DOG DAYS, BUSY DAYS

"The Family of Dogs" Oil 22X28
Wow, Fall already!  It seems the Dog Days of Summer have taken their toll and I am behind on painting.  I will have to step it up in the next two months!  Meanwhile, all was not lost.  I have actually been working, just not so strenuously.  I am posting a few of them here.

"Cat-itudes" Oil 22x28
Speaking of Dog Days, for the sake of bi-partisanship, we will include cats here also... I recently painted two large pieces to exhibit at the Walden Lake Hospital and Pet Resort, making a total of six for the exhibit hanging through the end of October.

"Precious & Durango" Oil 14X18
I had lots of fun with LouAnn Watson's photo reference, which she generously allowed me to use in painting "Precious and Durango."

"Nash" Oil 14X18
Each third Saturday of the month Plant City has an antique car show.  The ART Lounge Gallery has a booth set up at the show and we take artwork from the gallery to display there.  I painted the Nash grill for our display next month.  All of our artwork is not car related....there are spouses of car buffs to consider, but we like a few pieces to reflect the event of the day.  October is scheduled to have a "Swap Meet" in conjunction with the classic cars, and is expected to be a record-breaking event!

We are having our quarterly Downtown ART Walk this Saturday, September 25th.  We always enjoy these events, creating our art on the sidewalks and meeting people, answering questions, selling!  It's a great way to reach out to the community and spark their interest in ART.  We will be demonstrating/painting from 9am-5pm, so if you are in the area, come and see what is going on!

July 11-17 in Paint

Maya at the Park Oil 11X14 NFS
Last week my family took the opportunity to visit a well loved county park in the area and we all enjoyed the dappled shade and sand hills at the outskirts of the park. This is Maya from one of the photos I took while there. It captures her joy of nature. From the time she was small, our large backyard was her domain and we are happy to see that has not changed.


For purchase information, please contact me at:  bryantstudio@gmail.com

I have always enjoyed finding the "cast aside" items and making something beautiful of them. Old trucks and cars are great for this and I just loved how the rust played against the brighter blues of this old truck, and how the flat tires just made it feel restful.


Puebla Oil 8X10 *SOLD*
I can't remember where I got this photo.....I only have thousands thanks to the digital age! It could be a wet canvas reference, and it could be one Mike took when he went on a trip to Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado a few years ago. I thought the intense blues and oranges played so well off each other and I pumped up the intensity even more.


Ribbons and Lace Oil 8X10

Mike snapped this photo at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival held December 12th here at the Plant City Stadium each year. She was preparing for her turn with a group of children performing folkloric dance for the crowd. These children work for months perfecting their steps and timing and do a fantastic job. It was nice to catch her in a quiet moment.

Whew! Another week down! Then it begins again..........ain't life GRAND!

July 4-10 in Paint

Summer Series "Shell" Oil 4X4
This is a fun time for being alive... family,Summer sun, good friends and paint! I couldn't even try to get away from painting if I tried... I have one more little shell painting for the Summer Series for The ART Lounge Gallery, and I have completed four others.


"Jennifer" Oil 16X20
Jennifer is my niece who lives in Georgia, and I begged her to let me paint her Facebook profile picture. She is such a beautiful young woman and the pose was striking. I painted this online as a demonstration on ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/debra-bryant/v3 If you go to the site and scroll through the archived video's there, you can view the sessions. Painting on Ustream is pretty new to me and I am still trying to work out the kinks of the camera functions and placement, and I am enjoying it. The difficult part is to speak as if someone was watching the demonstration, whether they are or not!


"Prayerful" Oil 11X14 *SOLD*
I wanted to try a different technique with my painting of the Dalai Lama, called "Prayerful". In it, I used a mottled foil leafing to enhance this painting. Gold leaf, although beautiful, would not have had the same effect which I wanted to achieve, which was of an indistinct patina on the disc behind the monk. The little wisp of smoke from an incense burner was an afterthought, and was devised to break up the empty space to the left. I was happy with the loose painting technique and the atmosphere, combined with the gilding.


"Meditating" Oil 12X16

I have worked on a few pieces lately with the spa, yoga, zen thing in mind. One of the pieces is a yoga pose, borrowed from a friend. It had an interesting negative space, and I really played up the light and color factors, so, although it has a serenity to it, it is still very vibrant and energetic.


"Family Reunion" Oil 8X10


"ART After Dark" at The ART Lounge Gallery is tonight and every second Saturday. If you are in the area, join us for wine and light refreshments and view the newest artwork on the walls of the gallery. We are located at 119 E. Reynolds Street in Plant City, Fl. and the open house reception is held from 6-10pm. I have hung 20 new paintings this month! Come by and have a look!


"Artichoke" Oil 8X10


Next week I will begin the Student Scholarship Workshop at the gallery, instructing 4 area high school students in a four week class on oil painting. I am very excited to be teaching this class, and look forward to meeting these young artists and offering them instruction and encouragement on their future careers... Exciting!

"Sophia"

This is Sophia, 11X14 oil on panel.  She is a lovely little angel cherished by her Daddy, Wilson.  Last week I painted her with the intention of putting her photo and painting, sort of a "before and after," for an advertisement on my portrait commissions.  She will be the first in a series of print ads in the local Monthly Savings Magazine, whose circulation reaches all of Brandon, Valrico, Lithia and Bloomingdale areas, approximately 150,000 homes.  Now is the time to put ideas of Christmas commissions out there!  I am excited to have this marketing opportunity and look forward to a long and strong relationship with the magazine's publisher.  Thanks Wilson!

SPRING MEADOWS

"Spring Meadows"  Original oil painting, 8" X 10"
For purchase information, please contact me at:  bryantstudio@gmail.com

Summertime is here! We have been picking beans from the garden, blackberries for cobbler, planting more flowers in the garden and preparing new planting beds...oh, and taking photos in the garden for possible reference. Deluged by all the craziness of Spring, I have cleared some clutter in the studio, prepared umpteen panels for painting, planted, nurtured, and generally created a more serene space in my life.

I finished the self-portrait I began on my visit to Susan Carlin http://www.susancarlin.com/ in San Antonio. The reference photo was taken by her charming friend Ugur, who skillfully captured a great reference in one shot, and was delightful company as we painted. Ugur is a highly skilled Graphic Designer and Photographer. Thank you Ugur! The photo is priceless to me.

Yesterday, I put finishing touches on 4 paintings that have been sitting around the studio, and totally reworked another. I framed, tagged, inventoried and prepared them for exhibiting at The ART Lounge Gallery for the month of June. It was a very productive day.

I think I need more frames! Ha!

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