You Deserve It( - and my process), 6x6 Inch Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

Dead of winter... halfway through.  I have friends who are at the beach, soaking up the sunshine, playing and dining outdoors, in warm places.  No.  I don't resent you - YOU DESERVE IT.  And honestly, this winter, despite a couple of weeks of rough patch, has been sort of kind.  I hope you exult in your warm days, your tan you tried not to get (right...). Kick off your flip flops and walk the beach, let your mind wander and R-E-L-A-X.  Because... yeah... you deserve it.

And here's a sneak peek at a Work In Progress (or maybe it's done, I never know).  See, our Girls Just Wanna Paint topic this month is "Palette".  You know, like our artist's palette.  So... first I made many sketches in my sketchbook of one of those hand held wooden palettes.  My personal palette is one of two: a clear glass piece on a kitchen cart, or a disposable palette, with about 20 sheets of waxy paper.  

I. Was. Bored.

So, I thought, what if I made a wild garden (the only kind I can grow) and made a flower for each color on my palette?  I use a limited palette (to start with, anyway) of

Titanium White

Cadmium Lemon

Cadmium Yellow Medium

Cadmium Orange

Cadmium Red Light

Quinacridone Rose

Ultramarine Blue

Path Blue and

Burnt Umber

So I took a canvas and over about 4 days laid down the 'darks' of the leaves, stems and loam, and the 'light' of the sky.  At least 2 layers for the sky - at least 6 for the darks. Then.... I COULD NOT BEAR to put the flowers in!  FEAR OF FAILURE.  A friend whose opinion I respect came by and I asked her and she said,  no, no flowers.  I agreed.  Mostly.  Decided to start from scratch with a completely different idea. 

BUT THEN... I was cleaning my other house's studio out and found a big piece of mylar (clear sheeting).  I taped it over (you can see a piece of tape on the upper left corner) the painting and proceed to paint as I had imagined it.  And I am very glad I tried this.  I don't know now, if I will paint this design on the actual painting or simply adhere the mylar with the paint on it on TOP of the canvas.  But it came out exactly as I imagined it.  

Lesson:  Trust yourself.

A Good Day Ahead,, 7x5 inch acrylic painting by Kelley MacDonald

Well, THIS month has certainly flown by!  Here we are, knee deep in Summer!  I've been cleaning out, packing and paring down, ready for a move.  But Girls Just Wanna Paint posts our new paintings today - and this month's topic was "Bathing Beauties".  Here are two iconic women of a 'certain age', with all the privileges that go with that age, meaning acceptance of who we are, and spending the occasional day as we see fit.  Two friends spending a day at the beach, with a good book, a cool drink and sunscreen - pretty perfect.  Goofy hats optional.

I've made new space in my house to paint - the living room option just wasn't cutting it for me - if you can believe it, too much light, coming in from all directions.  I have a small north-east facing room upstairs now that I have claimed while we are still here, and it feels wonderful.  So, as I tackle the attic, the basement and the mountains of accumulated things from 3 generations, I will be taking refreshing painting breaks here:

Why didn't I do this sooner?

A New Path, 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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Sometimes in life we think we've chosen the right path, but it becomes all tangled and hard to see.  Then we see a New Path... and everything becomes clearer, and traveling it seems just so right.  Well, here's a New Path... and it can be yours.  Or a friend's.  I know sometimes the path we're on seems so hard.  This one, however, is easy peasy (Plus it leads to the BEACH!).

I am working on a crazy series of larger paintings like my last post.  I'll put them up on my Studio Blog when they are ready (they are incredibly time consuming but the excitement literally is consuming my every waking thought - and some thoughts in my dreams as well!).  Maybe this is a new path for me.  We'll have to be open and see, right?

Also... please pass on to interested parties - we are filling up, as we want to keep it small...

The Path, 6x6 inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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 I've painted this path to the beach before, but honestly, this is the one I'm happiest with!  Little 6x6, I look at it and say "Yes, I can see my path...."  I love painting of paths, beach paths, forest paths, etc. and for some reasons the brushwork in this turned out EXACTLY as I imagined it.  Live and learn, as my Mom used to say...  Here's your path... take the first steps...

Do Not Disturb, 8x10 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

I'm celebrating!  Just had such a great, fun weekend, glamorous partying with friends under the stars (some of whom I have not seen in a LONG time!), hanging out in the garden and getting a few new plants to tuck here and there, running into a friend at the garden store, and going back to her summer place to see so many of my paintings hanging there, looking so happy... exciting news of new babies (no, not in MY family), engagements (again...not in MY family)... so enjoy, not only the 'insider's price', but free shipping!

So I also got in some much needed studio time yesterday, and this painting just flew off the brush.  It was like I wasn't even there.  I'm thinking this gal needs a day.  No work, no cooking, no shopping, no laundry, errands, kids, men, etc.  Just the sounds of the waves, a good book, the smell of the ocean.... HER time.  And... she's totally coordinated :)

Also... this afternoon I started getting texts and emails that alerted me .... to an article about aforementioned glamorous friend Pam Copeman being written about in the Boston Globe Magazine, with photos - that show my paintings in her sumptuous home!  Look HERE.  Pam is a friend, a fellow Girls Just Wanna Paint girl, a fabulous artist and a sublime decorator.  Her whole condo is done is sunset colors - brave and glorious.  I would trust her with any design project - seriously, she can do it all!  I'm so proud of her!  My sunset paintings are very happy in her house!

On My Easel

Two shows need work for later this month, so I've been working on larger pieces.  This one is 20x24, Oil on canvas.  I had the design from one of my zillions of photographs of gulls, and I just concentrated on design and paint application... It is agony (in setting up the design and that 'math', as I call it) then fun (digging into the paint and using free, expressive strokes), then agony again, as I look at it with a cold eye and decide what does and doesn't work and doing the 'editing'.  

First show is at the Spring Bull Gallery on Belleview Avenue in Newport, RI.  It's called "A Sampling Of The South Coast Artists" and will run the month of May.  I will have 3 pieces in this.  Then I will be  the featured Artist at Sea Rose Cottage Thursday, April 25, from 5-9 in Bristol, RI on Gallery Night.

Message In The Clouds, 30x40 Inch Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

30x40 inch oil painting. (LOOK how tiny my initials on the right look!)

One of my favorite scenes, which I personally witnessed and can produce the photo - I have painted this before but never this big.  The paint is thick especially in the cloud area, and when I look at the water it brings me right back to the beach I was walking that day.

It was a difficult time.  I didn't know how I could manage more... more... more.. you've been there?  Well, in a prayer, I asked for a sign... a sign to help me gather strength, a sign of love and support... and I looked up, and no kidding....  It looked impossible.  All of a sudden the beach was empty (it was September, but there had been other walkers besides me) and I stood, slack-jawed... and thought... "Yup, I can do it..."  and I did, and came through it.

This will be at my Open Studio - along with fun little paintings which are inspired by the foam edges of the gentle laps of the water nearby.  They are coated with resin, which makes a rock-hard-glassy barrier.. and makes the colors just sing!

If you follow my blog, and come to my Open Studio - TELL ME or the person at the 'desk', and I will enter you in a raffle for a FREE resin-foam/bubbles painting! (you'll just have to put your address on your entry so I can ship it - also free - to the winner, hopefully YOU.)

Example of Foam/Bubble painting before the resin coating:

Last year I had Blog friends from every state in New England, and more - it was such a great thing!

Good LUCK!

After Lunch Wait, 8x8 Inch Painting of girl at the Beach, Acrylic

$150 & $10 S&H 

Yearning for the beach... yearning for warm (but not too) warm weather... In addition this month my Challenge Group's topic will be Beach Day, so there may be a few of these beachy paintings.  In this one... I'm remembering the time limit my Mom used to put on us before we could go swimming after lunch.  One hour.  45 minutes if we only went in up to our knees.  So unfair, but with the thought of drowning from a stomach cramp... we obeyed.  Well, I did.  I am sure my husband, as a child, did not.  We joke that we should have t-shirts:  mine would say "Plays Well With Others" and his would say "Runs With Scissors".  Fortunately we both survived childhood!

It was a wonderful birthday, Wednesday, thank you all for your notes on Facebook, emails etc. One funny thing....

This pocketbook (pug shaped) arrived, and when I opened it Paco jumped up and grabbed it by the ear - he thought it was a 'baby' for him!

Cover Gull, 6x6 Inches, Oil

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In 1989 the New Kids On The Block had a song titled "Cover Girl".  Well, this seagull totally thought she was 'all that'.... hence the title to the painting!

I am so very excited about Thanksgiving.  I'm taking ALL FOUR DAYS off!  This has been the busiest month ever, and I am going to be thankful, for so many things, and just bask, simply bask from Thursday to Sunday, in the glow of all the things I have.  Like a wonderful family.  Friends who are simply amazing (you know who you are!).  Pets who make me smile every day.  And the best, best job in the world.  From which I will be on  great little break!  Don't worry, I'll have a post pre-scheduled for Friday!

And when you guys send me YOUR smiles, you can go right ahead and edit the photos to just be the mouth area - just how you like it.  Thank you SO much!  And if you look HERE you can see the awesome way David Marine has set it up so you can get a super close up of the brushwork.  Amazing.

Beach Path, 6x8 Inch Original Oil Painting

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This, to me, is one of the most inviting scenes there is... a path to the beach.  I love paths in general, but when there's the prize of a beach at the end... even better!  Even just looking at it is a little escape for me.  And who doesn't love painting sand????

I was featured in this really cool blog this week, too - I am so excited!  It's called Lemley House Art Guild...  Check it out!

Tonight we had a surprise thunderstorm... followed by:

See the rainbow to the right of the trees?  Cameral did not do a great job capturing it....

Fun Painting Safari (see tab above) at Linden Place in Bristol!  10 a.m.!! Join us!

Last Light, 6x6 Acrylic

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This painting was from a photo I took in Marshfield, MA. It's such a great place in the summer. I love the peach sky and the pale blue water. You know the time of day... everyone stands transfixed by the play of light between the sky and water.