Miriam Sanders Art and Design

03/07/2024

A little better color in the light of day.
Watercolor on arches cold press. 12”x9”

03/07/2024

Playing with pen & ink and watercolor today.

Spring is coming…

Tube watercolor on cold press arches cotton paper.

02/28/2024

On the easel:
Maybe this one is “The queen”

In progress…

This one sat for a while in an underpainting state while I focused on sorting out my studio space (also, in progress).

Oil on canvas.
16”x20”

11/18/2023

Sometimes you get to use all the colors in your paintbox.
For Miss Annie.
Oil on Canvas, 16”x20”
© Miriam Sanders Rakes

10/15/2022

I managed to make a few prints today.

Good enough. 😉

10/14/2022

I’ve been musing lately on this phrase. It has presented itself in reading, in listening, in conversations I’ve had over the last few weeks.
As I emerge from burnout, and from our collective trauma, I find the need to create is imminent, but so is the need to let go of perfectionism and preciousness.

Here is my offering today.

03/07/2022

03/07/2022

Prayers for Ukraine

7.825” x 10.325”
oil on shellacked paperboard

Direct observation alla prima

Palette of lemon yellow, hansa yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow deep, cad. Orange, cad. Red, alizarin crimson, Venetian red, burnt sienna, burnt umber, pthalo green, cobalt blue, ultramarine, dioxazine purple, titanium white

02/26/2022

Spent a little time on the water and shadows.

“Esme in the Creek”
5”x8” Oil on shellacked paperboard
©2022 Miriam Sanders Rakes

02/25/2022

Today’s effort.

“Esme in the Creek”
©2022 Miriam Sanders Rakes

About 3 hours a la prima

Palette of titanium white, Naples yellow, lemon yellow, cad yellow, yellow ochre, cad. orange, cad red, quinacridone magenta, burnt umber, raw umber, pthalo green, cobalt blue, ultramarine, dioxazine purple.

Darks mixed from dioxazine and pthalo.

I want to work on the water blues and violets, and the sparkle. I would like to do a larger iteration of this on canvas soon.

I had no expectations approaching this today, just show up at my canvas. I mixed colors yesterday and I was able to stick to those mixed colors mostly which makes me happy.

(I’m) Happy painting!

02/19/2022

Giada
Oil on Canvas
12”x16”
©2022 Miriam Sanders Rakes
She goes home tomorrow. ❤️🍌🎨

02/13/2022

a week of painting


Days 1-5

Being a mom of young kids, I haven’t painted in years. What a balm to my soul to look and find and see colors again.

The challenge was to spend only 20 minutes to complete a painting each day, to get out of monkey mind and into flow. I seemed to increase rather than decrease the time spent painting on each day. But I am painting again.

I am much more comfortable with a brush (than a palette knife). The last two paintings were almost exclusively painted with a palette knife.

More to come.