Class, Kidwell Farm, Randy's Head

Sculpture of Randy's head ... in progress. He could use some shoulders.

Well, this will be a wildly varied post ... because it was a wildly varied day.

It was the last day of my Still Life class for the Winter session ... and I will be putting up a post about that hopefully tomorrow.  I'm as proud as can be of my class.  They all made HUGE strides and some great paintings made it out the door this afternoon. I did forget my camera (bad time to do so) -- but took some pics on my iPhone to be put up next post. Wait 'til you see their paintings!

Out on the Farm
After class and a nice lunch, I headed for one hour (actually less) of painting at Kidwell Farm before it closed.  Tomorrow we're supposed to have snow, but you couldn't tell it from the nice weather we had this afternoon. I needed to take advantage of it.  Today's subject were the bunnies -- two of which were taking a very short nap when I set up my easel.  One of them, though, decided to go into its house -- out of view -- about five minutes into my painting time.

The first day of the sculpture section of Portrait class.

The farm is sort of in hibernation mode. Fences are being rebuilt and that means most of the animals were out in more distant pastures. My candidates for today's subjects included first a pig, then sheep, then some cows. I passed a man and his dog who were heading happily to the bunnies -- the dog's favorites on the farm.  The dog made the decision for me.

Easel set up at Kidwell Farm (part of Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA)

Playing with Clay
Tonight, in hopes of preparing for the last day of portrait class tomorrow, I returned to the long-time-in-progress clay sculpture of husband Randy's head. It looks like him -- at least from the front views -- although his ears and the back of his head still need work.  (And this is a miniaturized version.)  He looks kind ... like he is. While working in clay has sometimes been a frustrating process, I've finally gotten to the point that it's now fun -- and feels good.  I will do more ... and 60 lbs. of clay awaits.

The sculpture part of the portrait class presented new challenges and discoveries ... and fun.  There was a different type of intensity in the classroom.

In the Show at the Art League
Lastly, my painting "Traffic Patterns" was accepted into the March All-Media Membership Exhibit at the Art League (105 N. Union St., Alexandria, VA). You can see it and "Radishes" in the gallery throughout the month.

"Traffic Patterns," oil, 30"h x 24"w, copyright Jill Banks 2013

That's a wrap.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project
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Phone: 703.403.7435

"Radishes," oil, 10"h x 8"w, copyright Jill Banks 2011

See my web site for Events & Exhibits: www.JillBanks.com.