"Summer Hummer," original Scratchbord™ © Judy Lavoie 2024
9 Jul 2024

My Touch of Bling

posted in: Judy Lavoie, scratchboard, Scratchbord®, watercolor | 0

A walk through my friend Lil’s gorgeous gardens inspired my newest scratchboard “Summer Hummer.” I had been pondering a suitable painting subject to use some new metallic watercolors. A male ruby-throated hummingbird seemed perfect, with his sparkling emerald crown and red throat. I could paint our summer visitor as if he were hovering in front of a flower to sip nectar; Lil’s brilliant red tubular flowers of “Crocosmia Lucifer” (native to South Africa) gave me the ideal floral reference. A … Read More

"Violet," an original acrylic on canvas © Judy Lavoie 2024
13 Jun 2024

I’m No Shrinking Violet!

posted in: acrylic, commissioned painting, Golden Fluid Acrylics, Judy Lavoie | 0

With the reference photo on my desktop computer, I cropped it to fit 8×10, as Brenda requested. When I enlarged Violet’s face to study the details I could see that a close up, done horizontally, would make a more dynamic painting than doing her whole body in a vertical layout, especially on such a small canvas. I ran this idea past Brenda, showing her both options, and she agreed. I was off and running! For my commissioned work I choose … Read More

"Puppy Love" original watercolor on paper © Judy Lavoie 2024
20 May 2024

My Portrait – A Winner!

posted in: awards, Judy Lavoie, Tennessee Watercolor Society, watercolor | 0

As you can see, it’s not a self-portrait or even a human portrait. It’s my dog Maggie, who is now 11 years old. My reference was one of many photos I took of her the first day we adopted her as a 7-lb shelter puppy. Her innocence fooled us then – she turned out to be the most challenging pup we ever raised. Today she is calm and loving, but she occasionally shows her stubborn and independent streak! Her eyes … Read More

"Warm Fuzzies" original scratchboard with inks © Judy Lavoie 2024
15 May 2024

Beginners’ Guide to Scratchboards

posted in: Judy Lavoie, scratchboard, Scratchbord®, Tips and Techniques | 0

When I display my scratchboard artwork, these are the most common questions I hear: What is Scratchboard? How long does it take you to do a scratchboard? Do you need a lot of patience? How do you add color? What if you make a mistake? I answer all these questions below. My newest scratchboard “Warm Fuzzies,” which I recently showed in progress for several scratchboard demonstrations, is now finished and posted below, with detailed step-by-step photos and explanations to help … Read More

"Sailors Take Warning," original watercolor © Judy Lavoie 2024
7 Feb 2024

Expanding My Horizons

posted in: Judy Lavoie, New Artwork, Nubble Lighthouse, Tips and Techniques, watercolor | 0

I’ve been using all my art time recently to paint, finally taking a breather to show you what I’ve been up to. My concentration for the past couple of years has been on scratchboarding, which I love. But it was time to change gears and get back to watercolors. As a longtime member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, I wanted to have at least two new show-worthy watercolor paintings to enter the 2024 biannual exhition, to be held in Knoxville … Read More

"Making Our Marks" exhibit postcard
8 Jan 2024

A Really Big Show

posted in: art show, Judy Lavoie, scratchboard | 0

I’ve just hung over 40 pieces of my artwork in a 3-month solo exhibition! My scratchboards are featured, along with many of my watercolors, acrylics, and prints. The Art Gallery walls are full at the Rarity Bay Community Activity Center in Vonore, Tennessee. It is a beautiful venue and I am delighted to be able to present my work there. “Making Our Marks” is the title of the show, and it is the first in the gallery to feature artwork … Read More

"Dragonfly" scratchboard © Judy Lavoie 2023
4 Dec 2023

What is bokeh?

posted in: Judy Lavoie, New Artwork, scratchboard, Tips and Techniques | 0

Have you ever noticed a background in a photograph which has blurry circles of light against darker areas? This is a “Bokeh” effect, and is comes from a Japanese word meaning “blur quality.” Evidently it means than just the blur, it’s the overall effect of the soft out-of-focus background, from an aesthetic viewpoint. I have used this effect in watercolor paintings in the past, and recently saw other scratchboard artists apply bokeh nicely to their backgrounds. So I decided to … Read More

Award Certificate for Hillbilly
8 Nov 2023

Fame & Fortune

posted in: Judy Lavoie | 0

Fame and fortune on a small scale anyway! My new scratchboard “Hillbilly” was juried into the 2023 International Society of Scratchboard Artists 12th Annual Exhibition, among the works of just 41 scratchboard artists from around the world. This is a very prestigeous show with extraordinary artwork (see the Exhibition Catalog online) so I am very honored to be included again this year. But wait, there’s more… Hillbilly received an award as well. It is called the “4:02 Award” in memory … Read More

sad emoji
11 Oct 2023

No Calendars

posted in: calendar, Judy Lavoie | 0

After serious consideration, I have decided not to create an art calendar for 2024. Time, costs and publishing obstacles are the main reasons: Creating the art, producing the calendar layout and completing many related steps require lots of my time; lately my ‘art time’ has been committed to a variety of activities, like teaching scratchboard classes, doing art presentations, entering competitions, volunteering at exhibitions, and prepping for a 3-month solo show. And I still need to sneak in time to … Read More

"Breeding Plumage" original scratchboard with inks © Judy Lavoie
2 Oct 2023

My Grand Slam

posted in: Judy Lavoie | 0

I’ve been juried into the annual Oak Ridge (TN) Art Center OPEN SHOW for the past five years, with 2 paintings accepted one year. But this is the first time I have scored four successes! Here’s how it has played out this year: My scratchboard “Breeding Plumage” was chosen by the juror Stephen Wicks, curator of the Knoxville Museum of Art, from 442 entries. His critique: “Exceptional attention to detail. Overall composition well served by use of color.” The juror … Read More

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