http://www.terrycookehall.com/, http://sanguinefineart.com/

Cobalt Moose Art Studios, Bozeman, MT (2025)

10/06/2022

“Flor del Sol” transitions, 16” x 16” oil on cradled birch panel.

Since I posted her in the design stage a while back, I thought it might be fun to show all the stages she went through. Toward the end, the alterations are minor. I was testing the palette for harmony so some of the colors were modified. This is a color study for a larger version which may or may not be different! 😉

For those of you familiar with Alphonse Mucha, this is very much influenced by his style. I have loved his work since my early 20s (yes, that was a very long time ago!) and have collected several books on his story and paintings.

This young woman was one of the participants in Posada del Sol, an annual parade held in Scottsdale AZ. I love creating pieces with models dressed in their cultural heritage, particularly women. I’ve been drawn to this for as long as I can remember. I’m very attracted to pattern design and creation, perhaps from my graphic design and illustration background, and will often add my own embellishments to the reference photo.

The Good news, she's been accepted into the Mountain Oyster Club Art Show, opening this November in Tucson AZ!

05/16/2022

Progress on my Mucha-like piece... ⏳️

I'm currently working on 4 different pieces, each in a different phase. While I wait for one to dry, I tackle one of the others.

The 16" x 16" has been transferred and outlined in a red oxide acrylic. Acrylics are great for staying in place even if the oil on top is scraped. Pretty handy!

The paper enlargement laying underneath is ready for transferring onto a 30" x 30" after I develop the smaller piece. With this new-ish concept, I want to make sure I feel good about the palette and approach as I start developing the large one.😬 🤞

05/12/2022

The drawing is done and ready to be enlarged for transfer

It took a bit of finessing to make the layout work. As you can see it's fashioned after Mucha's works. He's been one of my favorite artists since the 70s. (Yes, there was life before the 2000s 🙄) He had a fabulous way of integrating art nouveau design into his figures. So lovely!

I took the photo of this beautiful young Mexican girl a few years ago at Posada del Sol in Scottsdale and have been wanting to paint her ever since. I had one of those 'lightbulb' 💡 moments recently, and out came this idea!

You can see where I was sketching a few ideas for the surrounding pattern and finally landed on the one I felt was a good fit. I'll have the square enlarged for the 16" x 16" cradled panel and transfer her onto it. Then comes the palette development. Can't wait to get started!

05/10/2022

Designing a new piece with old-fashioned methods

I worked by hand with all of my designs during my corporate life, and I still do. I will do a certain amount of the initial development of a piece on computer, but the rest is hand drawn. I'm sure it's faster to design with Photoshop but, for me, there is more joy in using the skills I spent so many years developing.

I'm creating a smaller version (16 × 16) of an idea first and then will refine it for a 30 x 30, if the concept works like it is in my head! 😜

05/09/2022

Montana in late spring! 😲

We woke up to about 3 inches of snow this morning and no power to enjoy our first cup of coffee! No problem. I got out the French Press and lit the gas range. It took longer than our normal morning cup but it was enjoyable. Before we finished it, the power was back on, thanks to the service people who know how to handle these emergencies!

Looks like more snow is expected today into tomorrow, but by the weekend, we're in the 70s. You can never predict the springtime weather in Montana!

05/08/2022

I had a beautiful surprise from my wonderful husband this morning! 💗🌹

I'm blessed to be living with my best friend and perfect partner for almost 40 years! Thank you, Scott! 😘

Plus I got a phone call from my son in Okinawa, a sweet message from my oldest daughter, and I'm meeting my middle daughter for margaritas today! Is there anything better than this?!! 🤗

🙏

03/02/2022

I had a few spare minutes a couple of afternoons ago... 🎨
I'm in the middle of developing several pieces that are in different stages, plus trying to keep up with a necessary evil >>>>> marketing. 🙄 But I needed to have something in my studio that was actually 'done'. It just feels better to finish a project, right?
I had 5 8x8 cradled panels that were gessoed and painted cobalt in preparation of another project so I grabbed one and put it on my easel. Who paints on a cobalt-prepped background? It wasn't my choice but it was ready to go, so out came my palette.
There is very little brushwork on this. It's mostly palette knife. I wanted to work fast and loose. I also wanted a near-abstraction result so I piled on the paint and moved it around. This is what it became within a couple of hours. You can still see the cobalt peeking through here and there.
Can you tell what it is? These are actually a major nuisance in many areas where I live in Montana. Even so, in spite of their invasive quality, there is beauty for a moment or so.
No title yet. Not even signed. Not on my website yet or my sister-site . Just a quick post to show that I still paint! 😅 DM me if interested.

02/24/2022

There is no better way to describe the elegant moves of this horsewoman in the arena other than "Tango"!

Her vibrant, shocking pink shirt and silver hoop earrings suggest boldness and confidence. Almost mystically, she communicates and "dances" while on her mount as she prepares to rush into the fray when support is needed.

She is the story of women in the West.

"Created from a photo taken several years ago at sundown during a local Bozeman Roundup, this woman was participating in a ranch team roping event when I caught this pose, silver hoop earrings and all. The shades of hot pinks and oranges along with the warm violets and cool blues were irresistible to recreate, especially against the depth of her skill as she competed in the team ropers' dance." ~ tch

"Tango", 30" x 30" oil on cradled panel in a maple floater frame is available through terrycookehall.com AND through my sister-site www.sanguinefineart.com in Originals in The Gallery menu.

And the Best News! She is also available in 3 vibrant colors in the "Light Dancer Series", both as canvas giclees and fine art prints in various size options, sold only through www.sanguinefineart.com.

02/22/2022

Just added my signature to a small piece heading to Arizona 🌵
I have so many "pots in the fire" these days that it's hard to keep up with posting. This one went quickly, probably because she's a familiar subject. I've painted her bright "Sunni" face a few times, often with a very bright "Sky"! 😉 (Let's see if anyone figures it out 😁)
I made a deal with myself recently to let go of perfection and paint more intuitively. This portrait was created from a very quick sketch without any real plan in mind. I have 2 others in progress that were started that way as well, and I'm truly enjoying this simpler approach. I'm not going to stress with my perfection filter anymore. I'm kicking it out the door! 🏠

02/03/2022

TBT: 1983! The year we lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. Great memories!
Right after Scott and I got married, we were transferred to Jakarta to work with land planners and architects for big project for the Minister of Indonesia. What an adventurous year that was! It was almost a year long honeymoon, but we did work, too. Honest! 😉
We lived in a large home with another couple and a single guy who traveled often, so it was almost all ours to enjoy. We traveled to Bali several times, attended a wedding in Jakarta by special invitation, toured through Java and saw many temples, including the Borobudur, saw many cultural performances, and went scuba diving often. It was a wonderful adventure and a great way to spend our first year of marriage. And we're still together after 39 years!

01/29/2022

I worked on this more last night, adding some color variety. Still not sure...🤔
This whole piece was created with big drywall and putty knives. Not a brush in site! A few people noticed that it has a city skyline look to it. That wasn't intentional but as I worked on it, that's what emerged. With that in mind I added the yellows to the midground to resemble columns of lights. I don't want to lose the abstract quality of it but I guess a few suggestions of familiarity aren't a bad thing, right? 🤷‍♀️
I think I'll set this aside for now so I can think about it. I feel like it needs something else so I'll have to come back to it with a fresh perspective. I have many other things on my list that I need to accomplish so it's a good excuse to let it rest. Like I said, there's no danger of it drying any time soon! 😅

01/28/2022

Do you ever get the feeling you 'need' to just play, without any agenda?
I kept having a distinct pull to play with blues this morning. But as I was pulling out my tubes of blue, the alizarin said 'me, too'! 🙋‍♀️ So I acquiesced. 😅
I had no real direction, just blue, so I started setting up my palette with large piles of blues - Ultramarine, Cobalt, Cerulean, and Prussian. A pile of white and of course, alizarin, finished it off.
I started with nothing but a gessoed white 30" x 30" cradled panel and started applying tons of paint. (This is going to take forever to dry, IF I decide to keep it!🤔) I headed in one direction but my muse (I guess that's what it was, lol) pushed me in another direction, and this is what I got from it. There's a lot of blue, right? Not sure if I'll keep it. 🤷‍♀️ I just thought I'd share my adventure. I'll keep staring at it on my wall until I decide whether to scrape it or not. I have days to decide, lol. This panel won't be dry any time soon! 😁

01/24/2022

After I finished the drawing in my last post, I needed a break from measuring! 🤪
I had a piece of midnight blue-painted 10" x 14" multimedia board on my studio table and decided to use it for a painting of some roses I had photographed several years ago. Slide 1 shows a quick sketch I did on tracing paper laid over the board. You can see the pencil gesturing underneath, then the thin marker refining the sketch, then the thick marker on top that brought out more of the form. In slide 2, I place another tracing paper over that and did even more refining with a thick marker. All of this took about 10 minutes.
In slide 3, you can see my reference photo and another piece of tracing paper that I had laid on top to create my color blocking layout based on values. In the last image you can see where I transferred the color blocking linework onto the board and I've been painting the base coat for the piece.
I'm having fun being a lot looser with this! I was going to paint the rest in oils but I've decided to finish the whole piece in acrylics. I haven't worked with acrylics for years so this will be good practice.
How many mediums have you worked in? I've worked in watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal and pencil, markers, acrylics, oils and airbrush. I even have a certificate from the San Diego Airbrush Academy! (No, I don't paint Sumatran Tigers on RVs, so don't even ask!) All of these mediums have provided great experience throughout the years. 😊

01/21/2022

Here it is, I’m finally willing to admit it. I’m a plotter… Crazy, right? I’ve been plotting for years. 😱
Everyone has their own version of creating large, precise drawings from a small reference. Many artists use grids. Some artists use projectors. I plot reference points. 🤔
If you know my history, I worked with land planners, architects, civil engineers, and landscape architects for many years. From that experience, I learned how to use various types of scales. The scale I use most often is the engineers’ scale, which is based on tenths. Using a scale, I find points on a reference photo that are the most important for accuracy, then transfer them to a large canvas, based on the enlargement ratio, and then interpolate everything in between. (Did I lose you?) By plotting these points and interpolating the linework in between, I can create a drawing that feels looser, less restricted, more freehand than having to keep everything inside each grid box.
Don’t get me wrong. I can draw freehand. I’ve been drawing all my life and I love doing that. But when it comes to designing some of my pieces with precision, it saves me a lot of time by plotting the most important points of my reference. (I use a lot less erasers that way!) For example, I love all of the folds and creases in the white shirts and can’t wait to introduce elements of color with their forms.
This is a 30” x 40” piece I’m in the process of developing for the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale this coming September. The reference photo was taken in 2010. I’ve always loved these guys in this candid shot but never came up with an idea how I could use them. To be honest, I didn’t want to go into all the detail that would be required to create the horses. That’s not my bag! (My apologies to horse lovers!) I wanted to capture the story of the cowboys’ expressions. With the introduction of abstraction into my work, I am now able to create a narrative without having to sweat about the extraneous elements.
I’ll be showing progress along the way. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions about my process. I’m here to share!

01/08/2022

In progress, here's where I am so far. More to come! 😊
As you can see with the other items beside it, this is a fairly large canvas, 40" x 40" (102cm x 102cm). I am planning to add a few bits of color here and there plus a hint of the names on the labels. After that, I'm going to call it done!

01/07/2022

On my easel... wondering who recognizes this iconic shape? 🤔
This is a tight crop of a piece very much in progress. The canvas is a 40" x 40" and this crop is about a 10" square. I'm using as much of the abstract background as I can to integrate with the object. I'll show more as I progress.

Cobalt Moose Art Studios

10/06/2022

05/16/2022

05/12/2022

05/10/2022

05/09/2022

05/08/2022

03/02/2022

02/24/2022

02/22/2022

02/03/2022

01/29/2022

01/28/2022

01/24/2022

01/21/2022

01/08/2022

01/07/2022

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