Tag Archives: contemporary impressionist

August summary

Posted on September 3, 2023 | Comments Off

Afternoon visitors. They’re eating fallen fruit from the orchard.

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, maybe imagining some exotic vacation, nothing could be further from reality. Mostly just hanging around here tackling one thing after another.

Although we had a week or two of pretty hot weather, last week was marvelously cool with temps in the 70s. We also have managed to have pretty even rain – not too much, not too little. All good.

My little raised bed garden has been producing better than I thought. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. Note to self: plant less squash next year and more beans. And I just planted a fall crop of spinach and lettuce.

Unfortunately, all this produce came at an unlucky time when our 35 year old freezer elected to die. This involved a lot of hassle with the local big box store (HD) on delivery dates. But mostly the fact that the huge truck they decided to deliver the freezer – the same one that they delivered the washing machine two months ago – suddenly couldn’t make it down our drive. Lots of unhelpful phone calls until we cancelled the order and went with the local appliance store. Spent a little more but the service was great. I like supporting local businesses, too.

The second half of this misadventure is that the freezer resides in the back of my studio. Which meant, of course. hauling out most of the paintings that have been stored back there. Might as well clean it out while I’m at it. None of this was on my schedule. Anyway, it’s all fixed up now. On to other things.

The Golden Marble (detail), acrylic, real gold and silver leaf, 30 x 24. Kit Miracle

I’ve been experimenting with more applications of gold and silver leaf to my paintings as discussed earlier. I really like this but it is so tricky to work with. This is 23K gold and sterling silver on the thinnest of metallic sheets. Even a breath of air will mess it up while applying it to the canvases. Here is a detail shot of one of the largest paintings that I’ve done using this technique. I’ll post more about it later.

And, the deer seem to be out in abundance. Although we rent our fields out, it’s sure a shame to see how much these visitors eat. The beans are high enough now that we mostly only see their heads. And they don’t seem to be skittish at all with the noises coming from the house and yard. Well, another couple of months it will be a different story when hunting season starts. Meanwhile, I love watching the twins playing in the yard just as any youngsters might do.

I hope to post a bit more regularly in the future. And I also hope that you’ve all been managing the weather – heat, drought, hurricanes. Autumn is coming and the leaves are even beginning to change. Can’t wait!

Comments Off on August summary

Posted in contemporary impressionism, country living, garden

Tagged acrylic, contemporary impressionist, country living, deer, gardening, gold leaf, kit miracle

Generosity

Posted on July 30, 2023 | 3 comments

A couple of weeks ago I jokingly claimed that people around here had to keep their car doors locked in the summer to prevent good-intentioned neighbors from leaving bags of zucchini in them. Zucchini are prolific, in case you don’t know.

But a few days later, I found myself foisting off some fresh-picked tomatoes on a visiting neighbor. He wasn’t unhappy about it as he doesn’t have a garden this year, but it gave me pause. This is what gardeners do. What we love to do, i.e., share our bounty. Although our garden area is much reduced this year, I still love to share.

A few years ago, I did a painting of my grandmother who so generously shared her garden bounty, too. You never left her house empty-handed.

Generosity, 24 x 18, oil on canvas, Kit Miracle artist

The painting depicts her holding an armful of, what? Probably turnips but it could have been tomatoes or peppers or just about anything. The original photo was black and white. The dress was typical summer attire, homemade with no pattern. She just laid out an old dress on the fabric and cut around it. Something I would never be confident enough to try, but grandma worked in an underwear factory during WWII, cutting out fifty layers of long johns at a time. A simple housedress could be whipped up in no time. On her Singer peddle sewing machine. Which I now use as a bedside table. Memories.

Anyway, if someone offers you an armful of fresh garden produce this summer, take it. Even if you don’t like turnips, you’ll be perpetuating the nearly lost act of sharing what we have with fellow human beings. It’s worth reminding ourselves that caring for others reflects well on all of us eventually.

3 Comments

Posted in country living, garden, portrait, Uncategorized

Tagged contemporary impressionist, gardening, kit miracle, produce, sharing

Golden cats

Posted on May 14, 2023 | Comments Off

Leo napping, original painting, acrylic on canvas 16 x 16 with gold leaf on sides.

As an artist, I’ve often been asked over the years, where do you get your ideas? This is a tough question because you can’t just go to the store and pick some ideas up. Well, maybe depending upon which direction you feel like moving.

For me, ideas can come from a variety of sources. Something I see, read about, even from dreams. Sometimes I think I want to explore a certain idea but end up going in an entirely new direction. That is what happened to me recently.

I was contemplating a series of local scenes. Landscapes, cityscapes. Just a variety of ideas have been strolling through my brain. Then I found myself noodling around with some sketches of my cat, in fact, various cats that I’ve owned throughout the years. (Not forgetting all the dogs, birds, lizards, and a variety of other pets we’ve had over the years.) No, I am not a crazy cat lady. I like cats and it seems as if I’ve had one around nearly all my life.

Tom. Original painting on canvas with gold leaf on front and sides. 8 x 8 x 2.5

So I started with some sketches of my little buddy Leo the cat. He seems to manage to find so many different ways to sleep that he’s almost acrobatic. One particular pose leads to another. Then I removed his ratty old blanket and put him on an Oriental carpet. And this lead me to think, Why not really jazz it up with some gold?!

Anyway, Leo was the first victim, er uh, volunteer. Then came Tom, my dad’s cat. Then Princess who is just too too glam. Adding backgrounds of oriental carpets and some real 23K gold or silver leaf. I have never done anything with gold leaf before but, hey, it’s always good to try new things.

Ki, original painting on canvas, 8 x 8 x 2.5. Unfinished.

Then I realized that I was running out of cat subjects. Even photos of my old cats.

So with the help of a friend who volunteers, I went to the local humane society. BINGO! Back in business. They have lots of cats. Every time the volunteer was telling me that this cat was shy or standoffish, it would come and climb all over me, waiting for its ears to be scratched or belly rubbed. Such a beautiful variety. These people do such good work, especially with the help of many volunteers.

But what really broke my heart was seeing the older cats who appeared in good shape but had been turned into the humane society because their owners died or who were no longer able to take care of them. How confused they must be. They looked so sweet and loving.

Anyway, I’ll be making more trips back there in the coming months. If you have a humane society near you, check it out next time you need a new pet, or just another pet. They definitely get high marks on my list.

Meanwhile, check out my Etsy shop KitMiracleArt to keep track of the new golden cats.

Dubois County Humane Society if you need to adopt a pet.

Comments Off on Golden cats

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged cats, contemporary impressionist, gold leaf, humane society, indiana, kit miracle, painting, painting instruction, pet adoption

Shiny stuff

Posted on April 23, 2023 | Comments Off

I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to call this post Reflections or Shiny Stuff. As you can see, my campy sense of humor won out.

I’m taking a photography class this spring. Not so much to learn about composition but more to learn how to make better use of my equipment. I’m using my cell phone and my Nikon. Neither is one of the most remarkable of their class, but they still have plenty of options, bells and whistles that I don’t utilize as much as they should be.

Ooooo, shiny pretty stuff. And who doesn’t like rainbows and unicorns?

This week’s assignment was to take photos of reflections and do some shallow focus assignments. Well, after trying to figure out how to make use of windows and mirrors, I nixed that idea. So what next?

The chef spoons in the camping department

Grocery shopping at the neighborhood big box store. They should have plenty of shiny stuff. Actually I was looking for those big round mirrors that they have mounted at the tops of columns and aisles. Guess what? They’re not there anymore. They probably rely solely on cameras these days.

As I walked around the store, I was tuned into shiny stuff. This is what caught my eye. I whipped out my phone and took pictures here and there. I think security was watching me but this isn’t the first time I’ve taken photos in the store. The fruit and vegetable aisle is striking with all the colors. And one time I even set up my plein air easel in the flower department outside during Mother’s Day weekend. People kept thinking that I worked there.

The remainder of my photos were from a couple of walks in the woods. Capturing the reflections in the creek, seeing through the surface, focusing on leaves and branches.

If you’ve wondered where artists get our ideas, this is the convoluted path we take. One thing leads to the next and then to the next. I’m not using any of these photos as inspiration for future paintings…at least not right now. Maybe I’ll come back to them in a month or a year or several years. I guess the whole inspiration thing just means to be prepared, keep your eyes open and your camera handy. Today might be the day of the BIG IDEA!

Comments Off on Shiny stuff

Posted in contemporary impressionism

Tagged contemporary impressionist, kit miracle, painting instruction, photography ideas, sequins, shiny stuff, where do artists get ideas

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

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

Compositional framing

Posted on July 10, 2022 | 3 comments

There are many rules and ideas for composition. No one idea is perfect for all situations. You may have your favorites or you may like to try new ideas frequently. Today I’m going to discuss the idea of framing. I’m not talking about the frame of the painting but using framing as a composition device.

I most often use framing in landscapes, cityscapes, and sometimes interiors. This means that I’ll often place a large tree or bush near the front of the picture frame, usually on one side or another, with the main view in the middle distance. This leads the viewer’s eye into the painting and directs its focus.

Sometimes in cityscapes, the view might be between two buildings or down an alley.

In a recent couple of paintings of the same subject – a child flying a toy airplane at the park – I first explored just the child and the plane. In the second painting, I used the framing composition to lead the eye from the near subject matter, to the large tree on the left, to the child and plane in the background.

In another couple of paintings, I painted a straight view of a Grand Canyon vista. The second landscape shows the Grand Canyon framed by tree in the front.

Here is an interior view using compositional framing. The doorway, chair and plant, lead the eye through the doorway to the desk in the distance.

There are no hard rules on when to use compositional framing. It’s mostly a matter of what you feel comfortable with, what helps your painting. I’ll often do several thumbnails or even larger charcoal drawings to test the feel of the subject.

3 Comments

Posted in painting instruction, plein air painting, Uncategorized

Tagged Arizona, composition, contemporary impressionist, indiana, Kentucky, kit miracle, painting instruction

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.