Little Gould Island, 6x8 Inches, Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

I did this on a linen pad, and you can see there are still staples on the right.  I just had the urge to paint the little island that greets me every morning, and despite my husband's feelings that "nobody wants to see a painting of that island", I felt the need to paint it.  And an hour after I painted it, the sky became steely dark and the water was light gray and it started to rain, giving it a  whole new look.  I just may do some studies of this, for me.  

The practice of doing a whole, if small, painting every day is what the whole Daily Painters movement is all about - it's good exercise for your artist's mind.

Funny thing, I may have told you, the land mass in the back of the little island is Aquidneck Island, where Newport is, (further down).  On the other side of Aquidneck is another little island, also named Gould.  Those Goulds must have been something, to get TWO islands named after them!  Or, was it a case of the left side of Aquidneck not knowing what the right side was doing?

:)

January Shadows, 6x6 Original Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

SOLD

I don't know about you but I'm always entranced by the shadows of trees on snow.  Well, actually the shadows of anything on snow.  So after admiring other artists' work I decided to do a few studies of them myself.  I know it's not a unique subject, but seriously, what is?  Nudes? Cups & spoons?  Apples? Kids at the beach? Pets? Mountains?  Crashing waves? Flowers?  Nope.

The thing is, every artist has to explore (or should I say 'gets' to explore) all these subjects on their own terms.  So if you sit and worry that artist 'X' may get upset because you're 'taking' their subject... just get over yourself.  And his/herself, too.  If you think your art can only be valid if it is completely and utterly unique, well... good luck to you.   Well!  I'm thinking about these things because I'm reading "I'd Rather Be In The Studio" by Alison Stanfield.  I have been a hand-wringer, searching for 'my' style.  And actually, though you can copy other artists, if you paint enough, your own style will come through.  So I'm seeing now, my paintings do absolutely have my 'hand' on every one.  And that's a good feeling. :)

In Winter's Hold, 6x12 Oil

New Years' Eve brought a storm to Rhode Island, and kind of put a damper on plans people might have had to go out. Me? I grabbed my camera and Tim drove me around Tiverton, Little Compton and Westport trying to get some good 'snow' shots. This painting came from a photo taken as we passed Pardon Gray, a land preserve here in Tiverton. Snowy, blustery weather is wonderful, and I think although this painting LOOKS gray, in person you can see every color in the rainbow, which, mixed together, comes out gray! I love this lonely looking tree. I have more... and will paint them soon.