Dot Courson Fine Art Blog

Scary Things   by Robin Roberts "Fencesitters" ©Robin Roberts   18x24 oil Why would attempting something new or different be scary?   Collectors and others who don't paint might not realize that it can sometimes take guts for an artist/painter to try something different.     Or there might be a reluctance to try something different from rules and guidelines we've been taught.  Or to do something outside what family or friends think is "pretty".   Or do something that might not sell - something outside the artists'  perceived typical work.    As you follow you'll notice I'm using different brushwork, using my modest drawing skills to "shape" rather than draw;  avoiding  "staying between the lines";  deciding which compositional guidelines to use and which to change for this particular painting.   Trying something different and having fun watching it unfold.   If I allow myself, it can be li...

...but it's not because I am shy - I LOVE to speak!  Dot Courson as a Lauren Rogers Museum of Art - ART TALK speaker to patrons. Once someone local finds out for the first time that I'm an artist- they always say: "Are you in the Gum Tree Festival in Tupelo?" Then they may ask, "Well then: Do you do the Double Decker in Oxford?!" I get up my courage, shake my head and reply, "No. Nope, I don't do festivals! "  ... Not that there’s anything wrong with it!   It’s not them . Its ME!   I tell them that I'm showing my work exclusively in  galleries. Southern Breeze Gallery in Ridgeland, MS - a wonderful owner who takes care of my work – hangs it beautifully, runs magazine ads, represents me online, and is always there to work hard to show my work to collectors. I’m also in Caron Gallery now and they are wonderful too! They are super nice folks! If you haven’t been –Go! It just keeps getting better!     Susan, my daughter and Faith...

I got a list... You got a list... All God's Children Gotta list.... Jackie and I are getting ready to host another workshop. Dawn Whitelaw will be here a little over a week and we are communicating with all the artists who are probably packing. I'm thinking of my own list of things I need to do as well as sympathizing with them. All of the artists will drive in. Most will be in hotels. It's a lot of work to get ready to leave home to go to a workshop. You must pretty much pack like you are plein air painting- well, except for the bug spray!  But of course you have to pack clothes, toiletries, etc.. Not counting what was back in the hotel room, nor the equipment I had set up outside that I was using to paint with at the time that this was taken- here is (no kidding!) a photo of the "stuff:  in my van -that the Gadsden Times took while I was painting nearby at the Southeastern Plein Invitational this spring: I finally wrote my own travel art supply...

This painting is named "The Old Run" as suggested by my husband. A creek is sometimes channeled into a new creek and the older creek area where trees and stumps remain is called "the old run." The Old Run 40x30 Oil. ©Dot Courson  I started this 40x30 oil painting on a Wednesday afternoon and the painting was done by 11 PM. I was using Liquin and Alkyd white- a fast drying white paint. All other paints were oils. The colors I used were Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, Cerulean blue, Cadmium red light, Cadmium yellow light and Permanent rose. This was painted in my studio from a photo my husband made in Hickory Flat, MS near his parents home at Frank Thompson Lake. It was a beautiful evening and the leaves on the lake are actually a moss, I think it's called Watercress. Photo Reference Using this photo print as my guide I started massing in and designing the painting on a white canvas indicating the color. I brightened it up in some areas. I decided t...