Donut War Ornament! 6x6 Inches, Oil AND ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

$100 & $10 S&H

Better watch OUT, West Coast - and Susan Roden!  This donut is HARD! The donut is a little ornament.  In real life the cloth under the mug is brighter, but taking the photo after dark made it impossible to edit correctly.  I'll take one tomorrow in better light.  But the mug is just tooo cute - a special promotion by Dunkin Donuts, as is the strawberry frosted donut ornament!  And whoever purchases this painting gets the actual ornament, too. :)  I love you guys!

I had a very CHILLY studio assistant while I painted this:

He's wrapped in a blanket and tucked into his little bed at the foot of my easel.  With assorted 'babies'.

We have a few more long days getting some commissions done, then we'll be baking!

OK, here's this week's giveaway.  All you need to do is subscribe to my blog.  (you certainly can unsubscribe if need be after the giveaway - you are NEVER obligated!)   At the top right of the blog there is an place to get my posts in your inbox.  After you've received a post you just hit "REPLY" and say "I'm a subscriber and I'd like to win the Snow Globe!"  I'll announce the winner on Christmas Eve and mail it out to you (free shipping) after Christmas.

Peaceful Garden, 8x8 Inches, Oil Painting of Linden Place Garden

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Today the Painting Safari was held at Linden Place in Bristol, RI.  (Our last one of the Summer!)  This lovely mansion is now a museum, and you can take a tour as well as walk the beautiful grounds.  Of all the places and things I could paint, I was drawn to this small garden area, with the beautiful green hydrangeas and pink lilies, not to mention the fabulous red, white and blue buntings.  Behind the fence was a sort of barn - it looked too lovely to actually house livestock, perhaps it was a carriage house.  When all the architecture is white, you have to squint down and look hard for color bouncing from all over, to make the white *delicious*.

A further upside to todays' effort was while I was about 2/3 done a beautiful pug wandered out from some door I couldn't see in the garden area.  I was in heaven, as I was missing Paco (I didn't think he'd be welcome there)!  And then... I kid you not, a beautiful orange tabby cat strolled out from the same area!  I met their owner, and we gushed about pug-love - she even has ANOTHER pug!  

Anyway, this painting was one of those that just kind of falls together - with a lot of measuring and squinting! :D

Single Rose, 6x6 Inches

I did this as a demo for my class today.. seems the internet is a-buzz with red roses - have you noticed?  Well they are very difficult to paint!  My students did an EXCELLENT job - these ladies have been painting for a month and are really learning the language of paint.

My husband reminds me (a lot) that I don't like red roses.  Which, maybe once was true, but now I'm older and appreciate everything in this world a little more.  And I absolutely love the 'glow' when light hits the red petals.

I'm posting tonight with the laptop ON TOP of the dog.  He insists on being in my lap, under the laptop. And it's his birthday today (he's 2) so I am letting him....
*my 700th post!*

Three More Jellies, 6x6 In Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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Look familiar?  A very nice customer asked for a donut painting, and liked the 'Three Jellies".. so I got 3 more jelly donuts and here it is.  I have to admit I like the stack of three. These were just luciously full. Every batch of donuts comes out a little different (yeah, I would notice that) and some are darker, some powderier, some fuller, etc.  This was also the subject of the commission I lost due to tardiness, and I hope someday to meet THAT customer and make her her own!

OK, in this post I made up TWO words.  

And heads up - I will be doing some fun giveaway the first week of December, AND have a couple of announcements!  It's all good!

And did you see Carolyn Finnell's portrait of my little Paco?  TDF!  Yup.  I bought it!

Naptime, 6x6 Acrylic

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Oh, he's too warm to do too much else, here in July!  But truthfully... Paco is a CHAMPION napper. He can fall asleep sitting up.  Or licking my face.  I love the red blanket, too, it's almost like he picks a 'paintable' background sometimes!

I had a wonderful Open Studio weekend.  This was my 'soft' weekend, without invitations, etc.  The BIG one is in August - believe it or not,  it will probably be cooler.  I met so many interesting people, and saw lots of friendly faces from last year - it was great!  Lots of people were interested in classes and workshops, too.  I'm thinking of a couple of Painting Safari's - one in the RI area and one in Hull - where we paint outdoors at a different wonderful location each week.  I'll demo, then we'll paint and do a critique -it'll have just a nominal fee. Beginner to intermediate levels.   Shoot me an email if you're interested, and I'll put you on the mailing list.

Pug Dreams, 6x6 OIl

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Feeling a little guilty that I haven't updated Paco's Blog in over a month. I am just wayyyy overcommitted at this point. Trying to pare it down, but still have a lot of fun and paint daily. This is my view of Paco on a daily basis, because watching me paint is... just boring! I hope everyone has a great weekend, and if you're in the area, stop by at my Open Studio on my lawn in Tiverton! It Exit 5 off rte 24 -one mile south of the exit. It's the smaller Open Studio - I gear up for the August one, on the lawn as well. Part of the South Coast Open Studio Tour!

New Vase with Tulips, 10x10, Acrylic

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I HAVE to have flowers in the house. Just seeing them lifts my spirits and reminds me that it won't be 19 degrees forever. Although I have to say that Paco and I had a wonderful time at the little beach across the street today - there was no wind, and it was comfortable to sit at the edge of the water and meditate. (Well, I meditated, I am not sure that he actually did.) So when I came home I dove into the acrylics and did this BEFORE I head to the studio to do the oils!

I would also like to invite you all to see the Girls Just Wanna Paint Challenge, which is finally up for the month of December, with the topic of "Lamp, or Light". Page Railsback was the moderator and hostess of the gathering last night to view all these paintings in person - wow, they looked great! We missed Mary Sheehan Winn and Paula Villanova. And if any of you don't know, a 'Challenge' is where a group of artists decide to paint a different subject/topic each month, and the results are posted on a blog. We'd love your comments!

Leftovers, 5x7 Oil

The last of the candies (for now... you know Valentine's Day is just around the corner!). I've been really stretched for time lately, getting ready for my workshop, and also planning a trip to Austin for a Carol Marine Workshop Women reunion! We'll be visiting with Carol one evening, then we (no slackers here) have booked Laurel Daniel for a small 2 day workshop! Don't worry, Paco will be hanging out with my son Conor in Boston - a short walk from Boston Common, so he'll think he's on vacation, too!