Latest Miniature Art, and Now an Associate Member of MPSGS!

The Time Thief, © Barbara A. Freeman
Graphite and Mixed Media on Film, 2 3/4" x 3 3/4"

This is my latest miniature work, just finished the final fixative coat on it yesterday. Now, it's ready for scanning, then finding or cutting a mat! As you can see, I am still on my crow and clock theme here. Thanks to the Arts Council of Snohomish County for the Of Clocks and Crows Exhibit that I did my work, Finding Time for, I have now done four works with a crow in them. Oh, I forgot, there is a crow in both of my Buddha paintings, but I did those two before the Clocks and Crows show. Still, I love getting inspired with a subject and then having it repeat in more work. It creates a series and allows me to further explore that subject.

This one, still untitled, is done on * Dura-lar Matte film with colored pencil on the underside for the watch and the interior of the tree. The chain and a bit of highlight on the eye and watch were done with acrylic, with a tiny bit of gold. *Check out the review I did on Dura-lar Matte film on the link at Dick Blick.

I love drawing trees, they have so much character and great texture. Just after I completed this, I knew I had to move on, (deadlines, deadlines, deadlines,) and I am now working on a silverpoint miniature continuing the tree with all it's mystery theme. This one though has a rabbit featured in it! Hopefully it will be a successful piece. Silverpoint does not allow you to erase, so you really have to know where you want to put your marks and have them work! So far, it's going well. I'll keep you posted.

More wonderful news... I have been invited to become an Associate Member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington D.C.! (MPSGS) This is the oldest Miniature Art Society in the US (founded in 1931) and is the second oldest in the world! The Royal Society of Miniature Painter, Sculptors and Graver in London, England is the oldest. The membership is by invitation only and decided by a vote of the other members. To be eligible, you have to have exhibited in three annual Society shows or have been awarded a first, second, or third prize at any Society exhibition. I am so honored!

As always, thank you for taking the time to look at my work and read my blog.

Always Illuminated, New Work of Miniature Art

As promised, here is the finished work, Always Illuminated! It started out as a first attempt at egg tempera, (First Attempt at Egg Tempera blog post), but alas, that didn't succeed. This piece is from that design with some additional work all done in acrylic. It still needs to have the master scan done so the "Always" has not been completely attached to the miniature landscape. Each piece will be scanned separately. This is to show how it will look when all together and which frame I have chosen. It will not be matted, but will have spacers between the glass and the artwork. That is so that the art does NOT rest on the glass. It was done on 100% rag illustration board using acrylics, including gold and iridescent colors. The only thing I would do differently next time is to make my background much lighter. The varnish seemed to darken the work more than I intended. But otherwise, I am happy with the final image. I loved painting the tiny landscape with the fields and trees. The castle was great to do. I mean, how often do you get to add a castle to your landscape?

I wanted the work to be more than just the word, so I added a landscape to rest the word on. I used the same surface and background color. Because the letter design used the autumn leaf and colors, I tried to bring that same theme and color to the landscape.


The word is attached to a piece of rag board with acrylic gel medium to lift it slightly when attached to the landscape with the same gel medium.

Always Illuminated, ©Barbara A. Freeman, Acrylic on Rag Board, 4"x 5"

Above is the frame I have chosen for it. Sorry, it is showing more of a shadow at the top than it will have when framed. Thanks for taking the time to read about my new miniature work. I'll let you know when I have decided which upcoming show I will be submitting, Always Illuminated to. I really had fun doing this, I hope it comes through in the work! It will be interesting to see what kind of response I get with this. I could see a series of illuminated words!

Gina Ballew, Entry Featured in Fundraiser in Austin

I am so happy for my daughter Gina Ballew who is once again participating in the annual silent auction fundraiser held in La Peña's downtown Congress gallery in Austin. Her mosaic heart, The Object of My Affection, was one that was included on their local We Are Austin, TV spot. It's the one in the center of the table, she didn't pick it up, but it's easy to see. I'm sure that it will have a lot of bidding on it!! I'm very proud of Gina and her dedication to making time for her art. Congratulations Gina!! Have fun tonight!

Toma Mi Corazón XVIII, Saturday, February 6, 2010, Preview Party: 4:30-6:00 pm, $10 admission (includes silent auction), Silent Auction: 6:00-8:00 pm, $5 admission for silent auction onlyGallery located at 227 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX.

Coming Soon, & 4 Show Deadlines in April!

This weekend I'll be doing the isolation coat and varnish on my three new works. Then after they are dry enough, I'll have them scanned. I have completed the third work, Always, my illuminated word and will be able to show it then. If you have been following me, you may remember this one because it started out as an egg tempera painting. I had some problems with the egg tempera but liked the design, so I redid it in acrylic. I liked the way it came out, but decided I wanted to take it further. I created a tiny landscape painted on the same kind of surface, using the same colors, including gold, with the autumn theme. I'm going to "float" the work, Always on top of the piece with the landscape. In other words, the word Always is raised slightly in the space that is the sky with the landscape below. That is why it can't be shown, it needs to be varnished before I can connect the two pieces. Words! It would be so much easier to just show it! Hopefully I made all that clear. If not, stayed tuned, Always Illuminated, Coming Soon!

In the meantime, I am starting to panic! I have four deadlines for miniature art works! I'll need at least 16 or more quality fine art miniatures total for all of them! The show in Florida will end this weekend and I'll be waiting to see how many are returned from that show. Those remaining works will all be available to show in these upcoming shows, but I will still have to have new work to add to them. The shows are listed below, if you are a local artist or you live elsewhere and don't mind shipping your work. Or perhaps you are a collector of fine art miniatures and want to see the work in person, please check out the shows. Seaside and Parklane are miniature art shows only and are exhibited for a longer time period. Bothell and Edmonds are several day festivals with both miniature art and larger work. Good luck to all of you entering these fun and exciting shows! Now, it's back to my studio to get busy!

April 16th: Edmonds Arts Festival, Edmonds, WA edmondsartsfestival.com
April 20th: Seaside Art Gallery, Nags Head, NC. seasideart.com
April 23rd: Live Arts Bothell, Bothell, WA liveartsbothell.org The site is in the process of correcting information. Deadline is April 23rd!
April 27th: Parklane Gallery, Kirkland, WA parklanegallery.com