Gloria J Zucaro's "Storm Brewing"

Wow!  I can't believe how long I have been out of the loop!  Well, I have enjoyed some gardening, some travel, some movies and restaurants.  But I have been painting ,too.  

This painting came out exactly as I envisioned it, so I am very happy with it. It is from a reference photo I took out West.
I am not sure whether it is in Arizona or New Mexico.  I love both the areas around Tucson and Taos.  I also posted a pastel I did of a woman at the Taos Adobe on my FaceBook page today.
Have a wonderful week.

"Storm Brewing"

Pastel 9" x 12"

This will be posted to Paint Party Friday which showcases about 100 artists and their weekly projects.  Stop by and enjoy some really creative work.

For purchase information, email me at gloria@gloriajzucaro.com

Gloria J Zucaro's "Collage on Three"

This week flew by again.  I spent my time planting perennials for next year, and watching the birds and small mammals in my yard.  A very relaxing week.

I wanted to show you some of the collage pieces done in Karen Sako's collage class.  We used Masonite boards covered with gesso, either regular white or clear.  Other supplies were magazine pages, sandpaper, baby wipes, saran wrap, crackle paste, gesso with sand added, pastels, India ink and my favorite, strips of paper applied with gel medium, and then sealed.

The Beginnings

Gesso with impressed sand, torn paper, acrylic paint, sealer

Gesso, crackle paste,torn paper, gel medium, acrylic paint, sealer.

Gesso, saran, gesso with sand, tool to add lines, acrylic paint, sealer

I am posting this to Paint Party Friday, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

Have a wonderful week.

Gloria

Gloria J Zucaro's "The Series So Far"

I can not figure out how to get these to group next to each other in rows of three nicely!  HELP!

and then # 15 below.

Gloria J Zucaro's " Some Plein Air"

I have stepped back a little from my daily art and my blog because of shoulder and neck pain that gets worse when working at the computer.  I am now going for acupuncture in hopes of relief.  I had x-rays a couple of months ago and some physical therapy for arthritis in my neck.  The x-rays  also showed a complete loss of all cartilage in my shoulders. So anyway, that is why I have not posted in quite a while. But today I am sharing some of my thumbnails and Plein air paintings done the first week in June. 

On the first day of our Plein Air workshop, I was still doing thumbnails. We were at Ginger Blossoms in Richmond Illinois. There is a main house and a large barn filled with ceramic tiles, furniture, rugs, paintings, tableware, etc. a silo, open fields, and about 6 other little buildings filled with unusual items from Mexico. Around the grounds there are many sculptures.

The front porch of the house.

The side of the ramp going up to the barn, grasses and part of the silo.

A statue, just taking it easy!

A shed and corner of the barn.

Another small building with a latticework entry, and shadows from the trees.

Trees and the aluminum roof shining on a small shed.  Grapevines in front.

A facsimile of a Greek building.

The second day was at an old farmstead on Route 22 not far from the Mainstreet Art Centre.  The wonderful white farmhouse, several out buildings and the main barn, as well as grassy fields and charming fencerows. I did my thumbnail and then my first actual painting. I need to make my large barn darker for more punch. The day was cloudy, so the barn was dark at first, but then the sun would peek out and confusion ensued!

"Two Barns on Route 22"

I did two paintings that day, my second is below.

"The Tree in the Far Field"

The last day we painted along the Fox River in the North Barrington area off Robert's Rd.

I chose an area along the path where you can look through the trees draping down and see a distant shore.  It was sooooo cold.  Cloudy, some wind and a damp 55 degrees!  Only one painting that day. We had a critique first thing in the morning from Frankie Johnson, our fearless leader!  Then off to the latrines, and finally picking a spot to paint. Lunch and then an early stop at 3PM.

"Along the Fox"

Thanks for looking, next I will talk about the convention in Albuquerque, NM.

Gloria

Gloria J Zucaro's "Sunshine for Julie"

This is my latest painting, which I am thrilled to say is going to a good home, with an artist and friend.  

I am posting this for the Paint Party Friday Challenge.  

Thank you Kristin and Eva for hosting.  

I hope you will visit their site to see what the accomplished artists have done this week.  

Click on image to enlarge.

12"H x 9"W Original Oil on Canvas Panel

SOLD

Gloria J Zucaro's "Autumn" and "Manet"

Here is the final version of our third portrait class with Ann Feldman.  After last week's drawing and adding shadows with charcoal, we had sprayed our portraits with fixative.  This week we used burnt umber to cover the entire surface with a wash, then wiped out the lighter areas of the face and neck that were not in shadow with a paper towel or small brush around the nose and eyes.  We then put in all the darker areas with our burnt umber.  I think it is a really neat technique.  
I thought you might like to see the front courtyard of my townhouse.(Three pictures)  I love this time of year, Autumn, when the trees are falling asleep, leaves blowing in the wind, and all the beautiful grasses are turning golden, too. All photos may be enlarged for better detail by clicking on the image.  In case I don't finish another painting today, this post will be my entry to Paint Party Friday.  Be sure to visit!

My Front Entry Courtyard

 The Front Door Area

My Asian Fountain.  It is turned off now and will have the pump removed on Saturday.

Gloria J Zucaro's "Evening In Door County"

Well, I am happy to say that my son and his wife finally, after almost a year, sold their townhouse. I helped out a with packing up the smaller items that were used in the staging and taking them to their garage for a garage sale.  The movers took the furniture that was not bought by the buyers or friends in the neighborhood.

For Jenn's challenge this week at The Artist's Playroom-to "paint something you have been thinking about but haven't gotten around to"- I did this sunset from my photo taken while I was up in Door County Wisconsin one Fall.  

I am also entering it and the charcoal portrait below the sunset to Paint Party Friday hosted by Kristin and Eva.  Please try to visit some of these links to see what other artists are working on.

"Evening In Door County"

Original Oil on 10"H x 20"L stretched canvas

$225.00 plus S&H to your ZIP

Click on paintings to enlarge.

First weeks lesson in portrait class 

I have been looking forward to this class with friend and fellow artist Ann Feldman.  She does excellent portraits and says that they are her first love in painting.  But some of you might also know her from her entries into some of the Daily Paintworks challenges or her gallery on that site.  As you can see, the grid for sizing my portrait is still evident.  I think her right eye is a little wonky, but we will correct and then move on to another portrait next week.  Learning something new is the best!

Gloria J Zucaro's "Out To Pasture"

6"H x 6"W original Oil on Raymar Panel    SOLD

This is the challenge from Carol Marine at the Daily Paintworks for the week.  I brought the horizon closer to the horse and tried to keep the shapes in mind..  I had toned the canvas with cad red before beginning and let it show through around the silhouette of the horse.

Gloria J Zucaro's "Season's Greetings"

This is one of my two holiday cards for 2011.  I painted this one in watercolor and had Seasons Greetings printed on the front when I had it made into postcards at Office Max. 

Gloria J Zucaro's "Abstract Favorites"

20"H x 10"W Original Oil on Stretched Canvas

$145.00 Framed in black floater frame.See frame at bottom of this listing.
S&H to your ZIP
To Purchase, email me at gloria@gloriajzucaro.com

 I am proud to say that I had four paintings accepted into the Randy Higbee 6 Inch Squared National Juried show in Costa Mesa, Ca.

I tried something a little different here.  As I sat watching television, I drew on my canvas different things I like or enjoy.  A heart, fish(in a pond!), a cup of coffee, the telephone,my green tile kitchen counter,trees with the leaves drawn in house shapes, a rose, the wind, a rainbow and the star with various triangle and circles.  As I drew each one, I turned the canvas 1/4 of the way around to the right.  I hope you enjoy some of these things, too.  This can be hung either vertically or horizontally.  See below.  This is in the black frame,against my natural oak floor.  The colors in this bottom pix don't seem as accurate, I think I took this picture in a different place and at a different time of day.