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

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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.