was great fun with our group of ten and a great jump-start for me after completing the lengthy banner project. I completed an 18x24 acrylic painting and just about finished another...she taught us about allowing the viewer's eye to create the detail...great stuff...and here's the completed painting!

Banners are Installed!

After a long day yesterday, all four mosaic banners have been installed in the Westminster Rec Center atrium...with the wondeful help of my contractor friends Virgil and Greg from CNI Contractors, Inc. . Greg was the one brave enough to ride up the lift time after time to secure the banners, and Virgil was in perfection mode as usual, keeping us all on track for each next step. Starting at 8am, they had a lesson on the lift operation from the maintenance crew.

The first challenge was to secure a framework on the sloped 1/2" thick steel structure at the top of the atrium (36' up - yikes!) which involved tying off each successive conduit bar to the beam, thus securing it temporarily while the clips were shot into the steel...then attach each bar, which was pre-equipped with clips and cable from which the banners themselves were hung...Keep in mind that while the banners are hanging to be viewed from the upper floor level, the lift was positioned on the lower level...meanwhile we had to dodge around several kids classes being held in the lower level...we really did not want to drop a wrench on anyone's head!...But at lunchtime, thanks to Melinda, we were able to sample a wonderful chili lunch being given at the center, followed by a tour of the newly completed pool complex from Gina, the recreation director. Set to open today to those that are in the know, the existing 1986 pool was replaced with a "pool extravaganza" of lap pool, current pool, and wading pool with a beach and built in activities, including slide...new locker rooms and activity pool with rope swing and climbing wall complete the facility! Incredible! The facility is located at 10455 Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster, CO. Please visit to see the banners and try out the pools!

Once each banner was secured to the cables, we positioned each one to be level and in line with each other...shortly before 6pm we completed the task! whew! Come see!

Finished!

The four banners are finally finished and scheduled to be installed later this week...now I'm thinking about what to do next. I had several boxes of stained glass scraps given to the gallery which I shared with a number of glass artists...together with the wood window frames that I received last fall, I have no excuses not to start some glass mosaics! but then, maybe I need to concentrate on drawing...and then maybe some watercolors...I feel so much more knowledgeable about colors after all the acrylics I've completed...we'll see!

New banners completed...

I have now completed the last two banners enough to hang at the gallery and photograph...this allow me to see each banner in its entirety to determine any areas that need fixing...these photos are of the summer and winter banners...I've also begun to work out the details of the hanging at the rec center with the help of some great engineer and contractor friends...final photos will appear when I finish all the "tweaking"...

The Big Gap

Now let me explain the reason for the absence from my blog...Last fall I responded to a request for proposals for hanging artwork in the center atrium of the Westminster Recreation Center, north of Denver...they were remodeling the pool area and wanted to have some art as part of the re-dedication...long story short, I won the commission..and have been painting ever since! the proposal involved 4 black fabric banners, each 4' x 12' and depicting a different Colorado season...painted with acrylic in the mosiac stlye of my smaller banners, it's been a real learning experience (finding UV resistant fabric with a fire rating, for one) ...I am now working on the final banner (winter), with the hanging intallation to be scheduled in late February...working on my 4' wide drawing board in my office/studio I roll each banner as I paint each panel. As each banner is complete, I take it to the LAC gallery to get an overall look by hanging it from our upper gallery railing...these photos indicate roughly how they will be seen when installed. These pics are the fall and spring seasons...I will soon post the summer banner...Now, back to painting!

Poppies

This painting (24 x 18 acrylic) is my latest and is currently hanging at the LAC Gallery...on such a snowy day, it is a reminder of summer to come!

Glass Mosaic

Here's the small glass mosaic that I did as a prt of Kathy Thaden's recent mosaic workshop...I have quite a few old wood windows from a neighbor, so I have lots more mosaics planned using stained glass!