"The Spiritual America" Cocktail, 6x6 inch Acrylic by Kelley MacDonald

At a place called Pearl & Ash in Manhattan they are dreaming up Spring cocktails.  Now... how fun does this look? Tastes like Blood Orange with Rhubarb accents.  Sounds like a winner, even though I can't figure out how they came up with a name like that!

Come on Spring... I know you can do it!  I think here in Rhode Island we're going to pretty much skip Spring, and leap from the mid 50's to the 70's.  I'm enjoying saying goodbye to frigid weather and snow injuries.  Looking for some tulips to brighten the days, too.  Enjoy, friends!

Dusted! 6x6 Inch Oil Painting of Jelly Donuts by Kelley MacDonald

Well, here we are, dusted with powdered sugar!  That is ALMOST my favorite part.  The jelly, always, is my favorite.  Same with doing dogs or faces - the eyes.  Because there are so many levels of light and color! So I'll let you know if the collector chose this one or THIS one:

*update* he chose the stack of 3 jellies*

Now, like a lot of artists… I can procrastinate with the best of them!  When I have a deadline I will do almost ANYTHING but work on the piece.  Why?  Why do we do this?  I think because, although it sounded like a good idea at the time, we are wrapped in fear.  FEAR that we will somehow screw it up.  Well, you know, don't you, that the only way to get rid of that fear is to FACE it.  And let Fear know NOT to MESS with YOU.

So… what did I do this morning?  A bad 6x8 selfie:

I was fighting bad brushes and dwindling supplies of paint.  Bad combo. I look really fed up, don't I?

Well, I put down that bad girl and went to the easel (I do the 'selfies' in the bathroom mirror) and finished the sugar on the donut, and finished an Archangel commission, and started another.  *BAM*

First Tulips, 2014, 8x8 inch Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$150 & $10 S&H

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Last week was my birthday, and one of my children gave me these beautiful purple tulips.  I've spent a lot of days recently trying to catch up on commissions, and putting bids out there for work.  But I just had to paint these heralds of Spring!  I wanted to keep it fresh and uncomplicated.  I love the dance that tulips do!

I'm working on some larger pieces, and maybe I'll give you a peek, although right now it's a struggle!  Be well!  Enjoy the warmer days!

This One's For You, 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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You know you want it.  I know you deserve it. Tender white cake with creamy home made frosting - and just a light sprinkle of colored dots.  A celebration, a treat, an indulgence.  Just this once….. I made it for you!

All that's missing is my little block signature.  Coming tomorrow. and almost dry!  Seriously, can you tell how much fun this was for me to paint?  Yesterday in my Small Painting class at the Providence Art Club we first made a number of little Value Studies, where you just use one sort of neutral color (I used Burnt Umber) and white, and establish the darks and shadows, and get yourself a good composition. Then paint it … and then eat it.  It was a gift to my students who had such a great attitude and aptitude this Fall.

What I liked about this cupcake was the view (well, ONE of the things I liked about it - it was dee-lish, I  tell you).  It was monumental looking for a small piece of cake topped with dreamy frosting.  Here are my value studies:

I'm like an athlete in training (stop laughing!). Painting every moment, getting ready for the Little Pictures Show at the Art Club, The change-up of paintings at the Art Stable next week, and the North River Arts Holiday Sale.  How could I forget… Girls Just Wanna Paint group is having a SHOW at Thayer Academy's Gallery!

Annnnnnnd… I'm moving out of my studio, stuffing the contents of a 1,100 sq. foot studio into my living room.  Never a dull moment in my life!  Wish me luck!

Which One Is Yours? 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 P&S

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Friday I had the good fortune to be the Artist In Residence at the Furnace Brook School and once again, really enjoyed sharing my painting process with the kids.  I set up two easels and I painted on one, and every middle schooler that WANTED to paint, could on the other one.  

Every year, every single boy asks if they can eat the props.  This year a huge black fly kept alighting on them, but even telling them that, most of them still said they'd eat them.  These days I'd probably go to jail for letting kids eat donuts at school, so I always say "I wish I could, but :D no...."

This day, with all those kids who maybe never put oil paint on a canvas before joining in... is a highlight of my year. Thanks to the Parent-Teacher organization for sponsoring it every single month!

Jar Of Joy, 5x7 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H

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I really changed gears last week.  It turns out there is so much wattage necessary to get ready and have an Open Studio that afterwards I was the equivalent of a wet noodle - could hardly paint!

But this little charmer made me smile when I painted it.  Something about the blue and yellow - always a favorite of mine... 

And then my class gave me a charge, on Saturday.  We chose squares of colors which were face down on a plate - cut from magazines.  When we got 5 or 6 we taped them to the side of a piece of paper, then set about to exactly come up with that color.  You might think this is easy - you would be wrong!  But it was fun and challenging, and then we were ready to get to our little still lives... and I took the bit again to dive into painting.  Good thing... I have the OTHER Open Studio coming up in a few weeks!!!

I promise I will start a newsletter soon, so every post is not filled with updates, but I was so thrilled to hear that 3 of my paintings were accepted into the Small Matters Of Great Importance Show at the Edward Hopper House in New York in August.  Here they are, below:

I'm crossing my fingers that my framer got the frame right - I wanted a floater frame with a gold liner.... 

Sunshine In A Vase, 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald - Gerbera Flowers

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Although in real life, the green is more aqua blue, these flowers, a gift from my friend Mary Sheehan Winn, are just exuberant!  At first they were all orange... then the very tiniest tips became yellow, now they're about 1/2 and 1/2 yellow/orange - delightful!

I have a friend who drove down from Boston Saturday afternoon so we could figure out how to make prints.. and this, though exhausting, was exciting.  I'm such a literalist.    I am working my way towards a little bit of abstraction, but I'm not there yet!  So here, below, is my first try that I'm happy with. 

 Dancing Pugs:

Forsythia In Pink, 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H

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Had a hard time painting today... all my work on my big paintings has to be done over.  I could manage this small one, though, and am very happy with it.  I was talking it over with my daughter and she said she, and others with ties to Boston, is having the same issue.  It's like a hangover of grief.  Everyone will work their way through it, but yesterday and today it seemed like I was standing in wet sand up to my knees.  So PINK was the perfect remedy.  Be well, be happy...

Little White Pumpkin, 5x5 Inches, Oil

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I got these little pumpkins from Walker's Roadside Stand and they have such creamy colors in them.  This funky - almost random dotty fabric has been just waiting for something to set against them.  I love days like this in the studio - fun and full of music and color!  I made pizza tonight for my husband and son - Paco is always so bereft that all he ever gets is tiny crusts.

Tonight I made this for him: 

The tiny one with just cheese & sauce was his.  About 3 inches across..  He LOVED it.  Please don't write to me and tell me that dogs should never have cheese or bread or tomato sauce.  Paco does not want me hearing anything like that. :D

Sunflowers in Purple Jar, 6x6 Inches, Oil

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This is my little purple jar again, with the 'swan song' little sunflowers from the garden.  I was interested in the reflections on the jar and in all the yellows in the flowers, and in the transition from cool to warm in the background.  The board that the jar is on is a foam board, which is holding up another still life set up (liquor bottles - see them next week), so it was a platform... see below:

(except, yikes, I had kicked the flood light and it swiveled away from the flowers...)

Wish me luck tomorrow night, at North River Art Society, with my Blogging Workshop  - I'm pretty excited about it!

Three Werthers, 6x6 Inch Original Oil

$100 & $10 S&H

Here we are again, with the butterscotch candies!  I just felt like I needed to remind myself about the reflective qualities of metallic gold.  Also, I love these candies!

Below is the demo for the 1st class of this 'term' in my studio.  We have a couple of students who have never painted before, so it's all new to them.  I like to do demos because sometimes it's the smallest thing, like how to scoop up paint on a flat brush, or how to lay down a layer of paint over another without smearing it through, that makes an impact.  I'm hopeful that what they take away from the class is the love of painting, and the desire to always learn more!

Wild Morning Glories, 6x8, Oil

One of those days when I couldn't find inspiration, and did everything I could think of to put off painting!  As I was coming back to the studio after a walk, I stepped over these tiny white flowers embedded in the grass near the bike path.  I bent down, and to my surprise, found these lovely white morning glories!  So I picked one of the vines, and padded the end of the vine in wet paper towels, and proceeded to paint.  Here's the thing about Morning Glories and why you don't see them in vases - as soon as the vine is cut, they start to die.  As I sketched in my shapes, I noticed the cups of the flowers were sagging... and by the time I was applying paint to the board - a dead droop.  But this is what they looked like when I first cut them.  Sweet!

$100 & $10 S&H via Paypal

Email me with questions or help with purchasing at kcareymac@hotmail.com

If You Can Stand Another One....

ANOTHER floral painting! As I was packing up to leave the studio I looked at the tulips from yesterday, and 'saw' a new composition.  They'd sat and gotten 'comfortable' under the light, and were opening up a little, and I painted them with a light lilac background.  Now I have my 5 floral 12x12's for my submission.  And now I think.... "they'll HATE floral still lifes!"  Maybe I should put older work in! Deciding what to submit to juries is the hardest thing.

Tulips, 12x12, Oil

Big fan of tulips, here.  Any color, any kind.  A few years ago a few fellow painters and I made a trip to Holland to paint the tulip fields.  We did our research, but ended up arriving  after 5 days of a freak heat wave that killed all the tulips!  No matter, we found one field that was being mowed under, and painted like crazy.  Then we went to Keukenhof , a gardener's dream come true.  Also Holland itself was very beautiful, and paintable.  I will definitely return.  The Van Gogh Museum alone was worth the trip.

Who WAS That Woman? And More

This painting was done about 9 years ago - before I started painting with oils. I've always loved cacti, and I think it's a half-sheet of watercolor paper.

Below are the two paintings that I got in to the Small Wonders Exhibit at the Maryland Federation of Art. They will hang till December 25. The Blueberries painting has sold, providing it comes back from the show.

Also till after Christmas these two below will be offered at the Portsmouth Art Guild's Holiday Show, in Portsmouth, RI. Sorry for the glare on the bottom photo. I thought it was clear, and now I can't re-take it till the show comes down.

Figs, 6x6 Oil

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This one is NFS (not for sale) because it's part of 4 paintings that will go to the DeBlois Gallery on Belleview Avenue, Newport, RI, for their Holiday Invitational Show next week! There will be 4 of them. I'm honored to be invited to join these fine artists!

After the show (Jan 1, 2010) this is $100 + $10 S&H via Paypal.

Another mouse incident in the studio cut short my painting day.... I had somehow gotten cad red all over one hand (now I was wearing gloves but...) and the pumice soap was not doing the trick (fast enough) so I grabbed my bottle of vegetable oil (which I had lost the cap to) and saw something bobbing inside the botle....something kind of round... with legs and... a long tail... A poor field mouse! What a horrible way to die! I couldn't paint any more. I mean, I'm the one who blares my horn when I see hunters' pickup trucks parked on the side of the highway... I figure if I save just ONE deer or duck by startling it.....

Time for Decaf (Red Rose), 6x6 Oil

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This is another of Conor's handmade mugs, perfect for a nice big cup of tea. I put down a piece of chocolate colored fabric, and it was tooooo dark. But with a bit of lavender cloth underneath, it worked. Or at least I think it did!

A Day With No Glasses, 5x7 Oil

Today I seem to have lost my last pair of 'readers'... OK, I had them on last night and today they're AWOL. So this was painted without any clear vision. Probably why its smudgy looking! I found a pair (stopped at two places on the way home from the studio - they each had every strength but 2.25, which is what I need - I didn't even CARE what they looked like!) in the bottom of my backpack, twisted so the 'arms' were in front - so I can kind of see now - although they're very scratched! Anyway I had this great pomegranate and wanted to paint it so I did (2 for $4 at Whole Foods). Kind of don't like the split background. Should've gone with all yellow-y green.

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, Oil, 6x6

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, 6x6

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Bloody Mary with olives, lemon and celery!!!! Thanks to Manon Doyle for giving me the idea for the title with her comment on my last post! OK, now I don't feel like I copied my friend - these are two COMPLETELY different 'takes' on Bloody Marys, and I still love hers (I'll post them all on our GirlsJustWannaPaint Blog after the weekend). And now that I wasn't 'able' to do the dark background, I'm just as happy. This one painted itself... Thank goodness for days like this! I'm updating my Studio Blog, too.

Conor's Bowl, 5x7 Oil

Conor's Bowl, 6x6

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YAY! Back in the studio, albeit supposedly cleaning. Cleaning is my LEAST favorite thing to do in the world because it involves sorting. Bad sorter, I am. Anyway this gorgeous celadon colored bowl is one of two that my son Conor, the potter, made for me. I wanted to paint it with apples to show how gorgeous the glaze is... but then I got carried away and wanted to put this stripey background in. I think the bowl deserves the limelight, so it will probably be painted again. But those crazy wiggling stripes were fun to paint, too!