Dixie's Art » inspiration

The Rose on the Cross

Dixie — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:51:07 +0000

It’s Easter morning and I’m thinking of a watercolor that I was commissioned to do for the poetry book my friend had published. Wings of the Wind, by Diana Taylor. She is so talented with words and I am very amazed at the way she can put together such beautiful expressions. She told me she was amazed with the way I put together such beautiful colors in my images. Thus, two artists working together!

I have the original watercolor image pictured here to show you what I came up with for her poem, The Christmas Rose. I was asked to portray a rose on a cross and so the idea of a sunrise setting was my creation. For most of the images in the poetry book I was given suggestions as to what to paint but I am thrilled with what I was inspired to create for this particular image.

The one thing I have learned about publishers and having copies done of my art work is that they don’t always print the colors right and may come up with their own color scheme. If you ever see the book then you will know what I mean. But, at least I had to privilege to get my work published and I consider that an honor, especially having it with such a wonderful writer as Diana.

If you do not know of the Rose of Sharon, I would encourage you to ‘google’ those words and find out about this image of a rose on the cross. It is very interesting and the information on line is very good.

You can find out more about the book and other books by Diana Wallis Taylor at www.edgeofthewell.com

Everything So Rosey

Dixie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:01:29 +0000

I didn’t know any better, but soon learned not to paint with my sunglasses on! They made everything so pretty and rosey looking, I just loved it. When I would get home after being out painting on location I wondered why my colors looked so blaw. Well, I soon figured out what the reason was. I painted out doors a lot, and so it became evident that I wasn’t seeing color correctly. In this particular painting on the easel, I’m using only black paint so it really didn’t make any difference what the color of the view I was looking at. This black and white painting has a story of its own to tell the next time I post a blog.

I loved those prescription sunglasses! I don’t have them anymore because my sight has changed since then, which was around 1993. Now a days I put on a large size pair of sunglasses that fit over my regular glasses and that suits me just fine. And, I don’t use them while I paint. I have learned to use a sun-visor while I paint on location. And, the word for that means, en plein-air. Some one caught a pic of me wearing the visor with my hat! I don’t like the look but it sure does help me get a good painting to look at! I have an easier time focusing with the visor on. If your eyes are like mine, they are strongly compelled to the strongest light, which is using the sunlight above me, then it is best to wear the sun-visor to keep my eyes looking ahead and not being compelled to the light above me. The sun-visor fits down lower than my hat does, so that works very well for my eyes. I am so thankful to God for my eyes. And for my ability to paint, and to see like an artist!

From the Kitchen Corner

Dixie — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:57:46 +0000

When all I had was my kitchen corner to paint in I could also cook dinner while I worked on a large 30 x 36 inch canvas on my easel! I young then and had a lot of energy and was eager to get this particular painting done to put in an up-coming show. It was the show during the Shrimp Festival when there were a lot of tourists in town and I was the only artist who sold anything! The Hilborns frome Texas bought my painting and it made all the other artists jealous of me, plus they were mad because the paintings were suppose to remain hanging until the end of the show, but the Hilbornes were visiting from Pasadena,TX and had to leave that day to get home.

I look back at this painting that I did (dated 1977), with so much eagerness and exuberance (photo not the right colors, has faded and turned orangey color), and wondered how I got supper cooked with two young kids around. Those were the days! I could paint a lot of large paintings and manage to run a house and get all my work done and take care of my kids at the same time. And to think that I did that large canvas with only this small photo I took of the swamp. Cypress knees were so interesting, and it was unusual to find some ducks floating around. Just think, this is in the area where the Tarzan movies were filmed many years ago. The swamp is like a jungle, after the Spring time you can’t even see past the trees it is such a thick landscape.

Now a days I know how to take better photos of my paintings and am glad that digital doesn’t fade. At least I know how to scan the old photographs and can share them in my stories. I am all through with my stories from Louisiana (unless one comes back to my memory!) and am ready to post some stories about my days back in my home state, California, starting in 1982. San Diego has offered a lot for me to have in the way of experiences with art and painting. I have had a lot more opportunities with watercolor, something that was hard to do in the swamp land, it is always wet! Very few of my watercolors were done wet into wet because it took too long for the wet areas to dry in order to paint onto.

Seeing with an Artist’s Eye

Dixie — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:51:25 +0000

Don’t ask me how it is done, it just has to be the eye that God made for me to see like this! I look back at some of my old paintings and wonder how I did it, and am just speechless! I don’t even remember where I took this photo, but it had to be some where near Morgan City, LA. And then here you see how I made a painting of that particular scene and I think it is just wonderful how it came out. No one helped me do it, like being in a class and being influenced by a teacher. It was done when I was using acrylic paints, and an 18 x 24 inch canvas, and I don’t even remember who I sold it to but am so glad I have a photo of it! I could actually look it up in my log book and probably find out who has it, but I don’t remember what title I gave it, but know it must have been in the late 1970’s. I number each painting I ever do and list it in my log book. I have thousands listed. If I didn’t log my paintings I would wake up in the middle of the night wondering where a certain one was! Paintings are like children to me, you have to know where you put them or what happened to them! Paintings are my productions and I am very proud of them just as I am of my daughter and my son.

What a Surprise!

Dixie — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:19:27 +0000

Before I moved back to CA, I was commissioned to paint from a 4″ x 6″ black & white photo of Liz Merryfield’s little sister, and paint it in color on a large canvas with oil paint. The little sister died of cancer when she was 37, and in this photo she was just 7 yrs. old. It took me 3 or more weeks to finished the painting and delivered it to Liz on my next trip to MO in 1981.

I was asking $800. for an 18 x 24 canvas of realistic work. I had to find out what color the dress was, what color the stockings were in this photo taken around the 1930’s. The next day after delivering the painting, Liz said she couldn’t live with it. I was devastated, tried to lower the price, no, money was not the issue, even if she hadn’t paid me yet. It took her an hour of ‘beat around the bush conversation’ to try to explain to me the emotional issue of the painting being so real, it was like having a ghost in the house! I should have kept a copy of the original photo to prove how real the painting looked!

When Liz gave back the painting, she suggested I put the painting in a gallery or an art show. I was very frustrated and hurt, but was nice about it, after all, this was my mom’s best friend! I was very resentful and it did take some time to get over it.

As an artist I should have collected a down payment (non-refundable) for doing a portrait. But, learned the hard way. Later in life I found out that professionals do business this way, and that way there is not a total loss for the work put into the painting.

My mom died about 10 yrs ago, I flew to MO for the funeral. Guess who put on the family dinner? Liz! A very fancy dinner in deed! I was so impressed. Liz was an expert and had a lot of experience since she did all the banquets for the church.

1982, we moved back to CA, and I found a doll shop in El Cajon where I was able to get the painting in there on consignment. It hung there for 2 yrs. and never sold, but the place caught on fire and burned down! Their insurance covered the value of my painting and I got a check in the mail. So, the painting wasn’t a total loss and I was glad that that painting was gone!

My mother-in-law said she loved that painting and if she had a house big enough she would definitely hang it in her home. So I gave her the only little photo of it and put a mat around it and she hung that in her small mobile home.

Ten years went by, a big box was delivered to me from Missouri. It was a beautiful quilt/coverlet that Liz had made to make up for her not paying for or keeping the painting of her little sister. I was so surprised! It is flawless, and expert work and I know that she is a blue ribbon winner at the county fair for most of her quilts.

She worked on pieces of this quilt while traveling with her husband around the world, and took her time getting all the embroidered sampler image on it and I just love it. It is the perfect summertime cover to have on since it is all very nice cotton.

Right a way I sent her a thank you note and accepted her token of apology. It was God’s grace that helped me through this anger and resentment that I suffered, and through experience I have always known that God’s grace comes with surprises!
This quilt has been the most comfortable for us to use in the summer time because it is made of very nice cotton. In this picture it was used as a wall hanging because at this time we didn’t have a head board for our bed and it looked good that way in this very large master bedroom.

I apolgize for poor photo quality of these two images. They were taken before digital photography. That’s my first little dog, Chiquita on all my pillows, and this is only a portion of that quilt. It was queen size. I will always cherish it even if it reminds me of a bad situation, but also of a blessed surprise.