Judy Lavoie

Selecting the best frame for a painting can be challenging, and it’s often helpful to have a professional framer to assist. The watercolor competitions I often enter require very plain frames with white or neutral mats around the artwork, so that makes for simple choices. There’s method to this madness… once the exhibit is hung, the entire display has a uniformity and each painting stands out without attention to the framing. However, when I’m framing my non-competition artwork, I have … Read More

Come join my Scratchboard 101 Class, a 3-hour lecture on Friday, November 15, 2019, from 1-4pm. It will be held at the Chota Recreation Center in Tellico Village, 145 Awohili Dr, Loudon, TN 37774. This is a lecture-based “how-to” beginner class to introduce scratchboards as a unique and exciting surface for artwork. Participants will go home with the knowledge and tools to start scratchboarding right away! My presentation will focus on white “Aquabord™” and black “Scratchbord™.” Included will be examples … Read More

I’ve read that when you are learning to do portraiture you shouldn’t try painting people you know. Well, I’ve obviously thrown that tip out the window! As soon as I saw my sister post this photo of her husband on social media, I felt it could make a great reference in my quest to do watercolor portraits. I was especially drawn to the casual pose, the side lighting and the beard. The sunglasses would be another ‘first’ for me to … Read More

Here’s my theory: the more people paintings I tackle, the more comfortable I will become with them. So I’ve started on a quest, creating small watercolor paintings of people who I have photographed in casual settings. “When He Was Six” is the first in this series, with the title harkening back to a popular painting of a little girl I painted in acrylics on canvas several years ago, titled “When She Was 3.” I’ve done other people paintings over the … Read More

The word “commission” has a few different meanings in regards to fine art*. A commissioned painting is one where an artist is hired by someone to paint a specific subject of that person’s choosing. I’ve done many commissions over the years, and they present some interesting twists, as opposed to creating a painting for myself, based on my own ideas and photos. As often happens with a commission, painting “Jordan Fishing with Grandpa Tim” has stretched me as an artist … Read More

  As a painter of animals, I know it is difficult to depict black fur. A big solid area of black just doesn’t cut it – you have to capture the highlights to make it look realistic and give it dimension. I was ready for the challenge of painting a black cow. This is my first cow art on Scratchbord®. My two previous cow paintings, Eat Chicken and Cow’s In The Corn, were both very colorful, created in watercolor on … Read More

I  created “Sweet Dreams” with a few new twists – not counting the twisted body of the cute little kitten: The reference photo is not one I took I selected an unusual palette of colors The application of paint was unconventional Watercolor pencils added some finishing touches From the first time I saw my friend Dawn’s photo of this kitty, I knew I had to paint it. Dawn had rescued her the middle of the road when she was ‘no … Read More

  Five of my watercolor paintings are included with those of 20 talented artists from the Knoxville and Chattanooga Chapters of the Tennessee Watercolor Society in a exhibition at The Arts Center in Athens, Tennessee. “The Magic of Watercolor” is presented now through August 23, 2019. An Opening Reception will be held on Friday, July 19, from 5:30 – 7:00pm, preceded by an open panel discussion at 5pm, aimed at sharing information about painting with watercolor. I am honored to … Read More

  “Heart to Heart” is the third in my new series of scratchboards done in what I call a ‘purist’ method. These are a big departure from my previous scratchboards, in that these use no paint! I’ve done a few black scratchboards in the recent past (Pink Lady, Hair of the Dog and The Queen), but each of them used colors to help define the values. In the purist approach, the black surface is scratched to reveal whites, and  the different … Read More

Howard Eppinger “Screech Owl” wood carving  The 21st annual SPRING ART SHOW of the Art Guild of Tellico Village takes place next weekend, so mark your calendar. A large hall at the Tellico Village Community Church will be transformed into a huge art celebration from May 10-12, 2019. Last year was my first time in this show, and I was extremely proud to be among the impressive creativity, enormous range of media, and high quality of the artwork. With the … Read More