Finished the year with this fun job...

 

 

 

...for a lucky young girl who loves frogs.

 2011 has been a fairly good year for me.  I am fortunate that I have had somewhat steady work in this slow economy , thanks to my wonderful and loyal clients who continue to challenge me with new and interesting projects.   I wish for better times for everyone in 2012.  Happy New Year! 
                                                                                                                                Julie

December Rapids

8x10 oil

Today is the winter solstice - the first day of winter - but it felt more like April today with temperatures in the high 50's.  I knew I really should have stayed home and finished my holiday preparations, but the sunshine and warm weather beckoned me outside to paint.  I went to a spot on the Yellow Breeches Creek near Boiling Springs and did this small study of the rapids there.  I am not certain that this painting is done and  I might make a few adjustments to it another time, but it was great to be out.  I saw lots of people out walking, fishing, enjoying the nice day - even saw a guy fishing in shorts and flip flops!  I hope this is a sign that we will have a mild winter with many more plein air painting days ahead.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

www.julieriker.com

"Bubba"

11x14 oil

A decorative painting client called me last week to ask if I would do a painting of her teenage daughter's puppy.  Fortunately I was able to squeeze it in during this busy time.  It is to be a Christmas gift to her daughter.   I hope the young girl is pleasantly surprised.

Markers

 

6x8 oil on mahogany board

Now that my church project is complete I am happy to be able to find some time to paint with friends.

This week I joined the Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters for a brisk morning paint out.  Cecelia found an interesting place for us to paint.  The Lincoln Colored Cemetery is full of old Civil War graves, most of them were older than the surrounding trees.  I decided to focus in on the shapes of some of the stones.  I was also experimenting with a new surface, a clear primed mahogany board.  I enjoyed using this smooth surface as an alternative to the canvas texture which I am sometimes fighting with.  The warm wood color also made a nice base which peeks through the paint in areas.

First Church of God Restoration

It has been awhile since I posted here. I have been busy working on this church restoration.  I meant to post photos as the project progressed, but didn't seem to find the time, so here they are:

 

 

The original plaster cove was badly cracked.  I was able to trace some of the original artwork prior to repairs.

This photo above shows, on the right, the patched plaster with some of the original artwork peeking through.  Because there was so much patching it was decided to completely paint out the cove and reproduce the artwork.  On the left of this photo is a repainted shield.

 New artwork in process

A closeup of the shield scrollwork.  I think the original was painted around 1900 and had a loose, folk art feel to it, so I tried at best to duplicate that style.

The completed cove.  There are 12 shields in all, each with a different center motif.  It was discovered that they are the shields of the 12 apostles and most of the symbols in the shield have something to do with the way in which they were martyred.