Salvia Cottage, 12x12 Oil

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On a trip to Ptown during a painting trip this week, we pulled in across from Days Cottages (Ptown, I think, or it could be in Truro....)  And having just been to all the fabulous galleries in Ptown I was  so psyched to get out the paints.  All these little cozy cottages are lined up along the road, perched on the edge of the beach - nothing between them and the gorgeous bay but a strip of lovely sand.  The neat and tidy cottages each bear the name of a flower - I chose Salvia, partly because of the red jeep with the green kayak in front of it.  The light was just starting to slant and there was fantastic 'bounce' of this yellow light up into the shadow on the right side of the building.  Anyway...this nice family from Western MA was staying there, and they purchased the painting right off the easel.  I hope they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed painting it!

First Cosmos, 6x6 acrylic

This is our first, but not last, Cosmos.  I love the dark pink color, and look forward to it's cheering me throughout the heat of the summer.  I wanted the challenge of looking down on the little flower and little vase, measure, measure, measure.  We got these big sqare stones in a light sand color that act like stepping stones, providing a nice, warm neutral backdrop.

Happy Fathers' Day to all the Dads out there....

First Roses of Summer, 12x12 acrylic

This is going to be sold as a Daily Painting, despite it's size.  I couldn't find a 6x12 canvas, and I didn't want to make it a 6x6 today.  So.... These are two of the first of our roses, blooming despite our battle with worms, aphids and spiders this Spring.  Roses are so complex, I'm determined to conquer them this sumer.  But rather than work, work, and overwork this one, I'm packing some water, fruit and a book and hoofing it to the beach for an hour or so :) (must refresh the senses...)

YAY!

I have been painting daily, but things have not quite worked out this week.  Maybe it was the heat... maybe it was Harry the Cat running out of the rich, dark garden dirt and coming to a stop on TOP of my wet beach painting...  Who knows.   I'll post one later today.

In the meantime I got this piece "SUMMER HOMES" (20x24) accepted into the Cape cod Art Association National Juried Show.  It's been a tough Spring in terms of rejections, so this was doubly sweet.  The show opens on EITHER the 19th or the 20th.  The formal acceptance letter they sent me said Friday the 20th, their website says Thursday the 19th - I'll have to call to find out!

Here's Your Answer, Acrylic 6x8

This is from one of my all time favorite images.  A few years ago we spent the 'off season' living on the beach in Hull, MA, and I was going through a pretty difficult time in my life.  I would walk the beach every day and ask God for help and strength.  One day I was feeling particularly low, and alone, and I asked for a sign (you know how you do that when you're feeling desperate?) that I was NOT alone and that He/She was going to stick with me.  and I looked up and I swear there was a perfect heart shape breaking through the clouds.  I said to myself "That's a pretty great 'sign'!"  and snapped the photo, because no one would believe me.  Periodically I re-paint it.  The original, large size painting went to a friend who has a very large burden to bear in this life.

Last Night, 11x14 acrylic

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Amazing, gorgeous, clear warm evening last night, and while the sunset itself was jaw-dropping, the view up the river was soft and aqua/rose. So I grabbed my acrylics, and thinking of wonderful Marcia Burtt, laid in wet shapes with a big brush, then found it impossible to work with, but I kept at it applying more paint in washes, then in thick brushfulls for the land masses. My husband does not like the way I 'squared off' the land mass to the right, but I was abstracting it, not doing a portrait of Aquidneck Island. Well, I love the washiness of this, and though it's not a typical 'daily painting', I'm super busy this week trying to organize for my upcoming show and dealing with car issues ("Oh, Officer, is it reeeaaallly June already? I thought I still had a few days to get that inspection sticker! And you say I have a headlight out so I have to get that fixed first? NO problem!).

I can't believe how washed out the color is when it's posted! I'll try again in better light.

Eggs-actly! Oil, 6x6

Here I was working with two green eggs and one brown egg.  I kept wanting to make the brown egg much lighter, I don't know why.  Also I hate that the eggs are matte and don't have a great reflection from the light - s-u-b-t-l-e..... is what they are.  so I put them on a pink plate, and laid them on a purply surface....  trying to stay loose.  Missing my clams...

Also got a couple of new things on my Studio Blog.