Southeast Texas mornings, clouds, wind, February, March, moonglo andsunrise

This is blogger on the go. Mornings in southeast Texas are springlike and Thor Boxer coaxed me outside to greet the sunrise. 

We have clouds overhead while we wait. 

The tall dead pine in my back neighbors yard is silhouetted against a faint leftover moonglo backdrop. 

As vermilion washes across the east sky, clouds reflect a pale pink. Whoosh, all is gone. Mother Nature will have nothing to do with a sunrise today. Winds are as breezy as early March. 

7:00 am marks the start of my work day. Have a good one, peeps! 

Bird of Paradise

Even as a 9 year old child, when I would paint I would think that I was making something I could leave behind me when I died. Looking back, I see that as a seriously heavy thought for a child of any age. My mother encouraged and saved my first paintings. My father considered art a waste of time. Although I enjoyed creating special handmade gifts from the heart, I learned long years ago that a gift of art was not appreciated by siblings.  My children took their artist mother for granted (as children will do) but learned as they grew that not every mother is an artist. Today they respect my talent and reserve paintings. Through my years, I always thought and still do think as I create that I am leaving something of myself behind me when I die—something as a way to be remembered.

From 2006 - 2010 I completed close to a painting a day—small paintings, mostly animal paintings sold to help animal rescue organizations. A few larger portrait commissions took longer to complete. No doubt this easel time helped me through the grief after my mother's death and promotion to Glory in December 2005, the grief that re-exposed unhealed emotions from the loss of my husband only four years prior. In 2011 I slowed down a bit as my father aged and needed more care; after a short stay in a skilled nursing facility he came to live with me in January 2012. We celebrated his 96th birthday in February. My studio time has all but ceased. 


The time outside the studio is good time for reflection. I want to paint more portraits, more personal art and will do so.

"Art is man's distinctly human way of fighting death."  (Leonard Baskin) —from The Painter's Key by Robert Genn

Thanks for following Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt

Sketch of Table and Two Chairs

Table and Two Chairs
© V. Bridges Hoyt 2012

From my sketchbook, a contour line drawing study of a table and two chairs. I like the way this study is going and may develop this one into a painting.

The Bedroom by Vincent van Gogh

As I finished the table and chairs contour line drawing, I decided to study the linework in Van Gogh's painting of The Bedroom, and I think I'll add some color to the table and chairs sketch to see what happens. 

I have another small daily painting in the works on my easel this morning. Hopefully, I can post it here tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out CnNTrends.Etsy.com for Cheryl Hamilton's new rodeo (western) reversible apron. Joyce Roth will be joining soon with a few vintage collectible items to offer.

Thanks for following my Texas Sauce Art Life.
V. Bridges Hoyt

The Graduate, Boxer Puppy Dog, a Work in Progress

ART. The Graduate! Maybe I should call this The Kindergarten Graduate! Work is still in progress but almost complete. Click here to view earlier progress images.
LIFE. I don't work on this painting as frequently as I would like. There is the old guilt factor that I'm doing something for myself and not for someone else. My lesson in life must be to learn to care for myself as much as or more than I do for others. We are here to first and foremost take care of the very life God gave us. Then I ask myself, "Why don't I?"

Everything changes. Just like water that becomes stagnant with no flow, life becomes dull without change. I am thinking that I need to stir up some change before Life does it for me.

Want to talk? Just click here to contact me or leave a comment on the blog.

Yorkie Dog Portrait

"Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it." —Robert Motherwell.

Click image to enlarge.

I have painted homeless dogs and I have painted upscale dogs. Last week I was commissioned to design two tote bags with a Yorkie on them—my first Yorkie ever.

My client wanted only totes—so the original painting is in my inventory. This small work is waiting for somebody somewhere who will be reminded of their Yorkie and give this painting a home.

• Yorkie jr.  © Vernita Bridges Hoyt 2011
• mixed dry media on Arches 140# cp paper
• 10x8 inches
• artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Click here to view purchase details.

... and then there were totes.

ART. My newest tote bag design ... "Yorkie jr" personalized for the granddaughters of my collector. She is giving them as back-to-school gifts and really liked the way the Yorkie sits on the name. I can very easily personalize the Yorkie design with a different name. You won't find these at Zazzle or Cafe Press or anywhere but here. Email me for more information on the totes—txsauce@txsauce.net

When we look around us, we find art everywhere. Art is on labels of products, in our TV ads, on t-shirts and other clothing items, on all our greeting cards (which are a huge market), on the covers of books, on the pages of children's books, etc.—not to mention hanging on our walls and in our museums. Robert Motherwell was right when he said, "what a poor life without [art]."

Find yourself an artist to follow. There are many of us. I hope your artist will be me.

Visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TXsauceArtStudio.

Also, please check out my oil painting auctions at the DailyPaintworks Gallery, or you can view all available works at the Daily Painters Art Gallery.

Any questions, click here to contact me.

If you'd like to view my daily painting without the ramblings, click here to view the simplified One Painting a Day.

Lily White • pastel 9x12 • artist V. Bridges Hoyt

Lily White detail

 ART.  "Lily White" is up for auction at Daily Paintworks.  Pastel sketch on Canson Mi Tientes black toned paper, 9x12 inches. "Lily White" will be beautiful in a double mat (off white with a red liner, for instance) to fit a larger frame, perhaps a 16x20 inch simple black frame. Contact me if you want to talk about framing.  txsauce@txsauce.net or artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Click on image to see detail.

Check out my other auctions at the DailyPaintworks Gallery, or you can view all my works at the Daily Painters Art Gallery. Any questions, click here to contact me.

Laugh a Little! Boxer Watercolor Sketch. Love, Hope, Faith.

Patience with others is Love. Patience with self is Hope. Patience with God is Faith.
Adel Bestavros

Laugh a Little
click on image to view detail

ART. Laugh a Little, watercolor and pencil study sketch of boxer dog, 6x6 inches.
LIFE. Son is down with a cold/flu. Grandson has a doctor appointment to xray the rods in his arm to check the bone growth. I may be taking him to that appointment shortly. My "to do list" grows with work/studio and maintenance needing done around the house. So what else is new this morning? I redesigned and simplified the One Painting a Day blog. Thor puppy has discovered a craving for eating anything green, no matter that he may be eating a plant on the Poisonous to Pets list that was growing already in my garden before getting the puppy. I hope he outgrows that craving soon. Thor is tall enough now that he has discovered the top of  the dining table. Crazy puppy is just like a child. Needs his naps but doesn't want to go down for them. There are too many new and exciting things outside that have appeared with the warmer days. Son just called and said he is feeling well enough to drive Grandson to the doctor, so I will get started on my To Do List now. Have a great day!

I've set up a new gallery page on my website to show All Available Art on one page. No more scrolling through pages and pages of blog posts.

Any questions, please click here to contact me. 

If you'd like to cut to the chase and view my daily painting without the ramblings, check out my redesigned One Painting a Day blog.

Sketchbook Art

SKETCHBOOK ART.
The first sketch of Brooke crossing under the fence. 5x5 inch graphite on paper.
More to follow.

Today's Quote: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." --Anne Frank, diarist

Character Study in charcoal

Yesterday I worked with charcoal. It's perfect for sketching character studies in prep for an oil portrait. The messiness of the soft charcoal stick adds to the character and makes smudging a primary design tool. As I push the marks and tones around and erase with my fingers, a likeness emerges. My fingertips end up black. It's almost like finger painting. The tactile characteristics of charcoal can't be beat.

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One Painting a Day

Studio Dog
Cards & Gifts here

Squirrel with Pear

This was an impromptu sketch of a squirrel in the tree outside my window at the farm. I took several reference photos for later studio work, then decided to do a quick life sketch of the little fellow who seemed to be happily posing for me.

The squirrel scampered across the yard carrying what looked like a green pear in his mouth. It was nearly as big as he was. How he could carry the weight of that load clenched between his teeth is a mystery. Once he reached the tree trunk, he scurried up it and never let go of the pear until finding just the right branch. I watched the squirrel for several minutes. He would nibble, then look at me, nibble some more, look at me, so forth and so on.

detail of squirrel sketch above

Please watch the Art Helping Animals art blog for more info on this pastel sketch.

Cat of Many Colors, not Picasso

sketch detail showing face

Last night I tried a new paper with my pastel pencils, and I loved the feel of it. It is smooth. My pastel pencils glided over the surface with ease, and the brilliance of the colors on this paper is superb. This paper is made in Italy--Portofino acquerello, 100% cotton, 140 lb. hot pressed, acid free. It is described as being ideal for watercolour, gouache, ink and acrylic but worked perfectly for a pastel sketch, too. I will be using more of this paper.

My pastel sketch of the "Cat of Many Colors" is a life study. It had to be quick because I expected the cat wouldn't hold his pose for long, and he didn't. No sooner had I laid in the head, he moved it. Quickly I went to get the body proportions. I barely had the outline when he stood up and left the scene, so the rest of this life study was sketched from memory. This quick study catches the cat's essence. It doesn't try to be realistic in any way. It's a fun, colorful piece of art. This piece would be well presented with a colorful mat such as that shown below. I will include a mat (color may vary from that shown below) for the purchaser of this piece.

Cat of Many Colors

pastel pencil on 9"x12" aquarelle 140# paper

includes mat of artist's selection

$75 + shipping

Click here to email artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

15% of this sale 

will be donated to help 

Tabby's Place Cat Rescue, 

an Art Helping Animals approved cat rescue.

Not Georgia O'Keefe or Picasso, I still have painted the essence of this cat as I saw it. Please google 'Georgia O'Keefe cat art' or 'Picasso cat art' to see cats they have sketched, doodled or painted.

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Life is like a layer cake. You just put one layer on top of the other, and whether you frost it or not is up to you. --Ann Richards

Pigtails, This Little Piggy Stayed Home

This is #2 of the Pigtails series, so here it is for your amusement, enjoyment, or dislike ... however it is that piggies affect you. They always remind me of the little ceramic piggy bank I had as a child and the pigs my dad used to raise on the farm. The newborn piglets were always a delight to behold.

Pigtails, This Little Piggy Stayed Home

2nd in the series

6"x9" pastel on toned paper

My Minnesota artist friend Jane Freeman wrote, " ... saw your darling piggies...cute as can be with that Nita flare...they usually seem to smile. My pet pig Chester was a golden chestire and she smiled I am sure!" 

 

I've included an enlarged detail of that piggy's face, so you can see the piggy's smile as well as my sketching technique used with the pastel pencils. They are fun pieces to do. The third piece will be a bit larger and is a work in progress.

I have added #2 above the earlier post of #1 in the series to keep the series all together. 

~

1st of the series [posted 4/30/08] follows below.

Pigtails, Five in a Row

1st in the series

6"x9" pastel on toned paper

I know you've been waiting for some time [not you, Martha], and finally! Here is my pig sketch... mixed media on 6"x9" Mi Tientes pastel paper. The mixed media includes ink, colored pencil, graphite and pastel. When I use pastel, I like to add lots of pure color, and this one has lots of color.

This painting was inspired by a Diane Finlayson photo and painted with her blessing. A 10% donation will go to the Gorgie City Farm, a registered animal charity in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the pigs modeled for Diane's photograph.

Twenty-percent 20% of this painting will benefit True Blue Animal Rescue near Brenham, Texas. T-bar rescued my Border Collie Brooke among others. The 20% to T-bar will be designated for their Heartworm Fund which they established in Brooke's honor.

Email me if you are interested in this one --  artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

"Dream as if you'll live forever... live as if you'll die today." --James Dean
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Purchase my paintings here: One Painting a Day.

What is the one thing ...

Refrigerator notes posted in layers cover the door to the cooling box in my kitchen. Daily there is one note that peeks out from beneath the others. It always asks the same question--What is the one thing I'm not doing right now that, if I were, would make the biggest difference? Daily I thoughtfully try to answer that question. There are so many things. Today I think, "Maybe if I cleaned off the door of the refrigerator ..." One never knows. After all, it is said to be the little things in life that make the difference.

I have started a pastel painting of another Beagle to help out B.O.N.E.S. and will finish it late tonight, which brings the thought of sleep deprivation into my mind. These late nights and early mornings are too many. Perhaps a few eight-hour nights of sleep would make the biggest difference.

This is the finish of the "Amy" painting aka "Beagle Blues", a Beagle whose photo caught my eye on the B.O.N.E.S. web site. It is painted with pure sticks of pastel color on archival toned paper with a few white accents in colored pencil.

"What is the one thing I'm not doing right now that, if I were, would make the biggest difference? " ...anonymous

sold! Impressionist Bluebonnet Texas State Flower

The wildflowers bloomed early in Texas this year. Over Easter weekend I took lots of photos of Dogwood blossoms, bluebonnets and other wildflowers. Here is my first bluebonnet sketch for 2008. This could be a challenge as previously I've only pictured blueblonnets en masse.

© 2008 Vernita Bridges-Hoyt

Click on the image to enlarge.

Impressionist Texas Bluebonnet

Bluebonnet Sketch #1

6"x4" pastel & colored pencil on Mi Tientes [yellow paper is like pale butter in reality]

unframed, includes 8x6 inch mat

This is an original sketch by V. Bridges-Hoyt and includes a signed certificate of authenticity.

SOLD

email artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Thank you for shopping.

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One Painting a Day
Sunflower Artist
Dog Days
Border Collie Art

Heaven in a Wild Flower

Sunflowers grow wild in Texas ... fields and fields of sunflowers. Cultivated sunflowers typically grow taller and larger, but there is nothing cheerier than a field of wild Texas sunflowers painting a sunny picture against a blue sky.

Sunflower © V. Bridges-Hoyt 2008

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour." --William Blake

To see Van Gogh's sunflower paintings, click here.

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Sunflower Artist

One Painting a Day

Recent Works

I pulled together this composite of recent paintings to see where I am headed. With the exception of the sunflowers on the upper right, all works in the image are completed. A few of them are sold. Still in the studio are the revised doll portrait, the Cardinal, "Patch" to help Old Dog Haven, the still life of copper and stein, and the trio of unfinished sunflowers. Click on Sunflower Artist to view this work in progress. It appears I am headed toward more sunflower paintings.

Images are copyright V. Bridges-Hoyt 2008. All Rights Reserved.

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Click here to see more of my daily paintings: One Painting a Day

Study of Cat and another Work-in-Progress

Trying to pacify my muse again, I picked up a small set of acrylic paints used only once before. The muse is here begging me to paint, but because of other activities and responsibilities I put her off. Promising her I would paint something, I agreed to try the acrylics which dry quickly. Last night I did this quick study of a cat. I might paint a larger, more detailed version at some time in the future, or I might print this one on note cards. Click here for how to purchase.

© Vernita Bridges-Hoyt 2008

Although painted in a completely different style of loose and flowing paint, the cat model was Zarr, the Maine Coon used in my mixed media painting published on the cover of Today's Pet News last year (see below).

© Vernita Bridges-Hoyt 2007

I seem to be focused on cats this week. I've begun another one of a cat with tulips. This cat reference was provided by one of the wonderful rescuers at Save the Dalmatians. I've taken a bit of artistic license to combine the reference with  my beautiful purple tulips. The image below is a preview of the work in progress. I will show more of this oil painting as it progresses.

© Vernita Bridges-Hoyt 2008

With stolen minutes, I will paint this one in bits and pieces until I can show you the finished artwork. Painting something daily, no matter how small, keeps the muse happy. Painting is not just something I want to do. It's something I have to do. It's who I am.
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Click here to see more of my daily paintings: One Painting a Day

Change, Transition, Transformation?

Change is the one constant feature of human life, and from time to time, redecorating just isn't enough. We make transitions that uproot the foundations of our lives, and we go directly into the journey of change. --Martha Beck, Finding Your Own North Star


My mind revisits my architecture studio days, and I am thinking a transformation project is in the making.

1. How to go about correcting the damage done by the dog--do I crop this one to a square format and continue painting? This totally changes the focus of the painting, and if I do this I'll need to develop the cows into the focal point and leave the trees as the ghosted image.

2. Crop my grandson's painting and use it for a background or frame it as an individual piece of child's art? These chewed paintings were all on 13"x15" Arches watercolor paper. "Chewed" is on the left, and my cropped versions are on the right.

3. The longhorn body wasn't hurt. Yoshi-dog almost got to the left horn, but thankfully didn't. This one can be saved, maybe used as is and framed in a floating frame with the rough edges. Or I could crop out the chewed corners as on the right, mat and frame. Would I be better to leave the tattered corners on this one? Maybe they add to the ambiance of the Texas Longhorn.

4. This last one of the corn field must have been the first one (or his favorite) of them all. This one is torn the most. I see no alternative other than using it in a collage of sorts, and I have an idea brewing in my mind.

I'll surprise you one day when it is done.

(In every dramatic life transformation) the person in question experienced alienation, confusion, frustration, and a thousand other forms of acute distress.... Change is always difficult. --Martha Beck, Finding Your Own North Star

The quotes above seem to fit the situation. I realize, of course, that "dramatic life transformation" is much more serious than a dog eating the corner off a few watercolor sketches. Now, if they had been finished paintings, that would have been a different story altogether. [wink] ;^)

Ghost Cow at Watering Hole

This small freshwater pond and grove of trees attract the cows on hot summer days. Some of these sketches may become references for future paintings.



Sketch of Cow at Watering Hole
watercolor
12"x16" d'Arches 140# cp paper
copyright Vernita Bridges Hoyt 2007

not for sale
because my dog ate it

Yes!
Really ... Yoshi dog, the big boxer pup, ate this watercolor painting.
And a few more.

Now it is really a ghost cow.

email
artist@vbridgeshoyt.com


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For my thoughts on architecture, please read Bridges 2 Design: The North End.
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Subscribe to email previews of V. Bridges Hoyt paintings here.
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View art helping animals at the AHA Art Gallery.

The Original Zainy Cat

This is a sketch of my grandson's cat Gimp who had a serious urinary tract surgery about two weeks ago. Cat is recovering well. Gimp was the inspiration for grandson's original ZainyCat drawing. I am now calling Mr. Gimp by the name of Gimpette.

The Original Zainy Cat
colored pencil sketch
4"x6" archival 93# heavy sketch paper
copyright Vernita Bridges Hoyt 2007

sketch not for sale

A multi-media original inspired by this sketch
will be available at the
AHA Art Gallery
on Wednesday, September 5.

SOLD


Inquire by email
artist@vbridgeshoyt.com


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Read Bridges 2 Design: The Walk Around
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Subscribe to email previews of V. Bridges Hoyt paintings here.
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View art helping animals at the AHA Art Gallery.