Bordeaux Countryside, 5x7 oil

I was supposed to be packing up my old studio, but when I was going through my sketchbooks to put in boxes I came across the one from France, and was flipping through and decided - ONE little daily painting!  So here's the original sketch, and today's little painting.  I thought it would be easy (should be on my tombstone) but it was a bit challenging!  Brings back great memories, though...

Cup and Saucer, 6x6 Acrylic

I've been experimenting with these acrylic paintings - this one was done with the canvas painted with black paint first, which stayed wet throughout the painting.  So when I painted the pink, yellow or blue it dragged up some black paint.  I had to apply thicker and thicker layers of the color, sometimes changing the colors in the layering so they'd show through.  The background is much more lime green in person, which looks better, I think.

Gray Day, Acrylic 10x20, and New Studio Photo

This is a shot of the NEW studio, as we are painting it.  The color is Quahog (pronounced KO-hog) and it's a light warm gray.  Other than the fact that I liked the neutral light color, I HAD to get this paint because Warren, where my new studio is located is the home of the one and only Quahog Festival (we've never attended one, but will report in this year as to what exactly this entails).  If you've ever seen the TV show Family Guy, they live in Quahog, a fictional town in Rhode Island.  Anyway, this space is amazing, it's in an old grain elevator building, with a cool history.

And, just so you don't think I haven't been painting, I finished up this piece that was started on location.  Typical, it was a gorgeous day with a clear sunny sky and no wind when I started packing up to go across the street to paint the island.  By the time I got my gear and CROSSED THE STREET, the sky had darkened, and the wind was whipping things around.  I decided to stay and paint (and freeze) anyway, being dive-bombed by seagulls and pigeons (there was a car full of people who pulled up behind me and emptied bags and bags of bread, etc. for the birds, who materialized out of nowhere for this feast!  Anyway, paintings like this will drive me mad with so many grays.  I feel a spicy painting coming on!

Saying Goodbye to the OLD New Studio

This week I'll be packing and moving to my NEW new studio in Warren, RI.  This photo of my present studio shows half the space.  Wait till you see my new digs - I have big plans, I'll tell you!  I'll try to do Daily Paintings (because I love to) and post - hopefully my days of tech nightmares are over now, too with the little MAC I have.

**AND if you've been receiving sexually explicit emails from "Thur" or ThurThur", that came from my 'address' it's because someone signed up for my blog, then turned around and 'used' my address as a platform for this stuff.  They have been exiled from Blogger, and I now #1) moderate all comments on my Daily Painting Blog and #2), enabled that word puzzle thing which is supposed to intercept spam.  I humbly apologize and commiserate, because I was getting them, too, and simply deleting them, blaming my Hotmail account - sorry, Hotmail!

Valentine's Day, Oil, 6x6

I did this from a sketch I did at a restaurant last year.  I want to wish you all a happy Valentine's Day. 

Pretty Little Cactus Pear, Oil 6x6

I wanted to think about WARM things today, and my husband had brought home a couple of these cactus pears for dessert, bringing to mind our trip to Sedona, where the trail behind our B&B was studded with cacti bearing these little pink gems.  I tried to stay loose, and deal with the many reds that appear in the skin of this fruit.  I also loved the mango background I sat it on.

Fallen Pear, Acrylic, 6x6

Today was a day I stayed home, so no oil painting for me.  But I had these luscious pears and I decided to make a painting with them.  The background, originally black, seemed boring, so I looked for a nice red to set off the green pears.  I picked up a tube of Naphtol Crimson, a paint I'd had for a while, but never really found a place for.  It was perfect - and more 'candy-apple' red than it shows in the picture.  I'm no pro at iPhoto (yet!), but this is a pretty good image otherwise.

"Spin Me Around, Dad!" Oil, 6x6

FINALLY I can post again!  Thank all of you for your patience.  I'm nowstruggling to learn how to use a laptop, and learn the MAC language that I used to understand!  Today's painting was based on my recent trip to NYC, where I watched the skaters at Rockefeller Center and saw this little girl skating with her Dad.  I loved the shapes of the skaters against the ice - it was a weekday and there were only a few people there, so looking down on them you got a lot of ice in your view.  Anyway... back to Painting A Day - YAY!  Also in about 15 minutes you can check my studio blog, http://welcometomyartworld.blogspot.com/ and see the biiiiiiiig sunset I finished today!  Again, always, thanks for looking!

This Is What I Do When I'm Bored....

Paint really bad self portraits!  Seriously I don't know what's up with me, I was all excited to go to Duxbury, MA to the Art Association to drop off paintings for their juried show (which I've only gotten into ONCE).  Then I came home and was all set to do a little daily painting, but instead I yanked out a 14x18 canvas and started a self portrait.  Guess I want to do more people, and don't have much luck getting friends and relatives to sit for me.  Also I know I won't get upset when I give myself weird lips or hair, and so I relax more.  This is my painting shirt that is known to some as my 'clown shirt', as it has lots of colors in it - actually I bought it for Tim and he took one look at it and said "I think you bought this for yourself..."  **grin** I guess I really did because I wear it ALL the time!  Any self portrait shows coming up?  I'm ready!

Isn't it funny how you always seem angry in self portraits?  I'm going to try try try to do a jolly one!

Damp Day, Acrylic 5x7

A few days ago when the air was heavy with moisture and the sky was hazy, the Edna Mae, a fishing boat that 'lives' across the street and down a little ways, was heading out.  It was approaching Gould Island, and I snapped a photo (no, it wasn't a plein air painting!).  I have a few art errands today, so probably won't get to the studio, but I painted this little painting of the boat and the island.  On the Island blog, I'll post the photo as well.

New Feature

This is KIND of a Daily Painting.  I did paint it today, but it's larger, an 11x14 painting of Gould Island, the one across from my house.  It's in the Sakonnet River, with Tiverton on one shore, and Aquidneck Island on the other (Aquidneck being much, much larger than Gould).  A funny thing is, and hardly anyone I've spoken to in this area is aware of, there's another island called Gould Island on the OTHER side of Aquidneck Island.  How could these people not notice this?  well, my little island is affectionately known (in my father's world) as 'Rat' Island, since viewed from a particular place it looks like a rat.  Anyway I'm planning a new blog, which will be linked from this one, all Gould Island, all the time.  Paintings, sketches, photos, and I'm hoping to do it for a year.  Stay tuned!

Not TODAY's Daily Painting...

Beach Rock Eggs, Acrylic 12x6

I did this painting last week, thinking of the 'Seeing White' Show at Gallery 297 in Bristol, RI (this one got rejected.... it's OK, my 'Pearl Onions' got in).  I collect egg shaped rocks that are pure white from the beach I go to in the summer.  Then I put them in tall vases.  I don't know why.  I'm thinking of breaking out this summer and collecting pitch black rocks that are flattened ovals, and doing the same (glass jars).  Then there are the speckled rocks, the smooth dark gray rocks with rings of white shot through them.... this is why I loved having little boys who loved to collect rocks.  When we moved from Pembroke, MA to Hingham we had interesting rocks lining every windowsill, and some in book cases, in boxes, in jars, cans..... well, we didn't take them to the new house, and I MISSED them!  

Instead of a Daily Painting today I did a bigger, 18x24 oil painting of a Red Jeep, see it (and the other stuff I'm doing) at http://welcometomyartworld.blogspot.com/. 

Strawberry Jar, 6x6 Acrylic

SOLD

There is an upcoming show featuring the color RED for February, and I've been thinking of what to enter.  At the studio (no, I didn't photograph it yet) I'm working on a fairly large (for me) painting of a little red sailboat being 'guided' by a little boy.  Hoooo-boy - can I pick a complicated subject?  Let's just say it may not get finished!  Hopefully this will be a good workweek and I can post some photos in my studio blog, too.  I bought this little jar of strawberries because it was so beautiful.  I can't imagine that they taste so good, but I decided to take a shot at painting them today.

I used a black 'box' like a lot of the daily painters do (I think Carol Marine and Jeff Hayes and Shawn Kenney use them), with a directed light.  I'll admit it's easier when everything else in the world is taken out of the picture.  Let me know what you think of this.  I liked that it was glass, and then the berries with their luminescent color under the glass, and then - seeds!  Thanks for looking!

White Sangria, Oil, 6x12

I apologize for the bad cropping job - I'll try to re-crop it & post it later.  This is from Spain, the most delightful Sangria I've ever had (not that I've had a LOT of it!).  There is a show about 'RED' coming up, so some of my new paintings will be visual thoughts about that color.  This cherry in the bottom of the glass, I thought, deserved some attention.

Winter Walk on the Sakonnet, Oil, 5x7

This painting was from a photo I took on a very cold December evening across the street from my house.  The whole sky was salmon and the water reflecting it was the same color.  The river was as still as a lake - so unusual, and the reflections of Gould Island were beautiful and rosy.  People walking their dog on the beach I thought I just have to paint this.  It was such a perfect winter evening, and so typical of this area.  You feel like the whole world is pink, and it has a bit of magic in the air.

So glad to be painting again.  December had personal issues which kept me away from the easel, not to mention wanting to not mess up the holidays by being AWOL to the family.  Back in the saddle, now!  Happy New Year to ALL of you!

Sparkly Pointsettia, 6x6 acrylic

It's the time of year to hurry and scheme, to cook and clean and shop and wait... paint! This is a mini - pointsettia, about 4 inches tall, I couldn't resist it and wish I had the whole house covered with them. Merry!

Nutcracker, Holiday Cup

This cup would be my ideal mug from Coastal Roasters for the Holidays. Notice the two little peanut butter/hershey kiss cookies for Santa...

This nutcracker is the only nod to the Season in my house so far. I never nocticed how the teeth on these nutcrackers remind me of the Bog Man's teeth! He could probably crack nuts with them, too!

Jake's Shake, 5x7 Acrylic

So much for doing a little landscape from last night's sunset! I found this little guy (I think his name is Jake, so it's Jake's Shake) in Jamestown, RI, a lovely island off Newport. Anyway, I take photos of animals wherever I go and he was hamming it up for me, then all of a sudden he had to SHAKE-SHAKE-SHAKE his head! More dogs coming, I'm afraid, because of next week's Bayside Colony Dog Show in Boston http://www.baysideexpo.com/eventDetail.php?id=1143472192&pages=1 (Thursday and Friday - I wish I could spend BOTH days there!). If you go to their website you can get a discount coupon, too! I'd say get there early, because it's a real full day!

Just Had To Share This With You

No, this is not a Daily Painting, but this is the view from my porch as I arrived home from the studio last night. I haven't gotten to painting yet this morning, but thought I'd send this out - amazing, isn't it? This little piece of the Nanaquaket peninsula which used to be a Summer home for the Sisters of the Holy Union, is going to soon be filled with 7 McMansions... :( Oh, well, I'm taking lots of photos before the neighborhood goes 'down' :)

Also you might want to check out my Studio Blog http://welcometomyartworld.blogspot.com to see what I've been working on instead of a Daily Painting today.... Thanks for visiting, and I do appreciate every comment!

Holiday Mug, 6x6 Acrylic

On Sunday evening Tim & I went to Newport and stopped in at Starbucks (hey, Coastal Roasters was CLOSED!) and they had these cool metallic mugs that I thought would be a challenge to paint. I was right! But I forged ahead, letting the paint get really thick, and letting the lights emerge from the shadow. The only huge question was whether to include the 'seam' on the wood that the cup sat on (that diagonal going from the center to the mid-right side). See, in real life there's a refletion on the mug, so I was thinking 'yes', include the reference for the reflection. I'm going to try painting it in the daylight, see how that works.

And many thanks to all who have visited my blog. I very much appreciate your presence, and your comments, it makes you feel less 'alone' in the work, knowing people are viewing.

More Coastal Roaster Coffee Stuff ! :)

This is just what I'm up to these days. Dropping off paintings at Holiday Shows (55 were 'at large' this month alone!), packing & shipping Daily Paintings that have sold (will update the 'solds' on the blog SOON I promise!) and painting little acrylic paintings about my favorite coffee shop, Coastal Roasters, in beautiful Tiverton, RI. The photos did not come out as clear as I wanted, and rather than wait for tomorrow's light (today's light was gray and dismal) to get better images. Suffice it to say that the paintings are clearer, that you can read the signs, and the colors are richer. OK. The first one, below, is "The Coast Is Clear" (8x10), and it's about the gauntlet you have to endure to cross this Main Road to GET to the delicious, full bodied coffee (Starbucks, eat your heart out....). The speed limit is 25, but one day I was 'passed' by a truck going 50 (yes, I zoomed after him to see JUST how fast he was going!). And that would be me, saying 'SLOW DOWN!' to all the zoomers going by.... :) Below is one of my Holiday Dreams for a Coastal Roaster Cup!

Forgive me for being a little irreverant... but I think both Mary and Joseph would have been THRILLED to receive some nice hot Coastal Roasters coffee after their travails. The text on the bottom right reads "How thoughtful! They've come bearing Coastal Roaster Coffee!" Seriously, the Magi are very dear to me, my favorite symbol of the season, and I can't help but think that if they'd been able to, they WOULD have swung by Tiverton to bring some delicious java to the Holy Family....

It Happened In Hull, 6x6 Oil

This is a painting of a Hull sunset, for a nice woman who is commissioning a series. So this one is not for sale. Hull is one of those places where every night the sky is a brilliant illumination of a design that can only be Divinely created. Where I live now is a similar light - all reflected off the water, in color combinations that are jaw-dropping. In real life the water is a bit darker and richer, but as far as photos go, it's pretty good.

Coastal Roasters

After a very intense week/end what with all the Holiday Shows and their preparations, the Open Studio I participated in in Bristol, and my visit to the Boston Fine Art Show, I was hungry for painting! Just having a little fun with my favorite coffee shop, Coastal Roasters. Outside in the seating area is a little Budda and after I painted it Tim suggested it would be appropriate for Buddha to be nursing a Coastal Roasters Travel Mug (not that he's actually travelling, but it gets cold on the water there!). So... fun, and still framing, dropping off, etc., AND trying to put myself in a mindframe to shop/cook/clean for Thanksgiving.

Pomegranates, 6x8 Oil

The top one is from today, the bottom one from yesterday. I'd been itching to get back to Daily Paintings, and pomegranates are such a challenge because of the many different colors of red the skin has. THEN when you open them... there are more! I apologise for the bad cropping job, I'll try to clean them up later. I just loved spreading this creamy paint around, and liked the simple subject. This is one fruit that always reminds me of the holidays. Let's hope I don't delay savoring this treat till it's gone by - done that many times... :}

I promise, no more workshop photos after this!

As promised.... the Belly Dancer! Here I'd first like to send a BIG 'THANKS' to the TSA personnel in Phoenix for untaping all my wet canvas boards (all held aprart so you could actually see in the spaces between the wet paintings), smearing the wet paint all over the paintings packed face-to-face) and effectively ruining every single canvas. I feel so much SAFER now! Seriously, there was an explanatory letter on top of them, with only my empty easel also in the suitcase. Apparently there's a threat of EXPLOSIVE paintings - now there's something I never thought to worry about! Anyway... learned my lesson, and forever more will 1) use only Galkyd paints when I travel, and 2) ship via UPS!

Enough ranting. These belly dancer paintings were only FIVE minutes long, each, so don't be too harsh! They were fun to do, because with just 5 minutes you can't get fussy! Our model really got into it, and she was so strong and fluid it was a pleasure to paint.

Then this last one was from an earlier day, with the most beautiful shawl and dress...


Things to remember from the workshop:

#1 - Be A Designer (don't let reality get in the way of a good painting)!

#2 - Title First (when you give your painting a title first, you are more likely to stick to the focal point!)

#3 - Separate the dark and light pattern with clean, interesting shapes! (and not only things in 'shadow', but things that are actually dark go into the dark area).

#4 - 1/3 - 2/3 rule , keep 1/3 of the painting light, 2/3 dark, or vice versa, to keep a rythm and interest in a painting.

Thanks to all who checked in on the blog, and DOUBLE thanks to everybody who commented - it made me feel like you were right there with me!

It's A WRAP! End of session

Today was the last day **sniff, sniff** of our workshop. Athena posed as a ballerina in the afternoon. It was very challenging (I love that word, don't you?) but fun. Tomorrow look for the belly dancer (YEAH - you'll check in now, won't you?), that was a blast to paint. I am so sorry for the double post (AND the idential post placed in the Daily Marketplace Blog - DUH - special needs in technology I am...) yesterday. MSW said it wasn't only me. Off to dinner with my new buddy Yvonne and PKR, to thank her for a wonderful week. Thank all of you, too - I miss my 'dailies' and will be back this week!

SORRY!

I've tried 3 times to upload another group of photos from Kinko's in Scottsdale, to the tune of $12, and nothing will upload from this computer, although it looks like it's actually happening. Will try the library tomorrow... Sorry everybody, it's going quite well, and Peggi is an awesome teacher I wish you could all be here!
:) Kelley

*Ooops, Double Post Deleted....

Mid Week With Peggi (correct spelling) Kroll Roberts

These paintings are Peggi's, just to give you some reference. She's an awesome instructor. I apologise for monopolizing my Daily Painting Blog with this , I really should have put it in my Studio Blog. I'll try to move it when I get back. This work is from Wednesday. Thank you, everyone, who posted comments at the bottom - it's great to read them and feel like we're in touch!
In the morning, Athena posed in a dark green (bad photo) evening gown indoors
We had to paint this in HIGH KEY - that's what I wrote on my painting, although I seem to be the only one who can read that... Our beautiful model then posed in front of the School in a kimono & parasol (it was 95 degrees...)
My version:
And I happen to be here for the 'Best and Brightest' show - featuring none other than our friend Tatiana Sink, see below! YAY Tatiana!
Tonight is the Art Walk, where over 100 galleries will be open late, and it's gorgeous weather at night to stroll around - should be amazing! Thanks for checking in... let me know what you think! :) Kelley

LIVE! From Scottsdale, AZ! PKR workshop!

Hello, Everyone! I'm in Scottsdale at Peggi Kroll Roberts' figure workshop with the Scottsdale Artist School this week! We are painting FIENDS! I feel like we are empty vessels, and PKR is STUFFING us with information on how to paint figures. (Feeling very, very full right now...) She's working us very hard, but it does actually feel like something's 'clicking'!

This is the last one of the day, done outdoors.

Our first outdoor piece, this afternoon...

Sorry, no Photoshop here! No cropping!

Our lovely model, Athena (what a cool name,huh?)

Well, I'll try to check in tomorrow night. I'm missing everyone but am working very hard. It's HOT here, and clear and wonderful. Thanks for checking in! Put any questions/etc. in the 'comments' section on the blog, OK? Thanks, all!

In Memory of Salty Dog, Acrylic, 6x8

This past weekend a friend of mine lost her best canine friend, Salty. My friend Nancy nursed her beloved Yellow Lab with tenderness and compassion throughout the dogs' old age. In return, Salty was enthusiastic and full of love to the last. A faithful friend, and part of all our 'artist girlfriend' parties, you will be missed, Salty Dog...