I Couldn't Resist Carmel! 6x6 Inch Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H

Those little Goetze's carmels - for me, they should be banned.  My middle son and I could make short work of a bag of them.  Something about the creamy center and the chewy carmel - *sigh*!

I said I have a donut painting for you and I do - three of them actually!  But I forgot my camera at home and when I left the studio due to an 'art injury' (too much painting - aching shoulder!) I completely forgot the donut painting!  Good news, if you live in the Boston area - I'll be at Framing Concepts (105 South Street) in Hingham on Sunday for the Hingham Arts Walk - from 12-4 and I'll have them with me - so you can see them all together.  Also - my new cocktail series!  There are so many fun artists going to be there, it's a 'should-go' event!  I hope to see you there - stop in and say hello!

Chicklets, 5x5 Inches, Acrylic

$100 & $10 S&H

Buzzing around getting ready for my Karin Jurick workshop next week, and I spied a box of Chicklets (remember them?) I bought on the Cape to paint these colorful little pieces of gum.  I was thrilled when I saw so many reds (I ate 2 while I was painting), which are my favorite!  The background is lighter than this - but I took the photo after the sun set, and I couldn't correct it without adjusting the colors of the chicklets.

I will definitely post from the road.  The biggest road trip of my life!

Salt Water Taffy II, 5x5 Inches, Mixed Media

This is the last week for my show at the wonderful shop called Nest in Dedham, MA.  These candies were bought on my trip to Provincetown, and painted during Hurricane Irene.  The 'mixed media' was a complete accident.  It was supposed to be an all-acrylic painting, but something funny was going on when I started painting the yellow and green striped taffy.... I picked up the tube of Lemon Yellow and saw that it was Oil paint!  So... mixed media it is ;)

Also of note... Paco discovered during this painting that he LOVES Salt Water Taffy.  He was so quiet, and I finally turned to him, and he had a green one with the twisted ends of the wrapper sticking out of each side of his mouth, acting very nonchalant, so maybe I wouldn't notice....

Salt Water Taffy, 5x5 Inches, Acrylic

SOLD

Another one for my show at Nest in Dedham in September.

If you are interested in this, you would have to call Nest to arrange the purchase.  Salt water taffy is really cute and sculptural.  I have been painting like a madwoman, and loving every minute of it.

This Little Piggy... 6x6 Inches, Oil

$100 & $10 S&H

This little piggy came from Sedona.  Carol Marine, Mary Sheehan Winn and I all were captivated by them.  So look for them to pup up here and there on the blogsphere.  It is actually a 3 legged pig.  I'm getting my painting legs back - and really really liked the way this little guy came out.  However after I finished him, I should have quit, but I plowed ahead, and painted this painting, below, which ended up getting wiped off!

I spent 3 hours today with my 'talking' Prius at the dealership - for a 15 minute scheduled appt.  After all they they 1) couldn't figure out why the car was beeping, chirping and flashing all the warning lights at me, and 2) they completely forgot to replace my headlight.  A not-so-sood morning all around.  So I'm not surprised that the one below was not up to par, and got 'the axe'.  Just so you know...

My Peeps, 6x6 Inches, Oil

SOLD

Are you a Peeps fan?  I am.  All of the colors... I could not choose a favorite. I am humbled when I look at Oriana Kacicek's work.  I cannot understand how she does it!  My favorite part of these  is their little dip across their foreheads. and the tiny beaks...

Spearmints III, 6x6 Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

SOLD

This was the demo from my class held at my studio yesterday - can you say 'fun'?  These gals are great!  How lucky am I?  

Then it was home to bake Bake BAKE goodies for my OPEN STUDIO at the Warren Walkabout/Discover Warren on Sunday.

I'm at 32 Cole Street 2nd Floor - come see my space, I'd love to have you visit!

Spearmint Trio, Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

I've painted these candies before, but I really feel that doing the same subject a few times makes you 'know' it better.  Once agin, my Dad's birthday reminded me of these, as he always had a few tucked in every jacket pocket.  I miss him very much, and hope that somehow he sees and enjoys this painting!

I'm off for a week of painting on the Cape - lucky me - but I'll share what I do, probably by Wednesday I'll have some studies and plein air pieces to share.

Chocolate Lentils, 6x6 Oil

My Mom's favorite candies were chocolate lentils.  Last week for our Challege meet-up, my friend Jeanne MacFarland, a fabulous painter, brought these lentils as a treat.  There are only a few left, and I put them in one of my Mom's candy dishes.  Haven't painted glass in a while, and was feeling a little rusty!  Plus there were etched flowers - what was I thinking????  Oh, it was fun and you know I love a challenge.  My favorite part is the sparkle of light on the 'base stand' - I have no idea what the right name is for that!

Thanks, too, to all of you wonderful friends who voted for me in the DailyPainters.com contest.  The voting continues till June 18 (can you believe it?).  I will keep you posted!

York Patties, Spring Colors, 6x6, Oil

Small confession to make... I bought a bag of these the day after VALENTINE's Day to paint.  Somehow the pile of them just went down and down.  I'd like to say visitors to my studio kept nibbling on them... but that would be untrue.  So!  On to a new bag!  And I have to say, colored foil is challenging!  Now... let's have more of that Spring weather, huh?  One day of rain and I'm not happy!

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!

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!

Sweet Time Of Year, Oil 6x6

Sweet Time Of Year, 6x6

$100 + $10 S&H via Paypal

Very glare-y, will repost when it is drier! This goes into the category of "What Was I Thinking?" ONE hershey kiss is hard enough to do - try a dozen, seen through glass..... I probably won't have a post tomorrow, because I'm giving a talk today on "My Life As An Artist" - scary, huh? I'm carting two huge bins plus 2 display easels and 2 outsized paintings to do it.. and I should have left already, only I still need to shower! I'm just going to take this afternoon to breathe, and maybe get my house in a little order... This painting is the last one for the DeBlois Gallery, showing in December.

Herd Of M and M's, 6x6 Oil

Another NFS, scheduled to go to the DeBlois Gallery Itty Bitty Holiday Show.

After the show $100 + $10 S&H, via Paypal

After I painted this (and I thought I would lose my mind painting these tiny candies) I stepped back and thought it looked like a herd of M&M's - probably escaping their fate in my studio!

I had a sleepless night last night agonizing over this show. I ordered frames ($$!, you know how it is) and then before I went to bed I decided to read the prospectus (always a good time to do it, after you've started painting for the show and have ordered the frames!). The outside dimensions cannot exceed 36". OMG! I'm over - I'm WAY over!!!! Couldn't sleep. Got up before dawn and was scouring the internet for tinier canvases and frames... then around 7 a.m. I looked again, and this time I used the calculator (yeah, I'm mathematically challenged, that's right!) and... um... all my hysteria was for naught. I'm UNDER the limit. Do you ever do this to yourself?

A Little Kiss, Oil 3x3

A tiny Daily Painting to start the week! A dear friend gave me a mug on which was printed paintings she had done that featured the color red (her favorite color), and it was filled with cherry hershey kisses (Oh, HELP me!). I am making good progress on my larger pieces, which are all 30x30 or 30x40, and have skies as subjects. I'll post the first truly finished one on the Studio Blog.
This little kiss is $45, email me for info.

Peep Double Date, 6x6 Oil

My son named this one for me. I'm back in the saddle, back at the studio (well, I was there yesterday, too, but 3 wipe-offs later I called it a day). I want to thank all of you who commented on my last post, on the blog and through email - it was overwhelming, the wonderful support from all of you, artists and non-artists alike. What a wonderful community the blogsphere is. It meant so much to me. I have centered myself, and am focusing on painting what I like, with an EYE to doing a series, and I'm just going to see where that leads. I'll post one of these on my Studio Blog.

Butterscotch on Mom's Candy Dish, 8x6, oil

On Saturday I poured these butterscotch candies into my Mom's candy dish. It was a sunny day, and the light from the window lit up the golden wrappers, it was awesome - and without saying anything I turned to my son Conor, who looked at me and said "Daily Painting!" I don't feel I 'got it' and may try again with different viewpoints and backgrounds. I'm particularly challenged by the shadow side of yellow. Remembering Carol Marine's adage : "If you can't figure out what color something is, it's probably a gray...", I attempted a gray-yellow, but I don't think it 'showcased' the highlights enough. And believe it or not, it looks a LOT better in real life! :)

Got Love? 4x4 Oil

"Hey You", "Get Real", "Awesome" and "Got Love?" are the words on these - and I think I discovered the deal with the 'modern' words - these are made by Brach's.... My usual Candy Hearts were made by the local company, Necco. So at CVS today (picking up the new Dog Show photos) I found the Necco Hearts - and will paint them soon, too. Also I'm going to update my Studio Blog soon, with some larger paintings I'm working on, and almost done, as well as my "Daily Painting" wall in my studio....

Candy Canes, Acrylic 8x8

My oldest son loves plain old peppermint candy canes (yes, he's 29.... so what?) so in addition to putting a bunch on the tree I like to have a jar of them hanging around during the holidays. This year I popped a bunch of matte red glass balls in the middle of them. Yesterday I had some time to myself (everyone gone home or visiting or napping) and I set up my acrylics, which I haven't really used much since my Carol Marine workshop, and went at them. The red is more vivid in real life. I like doing holiday themed little paintings, because who cares if they don't sell? I just prop them up in every room and it makes everything a little more festive! And it's good exercise for your eyes - when I would normally, at this point, with a bit of quiet in the house, just head for a comfy chair with tea and my "Splanket" (my daughter bought them for the whole family - we look like a monastery:)!) instead I take this hour or so and measure, measure, measure - value, drawing, color... so it's kind of like going to the gym for your creative self!

I hope everyone had a peaceful holiday. I just may get around to sending out my holiday cards this weekend. We'll see! ;0

Sugar Pumpkins (the candy kind) 6x6 oil

Well, it's 'that' time of year.  As bad as Easter with all the goodies around! I bought these for my sons and thought it would be a great challenge to paint them.  And it was.  Painting sugar has got to be one of the toughest things - hopefully these are at least recognizable!

Oh - and two things,

1. Thank you to everyone who comments right on my blog - it's such a treat to see them there, and to know that I can re-live the comments months from now.  And
2. I've posted a POLL on my blog on the right hand column, and I'd appreciate it if anyone could help me with this.  I have another (more interesting to YOU) poll that I'm going to do next month but for now, it'd help me out if you'd cast your vote....  Thanks, very much,
   

Kelley