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What Does ‘a Study’ in Artwork Mean

January 15, 2018 By Mary Booth Cabot

Each time an artist makes a painting they are actually doing something that do not know how to do. At the very least, a portion of the painting needs much thought, and then there other times when more challenge is there than they recognized going into working on it.

Periodically you will see a footnote from an artist on a painting  reading…”A study of Bluebirds basking in the sun” or “A personal study of rainbows…from a photo taken by…”. So what does this mean?

My interest is in the use of the word “study” on the footnote.  Only on artwork have I ever seen this word used in a title…its meaning is to portray that this painting took much study, thinking, deliberating, time, and trying out techniques to see if or how something can be portrayed so the viewer can experience a specific image or feeling that the mind will translate properly, the way the artist would like it to be portrayed or presented.  Painting a picture does indeed involve Much deliberation and study to get the Right portrayal.  It is not just slapping paint on canvas or paper in 3-6 hours and calling it finished as it would actually be a color sketch or trial.  This would be a picture done in paint but it would not be called a painting.  In a painting many decisions must be made. Every stroke of the brush directs you down a specific pathway toward completion or screw-up. Every paint brush stroke is a decision for a good or a bad result.  Once in a while a poor decision can be corrected for benefit.  Learning techniques to correct ones’ mistakes is a must and many mistakes can be repaired in most any medium. In essence, a painting may be 5000-8000 decisions before it is completed depending upon its size. As a painter one must be a Student throughout the entire painting. We as artists actually learn much from each painting.

It takes much time, desire, heart, and energy to “study” and figure out how to get a painting to be the best it can be before an artist is willing to share it with the world.  The above painting is one for you to see that involved much study and much time before completion.

Filed Under: Art, Art Classes, Art Philosophy, Artwork, Painting, Shopify, Tropical Plants, Wildlife Tagged With: egret, everglades, florida, painting, watercolor painting

Adding Watercolor

January 4, 2018 By Mary Booth Cabot

Dale Sherman is one of my students in the Wednesday afternoon class. She paints with a great group of ladies that really enjoy working with each other. She has worked diligently through all the drawing projects and is now painting beautifully. This painting is of some water lilies she photographed in a pond. We are all watching and learning from her as she brings it to completion. This painting is a really pretty one. One of the things we adjusted was adding much additional image information that is not on the photograph. This makes it her original artwork.

 

A student, Dale, working on her painting in my afternoon class
Dale Sherman is one of my students in the Wednesday afternoon class. …
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Filed Under: Art, Art Classes, Art Philosophy, Artwork, Garden, Painting, Shopify, Tropical Plants Tagged With: painting, student, student painting, watercolor, watercolor painting, waterlilies, watrlilies

Blooming Yellow Hybrid Jungle Cactus, Epicactus Epiphyllum “Fruhlingsgold”

November 7, 2017 By Mary Booth Cabot

This one just bloomed today! This is a day-booming Epicactus Epiphyllum “Fruhlingsgold” native to Central America. This is an extraordinary tropical succulent cactus or flowering Jungle Cacti, common name “Orchid Cactus”. It is part of a collection of fifteen epicactus of mine and I always tend these semi ugly plants just for the very spectacular, huge, fragrant blooms.  Epiphyllums bloom in the spring on  2-3 year old potted plants and off and on during the year. This one has been blooming all summer and this bloom opened November 5th. However, the major blooming season for day blooming plants starts in late April, peaks in May and ends in June. During the other months of the year we are rewarded by the occasions “off season” bloom, especially from the 4″ top 2″ varieties.The blooms range from 2″ to 8″in size and the one you see here is 6″ in diameter. Related plants are rattail cacti, rhipsalis, hoyas, Thanksiving-Christmas Cactus,  Easter Cactus, and Night Blooming Cereus. They are easy to grow in hanging pots. They need night time temperatures of 45-50 degrees during the winter, where they do not receive artificial light after sundown. This is necessary for bud formation to take place. Their favorite temperatures are 45-70 degrees. In my area they are put outside in part shade and temps in the high 80’s in the summer and in the downstairs up against sliding glass doors with temp  50-70 degrees and seem to do just fine. Repot each spring.

Filed Under: Art, Garden, Greenhouse, Orchids, Shopify, Tropical Plants, Wildlife Tagged With: climbing cacti, Epiphyllum, exotic, floral, jungle cactus, leaf cacti, orchid cactus, Pereskia genus, yellow

Reloading the Greenhouse Each Fall

October 23, 2017 By Mary Booth Cabot

When October 15th comes each year the major task is to reload the greenhouse with some 200+ plants!

Many of the orchids are in full spectacular bloom. Since they do have to come inside, they get to be the “show-off” specimens in the house for a while. Usually I try to leave them outside when they are in full bloom so they are not disturbed and drop their blooms.

Orchids bloom usually once a year; some bloom twice a year. There are over 7000 species and thousands of hybrids.  When they bloom depends on what part of the world they came from and what their habitat was… and then we do our best to try to duplicate their original habitat to keep them happy so we can see their blooms where we live.

I am in Georgia and that means the orchids and tropicals have to go into a greenhouse or well-lit indoor circumstance for the colder months.  Many growers in the Atlanta Orchid Club are set up with shelving and lighting to be able to grow in a room or in their basement. October 15th seems to be the date that they have to be indoors.  Sometimes we get our first frost by Halloween.  Most orchids prefer to be inside when the night temperatures drop below 50 degrees.  Phalanopsis orchids don’t like it below 60 degrees and Dendrobium orchids can tolerate 40 degrees if they are dry. Tropical plants generally prefer 55 degrees as their low temperature. Before bringing them indoors spraying them with a systemic insecticide is important.  In the winter months the fertilizer is used less frequently as some are more dormant.

My greenhouse is filled with plants and so is my home….there are plant friends just everywhere for my winter’s entertainment.

Phalenopsis Orchid

Filed Under: Art, Garden, Greenhouse, Orchids, Tropical Plants Tagged With: greenhouse, orchids, wintering over plants

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