Bringing The Beach Home, 6x8, Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H

This was a demo I did, and the thought behind it was 'composition'.  I wanted to establish a rhythm and also not confine the composition to the page.  I collect beach rocks, I think I've mentioned, and set these down as if I were looking at them from above.  The 'sand' is actually a little rosier than in the photo.  This, second attempt to capture it, was unsuccessful.  The rocks speak to me, is all I can say.  I think some of you feel the same way about rocks... these particular ones are smooth, with soft edges.  Calm, I think, and soothing.

Here's today's wind-whipped waves against the island:

Fogland Beach,

$100 & $10 S&H

Sitting in a beach chair... bottle of water, sandwich, good book and loyal dog under the chair... does it get any better?  Paco and I had our first 'beach day' yesterday, and I painted the little town beach called Fogland Beach.  It was so restful.  All Summer I painted in my studio, and now that it's September (my favorite month) I'm into the glittering water, the little boats going by, the lapping waves.   Today - another beach - I'll post that tomorrow.

Cheers to all my painting friends, and new painting friends to come, in my upcoming classes.  Should be GREAT! :)  I have 2 options - a weekly class on Fridays, and once a month, a full day on the 3rd Thursday on the month!!

Painting Without A Title, 6x6 Inches, Oil

SOLD

 Usually I can think up a title for a painting.  And while I LOVED painting this painting - her hair! The water! Her wrist (yes, it's the little things...)!  Does anyone have a good name?  If someone who buys it suggests a name, I'll go with that... but if they don't... do you have a good idea?  What is she doing?  I think she's 1) calling her little boys 'in' for lunch, or 2) wondering why it's taking her boyfriend so long to come back from the refreshment stand.  At any rate, she walked over the berm of sand, down to the edge of the water.

I just love painting beach people!

Sign In The Clouds, 5x7 Acrylic Painting

Did you ever go through a really hard time in life, and you either needed to know if you were on the right path or you just needed to know if you were doing the right thing?  Well I have, and I bet you have, too.  One winter when we lived on the beach my Dad was living with us, and was declining,  and it was very hard - for all involved.  One day I didn't think I could do one more day - looking back I think "Of COURSE you could!" - but I asked for a sign that it would be all right.  That I would and could be up to the task.  And I walked on the beach in the very early morning, praying and thinking, and I looked up and saw this.  I took it as a sign of love.  My digital image is long gone (2 computers ago), but I made a print of it to paint from.

My alternate name for this was "Hope".  Think it is better?

Three Little Graces, 8x8 Inches, Oil

Yesterday we painted from one of Karin Jurick's paintings.  Today we painted from our own.  These little girls were playing in the water at Horseneck Beach in Westport, MA this Summer.  I don't generally sell the paintings I do in a workshop because I keep them as 'lessons', and this one is no exception.  At first I loved the photo.  Then when I started drawing in, I thought "Are you CRAZY - 3 figures?  Children?"  But I grided, and grided, and grided again... and I'm pretty happy with the result.  Karin said "Cool Beans..." which, I think, is pretty great.  

After class a few of us went to lunch, but it was chilly and I had left my sweatshirt in a fast food restaurant on the way down.. so I went to get a Hilton Head Sweatshirt.  Well... lo and behold it seemed we ALL needed sweatshirts - in the same color, with coordinating hats... and then we went to take lots of photos...

Me, Maria and Linda - we figured we wouldn't 'lose' each other out taking photos on the beach...

"Race!" Original Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H
This painting is being reserved pending admission to a show - temporarily unavailable

Here's another from my little Laguna boy series!  I'm so excited about how they're turning out I'm thinking of doing a large series of them.  I love how they're all 'action'.  Thank goodness I'm taking a figure class at the Art Club.  Not that it will help so MUCH with a child's proportions.

But I really agree with Ken Auster's take on figures, too.  You KNOW what people are supposed to look like!  Have some common sense when you're giving the painting your final approval - if the limb is wider near the wrist than at the shoulder - it's wrong!  Same with the ankle, etc.  If the head is too big or small - you know it!  He said to think "What if this figure was coming towards you on the street - would you run in horror?"  I love that.  To that end, I do know that my other 'little boy' I posted last week had an extremely pointy elbow.  When I was painting the sand around him it covered up that bit of his arm. I may fix it, or wait to make it right on my larger piece!

Plein Air - Beach! 6x8 Oil

My monthly Challenge Group meets next week, and the assignment this month was "Plein Air - Beach"!  So Paco and I headed over to the beach across the street before anyone else was there (hence the long shadow from the Lifeguard's chair.  The view is looking down the river, past Little Gould Island, with Aquidneck Island (think Newport) on the right bank and Tiverton and Little Compton on the left - of which you can only see a little peek of Tiverton in this painting.  The little piece you can see is called "Fogland" - and I just love to go there when it is foggy - it's like another world.

Now, here's the scene from my evening walk with Paco - facing the opposite way up the river...

Peace.

Bloggers don't forget Leslie Saeta's Radio show "Artists Helping Artists" today - noon-the topic is "Selling Art While You Sleep" - which is OK in my book!

Leisure, 5x7, Oil

Dunes, the sound of the surf, sun... and a hammock.  This is my little study I did today.  I wish this spot for all of you.  If you will excuse me, I'm exhausted from hosting yesterday's cocktail party, and I'm going to have a hammock nap (in my mind).  Enjoy!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Also... below, the peaceful sunset from last night...

Off Season, Acrylic

The whole board:

Yesterday a bunch of us piled in our cars and met on the Cape to paint the lovely cottages at Chase's Ocean Grove.  We met some really nice people, and a fabulous bulldog named Monty, and got some sun and sand in before the huge dark clouds overtook us.  Instead of trying to do a complete plein air painting I thought I'd be better served by taking a big board (18x24), dividing it up into 4 rectangles and sketching with Prussian Blue and white acrylic paint.  Just really trying to work on composition - choosing a site and making it a welcoming visit for the viewer.  Some worked better than others...

Walkin' the Walk, 6x6 Acrylic

These days just seem to be made for walks on the beach.  Here's a woman and her Mom at Briggs Beach just getting a little exercise and talking about everything and nothing.  I'm not 'back' at my Daily Painting routine... having given myself time after opening my show.  Next week.  In the meantime... if you are in the Boston area, tonight there's a show I'm in at the Oceanside 17 Gallery in Hull, MA, called 'HEAT'... Should be a fantastic time, and you'll get to meet some really fine, fun people!

Salvia Cottage, 12x12 Oil

sold

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!

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.

Steamers-To-Be, Oil, 6x8

You know, I don't even LIKE clams.  To eat, that is.  I have no opinion of clams personally.  But at our Labor Day Clamboil last year I took a few out and positioned them on the counter and took their pictures, and in looking at the images this week I was intrigued by the subtle colors and the glistening of the neck things.   And then the shapes grew on me and I started drawing clams... after I did this I took out a bigger canvas, 14 x 18 - and sketched on it, but it was not big enough.  So I grabbed a 16 x 20, but once again... not big enough.  I think I finally settled on a 20 x 24 in canvas - let's see how that goes!

"Where's Your Other Flip Flop?" Oil 6x6

I'm trying to submit paintings to the many Juried Shows that crop up this time of year, and it's keeping me very busy.  But with beach season in mind, and an upcoming show (July, Marshfield... details to follow) with a theme of 'Beachscapes', I set up this little still life to paint yesterday.  In my mind I was reliving our trips to the sand and sea, with the problem upon arriving home, of the missing flip flop.  I really don't like the all-blue (and being literal, there was only ONE pail in the 3 stores I went to and it was the same color as the little flip flops), but hey, it is what is is.... don't you just hate that phrase?  Anyway, wish me luck with my submissions to the juried shows and the art association I'm trying for....

Keens on the Sand, 12x12 Acrylic

This is a Daily Painting even though it's larger because it's so simple and I did it in 1 1/2 hours last night.  I've been very busy painting and have posted a few new ones on my studio blog.  I think my friends have found me extremely anti social lately but I really have been working away on projects that keep me up at night thinking.  Now I'm getting ready for my show with Bonnie Hobbs at the Ventris Library in Marshfield (June 28 - more on this later) so I'll be doing a LOT of beach scenes, since 'Beachscapes' is our theme.

Cape Cod Bliss, 14x18 Acrylic

Yesterday I went to the Cape with Denise Zompa and Phyllis Adams to drop off entries for the Cape Cod Juried Show.  We figured it was so gorgeous we should paint while we were there. I amazed them with my organizational skills at the Art Association drop off (I had printed out the information on all my entries and had everything neatly wrapped in bubble wrap, labeled, with my business card taped to the back, and remembered everything I'd need - a first for me!  HowEVER when we got to the painting spot I'd forgotten my BRUSHES, and my PALETTE.  Kind of tough to paint like that.  Fortunately I'd found an old half hardened brush in the bottom of my bag, and I had a 6x8 canvas still in it's wrapper, so with the borrowed brushes from Phyllis, using the canvas as my palette, I was able to cobble together a painting.  Still felt discombobulated, though.  But the painting was about the sky and the water, the feeling of the day.  Hopefully that comes though!

Camel Hump Dunes, 6x8, Oil

SOLD

For those of you seeing this and saying "ANOTHER dune painting!?!" ... sorry! I couldn't help myself! Yesterday I went painting with friends in Westport, MA, which, IMHO, has the best beaches in Massachusetts, because 1) it's got dunes, and 2) it's still in the 'Gulf Stream' which brings warm water to swim in (well, Portuguese Man O'War, too, but still...). Anyway it was, YET ANOTHER picture perfect day. As luck would have it, I had a total of two hours to paint and I absolutely SLATHERED this little one first, so I could paint a larger painting (see http://welcometomyartworld.blogspot.com/ for the larger piece). I'm working on a few commissions so 'free' painting time is at a premium, hence the 'slathering'. I like it anyway! Maybe more, since there was no time for fussing!

Clamdiggers, 6x12 Oil

I painted this study outside an Open Studio I was in yesterday in Bristol. Had a nice time, met some nice people, and got this painting in. These two girls were at the beach this summer in Westport, digging for clams. I don't know how successful they were with their red plastic shovels, but they had fun, and I did, too, just painting it. In November I'm studying with Peggy Kroll Roberts, who is a fantastic figure painter in Arizona. Selling my Daily Paintings has helped fund this, and I thank all of you who've helped!

Beach Roses, 4x6, Oil

SOLD

Today was gray and threatening, but I went to Horseneck Beach anyway to buy a beach pass, so I could paint there whenever and not have to worry about having cash (I never do). Of course the beach wasn't 'open' (staffed) yet, so I went for a walk, and the sun came out! So I had to paint... been neglecting my 'daily' paintings - with a million 'good' excuses, I swear! Well, these beach roses demanded my attention, and I was happy to give it to them...