Jan
17
2010
12 x 9
Rhonda Hartis Smith © 2010
Peggy came into my life when I was just a baby. My Mother was a young Military wife with a young child (me) and our family moved next door to Peggy and her family. We only lived next door for a couple of years but a lifetime friendship developed that kept them in touch for many years; sending letters or cards with pictures of the children and packages with gifts. Both Peggy and my Mother are gone now but I still have a wonderful friendship with her Daughter. I painted this for her in honor of Peggy's memory.
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Jan
3
2010
It's about 9 degrees this Sunday morning in Kentucky and I am trying to get motivated to move away from the warm fire and venture out into my cold studio. Tomorrow my vacation is over and it's back to work--starting the new year in a frenzy. I have my usual New Year's resolutions that I haven't really started yet (I always start everything on a Monday for some reason). So far for 2010 my art focus is going to be "inspiration and growth". We all have a certain amount of self drive when it comes to self improvement but sometimes external resources are needed and I'm looking--any suggestions on reading materials, DVD's, Workshops etc.?
We do have a two week motorcycle trip planned for this year to venture up to Glacier National Park in Montana, which is supposed to have one of the most beautiful stretches of road in it--Going to the Sun Road. Needless to say I am very excited about this trip--only about 3300 miles from home (lol). I'm going to pack my paint box if I can get my husband to stop long enough for me to paint. And of course we will have to go through Yellowstone National Park--one of my favorite places to visit.
This is my latest painting and what a little Angel he is. In case you can't tell, he had tinsel around his hair and I found this a little intimidating. I just tried to remember less is more. Such a sweet little face. . .
12 x 9
Rhonda Hartis Smith © 2010
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Dec
28
2009
Hope everyone is ready for a new and exciting 2010! This is my 100th post and I can't believe how fast the time has passed since my first post in June 2008. Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog and especially to leave a comment. I've been so fortunate to have comments that are both encouraging and uplifting. As an artist, I am looking forward to the next year and what experiences it will bring and hopefully will continue to learn and grow.
Happy New Year from the Smith Family
I haven't posted lately because I've been visiting with family, doing a little entertaining, working and of course painting! This is a portrait that I have been working on of a Mother and her Daughter. They look so happy and I hope that is an emotion that I have captured.
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Dec
6
2009
Yesterday I took an art workshop with Jason Daniel Jackson sponsored by the Hopkinsville Art Guild and we painted a still life. What attracted me to this set up was the rim light on the dog. Can anyone come up with a good name for this cute little pooch?
10 x 8
Rhonda Hartis Smith © 2009
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Nov
21
2009
I've been a little lazy lately, well not really lazy just concentrating on cleaning and organizing my house, watching movies, cooking, enjoying this beautiful Fall weather--ok maybe lazy! This is my last Monday night head study and our model looked a little wistful, hope I captured that feeling in the painting.
On one of my previous posts, I said the view behind my house is ever evolving. I took this picture just a few minutes ago, such a beautiful day today--in the 60's with a little brisk wind.
This shot is of the cutest donkey that hangs out with the cows in the field behind our house. Correction, I think he's cute until he starts braying in the middle of the night--have you ever heard a donkey talk???
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Nov
8
2009
I've learned my lesson, take a bigger canvas to my live model sessions!!! I ran out of room on this one so I just improvised and painted on the tape. This model had the greatest hair with red gold highlights (wish my hair looked that good).
Today was so beautiful with the sun shining and temperature was in the mid 70's--very unusual for this time of the year so we just had to take a motorcycle ride and as we passed these mules we had their undivided attention.
I have several pictures of these corn stalk stacks (???) and I love the way they look. I hope everyone has a great week!
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Oct
28
2009
It's finally Fall, one of my favorite times of the year! It was so pretty the other day that my Husband and I went walking around the farm and ran into my Father-in-Law George, his dog Presley and friends!
Sunday morning I was up early and decided to drive through the campus and take a few pictures--I always carry my camera with me just in case you hadn't noticed.
This reminds me of my Father because he would decorate the graves of soldiers every Memorial Day with little US flags to honor them. I thought the light was beautiful.
Driving up College Street to Cherry Hall on Western's Campus. I love the shadows across the road, lots of wires & cables too.
My sweet dog Lucky is feeling frisky and checking out the yard. He likes to keep an eye on everything. I have a few small pumpkins for Fall!
I snapped this picture of a barn that pays tribute to the mighty Kentucky Wildcats--a lot of basketball fans in Kentucky!
I was walking around the farm and saw these big round bales of hay, they looked so interesting that I had to take several pictures at different angles (LOL). I love to paint them with the sun shining on them.
This is the view from our back yard, I love this pond because there is always something to look at. Sometimes there are cows swimming (do cows swim?), ducks or cranes on the pond, wild turkeys--you never know.
no comments | posted in photography
Oct
28
2009
20 x 16
Rhonda Hartis Smith © 2009
I observed and took pictures of a pre-ballet class and even though this is a small portion of the dancers, they were all so adorable. I'm sure there will be more of these paintings since I love to paint dancers! I'm not used to painting in such a high key but it was challenging for me.
no comments | posted in figurative
Oct
20
2009
This is a study from life of Emily, she dressed a little "retro" for us. She was an excellent model and needless to say she got lots of oooooohhhhhhs and ahhhhhhhhhhs. I spent about 3 - 3 1/2 hours on this study. I'm still concentrating on watching my edges.
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
Oct
14
2009
I've always wanted to know what it feels like to be the "model" and now I know. We have a group of artists that get together from time to time and paint each other or our spouses, our children, etc. My friends said that I did a good job modeling and didn't move too much but they didn't ooooohhhhhhh and aaaaaaahhhhh over my beauty, guess I'm more of a character model. My friend Angela painted this and I think she captured a good likeness--maybe a little younger but that's good!
no comments | posted in portrait and still life
