On My Drawing Board: June 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Much appreciation for a great article!

Many thanks to Karen Hendricks of Hendricks Communications for her fine article about my work on the Handmade in PA blog! Check out this link to the article:
http://www.handmadeinpa.net/2013/06/civil-war-fine-art-beyond-the-battlefield/

Sunday, June 16, 2013

One-Day Painting Giveaway

This past Thursday, June 13, was the annual One-Day Painting Giveaway at my Gettysburg gallery. I start a small painting at 10 am, work till 5 pm and every guest is invited to enter his or her name in a drawing to win the painting at the end of the day. I advertised that I would be painting an iconic Gettysburg scene in honor of the 150th anniversary, so I chose an 1863 photo of the gatehouse at Evergreen Cemetery to use as the basis for my painting. I was able to include here a few photographs of the various steps of this painting, rendered with Neocolor II watersoluble wax pastels and Inktense watercolor pencils, as well as the finished product along with the photo used as the basis for this painting. A couple from Canada were the winners of this painting and seemed to be quite pleased!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Getting back on track

It's been so long since I've posted -- life has been very hectic this year and I'm struggling to keep on top of everything. Better late than never, I guess...as far as posting is concerned.

Today's painting -- created in several types of water media -- was done at the Quick Draw event on the square in Gettysburg, part of the Gettysburg Festival. Quick Draw is a timed painting session; two hours start to finish. It's a lot of fun but a real challenge. I'm calling my painting "Things Are Looking Up" -- it shows a portion of the Gettysburg Hotel in the background, complete with 150th Anniversary banners.

What is the "Civil War Chronology Project"?

(formerly called The Civil War 150 Project)

The commemoration of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), which was held in October of 2009, is widely considered to mark the beginning of the Sesquicentennial -- or 150th -- anniversary of the Civil War era. Over the next five years, many states and local communities will be marking the 150th anniversary of battles and important events that occurred in their areas during that era, and state and local commissions are being established to bring attention to those events.

Since I first began developing my series of images inspired by Civil War-era America and its people, my goal has always been to provide a complement to the images of battle scenes and famous generals focused on by most other Civil War artists. My approach has been to get to know these people in their pre-war identities and culture, and try to move through the War era in a chronological fashion, hoping to gain some sense of what they experienced as the War unfolded and engulfed them. My work can essentially be described as homage to life in the midst of war, but it carries a contemporary sensibility in hopes of encouraging viewers to see parallels between their lives and the lives of Americans gone before us.

The Civil War Chronology Project is the title I have given to the ongoing project I have developed for myself, to chronicle the lesser-known people and events of the Civil War era beginning with the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852 and continuing through the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April of 1865. I currently have created more than twenty pieces which were inspired by the incidents and people in the years leading up to, and then including, the First Battle of Manassas (also known as First Bull Run). To view the works created prior to 2010, please visit my website, http://www.civilwarfineart.com/, and specifically, my Beyond the Battlefield gallery page. Since helping viewers establish a more personal connection with the people of the Civil War era is a primary goal of mine, I welcome feedback from my audience. Thank you for viewing! ~~Amy V. Lindenberger