Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 5

Not a lot new to show; I just want to get back in the habit of posting on a more regular basis. I have started laying in the center section trees. I also spent a lot of time studying the image and deciding what to insert in the box shape in the lower middle section, as well as what might go into a similar shape in the lower far right section. I'm hoping to have more time to work on this piece this afternoon.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 4

Finally had a chance to make a little progress with this. I think I've figured out how I want to handle the addition of the superimposed images that aren't part of the woods, but that perhaps tell more of a story about Emma's transition. I've started to indicate the first of three images in a "frame" in the lower left. We'll see how this goes! (In other words: we'll see if I continue to like this plan!)

In other news: yesterday I made the happy discovery that Sarah Emma Edmonds I: Departure (show title, Departure), a piece whose progress I posted on this blog when I began it a year ago, has been accepted into the Colored Pencil Society of America's online exhibition, Explore This! 7. The exhibition can be viewed on their website, http://www.cpsa.org/, beginning February 1 and running through January 31, 2012. Though I don't always submit entries to this show -- which stipulates that the artist must use colored pencil in combination with another medium or non-colored pencil element -- this is the first time I've had a piece accepted into this exhibition. I'm quite excited about this opportunity!

To view more of my Civil War-themed works, please visit http://www.civilwarfineart.com/. To view my other work or learn about the classes and workshops I teach, please visit http://www.AmyLindenberger.com.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 3

I began adding a few more branches and started extending the Tuscan Red into new territory.

Progress has been slow, as I'm still working the gallery in Gettysburg, PA through the holiday season, and also have a commission that needs to be completed by mid-December. So my attention is more on those two things than on progress with my own personal work, right now. To see the various series' of work I have developed for my gallery, please visit http://www.CivilWarFineArt.com.

Sarah Emma Edmonds: Transformation, Step 2

Not a lot of new information to report; I've just added some additional Tuscan Red to some of the tree trunks and more patches of sky using the Light green. I have some symbolic imagery I'd like to add in the left foreground, but am currently unsure of how to do it without the viewer thinking it's part of the more literal, woods area. I'll have to experiment a bit, I think, away from the actual drawing.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: "Transformation"

Finally, I've gotten back to the second in my series about Sarah Emma Edmonds, the Canadian-born woman who took on a male identity prior to the Civil War, and as the war began, enlisted in the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry as Franklin Thompson. At present, I'm calling it "Transformation", but that's just a working title.

This piece relates to the period when Emma left her home in Canada and worked on developing her male persona, hiding in the woods by day and travelling only under cover of darkness until she felt confident in her new role. I'm seeking an air of mystery and tension as I begin this piece, and those goals helped direct me to choose an apricot-colored acid-free mat board surface -- I believe the color is called Taos -- large enough for the composition I have planned. So far I'm working primarily with an Imperial Violet Prismacolor pencil, though I've also just begun adding a little Tuscan Red to see how that works on one of the darker tree trunks, and a little light green in the sky sections. It's all an experiment at this point, but I like the quality of surrealism I'm seeing.

Miniatures

Before I begin my posts of the stages of my latest piece in my Beyond the Battlefield series, I wanted to let you know about three miniatures that I have had accepted into an exhibition that will open this week. The show is the 26th Annual Miniature Art 2010 Exhibition at the Council for the Arts, 159 S. Main St., Chambersburg, PA. The opening reception will be held from 4 - 7 pm, Friday, November 5. The show will remain on display through January 8, and gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am - 2 pm. (They do recommend you call 717-264-6883 to confirm hours during the holidays.)

Miniatures are something I decided to challenge myself to do, given that most of my work is very large -- my "regular" minimum size is generally about 16" x 20" and most of my work is much larger. Working in miniature is a real change of pace: controlling the pencils strokes at that scale to create a smooth surface, getting details as needed, determining an effective composition. All three of these pieces are images of various locations on the Gettysburg battlefield, and they are approximately 2 1/2" x 4" in size. The first piece shown above is entitled "Pennsylvania Monument in November"; it's done on a vellum finish bristol board. The next two, "Seeking Shelter from the Sun" and "Trostle Farm in October", are both done on a surface I've been experimenting with -- PastelMat, this one a sienna color -- and have nearly fallen in love with! Unlike traditional, sanded pastel papers, it's not gritty; it has a smooth, almost suede-like feel. But it grabs the color in a way I've never experienced on regular papers, making excessive layering unnecessary. It also seems to erase quite well. I'm anxious to try this surface for larger works as well and have found that it is available in both small tablets and large single sheets from Dick Blick.

To see more of my miniatures and other categories of work, please visit http://www.civilwarfineart.com/.

Time to regroup!

No image today -- just trying to catch up, get back in the flow.


It's been a trying couple of months. My 86-year-old mother passed away on August 17 after nearly a decade of struggling with Alzheimer's disease. We hated to see her go, but we also didn't want her to linger any longer in that condition. Since her wishes were to have her remains cremated, and since at this point in her life it was mostly family who would be attending any memorial service, we opted to wait until just this past weekend -- to gather family from across the country -- to have her interment and Celebration of Life. We were quite pleased to have all her living family members in attendance, and know that both of our parents would have been happy with the gathering.


On September 2 I was in a car accident, struck by a driver who ran a red light and slammed into my car at about 45 mph. Neither I nor my 9-year-old granddaughter -- who was in the car with me -- were seriously injured, but the car was totalled and as a result, I was forced to keep my Gettysburg gallery closed for several weeks.


On a happier note, this past weekend my recently-posted image of Frederick Douglass -- exhibition title "Impassioned" -- was awarded Best of Show at Midwest Color 2010, a biennial colored pencil exhibition which is being hosted this year by District Chapter 120 of the Colored Pencil Society of America and is on display at the New Union Center for the Arts in Oberlin, Ohio. Because the opening reception took place this past weekend at the same time as my family gathering, I have not yet attended the exhibition, but hope to see it before it closes November 5, and am extremely honored to receive this award!


I've tried to keep busy with my artistic pursuits as well, since my last post, and will have new images to post later this week.