Opening, Parklane Gallery Miniature Show

Parklane Gallery's 18th Annual International Juried Miniature Art Show will open at 9 am tomorrow, May 4th. I am happy to say all of my entries have been juried into the show. All five of them can be seen on the gallery's website at Parklanegallery.com. You can view my work starting on Panel # 49. The work in this show as viewed above, A Touch of Autumn, Wednesday, Late Afternoon, The Time Thief, The Sentinel, and The Way Home.

The award winning husband and wife team, Rachelle and Wes Siegrist were the awards judges, which will be given at the Artists' Reception on Saturday evening. The Siegrists will be at the reception via Skype. A selection of their work will be available for view and sale at the show along with copies of their new book, Exquisite Miniatures. You can find out more about their work on their website at artofwildlife.com. Parklane Gallery is located in beautiful downtown Kirkland,WA, 130 Park Lane. Free parking is located under the Kirkland Library. The show will continue through June 8th. This show is always well attended and by looking at all the great work and list of outstanding artists participating in this show, it will be even more so this year! I'll be going to the Artists' Reception on Saturday, May 8th, 6 - 8 pm. Let me know if you are going to be there, I'd love to meet you! I'll have more to say after the reception on Saturday, so be sure to check back.

Both of the two works below are new work and are having their debut in this show!

The Way Home © Barbara A. Freeman
Silverpoint on Prepared Art Board 3 5/8" x 3 5/8"

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

Crow Series

This is a post to show my series of graphite drawings featuring a crow or crows. My friend, Mona Diane Conner has invited me to share my series of crow drawings to the Facebook Group, Birds in Art. There are so many beautiful images of birds on this site, so many talented artists and bird lovers!

In this series, the crow is part of the landscape, usually the focal point, but sometimes used as a symbol. I don't post my images on Facebook. If I want to announce new work to my Facebook friends, I post it with a link to be viewed here on my blog. Therefore, I have collected this series of work in a new post, in the order as created. If you would like to read my process or thoughts about each piece, you can click on the title of that work for it's blog link. Please note, you may have to go to the bottom of the link to find the matching blog. Thanks for looking and thank you Mona for suggesting it!

Finding Time, © Barbara A. Freeman
Graphite on Film, 8 1/4" x 10 1/2"

Fine Art Miniature, The Key, © Barbara A. Freeman
Graphite and Acrylic on Film, 2 3/8" x 3"

The Offering, © Barbara A. Freeman
Graphite and Colored Pencil on Film, 7" x 7"

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

This last work, above, is the latest work in graphite with a crow, to be titled soon. You can see that I've used the same crow twice in two of the works. They are everywhere until I get my camera to get new shots!

I've also included three works done in acrylic that the crow is used as a symbol.

Buddha in Austin, A Personal Altar*, © Barbara A. Freeman
Acrylic on Gessobord, (painting continued on deep sides and top)
Stones, Fossil and Root Fibers, 8" x 6" x 4" (*to see other views of this click on the title)

Fine Art Miniature, Buddha in the Pacific Northwest
© Barbara A. Freeman

Acrylic on Claybord, 3 5/8" x 3 5/8"

A Meditation on the Pacific Northwest, © Barbara A. Freeman
Acrylic on Gessobord, 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

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.