SPRING-INTO-SPRING Sale, March 21 through April 4 (remaining paintings with updated prices)

"Ruby Slippers," (signature miniature for this blog), 3/4" x 1 3/8", egg tempera on Kelmscott vellum in Venetian glass mosaic frame, available for purchase in my Etsy store

"Three Rose Petals," 4 1/2" x 4 1/2," egg tempera small work on gessoed panel in 10" x 10" white shadow box with matt embellished with pink paint and rose cup shells, available for purchase in my Etsy store

"L'madone et L'Infant de Remy de Saint (Madonna & Child of St. Remy)", 4 1/8" x 5 3/4"

"Amma's Eyes," 1 3/8" x 1 3/4", (eye portrait of Indian Saint Amritanandamayi Ma), in Venetian glass frame, available for purchase at my Etsy store

"Just Peachy," 1 5/8" x 1 1/8", matted and framed, (SOLD)
"Ship Flag, Star of India," 6 3/4" x 8 3/4, available online at my Etsy store

"Basket of Red Flowers," 3" x 3" in faux-pearled easel frame, available (please use the contact form on my website for purchase info.)

"Mary & Jesus, Aix en Provence Exterior Wall," 1 1/4" x 1 7/8", available, (please use the contact form on my website for purchase info.)

"Pink Lady Pair," 1 3/16" x 7/8" (shown at actual size), (SOLD)

"Kiwi Berry Tart," 1" x 1", (SOLD)

"Pink Star-gazer Lily," 1 1/4" x 1 1/2," (SOLD)

"Angel Be Mine," 1" x 7/8", (donated to Rally for the Cure)

*My thanks to Rick Campbell, my sister Peggy, Mike Campbell, my cousin, Bev Bonge Ganser, and Aunt Betty for their purchases. Thanks also to everyone for your kind compliments on my sale miniatures, including four people I heard from on email this week---Arlynne Miller, Jeff Million, Donald Partyka, and Fred Wessel.

For my nephew Nick who is 21 years old on March 25, Happy Birthday Nick! Can't wait to celebrate with you!

P.S.

Just a little postscript on my last post, since fellow blogger artist, Todd Bonita, and I were talking this week about how his father-in-law, David Baker, who passed away very recently, and my father were both smokejumpers.  My father only spent 2 or 3 summers smokejumping during 1948 - 1950, but he was very proud of being a smokejumper.  While Dad smokejumped, Mom worked in the ranger station as a clerk.  Although Dad went on to study law and become a businessman, later in life he would often state that his favorite job was still smokejumping!  He belonged to the National Smokejumpers Association, and a few years ago they produced the book Smokejumpers, in which Dad recounted his experience in the 1950 Hell's Canyon Snake River fire.

Thanks, Peggy, for buying an early miniature, just before my blog sale!  And thanks Nick for mentioning this blog on your radio show last Friday.

"Surprise Daddy!"

"Mona & Ben" 5 1/8" x 6 3/4" (drawn at miniature scale)

charcoal and white pastel on gray sand-grit pastel paper (NFS)

My father passed away in April '07 and yesterday would have been his 86th birthday.  It's still a tough week for me, so I wanted to honor his memory with one post, since my blogs began after he passed.  I love knowing that if he were still here, he would be on his computer, checking them every day!  I'm sure he is enjoying it in spirit anyway.  This is drawn from my favorite photo of Dad and I, and the photo-version is also my screensaver.  I have a post coming up within the next month for my Mom also, but this one's for you Dad.  Love you always!

"Session on the Ruby Slippers" with Mona Diane Conner

In "Session on the Ruby Slippers" I discuss what motivates and inspires me as an artist.   It is just for viewing if and when you would like to know more about this, and no pressure to view it otherwise.

My Very First Miniature Compared to Now

"Water Lilies with Trochus Shells," 2" x 3", egg tempera on Strathmore board with glazed and shelled frame  (SOLD)

I thought it would be interesting to post for you the first miniature I ever painted, because I think it shows how I have been making some progress over the past nine years compared to my first try.  The details in "Water Lilies" are less defined, and it was also painted on a coarser surface of cold press Strathmore, which made it harder for me to achieve detail.  I worked on a smoother surface for this more recent miniature,"The Ruby Slippers."

"The Ruby Slippers," 3/4" x 1 3/8," egg tempera on kelmscott vellum

in Venetian glass frame, Available

Tomorrow I'll be posting a review of all the paintings which are currently available for sale on this blog, and on Wednesday I hope to post my next video, which is called, "The Ruby Slippers."  Stay tuned and watch it later this week to find out why.

(*Note:  sorry it's late, but my sale will be posting soon, so please check back for it and the video too, and thanks for your patience.)

New Artist Statement & Bio

This past week I took some time out to write my new artist statement.  

The eyes have it...... (as in click on them to see it!)

                                                         

                                                                      

Pink Lotus with Shells

"Pink Lotus with Rose Cup and Apple Blossom Shells," egg tempera, gold acrylic paint, rose cup, apple blossom, and pearlized umbonium shells, 4 1/2" x 4" (size including frame)

If it's just another example of gold in miniature, here is one I did with just gold acrylic paint, yet it has it's own kind of beauty.  Both because I'm currently working on a commission, and because I am trying to decide if I can part with this miniature from my personal collection, I'm putting it up as a post to see if anyone is interested in purchasing it.  

The shell craft alone took a week for me to create, and I emulated the lotus flower in shells on the top and bottom of the frame.  Please indicate your interest in purchasing this miniature via email (mona@monadianeconner.com).  

The Gilded Panel

Here is my panel after two coats of gold leaf.  It actually took more than two books of gold leaf, partly because of the curves and sides.  Even with experience gilding can be tricky, so if you have not tried it before, I do recommend practicing a bit first with imitation gold leaf until you feel comfortable with the process.  You can get a beginner kit which includes imitation leaf, fast-dry size, and even a bit of venetian red which is often used under the leaf as a base color, and this is a great place to start.  With more experience you'll use less gold.

I'm still waiting for my shellac crystals to come in the mail, so I'll return to this project once my surface is ready for applying paint.  It can take a little extra patience and time to arrange trying something new, but if it lights my inner fires, I feel it's worthwhile.  Who knows what great places it may lead me to?  I hope I can pull off the new technique of oil painting on gold, because I love how this panel looks too.

Highlights on Oil Gilding

This is a 'rough-cut' video, but here are some highlights about oil gilding......... 

Several additional points:   As you lay down thin squares of gold, it's naturally breaking up a little here and there, so there will be little 'holiday' spots to patch.  These get patched over immediately as you go, and it all smoothes into one coat of gold.  If the size dries out too much, or you can't do it all in one sitting, simply resize over the gold and when the tack is ready, do another layer, or carefully size portions and patch.

Gold leaf typically costs about $40 per 'booklet' of 25 square leaves.  It's taking approximately two books to cover the panel in my demo, counting patching.  *An additional note:  imitation gold leaf looks nearly as nice as the real thing, and it's just about $7 per book.  The only thing you must be sure to do with imitation gold leaf is to shellac over it to avoid tarnish.

Here are some online resources for gilding information and supplies:

Pandora, Sinopia.com, Auricgold.com

*Best viewed with Quicktime 7 (free download)