Exhibit and more Terry Miura Tips

The Keller Williams building is a beautiful space. I met some really interesting and positive people, was well supported by family and friends and even made my way home without getting lost! Thank you to ACT ,
Keller Williams Rivertown,   Bransco Properties,Bransco properties,  The Gordon Group The Gordon Group, Transnation Title Agency of Michigan,www.transmi.com ,  Bella Leon LLC, West Michigan Caterer, www.westmichigancaterer.com (they make the best cornbread I've ever had), and Americas Preferred Home Warranty , Inc   aphw.org.  In addition to what has been on display I also had available art cards and two paintings that had been in the Mary Free Bed exhibit.

This Clouds and Field #2

Waiting-Gondolas both are 11x14's selling for $250
All paintings will still be at Keller Williams RiverTown until noon on Oct 26, 2015
Now what you've all been waiting for -more of Terry's Tips: This is short and on toning your canvas. My comments/explanations are in parantheses.
Reasons  to tone a canvas:
1 To kill the starkness-many painters also use a glass palette over a midtone grey paper (terry does) to help judge value better ( and with a toned canvas that can only make it easier ).
2. The toned surface will come through and help  harmonize( if it is not a complementary color to the main color in your painting).
3. Mid tone greys are often used-cool or warm (depending on what you want to achieve) or Transparent Oxide Red.( for a mostly brown painting-remember most tonal paintings are in values of grey or brown)
4, Don't use a complementary tone for the background, because it will then come forward, only the foreground. (Unless for some reason you WANT your background to come forward and not the foreground)
When using the complementary undertone it will make the foreground vibrate (think Christmas-if you had a red undertone and painted green over most of it with smallish areas of red showing about the green-it would vibrate)
5. High key paintings are not toned-you want the white canvas to brighten the painted surface-to reflect light through the transparent layers.
6. Tonal paintings can have toned surfaces and the tone is usually darker than the painted layers. If you're doing a  painting with lots of sky , it's better to tone only the lower part(the land).
Next Time I will write on Terry's color Tips. And the post will be on time !

More terry Miura -tonal and Impressionist painting

I'm sorry for the week delay in my posts. I was still working on marketing aspects which need the computer and being frustrated, Finally I called graphic artist and tech  guru Jeremy Mullens www.jeremymullens.com who sat down with me and patiently taught me and advised me. Worth the drive to Grandville and the time. I also met his wife Liz Mullens who is a fantastic artist and is on Facebook.
Art prize-I only got to Frederik Meijer Gardens to see the Japanese Ceramics. Just a small part of the huge event, but a very nice part. How did they get their pieces so huge and perfect? How did they get those magnificent glazes? How did they get them all over here without breaking any of them? Such a variety of techniques and ideas. A favorite-especially among the children were the dog couple whose bodies were made up of smaller dogs by Naoto Nakata. I was there to also see the West Michigan Bonsai Club's show-no, I wasn't, I was a day early.....................
The next post will be about my exhibit sponsored by ACTion Art showing at Keller Willaims RiverTown in Grandville so I want to include in this post two paintings by Terry Miura www.terrymiura.com.the first a cityscape and the second a landscape. The first one is titled  "Late Return No. 2 ",


and the second  is titled "Working Day".
 Miura is primarily a tonalist. Tonalists change value by lightening or darkening colors and impressionists change value by using warmer or cooler colors. Impressionists have more color in shadows and are  usually in a high key (lighter  values). Tonalists are more low key, have little color in the shadows and use mostly browns or greys. Although you might have some of one or the other in either kind of painting, the artist must decide if the painting is to be done tonally or in an impressionist manner.

Terry Miura's Tips

I finally got my notes in order from the workshop I took with Terry at the Franciscan Life Process Center in Lowell  Michigan. These tips are what I wrote down during his slideshow and demonstrations.  They are not from his book, as that would be stealing. Some of the tips he gave during those times may be in his book, but again, I am only writing from what I have in my notes from the workshop.
1. Plein Air sketches are not masterpieces. they are for;
   capturing color notes,
    color shapes, 
   collecting specific information
2. Photographs are for:
    structural information
    to use as a process-he enters the photo into a computer program and adjusts to 3-4  simple values to    see which value plan he prefers
3. Paint big strong, interesting shapes
4. Paint only 3-4 values
5. Look for light and shadows-you need contrast if you can't find any-move !
6. Painting is a stage: see how light hits the planes (foreground/middle ground/background)
7. Lose an edge of every shape so your painting melds together
Stages of  painting
1. Thin wash (this is easier to cover than thick and dries faster)
2. Opaque wash
3. Thick paint
Do thumbnails first before painting-the more you do, the more you see (the less scraping you will have to do and the less paintings you will throw away.
Pick the one you like and do it in a 3-4 value study and stick to it when painting
Do you need a sky? If not leave it out
Decide your focal point (who is your star?) and then everything else is to enhance it/point to it /support it /be subordinate to it
Your focal point can stand out by one or more( but not all) : value/contrast, thicker paint, harder edges, size,shape,- in relation to everything else in your painting.
Your focal point should be neither too big nor too small. (I picked a distant dead tree, and it was too little  -the barn in front of me too big-so I'm going to remember Goldilock's' creed -It has to be "just right")
More tips next time and I will try to  get permission from Terry to upload  one of his paintings for the next post.

Business cards

For my upcoming event at Keller Williams on Oct. 15th I need business cards. The last time I personally ordered business cards for Art Prize in 2012 I ordered a LOT. I was in a venue that had not a lot of traffic and I came home with almost ALL of them.  Then a month later we had to change our phone number...............so the business cards were no longer valid. I decided to be more savy this time around.
There are of course many on line ways to create and order business cards for a moderate price. That is good if you plan on handing out a lot and if you have a more static logo to use. If  however, you are an artist you can feature your own art on your business card, and then you may want something more fluid.
I read about this in I'd Rather be in the Studio by Alyson B. Stanfield. It is an excellent resource for understanding,  planning and promoting (your) art. I borrowed her book through an inter library loan, but you can find it on ebay, Amazon .com etc .However, you will pay a tidy sum  for a used copy, because she is no longer printing her book. You can get her updated book in an instant download  for less on her site at  artbizcoach.com .
Sculpture John T. Unger is mentioned in Alyson's book . He keeps the text on his cards, but changes the images. When someone is interested in a particular work of his, he can hand them a card with that image and they can remember why they wanted it. Having several images on his cards gives him in his words "a mini-portfolio" of his more recent work. You can read more on his blog johntunger.com . After reading that about John,  it sunk into my head that he is the son-in -law of my very good writing and walking friend, Katherine ! No, I have never met him, but I love his work. So, I went into Libre office on my computer to make my business cards. After MANY hours and frustration I called a friend in the printing business who agreed to help me. I toted along my laptop and we set to work. After an hour we gave up. She uses a wonderfully easy program called Quark, which I do not have. I went on Youtube, my husband's favorite site for help with repairs of any nature,and found a tutorial. Eureka! I was able to make a business card-going  from Libre office to Youtube and back several times. It took the tutor only 18 minutes-it took me much, much longer. And the really sad part? The tutor was explaining the process in his third language-English.....It turns out though, that he could not get the "business card"option to work under Libre office so he created the business card under the "labels" option instead.
The moral is, if you don't know what you're doing and you don't want to spend days in frustration, see if there is a Youtube tutorial. Some viewers commented that the tutorial I used  was boring, but for those of us almost computer illiterate it was just what I needed.
Once your card is designed, you have some other decisions. Will the card stock  work on your printer ? Do you have enough ink ? Can you cut them so they look professional? Of course you can make them any size, but a standard size will make more recipients happy.   I found out my local printing company will print them on their printer quite cheaply ( about 60cents /sheet and 10 cards  per sheet depending on the card stock and number of colors) All I have to do is email or take in a PDF file. And I can pay $4.50 to have the sheets  cut on their big professional cutting machine.  It sounds like a deal, and I will be supporting a local business.
If you stop by at Keller Willaims at Rivertown Crossing in Grandville on Oct.15th,  you  can view my paintings and get  my business card with an image of one of my paintings.

Brush washer container

In my studio when I paint my container for cleaning brushes is one my sister gave me for Christmas over
40 years ago. It is a glass jar with a wire coil inside and a screw on lid. It works great, but I was skeptical of taking it to plein air paint. Sure, I could adapt it to hang somehow  but, what if I dropped it and it broke or even cracked-not a good idea to have odorless mineral spirits spilling onto the ground.  Now they sell nifty containers to attach to your set up. They're metal containers with metal handles and a lid, but they cost -be still my heart-$20!
I tried fitting  my glass brush cleaner in a coffee can. The new small cans are made out of cardboard. The bigger coffee cans are actually metal but too cumbersome for outside of your studio.
A week or so earlier I received an email from Margo Burian (margoburian.net)about a wash container she devised. She used a new paint can, a sink stopper and a sink screen. It looked like a great idea.  I bought the stopper, the screen and went to my friendly Sherwin-Willaims paint store for a paint can. Well, a gallon was way too large to take, but a quart can was just the right size and all aluminum (as was the gallon). Sadly, the gallon comes with a metal handle but not the quart cans! and why not? Surely, even thought they are small, a handle would still be helpful to carry them from storage to wherever you're painting-even in your home? The price was right-free-so I thought I'll devise a handle. Home to create the perfect plein air brush washer container.
First thing I found out was my drain stopper did not fit inside the can. Should have looked at Margo's idea a little closer. Since one of my kitchen sink stoppers was cracked all was not lost, money for it was not down the drain (haha) and I put it in my sink. The screen also did not fit, but  made of thinner material with a handy pair of pliers I was able to bend it , and change it from a nice circle to a free form rounded mesh which did fit inside the can. The mesh is good because then the particles go below and the solvent is clear above.
 An old spoon could be used to pry open the lid, and a small ball peen hammer would knock it tightly closed. The hammer would not take up too much space in my bag and the spoon rested nicely beside the can in the basket.. BUT-how to attach it to my set up? If I punched holes in the can for a wire handle then I'd have leakage so to the dollar store I went.
There I supported China and bought two plastic baskets for $1. (Naturally, you could not buy only one). I looped a chain through the spaces in one of them and connected the chain to itself with small s-hooks which I tightened with pliers and then taped with electrical tape.
The basket was a little big for the can-so I wrapped foil around the can and then it was secure. It was a little bigger than I wanted but at least it was light weight and could be attached to the cart with bungee cords rather then take up space nside my carry bag.
When painting  I attached the chain over a big "S" hook which I hooked over the side of my paint box. In the picture you'll see shoe laces to make it less tippy but I didn't need them.

Wet Canvas Carrier

Today I'm showing my wet canvas carrier. I saw some posts on WetCanvas in the Plein Air Hall of Fame section which showed various artists' home made carriers. Some used foam core, some used picture frames.
I used a sturdy box . I chose the box because it opened on the top, was taller than it was wide and not too deep. Although, it could have been a few inches thinner.It took up a lot of room on the tote cart. It can hold about six panels, but for me that is way more than I need. Because: 1.I'm not generally going too far from my car so I could put some on the floor on plastic 2. I  am returning home after I paint so I don't need to store them over night or for more than the trip home. 3.  I am not a prolific plein air painter. I do two paintings 9x12 and then I am worn out, so i didn't need so much space. So if you're going to make one, consider your needs carefully.
I also chose this box because it was coated  in plastic. Therefore, I could set it on wet ground without it decaying. And the plastic made it sturdier.
It was free. We purchased something from e-bay and it was mailed in this box.
I bought four rectangular dowels at Menards and my BIL cut them in 15" pieces.  (I had one already)I glued the strips with wood glue in my box, two at a time. I had no clamps so I had to rely on the glue and some books to weigh them down until they were adhered. Then I flipped the box and did the other end. Last, I used some foamcore I had as spacers and glued in the last supports.Obviously, you want your wooden dowels to be the height of your box and the number and spacing depends on how thick your panels will be. I use very thin-1/8 inch panels.
Now, the box was bigger than the 9x12 panels , but not big enough for 12x16. However,I

I don't paint that big plein air so that was okay EXCEPT the small panels would not stay against the supports since they were smaller. So, I cut cardboard the size of the box and inserted it against the support. Then I applied very small velcro pads to the corners of the painted panels. This allowed the panels to rest against the cardboard , but the paint was not disturbed. Last, I drilled holes close to the top between the wooden supports and  used a rope -a very thinnish rope
for a handle.
This photo does not show the rope, but I am sure you can imagine it.

plein air with Terry Miura

So, Friday, Saturday and Sunday(11,12,13th) I spent with the fabulous painter Terry Miura (pronounced Meera) and nine(if I counted right) other students. He is an excellent teacher-explaining why he is doing what he is doing-whether it is mixing a new pile of paint, scraping off a drawing when the angle of the building wasn't quite right etc. However, like all great painters he had one big fault-he made it look EASY ! Watching him and listening to him, I understand what he is saying, I hear what he is saying, I watch him execute what he is saying, and then I go paint and although his words resonate in my head-my eyes and hand do not cooperate...............
I needed more paint, to apply the paint , not push the paint-lay it on delicately -you don't want to disturb the color underneath or you get mud-(enough to build a wall with bricks in my case-hah) .
And we saw beautiful slides of his paintings, got to see actual small paintings-he gets so MUCH information on a 9"x12". and if you go on his web site (www.terrymiura.com) you can see he not only is an accomplished landscape painter, but he also paints beautiful cityscapes and wonderful figures. No wonder he has students that study with him for many years.
The weather was fairly cold and mostly overcast, but no rain only a few spits. We painted at the Fransiscan Center the first day, at a nearby farm the second-very kind hostess-even made us cookies!-and at a bed and breakfast along the river on Sunday. The Fransiscan Center was having a work weekend so they made their workers cinnamon rolls and there were extras for us to have also.  And their first apples were ripe so they generously allowed us to sample them too. Folks, this was not the place to start a new diet ! During your time at the center-if you take a class there- Kathy Bechtal, the art director, also provides coffee, water and chocolate chip cookies......What torture to be diabetic !
We had an international group-three from West Michigan , one from OH, one from WI, two from CAN, Terry and a gal from CA (and she was born in Russia) and I think Terry said he was born in Japan.And another gentleman I didn't hear where he was from, and another man from IL.
I wasn't tired the three days, but Monday I was exhausted. I am slowly recovering .
Some things worked well, others didn't-they're for the next blog. Glad I could paint close to my car.Got a great book Terry wrote with his tips that he gives to his workshop students.

Look at values, compare values on your canvas and more.It's all highlighted, now to get it so it reverberates in my head while I paint. Lots of concentration required, You must apply your paint purposefully and mix it right.Close, is not good enough.. I got my copy signed.here he is doing a demo on Sunday and the pic he was kind enough to take with me.
Thank you Terry for teaching such a good workshop !
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