Virtual Cocktail Party, various artists

A couple of weeks ago I sent out an invitation to any blogging painter who wanted to come was invited to a 'Virtual Cocktail Party', BYOB.  Well, here we are,  an intimate cyber gathering with our choice of beverages (for today, anyway)....

Cheers, everyone!

Me - Cabernet Sauvignon, MontGras Reserva 2007

Pam Holnback's Wine

Amy Hillenbrand, Cocktail

Gwen Bell,  Kaluha & Cream

Nancy Colella's Chardonnay

Kim Remple's Ceasar

Dana Cooper's "After The Party"

Sally Dean's Cosmo

 Margarita by Page Railsback

Martini by Page Railsback

Mary Sheehan Winn's Virtual Martini

Also, if anyone's having trouble with my blog loading, would you let me know?  I heard from someone who had a problem - only with my blog.  It could be because I have a rather large amount of images on each 'page', but I do that because I found people don't usually go beyond the first page (do you blame them?).  

Excuses, Excuses....

No painting for sale today!  I spent Friday afternoon at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI, where they were holding the RI Home Show.  I had been asked to participate in a fundraiser for Haiti, sponsored by Jerry's, and was happy to paint donuts and coffee to the delight of onlookers.  

A virtual army of artists painted there and donated the paintings for a raffle, the proceeds of which went to help people suffering from the effects of the earthquake.  I am happy to report that my friend whose aunt was missing and presumed dead in Haiti was one of those found after 6 days under debris from a collapsed building, dehydrated and hurt... but alive!

And below, my last, best reason to not paint today (Sunday) - it's my birthday (55!) and my family kept me laughing and busy all weekend!  We met the kids at P.F.Chang for lunch on Saturday.  Tim made this cake from scratch today- as he always does... my favorite, German Chocolate Cake.  I'm inviting you all for a virtual bite!  

Late on Monday I will host my Cocktail Party Challenge - and anyone who sends me their cocktail painting by late afternoon EST will have their drinks posted!

Pink Tulips, 11x14, Acrylic

Yesterday a dear friend visited my studio and brought these gorgeous pink tulips, which I totally HAD to paint today!  I am really thinking 'Spring'!  Of course it will be cold and raw all weekend, but we've had a gorgeous week to carry us!  I think it's challenging (don't you love that word?) to paint glass with acrylic.  I wonder what the deal is with that?  Anyway, there are layers and layers on this painting, lots of glazing.

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Reminder if you're an artist and want to join my 'Virtual Cocktail Party' - I'm taking images of your favorite cocktail till Monday a.m.!  Will post it on Monday, but it won't show up in my blog till Tuesday a.m.  Cheers!

Dreaming Of Venice, Oil, 12x6 inches

I'll come clean... I've never been to Venice.. YET.  It's on my own personal list of Places I Need To Go. Monet loved it for it's light, so I can't imagine not falling in love with it myself.  My son Conor has been, however, and he shared his photos with me.  I don't normally paint from photos.  But I was so inspired by some bloggers I saw this morning I thought I'd give it a try!

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Coffee & Donut, 6x8, Oil

The coffee shop across the road has started selling their own coffee mugs - in adorable blue with yellow insides!  So, of course I had to stop in and get a jelly donut (and yes, that big bite was DELICIOUS!) to sit and keep the coffee company.   I liked painting their relationship.

Did I mention that my work (and Paco's face) is in a beautiful video that Myra, whose wonderful Blog I follow, made and posted on YouTube?  Oh, you have to check it out!
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Cairn III, 6x6, Oil

Feeling mellow today, as I am starting a new Yoga class, I played with all my little rocks at the studio, and made this little cairn.  I just love painting stones.  

Mojito! 8x8 Acrylic

SOLD
I set this up in my house and worked in acrylic - more difficult for me with the things like glass, etc., but easier with layering of the limes!  If anyone wants this please email me very soon ($100 & $10 s&h via PayPal), because next weekend I'll be giving it to my daughter to auction off - she's still only halfway to her fundraising goal for her Boston Marathon Run.  I'll post a link to her site, too, because people have been asking about it.  Anyway my favorite Mojito is made with sake (ooooh, so smooth!) but this one is traditional, with rum!    Hot lights & ice.... equal rapid painting!

Soup For Lunch, 8x6, Oil

I thought you might like to see the process of this one... I love tomato and rice soup!

First, the photo, below....

The initial sketch and block-in.

Some background, and a little modeling on the can...

Modeling on the bowl and spoon,

The cloth beneath and some rough details,

Almost done...

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AND my new Delivery System is in place (hurrah!), so if you'd like these posts to actually ARRIVE in your inbox, and they are not showing up, please re-enter your email address in the box at the top right column of my blog and I will happily send them to you!  Thanks so much for all the support!

Dreaming Of Harry Winston, 6x6 Acrylic

Well, it's that time again, when my Challenge Group posts their monthly interpretations of a theme or idea.  This month the theme was "Dream".  First of all, I'm completely lost when it comes to 'making stuff up' about a painting, and this is why I never thought of myself as a creative person for many years.  I started this and was really going places with it, till my loving husband told me I needed to make it 'sparkle' more.  OK.... I darkened the background, changed the color, changed it back, repainted the 'steps' on the inside of the stone, changed the shape of the diamond, gave it double claws like a 'real' HW, and then declared it completely dead.  If you check the Challenge Blog you'll see I did a Mermaid's Dream.  Just thought you'd get a chuckle out of this.  No, it's not something I own.  I just love sparkles, and.. let's be honest, in real life they're pretty sparkly!

As an aside, I've been paying more attention to my Studio Blog, and, well, Paco's Blog is featuring him and my MARTINI!

This one is NFS (not for sale)

Uh, Oh.... 6x6 Oil

SOLD

This is /was my beloved Harlequin mug that I got in Santa Fe.  I dropped it.  I just loved my morning coffee out of this mug, but I guess now that leaves room for a new favorite.

Below is an 11x14 abstract I did called "Yield" (Oil)

SOLD

And last but not least I got interviewed today by a reporter from the Fall River Herald News.  We had, as you can see, a fun hour together (We will not talk about Paco's behavior during this hour.  But did you know that fresh bones have this gross tube of MARROW that slips out of them?  Yeah.  On the floor.  In front of the reporter....)

Wild Strawberry Wedgewood Coffee Cup, 6x6 Oil

SOLD

This little china cup has always been a favorite.  I liked painting the cloth underneath, and the cloth underneath THAT.  No more cups or drinks this week, I think.  I'm a little exhausted by elipses (the way a circle flattens out as you view it from the side)!  So we'll see what I come up with.  It'll be fun (well, for me, anyway!) I sure!  Let's get through March weather with a smile on our faces!

Martini & 3 and a Cocktail Party Invitation!

NFS

OK, I won't apologize for the photo, but bear in mind that it is nighttime and I finally found my camera (hidden in plain sight, of course!).  Well I promised my daughter another couple of 'drink' paintings so she can auction them off because they were so popular, and that's how this martini came about.  My friend Janet Kingan asked for 3 olives last time, so here you are, Janet!  I'm always inspired by Shawn Kenney when I paint martini's - he been an inspiration since I started blogging!

OK - I'm inviting all my fellow bloggers to send me an image they paint of their favorite cocktail - and in a couple of weeks I'll post them - lets' say by the 15th of March - so it'll be a 'birthday cocktail party' for me!  I'll post them all here.  It's a non-recurring challenge, and I just need to be able to upload your images, and have your full name and link.  Cheers!*

*My husband asked WHY I needed vermouth to paint a martini - "You can't SEE it..." he said... I guess I just need it to be authentic!!  And I think you can SMELL it....

Hendrick's Gin & Tonic, 5x7 Acrylic

This Gin & Tonic is NFS, it's part of the raffle I mentioned in an earlier post for my daughter to participate in the Boston Marathon.  Since I'm not a big drinker, I splurge when I do, so... it's Hendrick's. If you like gin at all, this is the creme de la creme.  This painting, in acrylic, done at home (with a zillion light sources) drove me batty.  Literally.  I cried.  I threw stuff.  I bent my brush.  This is attempt #3, and I can't bring myself to show you the 1st two - they looked like it was my very first painting.  Not used to painting glass with acrylics - and it's different, and the light... So my husband suggested I shut all the shutters in the room, and turn on my clamp light... now why didn't I think of that?  And really... try, just TRY to paint ice under a hot light!!!!  Suffice it to say that my house looks like a hurricane hit it after all my fits...

Now, I think I'll drink my subject... I deserve it!

Pink Carnations, Oil, 6x6

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I used to dislike Carnations, and still am not too keen about most of them.  There seems to be a variety without fringe, and I like those, and then there are these oversized carnations with a deep pink color - I like these, too.  Working on the drinks paintings, and thank you all so MUCH for your suggestions.  Good thing I'm painting them and not drinking them, or nothing would get done!

Bloody Mary Time, 6x8 Oil

NFS - Will be in Molly's Raffle for the Boston Marathon!!!

This is one painting I'm donating for the fundraiser that Molly's having to raise money so she can run the Marathon (it's donated to Brigham & Women's Hospital Charities).  I'm going to try to do a gin and tonic, too... what other drinks would be good/pretty/fun to paint?  I'm up for a virtual party!  Tell me, I'll be the bartender, and 'make' your drink!

Sunshine Award! And Roses, 6x12 Acrylic

Roses in February, 12x6 Acrylic

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One fabulous by-product of Valentine's Day is wonderful subject matter to paint!

And I have been honored (not 3 but 4 times!) by being given the Sunshine Award!  I need to notify my 12 artists that I'd like to pass this on to, and list them with a link to their blogs here.  So although 12 is far fewer than the number of artists that actually bring rays of sunshine into my life ... here they are (if you don't show up here, don't be despondent, I could probably list at least double this amount and it would include YOU!)

1. Sally Dean
2. Kendra Ferreira
3. Kristen Reitz-Green
4. Nancy Hartley
5. Jala Pfaff
6. Mary Sheehan Winn
7. Dreama Tolle Perry
8. Kim Muller Thym
9. Anne Winthrop Cordin
10. Kathleen Coy
11. Amy Hillenbrand
12. Diane Hoeptner

Countryware Teacup, 6x6 Oil

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In my former life I did things like collect teacups from china patterns that I liked.  This one was a Wedgewood pattern named 'Countryware' with leaf-like embossed forms.  

ALSO I got not one, not two, but THREE Sunshine Awards!!!!  I will post the award tomorrow with the folks that I'm giving this lovely award to - how COOL is that?

Also, my new subscription box (top left on the blog) actually works.  You can put your email address in and get my posts in your inbox.  I'm trying to enter all the people who WERE on my other carrier, so if it turns out you get two... apologies in advance, and feel free to unsubscribe.  But thank you so much for your patience!!

Grandma Nellie's Creamer, 6x6 Oil

Still in the mode of thinking about 'Grandma's Kitchen'.. This is from my husband's MacDonald grandmother's kitchen.  I drove myself nearly crazy trying to get the cut glass, the red .... the shadows, the highlights... oh my.  Funny how seeing it here, on the post, I see things I maybe should have seen before I 'wrapped it up'... but ... on to the next thing!
** ETA, I didn't actually try to paint the 'cuts' in the glass - just the light bouncing off it and the shadows under it, but still...

Cat In A Box, 6x6 Acrylic

This is my boy cat, Harry, who had the idea that napping ON the cat food in the box would be  really great.  He kind of glowed orange and yellow, and it was fun to put the details on the Fancy Feast box.  I think I've got a good service to send out the posts to people's inboxes so I'll start uploading the emails from the group.  Till I can import their subscription box to my blog, just email me if you want to be put on the list.  Really, I'm hoping that happens within the week.  Thanks for your patience.

Congratulations!

Carol Schiff was the winner of the Giveaway to celebrate my 500th post!  She chose the Gold Rimmed Teacup, and said it will be happy hanging with her Teapot Series!  Check her out. In the meantime I'm hunting for my camera... seemed to have misplaced it after the Blogging Talk in Duxbury.... Calling St. Anthony!!! (again!)

Karin Jurick, 6x8 acrylic

Well, I hope you are all having a happy Valentine's day!  Today, I'm posting my contribution to a tribute to Karin Jurick, who has tirelessly organized and produced Different Strokes From Different Folks, which, I believe, is one of the first 'challenge' groups for painters.  After her December assignment, which was to produce a portrait of another painter that she randomly assigned, one of the painters decided to thank her by having everyone paint a photo of Karin!  She made them into a book and sent it to her.  The cat's out of the bag, now (horrible saying, I think), and it's safe to publish and talk about our portraits.  The whole kit and caboodle can be seen here.

Let's Forget About The Snow And Cold!

Just a reminder that you can look over this week's paintings, which include

• The Valentine Pop
• The Baby Steps
• The Fortune Cookie
• The Gold Rimmed Teacup

And make a comment on that post AND send me an email if you'd like to be part of the Giveaway Raffle.  I'll pull a name out of the hat on Monday, and announce it.  There's not too many names as of today, so you've got a good chance.  And, Paco says 'hi', and he misses you all!

Gold Rimmed Teacup, 6x6 Oil, and a GIVEAWAY!

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I'm giving away a painting from this week!  That would include the Valentine Pop, the Baby Steps, the Fortune and the Gold Rimmed Teacup!  Help me celebrate my 500th post this week by

1. commenting on my blog under the painting you'd like, and
2. sending me an email, with the painting you'd like, and your EMAIL address so I can notify the winner.

My friend Sally Dean gave me this cup, and she has a matching one, that she'll paint and post on her blog, too!  Painting shimmering gold is so hard, but I do love a challenge.  I think this is not the last you'll see of this cup.  My new subscriber system will hopefully be chosen soon, I'll let you know the status of that!

Come See Me Tonight!

Details, in case you can't see them... Tonight, Feb 11, 2010 at the  Duxbury Art Complex, 6:30, Paula Villanova, Sally Dean and I will talk about Blogging and our art!  FREE!  Thank goodness the roads are clear!

Fortune, Oil, 6x6

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"He who climbs the high tree has a right to the fruit".  And I love the background.. it's called "Radiant Violet" by Gamblin.  Good 'fortune' to you!

Baby Steps, Oil, 6x8

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My mom had a pink ceramic baby shoe for each baby.  I THINK this one was my sister's, as I seem to remember a big chip in mine.  But the pink was so delicate it was a bear to paint.  I suppose putting it in front of a pink background only made it more difficult, but I tried putting it on bright, neutral and white backgrounds, and none looked 'easy' (that's what I'm looking for...;).  So this is a sentimental piece, I wish I had these for my own babies....

Valentine Pop, 5x7, Acrylic

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I'm a hopeless romantic, and Valentine's Day is a favorite of mine.  I don't care if it's a 'made up' holiday or not.  My Dad was my first Valentine, and never let the day go by without some little treat that said "I love you".  Now that he's gone I STILL think of him in a special way on Valentine's day - and in that vein I'm going to do a giveaway to celebrate this holiday plus my 500th (! I know!) post!  Details later this week!  Stay tuned!  And have a good week!

Last Light Over The Sakonnet, 6x8, Acrylic

SOLD

This is a little painting of one of my many sunset views, overlooking the Sakonnet River.  The land mass is Aquidneck Island, which is home to Portsmouth, Middletown and Newport, RI.  I have always loved to paint these sunsets, but since the Fall I'd not been able to bring myself to.  A rejection of these paintings, which I said would not bother me, apparently did, more than I realized.  But now I'm able to put it behind me and move forward, and love this every changing view again.

And because you are so wonderful to me I'm going to share a photo from our Challenge Group's Meetup last week - with NO NAMES attached (because I value my life) - trust me these were fabulous 'grandma's'  - and the strudel was TDF.

Grammy Croft's Cream Whipper, Oil 5x7

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This was a tall pottery container my husband's grandmother used to whip cream (I was astonished when I learned this as a young woman - I thought whipped cream came out of an Redi-Whip container!). My MIL has some gems like this from that generation, that I borrowed to paint for my Challenge group's theme "Grandmother's Kitchen" this month. It's updated and available for viewing HERE. Do you guys want to see some photos from our 'dress-up' gathering for that theme last night? It was fun, we had all 50's food, and we dressed like our grannies. A fun, wild night, and getting to see the paintings in person was amazing as usual.

Step On It, 8x8 Oil

The scariest thing just happened - I clicked on my blog title to go to my blog and post, and my blog showed up, but 30 seconds into it a different address showed up in the browser ON ITS OWN and then this spam page came up. I tried it again and again, and could not get IN to my blog. I had to get here from Paco's blog and hit the 'x' on the browser as soon as the SPAM address came in. Blogger is no help on this, either. So... here I am... having snuck in, hoping someone can see it. These shoes were done in Denise Zompa's studio, getting ready for a show in Newport. Tried to keep it loose. RESTRAINT is my guide these days.