The Art of Framing Paintings--New Look for Cypress Swamp Painting

In a few days I will share one more post from our visit to New Orleans. Today, I wanted to show you the frame I found for the 8" x10" Cypress Swamp painting. I do most of my work on gallery-wrapped canvas with the painting wrapping around to the sides, top, and bottom. These can be hung without a frame for a nice, contemporary look, or clients can frame them if they prefer.

However, for small studies, like this painting of a cypress swamp scene near Punta Gorda, Florida (more information, in earlier posts), I sometimes use canvas-covered boards. These are best framed (so that they don't warp, as well as for appearance), but I don't feel confident choosing frames on my own and seek advice, either from my husband, who has a great eye for the best frame or from a framing expert in a shop.

Our local art supply store, Reddi Arts, which is a treasure trove of lovely, unique gifts as well as a bonanza of well-priced supplies for all types of artists and crafters, has the best framers around. They also have an extensive supply of ready-made frames in all price ranges. When I frame a piece that will be for sale, like this one, I do not want to invest in an expensive custom framing job. This would add too much to the price of the piece--and may not even be to the client's taste (many art buyers replace the frame a work comes in to suit their taste and decor). On the other hand, I want the piece to look as nice as possible and not to cheapen it with a shabby or poorly chosen frame.

At Reddi Arts, the staff is as careful and helpful assisting a customer seeking a $20 - $25 frame as when someone brings in a large piece for expensive custom framing. This particular painting is a bit tricky because the prevailing cool tones don't look right with most wood finishes or metallics--yet a plain black frame didn't add much either. The framer there walked through the entire department with me and found this attractive frame, which looks terrific--better than I seem to be able to show you in a photo--sorry about that. The finish has both muted silvery and gold touches on a neutral wood tone that picked up the touches of brown in the cypress roots perfectly. The right side of the photo is not true to the color of the frame; it's less brown and cooler toned than it looks on that side. I was pleased--AND the frame was only $23, a very good price for the look of quality it has. So, the total price of the painting can stay reasonable (about $150). Unlike some artists, I do not try to make money on frames--just pass on the basic cost.

Question of the day: What guides you in choosing frames for art work?

Growing--Cypress Swamp Painting Is Finished

The final version of this painting of a cypress swamp based on photos from our visit to a wildlife preserve in Punta Gorda, Florida may not look dramatically different to you from the "in progress" view in a previous post. However, in "person", the adjustments are quite noticeable. The background was developed more fully, then a wash of greyish blue softened it and pushed it back so that the cypress trunks stood out more. Additional texturing draws attention to the trunk furthest to the right, where the ripples from a critter that briefly surfaced create a subtle center of interest.

Although this 8" x 10" acrylic piece on canvas board started as a study, I have invested a fair amount of effort in its development as it became more interesting to me. I hope that it represents the tranquility and beauty of our precious wetlands for viewers, as it does for me.

Thank you to all of you who continue to check in regularly. It looks as though my postings will continue to be irregular for the next couple of months, but I will post as often as I can.

Question of the day: Why do swamps get such a bad rap in stories and movies, always serving as a setting for sinister activity, when they are actually quite wonderful?

Learning and Growing--Cypress Swamp Work in Progress

I just got back to this cypress swamp piece today after working on a new, larger landscape painting for awhile. I had mentioned in my last post that I was using Linda Blondheim's e-critique service in the early stages of this 8" x 10" study. She was complimentary of the overall composition at the point I showed you last time, but asked, "What do you plan as the focal point?" Even though I was liking it in that form, with the simple pattern of cypress trunks against a soft background, it did need something more to draw the viewer's eye. The reference photos (seen in the previous post), as you may recall, came from our visit to Babcock Wilderness Adventures, a tour of extensive, varied preserve areas near Punta Gorda, on Florida's Gulf Coast.

I experimented, just lightly sketching one or more egrets or other wading birds in various spots in the scene, but they seemed "too much" somehow. I liked the simplicity and relative emptiness of the piece and wanted just a hint of something more. But what? Walking past the pond in our neighborhood just as a frog, turtle (or some critter) put a nose up gave me an interesting idea. Perhaps I could suggest the rich underwater life in this swamp without showing any particular creature by painting in some ripples to suggest that a frog, fish, or maybe even a gator had broken the surface of the otherwise still water. So, here is a start in that direction, which I hope will add a subtle hint of life.

I will continue to texture the nearest cypress trunk to the ripples (right foreground). Now that a subtle center of interest will be there, I will reinforce that with more contrast and texture and will tone down the trunk in the left foreground just a bit to avoid competing. There is also more work to do (as you can see) in developing and filling in the background and in completing the water and reflections. This one is developing slowly, given its relatively small size, but I am completely enjoying the process and am in no hurry. Given that I may paint the scene in a larger format later, I believe that taking care with composition and values now will be well worth it. Even if this is the only version ever, it is providing a pleasant creative journey.

Question of the day: Do you suppose that the tranquility of the cypress swamp I am representing has influenced my mood and pace in this work? The process has not caused any frustration--unlike some other slow-to-fruition works. Thank you, Florida Wilderness.

Learning and Growing--Painting Process for a Study of a Cypress Swamp

This work-in-progress is an 8" x 10" study using reference photos (I have posted two of them) from our visit to Babcock Wilderness Adventures, near Punta Gorda, Florida, on the Gulf Coast. I am considering what to paint on a 30" x 40" canvas waiting in the closet, which is larger than anything I have attempted so far. So, I am planning a few studies to try out some possibilities.

I first made full-page black and white copies of a couple of my photos to help me see the layout clearly. I love color so much that I have trouble seeing the "values" in a potential composition. "Value" refers to the relative lightness or darkness of objects, as if on a grey scale, and interesting value variation is a crucial element in good composition. Failing to consider value relationships can lead to a bland result, even if colors are varied and pleasing. I decided to make the sky and some of the background just a half-tone darker than they look in the photo so that the sunlight on the cypress trunks would draw the eye as the lightest areas in the piece. The reflections in the water also needed to be darker for the contrast and sense of mystery I hoped to achieve.

The actual scene has a cluttered appearance that is fascinating in nature, but not necessarily good in a painting. So, I decided to concentrate on the powerful cypress trunks themselves, to have some semi-abstracted vegetation on the far bank, and to leave most of the rest out. That one diagonal line in the photo is appealing, but just stole the whole show in my preliminary sketches (even though it was not intended to be a focal point), so I regretfully left that out, too.

I'll say more about the palette colors and later composition decisions when I post the final version--it is nearly done. Today, I wanted to show you the way I revised the scene before painting. Given that I was leaving out so much, the piece needed (in my opinion) a few more cypress trees. So, I played "cut and paste" with the photocopies until I had a pleasing arrangement of five trees, receding to the far bank. A rough line drawing helped in assessing placement.

Linda Blondheim provided very useful advice, as I was using her e-critique services during the early stages of this study. After getting the piece to the stage in the photo above, I had put it away while I completed a larger work and now am ready to finish it. Linda's question, "What do you intend as the focal point?" had me experimenting with a few possible finishing details. Soon, I will show you the result.

Question of the day: I love to hear about other people's thinking processes--in any context, whether is has to do with art or not. Do you find that interesting, too?

Exploring--More Photos from Punta Gorda, Florida

Since I seem to keep running short of time to write a post, today I'll show you a few more scenes from our recent trip to Punta Gorda, FL with fewer words than usual :>). One photo above shows the incredible base of a banyan tree in front of our hotel. Yes, that is one tree, believe it our not. Banyan trees spread by sending trailers down from branches, which root and grow up as new trunks attached to the existing branches. The cypress swamp scene is from a walk on our guided tour through Babcock Wilderness Adventures (described in the previous post).

The other photos are views along Charlotte Harbor, off the Gulf of Mexico. I took the sunset picture through our hotel window, while the palm-framed photo looks in the same direction from the town park which was just below our window to the west of our hotel.

Thank you to all you faithful blog friends who keep on checking in and visiting, even when my posting slows down. I think that I'll be able to get closer to my goal of posting once every four of five days in coming weeks.

Exploring--Babcock Wilderness Adventures in Punta Gorda, Florida

Last week, Mark and I visited Punta Gorda, Florida, on Charlotte Harbor, a large bay off the Gulf of Mexico. Although it was much chillier than normal there (but a good 8 - 12 degrees warmer than we would have been at home in Jacksonville), we had a pleasant, relaxing visit to this beautiful area. We have explored other Gulf Coast cities and towns, but Punta Gorda was new to us. By far our favorite vacation outing was to Babcock Wilderness Adventures, a 90,000 acre working ranch and farm with an extensive nature preserve.

The history and present operation of the ranch fascinated us, but I won't report all that in this post. Interested readers can visit the Babcock Wilderness web site for more information.

The guided "swamp buggy" tour, lasting over 90 minutes, traveled through a variety of habitats, from sweeping Florida prairie, to deep woods, to silent cypress swamp. According to our guide, we were particularly fortunate in the number and variety of animals and birds we saw that day--many quite close. Several deer, one with a very young fawn, quietly watched us watching them, alert but showing no fear. Alligators who had found sunny spots on that cool day moved only a wary eyeball as we stopped to view and photograph them. Wild hogs and the unique Florida Cracker cattle breed are both protected here and gleefully ran to the bus (the hogs) or sauntered over (some of the cattle) to take corn feed from our guide. The photo ops were numerous, and I'll show you some of the animals and scenery in a future post.

Today's photos show a few of the magnificent birds we saw. The Great White Egret is taller than those we see in North Florida, but is otherwise very similar to ours. The Sandhill Crane blends so perfectly into the dry winter brush that we could spot it only by its characteristic facial markings. The male wild turkeys, apparently entering mating season, proudly displayed their tail feathers and strutted their stuff. Our visit seemed perfectly timed for sightings of these and many other birds, including ibis, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and bald eagles.

Question of the day: What area within a four or five hour drive of your home would you like to explore, and what would you do and see there?