Paintings for Livada: Romania Hillside with Tree

When I was on the missions trip with Grace Church serving the Livada Orphan Care ministry in Romania, the beauty of the country inspired me. I had the idea that when I got home to Arkansas I could paint these Romanian scenes and donate the paintings to Livada to raise money for orphan sponsorship.

This scene is one of many beautiful landscapes I was able to enjoy on our drive to serve for the day (in the kids camp, the gypsy village, and baby hospital). The air was fresh, the day warm but with a breeze, and the clouds were full and moving. There were so many open fields, so when I saw this tree, I thought it a nice composition to have the lone tree in front.

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Image to Paint

14. Romania Hillside with Tree

Charcoal Sketch on Canvas

14. Romani Hillside with Tree Sketch

Painting Sketch (1st Coat)

Romania Romania Hillside with Tree

Painting Sketch (2nd Coat)

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Final Painting

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15 Illustrations: Sunday Morning at St. Andrews

I am working with Inktense pencils, Prismacolor and Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad to create 15 illustrations (that is how many pieces of paper are in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations.

This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy I have been experiencing with my family and friend life situation.

In “Sunday Morning at St. Andrews,” our little family is standing while the Gospel according to St. Matthew is being read – in which we all respond “Glory to you Lord, Christ.” We have recently moved to Springfield, MO for M’s job and I am really missing our church St. Andrews, so this piece is especially sentimental.

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I wanted to match the actual color of the main wall in the church, so I blended Carmine Pink and Tangerine Inktense pencils to get that orange color. All in all I was happy with the composition and patterns in this illustration.

Some of the things I enjoy the most about this drawing are our little family portrait,

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the Gospel reading, IMG_9131and the backs of the other people’s hair and patterned clothes.IMG_9132

The inspiration for this drawing:

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15 Illustrations: Walking at Two Rivers

This series is called 15 illustrations because that’s how many pages is in my awesome art pad gift – a Canson 11×14″ Illustration art pad 150lb. I am using a blend of inktense pencils and micron ink pens size .005, .01, .03, .05, .07, and .08. This series is inspired by my family and all of the fun and interesting things we do together.

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“Walking at Two Rivers” is pretty self explanatory. The Two Rivers Park Bridge is in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a pedestrian and bike bridge connected to Two Rivers Park. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The bridge is 1,368 feet long. It opened to the public July 23, 2011. We moved to Little Rock November 2008, so when this park opened a couple of years later, we were pretty happy to have a great place like this to walk. My favorite part of this trail is going through a forest of large trees. I used a blend of inktense pencils leaf green and teal green for the forest.

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My favorite parts of this drawing are the trees and leaves,

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the baby in the stroller, striped pants, and M’s face.

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Although the path is asphalt, I really wanted to make it a rock path.

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My inspirations for this drawing!

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Arkansas Arts on Tour Artist

I applied for the Arkansas Arts Council Arts on Tour Roster. I was contacted to interview to be an Arts on Tour artist. I put together a sample packet for the interview as well as a presentation.

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Included in the sample packet:
Artist Statement
Artist Biography
Artist Resume/CV
Artist Business Card
Press Release
CD of Artworks
Detail List
Portfolio Contact Sheet (a page with the art images as thumbnails)
Exhibition Postcard (Sample)
Exhibition Agreement (Sample)
Artist Photograph
A list of the local galleries and community spaces to exhibit

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The first 5-10 minutes of the interview was an informal demonstration with the rest of the time used to discuss programming ideas and marketing/promotional plans. Based on the presentation and the responses in the interview, the review panel decided whether or not I would be a candidate for the Arkansas Arts Council to sponsor through the Arts on Tour roster beginning July 2015. 

I met with the Arkansas Arts Council Review Panel for an artist interview. I put together a PowerPoint presentation of my work. However, the panel interviews were held on the first floor of the same building that my work was already being shown. Instead of using the PowerPoint presentation, we all went upstairs to the Attorney General’s Office and I gave a walking tour presentation of the work.

I was contacted by the Arkansas Arts Council Grant Programs Manager that a consensus vote by the panelists determined that I should be included as one of the Arts on Tour Roster artist for 2015-2016. The Arts on Tour program offers grant money to reimburse galleries part of the payed exhibitions.

L.K. Sukany Art Exhibit at Wildwood Park for the Arts

As an Arkansas Arts Council Arts on Tour artist, Wildwood Park for the Arts was one of the galleries I contacted about an exhibit.

M and I went to Wildwood a couple of days before the opening, and Sofia helped us hang the show.

  
  

There were some cool press opportunities: Arkansas Life and Little Rock Soiree Online.

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A lot of people came to the opening. There was a sign-in sheet at the front to enter into a drawing to win a framed “Reading Into It” lithography print – for the duration of the show. Whole Foods catered!

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Along with the exhibition and delicious snacks from Whole Foods, “The Damsels in Distress” played an instrumental set.

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“Know Who’s a Robot” also played, and it was a super good time.

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After the exhibition, I was interviewed for the Wildwood Park for the Arts websiteRead Artist Interview here.