A different direction

Psalm 143:8

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.


Becoming Gold ©2009 Karen Mathison Schmidt
6 x 6 • acrylic on Gessobord

SOLD • private collection, Fort Collins, Colorado

This started out as a picture of our driveway at my favorite time of day in the summertime, when the dappled gold of the setting sun through the trees defines their shape. Somewhere along the way the driveway decided it wanted to be a little river. Sometimes this kind of thing happens when you’re in the creation zone, and the best course of action is usually just to go with it. So I did!

Here are some work-in-progress photos:







And some brushwork details:

A prayer for grace ...

O Lord,
We pray that your grace will fill our hearts,
fuel our thinking,
frame our relationships,
and follow us into the coming days.

This is a part of a prayer by Alister Begg I heard last week in one of the daily podcasts from Truth for Life

I first discovered Alistair’s graceful, loving, humble, uncompromising teaching of God’s Word when I would tune in to the radio broadcast on my 45-minute morning commute when we lived in Long Beach (California) several years ago. When we moved back here to Louisiana I really missed it, and I was happy to find out that Truth for Life has a website with downloadable podcasts I could listen to every day. It’s a real blessing, and I highly recommend it for everyone, not just believers.

Here’s a glimpse of my latest work in progress:


Becoming Gold WORK IN PROGRESS

OK, now back to work!

20 x 16 x 1 • acrylic on cradled Gessobord

SOLD • private collection, Placitas, New Mexico

These black-eyed susans grow wild, along with the honeysuckle and morning glories, just about everywhere around here in the summer. I love ’em! For this painting I started out with a blending of images from two different locations; one less than a mile from our place,


and the other a few miles farther north. (I flipped the road around for my composition.)


My number one rule when I start a new painting is: Don’t skimp on the amount of time you spend on planning the composition. Sometimes I go a little overboard on this, but it’s really, really difficult to get a strong painting out of a weak composition. Some artists can do their composing as they go, but I am definitely NOT one of those artists. I really have to decide on my subject arrangement right at the beginning.

Which is not to say that I consider the initial arrangement set in stone or anything; I mean, you have to be flexible as you go. You never know when the painting might take on a life of its own and some element of the composition will practically demand to be changed.

Mostly what happens to me, though, is that the color and light change as I go, and I’ll accidentally do something and go, “oh no ... oh, cool ... I think I’ll keep that." I love it when that happens.

A few years ago I spent some time with the local art council teaching kids to paint after school, and I wrote down some of the things they would say about making art. One of my favorites: "I didn’t mean for that part to look like that, but I think it’s kind of cool, so I’m gonna let it stay that way.”

Here are some close-up details of today’s painting:

A little taste ...

WHEW! I’ve been so distracted lately! Well, I finished this painting, but I’m not satisfied with my final scan, and it’s time to cook dinner (something easy ... spaghetti, I think ... ) so here’s just a small glimpse of a portion of the final painting.


Tomorrow morning I’ll try to adjust my colors to be more true to the original, and show the whole painting.

Meanwhile, take a gander at my new business cards! I FINALLY got around to designing these ... the hardest part was deciding what image to include, since I like to paint so many things. I decided on this one because someone suggested that it makes a bold image even in a small size:



Hasta mañana, amigos!

Back to work!

20 x 16 acrylic work in progress:


I’m afraid I’ve been goofing off a bit lately ... hey, it’s summer!

But now I’m knuckling down and getting back to work ... here’s a new one I’ve started. It still has a way to go, but here it is so far.

Happy Tuesday!

The Ballad of Firecracker Pearl

Last night Paul and I went to a little birthday dinner party at the home of some good friends in town. At the request of our hostess, Paul brought his guitar and after dinner we sat around the living room talking (too hot for the front porch) while Paul played. At one point he broke into a bluesy riff and our friend Ramona asked him to sing some blues (which he’s famous for making up as he goes along).

“But I don’t feel blue,” he replied, all the while continuing the bluesy riff on the guitar.

So Ramona spontaneously broke out into a blues ballad which she made up as she went along (kind of talk-singing along with Paul’s playing) about her recent minor auto accident in which her beloved long-time vehicle was totaled. Her bright red Honda Accord, aka “Firecracker Pearl.”

A car “so red it made you lose your mind.”

By the end of the song, where she told about calling her husband to tell him the car was totaled:

“No ... she’s not driveable ... you better come pick me up, Hon --
Firecracker Pearl ... well, ... she’s made her last run.”

... the rest of us were all in tears -- not because it was so sad, but because we were laughing so hard.

Good times.

Irresistible Inspiration ...

a new Bailey portrait in progress ...


Here's a new one of Bailey. I've started it off with a tonalist method, using only mars black and titanium white for the initial stage. Then I’ll layer on some color glazes and develop it that way. I think her head is looking a little too big, or maybe her paws aren’t quite big enough, but I’ll fix that as I go along.

When I walked in my studio/office yesterday morning and saw Bailey relaxing there on my desk I saw the finished painting in my mind along with the obvious title, and I couldn’t resist. So instead of the larger landscape I had planned, I started this one.

And the title?

Yep, you guessed it ...

Cat and Mouse