The Professor's Portrait

This last Saturday, I began work for what will be my first 'official' portrait. I am painting my friend, Andrew Schmidt, who has recently become a professor of Technical Communications.

For those that know him, Andrew has always had a regal... some might say royal... air about him, so it is only fitting that he should have his portrait painted. Somewhere along the lines of how Henry VIII was asked to sit still for a period of time while servants brought him goblets of wine, Andrew was asked to sit in my living room while friends brought him glasses of spiked lemonade. Holding one of my ancient art books, we began.

I took some pictures, and tried a few different compositions. I felt the pressure after hanging out and eating hotdogs and hamburgers, so didn't apply too much paint... but sketched out the main forms and started blocking things in. I'll be working on it again this week, maybe switching things up a little bit. After all, he has a great sense of humour, and I want his painting to accurately reflect the man behind the robes.

I'll be posting updates on the Professor's Portrait, as things progress. Watch this space!

Today's big thing

Well, this got off to a flying start, didn't it. I've got to get someone to give me a tutorial on how to manage and update this thing.

Several things have inspired me this week. I guess I'll start with that.

Firstly, my folks bought a house. Hooray! Can't wait to take Murph up there to chew on their baseboards and find a place to escape from their garden.

I've been doing some research into possible side projects. Cooking, gardening... photography?

I've enjoyed looking at this website -- http://www.leahandmark.com/. Leah and Mark are photographers. I found an article on ScoutMob, which begins 'Mark and Leah learned about each other thanks to photography and, because of it, they now have a blossoming business together, too.' How lovely. Can I do that?!

Through planning my buddy Susie's baby shower, I also got to spend some time at the Farmer's Market this week -- and was reminded how much I miss it. Must find something out on the West Side. I discovered the Love is Love Farm, out in Douglasville. I'm looking forward to being a bit more creative in the kitchen.

It's been a week of new ideas. Just have to pick one and run with it, I suppose. My friend Tina told me all about this place up in the Georgia Mountains, called Hambidge. It's an artist residency, and we briefly visited their gallery while on a site visit to Dillard. Their new Executive Director kissed us on the cheek when we arrived, and the showroom was full of beautiful ceramics for sale. They have an annual festival -- food, art and music. Not sure if P.A. and I are up for a residency, but I do like the idea of travelling; maybe a weekend in a cabin, dedicated to painting and writing.

To aid my incentive for painting and the like, I also completely cleaned out our 'office' -- AKA Murphy's Room. I'm shopping this week for portrait supplies, and looking forward to Andrew's first sitting. This is gonna be fun.

Welcome to Seafoam Elephant!

Hello friends,

This is the very first post for my new blog, Seafoam Elephant. It's an understatement to say that I have no idea how these things work, so please bear with me.

I will be learning how to showcase my art work here, for review and sale. I specialise in oil and acrylic painting, but you will also find photography and block prints here, and perhaps the occasional ceramic vessel.

At this time I'm painting a lot of still life, with fruit, veg, glass and plants. I'm soon to start work on a commissioned portrait.

Any encouragement, commissioned work or general criticism is welcome! Thank you for visiting Seafoam Elephant -- there's more to come! I hope to see you back here soon.

Cheryl