"Sunset/Sunrise"

Colored pencil, 6 3/4" x 10 1/2"

Copyright 2009 Sheila Cantrell

Here's a landscape that I did recently. I bought a little Canon SD camera last year. I have a larger Canon Rebel digital camera that I use quite a bit, but I wanted this little digital camera because it fits nicely in my purse. Although I fit the category of "stay at home mom", it seems that I'm on the road a lot. I've really enjoyed having my little camera handy to grab pictures like this when I come across them. I'm getting a stockpile of landscape photo references. This little drawing was fun to do. I think that I'll be doing more landscapes this year thanks to my little Canon.

I just learned yesterday that I've been selected as one of the artists to display work at the Rockefeller Institute's Arts in the Air Exhibit this coming May. The exhibit will be held at the Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain here in Arkansas. I'll have around six works in the show including the landscape pictured above.

Repetition with Variation

"Asian Pears and Lace"

colored pencil, 8 3/4" x 12 1/2"

Copyright 2009 Sheila Cantrell

Here's my latest colored pencil drawing. In my original setup for this drawing, the lace was on a white surface - another cloth, I believe. Once I started on the reds and yellows of the pears though, I realized that I wanted more of those colors in the drawing. A cedar chest in my bedroom provided the inspiration to finish out the drawing. I really like how the wood repeats the pear colors (though not exactly) and makes the lace stand out.

Has It Really Been Nearly a Year?

Arrangement in Blue and White

colored pencil

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a year since my last post. In my defense, all I can say is that this time last year, I was preoccupied with plans for my oldest daughter's wedding and my youngest son's high school graduation. Much has happened in the last year. I've done a lot more drawing, but I'm ashamed to admit that my painting fell by the wayside for much of this last year. That being said, spring is in the air, the trees are budding, and I feel the desire to turn over a new leaf and attack this painting thing again. I know that January 1st is suppose to be the time to make new resolutions, but I've always felt more like actually doing so when spring rolls around.

Above is one of my more recent colored pencil drawings. This one was juried into the International Guild of Realism's 2009 show which was just held at Weatherburn Gallery in Naples, Florida. I am quite happy to report that it won the 2009 Best Drawing award in that show. It was a real honor just to get in the show - the award was a very thick layer of icing on the cake! Here's a link to see all the award winners as well as the entire show on the Weatherburn's site: http://www.realismguild.com/UpcomingExhibitionWeatherBurn2009.html

Bear with me... now that I've ventured back into blogland, I'll do my very best to start posting regularly. Any of you out there reading this are more than welcome to post comments. (Otherwise I feel like I'm just talking to myself!)

I just finished up a smaller still life with asian pears - still need to get pics of it but should be able to post it tomorrow.