Category Archives: Art Groups

Day One of The September 2020 30-Day Creative Gathering. Let’s Kick It!

Day 1, 9-2020. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

Heeeyyyy everyone! Welcome to the 30-Day Creative Gathering. 🙂 Hope you’re ready to get in the groove, and have some fun. I have to admit, I wasn’t sure I had enough mojo to participate. But I chatted with some of you, and we sort of talked each other into it. Ha-ha. That’s what friends are for ‘ey?!

It may have hit me late, but a few days ago, I started to get really excited. And here I am.
One more time.

This will be my 13th 30-day challenge. Ten of them were with Leslie Saeta in her 30 Paintings In 30 Days events. Leslie changed her focus a couple of years ago, and a few of us wanted to continue the challenge. Yay! Christiane Drieling and I co-founded the 30-Day Creative Gathering on Facebook. Follow the links to see samples from the events.

Let’s kick it ya’ll!

My piece for day one is a do-over. And I most likely will be trying this again. It is a huge canvas that has been hanging on my wall unfinished, ever since we moved to Arizona. Four years!! Truth be told, it was unfinished for even longer than that. I had once painted a scene on it. Then I moved, and I prepped it for the new space. Haha, that is as far as I got. Honestly, I just never could decide what I wanted to see on the wall. And what I had the courage to attempt. LOL. 🙂

But it’s only paint, and I can start all over if I want to. This canvas may make an appearance again later this month.

I don’t have room to paint on a canvas this size. I painted it on my bed. Haha. I painted the sky first, stopped for dinner, and then worked on the rest. Here is my first try. I apologize for the terrible photo. The dark area is my shadow.

Day 1, First Draft, 9-2020. Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

I am going to critique this, but know that I am happy with it to an extent. I am sharing my thoughts on the process to help clarify what I learned.
Happy as always for the learning!

I did not have the right colors on hand, and I do not have the right tools for a large piece. I used a 2-inch brush for the sky and land. Dotted (poured) the colors on, and then blended. Adding spritzes of water as needed.

For the ocean area, I used the same technique to get a base layer of color. Next, I used palette knives, a gift card, a one-inch brush, and my fingers. I used both craft paints and artist paints. Also matte gel for extra body.

When I finished the first time, I noticed a GLARING mistake. I had three bands of color. Three straight lines. Haha. B-o-r-i-n-g.

So I went back in and softened where the land and sky meet. I think I could have done better, but I am OK with this. Here is the final version again…

The dark band at the top of the sky actually looks perfect in daylight. It is softer and blends well. I still have “lines’ of color, but it’s no longer like nails on a chalkboard. Haha. 🙂

You can click on any image below if you want a closer look.

I was trying to mimic the feel of a painting by Hiroshi Matsumoto. I love his work. I had narrowed down my favorites to: May 2019, and June 2019. I love the feel of these two.

I decided on his June piece. The light, the shades of blue, the misty horizon. The abstract, chunky colors. The southern California-ness.

It bombed. Haha, haha. I just don’t have the right tools. I think I needed larger knives. Heavier body paint. I changed course midstream.

After looking at my piece on the wall, I have decided I want something calm in that space. Color, with hints of detail. Haha. Make up your mind Sheila!

Lastly, I think the main problem with this piece, is that it feels like separate paintings, chopped and put together. It isn’t integrated. Unified.

I promise I won’t write a novel for each piece this month. Thanks for visiting, suggestions are welcome! Happy creating everyone! 🙂

Short And Simple

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Three Little Blooms, 4 x 6 watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

Flower Field, 4 x 6 watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

Prickly Pear, 4 x 6 watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado. — Flower Field, 4 x 6 watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

Love Notes postcard exchange helped to pass the time. Haha. Is it the end of the month already?! This round we had the option of going digital. I chose that but found a stash of stamps, so I mailed the cards as usual. I was offered a side swap from Kelly, and eagerly agreed. For the side, I painted the Prickly Pear.
Thank you, Priscilla Martin and Kelly Collin-Coulter for brightening up my mailbox and month!

Playful Bouquet, 4 x 6 watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

Friendship is born at that moment when one person
says to another,
‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.
– C.S. Lewis

My good friend has asked me to post his call for help. He is working on two awesome applications. If you know anyone with the skills he has listed (below in bold), please share this info with them. Thank you for taking a look 🙂

A Call to Arms for Designers!
With the threat of Covid-19 affecting us all, many of us are trying to find ways to help stop the spread of this pandemic through various methods. At Pandemic-Watch we are in the process of developing a mobile app that allows users to opt-in to providing anonymous location data. That data can then be compared to reporting known and suspected symptomatic users and notices sent to those who have crossed paths (with-in the possible transmission time) with a known or suspected person.
In addition, we also have a project (Medic-Watch) to aid our Medical Heros! Most medical facilities require exposed staff to phone in and answer a health questionnaire each day. Many of the exposed staff are overworked, short on time, and exhausted! So many fail to report daily. This leaves the administrative staff to initiate calls or physically track them down to gather important health data.
Our Medic-Watch project provides a mobile app to collect this data on a given schedule, thus making it easier and less time consuming for the staff to comply. The user can provide a schedule of days and times for the app to open and request their health status. The data is then provided to the medical facility(s) they choose on first use or add later.
Our two projects are in great need of volunteers. One of our most significant needs is for designers and UI/UX designers to help in the design of our products. If you can design a mockup of a mobile screen given some criteria (such as input fields, and text to display) and make it look modern and professional, we need you!
Both projects are open source and seek to help stop the spread of the pandemic. The anonymous information they collect will also be provided to medical researchers to help in understanding the spread of future epidemics. So far, our team consists of software developers and epidemiologists. We need web developers, designers, and marketing people, pandemic experts, etc. The projects are both open source and free to anyone to use, modify and further develop for their own use. As long as it is not for profit.
If you would like to take part and have any talent that could be of use, please contact me at pandemic.watch2020@gmail.com

Randall Morgan, Project Lead

Conjunction Junction – A Digital Daytrip

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Grab a cuppa and a muffin, this is a long one. 🙂

It’s time for Jennifer Belthoff’s Love Notes postcard exchange. Woo Whoo! This takes place four times a year. For this round, the option was given to use snail mail or email. For three weeks my postcard partner and I will exchange emails based on a writing prompt. But you know me, I want to send painted postcards. I plan to send the originals when it is safe to be out and about.

I sent an ecard greeting to my partner earlier this week, the prompt was, “Together”. This is what came to mind.

Good Morning!
Together we can welcome Spring,
All of nature’s pretty things.
The plants, the animals,
the sun, the sky.
The birds above,
as they fly by.

Wishing you a JOY filled day!

The tree in front has buds. I swear they were not there yesterday, and today they are. Bright green-gold buds!

Big Train, Little Trains, Cows and a Starship

I’ve been meaning to share this, but as it turns out this is the perfect time for it. Are you up for a mini-virtual day trip?

Early in March, we visited the Scottsdale Railroad Museum. We walked through the Peoria Depot and learned about the Merci Trains. The Presidential Roald Amundsen Pullman Car was next. Below are a few of the photos I took. Follow the link to watch a very interesting video on the history. It’s a short one.

They have a glass partition in the dining area for protection. Here is a floorplan. It is for the Ferdinand Magellan, but the layout is pretty much the same.

Sitting Area, Roald Amundsen Pullman Car

Next up was the 10,000 square foot model railroad building. WOW! I never knew there were so many different sizes of model trains! I took lots of photos until my phone died. But somehow I managed to get only one good shot of a moving train. Haha. Most of my images were of the miniature cityscapes.

First up a huge globe.

Had to laugh at the lego cacti.

Throughout the exhibit, there are orange hands you can touch to activate the displays. The spaceship rose out of the crater. Cue the Twilight music. Do do do do, do do do do.

Saturday,-in-the-park... — Saturday,-in-the-park…

Goodbye Santa Fe!

My photos don’t do justice to the displays. There was so much to see. In every direction. There is more information here and each gauge group has a link to better photos and even some videos as well. The whole time I was writing this post, the Conjunction Junction song was in my head. Anyone else remember Schoolhouse Rock?

I hope you enjoyed the trip! And if that isn’t enough to fill an afternoon, take a look at the world’s tiniest model train! WOWzers!