Labor Day Sale in my Etsy Shop

As a member of the Visual Arts Street Team - VAST, on Etsy, I am offering 3 special 8x10 prints from my popular Garden Series 1/2 PRICE, only $7.50. I figure since the flowers are fading fast, it's time to pick a few! The sale runs through Tuesday, Sept 2.

Follow this link to see my shop with the 3 sale pieces featured in the top row. Also search "laborday vast team" to find many other special deals from some very talented artists!

http://hammelmanart.etsy.com/

Ports of Call Series - Lake of the Ozarks

I'm pleased to announce that prints of this series are now available at Artpho Gallery & Frame, 1075 Main Street, Osage Beach, MO 65065, 573-348-4084.

Originals are 15" x 21" and are available from me. This series includes the most popular entertainment venues at our wonderful Lake of the Ozarks.

Painting portraits this week!

Order your custom boat portrait now: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14628184

Award Winner

Pear Brandy - 14 x 20 watercolor

I am pleased to announce that my painting won a prize in the 11th annual Big Splash members award exhibit of the Saint Louis Watercolor Society.

My prize is a $100 gift certificate from Jack Richeson Co. The are always generous supporters of this show. This year they contributed $400 in gift certificates.

Prints are available now in my Etsy Shop, http://hammelmanart.etsy.com/. The original will be available after the show ends September 22.

Etsy Treasury

Take a look at Wet, Wild and Wonderful!!!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=2571

One of the greatest searching modes on Etsy is the treasury. Etsy users curate a group of items, usually following a theme, that are posted as a gallery. The viewer clicks on the individual pictures to view the items and the shops of the sellers. Most treasuries have a 2 day life, but I was lucky today to get one of the random 3 day placements.

Big Splash is Coming

I'm busy getting ready for Big Splash, the annual member awards exhibit for the Saint Louis Watercolor Society. I will be entering 3 paintings which have all been posted here recently so I won't post them again. As a board member and treasurer, I will have quite a few tasks to accomplish Wednesday and Tursday. We expect about 135 paintings from about 75 of our 250 members. I will help with hanging and then hurry home to type the database that will create the title cards and program. It's a good kind of busy.

My first award at an exhibit was at Big Splash '99. I received an honorable mention for this painting. The original is not for sale, but prints are listed in my Etsy Shop.

Moorings At Spa Creek, 14" x 21"

Would you look at that sky!

Take Your Pick

It's a gorgeous day in St. Louis, perfect for picking flowers. Here are some of my favorites in vignette style (limited or no background.) I love this style because the focus is simple and dramatic - just the beauty of the flowers. Click my Etsy Shop link for these and other flower paintings.

Purple Iris Garden V - 14" x 20" original watercolor

Daffodil Garden V - 14" x 20" original watercolor

Red Tulip Line II - 11" x 15" original watercolor

Let The Games Begin

The big day is finally here for athletes from all over the world. It's opening day at the Olympics! I do not mean to minimize the incredible level of achievement by the olympians in any way by these comments. I sincerely admire their dedication and hard work! However, for some, the activites will not be quite so exhausting on this side of the globe.

Tomorrow, Party Cove at Lake of the Ozarks will look about like this.

Party Cove, 15" x 21", watercolor, not for sale

And I, for one, will be doing this:

Hope you have a chance to watch the opening ceremonies tonight. Have a great weekend!

Double Vision

It's really neat to see how 2 artists interpret the same scene or still life. Here is a painting done by me and then one done by my sister, Paula Gibble, of the same still life as we each sat on opposite sides of the set up. This is also a great theme for a group art exhibit. Always fun!

Natural Reds, 15" x 22" watercolor (available in my Etsy Shop, original or prints)http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12921821

Galas In Bloom, 15" x 22" watercolor

My sister went to Italy

And shared her memories with me. I thought you might like to see how I interpreted one of her photos of gondoliers.



Here is the photo:



Here is my painting titled Nova Barche, 15" x 22" . This and others from her trip are available in my Etsy shop (link on the right.)

No, Burt Reynolds is not here.

At Lake of the Ozarks that is. This weekend a friend's guest had just recently moved to St. Louis from New York and visited the lake for the first time. She said that New Yorkers think of "Deliverance" when they hear "Ozarks". Sorry, but Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox are not here. I'm sure it would be fun to have them since they seem like cool guys. Instead we have 1500 miles of shoreline, 1000's of gigantic homes and condos, 30,000 boats and all share the 7th largest lake in the US after the 5 Greats and Lake Powell.



Here is a painting I did last fall of our gang at a raft-up on Labor Day. A way-cool way to spend the weekend! So if you are ever lucky enough to be invited to Lake of the Ozarks, don't "fly over", come on down! The water's great!

Do you know about ACEO's?

Take a look at this new and fun collectible! Here is The Beach, (background for display purposes only.)

I just found out about ACEO's when I started selling on eBay last year. They are Art Cards, Editions and Originals. They measure 2.5" x 3.5", the size of a baseball trading card, and collectors amass them as a way to sample an artist's work, or just as collection in its own right.

They can be individually framed, framed as a group, or displayed in special albums. Custom mats and frames are available on Etsy from various sellers.

Since I like to find new directions and challenges for my work, I decided to try some. Much to my delight, they are fun yet much harder that I thought. Some of my sucesses are available now in my Etsy shop and starting this Sunday on eBay. They generally sell for under $10 but some on eBay have sold for $100's.

Driven to Abstraction

Whew it's hot at Lake of the Ozarks today! I'm driven to abstraction with projects and trying to keep cool!

Recently took a workshop with John Salminen concentrating on design and shapes. He FORCED us to spend 3 days constructing a full-sheet abstract. It was perhaps the most in-depth instruction I have had in 16 watercolor workshops and I highly recommend him.

Our focus was on shape first, then warm/cool, path to the focal point and finally focal emphasis. I have sold 2 pieces in this style and am really enjoying the process. It is first a complex contour drawing followed by glazes, a bit of collage and finally some acrylic usually black.

How do you approach an abstract as a painter? Methodically or whatever happens? As a collector, do you look for emotion or color or size or something else?

Here is Abstraction, 21" x 29".