Tom Blood's artwork will be on display in the It's Not What It Seems: A surreal and fantasy art exhibit at The Green Door Gallery in beautiful historic Webster Groves from September 1- October 30, 2021. Also, included in the exhibit are artists: Mollie Chaunard, Michael Frank, and Anthony Scheffler. I cannot wait to see how these artists' turn their mind's deep and unconscious thoughts into art. I hope to see you there!! 

Hi all,
The Heartland Art Club Members Showcase opens this Friday, August 27th!  My artwork "On the Beach at Night" will be on display along with amazing artwork by an incredible group of artists. 
They are hosting an ongoing "strolling reception," where you can stop by the gallery to view the artwork any time during regular gallery hours. Goodies bags with refreshing drinks, individually wrapped cookies, and a packet of flower seeds while supplies last will be provided to guests!

All works in the show are available for sale, and the proceeds from the sale go directly to the artist!

Come see the wonderful art in the gallery! Here is a preview of what's on display. 

Reflections from Patricia Watwood’s “Composing a Narrative Portrait” workshop held on August 16-20, 2021, at Gateway Academy of Classical Art.


When I heard, Patricia Watwood was coming to St. Louis, I had to sign-up. I follow her on Instagram and have long admired her allegorical narratives and classical painting style.  Here are some take-aways from her five-day workshop that focused on storytelling, composition, values, and lastly color. Her mantra, value does the work and color gets the credit.
 
With that in mind, the first day we created a value study called a Notan on a small piece of paper. The Notan is a map of the underlying value structure of your painting. It reduces your painting down to darks, lights, and mid-tones to create a map for your painting. My Notan is pictured below. 
 
Day two, we learned how to make a composition/color study to determine if our composition and colors work on a small scale. Patty shared some of her narrative artwork and Edgar Degas artwork to help us understand composition. Degas used movement, diagonals, and cropping to make inventive compositions in his paintings. Value and composition studies are the building blocks of your painting and help you save time and frustration by allowing you to work out any composition problems and color disharmonies.  This is the time to the problem-solving before you start your painting. Value and Composition Study below. 
 
Day three, we began on our larger painting. First by drawing the basic structure and objects with vine charcoal, then painting over the outline. Next, we blocked in the underpainting based on the Notan’s values of darks and lights. For me, this was the most challenging day - the ugly painting day. Guess which is the ugly day painting below. 
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Day four is the fun day, when colors begin to shine. To make a beautiful painting, it is all about the layers.  Don’t be afraid to add lots of paint and be bold in your mark making.
 
Day five, your painting begins to come to life. It makes all the prep work worthwhile. 

​Coalesce - 5 Artists Art Exhibition Solve a puzzle, view a lily pond, travel to New Mexico, or get lost in a sunset or a cotton candy cloud. All these things are
possible at the Coalesce - 5 Artists Art Exhibition when five artists come together to use creativity, imagination, and artmaking to transform the ordinary and familiar into artistic creations. 

B Extraordinaire Gallery and the Missouri Athletic Club are proud to present the Coalesce - 5 Artists Art Exhibition from Thursday, August 5, 2021, to Thursday, September 30, 2021, at the West location. The Coalesce - 5 Artists Art exhibition includes Tom Blood, Kathy Corey, Candace Hyams, Cathy Loos, and Claude Lyles. Come on by to see the show.
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All artwork is available for purchase through the Missouri Athletic Club. 
See more artwork at https://www.bextraordinaire.com.
Contact bextraordinaire@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Can't make it to the Missouri Athletic Club, you can see it virtually here.