Paintings for Livada: The Hostage Game at Ogra Gypsy Village

Posted on August 3, 2016 by lksukany

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.

Our group went to the Ogra Gypsy Village one day to meet the kids and bring some fun. We were greeted by the children who ran to us and grabbed our hands to hold.

We walked through the village, which was like an alley behind big houses. Their small houses were set up and separated by fences.

We walked to a large field and the kids formed two lines. We played “The Hostage Game”, which is like the Romanian version of “Red Rover.” The sun was warm, but the breeze was cool. It was the best day!

Image to Paint

Charcoal Sketch on Canvas

Painting Sketch (1st Coat)

Painting Sketch (2nd Coat)

Final Painting

15 Illustrations: Sunday Morning at St. Andrews

Posted on July 8, 2016 by lksukany

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.

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,

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

The inspiration for this drawing:

15 Illustrations: Walking at Two Rivers

Posted on June 5, 2016 by lksukany

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.

Derwent-Inktense-Pencil-12-350

“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.

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

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

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

My inspirations for this drawing!

Paintings for Livada: Nana’s Romania

Posted on March 28, 2016 by lksukany

Nana used to work with Livada in Romania and helped host the trip. When I told Nana about the painting series and what I hoped to achieve, she was delighted to give me a picture and request a painting for her home.

Image to Paint

Charcoal Sketch on Canvas

Painting Sketch (1st Coat)

Painting Sketch (2nd Coat)

Painting Sketch (3rd Coat)

Painting Sketch (4th Coat)

I took the painting to Nana’s house, and although the picture she gave me to paint from was on an overcast day, she really wanted it to appear more sunny and bright.

Final Painting

Arkansas Arts on Tour Artist

Posted on September 29, 2015 by lksukany

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.

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

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.

Paper Opera

Art, music, and stories.

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