Another week spent partially in the studio and the other part talking with clients about commissions. It seems I spend more time doing business activities and framing, although it’s a nice diversion — I can’t complain!

This week I had the brainstorm to enlarge just a section of one of my still life photos, and spent a while doing these using my ebony and 4B pencils in the sketchbook to test my compositional skills. I was quite pleased with the results and plan to do more. I designed one of these glass abstractions on a half sheet 140# watercolor paper, as I found an old frame it would look good in — so I’ve worked backward coming up with an image size and mat size to fit the frame.

Yesterday I began the painting. The design includes parts of the tall, amber bottle and a couple goblets — blue and umber. I plan to do more painting today and possibly finish it this weekend — before we start defrosting the turkey for next week!

I like the set-up of the elements and I’m pretty much using the actual colors. There’s a couple spots that need re-working, as in toning down some values. The sun was very strong coming in the south windows. And I didn’t want to make the cobalt goblet as dark as it actually was — it was very opaque and too dark, contrasting with the very transparent glasses next to it. The exception is the champagne glass with the mirrored surface.

So it has been a challenge combining and painting these elements together and making it work along with the patriotic theme of the homemade “cards” using the flag fabrics and Statue of Liberty. There are a couple minor things to finish painting, such as the base of one goblet and foreground. I plan to finish it this week, before I start my next portrait commission, which will demand all my concentration and focus.

Just to keep things interesting, I have been working on two different paintings simultaneously. I believe this pushes me to keep my work fresh and uniquely distinctive.

I began this week on the watercolor of the glassware still life, which includes the tall amber-colored bottle. This bottle was also a part of my teapot series a few years ago. I was attracted to its shape and the unusual color. I set the still life elements up in our gazebo in strong morning sunlight. Something new to the setup is the dark cobalt blue goblet.

I usually compose with my camera and take many photos from different angles. Frequently I move things around while taking photos.

Alternating back to the barn collage of the Wickfield Pavillion in Cantril, I have added the turquoise sky to add contrast to the red brick of the bottom of the barn. This complementary color makes it sing!

I will need to decide on the shapes and colors of the foreground next. As I work, more ideas come to mind. I always strive for a colorful end result and dynamic design with plenty of texture.

This week I set aside the barn collage after working a bit on the roof shapes and windows, and thinking about a good sky color to complement the barn textures.

I completed a quick watercolor painting of some of my last garden flowers of the year — pink cosmos and red & yellow gaillardias. There are still a few survivors out there.

This bouquet was painted with bamboo brushes in the Chinese sumi-e manner. I worked from my photos, having set the bouquet outside on my garden bench. The result is a spontaneous, fresh watercolor painting — a remembrance of summer!

In my mind, I like to think and plan colors ahead and let the thoughts simmer for a while. I sorted through my palette of papers, realizing I will have to paint more of them in the near future. I decided to begin the design with the vent on top, using a lavender and coarse steel gray colors. I thought that earth tones with red and gray tones would be a good start on the dormers. The textures add to the weathered quality of the barn. So far, I’m happy the way it’s progressing. While working on it, I’m already thinking of the next design and also the mats and frame for it when I’m done.

On viewing the cityscape, I wasn’t happy with the color chosen for the sky — the pink was too close in value and made everything look darker. I painted a layer of Interference Orange over it, thinking it would tone it down. Since this didn’t do the trick, I changed it completely by adding a primary yellow mixed with white acrylic. It brightened it considerably and look much improved. After that, I continued working on the skywalk shapes and other sections, noting some changes will be made on the light poles. I’m satisfied with the piece so far. The advantage of working in collage is that changes can be glued down over the offending color.

Today I will begin working on the next portrait commission and working more on the cityscape and perhaps getting a start on the barn.

Yesterday while planning my next barnscape, I came across a design I penciled last October of the Wickfield Pavilion, a historic round barn in Cantril, Iowa. I decided the design looked good and will work on it after finishing the Des Moines cityscape. Figuring out the colors for the barn will be a challenge — each color and texture I use affects the temperature and hues. I’ll also have to consider the possibilities for the interesting shingled roof with the many windows and the cupola and pig weathervane on the top.

The piece is larger than the last one; most of my barn collages are quite small. I like the details on this barn and plan to render a unique design. Of course, the trick is to not let all the details take away from the textured papers and overall big shapes.

I have begun working on my next barn collage, which I took pictures of this barn at least four years ago. A friend came across it and thought it would be a good one for me to do!

It is a large double barn connected with a long extension, as you can see from part of the photo. I decided to do this one on the 8-ply archival matboard. Today everything seemed to go smoothly — choosing the right color and paper textures. That doesn’t happen all the time. Occasionally I have a struggle with the right color for the values and hues. It’s going well!

See everyone at the next festival in Davis County on October 4th!

Update: This is the third week into this painting, Lady Liberty. Each section is a painting in itself. I get lost in the abstract shapes of the glass patterns, statue, and fabric, connecting the patterns and shapes with each other to paint the whole design as a cohesive unit. Periodically, I step back and place a white mat around it to view the value patterns. Still a ways to go with it — I like the way it’s shaping up.

This week I am continuing work on the Lady Liberty watercolor (22″ x 30″) started last week. It is mostly careful observation of shapes and details using my photo reference from my still life set up in the gazebo. The initial drawing is very general to start with, and as I paint I re-draw the structure, mapping it out as I go. I’m still working on the easel and wet the paper with water first where I’ll add the pigments. In other areas I paint on dry paper, where I want a clean, sharp edge.

I’ve added cobalt blue, quinacridone red, gold, sienna and burnt orange to the original palette of manganese blue, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, viridian, dioxazine purple, and indanthrone blue. So far I’m please with the progress and can’t wait to finish!

Tuesday this week I began the next glassware design, Lady Liberty. It is a full sheet watercolor and I’m working with it upright on an easel instead of working flat on the table. I love the dynamic design of the the fractured glass patterns and warm-cool color combinations, especially the blue-greens, purples, and golds.

Tomorrow I’ll choose paintings and collages for display at Ottumwa’s festival and pack up the van and head out early Saturday morning. See you there!

My main goal is good design, concentrating on a few simple shapes so the values “read” well from a distance — at least six feet away. I had thought about a gray barn roof, but decided it was too bland and neutral. My work is about color, so I choose a medium toned blue-black. The cool blue tones work well against the hot red sky. I cut some narrow strips for the eaves and decided to take a break for lunch. I laid white mat strips along the edge of the collage to view it critically and check if the design is working . So far, so good.

Also in progress is my next barn collage. I did a loose contour drawing of a barn on Hwy T61, using a photo I took in September 2004. It was one of those beautiful sunny fall days. I drove the length of this highway — it was recommended by a friend who is also interested in old barns. This particular barn may not be there anymore; most of it was collapsed when I took the photo. I also added some equine shapes to the foreground for additional design interest.

I spent part of the weekend at the Des Moines Farmers’ Market, so no studio time. I did admire the exotic orchids there and other vendors who were selling beautiful floral bouquets. That’s always inspiring for me! All those gorgeous vivid colors! My garden is flourishing as well, due to all the rain we’ve had this year. Sunday I cut a big bouquet from the garden, including three varieties of sunflowers and cosmos. I took many reference photos for future watercolors — watch for them here on the website.

This week will mainly be spent on all the commissions I have to complete including a pencilled wedding portrait, church drawings, and a hospital montage in watercolor. I plan to get a contour drawing of another barn done in collage too. In addition, I’ll be planning which paintings to display at the upcoming art festival in Albia on August 23 — see you there!

Today I changed a bit of the roof colors, using some green outlines to make it stand out from the landscape. I also fiddled more with the windmill, using more reds and yellows for that structure. I’m quite pleased with the results.

I also cut a fresh bouquet of fuschia and white gladiolas, fire-engine red petite sunflowers, and violet cosmos yesterday and plan to do an impressionistic watercolor of it at a later date.

This last Saturday I traveled north to Clear Lake to participate in the Art Sail Festival. This was my first time there. Artists set up in beautiful downtown city park overlooking Clear Lake. The weather was perfect — sunny and hardly any wind. I got there later than expected, due to road construction on I-35. Next year I will leave earlier, as customers were up and looking early before I got things set up.

There were approximately 75 artists from various cities, including the local folks. I displayed mainly my watercolors, including the new glass still lifes and pets — which were a big hit. It looked like a big turnout and I look forward to going again next year. Thanks to everyone who came out!

The paintings will be on display in Ames at the Octagon Center for the Arts from August 15 to October 19. There will be an opening reception August 15 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm for Octagon members, guests, and the general public.

This still life painting depicts a variety of glassware arranged on a table with selected presidents’ portraits. It’s part of a still life series of glassware that I began in the fall of 2006.

After that, I had a short break, allowing me time to commute to the next class — which began at Bell Park. The afternoon was at Memorial Park, and these varied with two other alternate parks on succeeding days.

In this class I taught Chinese Brush Painting with younger children — 1st–4th grades. Class sizes varied too. Instead of using a lot of colors, I decided to stick with black tempera paint and a large #6 bamboo brush to make things easier, had the kids paint their designs on colored construction paper. The absorbency helped the painting, since we were dealing with temperature changes each day. I began with instructing on the Four Gentlemen brushes strokes and concentrated on the bamboo stalks, nodes and leaves the first day. I brought and demonstrated other strokes and had samples of these designs which the kids copied. They got a chance to try the panda, dragon, flowers, and penguins. The second day I demonstrated various Chinese symbols: sun, moon, deer, horse, dance and others. I also taught calligraphy “June”, “2008” and “America” in Chinese. They seemed to enjoy those.

After the morning class at the park, I took a lunch break and afterwards proceeded to the second park for another Chinese Brush class with a different bunch of children. This schedule continued through Thursday. On Friday I began with the last collage class before going to Central Park in downtown Ottumwa to hang and display the best artwork from the kids at the bandshell. I was introduced at 11am, and many of the city residents were present to view the artwork and have lunch in the park. I also brought an easel and a few kids got a chance to paint their masterpiece in the park. All the children toured the exhibit on their way to their afternoon activity. After lunch, I drove to Pennsylvania Place, a senior citizens retirement community and gave a presentation. I brought samples of my watercolors and collages and explained my painting process and a little bit about myself as an artist.

I enjoyed the residency experience and had fun teaching the kids new and different techniques.  They were happy to learn about the collage and chinese brush painting styles — all their smiles were proof!

My painting process is a lot slower than in the past — I would sit down with a full sheet and be able to complete it within a week or less! Now that I’m into realistic details and the abstract design, it’s taking me longer. The more I observe, the more I see.

The exciting thing that happens while I paint is getting more ideas for the series. I’m working now with a variety of clear glassware and some colored. I love the fractured divisions of planes and shape and color distortions. My goal is basically an interesting design with a strong value pattern. Sometimes I’ll spend a couple days painting one glass. Today’s design involves playing cards with the glass patterns in a vertical design, which accentuates the tall glassware. The painting was inspired by Bob Dylan’s song, “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts.” So if anyone wonders about the hearts suit being prominent, that’s the reason. I’ve done a smaller painting focusing on just one glass in the center.

The curved shapes of the glass have distorted the smaller shapes of the cards, which changes in the sunlight and colored glass. I displayed this painting at the art talk yesterday at the Wednesday Club, for the sake of demonstrating my painting process and also brought a finished piece for them to compare. A very successful afternoon!

Ms. Heikes’ painting, from her new glassware series, was one of 170 pieces chosen from 579 submitted works. Her watercolor is one of her new glassware series. Marybeth has been painting in the still life genre over twenty-five years. Her past series “Chairs in the Jungle,” have been widely exhibited throughout the United States.

Ms. Heikes’ painting is from her new glassware series. She has been painting still lifes and landscapes for over twenty-five years. Her works have been included in numerous national competitions, and she has won many prestigious awards including the Grumbacher Gold Medal. Her work has been featured in American Artist Watercolor, The Artist’s Magazine, Iowa Woman, Sunshine Artist, The Best of Drawing and Sketching.