I’m “It” - 5 Things That You May Not Know About Me…
March 29th, 2008 at 8:10 am (Miscellaneous, Paintings)
I was "Tagged" by one of my friends, Cindy Hasse (a colored pencil artist whom I’ve mentioned in my blog earlier..). So, now I am "it". 
From what I have been told, I am now (voluntarily) posting 5 things that may not be known about me and "tagging" 5 other bloggers.
Growing On Me
I love gardens. I don’t have too much extra time to be away from my easel, but I dabble just enough to get my hands dirty. I love growing herbs (and using them in my cooking 
), flowers (of course!), and exotic or unusual plants….and a number of them keep me company in my studio.
Decorate Your Face
I got started painting by face painting (where you paint the designs on children’s faces …er, most of the time it was children… ). I was bored sitting at art fairs with my Mom’s paintings and drawings when I was 10 or so, and my parent’s had the genius to suggest that I try something constructive. I guess that was my first ‘job’. …though, initially I felt bad charging too much for them and wouldn’t go over .25¢ each.
Sounding Nice
When deciding on a vocation, I was originally going to be a professional vocalist…not an artist (…though the thought had crossed my mind in first grade ). I took courses at a musical college as well as private instruction. I even placed in a competition at the Minnesota State Fair and was a soprano in the 3M chorus. (I did, however, change my mind – my Mom was already painting and she helped immensely in getting me addicted to the visual arts. ) Members of my immediate and extended family (I have a HUGE extended family) are very arts, music, and creative writing oriented (both sides of my family). My grandfather built his own dulcimer to play. A bit of that rubbed off on me, I play(ed) the flute and piccolo. I was a part of a student’s band at a college here in the cities and also did numerous solo performances. When I was VERY little (um, 3) I performed piano solos for the school’s concerts in front of hundreds of people.
This Is Your Life
I really enjoy biographies when I can. Victor Frankel, Leonardo Da Vinci, and others are very inspiring to me and my work. Also, I am really very, very grateful to all of the amazing people who have touched my life with their knowledge and experience themselves (and not simply from the pages of a book ) ….Artists whom I’ve studied under and those with years of knowledge who have selflessly been mentors to me. What they have given me is priceless.
Dig for the Facts
I love researching things that interest me – today it is the history of my style of art and the wildlife and nature I picture in my pieces. When I was little (probably 10 or so), I was fascinated with Native American history and tried to learn all I could (I have some Native American heritage myself, so that didn’t hurt, either. ). My Mom encouraged me and bought all of the books she could from book sales for me to study. …I even taught my childhood friends to use the symbols and sign language…. I had learned enough at that age to be able to hold my own when meeting an artist who painted authentic symbolism into his works and discuss it. (..but don’t ask me to remember something from that period now… lol! )
Ok, enough about me - here are 5 other artists that I will list...
The first two are built-in (victims ) - My Mom & Sister’s blogs are http://www.lathamstudios.com/karensblog/blog and http://www.lathamstudios.com/bonniesblog/blog
3. These art Beautiful oil paintings by an artist I met at one of our gallery’s events (Whistle Pik Galleries) not too long ago - qiang-huang.blogspot.com. …just love them.
4. & 5.This is an artist I’ve studied with, Matthew Hillier. He obviously doesn’t need a lot of introduction – his beautiful paintings speak for themselves - http://thestudiofloor.blogspot.com/ (and this is his wife, Julia Rogers - juliarogers.blogspot.com ….quite talented, aren’t they. 
)
(Disclaimer - none of the artists on this list are under any obligation or pressure to post anything if they would rather not ….I’m just showing you off… )
Best,
Rebecca
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
- Jim Carrey
… Lathamstudios.com went down (including this blog) complete with my/our email accounts. If you sent an email recently and haven’t received an answer to it, it may still be floating around in cyberspace 
This image (left - 
This is a fishing boat from Maine. I placed it in a morning sunrise setting. In my trips to the East coast, my favorite part of visiting is seeing the colors, (sunrise or sunset) on the ocean, the calming movement of the water, and the smell of the fresh morning air. So in this painting, I tried to paint the feeling of those beautiful hazy views into the piece.
I do quite a bit of digging around researching earlier miniature art through various different sources. The art of miniature painting has so many different facets to it and connected to so many cultures. Seeing so much that has come before me is very inspiring in my own painting.
I think I find them particularly fascinating because my painting methods originated with my studies a number of years ago with a Flemish artist who also paints nature like this. He had studied it in his native country. It is rooted deeply in their culture. …and continues today.
