Stuff On My Mantel, 6x6 Acrylic

6x6 inches, acrylic

$100 & $10 Shipping & Handling via Paypal

I'm trying to learn Photoshop, and it's not easy! Anyway, this painting is for my Challenge Group, the December topic being "Lamp", and there's my little pinecone painting and some winterberry branches. It's New Years' Eve, and I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. I'm still reorganizing my 'Group', but will be finished soon, and you'll be getting these images in your Inbox, if you desire!

Portrait Challenge

At the end of the year Karin Jurick's Different Strokes Challenge is to paint another painter! You submit your photo and she sends you another painter's photo - this was my assignment and my finished piece.

Penguin Snow Globe, 6x6, Oil

Penguin Snow Globe, 6x6

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

I had a painting of the last (really!) rose from the garden, but at the last minute decided not to post it because I really think I need to work on 'roses'. The vase was OK, but the flower was not as rich in color as in real life, and I could see a real struggle with the petals.

THIS little guy, however, just sprang onto the board. I must really like painting little toys and such, you know? Anyway, just wondering... do you guys think I talk too much in my posts, and include information/subjects that are too personal? I'm thinking of applying (again!) to the Daily Painters.com. And I think my work ranks high enough to get in this time, but you never know what they'll reject you for. Just give me your honest opinion in the Comments section. I definitely can take it. And maybe I should reserve the more personal stuff for my 'Studio' blog, no?

YUM! 6x6, Oil

YUM!, 6x6

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

This is the last of the goodies from Allie's donuts! And I don't even know if it was TASTY, because it 'waited' it's turn at the studio.... so it was a few days old when I attempted it. Although I have to tell you, a little while under that light, and the studio smelled like someone was baking a cake! horrors! Sorry for the glare. And yesterday morning I woke up to the most beautiful morning.... view from my bed below! Now, just disregard those electrical wires, will you? It was such a soft blue with pinky light at the horizon. OK. I'm taking a couple of days 'off' at the end of this week to re-structure my email subscriber group. I'll try, but man, at this time of the year it's 'get-together' time!

One Clove, 6x6 Oil

One Clove, 6x6

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

**Please Note: Google has 'lost' my Subscription Group**

If you normally get these posts in the mail, I will probably be setting up a new 'group' to reinstate that. You will be getting an email asking you if you want to be part of the group. You'll just have to click on the link and we'll be back in business. So sorry!

Here's to making lots of 'sauce' this time of year for calzones, pizzas, and pasta! (And of course I use more than one clove!)

Trio, Oil, 6x6

Trio, 6x6

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

From Allie's Donuts! And I hope some of you who normally get my posts in their Inbox are checking in... I have no way to tell you I'm in Google Hell! Through some bug my 'Group' has become inaccessible to me, and there's a long process of recovery of the mailing list. Soooo... it may be a while, or I may have to ask people to sign up for a new group, due to this glitch. Enjoy your donuts, now...

The Winner!

The winner of the Spearmints is TRES, who is a familiar contributor to my Comments section! Congratulations, Tres! This morning we awoke to our first snow of the season, so I put a red scarf on Paco (whose blog will be updated today) and took him out for a frightening, exhilarating romp in the wet fluffy white stuff! THEN I printed out all the comments and cut them into each person's section, put them in a cowboy hat and had my trusty assistant (read: husband) pick one. I didn't trust myself to pull a comment out of the hat, since I knew who'd left long messages, and whose were short and sweet. This way everyone had a fair shake. It was fun, and I have a couple of weeks before I hit my 500th post! That may also inspire some celebration, what do you think?

Below is a portrait of Bubba, my sister's dog. It's a Christmas present for my brother-in-law, who loves this dog - well, let's be honest - as much as he loves his wife and children! I have to finish the collar, but otherwise he's ready to go. His story? On Petfinder, my sister was looking for a puppy because she'd lost her beautiful dog and was grieving. Bubba was in Texas (she's in MA) and 5 or 6 weeks old, scheduled for euthanasia, and my BIL jumped on a plane and flew to Texas to bring him to his Forever home. He was only as big as a minute, and I think he knew he was 'saved' by Greg. He is a tremendously loyal dog, and is very treasured in their household. I hope the painting earns a place of honor at the Fire Station Greg works at! Very glare-y, I'm noticing now! Apologies.

Boston Cream, 5x7, Oil

Boston Creme, 5x7 Oil

$100 + $10 Shipping via Paypal

I dragged my husband out in the freezing rain on Saturday to see if we could find Allie's Donuts in North Kingstown, RI. On the Donut box it simply says "Allie's Donuts, Rhode Island", as if once you stumble across the border from MA you will immediately see a little donut shack! Let me tell you, 3 bridges and 45 minutes later (now... the whole state is as big as a minute, but it takes forever to get ANYWHERE here!) we were on this 'road to nowhere' with Allie's Truck Repair (which we pulled into), Allie's Car Something-Else, and Allie's Donuts. Allie is one multi-talented girl!

Anyway this is a type of donut I don't like to eat, so it was easy to paint. I made a Boston Cream Pie a long time ago and it was so divine no other cake or donut could possibly compare, so I don't bother! Anyway, trying to make a donut 'not a donut', in terms of painting. Trying to make it like a landscape, just following all the darks and lights, the rich colors in shadows, the saturated colors as the pastry turns away from the light. VERY fun. Tomorrow a.m. I choose the winner of the giveaway. If you've made a comment and didn't leave an email address - help me out - I need to be able to contact you! I promise I won't keep this contact info for any reason beyond tomorrow, and GOOD LUCK!

Spearmints, GIVEAWAY, 5x7 Oil

*PLEASE* leave me some contact info on your comment! :)

Happy Holidays to all views of my blog! As a gift to all my blog friends I'm going to give this little 5x7 painting to one of you! All you need to do is to tell me you want it, by making a comment on this post by Tuesday, December 8th! In his last years my dad always had a supply of these wonderful mints in the car, near his chair, everywhere he might be. I enjoyed painting the shapes, and especially the cellophane wrappers!

If you are not familiar with making 'comments: look on the blog (if you get this in an email form, look at the bottom of the email. It should say "Posted by Kelley MacDonald on Kelley MacDonald's Daily Paintings..." Click on the BLUE words (it's a link to my blog) then look below today's post - you'll see the words "2 Comments" (or 5 comments, or SOME number of comments), and click on THAT. It will open up a little window with comments made by others, and a box for you to type your comment in. Then if you have a google account, check off that dot, if not, you can click on "Name... URL" and type your name and blogsite, or email I believe. If nothing works include your email at the end of your 'Comment' so I can contact you!

Good luck everyone, and thank you for supporting me with your kind comments all through the year!

Maybe you missed the two exhortations to PLEASE leave me some sort of contact info (i.e. just your name won't get me in touch with you, and there are a LOT of people named 'Chris' out there!). Thank YOU! If I'm sounding desperate, I am... I have about a dozen people I couldn't contact if I wanted to who left comments!

Three Little Kisses, 5x5

$75 + $10 P&H - Happy Holidays

Oh, sometimes I just can't STOP myself! The colors on this trio were so intriguing. And I love the challenge of foil. The 'white' is white, for sure, in real life, but it also has yellow and a bit of pink in it. Doesn't show up in a photo no matter what I do.

And I got some wonderful news - My painting of "Blueberries" won an Honorable Mention at the Maryland Federation of Art's "Small Wonders" show!

I'm planning a Holiday Giveaway next week. Stay tuned!

Red Daisy, 5x7 Oil

Red Daisy, 5x7

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

Inspired by Sally Dean, I decided to paint a daisy today. The red color looked easy till I started - and then I ended up using 2 reds, a rose and orange! I save jars of all kinds (it should be fun to clean out my cabinets when I'm gone:}) and these tall hot pepper jars are perfect for one bloom.

Below is a photo I found, and have been looking for, literally, for 6 years. My son Conor took this photo of my cat, Max, on a snowy day when we lived in Hingham. It's my heartbreak that this beloved friend 'went missing' during a series of severe (think: they closed the airports...) thunderstorms while I was on a trip with my Dad. When I came home he'd been gone for 5 days. I spent that night in a lawn chair in the back yard, singing, because that's what he always came home to... but no luck. I could sing anything, show tunes, holiday music, whatever, and he would come running. He was my very best cat friend ever, and is very missed, still, 7 years later. This photo now has a place of honor in my studio.

Russian Teacup

Russian Teacup, 6x6

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

I have some teacups I'll be painting, and this first one is a Russian cup & saucer - the challenges being the semi-fluted shape of the ellipse of the lip, the deep indigo of the blue and the gold touches!

Below is what you'll find should you venture to Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, for their Les Petites Oeuvres Show for the month of December. One nice thing is that across the street is the DeBlois Gallery, where I have those 4 hung that I showed you!

Surprise Snowman! And Sketches

Surprise Snowman, 6x6

$100 + $10 S+H via Paypal

Here's another little guy I have hanging around my studio. I'm a fool for snowmen, I think! And below is one of my 'idea' pages for the paintings I did for the Telephone Challenge - you can see how well I follow up on them!