Rogers Art Guild 2010 Fall Exhibition

Tuesday October 19th  through Friday October 29th

Rogers Public Library

711 S. Dixieland Rd, Rogers, AR

Telephone (479) 621-1152

The Art Exhibition hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday, October 19th through October 29th. A portion of all proceeds from the art sale and all cash donations go to the Rogers Art Guild High School Scholarship fund.

Two donated member paintings will be raffled at this Exhibition to raise funds for two scholarships; one for a Rogers High School graduating senior and one for a Heritage High School graduating senior. The Rogers Art Guild is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and all donations are eligible for Federal Income Tax deductions.

The public is invited to the Guild Art Exhibition Open House Reception “Meet the Artists” Sunday October 24th from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

There are NO admission fees.


My entries are pictured here.

A Waiter Making Change

$75.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

A Waiter Making Change   9x12  Oils on canvas panel

This subject is suggested by another of Jilly Bennett's posts in her wonderful blog Menton-daily-photo.blogspot.com. Naturally I can't find her post right now, but I'll make a link here when I find it.  You'd think that by now I would know to make notes! But that requires a brain and I'm working on that.

UPDATE: 10/21/2010 - I couldn't find the reference page in Jilly's Menton Daily Photo blog because it's in her Monte Carlo Daily Photo blog!  DUHHHHHH!  Paying attention isn't one of my strong points, obviously!

I made a few changes from Jilly's photo but it's substantially what you see is what you get! :-)

I'm wondering if the waiter is making change for his customer taking his time hoping for a tip.  In Jilly's photo he appears to be perspiring quite a bit - probably working very hard.  I worked a few summers in retail when I was a teenager and vowed then to never again be on the cash register side of a counter NO WAY, NO HOW!  I never have and I appreciate very much those folks that can do it. Especially waiters and the like.

Black Cat

PRIVATE COLLECTION

Black Cat  8x10  Oils on canvas panel

This is NOT an accurate portrait of a kitty cat and it is NOT intended to be!  I've played with colors a "bit" - having a little fun.  I think that I'd like to make a larger version - maybe 9"x16".  Maybe, maybe not.

Sure enough, this image does not represent the painting very well. Something gets lost in the transition from the painting into my digital camera into my computer then into Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3.  Anybody that follows my blog knows (or should know) that my camera and I have a love-hate relationship going.

My automatic digital camera is sometimes surly and pretends that it can't focus. I on the other hand am absolutely clueless about photographing paintings. Or anything else for that matter.  Point, click = photo.  DUH!

Sunflower from our home garden

PRIVATE COLLECTION

Sunflower from our home garden  8x12  Oils on canvas panel

We have a small vegetable garden in our back yard where we (attempt) grow tomatoes, potatoes, purple hull peas and sweet peppers.  I'll plant seeds for almost any vegetable and wait to see what happens.  Our cucumbers started out really well then - decided to not do really well.  Our Brussel sprouts aren't brusseling but our dill is looking good.

Enough horticulture.  This painting came from me seeing the sun shining from the back of the sunflower blossom and I tried to capture that bright yellow against a dark background. I continue to battle GLARE in photos of my paintings. I'll be that I couldn't get the glare if I were to TRY to make a photo of the glare.

Squirrels and I plant sunflowers among the veggies. I buy my sunflower seeds from the store, the squirrels get theirs from our bird feeders.  When the sunflower seeds are ripe, I put the seeds into the bird feeders and the squirrels plant some of them.  A form of recycling I suppose!  :-)

Fly Fishing No. 3

$150.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Fly Fishing No. 3  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

I should probably be more imaginative with naming my paintings, but this happens to be the third fly fishing painting that I have finished lately. So. . . . number three!

This guy has rafted down the river and will have to row upstream after he has caught his limit or the end of his fishing day. I'm not sure but I think that he has a companion that has wandered a little farther downstream and isn't in this painting.  Maybe he/she will be in painting Number Four? hmmmmmmm

Fly Fishing No. 2

$150.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Fly Fishing No. 2  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

This is the second of three (so far) fly fishing paintings I have done. I have never tried fly fishing so I'm not sure why it fascinates me. I have done much fishing from the bank of a lake or river and have fished from boats.  Whatever.

This fellow is wading in a creek enjoying the warmth of an early morning in summer and really isn't interested in having to catch a fish. People that fish will understand that.

Girl in the Monaco Flower Market

$150.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Girl in the Monaco Flower Market  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

Another painting inspired by a Jilly Bennett blog. This time it's her Monte Carlo Daily Photo blog. What a rich resource her blogs are! AND they're INTERESTING to read as well as to view!

Anywayyyyy - I took some liberties in making the painting from Jilly's photo. So what's new? 

I had done a painting a while ago of a vendor in a Flea Market Flower Stand and had fun trying to paint things that looked like flowers. I struggle with plant life-forms for some reason. Trees, shrubs, flowers and etc. make my palms sweaty. Some research into some "how to paint green things" seems in order! :-)

The Pose

$50.00 plus shipping

The Pose 8x12  Oils on canvas panel

The inspiration for this comes from Jilly's blog Menton Daily Photo  You owe it to yourself to spend time browsing through her photographs and commentary of her hometown of Menton, France.

This is actually a "study" for a 16x20 painting that I would like to do. I've made some artist's choices in that I changed her straw hat to a solid material. AND I turned her around to face left instead of facing right. 

I can't seem to eliminate the glare or the highlights on my brush strokes.  Any of you photo gurus have some advice? I've tried using opaque and translucent "light blockers" but . . . . .  I have even put my painting in a long (deep?) cardboard box. Zip, nada, zero eliminating the glare.

Fly Fishing No.1

$150.00 plus shipping

Fly Fishing No.1  16x20  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

I have another fishing painting that I will do soon thus the "No. 1" in the title. As if that needed an explanation! I never know.

 I attempted a serene, calm image with a man fishing by himself not worrying about catching a fish. He's just enjoying the peace and quiet and if a fish decides to strike his line, he'll just have to deal with it.

Updated 10/10/10 (don't you just love that date?) It was REALLY cool at ten minutes after ten this morning!

Carrots From The Farmers Market

$50.00 plus shipping

Carrots From The Farmers Market  8x12  Oils on masonite panel

Five carrots in this bunch isn't going to go very far in that pot roast waiting to be cooked. Maybe the guy is going to stop for a banana split on the way home to compensate for all of this healthy stuff?  

I had a bunch of blobs of paint from painting the homeless guys and the "thinking man" so I painted this. I still have some rather big blobs left.  I'm going to buy some empty paint tubes so I can save these blobs that I seem to mix time after time only to throw away when they crust over and dry up.  I've tried several ways to "save" the leftover paint but when that crust forms, it's just plain unusable (in my humble opinion). It's all glumpy and lumpy - YUK!

:-)

Happy Guy

$50.00 plus shipping

Happy Guy   8x12  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

I guess that this guy is happy. Maybe he's sort of happy or just not unhappy? I don't know. :-)  If I say that he's happy then he's happy. So there!. 

I did this rather quickly - in about 2 hours. I may call it done or fuss with it a little bit. I think that I'm done with the "small" paintings and will move on to 11x14 or 16x20 for a while.

What If

$50.00 plus shipping

What If  7 5/8x115/8  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

This fellow seems to be 'way off in a daydream or "remembering when" or wondering what if he had - - - - instead of - - - -. You can fill in the blanks. I guess that we all wonder what our lives would have been if we had done this or hadn't done that. Would we be any more or less content with ourselves?

Some of the saddest words are "I wish that I had/hadn't....".  Life is about choices and we do the best that we can at the time with what we have and what know. Most of the time!  :-)

Another one of those "el cheapo" canvas/masonite panels. Waste not.

Homeless

$50.00 plus shipping

Homeless 1  7.75x12  Oils on canvas/masonite panel

Another painting of a homeless person. The stories this fellow could tell! He's relatively young (compared to me) and could probably do "well" if he could get a helping hand and some good advice.

The unusual size is me being a bit lazy and plenty cheap. :-) I used this piece of masonite as-is nstead of cutting the masonite down to a "conventional" size such as 6x8 or 5x7. If I cut those sizes then I'd have smaller pieces of scrap to get rid of.

France - Menton - Creole Beauties - update

$75.00 plus shipping

 France - Menton - Creole Beauties - update

I initially posted this as a "work in progress" (sort of) with two other Creole dancers on August 20th.

The first painting is the "improved" version. I added the flowers to her head scarf. I also added some of her beads that are in her costume. I DO HAVE MORE WORK TO DO! :-(

I haven't captured the spirit and enthusiasm of this young woman. That's really elusive for me.  One small, tiny brush stroke can change an eye from happy to not happy.  (GREAT BIG SIGH!)  :-)

I hope that Jilly (Menton Daily Photo) will bear with me while I putz around.

Serenity - update

$50.00 plus shipping

 Serenity - update

I posted this painting September 1st and some of my blogger friends made some suggestions that I tried to implement. 

The first photo is the "adjusted" painting. 

I didn't change the background - the camera and the lighting played with me.

Homeless

$50.00 plus shipping

Homeless 2  8x12  Oils on canvas panel

How close are any of us from being homeless? Without family support I've heard that most Americans are one or two paychecks from being homeless. Scary stuff.

This fellow is resigned to the fact that he will most likely sleep in an alley. If he's lucky he'll find a large cardboard box for cover from the elements. If he's really lucky the gospel mission will have an empty bed and a hot meal tonight. He isn't going to worry about tomorrow until tomorrow.

My wife & I don't have to worry about much any more. We're on a "fixed income" now that we're retired but live a VERY good life with our two dogs, our hobbies, good health and each other.  How and why does this fellow not have what we have?

Challenge Eleven - Lemons for the Rookie Painters Blog

$50.00 plus shipping

Challenge Eleven - Lemons  7 3/4 x 16  Oils on masonite panel

I haven't participated in these challenges as often as I should have. But it's a fun thing to do and after doing this I remembered how much fun it is to make a painting that I wouldn't ordinarily do. This is my submission to Rookie Painter blog Challenge Eleven - Lemons.

My initial thought was to do something like "when given a lemon, make lemonade" but . . . . .   :-)

Take a look at the Rookie Painter blog. There are some really good works there.

Walking In The Rain

$25.00 plus shipping

Walking In The Rain  5x7  Oils on masonite

This began as a quick study practice piece then I touched up here and touched up there and pretty soon I had a reasonably nice little painting!

I don't usually do really small stuff but what the hey?

The Prayer

$150.00 plus shipping

The Prayer  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

Why does anybody say prayers? They speak to their god hoping for good things.  

This young lady might be the wife of a husband in the armed forces who is in a dangerous place. Maybe her young child is terribly ill. Or, maybe she's just thankful that none of these are the reason.

She appears quiet, calm and collected in this her time of peaceful contemplation.

A little information about the artsy part of this. All of the darks are mixtures of red & green with (maybe) some Prussian Blue Or Van Dyke Brown added.  No black paint tree was harmed in the making of this painting.  :-)

Please excuse the glare - this is the best of many, many photos!

Serenity

$50.00 plus shipping

Serenity  8x12  Oils on canvas panel

This is another painting inspired by Jilly Bennet's blog Menton Daily Photo.  If you have not visited her blog click on the link and browse some really interesting photos and commentary!

I was impressed with the profile photo the calm, serene expression on this nun's face.  I think it would be a great gift to be able to know her.

I Love you Too! (Best Friends)

$50.00 plus shipping

I Love you Too! (Best Friends)  7.5x12  Oils on masonite panel

10/21/2010 - I renamed the painting from "Best Friends" to "I Love You Too".

This is a fine example of maximum mutual admiration. The dogs' tongue is going to get some skin in a second or in a few minutes.

I figure that these two have probably spent some time out of doors with maybe the dog chasing a stick or a ball. Now they're taking a breather in the shade of a large tree telling each other how wonderful they are.  Both are very fortunate to have the other.

The Rose

$50.00 plus shipping

The Rose  9x12  Oils on masonite panel

The Pro Flowers web site tells us: "White roses represent innocence and purity and are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings. The white rose is also a symbol of honor and reverence, and white rose arrangements are often used as an expression of remembrance. 

OK, so what does this white rose mean to the lady?  From her expression it might be one of an arrangement sent to her by her new found male "friend".  Or it might be that she's in her garden enjoying the scent of a fresh rose.

For me, this is a subdued painting - not a lot of color. I did put a red hair band in her hair just to ease my angst.

The Spectators

$75.00 plus shipping

The Spectators  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

Two ladies watching an event below their window. The idea came from Jilly Bennet's blog Menton Daily Photo (a blog with very interesting photos and thoughtful commentary).

The ladies faces should be half in the sunlight and half in shadows.  My painting makes it appear as if their make up (cosmetics) is badly applied! :-)  I'll need to fix that!

The Family Has Gone Away

$75.00 plus shipping

The Family Has Gone Away  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

A deserted house with an weed-choked yard. Blank windows stare into an empty landscape. The family might have hit hard times and had to quit the house.  OR maybe they found another, better place to live and prosper.

The magnolia tree is in bloom maybe there is life and some hope left here after all?

Flamenco Dancer in White

$75.00 plus shipping

Flamenco Dancer in White  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

I was trying to get a mood of the dancer on a darkened stage with two spotlights illuminating her.  There is a spot light out of the picture to the right.

The photo makes the background look like light blue while it is in fact a mixture of green & red with a LITTLE prussian blue mixed in for good measure.   The background in the painting appears almost black.

Menton France - Hat on Garden Gate

$75.00 plus shipping

Menton France - Hat on Garden Gate  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

Another inspiration from Jilly Bennet's blog Menton Daily Photo! 

It appears that I have most things leaning to the left. What's that all about?

I tried to capture that the sun was casting a shadow onto the left front of the home while the right is shadowed.  Maybe I should darken the shadow?

France - Apricale -The Conversation - Two Men

$75.00 plus shipping

France - Apricale -The Conversation - Two Men  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

This painting was inspired by a photo on Jilly Bennet's blog Menton Daily Photo.

To create the stone wall, I used a painting knife for the first time then a brush to put in the shadows. All in all I think that the stones are believable. :-)

France - Menton - Creole Beauties

Creole Beauty 1
 $75.00 plus shipping

France - Menton - Creole Beauties  9x12  Oils on masonite panel

Sorry about the photographs. :-(  

Thanks to Jell Bennett's blog Menton Daily Photo for taking such wonderful photographs and giving me permission to use the photos to make paintings.

I apologize that I can't find the posting in Jilly's blog of this young lady. Dang! 

 Part of the Creole Du Cap posts are here.

 The paint is still wet on these and I'll continue working on them when the paint dries.

Creole Beauty 2
 $75.00 plus shipping

Creole Beauty 3
$75.00 plus shipping

Flamenco in Menton France

$175.00 plus shipping

Flamenco in Menton, France  15x24  Oils on masonite panel

From a photo posted by Jill Bennett on her blog Mento Daily Photo. The lady in Jill's photo is Isabel Cortes who is leading a class in the annual Gorbio, Frnace, Flamenco Festival. I did NOT attempt to capture Mme Cortes' image, but used her form as a basis to begin.

My painting is not yet complete, but I am posting it anyway! :-)  Sorry for the glare in this photo my camera looks for these glare spots! :-(

The panel is half of a larger painting 24x30 that needed to be "downsized".  The luxury of using masonite panels is that I can make the size smaller by sawing off a section.

Cowboy roping wild mustang

S O L D

Cowboy roping wild mustang  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

This was a fun painting to make. I didn't think that I could make a reasonably believable image of a horse. I've tried once before and it wasn't very pleasant to look at! :-)

I think that I've made a "REASONABLE" duo of horses and one cowboy. This was quickly done in about (maybe) three hours - I really don't know but it just came out of my brushes with only a few "ooopsies". (I usually have many).

By the way, in my painting the horse is gray, not bluish! I needed to get that said. :-)

Market Flower Vendor

$75.00 plus shipping

Market Flower Vendor  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

Another "EH!" photo from my naughty camera. ANYWAYYYYY. . . . 

This is from a photo I had in my computer files. I've long forgotten where it came from or when I downloaded it.  I do know (I think) that this was photographed in Seattle's Pike Place Market. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!  :-)

The original photo had much more floral detail in the background which, in my humble opinion, took away from the lady graciously making an arrangement for her customer.

Street Scene - Market Day

NOT FOR SALE

Street Scene - Market Day  17x24  Oils on masonite panel

I'm betwixt and between with this one. It's probably very obvious, but I have forgotten where I was going with it! :-)  It made sense to me when I began but I haven't worked on it for several days and . . . . .

Maybe you have a "helpful" suggestion? 

I have almost decided to just paint over it and move on with something else. 

Grain Elevator With Red Door

$100.00 plus shipping

Grain Elevator With Red Door  12x16  Oils on masonite panel

This started out as painting of "just a grain elevator" but then I decided that since it wasn't going to actually rain here that I would make a rain storm in a painting. And I'll pretend that it will rain any day now. (I also get up early for the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.)

This painting captures the grain elevator a few minutes after the rain storm has moved on.

I note that in the photo the building seems to be leaning to the left. I measured (with a ruler) the painting and the building really isn't crooked. I'll blame this on my camera! :-)

Flamenco Dancer In Red

$175.00 plus shipping

Flamenco Dancer In Red  14.5 x 24  Oils on panel

This is the best photo so far and I've taken MANY. Amazing, isn't it? :-)

I can't seem to get the focus in focus and the glare unglared in the same photo. This photo has been tweaked very much with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 and it still isn't a good representation of the painting.  Enough whining, right?

I did some flamenco dancers a few months ago then this weekend I was browsing my photo files for an idea for a painting and came upon this figure who in the reference photo is one of several dancers on a stage. I think that the painting looks fine and I'll try to make a better photo from time to time. Until then I've started on one of two paintings of grain silos. Yup, grain silos. Go figure!  :-)

BTW, I make my "panels" using a Masonite panel on a wooden frame which is then covered with cotton canvas. This panel and one other were left over from cutting "standard" panel sizes from a sheet of masonite thus the wierd width of fourteen and a half inches.

Casey 9/15/2005 - 8/6/2010

We had to put Casey to sleep this morning due to kidney failure and cancer.  A very good dog and a best friend to Melissa and me.  He leaves a huge void that will take a long time to ease.

We still have Simon (a boxer) and Bella (a miniature schnauzer) to help us in our grief.

9/25/2009

1/29/2006

Frog

$150.00 plus shipping

Frog   16x20  Oils on canvas

This is one of the "pet" frogs from Melissa's frog pond. The painting suggests that he/she is large, but it's pretty small. I'm not about to measure it but the rocks are maybe 1/2 an inch?

Water Lily

S O L D

Water Lily  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

This is the first (only) bloom in Melissa's "frog pond". The frog pond is our 50 gallon water element near her pergola on the North side of our house.

It's too dang H O T ! ! !

This is a photo of our indoor/outdoor thermometer. The big number at the top is the outside temperature while the number a the bottom left is the inside temperature.  The sending unit is on the wall of our patio - in the shade! The temperature has been triple digits for several days with NO RAIN!  Enough, already. This is 38 celcius, by the way.

The Guitar Player

$50.00 plus shipping

The Guitar Player  9x9  Oils on masonite panel.

This painting came from visiting the internet in a Flamenco website. I'm afraid that I've lost the URL for the particular website.

This painting would not photograph for me. The reflections and bright light in my studio were too much for my camera.  I even tried using a cardboard box but that didn't work.  I'll give the painting some time to dry then try again with subdued lighting.

The Hombre

$50.00 plus shipping

The Hombre  9x9  Oils on masonite panel

This painting came from my brain but it's probably (DUH) something that I have seen somewhere. I don't know where, though.

I don't know if this "hombre" is a rustler or a lawman or just a podnuh on a ranch. But with those squinty eyes he looks like one tough customer. :-)

Young Woman Smoking

$100.00 plus shipping

Young Woman Smoking  11x14  Oils on canvas panel

This was painting came from a photo in Jill Bennet's blog Menton Daily Photo.  I think that I will like this painting better after I make a few, small changes/modifications.

I'll continue trying to make a decent photo of this painting - until then . . . .  sigh.

Creole at Place du Cap 2

$150.00 plus shipping

Creole at Place du Cap 2  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

My apologies to Jilly Bennett's blog Menton Daily Photo. See and read Jilly's post here. This painting has been a struggle for me and I guess that it shows.

I think maybe I need to paint over it and start over. I'm not sure.

The Accordion Player

$100.00 plus shipping

The Accordion Player  12x16  Oils on canvas panel

AND another painting inspired by a photo from Jilly Bennett's blog Menton Daily Photo. See and read Jilly's post here.  While you're there, "browse" her other posts.

I've had this painting "completed" for over a week but keep going back to make adjustments.  Something isn't quite right, but what . . . . . ?

The Fish Monger

$100.00 plus shipping

The Fish Monger  12x16  Oils on canvas panel

Another painting inspired by a photo from Jilly Bennett's blog Menton Daily Photo. See and read Jilly's post here.  While you're there, "browse" her other posts.

I'm happy with this painting - for now. I want to glaze some of the background to "set it back" and perhaps put some emphasis on the fish up front.

Maybe not. :-)

Offering of fish

$50.00 plus shipping

Offering of fish  12x16  Oils on canvas panel

Yet another painting inspired by a photo from Jilly Bennett's blog Menton Daily Photo. See and read Jilly's post here.  While you're there, "browse" her other posts - really well done and very interesting.

I need to do something to something that's bothering me.  Maybe it's the reddish potatoes? They just don't make sense in this painting but did in Jilly's photo. I also want to change the blue basket.

7/19/2010 - DUH! I learned that the "potatoes" ain't! They're FLOATS for the nets!  AAAAAAUUUUGHHHH!