May 18, 2009 Floods and Emergence

Outside my back door...Sunflower River near flood stage

The river is once again on the rise due to all of the rain we have had lately. The Big Sunflower river runs right outside my back door and it is a constant reminder of the control nature can wield over our lives. The river torrents and rolls swollen with rain from the North and it has invaded our land and taken our crops with no mercy this year. The end is not here yet as the television weather seers are forecasting even more rise in the rivers here. The loss of control over one's livelihood is quite unsettling, but it is a reminder that we are not in complete control of our lives and surroundings, and that it is futile to think otherwise. There must be a silver lining in some of these deep and brooding thunderheads, and only time will reveal it. I do know that the few days of sunshine we have seen this month are so glorious that it quite literally burns yours eyes and lifts your spirit as it renews your faith and love of nature. There is a beauty in this opposition and that is what keeps me painting and makes the journey more interesting.



Emergence II
by Cathy Hegman
acrylic on canvas

I began working in April, on a series at the Spring Mississippi Art Colony(www.msartcolony.org), called "Emergence". Perhaps this Emergence series was somehow almost a premonition of the flood we are now experiencing, since I began painting it a month or so ago.
I am in great awe of the changes in life that come with age and maturity. All of our lives we are striving to be somebody and to find our comfort zone in this life. We are largely formed by the opinions and the observations of those close to us and society as a whole. We mirror others and strive to be like them even at times when it does not feel compatible, and this can be quite detrimental to the formation of our true self. We pattern our lives by what we are told when we are growing up, and in light of the best efforts, quite often we are told things that while important to another person's life and time really don't pertain to our lives or the times we live in. I loved my youth but it lacked a certain richness that seems only to have come with age and experience. I now possess the ability to discern the things in life that are pertinent and to overlook the ones that are not. The baggage I have acquired in my time on earth has been full at times and through out the passage of time I have learned to unpack and discard some of the contents. This series is about the emergence or the rising above the things in life that threaten to drown us and keep us from being ourselves. The painting "Emergence II" is acrylic on canvas and it 60 x 60 inches. Emergence II,is full of symbolism and metaphorical references to a female's life. I often use the figure in my work and whether abstracted , painted realistically, used in groups or used singularly; I find the figure is one of the most powerful shapes I can use in paintings. In Emergence II, I use the figure shape as an attribute rather than as a specific person. I chose to use the singular figure in the painting "Emergence II" to give it a more forceful presence. The numbers are a reference to the years of life and the figure is emerging from the years as a more complete person. The lines or ropes that entwine the figure form Xs as a symbol that she is overcoming the stigma of her female status and being defined by more than just a chromosome. The blindfold is lifting and the bonds or restraints, created by life are being loosened and removed. The very word emergence renders a feeling of victory to me, and it is the feeling I am seeking with this series. The victory over misguidance, mistakes, misunderstandings in life. The blindfold is significant in that our awareness of being held under and held back is often not seen by us. The bars serve to give unity and repetition to the piece and to give a slight thought of the entrapment present in our lives. I like to play with the surface space and break it into shapes that will reinforce my thoughts and the figure. I try to give as many things to the viewer as possible but I also add some things, painted almost subliminally in the piece to give it that little bit of intrigue. I also have given the figure a good bit more realism than I usually do in my work. I have painted figures for years without faces, simply because I wanted them to have anonymity and not to to be any particular person. Lately, I have been working with the figure and leaving out parts of the figure that are not significant to the painting. In this one the figure is fairly complete but I have left off the legs and feet as I did not think they were needed to complete the feeling and composition in this piece. In life as in painting often times the completeness is not in the details but in the overall feeling.



Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you have a great month!






Cathy Hegman NWS, MSWS, MoWs, SW, SAA
website: www.cathyhegman.com
email: Hegmanart@aol.com








All artwork and text included in this blog is copyright protected by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced in any form or fashion or used without the written permission of Cathy Hegman. All text and artwork included in this blog are solely the thoughts and original art of the artist, Cathy Hegman, unless otherwise noted, and are meant only to be guidelines and thoughts for others to read.

April 2009 Thought and Technique

Cochise Last Stand
I take a black and white of my finished painting to check the value pattern. If you cannot do this with your camera, you can do it in photoshop after you put it on your computer.

Cochise Last Stand
mixed water media
22 x 30 inches
by
Cathy Hegman





Below is the painting turned to check for design. A good design can usually be turned and still maintain its integrity. This is a handy tool for checking your design on your paintings.

Painting turned to the right

Painting turned upside down

Painting turned right again, I actually like this one as well as the first one, but I stayed with the horizontal format to give it a more peaceful feeling.

The Process from Thought to technique:



I read once where you should learn something new every day to keep your mind active and expand your world, I believe this to be true.The internet has made our ability to learn so much more accessible, we have no excuse to not teach ourselves. My greatest anxiety now is there is so little time.
I was listening to a Joni Mitchell (my all time favorite song writer) song, "This Place", on the Shine CD and in the lyric she mentioned Cochise. That is all it took for me to begin the process of planning my expression of his journey on this earth. To read about Cochise you can google him or here is link you can copy and paste (http://www.desertusa.com/magfeb98/feb_pap/du_apache.html). He was an Apache Indian and his life is very interesting.
The song is about how we all have a right to be here, and it seemed to hit a chord with me.
I have always had a deep respect and tremendous love of the Indians that once inhabited this land before our intrusion.
I decided to paint a painting that would reference the life of Cochise without being literal, this is my goal and first step in beginning this painting. This piece is created using abstract shapes and values, this is keeping my goal of veering away from being too literal. My aim was to create the mystery and feel that I always think of when I think of Indians of the old west and way they lived.
The hues I have used to paint this piece give the air of tanned hides and desert lands with hidden lapis and touquoise. I have become rather complicated in my layering of paint and the reduction of layers by working the paint at differing stages of dryness. This layering in turn gives me a more complicated texture on my paint surface and richer colors in the paint layers. I painted in many shape symbols of Indian life, in the painting with no regard other than the pure design of the surface. I chose to disregard the realism of scale or detail in this piece as well, to reinforce the idea that this painting not a description of Cochise or his life, but rather a two dimensional symbol of how I feel about Cochise and his life. I always try to put a form of power in my paintings, it is the enigma that sparks the viewer to think and delve into themselves to react to the piece. In this piece the power element is the weaving of the lines that seemingly stitch the piece together much like an Indian would stitch together hides to make a tent or clothing or create an environment. Some of the stitch lines are loose and some lines are tight visually and emotionally making the connection between painting and viewer.






Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you have a great month!






Cathy Hegman NWS, MSWS, MoWs, SW, SAA
website: www.cathyhegman.com
email: Hegmanart@aol.com

All artwork and text included in this blog is copyright protected by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced in any form or fashion or used without the written permission of Cathy Hegman. All text and artwork included in this blog are solely the thoughts and original art of the artist, Cathy Hegman, unless otherwise noted, and are meant only to be guidelines and thoughts for others to read.

March Post

I have been in the studio again after a long road trip out west to see one of my children. I love the west and all the many landscapes you encounter on the trip out there. Let no one fool you Texas is a BIG state and it takes a while to cross it. I thought I would blog on a piece I painted a year ago. It is called The Gossips for obvious reasons. I am just unendingly intrigued with the manipulation of paint on different surfaces. I have become increasingly involved with trying all manner of paints on all manner of surfaces. The effects you can attain are almost always unique and completely unexpected. There is a certain patina that evolves as you work the paint in layers on a surface. This painting is on Yupo paper which is a synthetic paper that has a very slick surface that does not absorb the pigment. Thus enabling you to layer color in transparent layers that read much like stained glass, the only catch is that when you agitate the underlayers they have the ability to lift completely, leaving you with a white surface again. This is very interesting and I like to use the slick surface of the paper as a reductive type of painting surface. In other words I like to remove and lift parts and textures to create interesting shapes of texture and color, that I build into recognizable images in my paintings. I reduce the pigment layer to create my lighter passages and use more heavy pigmented layer to create my dark passages. In the above painting, the hands shapes are the most important in this piece as they convey the lyrical movement that happens when people share thoughts and information with each other. I can then layer more color on top of these passages, giving me even more ways to create my paintings. I have found the when I paint many layers I can sand and distress the surface and then layer again and get unbelievable patinas and textures to work with in my paintings. I often find this manipulation is the heart of what I love about painting. I am most in my zone when I am discovering these kinds of applications of paint. Perhaps manipulation is not such a bad trait after all. .

Thank you for reading my blog and have a great week!

Cathy Hegman NWS, SAA, MSWS, MoWs, SW

All artwork and text posted on this blog are solely owned and copyrighted by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced or copied in any form or fashion without the written permission of Cathy Hegman. Anything included in this blog is solely the personal experience and thoughts of the artist and are not meant to be anything more than helpful guidelines for others to read.

Art Exhibit January 24, through February 28, 2009

A couple of paintings I have in the exhibit of fish, these are both in acrylic.

This is our entertainer at work, Son Thomas' son. He was great!

A few more of my paintings in the exhibit.

We had the opening on January 24, 2009 and it was spectacular! There was delicious food and only in the Delta, can one be serenaded by the son of a Blues Legend like Son Thomas. The music, food and crowd could not have been better. It was a really fun event. The photo above is Son Thomas' son as he sang the blues and kept us entertained! The other shots are of some of my paintings in the show. I am having trouble uploading on this satellite connection so this is all I could wait on today!

I have some of my art in an exhibit in Leland, Mississippi. It is in a gallery called Hobknob, a most unexpected little place in the heart of the Delta. I invite anyone in the area to check it out and experience the joy that the Delta has to offer. Hobknob is on one side an art gallery and on the other side it offers handmade pottery, blown glass, wood turned bowls and carvings. A most interesting place in a most unexpected location, which makes it that much more enjoyable. When you go there step down the street and visit a great coffee house called, Molly's. I am posting a few shots from the opening and the artist statement that I wrote for the exhibit. The artist that I share the venue with is my friend Kathy Davis from Arkansas. To view more of her art http://deltaartists.com/bios/7038.shtml and learn about her. We had a really great time and hope you can go visit Leland and check out Hobknob for yourself!

Feathers and Fins, Friends and Friendship the Art of Cathy Hegman and Kathy Davis

Cathy Hegman

Artist Statement


Friendship is sometimes long and winding like the brown dirt roads in rural Mississippi, leading the friends on journeys that are sometimes unpredictable and other times comforting, familiar, and safe. The road is the beginning of new experiences for each traveler. Art, much like the road links people together both visually and mentally. One can attain a glimpse inside the artist’s soul by studying the artist’s work, and perhaps find a piece of them that links them to the artist and the art. Art resonates and touches the emotions without regard to age, gender, race, or religion through the application of pigment to canvas or paper. Art can be the voice that cries out without limits, or sometimes whispers the thoughts of the creator. Art speaks silently, yet conjures up feelings and gives satisfaction that is undeniable, and yet intrinsic. It validates our need to learn about ourselves, and gives us freedom to search for our own identities.
Art brought Kathy and me together as friends. The bond that has incurred is one that is both tight and elastic as it centers on the journey we each travel with our art and where we are on our journey. The road is long and often dusty, but always renewing the spirit with inspiration.
This exhibition is a culmination of the art of two friends, who have only recently met but have a connection that seems to defy the brevity of the time.
I invite you to enjoy the journey of our art.

To Contact us:
Kathy Davis
1327 Lakehall Road
Lake Village, Ark
Email: yadnek2@allegiance.tv

Cathy Hegman
NWS, MSWS, MoWS, SAA, SW
P.O. Box 126
HOLLY BLUFF, MS
Email:hegmanart@aol.com
http://www.cathyhegman.com/
http://www.cathyhegman.blogspot.com/

Thank you for reading my blog and have a great week!
Cathy Hegman NWS, SAA, MSWS, MoWs, SW
All artwork and text posted on this blog are solely owned and copyrighted by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced or copied in any form or fashion without the written permission of Cathy Hegman. Anything included in this blog is solely the personal experience and thoughts of the artist and are not meant to be anything more than helpful guidelines for others to read.

2009 Happy New Year!!

Glancing Patterns

by Cathy Hegman

Arts in Mississippi Award in the MSWS Grand National Watercolor Exhibition

Happy New Year!
Our life drawing group began again this past Saturday and it was so good to draw from the model again. I had to miss several Saturdays in the last part of last year so I felt very disconnected. I believe that drawing from life whether it is a figure, animal or a vase of flowers is a good thing to do. It forces you to use your mind and to work out problems and plan on the fly without giving you the luxury of putting parts off to do later. I am the first to admit that it is like any exercise, and that when you don't do it regularly the mental and technical aspects of drawing tend to get a bit rusty and it is very humbling. The beauty of drawing is that much like riding a bicycle; you don't forget how to do it.
I am posting above a photo of my painting that was awarded the Arts in Mississippi Award in the MSWS Grand National Watercolor Exhibition at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Ms. I have been awarded this top prize twice in the last 3 years. I am deeply pleased to have been in the exhibition and honored to have won the awards. I will share a bit about this painting and the thoughts I used to create the piece. This painting is one in the series of figures and birds that I have painted in the past 2 years. The premise of this series is the knowledge we can attain if we pay close attention to nature and the interaction that occurs when this happens. The girl and the bird appear to be looking at each other in some form of communication; one might wonder whether the bird is learning from the girl or vice versa, this is the bit of mystery for this piece. The title of the piece is, Glancing Patterns. I relied heavily on the design elements of color and pattern in this painting. Using each of the elements to unify and harmonize the piece. I kept the girl’s face and the birds face next to the white of the paper which in turn gave it the most attention, by virtue of faces always drawing attention and the value of the faces against the white of the paper reinforces the attention. Always use your lightest light against your darkest dark to get maximum impact in your painting.


Meanwhile a lot has been going on in the studio now that the holidays are officially over. I have put in some new fresh work at Jackson Street Gallery, in Ridgeland, Ms and I am about to put some work in a gallery in Leland, Ms. I will be taking part in an exhibit at this gallery later this month.

I have been reading and trying to more fully understand non objective art. The books I am reading are “Abstract and Colour Techniques in Painting by Claire Harrigan and Painting Abstracts by Rolina Van Vliet. I have not finished either of them but I am enjoying both of them. I am a firm believer in the power of knowledge and continual study. I do not paint non- objectively as a usual practice but I find some of the non objective work by other artists, really touches me and I want to more fully understand this emotional response by studying it further.
I am meanwhile still working on portraying in paint the emotional ties that bind us as humans to each other, and the aspects of letting go , grasping, trusting, entrusting, and gaining our own personal freedom in a world of labels and rules, as in last blog entry, Red Line. I painted a Diptych, two panels 48 inches by 24 inches each titled Red Line II and it is currently in the Jackson Street Gallery in Ridgeland, Ms. I am working on three more in this series and I hope to keep going as I am finding more and more ways to represent this challenging subject. I will post the photos as they are finished.

I also had a deep conversation with one of my children over the holidays about wikis and how to use them. I have been looking for art wikis on the net but have not come up with very many. If any of you reading this entry know of any art or painting wikis give me a comment or email me the web address. For those who do not know what the heck a wiki is, here is a very helpful YouTube video on wikis and what they are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

Enjoy life and have a great January!

All information and artwork in this post is copyrighted by Cathy Hegman. If you wish to use any of it please contact Cathy Hegman for permission. All information and artwork presented here is solely that of Cathy Hegman and is given in an effort to share with other artists and patrons of the arts in an effort to enhance their art journey and experience. www.cathyhegman.com and email hegmanart@aol.com

November in the Studio Red Line

Red Line

(These should appear horizontally instead of vertically but I cannot figure out how to make it work!)

Triptych each panel is 28 in x 28 in

mixed media on paper

by

Cathy Hegman

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now Christmas is near. Holidays are busy days with life and taking care of all the things it entails. I have been doing a bit more drawing and painting lately but mostly studies for later work. I have just finished a triptych that is about the connections of humanity. I am particularly interested in our ability to resolve our differences and be more homogenous with each other, I believe this is one of the highest forms of love we have for our neighbors. I think as I age I have become much more open to the views of others and I think it is directly connected to love and the desire for life to be more copesetic and pleasant. I believe one of the strongest problems is our ignorance of what others are experiencing in their lives and our ability to give support and love to them. I am trying to put my experience with this subject down in paint as a way of forgiving myself for my polarized views on different issues and people in the past and in hopes it will reinforce me to think things through before forming opinions. This first attempt is about how humans have the ability to have strong issues with each other but still manage to find a way to co exist in this world. We exist in a united front as humans, yet we all come to the line with our own problems and differing lifestyles both physical and mental. I have chosen to abstract the figures in this painting in order to give the viewer the chance to see themselves as a part of this line. I also find that in the abstraction the figures look like a line of trees and this represents support and stability in my mind. I chose to paint mostly earth colors even in the red hues to connect the whole idea to the earth in which we dwell. As far as the technique and use of media, all three begain as a loose drawing that mainly divided the surface of the paper, the I painted each with watercolor and gouache, you will note I scratched into the surface of the paint for added texture and to symbolize our differences. I let all of them dry thoroughly then I used water soluble oil pastels and colored pencil to add the accents and enhance the paintings. My goal was to keep this as abstract as possible but still retain the feeling of a unified line of figures that were connected by their shape and color. I have several more sketches in my sketch book for this series and I want to paint some of them on canvas and board as well. I hope I have inspired you to paint something in a series or as a triptych. Till next time!

Thank you for reading my blog and have a great week!

Cathy Hegman NWS, SAA, MSWS, MoWs, SW

All artwork and text posted on this blog are solely owned and copyrighted by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced or copied in any form or fashion without the written permission of Cathy Hegman. Anything included in this blog is solely the personal experience and thoughts of the artist and are not meanyt to be anything more than helpful guidelines for others to read.

"Blind Hope" October 25,2008

Blind Hope

by

Cathy Hegman

72 x 48

acrylic on canvas

The painting above is entitled "Blind Hope". I painted this a couple of weeks ago and it is a very accurate depiction of where my life is right now. It is probably the largest painting I have ever painted. The canvas came to me when one of my best friends,Tina Bradford, passed away earlier this year. I was blessed to have been given all of her art supplies, and this huge canvas was in the mix. I might add that the size of a painting can really enhance the impact. The life sized figure commands your attention, this is something to think about when you are deciding on the size of your paintings. Large paintings give a feeling of importance just with their size, and in exhibitions they will gather the most attention. A small painting can be more intimate but a large one will get the attention first .

We all face tough emotional times and I have had some really troubled times lately and it has manifested in my art, as an emotionally charged painting. I have heard the expression,"just give it over the Lord" so many times and as of late I have dealt with some problems in which I have had to do just that. There are times and problems that we are simply not equipped to deal with on our own and we must have a higher power to turn to for help. This is where the title emanated, Blind Hope, as I have a deep hope that the Lord will work my problems out in a way that will glorify Him and make life feel in sync for again for me. The figure shape in the painting is Hope she is blindfolded with what appears as a bandage to express that she is wounded and blind and not simply born blind, life has done this to her. The egg is in her right hand balancing on an open palm, showing the balance that we seek in life that makes us feel in sync with our world. The egg is symbolic of the hope for an answer to be born to lift the problem. The other hand is in a postion to grasp or hold the egg but the hand is empty, showing that we cannot control some aspects of our lives, that only the Lord and our hope in Him can resolve the problems for us. The figure stands alone as all of problems are ours alone and we are responsible for how we handle them and how we allow them to affect us.

I used the light areas behind the figure to signify that there is light around us even if we cannot see it with our eyes. The light is in an circular shape that connects to the figure and completes behind the background unseen by the viewer. (One of my children saw it as an angel's wing). I chose to paint the figure in a gesture of submission instead of standing tall and strong, as that is how we appear when we are emotionally wrought with problems, and we are submitting and praying to God. The abstract background is used as a metaphor for life and the many things that go on in our daily lives that surround, touch, and support us both clear and unclear in appearance. The background is painted with warm hues of red and gold with blue used as a contrasting hue. The contrast of the colors keeps the background interesting and somewhat electrically charged. I often email my paintings to my family and friends and get their feedback before I send them out into the world. This painting was one that garnered alot of comments from my family and that is why I chose to blog about it. I hope you will comment on it and give me your thoughts on the painting too.

Cathy Hegman

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!

All artwork and text posted on this blog are solely owned and copyrighted by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced or copied in any form or fashion without the expressed written permission of Cathy Hegman. Anything included in this blog is solely the personal experience and thoughts of the artist and not meant to be anything more than helpful guidelines for others to read.

Art Colony

Some of the Colony Members painting at the Upper Pavilion

Well once again Mississippi Art Colony has come and gone. We had a great time and as usual I learned and gleaned ideas and thoughts from all of the other attending artists. I just love the immersion into art that happens when you go to an islolated place with other artists. There are some pretty stimulating conversations and the work that evolves is so provocative.

I was voted in as a full member this time and I was thrilled about that. It is a great group of artists and I am proud to be in the number. I also got two pieces accepted for the travel show,(Isaac's Ram and Secrets), and that was just icing on the cake for me, especially since one was a drawing that I had done that was so close to my heart at this time in my life. The drawing has been in my head for a number of years, it is the ram in the Bible passage Genesis: 22. Abraham is told to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God and at the last moment the Lord sends him a ram with his horns caught in a thicket as a substitute for Isaac. This is such a powerful story of faith and the belief that God will never leave your side if you have faith in Him and it has a special meaning in my heart at this particular time in my life for many reasons. I think when you feel a strong connection with your work it resonates in your life as you paint or draw the art, and then it will retain that power when it is viewed by others. The journey of life is one that compells us to reach out to others and find ourselves in them and them in us. My art is my way of accomplishing this task on a visual level. I hope, my piece, "Isaac's Ram", will serve to touch and encourage others while it is traveling in the Mississippi Art Colony Travel Show. You can view the show online http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7507232291477332174&postID=8381684110844753964.

As always have a great week !

All text and contents of this blog are copyrighted by Cathy Hegman and are meant solely for the purpose of sharing her thoughts and ideas on art and the making of art.

September 12, 2008 Opening Closed Doors

I had the opportunity to jury an art exhibit at the Federal Corrections Facility Medium Security Unit this month . I passed my NCIC check with no problem then was told all the list of things that I could not bring with me to the prison on the day I was to be the juror of the show. Already the oppression of censorship is welling up in me, I am sure this will be a duty rather than an experience to remember. The day comes and I drive up and the building looms ominously into view, it is huge, gray,stark, almost windowless and immediately I feel claustrophobia setting into my mind. It looks oppressive but at the same time rather intriquing. I was scanned, ID checked, wanded and then stamped on the arm like a piece of Grade A meat.


We then entered through what can best be described as a chamber with floor to ceiling steel gates forward and aft, we are told to relinquish our ID's to a lady behind a thick glass wall ( I am apprehensive to do this but do so just the same) and then we are scanned again and the gates open. We walk across the courtyard which is nothing more than the large open air space between the buildings there are not many windows here either, but the buildings do have numbers on them which is interesting to see against this cold gray exterior.


Most everything here is about anonymity and I am thinking how in the world does art flourish here. I am now feeling sure the art I will see in the exhibit will be dominated by emotions of entrapment, sadness, aloneness, etc. I tell myself, you will have to just look for the honest emotion in the work and juror on the design, emotion and skill level of technique of each piece. When we enter the room, I am met with work that is astounding, then I realize I have seen most of it before. I turn to the inmates and ask them how they came up with the subject matter that they painted. I have to say there were some really amazing copies of other artists' work. They told me they have no access to the world of art other than through art magazines and books that they acquire and that they have no instruction or guidance other than what they read, so they copy the photos of the art in the magazines. Wow, I am thinking how do you jury a show of predominately great designs, because they are all with the exception of maybe three pieces very accurate copies from art magazines. I come the conclusion everything can be a learning experience and this should be no exception. I ask each of them to stand by their work and give me the opportunity to talk with them about their work. I ask simple questions such as why were you drawn to this artist's work, or what part of the process did you enjoy the most or the least. I then tried to take each piece and discuss the underlying design of the piece and how it could be used in something that would be more original to the inmates themselves. They could use objects in their limited surroundings to create paintings that would express their world and their thoughts. I gave them some ideas of ways to use everyday objects in creative ways and also to paint each other. I also cautioned them about the copyright that an artist has on their original work and that you cannot reproduce an artist's work and sell it or enter it in shows without the artist's permission etc. In the end the overall feeling from this group of artists was an overwhelming gratefulness to talk with someone about not just their art but art in general and get some honest feedback and discussion. I was told they are allowed to paint most of the day without much interruption. I told them this is the dream of most artists, to be able to paint all day and not have to deal with the interruptions of everyday life. There were two artists that did create work that was not copied but done from their minds and their hearts; and in the end, I and the panel of jurors all agreed theirs was special and deserved the awards. The other artists were very supportive of the winners and seemed genuinely thrilled for them. The two awards were nice new wooden boxed sets of paints. I believe we all got rewarded just from the experience itself.


You never know what doors you might open or close, if you never grab the door knob. I am glad I got this opportunity to share my art knowledge and thoughts with this group of artists and that they shared theirs with me. I was inspired by their commitment, knowledge, and skill level and I look forward to seeing their work in the future. I could only think as left the prison that day, it is true cool grays do bring out and intensify the colors in life.
Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you have a great week.

September 4, 2008

Violet Fracture

Mixed Media on Paper

$275.00

Crescent

Mixed Media on paper

$275.00

Arcangle

Mixed Media on paper

$275.00

I am cleaning the studio and making room for a new cabinet. I have found things I had forgotten I had including paintings that I have painted and never framed and such. It is amazing how many small studies I have done as prelims for larger works. I will post a few every so often along with the price and anyone interested can purchase them if they are so inclined. I think this is a great way to share my art with others and give them a preview of what I have in the galleries etc. You can email me if you are interested in purchasing one of paintings that I offer for sale on my blog. My email is hegmanart@aol.com, please note in the subject line that you are interested in one of the paintings, so I will know to open the email.



Great news!One of my paintings was juried into the National Watercolor Society International Exhibition in Los Angeles, it was a one of the Women and Birds series and I was so excited to have it accepted in the show. Another painting was also juried into the Mississippi Watercolor Society's Grand National Watercolor Exhibition this month,this painting was another of my women and bird paintings from the same series. My article for Watercolor Artist is out this month, describing my technique for painting on alternative surfaces in watercolor and gouache. The article has several of my paintings included in it and turned out well.


Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week!
All artwork and text posted on this blog are solely owned and copyrighted by Cathy Hegman and should not be reproduced or copied in any form or fashion without the expressed written permission of Cathy Hegman. Anything included in this blog is solely the personal experience and thoughts of the artist and not meant to be anything more than helpful guidelines for others to read.