One of my students turned me onto these British shows which are only shown on YouTube in the US as far as I know (thank you Art Lover). Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year. So far I've been caught up in the landscape seasons. First, the scenery is beautiful and we learn some history about the location - often castles and the same views Constable or  painted. The art tends to be representational but in different mediums - sometimes even fabric or linocut - but mostly painting. Its cool to see how so many artists interpret the same scene. And its very nice to see representational art being celebrated and promoted since its rather passe here it seems. I'm playing them in the background while I'm working. Hope you enjoy them too!

One of the drawbacks (for my family) of my being an artist is that I am often rearranging and repainting the house. My problem is, I actually don't know how to pull it all together. I have a lot of art but almost none of it on the walls! We also have antiques, rugs, and lots of books and other knicks knacks from travel. Last year, I painted the back of the house in a very on-trend grey which, after living with for a year, I hated because it was cold and blue. So after a search for the perfect white, I ended up mixing my own from two Benjamin Moore colors. Now our walls have a warm light pink blush!

I stumbled upon a decorating site that inspired me because her house looked like mine - suburban, builder grade, etc. Not some awesome architectural miracle. I pulled the furniture into a better grouping even though it interferes somewhat with my husband's ideal tv views from the side chair. But now we can also sit and enjoy our lovely backyard view.
I placed this little antique washstand with a grouping of art books and a watercolor of New Orleans by Austin artist Donna Crosby. The fireplace mantle got some D&D and physics books (my daughter and husband's fun reading), a little pot from Mexico, a Matisse print and a watercolor by my mom, Opal Cheers. :)
I'll share more of my art collection as I finish repainting the walls, organize, and finally hang more paintings.

I've struggled for awhile now trying to take good shots of my paintings. I drag an easel outside, try to get the angle to the sun right with no shadows or glare, catch the painting when it blows over, deal with mosquitoes and then fuss over photo editing for hours to get the color balance somewhat correct. I have an old dslr, OLD - like 5 megapixels - and rather than invest in a new camera which I wouldn't use often, I decided to hire a pro!

The difference is clear when you compare the two images side by side. I see now that my photos tended to be more warm and much less crisp. My yellows were too yellow and my blues tended to purple. Now the subtleties of color and strokes are visible. Glare is removed in the dark transparent areas. I painted this scene maybe two years ago and haven't shared it because I could not get an accurate photograph. I like the painting and now I hope I can send it out in the world with good web images that will accurately represent the work.

Sometimes pro is the way to go!