Tea Break's Over, 6x8 Oil

I just loved the colors on this Fiesta Ware.  I got the cup & saucer at Mindy & Clyde's Cupboard Company in Santa Fe.  Check it out if you ever get there.  Mindy & Clyde are two Jack Russell Terriers owned by the owner, a wonderful  woman named Eiko.  I could have loaded up a truck in this place.  Later I'll do another cup I bought there, a gorgeous green Harlequin cup.  I mentioned to someone that in these paintings (as of the last post) I'm struggling with extremely thick white - which is resisting my efforts to thin it down with Gamsol.  It's an old tube of paint, Permalba, which I used to love because of it's buttery, creamy consistancy.  Lately (my last 3 tubes) the paint's been thicker, and the reps at Jerry's Artarama where I got it say I'm the only one to notice.  I figure one, maybe two tubes, and it could be the batch.  Three tubes, and  - 'Bye-bye'.  I'm back to Utrecht, except when I travel, when I like Galkyd White because it helps everything dry faster.  

Hopefully the brushwork on this is more 'confident', though.  On the next post, which I may not even put up, I almost tossed the panel away because the white paint was so hard to work with.  You'll see.

Happy Impatiens, Oil 6x6

While I struggle with the whole eBay thing (items I set up do not show up, items I schedule for 4 p.m. auction don't show up till 7 p.m. - oh, was I supposed to know eBay is set up on PACIFIC time?) I have still been doing the Daily Paintings.  I sure miss being in my workshop, with another set of eyes (or 15) to tell me where I was veering off!

  These are the glory days for the impatiens, though.  They love the warm days and the nights that are not cold yet.  I love them in all their colors.  They don't do well in vases, though... have to paint them right away!

Oh, Dahlia! 6x6 Oil

This painting is a 2nd time around painting today.  I started this morning with a 4x6 vertical format, and the design was awkward and .... just generally a wipe-off.  I was frustrated because I'm trying to re-learn eBay, and it really took a while this morning.  Like anything else, after you've done it a few times it's easy, but today, after, I realized, a year and a half - everything looked new and more complicated.  Hopefully starting tomorrow all my paintings will have the "click to bid" button, which will take you right to my eBay auction.  I'm learning so much about the business aspect of my work these days, but I feel very confident about it - you can take me down a pin if it all goes awry!

Lemons In Blue, Oil, 6x6

This is my renewed goal:  to paint & post each weekday.  I know some people post 7 days a week but I think I'll still be able to improve my paintings if I do 5.  These lemons were in a square blue bowl, and while I painted them I was trying to keep in mind my lessons from my Carol Marine Workshop.  So it may look a little 'Carol Marine-y', but as I absorb the lessons, my own style (?) will come through more.  As it is, I can't help but slather on the paint.  And I love dragging the little bits of color with the brush when it isn't completely mixed on the palette. And to all you bloggers who love Carol's work - you should take her workshop - she is completely grounded in terms of solid foundation work, and you WILL benefit from her lessons.  (And can I just say here that I'm completely in love with NM and Santa Fe area in particular?????)

Click To Bid

Workshop Over!

These paintings of peppers were my last painting of the workshop.  
Well, it was a fabulous week.  This was well worth the effort & $$ to get here.  To tell you the truth, I thought this would be sort of an 'easy' workshop, and really just wanted the experience of watching Carol paint!  To my surprise it was a very challenging workshop - no easy ways to do these deceptively simply paintings!  Values, Color, Composition, Edges, Brushstrokes... all had to be 'spot on' to make a successful painting.  Carol was a good teacher... no gliding by with a "that's nice!" - she took every person's painting seriously, for every exercise.  I would highly recommend this workshop for all levels.  She gave invaluable advice on the last day about blogging, marketing, and general business of art.  I found her candid and warm, and incredibly serious about what she does.  You all would have loved it!  The women in the workshop bonded very well, too - please check out my Studio Blog for a little surprise regarding them!

Carol Marine Workshop, Day 3

These paintings are reserved, as I use them for reference

Today we had two lessons. The first was getting the color accurate and not blending the strokes, letting the eye of the viewer blend them - wait... that was the 2nd one. I think the first exercise was getting the darks in and accurate, and in general accurate color. That would be the peppers painting. Than we had the hardest assignment. Every brushstroke had to be singular, one mix of color and one stroke. Then the stroke next to it had to be mixed anew, no blending, just letting the eye blend. You could use a little pool of paint in a different area, but up against each other had to be freshly mixed colors, and although it was a little like giving birth - every thing I ever do in painting seemed to go against this - I wanted to bring my brush back, or lay another stroke right next to it - I did end up loving it. And I choose a subject that I'd always feared - a pinecone! The raspberries I did in the last 1/2 hour, kind of thinking of both lessons. This is a great workshop - I do recommend it to all levels of painters. She's teaching all over the country!

Day 2, Value Studies and Tomatoes

We all did tomatoes today and here they are:

Mine is below on the far right, with the bright green background.

This was one I forgot to put in from yesterday.....  I thought the feather would be the hard part, but it was the Baby Roma tomato!

We did value studies today - nothing new there... EXCEPT Carol was teaching us about the dominant/medium, squinch aspect.  Every painting  (successful painting), is divided into 3 areas, light, medium and dark areas, with one of them being dominant (like half), one medium (like 2/3 of the other half) and a squinch (the last, smallest little bit).  OK, squinch might not be the right word, but it's a work like that.  So we had to do 3 value studies, trying to use one or all of those designs.    OH, and the little numbers on the top left were the number of minutes we had to do them - start to finish - whew!

Carol Marine Workshop, Day #1

Well, here I am in Santa Fe, and after a slight bout of altitude sickness, I'm loving it!  My computer is weird, and I hope this posts OK.  First day painting - it's HARD!  We did a value study, too, as we seemed as a group to have a little trouble there.  This is my set up and my painting.  Blood, sweat & a tear or two went into this one!  Carol's as nice as can be, and it's a joy to watch her at work!   Oh, yeah, on the top of my painting there's a little shadow from the thumbtack used to hold the canvas panel in place.

The Last Of The Harvest, 6x6 Acrylic

The very last eggplant and little Heirloom tomato posed this morning.  This will be my last post before Carol Marine's Worshop in Santa Fe.  Fighting off a cold and trying to organize myself and my house (heh, heh... only kidding about that last thing) before I go, I have to stop painting.  **sigh**  Well, I'm going to try to blog from Santa Fe, and I'll take pictures and show what I've accomplished through the week.  I'm excited because I've never been to Santa Fe, and I've been wearing out the pages of "American Art Collector" magazine trying to pick galleries to visit.  Hmmmm, and Harry the cat was snuggled into my suitcase yesterday, between the t-shirts and the shoes... I think trying to be a stow-away.  The cats definitely know when I'm going away and start acting all crazy as soon as I pull out the suitcase!  Anyway.. it's supposed to be wonderful weather here and in Santa Fe, so I'm definitely counting my blessings!

Lemons 1,2,3, Acrylic 6x6

Up at 5:15 a.m. because my orange kitty needed me to wash his face (I'm not kidding, I have to pretend I'm his mom and let him wet my thumb and run it all over his face and ears before he settles down), I couldn't get back to sleep.  So I came downstairs and saw 3 lemons in a blue bowl and said to myself "Might as well get the Daily Painting started...."  Of course after I painted them in a bowl I decided I'd rather use the fabric I got to take to Carol Marine's workshop next week (YAY!).  So I placed a small folded piece of the purple-y fabric on my stand and repainted it.  I have one HUGE lemon, one small lemon, and one teeny lemon.  Kind of like the 3 bears, only citrus-y. :)

Off Season, Acrylic

The whole board:

Yesterday a bunch of us piled in our cars and met on the Cape to paint the lovely cottages at Chase's Ocean Grove.  We met some really nice people, and a fabulous bulldog named Monty, and got some sun and sand in before the huge dark clouds overtook us.  Instead of trying to do a complete plein air painting I thought I'd be better served by taking a big board (18x24), dividing it up into 4 rectangles and sketching with Prussian Blue and white acrylic paint.  Just really trying to work on composition - choosing a site and making it a welcoming visit for the viewer.  Some worked better than others...

Sweet Red Pepper, 4x6 Acrylic

This pepper is from our garden - Tim and I thought it was a Bell Pepper, but... no!  It's sweet and beautiful, too.  We've been having a nice summer harvesting all kinds of tomatoes, eggplants (which I'll try to paint this week), and some sort of globular cucumbers.  I tried actually not to be conscious of what I 'should' and 'shouldn't' do as I painted this... consequently it went very fast!  I think sometimes I 'think' paintings to death.  But after a while you can kind of let it go and paint on autopilot.  Let me know what you think...

WIP

Sakonnet Point

Below is a view through the summer homes at Humarock Beach, Marshfield, MA

And below is a tidal area on the bay side of Dennis, MA on the Cape as a storm moves in:


Computer acting up after the latest 'upgrade', sorry if I posted & sent out a blank!  These are 3 of the plein air pieces I've been working on this week - little paintings have not been happening and I apologise.  Will get back in the swing of things this week. 

WIP, Hull View 18x24 Acrylic

Orange Rose, 4x6 Oil

This rose is stuck way up towards the sky, about a foot above the rest of the bush.  I loved the contrast between the sunlit petals and the sky.  I think... practice makes (almost) perfect, I am more confident about roses now.  2 months ago they made me shudder....

Light Pink Rose, 6x8 Oil

Here we are with #3 in the Rose series.  I think I'm done for a while, but it was a good exercise in looking.  Light pink roses are also a symbol of sympathy, and I'm dedicating this one to my friend who is grieving right now.  

Tangerine Rose, Oil 5x7

"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart." - unknown

I'm going to keep going with the roses for a while in my Daily Paintings.  I feel I can learn so much about color and design, not to mention transparencies of glass.  This rose is a little gorgeous deep orange flower that we bought this year.  To say it's in it's first year, it's been generous in it's flowering.  I'm feeling the rush of the end of the Summer and I want to grind it to a halt, dig my feet in and stand under the sun... begging for just a little more time!

A Red, Red Rose, 6x6 Oil

Robert Burns wrote :

My love is like a red, red rose

that sweetly blooms in June.

My love is like a melody

that's sweetly played in tune

And that's all I could think of as I painted this gorgeous red rose this morning.  And Tim's favorite color rose is red, and we have two beaurtiful rose bushes because of that.  Left to my own devices I'd fill the garden with pinks, both vivid and pale, white, yellow, orange and lavendar roses.  But I have to admit... when the light hits these roses they're electric red.  It's funny, this one just flowed out of me... I didn't second guess myself or struggle.  I did think of Carol Marine's post today about when things 'glow'...  And I think I'm getting closer to achieving my goal of being able to paint roses this Summer.... and just in the nick of time, too! :)

Cherries, 5x7, acrylic

Loved these massive cherries on a plate on my turquoise table in the sun!  They are really black cherries, and very sweet, groups of 3 and 2.  Did a big plein air painting of cows today on my Studio Blog, with 2 other painters from the South Shore - beautiful day today!

The Arte y Pico Award

I was recently contacted by artist Elizabeth Floyd, telling me she'd selected my Blog for an award called "The Arte y Pico Award".  She's a wonderful artist who has a blog I love visiting,(check it out!) and by day she's a residential architect, so I doubly admire her dedication to painting.

To quote her description of this award:

The Arte y Pico Award has arisen from the daily visits that I make to many blogs which nourish and enrich me with creativity.  In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art.  I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain and enrich me day to day.  Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few."

The Rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.
3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.
4. Show these rules and the paragraph (above) explaining the awards origination.

So... without further ado, here are my 5 picks (and it wasn't easy, I'll tell you!):

1.  Mary Sheehan Winn, because she inspired me to start blogging and is so open and encouraging and creative, and her paintings are so fun and expressive.

2.  Jeff Hayes, because is has such a clear focus, and is an amazing painter, also very kind and welcoming to other painters.

3.  Qiang-Huang, because he partings sometimes take my breath away, and he's so humble about his talent, and is a consistant blogger.

4.  Kathy Weber, because I've been a fan of hers since I first saw her work, and recently discovered her blog - you should too!

5.  Neil Hollingsworth, because even though he doesn't have to blog anymore (IMO) he still does, and has a great work ethic, not to mention gorgeous paintings!

Red Plums, 6x6 Acrylic

Taking a break from my big painting of Isolated Showers, which you can see on my studio blog, I set up 3 little red plums that I bought just to paint.  I always have loved the purple plums much more.  Well, when I was done with this set up I punctured one of the red plums and I figured I should eat it and .... delicious!  Now I'm a red plum fan, too.  These were very difficult and I wiped it off a couple of times, but then just said "Oh, just PAINT it!", so I did.  :)

Just Yolking, 5x7 acrylic on linen

I was too busy running around dropping off and picking up paintings yesterday to paint, so I'm using a small one from last week.  My sister's favorite cake is white, with white frosting (really, she could forgo the cake but it gives the frosting something to stick to!), and for her birthday on August 1, I made her a cake.  So the cake, to remain 'so so so' white needs only egg whites, I had these three yolks left over.  I rolled them on to a white platter and painted them  Interesting thing, as they sat there, the leftover white that clung to them pooled around them, making an interesting reflective surface to paint. At first, however, when I painted these, it was nowhere to be seen.

Passing Storm, Acrylic 6x6

sold

This is what they call 'isolated thunderstorms' and it was rapidly moving up the Bay. I felt like 'Quick Draw McGraw' (for those of you old enough to remember that cartoon) rapidly, rapidly getting down the shapes and colors. I had just come home from a fruitless trip to pick up my paintings at Pembroke. This is the story of my life. The pick up, aparently was a 4 o'clock sharp. Since it was my son's birthday and I was preparing a feast, I, in my mind, assumed they'd be there till 5 p.m. and since it's an hour's drive, I told my family I had to leave by 4 p.m. Well, when I set the cake in front of everyone I said "Anyone know what time it is?" When they said "5 o'clock" I grabbed my car keys ("Happy Birthday!!!!" ) and tore off up the highway at 80 mph. I arrived at 6:03 to find the tents being rolled up and my paintings locked in the bank across the street. So I used a 1/2 tank of gas for nothing!!!!! But this view was waiting for me when I got home, although all the guests were gone, and the birthday son was at the beach on a run....

Morning View, 5x7 Acrylic

Yesterday morning I was all set up on the porch for this soft view down the Sakonnet River....

ALSO I didn't realize that at the Pembroke Arts Fesitval Mary Sheehan Winn (whom you all know from my Blog comments) has a lovely painting, too!

Sunset Clould 5x7 Acrylic

Last night I sat on my porch and watched the sun slide down behind these gorgeous clouds, rimming them in gold and rose.  I really like the panel I used - I think it was some form of Gesso Board, but being me I didn't keep the wrapper so I have no idea what they are.  Fortunately they came in a pack of 3, so this morning I got another one in and have one left for the weekend.  I like the way I stayed loose in this - it's a struggle - and how the values are so close in range.

Just A Lemon, 6x6 Oil

Back in the studio.  It's a steam box today, although it's a sunny day so really I can't complain.  I love the simple shapes of lemons, and it looks so easy - but of course it's not.

Anyone in the Massachusetts area should try to stop by the Pembroke Art Festival this weekend, Aug 2 & 3.  You'll see 3 of my paintings there, some of Paula Villanova's too, and lots of other good paintings.  I'd like to congratulate Jody Regan who won 1st Prize in Oil/Acrylics there!

Slice Of Melon, 6x8 Acrylic

SOLD

Yesterday afternoon I started this little Daily Painting, hoping to get ahead a day, so I could spend one whole day plein air painting followed by some studio work on bigger pieces.  But I just couldn't get this right.  I was using the local color, which had a dull dark red for the background, and a greenish white for the cloth under the fruit.  The shadow side looked reddish-greenish (now THERE's a color you won't find in a tube!) and the top of the fruit was vapid and white-ish under the light from the lamp.  So I threw in the towel and left it.  This morning it seemed I knew just what would work, and in about 20 minutes had gotten it to this stage - with no visual reference (we had eaten the cantaloupe for breakfast!).  Sometimes you just have to paint what it feels like.  This is one good example of that!

Thanks, everyone who emailed me about not giving up on food as a theme.  You're right.  Almost everything's 'been done'.  But not by me! :)

Scattered Blueberries, 6x6 Acrylic

SOLD

So many things to paint for Daily Paintings.  I was a little 'stung' when a more accomplished local artist reviewed my work this Spring, and about the Daily Paintings she said "Food has been done and done.  It's old.  Thiebold had the last word on food.  You should do other things."  Well, I do other things, but the shapes of food, especially fruit, are a 'wonderland' to me.  People eat berries all the time, but when you really examine one, you find all sorts of patterns and reflective surfaces, as well as undercurrents of, for example, reds and greens in the blueberries.  So once again ignoring good advice, I set up a handful of blueberries this morning.  Here they are.

It's Plum Time, Oil, 6x6

I got these new painting panels from Karl Heerdt and couldn't wait to try them.   He's a Daily Painter, and has been making his own panels - decided to make it a little business.  They're nice!  They're pretty inexpensive (with shipping my pack of 10 cost $20) and they're canvas on masonite.  On the way to the studio I stopped to get some corn for tonight's dinner and saw three bins of plums.  Now, I LOVE plums, and I love the color of them, too.  So... at the studio I put them on a beautiful green background - and - voila!

Two Pieces Left, Oil 6x6

SOLD

I'm watermelon-obsessed!  I actually tried one day last week (Thursday?) to paint a stack of thick sliced watermelon, but couldn't do it justice... a wipe-off.  I love the many, many reds you use in painting this stuff, not to mention the yellows and pinks.  I'll miss it when the season's over.

And Happy Birthday to Paula Villanova!  Check out her blog and wish her a happy day!

White Rose, 8x10 Acrylic

Stayed home today just in CASE there was another water funnel in the area, like yesterday.  Turns out while I was gone the intense wind sucked one of the doors on the porch open and my cat Isabelle got out.  Hours later when I arrived home (even though I left the studio as soon as the worst had passed, there were trees snapped in half laying across the 2 main roads out of town, and telephone poles laying in the road) I saw what looked like a small piece of luggage on my front porch up against my door - it was Isabelle - traumatized!  So I played it safe and stayed home to paint with my acrylics, first a wipe-off of watermelons, then this beautifully opening rose.  Even though painting roses makes me go cross eyed, I'm determined to 'get' them this Summer.

I think the edge of the table is too sharp, so I'll probably soften it.

Who Wants Watermelon? Acrylic 6x12

SOLD

Strong light in the late afternoon and a plate of watermelon slices just 'says' Summer, doesn't it?  

Rose Bouquet, Acrylic 5x7

We have an abundance of roses.  I'm thinking it's got to be easier to paint them one at a time! :)  But the gorgeous colors make it too hard to decide on any one.  In this bouquet I stuck little purple flowers that look like balls, or thistle into it.  Yesterday it was lavender sprigs.  

Anyway the zillions of petals are always what grind me to a halt when painting flowers.  Here I just stopped my eyes and let myself do one at a time.  One way to do it.  I also could have looked at the 'whole' of the bouquet and given the impression of the mix.  Another day, another bouquet...

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!

The Wild Cosmos Garden, 6x12, Acrylic

This was a request from my husband, who has the greenest thumb ever!  At the edge of his garden the Cosmos self-seeded and he couldn't bring himself to weed them out - so... we have a wild edge to the vegetable garden, with gorgeous pink flowers!  This one's not for sale, it's for his new office.

And I'd like to invite anyone who's in the area of the South Shore of Boston, to come see my show at the Ventress Library in Marshfield, MA (a great little town on the ocean with lots to see & do around, too), it's open now through mid-August.  The Opening Reception is Monday, July 14th from 7-8:30, and the show is sponsored and run by the North River Arts Society.

Also some new work is on my Studio Blog... please feel free to check it out and comment...  I must apologise for not posting recently, I have had yet another 'camera incident'... believe me, you don't want to hear about it!