Category Archives: impressionism

Painting again

Posted on August 18, 2024 | Comments Off

After so many early summer activities – gardening, hosting company, chores around the house – I’ve finally be able to get back to doing something fun for me. Mostly painting for upcoming exhibits.

Nick’s Pond, 20 x 16, acrylic on canvas, Kit Miracle

I don’t usually lack for ideas. Quite the opposite – too many ideas. But when I hit a dry spell, I sit with my notepad and just start brainstorming. Sometimes I think of a theme, or a location, or something that’s just a challenge. Not all of the ideas I consider reach fruition. Some turn out quite awful, to be frank, but you don’t see those. Maybe it’s a quick glimpse of a cloud or weather formation. Or maybe I want to try some new materials. I really like to do landscapes and to capture human forms. Not much into capturing ugly (to me) – rusty old implements or derelict buildings. But any of this could change in the future, maybe next week.

The Conversation, 12 x 16 acrylic on canvas, Kit Miracle

The past few months I’ve been capturing my travels to California this past spring. Totally different landscape for me. I mostly just did simple sketches, watercolor with pen and ink. But this inspired me to try some bigger, more finished paintings in acrylic on canvas. Many of these were challenging, even to the point where I asked myself why I decided to even try them. But I usually finish what I start as I’ve encountered that messy part of working on a painting about 60% of the way through where it all looks like garbage. Funny how that often works itself out.

Here are a few pieces that I’ve done the second half of the summer. And loads more ideas to come. There just aren’t enough hours in a day.

Palace of Fine Arts – Front View, 16 x 20, acrylic on Canvas, Kit Miracle

Palace of Fine Arts, Back View, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, Kit Miracle

The Visitor, 24 x 24, acrylic on canvas, Kit Miracle

Red Lanterns, 16 x 12, acrylic on canvas, Kit Miracle

Comments Off on Painting again

Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, impressionism, travel

Tagged acrylic, art, california, chinatown, contemporary impressionist, indiana, kit miracle, palace of fine arts, red lanterns

Van Gogh visits Birdseye library

Posted on February 25, 2024 | Comments Off

Showing the kids some images of real Van Gogh paintings.

Vincent Van Gogh visited the Birdseye public library this week…sort of.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, this little library plays an important role in the community. As small as it is, it hosts a number of activities for patrons of all ages. All of these activities are FREE to attend although attendance may be limited due to space.

I brought in a few of my own sunflower paintings for some inspiration.

Recently I volunteered to teach a few children’s painting classes. The first of these classes was to learn about Vincent Van Gogh and to paint a picture in his style.

Although the class was limited, we had a nice turnout this week. I explained to the children a little about Vincent Van Gogh, who he was and why he was important. Also, they learned about his painting methods. Each table had several vases of sunflowers (faux) which the children were encouraged to choose what and how they wanted to paint. The library supplied all the art materials and even had little aprons just their size. They learned about mixing colors and how Van Gogh was known for his bold brush strokes.

Each child composed his or her own painting.

All in all, it was a great group. I hope the kids had as much fun as I did.

Next month, we’re going to learn about Georgia O’Keeffe and her skull paintings. I’m bringing in a collection of real skulls (cow and deer) for them to use as subject matter.

Many thanks to AmyJo, the library branch manager, and other patrons who make programs like this possible. Public libraries are the best bargain around. What’s happening at your library?

Comments Off on Van Gogh visits Birdseye library

Posted in art, impressionism, painting instruction

Tagged acrylic, Birdseye, children's programs, contemporary impressionist, indiana, kit miracle, library, painting instruction, sunflowers, van gogh, vincent van gogh

The Singing Tree

Posted on February 19, 2024 | 1 comment

I have a singing tree in my front yard. Actually, right next to the house.

Oh, it’s not belting out O Sole Mio or anything like the latest rap. It’s more of a gentle, low key humming, singing really. The first time I heard it was when I was walking around the yard on a windy day. I kept looking around to see if anyone was there. It took me a while to realize that the sound was coming from a tree. The twisted branches were rubbing against each other, creating a sound.

Our house, like so many older homes in this part of the midwest, is surrounded by yard trees. These were planted decades ago to provide shade to houses in the heat of the summer, long before air conditioning. The trees nearest the house are all maples, mostly black or sugar maples. (Lovely colors in autumn.) Although we’ve lost some of the trees over the years, there are still enough to provide some shade.

Last spring I took a photography course. I was mostly interested in learning how to use the features of my cameras. Didn’t need much help with composition. One of our weekly assignments was to get out and film nature. The Singing Tree was one of my entries. After some computer manipulation, I did a very striking black and white, almost abstract. I was going to paint is as such, but then reverted to a muted impressionistic painting with added sterling silver gilding. I even added a maple leaf motif to the edges of the painting, in sterling silver, of course.

The whole painting has been sprayed with clear acrylic which prevents the sterling silver from tarnishing. Adding the gilding adds several more steps to the actual painting which slows the whole process.

1 Comment

Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, country living, impressionism, old house

Tagged acrylic, contemporary impressionist, gilding, kit miracle, singing tree, sterling silver, yard tree

Feature article in Southern Indiana Living Magazine

Posted on November 7, 2023 | Comments Off

My work is featured in the November- December issue of Southern Indiana Living Magazine. Thanks to the wonderful write up by Judy Cato, she’s managed to condense forty years into two pages – with pictures! Thanks so much, SILM and Judy. Check it out here, pages 18-19.

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/68503997/southern-indiana-living-magazine-november-december-2023

Or follow the step-by-step process of how Pumpkin Head was created.

Pumpkin Head – final painting, oil on linen, 29.25 x 36, Kit Miracle, Halloween theme, telling a story

Pumpkin Head – Step-by-Step

Comments Off on Feature article in Southern Indiana Living Magazine

Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, impressionism, Uncategorized

Tagged art, contemporary impressionist, fall, judy cato, kit miracle, painting instruction, pumpkin, southern indiana living magazine

Foggy Morning, East Field – a painting how-to

Posted on February 12, 2023 | 8 comments

Initial sketch and color notes. Notice that I trimmed back my initial sketch to eliminate some of the trees on the left.

Recently I posted some photos that I took of a very foggy morning out here on the farm. The atmosphere of the scene has been nagging at me so I’ve been wrestling with some ideas. I’ve done several sketches, including some color sketches in both watercolor and acrylic. It seems the most challenging part to me is to tone back the color as I like to use bright colors so much. Fog is basically various shades of grey. I’ve cut back the color in the foreground and added more grey tones.

One of several preliminary paintings testing the color scheme of Foggy Morning.

First I prepared the canvas which was already gessoed. In this case, I sanded it, added another coat of gesso which I texturized with a soft cloth. After this dried, I gave it a wash of a very pale but slightly warm tone. This would be my underpainting. Then I drew the image on the canvas.

I don’t usually use a wide variety of paint colors as you can see in the image above. I rarely use a commercial green, instead preferring to mix my own shades of green from the limited palette. There are only seven colors plus white. I also use an acrylic modeling paste which adds more texture. A matt medium cut with water is my mixing medium.

First I mixed several shades of grey and started with the trees, then worked my way down through the field, adding more color as I reached the foreground. I really had to keep reminding myself to focus on the foggy grey tones and not add too much color. Then I added some more notes in the tree line. The sky was painted with a very pale grey leaving some of the warm undertone showing through. The hint of the rising sun through the fog was actually an accident but I liked it so I left it in.

Toned canvas with first layers of paint.

Then it was just a matter of adding the trees, darker in front, lighter in the distance. Not too many details but enough.

I’m not sure if I’m done yet so I think I’ll let the painting rest for awhile. I’m working on a companion piece so we’ll see how well that one comes out and if I’ll need to make adjustments.

Foggy Morning, East Field 18 x 24, acrylic on canvas. Kit Miracle

I guess the lesson here is to learn restraint. For me it’s with color, also perhaps too much detail which can be a hazard for many artists. I’ll probably do some more tweaking before I call this finished. I’m always interested in feedback so let me know what you think.

8 Comments

Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, impressionism, landscape, painting instruction, Uncategorized

Tagged contemporary impressionist, foggy landscape, kit miracle, painting fog, painting instruction

Blind Painting – or Painting from Memory

Posted on November 27, 2022 | 2 comments

Blind painting – Sunrise before the Storm 1, 8 x 10, Kit Miracle

I’ve been clearing out a lot of junk from one of our attics lately. A few weeks ago, my husband and I were taking several large bags to the dump one morning. A big storm was moving in from the west so we put the rush on to get it delivered before the skies opened.

The dark clouds were rolling up behind us. As I was hustling along the road, I made a note of how beautiful the early morning skies were, especially the dramatic contrast between the rising sun and the storm clouds. I wished I could take some photos but kept my hands on the steering wheel. I decided to use an old trick which I haven’t practiced in quite some time. This is to memorize the scene.

Blind painting – Sunrise before the Storm 2, 8×10, KitMiracle

Landscape and plein air painters often use this device. That is, to set their easels up facing away from the scene, then study the scene for a bit and try to commit it to memory. The point is to try not to capture every detail, but to make note of the key aspects. Then turn around and, facing your easel, begin to paint what you remember. It sounds difficult but you get better as you practice.

We made our deposit at the dump and scurried home. By this time, the skies had opened and a torrential rain was beating the car.

As soon as I got home, I went to my studio and did two quick pencil studies of what I had seen. Of course, I couldn’t remember every detail, but I think I got the jist of it. Noting the main colors which had attracted me in the first place, plus some primary shapes. I fired up these two small paintings (8 x 10) and am pretty pleased with the results.

I think the best part about using this technique is that it forces the artist to focus on the main shapes and not get lost in the weeds of details. Certainly worth a try if you have never done so before.

2 Comments

Posted in contemporary impressionism, impressionism, painting instruction, plein air

Tagged blind painting, contemporary impressionism, painting from memory

Breaking Bread

Posted on November 13, 2022 | Comments Off

It’s no secret among those who know me that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The holiday of gluttony and naps I always joke. But that’s nearer to the truth than most would admit.

It’s a time for sharing with friends and family. A time to reflect upon the rapidly receding year. I love the new holiday this has evolved into called Friendsgiving, where we share a meal and company with a chosen family if we can’t be with our loved ones. Isn’t that a great idea? Since people are spread out all over the country now, we find friends that we can share the spirit of the day with.

Other than the cooking and food shopping, there isn’t really much to preparing for the day. No presents to buy and wrap. Minimal decorations. No cards to mail. Just sit back and relax, enjoy our company, talk, argue, maybe watch some football on TV. That always leads to more loud discussions.

I always like the term breaking bread which actually extends beyond Thanksgiving. The idea of sharing food is universal among all cultures. A little while ago I did an entire series of paintings called Breaking Bread which depicted people eating together, or sometimes alone, the aftermath of the table, or even the presence of a well-loved furry member of the family. I tried to capture the warmth of the occasion. I think this was one of the most missed things about our isolation during the pandemic.

In honor of my favorite holiday, I am holding a temporary sale on all of the Breaking Bread series of paintings, a whopping 50% off! And free shipping, too. The sale will only be for a couple of more weeks so if you see something you like, grab it. These are all original paintings on stretched canvas which should arrive in plenty of time for the other big end of year holidays.

Check them out on my Etsy shop at kitmiracleart.com.

Comments Off on Breaking Bread

Posted in contemporary impressionism, impressionism

Tagged breaking bread, contemporary impressionist, dinner, eating, Etsy, family, holidays, sale, sharing meals, thanksgiving

A month of art

Posted on August 30, 2022 | Comments Off

August has been scorching here this summer. Too hot for outdoor work. So I spent much of the month in the studio just being an artist. This was a great respite from all the other chaos of the summer.

However, we did have a couple of days of lovely cool temperatures, in the low 80s. Fling open the windows! I took advantage of the cooler weather to clean out my studio. This meant dragging nearly everything outdoors, rewrapping and packing many of the paintings, vacuuming, debris clean out. Just making an inviting space to work again.

Our garden was in name only this summer. And I only gave cursory attention to the weeds and flowerbeds. This meant that I had plenty of time to devote to creating some art.

I began with building up some inventory, especially of sunflowers, some of my favorites. Although I usually grow several different varieties from the mammoth giants to the multi-stemmed, to all the colors that are available, this year I only had a few to work with. I planted them but they just didn’t want to make an appearance. So I used some of the many photographs that I’ve taken over the years.

I did several sheets of minis. I can get four 4 x 6 on a quarter sheet of watercolor paper. Although I often repeat a theme, they never turn out the same. I buy mats and backs in bulk so it’s pretty easy to prepare them for display or shipping.

Four mini sunflower paintings on quarter sheet of watercolor paper. Although the top two are the same subject, they’re not exactly alike.

Then I did a few larger ones. After that, I created duplicates of two local scenes. These are not standard sizes so I have to cut the mats to size for framing. More time and money involved.

Two paintings of the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center on quarter sheet of watercolor paper

Finally, the last half of the month, I was really missing our usual vacation. This was probably prompted by selling some previous western scenes so I dove into that subject. These paintings were larger and more complex, the smallest being 9 x 12 and up to 12 x 16. I have some pretty extensive photo files from some of our western vacations so plenty of subject matter to choose from. The most difficult part with these paintings is canvas prep. And trying to come up with new titles. Grand Canyon Vista #1, Grand Canyon Vista #2, etc. But it’s so satisfying to just put on some music or recorded books and zone out. Due to the many years of plein air painting, I can generally produce a painting a day, maybe two. But I did discover that I had duplicated two scenes from previous years. They came out similar but not exactly the same.

Overall production for the month of August was twenty-five. Not all are shown in the multi-image above as several were duplicates. And I didn’t work every day. It’s very rewarding to spend time alone with my thoughts and just create. To build inventory for online shops, the holidays, or local and regional shops.

Most of these paintings will be up on my Etsy shops soon. https://www.etsy.com/shop/KitMiracleArt?ref=l2-shop-info-name or https://www.etsy.com/shop/My90Acres

Comments Off on A month of art

Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, country living, impressionism

Tagged art, contemporary impressionist, gardening, kit miracle, painting instruction, painting multiples, sunflowers

Painting local

Posted on June 5, 2022 | Comments Off

The Little Cottage, acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14, KitMiracle I was driving down a side street of nearby Birdseye, Indiana, when this scene captured my attention. One of the smallest houses in town with the largest tree in town. The front path and gate are framed by beautiful lavender and blue irises. Painted in heavy impasto, a very impressionist-style painting.

One of my favorite parts about traveling is seeing new vistas. Visiting the mountains, the parks, the ocean, historical sites. It’s all good. I always take my art equipment and capture the areas on canvas. Parking my easel on the edge of the Grand Canyon and painting for a couple of hours is my bliss.

But one of the best parts about traveling is returning home and seeing your own world through new eyes. Noticing that which you may pass every day but in a new way. You can look at your own home town as a tourist.

At the Crossroads, Schnellville, Indiana. Acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14. KitMiracle It was a spring morning and the sun was playing in and out of the clouds. This little road has many twists and curves, the beautiful hills catching the sunlight. This little crossroads only has about six houses and reminds me of many villages in Germany or France.

Seven Cedars in Spring, acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12, KitMiracle. Along the same Schnellville Road, these cedar trees were silhouetted against the spring sky.

Spring here in Southern Indiana was so beautiful this year. Often we’ll receive a late frost or freeze which pretty much ruins everything, but this year was spectacular. The wild flowers in the forests and fields put on a show to remember. I captured the spring greens of the fields and byways for several weeks, and even had my husband drive while I was shouting, stop here! to take photographs.

The Old Lady’s House, acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14, KitMiracle. I used to drive past this house frequently on my way to work. A very old lady lived there who always mowed her lawn by hand, and she always wore a kerchief. I think her grandson lives there now. Located in central Dubois County, this is a very typical spring view in these parts.

The results have been paintings of spring fields and crossroads, little villages, gentle vistas of all types. Not my usual big, bold colors but a much more gentle palette. Often painted in the style of Pissarro or Monet but not actually deliberately. I just want to bring to the viewer’s attention and appreciation the overlooked landscapes of our everyday world.

Take a look around your own world, your home town, the back allies. I’m sure you can find some wonderful vistas, too, which you may have overlooked a hundred times. They’re out there, I promise.

View more about these paintings online at this link.

Comments Off on Painting local

Posted in art, contemporary impressionism, country living, impressionism, landscape, old house, travel

Tagged contemporary impressionist, country living, Dubois County, kit miracle, painting local, southern indiana

Brown eggs

Posted on April 3, 2022 | Comments Off

Five Eggs, original painting on canvas, 12 x 12, Kit Miracle

If you happen to get to the post office or a farm supply store this time of year, you will hear the peeping sound of baby chicks. They are SO cute! And it takes all kinds of willpower to NOT buy a bunch of each.

There are many varieties, but I particularly like the speckled ones and the ones with feathered feet. They look so fancy. We’ve had many kinds over the years. I also loved the bantams, the females, not the males which tend to be aggressive for their size. One year, one of my favorite dun-colored females disappeared. I was certain that she was the victim of a raccoon or hawk. But after about three weeks, she reappeared with about eighteen little bantam peeps following her. They were so tiny and cute. I don’t know where she hid but apparently it was a good hiding place.

This antique sponge bowl holds five fresh brown eggs. Do they taste different? That’s hard to tell but they sure are deep yellow when cracked open. Probably from all the extras that the hens get in their diet than those that are confined to chicken factory farms.

We’ve also had blue and green eggs, too. It is rumored that they are lower in cholesterol but I don’t know if that is true. They’re just so beautiful to look at.

The sponge bowl, by the way, gets its name from the decoration. The glaze was applied with a sea sponge. I have only seen these in blue. These stoneware bowls are very heavy for their size. I bought this at auction many many years ago and still use it for fruit and whatnot.