Sunny Flowers, Original Acrylic Painting by Kelley Carey MacDonald

9x12

NFS

This is a demo I did for my 'story board' at Michaels.  Let me tell you, there are entirely different skill sets for painting... and for collage/poster making.  I spent THREE hours today trying to make tiny stickers in the shape of letters explain briefly the painting process.  I think, in the end, it looks more like a ransom note, where all the individual letters are cut from different spots in magazines - all crooked and tilting.  People at the store were very kind.  However, about once a minute someone, seeing me in my 'Michaels' uniform, would ask me where something was.  Now... I only know where the art supplies are!  And, well, the flowers, as I was standing in the middle of them.  

Anyway, if you go to the Michaels' in Middletown and see my storyboard - do not laugh.  :)  I hope I paint better than I make posters!

Below... two of the steps in between...

The initial sketch 

And the block-in

Tulip Fields In Lisse, Original Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

NFS

This is a demo for a 'story board' for an Acrylics class I'll be teaching at Michael's Art & Craft Store.  The steps leading up to it are below.  This is what I was doing all weekend, 4 of these demos in acrylic.

Mum's The Word, Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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These mums are called Flamingo.  They're a new kind, and they are deep pinky salmon with orangy centers.  Now that I've uploaded it I can see glare in the middle of the photo - apologies.  I'll try again tomorrow, hopefully with better light.

I thought this would be a tedious painting, but it turned out to be downright joyful to paint!  I loved the way the depth just kind of evolved, loosely, with various leaves and stems.  Normally I'd overwork this part, but somehow I didn't feel the need to!

We did value studies in class today - SUCH a valuable lesson, no matter HOW long you've been painting!

Be Stress Free, 6x6 Inch Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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Phew!  The Open Studio was a wonderful day, seeing old friends and meeting new!  I took yesterday *off* except for some work on Commissions.  Today this tea bag wrapper said "Be Quiet. Be Still. Be Stress Free." It was Chamomile, and smelled wonderful! Good advice for everyone, me included!

Here's some photos from the Open Studio - my favorite is the little cluster of girls working on a sketch book one of the young artists brought with her - I see a bright future as an artist for her!

   

AND one blogger friend, JoAnn Elig, came and brought her OWN donut painting for me to see!  She really blew me away with this one, beautifully framed, too!

(Jo Ann, I apologize, the lighting is horrible - you AND your painting looked much better in person!)

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!

Crayolas, 6x6 Inch Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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My fellow DPO'er, Dana Cooper did a series of crayola crayons recently - and I loved them.  Wanted to paint them sooo bad!  (I have a bad crayon story from kindergarten!)  Well, I'll tell you they were a challenge!  Long thin poles with wrappers with designs - whew!  Well, I'm having fun making posters for my Open Studio in Warren this weekend (see upper right side of my blog) - I find the more you fool around with Microsoft Work, the easier it gets.  

And in case you haven't heard, the pug who thinks I'm poisoning him with expensive gently cooked-no by-products dog food WILLINGLY crunched open the 'level' part of a level that fell onto the floor - yeah, they're filled with ethanol, so we had to call Poison Control for him!  He's fine...

Citrus Cupcake, 6x6 Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

Susan Roden has been flinging frosting at me during this Frosting Fight!  All the way from California I took hits this weekend~!  This delicious cupcake was only ONE of a dizzying array of flavors (I can vouch for the Strawberry!) of beautiful cupcakes at the new CupCakery in Westport, MA.  The only fault I see is they somehow (?) have neglected to make coconut cupcakes.  Anyway I've been busy getting ready for my Open Studio next weekend, getting set for my Painting Class this coming Thursday in my studio - AND I've had a wonderful visit from friend and fellow blogger Amy Hillenbrand!  My husband and I took Amy and her husband Bob on a "3 hour tour" (a la Gilligan) of Rhode Island.  We me in Carol Marine's class in Santa Fe, and she invited me to stay with her when our Workshop Women (from that class) had a reunion in Austin this past January.  It is amazing that blogging brings friendships that are so dear and wonderful - what a thrill to be a part of all this!  As a younger woman - heck, 5 years ago I never could have imagined I'd be 'friends' with women I've never seen in person!  Long story - sorry.

Below, I will show you cupcake #2 - also was wiped out to make way for the more successful one, above.  It had no...ooomph.  Boring composition.  Yes, it was a recognizable cupcake - but, as they say on the South Shore of Boston - it did not survive the 'so what?' question.  So I changed the composition, and background color, and I think it's better.  You?

A Blessing, Original Acrylic Painting, 6x6, by Kelley MacDonald

On a painting trip to Maine last June, we were getting ready for dinner, and we noticed a rainbow over the house.  Not just a regular rainbow - a double rainbow.  We all ran out with our cameras, but really, it did seem to be just over our house.  A house chock full of artists, all happy, creative people who worked and played hard all week under this wonderful roof - it did indeed seem like we were blessed...

And is it just me or when men/guys do a painting trip they get all kind of notoriety, and women just do it quietly and under the radar...

Ptown Cupcake, 6x6 Original Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H

I'm going mad trying to find cupcakes to paint!  This one was from a photo I took of a cupcake from the little shop called "Relish" in Provincetown.  It was a delicious concoction of tender white cake and eye-watering buttery frosting, gilded with my favorite color glittery sugar - aquamarine and lemony green!  This was not any shy little cake, either, it could have served 4 or sent ONE person into a coma!

October Beckoning, 6x6 Inch Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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I love the stem of this  - well, it's actually a gourd  - it seems to say "Come... enjoy this month!"  

Today I searched through half of Providence, RI to find some scrumptious cupcake to whip at fellow Daily Painters Originals artist Susan Roden.  No luck.  That's OK, my spirits were high because it was the kind of day I love - dramatic clouds, chilly enough for a fleece, but not uncomfortable, with blustery winds that take your hair and whip it all around.  Paco and I scoured the East Side of Providence, following leads we (ok, I) found on the internet for cupcakes - they were boring!  So we stopped at a deli in Barrington for a sandwich and saw that the local magazine that has the Discover Warren Map inside was available cool!  Until... I saw they'd forgotten to include me and my studio on the map or in the description.  I was a bit bummed (just a bit, OK?...) since I've been so excited about this for 2 months, and signed on within 3 days of it being announced.  

Trying to be balanced about it - not much I can do now, except hope that people stumble upon me that day!   Tomorrow.... a different twist on an everyday cupcake!

Carrot Cake Cupcake, 6x6 inch Original Painting by Kelley MacDonald

One of my artist friends from the West Coast, Susan Roden, who has been playing "Donut Wars" with me through the Summer, has thrown down a new gauntlet.  Literally, she has flung frosting at me!  (Fortunately I am 1) far, far away and 2) a really good hider!)  But for the next few weeks anyway, we have challenged each other to a Cupcake Fight!  A la Lucy and Ethel, I'm afraid.  But today at Walker's Roadside Stand there were these little (not) cupcakes, and I thought they were chocolate... yum.  When I ordered one, however, I was told they were Carrot Cake.  Hmmmm... well, my son Rory will eat this one.  

I cannot tell you how hard it is for me to paint these cupcakes.  Frosting is so... amorphous.   This one at least had directional lines. :)  I'll let you know if it was good.  

And this week I will be beginning to teach during the day at my studio.  If you're interested, you can email me!  I'm keeping the class small, but there's still room.

Tipping Point, 6x6 Inch Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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Just when you thought the Donut Wars were over.....  You can tell I kind of had to 'hug' the top donut to create the little tongue of jelly on these - I hate overstuffed donuts, but geez!  I thought you might like to see the step by step...

A shot of the 'models'.. I took this at the very beginning.  As I painting the jelly continued to ooze...

 I chose to exaggerate the tilt of the top donut.

More of the most 'vulnerable' colors..

Then some darks and modeling...

And....the dessert... the jelly

Foreground and background... then the sugar!

I'll be Susan Roden thought she was safe.... NOT! 

Diversity, Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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Our local farm stand, Walker's, in Little Compton, RI, had soooo many colored peppers - all the better for me, because I don't think I've ever met a pepper I didn't like.  These beauties look like they're ASKING to be part of fajitas, don't they?  My favorite is the misshapen purple one, because.. well, it's purple!

This will be on my display at 'Discover Warren' (used to be called the Warren Walkabout) on Oct. 17 from 11-5.  I'm going to try to get my daughter to bake some yummy things for us hehehe....

The Last Of The Sunflowers, 6x6 Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

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I just love sunflowers, and these are the last from my garden.  Not that I planted them, but last year I had a bird feeder along my fence.  This year my fence was lined with sunflowers!  Trying to keep it loose, but think I need more practice at that.  Yeah.  That and relaxing!

Cluny Abby, Paris, 6x6 Originial Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$100 & $10 S&H

A few of my fellow artists from the Daily Painters Originals are taking 'trips' to France - so here's my first contribution!  I loved the Cluny Chapel, and the stories of the Roman Baths in the basement.  Actually, I got a little lightheaded with all the beauty and history, and left my husband to wander inside, while I got some air and enjoyed the pink door and the hollyhocks which matched it!  So, I'd go back to Paris in a MINUTE, and revisit the relics, etc. at this particular church....  See what Kelley Sanford and Julie Hill have served up for their French Feast!

Little Orange Dinghy, 6x8 Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

The harbor in Provincetown often has this very narrow orange dingy in it.  When the sun is setting it hits it's hull and it just sings!  I was a little discombobulated today in my 're-entry' to real life.  For almost a week I had just me to think about, and painting.  Today the dryer broke, I cooked a big breakfast for my family, one cat was practicing 'killing' the other cat, and Paco, my pug, just couldn't leave my side, and so he kept getting tripped over.  Oh, yeah, and I tried to paint.  So aside from the glare (which officially I promised not to mention), I'm pretty happy with it, all things considered.  

East View From Provincetown, 8x8 Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

$150 & $10 S&H

8x8 inches

Today, my final day in Provincetown, I FINALLY relaxed.  I did a few work ups for my commission (although I still have a couple of potential changes), then I shook everything off, went to the patio at the beach, and painted something that I loved:  this view.  I felt this painting fall off the brush.  I kind of hope it doesn't sell before I get a chance to work it up... BIG.  It was a magical week, and I'm so thrilled to have been given this opportunity - uh, oh... I think this place is getting under my skin...  I may have to come here again!

Pilgrim Monument, Original Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

NFS

6x8 inches

This is a small work up of a beautiful view I had as I was lugging my gear back to the car after painting last night at Provincetown Harbor.  I also noticed I have a smudge on my camera lens, on the top left portion of the image!  I'll fix it tomorrow, hopefully.

Lots of wind today - and I learned that you can duct tape almost all your plein air equipment - INCLUDING your trash bag!  I decided to use the tape after I was almost ready to paint, and I turned around to get something out of my backpack.  When I turned back my right glove and my roll of paper towels had blown away.  Empty street - no sign of them.  So I took my duct tape and taped and taped some more.  I got some funny looks, but most people said "YEAH, that's the way to deal with the wind!"  Below is a WIP that I started in oils on Commercial Street in Ptown near the landing...

Funny how you can see the things that are wrong  as soon as you post them!

Moonrise Over Provincetown, 6x18, Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

This was done last night on location in Provincetown, where I am holed up this week working on a commission.  Each 6x6 panel can stand on it's own, but I think they look good all together.  

I'm feeling incredibly inspired here.  I really think Ptown is one of those spiritually key places, like Sedona.  

I will share with you the 3rd study I did today - all in one color, as it is a value study as well as a compositional study.  I have decided to hunt down or make my own canvas.  I originally offered a 24x48 because they want the 48 inch height.  But upon seeing the scene they want - I decided to find something wider, to include the boats to the right and a bit of the breakwater to the left...

Jelly Perfection, Original Oil Painting By Kelley MacDonald

Reserved

I think I mentioned that at my Open Studio as part of the South Coast Artist Tour I had a gentleman drive from the Boston area to get a donut painting that sold before the Opening.  I offered to paint him another one, and so I dutifully went to Dunkin Donuts and got more jellies.  To get this 'drip' you have to squeeze their plump little bellies.  But that's the beauty of it for me, that glow that the light makes on the drippy jelly.  I actually think (and an artist friend concurred) that this one is even better than the original one that sold.  I'm glad.  I appreciate his effort and support!

And I bet Susan Roden thought I was DONE with donuts - BWA-HA-HA-HA!

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.

Determination, Original Oil Painting by Kelley Carey MacDonald

SOLD

This little girl was stomping around the beach in her brand new pink Crocks, with her big sunglasses and pink bow in her hair, when I snapped her photo.  The beach in Nantasket is hard gray sand, which is really nice to walk on - or stomp on, as she was doing!  I loved her huge strides, her purposeful arm swinging, and her hairdo - all reminded me very much of my own Molly, when she was little. This painting was posted about 18 months ago, but the owner kindly brought it back to me so I could photograph it.  I'm thrilled that she feels the same way as I do about this little girl! 

I'm getting ready to head to the Cape next week for a week of uninterrupted painting.  Part of the deal is that I do a commissioned work for the owners of the cottage - a very generous couple who are collecting work this way.  So I will spend a portion of each day laying out plans for that, memorizing color, feeling the breezes, imprinting the sky so I can pick the best time of day to capture their chosen scene.

Where will I be exactly?  In Heaven, I think.

Distraction.... Original Oil Painting by Kelley MacDonald

SOLD

6x6 inches

Today I went into Dunkin Donuts to buy some jellies for a couple of commissions and well, they didn't look that great. Kind of flat - sweaty, too, if you know what I mean. So, OK, I thought I'll get an nice Iced Coffee and some munchkins for Paco, who was waiting patiently in the car - on this wonderfully cool, crisp day. Only... instead of the bin of plain munchkins there was a tray of Lemon Squares. Yeah, ... what the what??? Next to that was some raspberry creamy kind of squares...???? And then... 2 trays of cupcakes with sprinkles - wait - WHERE AM I? So I bought a chocolate with vanilla frosting, and ended up with this.

I am finally enjoying the September weather... I hope you are, too!