Hope's Art Journey

         The painting is on Claybord which is 2 inch cradled.  The surface is very smooth and although wonderful for certain effects, is difficult for tradition acrylic painting.  It seems that you need several coats to get opaque areas.  The paint lifts as you brush it across.  I did coat it with a base of acrylic yellow ochre which helps some.  And, if I decided to use pencil or collage or other mixed media; it would accept that material wonderfully.  I started with dark areas to lay out the pattern of the painting.  Then, I decided that I needed to paint [...]

After my successful solo art show, I stopped to review my unsold artwork and my career moves.  I have been getting some wonderful marketing newsletters and need to start following the advice from them.  However, I must say it has all been rather frustrating for me.   It is my goal to show in better venues, create larger exciting paintings and hopefully, to sell and get a response from serious collectors.  If tweeting, following conversations on LinkedIn and commenting on other artist's work will help with that, I'm ready to do it. However, thus far it has been unfruitful and frustrating.  Mind you, I [...]

My degree is in Art Education.  Therefore, I have had experience in the public school classroom.  So when I hear of an art teacher who seems to have a true calling for teaching, I can certainly applaud her (him).  My granddaughter has one in her 9th grade year at a high school in Rapid City, SD.   Granted, my granddaughter is smart and probably has more natural ability than I did at that age especially in the crafts area.  I have spent time with her but have not done much structural teaching.  Mostly, I have the materials available and let her do her [...]