Be Still, My Heart, 6x6 in Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

SOLD

In my Challenge Group, the Girls Just Wanna Paint, this month's topic was "Delicious".  I was in a tither here, because this mont I had painted a stack of donuts I loved, a Manhattan and a pair of Martini's - all Delicious to me!  So here we are... the day of the submission... and I sneak up to my easel (supposed to be doing other things, OK?) and THIS happens.

It truly won my heart.  I've painted a LOT of jelly donuts, but this one...  I don't know.  There is something loose and beckoning about it.  The powdered sugar.... the skiddy, drippy jelly with it's deep darks and sparkles.... Yup.  THIS is the most delicious thing I've painted this month!

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit - Happy June!

*I slipped a little doing the cropping - there is a sliver of background on the left side - I'll fix it tomorrow.  Tonight (last night of May) I'm visiting with friends and I don't have to COOK!

Love On The Rocks, 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

SOLD

When I was small, my Dad loved a Manhattan on the rocks.  If I were VERY good, I would get a cherry.  (Or two.  Dad often gave me both of his, but my Mom needed one of hers!)  So... yeah, I was always very good.  When my sister came along she discovered that you did NOT have to actually be good - you still got the cherry even if you escaped from our booth or hid under someone else's table and made my parent's frantic.  Or if you mimicked the quirks of the other diners, their ticks and accents.  My parents actually ROARED at that.   Hunh.  My 12 year old self kind of though "All that time... and I couldn't gotten the cherries NO MATTER WHAT!"

:)

It all worked out - Dad switched to a Manhattan straight up, with a twist (and rocks on the side).  I'm going to have to paint that soon, too.  Miss you Dad....

To Us, 8x8 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

We have so much in common, but you like olives and I like lemon twists....  here's a toast to the best of times!

Spring is finally here in full swing, and everywhere we look there are celebrations - festivals, weddings, graduations, etc.  So... a toast to all the good things, and good people in our lives!

North River donation

Hard to see with the metallic paint, but this is my 20x20 inch painting donation for North River Festival. A bit on the right got cropped off. It has so many layers of paint... And small symbols in paint and ink.. I'm a little obsessed now with exploring this process!

Angel Heart, 7x5 inch Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

This was a gift for a dear friend.  Sometimes I just channel people when I'm doing the little angels, and they just seem to evolve without my input.  Which is silly, I know - of COURSE I'm making the calls - but it's so effortless that it seems to just happen.

I'm doing some commissions, and will show you when I'm done, but also... this is so strange ... I volunteered to do a mixed media piece on a big board for a fund raiser - and I'm having to learn a lot to do it.  All fun, and actually it's all I can think of.  The one I'm doing (and will hopefully post on Friday) is golds with red and turquoise accents.  There has to be a word on the board, so I'm still tossing that around.  But I've been studying so much and learning so much about acrylics that I'm obsessed!  I may do a whole line of small ones for my Open Studios this summer.  They are hugely time consuming, and control - well, that's out the window.  Experiment and be open and creative ... a whole new world for me!

Value Call

I've been working on a commission that has me painting a farm, and I'm about halfway done. A great thing to do at this point is to make it a black & white ... To see if the values are correct. This is a beautiful old farm, and I want to do it justice. SO much to do these days, I have to steady my mind before I paint or I go in to full panic mode!

Bubbles & Gold, 4x4 Inch Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$65 & $10 S&H

Click HERE To Purchase

There's something about bubbles.  I like the bubbles on foam at the lapping water at the beach... the bubbles when you wash dishes, or play with toddlers in their bath.. I love blowing bubbles and painting them.  I have been experimenting with layers of paint, and gel medium in acrylics.  After the bubbles and layers of gel (which leave it with a sort of encaustic - waxy - look) I painted the rest of the painting with a few layers of gold paint.  It's not as orange as in this photo, but at night... tough to get the right look.

Spring has sprung and you won't hear me complain!  After this Winter we deserve some tulips and daffodils!  I'm back teaching at the Art Club after a brief  time off, and have a few nice commissions lined up.  I'll share them as they are presented to their new owners.

I've been feeling kind of bad because 2 real highlights of my year are to get paintings into the juried shows at North River Arts Society and the South Shore Festival.  This year, juggling jobs, teaching and painting (and having a life, which I have kind of given up on!) I missed the opportunities.  I didn't really have anything of size to submit.  With all the learning and playing I've been doing with my acrylics I took my eye off the ball.  Well, as a good friend always says "Education is expensive."  And this Spring, learning more about acrylics and design left me out of my usual pursuits.

There's always next year!