OPA or Other People's Art

I can't help myself, I buy art.  I mean I'm an artist and I have "some" of my paintings hanging on the wall, but mostly for self defamation and to have a reason to get better ;)

Seeing the Elephant by Penny Otwell
Oil on Canvas -All rights reserved
Private collection of Jim and Kay Zahn

Do YOU SEE THE ELEPHANT?

Recently I've been online a lot (only recently? to my friends, that's funny) and in those travels I have come across some art that I not only like, but I couldn't live without.  So I decided to share some of the OPA (other people's art) that can be found on MY walls at home and the office.

For example from a wonderful artist in Northern California, Penny Otwell who until just recently lived in the Yosemite Valley.  My husband and I honeymooned in the Yosemite Valley.  Camp 5 ? the rock climbers camp, in 1984.  We were cool ;)

But when I saw Penny's painting Seeing the Elephant, I had to have it.  It's personal, and I'm saving up for a larger more iconic painting of Yosemite but for now, I See the Elephant everyday and I couldn't be happier.

View Of Scottsdale, Arizona From Pinnacle Peak
by Warren Keating
All rights reserved.

I'm sharing this now, because today I purchased another "must have", from an artist whom I found chatting on a Linked In Group about marketing your art, named Warren Keating.  In looking through his online gallery, I found another personal MUST have.  It's a painting of Scottsdale, Arizona looking down from Pinnacle Peak where hubby and I spent a lot of our local Rock Climbing years before all the houses filled in the landscape below the Peak.  We were actually married right there.  At the base of the Peak.  Looking up at our beloved rocks, and some of our friends who didn't make it down in time for the ceremony. 

Can you tell I like Rocks?

Speaking of rocks, I'll share now one of my own paintings (one of my first larger pastels) it's called Patagonia High Tide, because in fact there's a lot more rock down under that high tide, and someday I want to paint Low Tide there.  My reference was from a rock climbing equipment catalog.

Patagonia High Tide by Kay Zahn
12x16 Pastel on Sanded Paper

I DO have other things on my wall, and I have a Gallery Wall filled with ACEOs.  That of course is another conversation all together, but suffice it to say, I'm obsessed over OPA.  Big or small, I love them all.  In addition to all of the OPA I do own two (yes I said TWO) Bob Ross Originals.  One from well before he was famous, and another CLASSIC Bob style, both with Certificates of Authentication.

Bob Ross 1981
Personal Collection of Jim and Kay Zahn
All Rights Reserved

Bob Ross - date unknown
Personal Collection of Jim and Kay Zahn
All Rights Reserved

Isn't that just a place you'd like to be right now.  Look at those happy trees.  These are happy trees before Happy Trees were popular.

It has been authenticated by the Bob Ross Company (Bob Ross, Inc) from 1981 because he put the date in the signature.

Something that didn't do after he was a television icon.  At least not on the television show. Here is my other Bob Ross Original.  Also authenticated by the company, but harder to date.

Clearly his standard style and as such I don't like it as much as his earlier one.  I can look at both and compare what I know, what I do, and what I see, and realize that Bob has helped me tremendously along my journey to learn to paint.  

Unfortunately I can't stay awake long enough to watch him much anymore (even on Saturday morning I can doze right after it starts) but I feel good that I take that TV watching time and just DO IT.  I paint.  Because I can.  I buy OPA because I can, but more because I want to touch it and hold it closer than I can in a book or on a website.  

Speaking of websites of course.  Thanks for coming to this one.  Share the Joy,  Kay

Haunting images of early foreclosures

"Cliffside Condos" in Pastel
9x12 on Sanded Pastel Board

This painting is study of another Daniel Plumer photograph.  He's a fabulous photographer from Tucson, who I found on FaceBook (his daughter is my nephew's sister in law ??) when someone posted a photo of his and it haunted me until I contacted him and asked to paint it. He kindly said I could paint his photos and share them here.  So here's one I've been working on for a month or more.  I think it's done.

Here's the original photograph

a photo of the photo (sorry) by Daniel Plumer
find Daniel on SmugMug

And of course a few progress photos from the past few weeks.  This one sat on an easel (right beside me as I painted a few others this month) and I stared at it in progress.  It took that long to REALLY observe everything in this photo.  The perspective of the structure inside the overhanging walls set me back about 30 layers of pastel (thank goodness for good sanded paper)

Charcoal sketch 

the Toy Box

First color pass

first color WASHED with water

working on cave walls

starting to look set "back" in the cave

Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions if you have any.  I am VERY NEW at this and sometimes I think I'm just "coloring" and others I think I "finally get it" . . mixing colors in Oil Paint is so different that mixing colors in Pastel.    But WHAT FUN.

Share the Joy,
Kay

Virtual Paint Out in San Miguel de Allende

I went to Mexico yesterday (playing with others at Bill Guffey's Virtual Paint OUT)  It was a beautiful day in San Miguel de Allende, while it was pouring rain in ARIZONA!   I found this little street and the colors just JUMPED out at me begging to be painted.  So I painted them.

Hotel Posada de las Manjas
Pastel on SandPaper 9x12

Here is my reference photo from Google Street View.

I'm liking a few things about this painting.  My 13th pastel painting ever.  This one I tried real hard to avoid over blending, and I think I succeeded.  If you get close you can really see the pastel dust!  AND I did people.  Of course if you count the carriage driver and passengers last month's Central Park painting, these are only my second attempt at figures, ever.  So they aren't great, but they aren't horrible either.  And I never had to wipe them out and start over . . . like the horse last month.

I did not wash the background on this painting at all. I liked the look that the pastel on the sandpaper at first pass.  It left the buildings with that old patchy look.  Here are some progress photos from today.  OH YEA.  That's the other thing.  I did this in one day.  I started, I kept at it, and I finished it.  That's a new one for me.

Charcoal sketch

First Pass of Color

Adding bricks and greenery.

PEOPLE . . we have PEOPLE
and YES I left out the pickup truck. . . that looked hard!

I just loved the colors and the direction of this image.  All of the action is really happening "way down the road" and it looked like it went on forever.

Try Google Street View . . you'll LOVE IT.

Paint Out, OFF and IN Online Art Contests

Looking for ways to promote our new Paint OFF, I've run across a few other online Painting competitions.  First and Foremost here's a link to OUR NEW PAINT OFF where there are monthly PRIZES like $250 on a VISA card.

www.StreetViewPaintOFF.com

Here are some other cool places websites with "get togethers" going on

VirtualPaintOut.blogspot.com

A Day Not Wasted

Inspiration All Around Us

Have fun and PLEASE JOIN ME over at StreetViewPaintOFF, either at the blog or on FaceBook where WE the People will Choose the Winners!

Share the JOY

Kay