Disney/Ryman An Affair of the Art

I just shipped three paintings that will be part of "An Affair of the Art" Exhibition to benefit Ryman Arts on Saturday, September 20th.  I'm thrilled to be invited to be in the show again this year at the lovely home and garden in the Hollywood Hills,  of Marty Sklar  the retired head of Walt Disney Imagineering.  This years theme is "Under the Big Top," and will feature a Patron Special Presentation of rare film footage of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, the years Herbert Ryman sketched and painted when they traveled to small towns through out the  United States.  Including the time when C.B. DeMille studied sites for the Academy Award Winning film, "The Greatest Show on Earth,"  which was filmed in Sarasota, Florida.

f you would like to learn more about this event and this wonderful cause you can click here to read my post from last year's show, and here to visit the Ryman Arts web site and to purchase tickets.  Many Disney artists and artists from the Los Angeles are invited to exhibit in the show.   You can also preview the art in the show by clicking here.

Reward, Watercolor on Archival Paper, 6" x 6", 15 cm x 15 cm

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Watercolor Sketch The Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World

It's been a busy week here in the studio.  My newest work Gate of Reverence is finished except for a signature and a pressing.  Will post the finished painting soon!  I'm also in the process of researching and designing my next painting which I will be doing for a very special cause.  More to come on that too!  My daughter is home from school. I have been spending some wonderful time with her on her days off from work. And, my husband has some time off from work too!   Life is good.

Today thought I would post a sketch done a while back of some local subject matter.  This is a view of The Grand Floridian Hotel at Walt Disney World in Florida.  It's kind of challenging to sketch a big "grand" building on a small 6 inch by 9 inch page.   It forces you to measure and keep it simple!

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New Work...Clowning Around

I took a little break from Gate of Reverence to work on this small painting. I had done a ton of research, taking photos at the Nemo & Friends Pavilion at Epcot,  to paint the Coral Reef Restaurant Menus and have wanted to do more sea life themed paintings.  This months themed exhibition at the 127 SoBo Gallery in Winter Garden, Florida is She Sells Sea Shells:  Works focusing on nautical themes and water.  Perfect!

This is another painting like Star Struck that I mounted to a cradled board and sealed with a spray acrylic sealer, thus, no need for framing with glass.  I like the idea of doing a series of these sea life themed paintings mounted this way.  I feel it would make a great collection to hang together, or to set on shelves or table tops!

If you are an artist interested in this process of framing without glass. I am in the process of writing an article on the steps and techniques, which will be available for download. I would like to experiment with a few more sealing options before publishing the article so please stay tuned.

If you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact me.  It will be at the 127 SoBo Gallery the months of June and July and if purchased then, 30% of the sales will go to the gallery, which is a non profit organization!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the summer!

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The Actual Coral Reef Restaurant Menus at Epcot, Walt Disney World

I haven't been to the Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot, Walt Disney World to order from these yet, but I did get copies to keep!!  I am so thrilled with how they turned out!  After I did the initial design with the sea turtle the folks at Epcot liked the design so much they wanted to do the dinner and dessert menus too.  In order not to have to paint the entire painting multiple times, (It was painted on a full size watercolor sheet, 22" x 30")  I painted the spotted eagle ray separately and it was digitally swapped out with the turtle.  For the dessert menu they liked the lower left portion of the full painting and cropped in for the smaller menu.

Menu Interior

For the interior of the menu I did a tone on tone painting to serve as the background for the copy.  The graphic designer at Walt Disney Imagineering did the layout  of the other elements on top of my painted background.

The Original Painting, Watercolor, 22" x 30"

The actual menus covers measure 8.5" x 14", however, I painted the image large because I wanted to have a larger surface to get more variation in color and not have to paint the details super small.

I couldn't me more pleased and can't wait to go and order food!

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The Coral Reef Restaurant Menus at Epcot, Walt Disney World are Out!

I found out yesterday that the menus I didfor the Coral Reef are in guests hands at the restaurant!!   A friend who ate there last night sent me a photo of the dinner menu.  From the photo they look great and I can’t wait to see them in person.  So today I”m sharinga photo of the original painting for the lunch menu which features a sea turtle.  The dinner menu is essentially the same painting, and features a spotted eagle ray instead of the turtle.  I also painted the background of the interiors of the menus. For the smaller dessert menu they were going to crop out more of a detailed area of the larger painting.

When I receive copies of the actual menus I will share them too.  I am so excited, this project was an absolute joy to work on and am thrilled the folks at Walt Disney Imagineering and at Epcot loved it!  If you are at Epcot for the Flower and Garden Festival stop by Coral Reef and take a peek!

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The Coral Reef Menu Commission for Epcot Walt Disney World is Finished

I have neglected the blog because this is the week I needed to finish the Coral Reef Restaurant, Epcot, menu project. If you’re new to the blog, I was commissioned to do the cover art for the lunch, dinner and dessert menus as well as the menu interiors.   I’m happy to say I turned it all in yesterday to Walt Disney Imagineering and they were very happy with it, as was I!  They will present it to the folks at Epcot and then it will go to print sometime in April and then I can share what I have been working on since November!

Paris Passy Gate... where I left off...

I will be getting back to the other painting on my easel, Paris Passy Gate and some small works I’ve designed and have been in the queue to paint.

Happy Spring, Azaleas are blooming!

Also want to wish everyone a happy spring and hopefully all of you up north have had a break in the weather and are enjoying some more pleasant conditions!  What a rough winter it has been for you all!!! I know some of you have been down my way for spring breaks.  It seems a lot of people are flocking down here, but I can’t say I blame them!

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My Current Commission, Cover Art for Menus at Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot, Walt Disney World

I’ve been working on a commission since last November and haven’t been able to share the details.  I can now share what it is, but not any images, sketches, or work in progress photos yet.  I’m thrilled to be working with Walt Disney Imagineering again on a design and illustration project! The graphics group initially commissioned me to design and paint in watercolor the cover for lunch menu for the Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot.  If you have never been, it is one of the nicest dining rooms at Walt Disney World featuring a panoramic view of the aquarium that is also part of The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction, formally knows asthe Living Seas Pavilion. When if first opened in 1986,  it had the largest salt water tank in the world at 5.7 million gallons.  However, in 2005 when the Georgia Aquarium opened it became the second largest.

Entrance Hall Looking Back Toward Lobby

First I had to do quite a bit of research to become familiar with the sea life that was in the tank.  One morning I went and photographed the tank from inside the restaurant before guests arrived.  Since I was there, I couldn’t help myself and rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends ride, :-), which put me on the other side of the attraction with more views of the big tank and smaller exhibits with aquariums featuring coral, smaller fish, eels, and sea horses.  There is also a manatee tank in this area as well.  I took well over 500 photos so that I would have plenty of reference material.

Glass Accent Light Fixture on Wall in Dining Area

I worked out the overall design for the menu cover from all the reference material I gathered doing a number of sketches until I was happy with the composition.   I then did a tighter pencil sketch, value study,  watercolor color swatches and a half size color comp that was presented to get approval for design.  Thegroup at Epcot like it so much, they want to incorporate the painting on, not only the lunch menu, but the dinner and dessert menu too!  Now that the design has been approved I will start on the actual painting.  I’m putting some other studio work on hold to get back to this project.  It has been so much fun doing the research and design and I’m really looking forward to the actual painting part to see it come to life!

Unfortunately I won’t be able to share any images until the menus go to print, which should be some time in April.... so stay tuned!

Door Pull on Front Door to Coral Reef Restaurant

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