Judy Lavoie

    You win some, you lose some. The stakes weren’t too high; I missed out on ‘bragging rights and a free t-shirt.’ But I gained a whole lot more. The International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) just selected artwork for their commemorative 2020 Exhibition t-shirts… and mine wasn’t chosen 🙁 I created “Anna’s Fairy Duster” with realistic expectations. I knew anything I entered would be a long shot to win, with my limited experience of just two years doing … Read More

Chief curator of the Association for Visual Arts Gallery (AVA) in Chattanooga TN, Kreneshia Whiteside, ‘ “…says her favorite is “What a Wonderful World” by Judy Lavoie. “There is this one of a little boy blowing bubbles,” she says. “I think it’s so adorable.” ‘ (Read the entire story from yesterday’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.) Thirty paintings, specially selected from the original 72 juried into the 37th Biennial Exhibition of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, are on the move. The Traveling … Read More

  Beautiful ruby throated hummingbirds – the most common species which migrates to Eastern North America – visit our feeders from early April through the beginning of October. I’ve done numerous paintings of them, in watercolor and acrylics, and it was time for me to try one on scratchboard. As demonstrated in my previous post, I created a border design on a 14″ x 11″ black Scratchbord™, using colors to match those I planned to use in the artwork. For … Read More

Through the wonders of technology, here’s a quick time-lapse of the creation of my new scratchboard “Locked In Time.” ‘Hard to believe that it took weeks, not seconds, to create this artwork! Learning to add a mini-video to my blog is one of my many quarantine-time activities. Perhaps I’ll get more adventurous (and better) in the future and maybe even add audio. Click on the photo to launch the slide show. On this 10″ x 8″ panel I aimed to … Read More

My scratchboard art has just been selected for an exhibit of the preeminent organization for scratchboard artists worldwide!! The International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) is holding their 9th Annual Exhibition in Tucson AZ later this year, and I have been accepted!  I achieved status as an active member of ISSA just last March, so this was my first opportunity to enter their annual exhibition.  My newest scratchboards “Locked In Time” and “Ruby-Throated Hummer” (which I’ll blog about individually at … Read More

I’m proud to share a new achievement in my work as a watercolor artist. My painting “Cow’s In The Corn” is being showcased in the highly regarded art publication The Best of Watercolor – SPLASH 21,  presented by Artists Magazine. Open to artists around the world, the annual watercolor competition for this premium coffee-table magazine began in 1997. “Over the years, we’ve been excited to feature artwork from artists all over the world, in every style and subject imaginable, from … Read More

I had a 4″ x 9″ black Scratchbord panel just waiting for the right inspiration, and my photo of a gorgeous young Persian kitty named Roger got me started. I liked his colorful eyes, tuffs of fur, and pink nose. His upward gaze had me pondering what to add that would appear to be attracting his attention – while simultaneously creating a work of art more interesting than merely a cat portrait. Scratchboards are ideal for creating linear textures and, … Read More

Japanese Honeysuckle is an introduced, somewhat invasive, climbing vine which grows on my land. The frilly white blossoms are highly fragrant and last from April to July, and I don’t mind their intrusion. The red young stems are strong and used in traditional basket weaving. As it grows, the larger woody vine will grow in a spiral around a tree branch. When the vine is removed, the branch is left with a twisted appearance, which some woodcarvers prize for creating … Read More

My bearded irises have flowered beautifully this spring, inspiring me to paint them. The delicate petals are ruffled and nearly transparent, with one group growing upward and the other down. Their feathery ‘beards’ and tightly folded buds provide additional interesting shapes and values. As usual, I took far too many reference photos, being especially drawn to those with backlighting. I wanted to give a different twist to painting an iris, and I was inspired by the paintings of an artist … Read More

If you’d like to see some samples of the world’s most amazing scratchboard art, I’ll take you there! The International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) has posted its 2020 Online Show, and I am in awe of the creativity and artistic talents of scratchboard artists. As a new member at the “active” level of the ISSA, I was allowed to enter two of my scratchboards into the annual non-juried show. I entered “Purple Cow” and “Heart To Heart.” Even at the … Read More