You Deserve It( - and my process), 6x6 Inch Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

Dead of winter... halfway through.  I have friends who are at the beach, soaking up the sunshine, playing and dining outdoors, in warm places.  No.  I don't resent you - YOU DESERVE IT.  And honestly, this winter, despite a couple of weeks of rough patch, has been sort of kind.  I hope you exult in your warm days, your tan you tried not to get (right...). Kick off your flip flops and walk the beach, let your mind wander and R-E-L-A-X.  Because... yeah... you deserve it.

And here's a sneak peek at a Work In Progress (or maybe it's done, I never know).  See, our Girls Just Wanna Paint topic this month is "Palette".  You know, like our artist's palette.  So... first I made many sketches in my sketchbook of one of those hand held wooden palettes.  My personal palette is one of two: a clear glass piece on a kitchen cart, or a disposable palette, with about 20 sheets of waxy paper.  

I. Was. Bored.

So, I thought, what if I made a wild garden (the only kind I can grow) and made a flower for each color on my palette?  I use a limited palette (to start with, anyway) of

Titanium White

Cadmium Lemon

Cadmium Yellow Medium

Cadmium Orange

Cadmium Red Light

Quinacridone Rose

Ultramarine Blue

Path Blue and

Burnt Umber

So I took a canvas and over about 4 days laid down the 'darks' of the leaves, stems and loam, and the 'light' of the sky.  At least 2 layers for the sky - at least 6 for the darks. Then.... I COULD NOT BEAR to put the flowers in!  FEAR OF FAILURE.  A friend whose opinion I respect came by and I asked her and she said,  no, no flowers.  I agreed.  Mostly.  Decided to start from scratch with a completely different idea. 

BUT THEN... I was cleaning my other house's studio out and found a big piece of mylar (clear sheeting).  I taped it over (you can see a piece of tape on the upper left corner) the painting and proceed to paint as I had imagined it.  And I am very glad I tried this.  I don't know now, if I will paint this design on the actual painting or simply adhere the mylar with the paint on it on TOP of the canvas.  But it came out exactly as I imagined it.  

Lesson:  Trust yourself.

Walkin' the Walk, 6x6 Acrylic

These days just seem to be made for walks on the beach.  Here's a woman and her Mom at Briggs Beach just getting a little exercise and talking about everything and nothing.  I'm not 'back' at my Daily Painting routine... having given myself time after opening my show.  Next week.  In the meantime... if you are in the Boston area, tonight there's a show I'm in at the Oceanside 17 Gallery in Hull, MA, called 'HEAT'... Should be a fantastic time, and you'll get to meet some really fine, fun people!

"Where's Your Other Flip Flop?" Oil 6x6

I'm trying to submit paintings to the many Juried Shows that crop up this time of year, and it's keeping me very busy.  But with beach season in mind, and an upcoming show (July, Marshfield... details to follow) with a theme of 'Beachscapes', I set up this little still life to paint yesterday.  In my mind I was reliving our trips to the sand and sea, with the problem upon arriving home, of the missing flip flop.  I really don't like the all-blue (and being literal, there was only ONE pail in the 3 stores I went to and it was the same color as the little flip flops), but hey, it is what is is.... don't you just hate that phrase?  Anyway, wish me luck with my submissions to the juried shows and the art association I'm trying for....