"Trillium" ACEO original watercolor painting by Rusty Harden

"Trillium"

ACEO  2 1/2  x 3 1/2

Watercolor

Rusty Harden

$20.00

With this warm weather it won't be long before the trillium are in bloom.  Last Spring my Wednesday morning art group met at Studio 14 Gallery's owner, Evelyn Staub's home.  Behind her lovely home is a woodland area which was thick with blooming trillium.  Fellow artist, Sonnie, even spotted a knodding trillium.  Even though I captured several wonderful references for painting on my camera, I find myself in great anticpation at returning again this year.  I had time to sketch some studies last year.  Perhaps my schedule will allow me to actually paint them "plien aire". 

When I painted this one on Sunday afternoon,  my mind went back to that day.  I think that is one of the wonderful reasons to go out and experience the nature we strive to capture in our art.  Did I mention the flowers that led to my life of crime??  Well, that's another post. 

Cherry Cordial Cupcakes in Watercolor

"Gossip Girls"

Watercolor

$55.00

Rusty Harden

I think I was a little tired of setting up still life arrangements of flowers for my Wednesday morning art class.  I wanted something different for interest and challenge.  There is a cupcake shop across the street from the gallery.  What I had in mind at the time were some cute colorful cupcakes and some candies to make a fun painting.  Instead,  I couldn't resist the Cherry Cordial Chocolate Cupcakes!!! 

So we painted them.  As the day went on, we gradually ate them up!  What a fun subject.  I enjoyed painting the paper on the cupcake most.  It is translucent and has great texture to try capture. 

"Breaking Through" Original Painting by Rusty Harden

 “Breaking Through”

Mixed Media
16" x 20"

Canvas

 “Whether it be to failure or success, the first need of being is endurance-to endure with gladness if we can, with fortitude in any event”-Bliss Carman

I created this piece for the theme "My So Called Life" for The Artist Challenge



Daffodils Original Watercolor Painting by Rusty Harden

"Beauty in Imperfection"

12" x 9"

Watercolor

April usually brings daffodils, an early sign of spring. I have attempted to paint them many times and have always failed. It is the translucent nature of the petals that is so hard to maintain while capturing the light and dark contrast.

I loved the one with the torn trumpet and the way it reveals what is on the inside of the flower. Its like people, sometimes you can’t know what is in them until they are wounded.

"Auroras" by Painting by Rusty Harden

"Auroras"

8" x 10"

$95.00

Watermedia

Rusty Harden

During the exhibit "Out of the Depths" March 4 - April 24

at Studio 14 in Tipp City, I will also be displaying

 my series of paintings created in what I call my transpoured technique.

The transpoured technique is the process that goes beyond just pouring the selected colors onto the paper. I carefully plan composition and strong design elements and manipulate the color to either be repelled or drawn to enhance color intensity. Some paintings are enhanced by working with transparent colors creating subjects and mood.



CBS Sunday Morning Sun Art "Crimson Journey" The Artist Challenge

"Crimson Journey"

14" x 14"

Water Based Media

Hotpress Paper

$425.00

Visit my  writing blog at Amber Falling Rain where
I uncover that the sun isn't always the shine we think it is.



"Scarlet Poppies" Intuitive Painting by Rusty Harden

"Scarlet Poppies"

17" x 11"

Watermedia

Rusty Harden

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Aristotle

Any one who has followed my work know that poppies always find their way into whatever style, medium , or dream I may currently exploring. Poppies amaze me on so many levels.

I especially love the way they dance on the slightest breeze.

We should all dance so easily.

Original Watercolor
5" x 7"
$75.00

In the spirit of actually painting, daily, I painted today.
There is something about poppies that I find enchanting. I am always amazed that these lovely red blooms, who look right at you with their dark centers, are held up by the thinnest of stems. Whenever a breeze passes by them, they sway just a little.
I call it the "poppy" dance.

These will be a series: Let's Be Poppies


Rusty Harden Dayton Ohio USA

Daily Painters Interanational Art Gallery

"Bound to the Earth"

15" x 20"

Acrylic Ink on Hotpress Paper

Location: The Earth's Center, Tipp City, Ohio

$230.00 (with warm white mat)

I joined this group of 100 International Painters who commit to a daily activity in their art business. For most, that means painting daily. I have admired the frequent postings of the

daily painters, having followed the blogs of several.

It is easy to lose track of time, to get distracted and over commit to the needs of others. These are the killers of productivity and inspiration.

I will begin posting (almost) everyday. It's about the activity. Along with new paintings I will post paintings that are being added to new locations and exhibits.

Wish for me activity with purpose....

Rusty Harden Dayton Ohio USA

Hope

Watercolor

5" x 7"

Painted for themed challenge: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

August of 2008, I had been on a walk. I really do enjoy what we call weeds.

What makes us admire one plant as a flower and another a weed?

In general, we apply a similar formula to people.

Back to the thistle and the butterfly, there he was on this thistle that offered him so little.

A resting place, at most. Sometimes our needs are that basic. Maybe he needed more, who is to know? But the thistle is what it is. At its end, an amazing structure that captures the late afternoon sunlight. If I were a butterfly maybe I'd want to touch it too. Okay, I'm not a butterfly and I always want to touch them.

This original painting is for sale and prints can be ordered.

Artist Statement for "The Fallen"

"Solace of Cares"

Watercolor

12"x 14 1/2"

"The Fallen Series"

On display in the "Uncommon Grace" Exhibit

Doug McClarty/Rusty Harden

Feb. 25 - April 11

Studio 14

Tipp City Ohio

We meet people where they are. Perhaps we will never know where they have come from or what experiences have changed them. I am one of the fallen blooms of this Yucca, maybe not what I once was nor could have been but not lost.

"Uncommon Grace" Art Exhibit

Amazement and Anquish

“Consternation”"
Price Original: $550 (Prints are available)
15”x 22"
Acrylic Ink on 140lb cold press paper

To quote Dante’s Inferno: “There is no greater anguish than in misery to remember the happy time.”
The majestic scene represents our glorious memories.
Misery, grief, torment can melt our majestic scenes.

Mineral Painting Azurite & Malachite

Azurite & Malachite

Oil Painting on Masonite

11"x 14"

This was one of the first minerals I painted. As an artist, I enjoyed the vibrant colors and the contrast of rough and velvet smooth textures. Painted from a specimen on loan from Matt Black of Ohio. The original painting and prints are available for purchase.

Naming Abstract ACEOs

"Quixotic" ACEO

A romance of impractical ideas

Naming pieces of artwork of any type has always been a challenge for me. Unless there some extraordinary connection to a piece I often resorted to some gratuitous name. I found that names come easier if I have determined the story or purpose for the paintings early on in the creative process.

As for non-object or abstract paintings the story comes when the piece is finished. Now I live with the artwork. Whether a large painting or a miniature ACEO, I notice my emotional response to see the piece. I take pictures of them and view them in a slideshow, hang them on my wall, and sometimes carry it in my DayRunner. Recently, I have been enjoying having my friend, Linda, look at the ACEOs with me. One of us will start a thought and then we volley it between us. Each time the idea comes clearer and often profound . As in the title, Quixotic.

Quixotic comes from Don Quixote, the hero of Cervantes's novel. He was inpsire by lofty even chivalrous ideas but completely unrealizable.

The ACEO was full of colors that reminded us of romantic or idealistic notions. The color is right for it. Maybe it was our mood but we weren't having it.

I see figures walking away from one another, what do you see?

A preying mantess?

When A Painting Decides What It Wants To Be

"Jumped the Line"

Liquid Acrylics

Submitted for The Artist Challenge: Beyond Bounderies.

It was one of those rare studio days that I planned to just relax and enjoy the process of "what if" (I think Trish McKinney was the first to take me down the "what if" path). Keeping in mind my current series of the Rhythms of the Earth (abstracted mineral paintings), I thought about the layers of the warm earth that protects these treasures. So collecting the warm yellows, earth red, and browns, I poured the colors. At the end of the day when the pieces were dry and ready to be uncovered (some were as earthy and beautiful as I had hoped) this painting had others plans, a conflagration, both frightening as it is mesmerizing. Do I take credit for its creation, a little. The painting itself is what it had decided to be.

Rhythms of the Earth-Abstract Mineral Paintings

Rhythms of the Earth

RE6

6"x 6"

Acrylic Ink on HP Arches 140lb

Small but dynamic works of art. These make a powerful statement as one or a grouping.

The counterpart to my mineral artistry. These paintings capture the engergy of the earth's treasures by abstracting the minerals and other natural elements of the earth in color and movement.

Interested in purchasing this painting? Interested in other sizes or colors?

Contact me through this blog.

Want to see more?

Check out my Etsy site

http://www.abrushwithrusty.etsy.com/