Mary Giacomini is a Colorado artist who loves to paint the Rocky Mountain landscape. She paints proficiently in oil, pastel and watercolor. She teaches art classes both out of her studio and for the Loveland Museum Gallery, in Loveland, Colorado.
I am pleased to announce that "Off the Grid" was accepted in the Thompson Valley Art League's 2016 Regional Fine Art Show. I found this unique mountain landscape while visiting Marble, Colorado a few years ago. The light was just going over the cliffs surrounding me and illuminating this home off the grid. This year the Regional show had 300+ entries and accepted around 70. I am honored to have my watercolor shown there for the month of June. Please join me June 10, 2016 from 6-9 during the opening which is free to the public.
You can see more of my artwork online: Facebook page (open to the public)
I attended a figurative workshop in March at theMasters Easel Art Academy taught by Bryce Liston. Bryce taught a wonderful workshop where I learned to use the Zorn pallet and Gamut mapping. These limited pallet techniques were an interesting challenge. I am intrigued and am exploring them further. In the workshop we had limited use of our OMS-Gamsol which helped keep the air clean with a dozen artists oil painting. I decided to take it to the next level and eliminate the use of all solvents in my studio. I have done some online research and was floored to find that the OMS of choice, Gamsol is far from non toxic. I have had students complain of headaches even though I keep an exhaust fan in the window and an air filter running. Those headaches are now gone. For cleaning brushes, I found there are plenty of safe options. I wait until I am done with a painting session to clean the brushes I used that day. I use Viva paper towels, or lint free rags to get as much paint off as possible. I found that Murphy's Oil Soap straight from the bottle cleans my brushes just fine. I have also used Gamblin's Solvent Free Gel, Walnut Alkyd medium, Art Treehouse BioBased Thinner, Spike of Lavender and Linseed Oil but I keep coming back to the Murphy's because the cost is lower and it cleans just as well. I do rinse my brushes out with water after cleaning to remove any residue. For toning a canvas, I use the Walnut Alkyd medium or Spike of Lavender with a little oil paint to knock out the white. I am still experimenting with the BioBased thinner to make sure it's archival. I offer a Thursday morning Oil Painting class that is now Solvent Free. I just wish I would've made the switch years ago.
