My Art-A-Fair Website Page

You can now visit my Art-A-Fair page on the website by clicking the link at the top of the right column at any time. It is exciting to see it all coming together. My booth is B20 and I will be near the friend who recommended I apply, oil painter Amanda Fish.
Also be sure to visit Art-A-Fair on Pinterest, Twitter and facebook.

Stay tuned for more updates as the show nears.

Accepted into "Splash 17 : Inspiring Subjects" !

"E 4th St, Bridge"

I just received the great news that my painting "E 4th St. Bridge", which I mentioned earlier here on my blog, has been accepted into "Splash 17: Inspiring Subjects", the annual watercolor book published by North Light Books.
As follower's of my blog already know I am always inspired by industrial subjects and my city of Los Angeles. All cities have their own great landmarks and little treasures and I love seeking out the ones in my own. I have seen paintings of the 4th St. Bridge before but I hope that by focusing on the section that splits to E 4th Place I caught a unique view that has not been painted too often. I loved this view for its dramatic composition.

Since I have been super busy preparing for this summer's Art-A-Fair and with so many other projects happening all at once this kind of news is a boost to my weary bones, sore back and tired eyes. Exactly the shot I needed right now!
From the way things have been going so far it looks like 2015 will be a high watermark year for me, even with our extreme drought!  ; ).

Summer Art-A-Fair

I have great news. This past weekend I submitted work for jurying into the Art-A-Fair in Laguna Beach California and I was accepted.
Laguna Beach is a major art destination known for its art galleries, art walks, the  Laguna Art Museum , the Laguna College of Art + Design and famous resident artists.

It is an annual two month (66 days) art fair in one of three venues clustered together in the Southern California art colony. The other two are the Festival of the Arts, also known for its spectacular Pageant of the Masters Show and The Sawdust Festival. All three take place simultaneously.
The show opens June 26 and goes until August 30 2015.

Great art event in a great art town during our beautiful summer.

I must thank my artist friend Amanda Fish who encouraged I enter after I visited her booth at Art-A-Fair last year.

Time to get busy painting so I have enough work for the show.

More posts to follow as the Fair draws closer and I get more details.

My Pinterest Page

OK, I have been busy with multiple projects lately and have not been posting here to my blog.
I have however managed to start a Pinterest page, something I have had in mind for a while.

Of course it is a work in progress and incomplete for some categories but I felt I had enough uploaded to make the announcement here.

One advantage, unlike my Daily Paintworks gallery or this blog, is you can see more of my art on the screen at one time regardless of its status.

My DPW gallery does not include work sold before I joined it or artwork not available for sale. The blog format does not allow for simple showcasing of my artwork by subject, genre and series or without scrolling through posts or using keywords.
DPW serves primarily as a sale site, my blogs, Avid Art and Avid Art 2, as a record of my thoughts and ideas behind the work and my Pinterest page as a showcase of work past and present, preliminary and finished.

It serves a different purpose. Easy and quick viewing of my art.
Enjoy.

Seven online locations, links:
David J. Teter on Pinterest.
David J. Teter on Daily Paintworks
David J. Teter on Avid Art 2 blog
David J. Teter on Google Plus
David J. Teter on You Tube
David J. Teter on Linkedin
... and, you are already here but go ahead and click anyway  ; ) ...
David J. Teter on Avid Art blog

NEW SERIES OFFICIAL LAUNCH!

I am very excited to announce that today marks the official launch of my new Locomotive Series available on DAILY PAINTWORKS.

Here is the direct link to the first one ...  "UP 4343", showing a couple of Union Pacific Locomotives in the late afternoon, a glorious burst of light from behind... perfectly apropos for the launch.

See my DAILY PAINTWORKS  page.

This series showcases the locomotive, for now its classic profile, of which there will still be plenty of variation as you will see.
Variation in the size of the locomotive (with-in the picture), location, lighting, weather conditions, back, middle and foreground, cropping etc.

And by starting with the classic profile in the same format it is on track to be a collectable series.
As I continue to 'flesh out' the series I'll add other views. It promises to be robust!
My previous post shows the thumbnails I did for this and another one.

If you are familiar with my work already then you know I work this way, bouncing from one series to another so although I will be posting plenty of these Locomotives there will also be other subjects and genre's dropped in between.

You never know what you'll find, cityscapes, landscapes, seascapes, the figure, more of my noted industrials?
How 'bout some surprises?
I have ideas bouncing around in my head like a pachinko game.

It's been fun so far and I almost feel guilty about that, almost   ; )

DAILY PAINTWORKS NEW SERIES UPDATE

"Locomotive Series Thumbnails-U.P."
pencil on paper, 2013
8.5" x 11" (21.59cm x 27.94cm)
NSF

A quick note... I have been working steadily on my New Collectable Locomotive Series soon to be available on DAILY PAINTWORKS.

Here is a page of thumbnails from this new series.
These are for two of the new Union Pacific locomotive paintings.

My locomotive works are always finely articulated and/or imbued with an atmospheric psychological impact . They deserve that kind of treatment.

In the meantime I have some previous locomotive paintings in various sizes and mediums, some already framed, currently for sale on DAILYPAINT WORKS.

"BNSF (Cajon Puddle)"

"PHL 67 at 47 Underpass"

"PHL 64"

"Union Pacific Yard" and Union Pacific 8381"

"BNSF Mojave"

"Harbor Line #70-Study #1"

Also, click the LABEL 'Locomotive painting' to see others here on my blog.
This will give you an idea of whats to come in this new collectable series!
Stay tuned!233

New Series to Launch on DAILY PAINTWORKS!

Currently, I have paintings dated prior to 2013 available for all tastes and budgets on my DAILY PAINTWORKS  gallery and am happy to report that coming soon, I will be launching my new Locomotive Series which will be available on DAILY PAINTWORKS.

I always get positive feedback from my clients for my locomotive series and it is considered one of my signature series: everybody has memories of trains!

In addition to that I have so many ideas percolating in my head that I will also be rolling out some as mini-series.

All of my new series will be available in more standard formats, sizes and design considerations with a collectable aesthetic in mind. 

National Watercolor Society Show Announcement

I happy to announce that my watercolor "PHL Sulfur Pile" was juried into the National Watercolor Society's 2012 Annual Exhibition here in San Pedro.
This one was done in one of my two watercolor techniques I work in.
I will post the painting here soon.

The opening is Saturday September 29th and the show hangs until Sunday December 2.
Link to NWS website and NWS facebook for information and hours.

National Watercolor Society headquarters
915 South Pacific Avenue
San Pedro
Ca, 90731

iPad Painting

"The Lookout" (in progress 1)

"The Lookout" (in progress 2)

"The Lookout" (in progress 3)

In addition to the oils, several watercolors and a commissioned piece, I have been working on a large watercolor recently. It's bigger than I typically work in watercolor so I am presented with a different set of challenges to overcome. Although it hasn't won every skirmish we are at a stand off right now, a stare down, the art version of OK Corral. When I am victorious and the dust settles I'll post it.
For now...

I recently got an iPad and picked up the Brushes app which is basic enough I won't be overwhelmed learning the digital medium. So here is one of the first few experimental digital paintings. Of course I need to keep it pretty simple in the beginning.

I will use it primarily to experiment, have fun, do quick location studies when I'm out and about and stuck waiting. Maybe I will use it for compositional studies too... who knows. First I have to learn how to use the thing, it is both fun and frustrating.
Working in other mediums is good though. It has a way of feeding and strengthening my work. Especially when struggles ensue. At times of struggle it is a way of stepping back from the fray and relaxing without losing any momentum.

One advantage of digital is not having to photograph it. In fact what is up on the screen is more faithful to the actual work. I am usually disappointed in some way in the photos of my non-digital art work.

There is always something that isn't right. Color, more often than not, is the culprit. Other times it is the texture of an oil painting catching those pesky little highlights which read like little white specks... drives me crazy since it is time consuming eliminating them all.

Another advantage is saving progress shots. I don't have to grab the camera and mess with lighting to take a progress shot, just save it.

I'll post a final shot of this digital when it is complete. Not much more to do. Just some little tweaks here and there.177

Click on images for larger view

Update

There has been some work being done here at home the last few weeks, ceilings and flooring, so I haven't been able to get in the studio much or post anything to my blog. A lot of moving everything back and forth from room to room. And it will take some time to put it all back together.
We are nearing the end so I will start posting again soon.
I am really anxious to get back into painting again.
Stay tuned.

Update-Previous Post & Acres of Books

*I have posted an update on the demise of the old Art Deco Building from my previous post 'State of Limbo' and the watercolor painting above "Acres of Books (backside)".

777- Google's 7 Dynamic views

The Seven Dwarfs, The Seven Samuri...
and now Google has introduced 7 new different ways to view blogs.
And while they are still working on it to allow for better customizations, blogs can still be viewed in them without switching the template over. Click link below to view Avid Art in any of the seven Dynamic views starting with Flipcard. Each has its own characteristics. 


http://davidteterart.blogspot.com/view/flipcard


You can also at any time click the link 'Google Dynamic Views' in the right hand column at top.


Flip card is best for seeing all images currently on blog at once and allows for sorting by Recent, Date, Label, and Author.
One of the best features all share is infinite scrolling, no clicking older or newer posts.
No matter where you are in scrolling you can access the drop down menu by edging the pointer just over the black line under the title.
Hover over the arrow next to Flipcard to see others.
Have fun with it.
Click on blog title 'Avid Art' to return to this template.




PS- I'm not sure why some images do not appear in Flipcard and Mosaic. But the image is still there to click. On others, images are missing, maybe a result of this being a preview and not a selected template.
Also there seems to be some spacing issues in the translation.

'Lines and Colors'

I am happy to announce and thrilled that Charley Parker over at 'Lines and Colors' has done a post on my work here.
I have followed his blog for some time and it is a great place to discover artists, both past and present, as well as museum websites, art related events, products etc.

Be sure to check out his other websites on the left hand side under 'My other sites' as he also does website design, comics, iPod and iPhone apps and cool dinosaur stuff.

Thank you Charley!

One Man Show Opening - Randy Higbee Gallery

Me and Jennifer Teter-Mitchell
just before the show opened

Artist Wendy Wirth and Me

The opening night of my One Man Show at the Randy Higbee Gallery looked fabulous.
The highly professional presentation is the norm for the Gallery but is never as easy as it appears. It is achieved through lots of hard work by the entire staff there; from the framing to the hanging, the advertising and right down to the little finishing touches. All done with smiles and enthusiasm.

Here are some iPhone pics of the opening night. I'll post more pics soon. Here's a link to more art in the show, which will hang until October 15th.

Here at Avid Art, before it even becomes a show, there is the same hard work happening behind the scenes.
Jennifer Teter-Mitchell, who handles all the marketing and graphic design at Avid Art, deliveries, ephemeral material and far too many little but equally important tasks was tireless.
And Susan Laumen, who handles all the accounting, inventory, and archiving documentation, typing and the same... multitudes of minor details, was also tireless right up to the end.

None of us can do it alone, it requires a concentrated effort by too many people to mention individually.
So I thank every person in helping to make the show a success.

One Man Show at Randy Higbee Gallery

Here is the postcard announcement for the show at Randy Higbee Gallery. More info on this show here and here.
All above paintings are new and were painted for this show so this is the first preview of what the show will look like.

Rabbits Everywhere and Looking Forward...

Posts here on my blog may start getting rather sparse as I finish work for the upcoming show at the Randy Higbee Gallery October 1st 2011. Click here and here for earlier info on that show.

I'll do my best to post something at least once a week, but even doing that requires time to assemble and write and that is time better spent on painting. I will post some random images of work for this show as it approaches, so stay tuned.

The amount of work always seems like a daunting task with research, preparing panels, and all the other details I seem to forget about before I can even begin putting down paint. Even with all the help I get with calendars, schedules, gallery contacts, framing, accounting, archiving current work and too many other mundane tasks to mention it can seem overwhelming.

Some chores like cleaning and re-organizing get left out though, my studio is becoming choked with works in progress, materials strewn about and stuff I call 'Rabbits'... those little odd things laying around that seemingly come out of nowhere and multiply when I'm not looking (you know, clutter). Sometimes I have to hopscotch thru my studio. Bummer dude.

I am however excited, already have some work done, several larger works in progress and am chomping at the bit to begin others. This kind of nervous energy is always positive thing. It's the energy that feeds and drives me towards a goal. I like deadlines, I find I'm much more decisive with less time for second guessing. Those gut instinct decisions are usually right. My best work is usually born out of necessity.

One Man Show - Coast Magazine ad

Here is the first formal announcement for my show at the Randy Higbee Gallery this fall. Above is the ad for Coast Magazine.
More info on what I will be showing here.
The above image, "Catalina Pacific Concrete (View from North)", blog post here.

Click on image for larger view

Update-Previous Posts

*Updates
Here are three updates to previous posts.
Sometimes at the time of posting images I am either too busy or haven't yet collected (written) my thoughts to include them in the post, or I've rather hurriedly put down incomplete thoughts. Whenever possible I'll go back to update those to round out my blogs original intentions of putting down my own insights relating to my work, whether individual, series, or in general.


Click on titles to see update.
"Chandlers - Study #1"
"Harbor Line#70 - Study #1"
"Power Plant Interior - Study #1"

Update-Previous Post- "Value Thumbnails"

*Based on a comment from a follower (Thank you Erin) I have posted an update to the "Value Thumbnails" post here.


Something that did not occur to me at the time was to go back and update the original post as well as link the finished paintings back to the thumbnails. All relevant posts now link back and forth.


This shows part of the process artists go through in creating images, whether they are paintings or other mediums. Part of the process because sometimes there are steps in between thumbnails and finished work, on these I felt further study wasn't needed.

Subdued Energy 2

"Tree Nocturne (2 Figures, City View)"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
5" x 4" (12.7cm x 10.16cm)


The nocturne... it's origin, mid 19th century French from Latin, nocturnus, meaning 'of the night'.

Like most from my Tree Nocturne series this is from my imagination and maybe distant memories.

Being more of a night owl I love the faint buzz of the nighttime air. As Ray Bradbury so perfectly described in one of his books... it's  "... the gentle hiss of distance...". I could not say it any better than that. It is not quite silent, but you can't really hear it either. It's just there.
Although it dominates the composition the tree is not the main focus. The figures overlooking the city, silhouetted against the bright lights, command the attention, even if small.
I designed the foliage of the tree to radiate outward from the center and pushed the color saturation a bit to give the scene more life, that subdued energy of the suburb and urban setting.
This is what I had in mind for this painting as well as the other one under the same post heading 'Subdued Energy' here. 116

Link to value thumbnail here.

Click on image to enlarge

*Update - previous post original value thumbnail here.