by houstonwine | Oct 19, 2017 | Paintings, People, Uncategorized
I completed the grisaille (pronounced ɡriˈzī) today. A grisaille is a monocrhome oil painting in shades of gray that helps to add depth to a painting. Next I will paint from darks to lights. Afterwards, I’ll add chroma or color. Share...
by houstonwine | Oct 15, 2017 | Paintings, People
I sprayed a matte retouching fixative on my charcoal drawing yesterday to hold the charcoal on the canvas. Then I painted over it a touch of a light transparent wash mixed with Van Dyke Brown oil paint diluted with Gamsol. The idea is to create a tea...
by houstonwine | Oct 12, 2017 | Paintings, People
Here’s what’s sitting on my easel today. This ” Native Princess” is a charcoal sketch on stretched canvas. The subject is a young native American woman Richard and I saw at a Pow Wow in Houston. Now that I completed the under...
by houstonwine | Apr 5, 2017 | Nature, Paintings, Uncategorized
Here is the latest small-scale oil painting in Mary’s Four Seasons series. Share...
by houstonwine | Apr 5, 2017 | Nature, Paintings
Here is the latest small-scale painting from Mary’s Four Seasons series. Share...
by houstonwine | Apr 5, 2017 | Nature, Paintings
Here is the latest large scale oil painting from Mary’s Four Seasons series of Venetian-style paintings. Share...
by houstonwine | Jun 23, 2016 | Uncategorized
Chemist Mas Subramanian and his team of assistants at Oregon State University stumbled upon a new vivid share of blue pigment that is resistant to fading. The pigment is being marketed to artists by Shepherd Color Company. The pigment is composed primarily...
by houstonwine | Jun 18, 2016 | Uncategorized
Thomas Hoving, former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, wrote a book titled False Impressions: The Hunt for Big Time Art Fakes (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996). In the very first chapter Hoving states that during his decade and a half at the museum, he...
by houstonwine | May 30, 2016 | Drawings
Mary spent much of the past four months sitting in a hospital room with her husband, Richard LaGarde, who was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia. While waiting for Richard to recover, she sketched him in charcoal and pencil using hot pressed watercolor paper....
by houstonwine | May 28, 2016 | Drawings
Mary’s husband, Richard, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in February of 2016. Mary has been with him through three hospitalizations, three rounds of chemotherapy, and a stem cell transplant. Mary used her time in the hospital to sketch...
by houstonwine | Dec 27, 2015 | Nature, Paintings
Mary LaGarde finished her latest painting. The painting, Aspens Spring I, is oil on canvas and is 36″ X 60″. Mary is a portrait painter by background. She decided recently to use the Venetian method of portrait painting to create...
by houstonwine | Sep 4, 2015 | Nature
Mary completed her latest portrait of Aspens in the Spring. Mary found these trees while hiking at the base of Mt. Evans in Colorado. Share...
by houstonwine | Sep 2, 2015 | Nature
Mary completed another painting as part of her Aspens series. She is using the Venetian technique which starts with a charcoal sketch she draws directly onto the canvas. Share...
by houstonwine | Mar 30, 2015 | Paintings, People
Mary painted her granddaughter Genevieve on the beach at Clam Pass in Naples, Florida. The painting is oil on canvas and is 18″ x 24″. The painting is a hybrid between the 19th Century impressionist method and the traditional classical approach. Share...
by houstonwine | Jan 2, 2015 | Nature, Paintings
The subject of Mary’s painting is an old aspen tree she found while hiking near Mount Evans in Colorado. As usual, she used the Venetian painting technique which is very time-consuming. She started with a charcoal under-drawing. The...
by houstonwine | Oct 28, 2014 | Nature, Paintings
Mary found this grove of Aspen trees near Echo Lake in Colorado. She used the Venetian painting technique consisting of a charcoal under drawing, a grisaille, and layer upon layer of pigment to create an almost three dimensional look. The process is very...
by houstonwine | Sep 8, 2014 | Nature, Paintings
Mary found this grove of aspen trees on a snow-covered trail in Colorado near Echo Lake. She used the Venetian technique of painting to capture the scene. The Venetian technique uses a charcoal under-drawing, a monochrome “grisaille”, and layer-upon-layer of...
by houstonwine | Mar 23, 2014 | Contemporary, Paintings
Mary painted this oil on canvas contemporary piece one weekend in 2004 as a gift to her husband. She studied Picasso’s Guitar & Violin painting for inspiration but incorporated her own ideas into the piece. In 2010, Mary was able to view the original Guitar...
by houstonwine | Mar 22, 2014 | Paintings, People
Mary and her husband Richard were guests at a luncheon sponsored by the American Board of Trial Advocates at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakesh, Morocco. At the conclusion of the lunch, the waiters poured traditional Moroccan mint tea for the guests. Mary captured...
by houstonwine | Mar 22, 2014 | Drawings
Mary drew this charcoal sketch of her grandfather, William Austin Nichols, in 2010. Her grandfather was a navy officer who served in both World War II and the Korean conflict.Mary drew this sketch as a present for her grandmother, Florence Elizabeth Nichols, who was...
