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News from the Studio August 2009
by MaryAnn Cleary on 8/18/2009 7:26:29 PM



Spirit River Studio
Landscape and Still Life Paintings
with a focus on Minnesota Waters

News from the Art Studio of MaryAnn Cleary


peonies in a red wing vase
Peonies in a White Vase
Oil painting on canvas
14 x 11 inch

website:  www.maryanncleary.com
studio:  763.552.8650

Please forward my newsletter on to others.
Thank you for spreading the word about my art work.

August/2009
How Do You See Color?
Looking at the World Through Your Eyes
by MaryAnn Cleary
Hydrangeas and Sunflowers in a Blue RumRill vase


































"Hydrangeas and Sunflowers in a RumRill Vase"
Oil painting on linen
Size: 16 x 12 inch

Have you ever wondered how you see color?

According to  X-rite.com, 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color deficiency. Recently while taking an art workshop, the teacher of the workshop had us look further at the color in the surrounding landscape . Our mind since childhood has been taught to see our surroundings with specific colors, such as, trees as green and the sky as blue. However, as I find as I push myself to learn more about painting and color, I am learning to see again, to see color without my past experiences of learning interfering with what I see. Yes, there is pink in the trees or a lavendar in the landscape. Playing with color is fun.

To check out your ability to see color personally, try taking the test on X-rite. It is fun and a bit challenging trying to distinguish the different hues of color. When I first took the test very quickly to just see what it was all about, I scored a 22. Later I tried again looking carefully at the different hues and my score was a 3. By the way, the lower the score the better one sees color hues. It is a fun test to try.

To learn more about color and to check how you see color, try out this sight. There are color blocks showing how those who may have a color deficiency may see colors. This can be important for designing websites or for those who may see an artist's painting differently.

Did you know that there are a few folks out there who are actually tetrachromats!! What is a tetrachromat?? It is someone who actually has four color receptor cones instead of three. Here is more information on a tetrachromat. Check this site out to see if you are one of those super humans who is super color sensitive!

Please share your findings on color. I would love to hear about them.

Link Summary:
X-rite.com hue color test:  http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77
Color Blindness info:  http://www.iamcal.com/toys/colors/
Are you a tetrachromat?:  http://www.blogadilla.com/2008/06/08/are-you-a-tetrachromat/
 
The River Series
Studying the Light of the River
by MaryAnn Cleary
trees along the river
















River Series I ~ A Sunny Late Afternoon
oil painting on canvas
8 x 10 inches

rum river on a cloudy day
River on a Cloudy Day
oil painting on canvas
8 x 10 inches

Along the back of my home, there is a small, slow and meandering river called the Rum River. The Rum is also known as the Spirit River by the Native American culture, but unfortunately, it was one of those names that has a history with it where the name changed due to a misunderstanding of language.

To better understand the effect of light on the color and mood of a painting of my paintings, the river painting series is an attempt to accomplish how the river appears at different times. My goal is to paint a landscape painting throughout the next year at least once a week of the river. The times will be different ~ in the morning, the afternoon, a cloudy day, a sunny day or maybe even one with moonlit evening. The seasons will change, too. So there will be times where the scene will be all snow or beautiful fall foliage.

Look for these little paintings as they progress throughout the year. At the end of this series, it would be fun to put all the paintings together for a small exhibition.

 
Upcoming Events
Plein Air Paint Out

Paint outs are great fun!! The next one coming up is in Grand Marais, MN. Artists will paint outside for a week or 'plein aire' and then exhibit two of their best pieces at the Art Colony in a plein aire competition. The works will be shown for the weekend and juried and awards given for the best works.

If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and check out the artwork at the Art Colony.


MaryAnn Cleary
Spirit River Studio
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Many Blessings~
MaryAnn





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Alan Shum
via maryanncleary.com
I love the sunny late afternoon...so relax...wish to get such mood...:)
Bill
via maryanncleary.com
Hi MaryAnn Cleary,
Me hopes this short message finds you, your family and friends in Great Health and Spirits. I still pass along the "News Letter" from your studio, your work is simply great....your drawings, paintings and work refresh me, and keep me on the edge of my chair. So very much reminds me of the "college days", when life was like Spring-time, something new, refreshing and exciting to see, learn and witness......Best to you all.
Bill Walden









 
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