From Where We Stand

From Where We Stand

watercolor

11 x 14 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

After spending this past week working up sketch studies from one of my Raven Rocks images, I chose this composition for painting. I am finding my sketchbook explorations valuable in helping me reach what I am after with composition, color, and light.

Too often I find myself caught up in the subject of a painting and I forget 'why' I want to express this in paint in the first place. By studying the subject first with much exploration I can search out and define the 'why', where exactly does my interest lie? Right now, I find this is a very satisifying way of working.

In other news, I have another gallery representing my artwork. In addition to With These Hands gallery on Edisto Island, South Carolina, I now have paintings available at Hands Gallery in downtown Boone, North Carolina. Hands Gallery has a wonderful mix of art from local artists and crafters. Do stop in for a visit the next time you are in town!

take a little time

I have several new works selected to go to the gallery next month. Ordered frames have arrived so I have plenty to do getting the work ready. And even though I have many ideas lined up for new paintings I thought I'd take a break from all of that and take a little time to experiment with some different materials. So I picked up a package of small Aquaboards to take for a spin with watercolors.

I chose a subject I am well aquainted with just to see how it would feel painting on this unique surface. And here is my first test. I probably won't finish this piece because I'm not loving this painting support for watercolor. Some of the qualities that I really enjoy about watercolor just don't translate onto this surface. Dropped in color mostly just sits there. And additional layers pick up the color underneath. It is nice that color can easily be lifted back to the white of the board but all in all it's not for me. No magic happening here.

I did, however, want to let you know that for the entire month of April I am offering 15% off everything in my Etsy shop. Use coupon code APRIL15 between now and April 30th to receive the discount.

And if you follow my Facebook page I am having a give-away to kick off my shop sale! You can find the link to my Facebook page over there on the side bar or click here to enter the give-away. The winner will receive an original watercolor painting. But hurry, the drawing closes Sunday, April 5 and the winner will be announced Monday, April 6!

housekeeping

Misty Morning

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

I have had a busy time lately creating new watercolor paintings. So much so that I am beginning to run out of storage space for them all. So I am doing a little housekeeping, here on my blog and in my studio, with the intention to free up space for new art to be created.

Mountain Spring

watercolor

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

In my cleaning frenzy I discovered that I had never posted these two paintings. They had been sitting in my file waiting their turn so it was time to bring them out. The top painting is a view of my neighborhood in the early summer morning. And this one above was inspired by the colors of spring along the Blue Ridge Parkway. They are both now available in my newly re-opened Etsy shop. I have quite a few other works that I will be adding to my Etsy shop, priced to sell, so if you are over that way please do drop in for a visit!

Our Art Exhibit at Valdese

This past Monday we hung our show at The Old Rock School in Valdese, North Carolina.

The show includes my work in oil, colored pencil, and watercolor, as well as watercolors by my hubby, Gary Nemcosky. All of the art work that we selected for this exhibit has a coastal theme.

Our exhibition space is fairly large, but we were able to fill it up! I didn't manage to get one clear picture, but these at least give you an idea. We also have many original works matted that are not hanging, but in a rack for display.

If you happen to be in Western North Carolina during the holidays please stop in and see our art exhibit!

Rain Coming

Rain Coming

watercolor on cold pressed paper

7.5 x 9.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

This is familiar scenery when driving the Doc Watson highway into town. Especially so lately, with all the rain we have had this summer. Clouds building, rolling over the mountain ridges coming from the west, you can see the rain in the distance. No doubt, it will be here soon.

summer song

Summer Blooms

watercolor on cold pressed paper

5.5 x 7.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

This little display of flowers looked so happy sitting in their shiny bucket on that brightly striped cloth. The vibrant color just sings of summer. I loved capturing this image in paint.

I have decided to give Daily Paintworks a go, and have added a few works to my site there. More will be added, including some older works at greatly reduced prices. I need to make room for the new! You can take a peek here or by clicking the link on the side bar.

sweet summer

Foxglove

watercolor on cold pressed paper

5.5 x 7.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available 

Happy Summer Solstice to you! We are having a gentle start to summer here in our Southern mountains. The days have been pleasant, although with a fair amount of rain, and the nights delightfully cool. The birds, peepers, and our resident bull frog have been singing their summer songs. And our flowers are beginning to bloom. We have lots of foxglove blooms this year, and they are glorious. So in celebration of summer I had to paint one, plus it provided a nice change of pace from all of my watery scenes.

sketchbook Tuesday :: Christmas Cactus

A page from my sketchbook, just a quick study of my Christmas cactus. I got this plant full of blooms last December. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall it sat quietly beside a sunny window. And then a week or so ago, just like magic it began forming blossoms. There are several more tiny buds yet to open, but this first blossom is glorious. I only wish I could have captured its brilliance in my sketch. The flower is actually a bright fuchsia pink, a color that proved impossible to mix with my current palette. Oh well.

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Don't forget to visit my Etsy shop! 

Use coupon code SANTA12 to get 20% off your purchase throughout the month of December!

a fresh start

Autumn Morning

watercolor on cold pressed paper

5.5 x 7.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available for purchase

Autumn has always inspired me to make changes and start anew. I have been working behind the scenes, reorganizing, adjusting, planning...it's all good, fun stuff. I have added new information to my 100 Paintings page, with some new works too. I am in the process of updating my Fine Art America shop, adding a few new works available for prints and cards. And I have reopened my Etsy shop. It has been a while now since I offered original art for sale, and it's time. Things are beginning to pile up around here. It's time to clear some things out and make room for the new art that is happening.

The scene above is from my neighborhood. It is a view that I see most every time I return from town. Just a couple of weeks ago, one crisp fall morning, it looked like this, with the long shadows of morning creeping up the hillside and around the brilliantly colored autumn trees. I just couldn't resist that autumn morning glow.

Winter Field

Winter Field

graphite on 500 bristol board

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Here is my latest drawing finished. It was a pleasure to work in graphite again. The scene is from a view just down the road from my house, from last winter when there was much more snow on the ground. Although I am not complaining, not one bit. I am thinking of doing a companion piece or two for this one before I tire of graphite and get back to my colored pencils.

I have also made this piece available a prints and cards on my Fine Art America shop. Since I set this shop up some time ago I have pretty much left it neglected. Now, however, I have plans to keep it more active and will be occasionally adding works available as prints and rotating out some of the older pieces. There is also a link over there on the side bar if you'd like to check it out.

Colorful days ahead

ACEO Blue Ridge Series V

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

ACEO Blue Ridge Series VI

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

These are the last two, out of my series of six art cards inspired by some of my favorite local scenes. They are both done with watercolor and a few touches of watercolor pencil. And like these images suggest, the fall color is beginning to appear around here. Only these past couple of days have been so wet and foggy up here in our mountains you would never know there was any color other than gray in the landscape. I suppose that's what makes splashing these colors around on paper so much fun. I enjoyed doing these so much that I have already begun another watercolor art card series. But I won't share what sort of landscape theme the next set is about - you'll just have to wait and see.

More Blue Ridge Series art cards

ACEO Blue Ridge Series III

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

ACEO Blue Ridge Series IV

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

Have you ever noticed how practice with one media translates to another? I discovered this when going from drawing in colored pencil to painting in oil. All of that use of color in drawing helped my use of color in oils become somehow more freely intuitive. Then, while doing all of those oil paintings, I slowly loosened up with my application of paint and became more sure of where and when to lay down those strokes of color. Now I feel this same sense when working with watercolor. Trusting what I already know. It is something that does take time to practice, at least for me, there are no shortcuts. And at the same time I have come to the realization that it is the challenge that keeps me interested and wanting to do more.

Here are the next two, out of the six in my series, of art cards inspired by some of my favorite local scenes. The top one is a view found in a local park, and the bottom is from nearby Valle Crucis. They are both done with watercolor and a few touches of watercolor pencil.

Bid on this painting to donate to the NWF!

Venice LA

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to bid

This is the painting that I did in response to the Gulf oil spill, and The Spirit of the Gulf challenge. It is also #44 in my 100 painting project. I have listed this painting on Ebay with 100% of the proceeds from the sale going to the National Wildlife Federation. This painting is a view of the marshlands in Venice, Louisiana, an area affected by the oil spill. I found this scene using Google Street View.

Even though some time has past and we tend to forget rather quickly when the news cycles on to the next big event, there is still clean up going on in the Gulf from the devastating effects of the BP oil spill. Wildlife in that area will probably be impacted by the oil spill for a long time. I admire the efforts of organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation to help care for our natural environments and its inhabitants as well as this organization's educational efforts, especially their publications for children. So if you can help me with this donation, head on over to it's listing on Ebay.

Watercolor art cards!

ACEO Blue Ridge Series I

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

ACEO Blue Ridge Series II

watercolor

2.5 x 3.5 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Click here to purchase

I decided to try some ACEOs with watercolor. I found that I had missed doing these little art cards. They are a fun way to work, and challenging with the small size. So I made a page with some of my favorite Blue Ridge Mountain scenes. These are the first two out of a series of six. I am thinking of doing a small series like this with various types of landscape imagery, including  marshes and beaches, of course.

Drift

Drift

oil on canvas

6 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

For purchase information click here

This is #43 of my 100 painting project. It is a scene from a nearby park where the North Fork of the New River runs along a walking path. Having grown up near the Ohio River, I always chuckle at the thought of these mountain streams being called "rivers". Yet it's true that they are indeed rivers. Up here, right at the Eastern Continental Divide, is where the rivers begin their journeys that eventually end at the sea.

Painting #20 - Wandering Grace - and our winner is. . .

 Wandering Grace

oil on canvas

6 x 9 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

For purchase information click here

Some paintings look perfect when I upload them to this blog and others just defy color correction. This is one of those defiant paintings. I calibrate my monitor every two weeks. I adjusted the color in Photoshop pretty darn close to the original. I checked my color profiles. It looks great on my screen. Then I uploaded the file here and presto, the colors are changed. You will just have to take my word for it that the yellows of the marsh grasses are a little yellower and the blue of the water in the foreground is less cyan than it appears here.

This is another view of the marshes from  the Low Country of South Carolina, near Edisto Island. I know that I need to start blogging of these paintings more frequently, as I now have quite a backlog of work in this 100 painting project. But the weather has just been way too nice these days to stay indoors for long.

Now here's what you all stopped by for today. I put all of the names entered for my give-away in my Edisto Beach hat.

With a popsicle in one hand, and with much ceremony, Kiddo selected a name. . .

and the winner is Deni! Congratulations Deni! If you will email me your mailing info, to ann (at) bluebirdhill (dot) com, I will send the cards right off to you. Thank you to everyone that entered my little give-away. You all make blogging so much fun!

Painting #14 - Simple Abundance

When the Summer Went
oil on canvas
6 x 6 inches
©Ann Thompson Nemcosky
For purchase information click here

Here is painting #14 of my 100 painting project, a view from last autumn beside Simm's Pond off the Blue Ridge Parkway. I loved the dance of soft, warm colors in this scene.

I am still enjoying and enthused by my 100 painting project. You may have guessed that my posting of these paintings is behind my actual completion of them. Mostly this is because the oil paint needs time to dry. However, I am far enough along in this project that I realize 100 paintings just may be possible to complete in a year's time. I also believe that it is a good number of paintings to reach for with this goal. 50 paintings would probably not be enough to find out how my approach might evolve, as each one I complete becomes a more personal statement. I am also finding a feeling of contentment with this project. It is simple, direct, and keeps me focused. And we know how easily I can get scattered.

As you learn to trust the wisdom of your heart
and make creative choices based on what you know is right for you,
process becomes progress.

-Sarah Ban Breathnach- Simple Abundance

March Print of the Month

An image chosen to coax back the sun. This month's featured art in print is from a colored pencil piece titled Dawn. Because March is the month we call the sun to come back to us. And we really need a little sunshine.

Note cards and fine art prints of this piece are available through Imagekind.

Painting #13 - Further On

Further On
oil on canvas
6 x 9 inches
©Ann Thompson Nemcosky
For purchase information click here

I struggled to get the colors of this image to match the original painting. It's not exact, but as close as I could come. I really enjoyed painting this one. It's a scene I have worked from before, so perhaps it is because of my familiarity with the shape of the water and the marshes that made an easy transition to paint. Living here in the mountains I sometimes long to see a wide horizon. These South Carolina marshes fascinate me with their meandering waterways and all those horizontal shapes of layered color. Number 13 of my 100 painting project.

Painting #11 - Summer Paused

Summer Paused
oil on canvas
6 x 8 inches
©Ann Thompson Nemcosky
For purchase information click here

Painting #11 in my 100 painting project. This is from a hike on the Boone Fork Trail in midsummer, the kind of day when you wish the days would stay just the way they are right then, at that moment. Wishing there was a button to push somewhere. Push pause please.