First Kenny, 6x8 Inches, Oil

SOLD

My friend Page Railsback has a beautiful, charming cat named Kenny.  He made such an impression on our Girls Just Wanna Paint Challenge Group last week we decided to make 'Kenny' our topic for the upcoming month.  I've decided to paint him in various poses, and maybe in different styles... and see what one 'makes' the cut.

I also want to thank Pam Copeman for featuring me on her blog - she's fabulous!

In our area, it's been so darn hot and humid.  But this week our Painting Safari will be in Jamestown, RI.  If you can make it and want to know where we're meeting (at 9 a.m.) just call me at 339-222-1998 and I'll tell you where we're going to be.  Most of us are meeting to carpool at the Prudence Island Ferry in Bristol at 8:15.  We'd love you to join us!

Oh, and here's the pics and info for that wonderful viewfinder with grid lines:

Along with directions on enlarging your small paintings into big ones and a value scale:

Their contact info:

San Miguel Souvenir, 6x6 Inches, Oil

SOLD

I've been lucky enough to visit San Miguel de Allende in Mexico three times - each time I buy little painted or metal crosses.  The painted ones are so cheerful and colorful, they make a nice display grouped together on a wall.  I am longing to return, it is such a wonderful little town, and I hope maybe next year.....

And just to put your minds at rest, the Donut War will probably only be 2 days a week!  So adjust your diets accordingly!  I know for a fact a few of you relieved Dunkin Donuts and Sip and Dip of a number of Chocolate Frosted Donuts today!!!!  A wonderful artist I met in Atlanta, at Leslie and Dreama's workshop, bought the Chocolate Donut painting!  

YUM! Chocolate Frosted Donut, 6x6 Inches, Oil

SOLD

Ooooey Goooey frosting, and I sent this guy back to get EXTRA frosting.  My theory is this:  If someone actually decides that they will purchase a frosted donut, DON'T skimp on the frosting.

Anyway I am happy to announce that I have been asked to join the DailyPainters.com group - and I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled!  I have long had it as one of my artistic goals to be part of this group.  By Monday night I hope to have the widget link on the side of my blog that will take you right there!

Also, Susan Roden and I have been talking about re-igniting the Donut War!  She and I are passionate about these comely balls of fried dough, and will soon be slinging the jelly and frosting from coast to coast - me, being the East, and she being a CA resident!

I don't know what the weather has been like for you guys, wherever you are, but here in RI we have nothing to complain about.  It was a perfect weekend.  And I got a new PINK hydrangea plant.  I Luuuurve it!

Bristol Swing Bridge, 8x10, Oil

NFS

This was my favorite painting done on location in Maine last week.  It is in South Bristol, I believe, and it is at the location of a tiny Swing Bridge (the whole piece of road spins around like a top to let the boats go by), and in a couple of years from now it will be a drawbridge, as all the Swing Bridges in Maine are slated for replacement.   If you know who Connie Hays is, I think she painted in this area, too.  I was very disciplined about using my new viewfinder with grid lines - as there was so much I wanted to include, plus the wind-y road and the house on the hillside.... it made it so much easier!  

I enhanced the colors on the houses and road, because... well, because I wanted to.  I, at this point in Maine, started feeling freer.  It has continued and expanded since I've come home.  When I show you the first painting I did in my studio when I got back I'm sure each and every one of you will say "Wait.... WHO is this person who painted this???"  And I'm having a walloping good time doing it, that's what I'll say!

Tiny Island Cottage, 6x8 Inches, Oil

NFS

When I went back to Christmas Cove later last week, I concentrated on this small cottage on a tiny island.  It was connected to the land by a bridge.  No car gets to this island.  Everything has to be carried over the rather long bridge (see below).  

  A million paintings were sitting right in front of me!

But I'm glad I'm home, finally able to celebrate my anniversary with my husband, and have my pets snuggling with me.  

Pemaquid Lighthouse, 8x5 inches, Oil

NFS

I painted this as the sun was going down at Pemiquid Lighthouse.  Kitschy?  Maybe, but when I go on location I paint what are essentially 'postcards' for myself.  Better than photographs, which live forever on my hard drive!  It was a magical evening - the shadows were growing, tourists from everywhere - and I mean that (we met a young couple from Prague!) - and the sky was just this amazing blue.  I was with Jody Regan, and we were agonizing, because we knew that back at the farmhouse, Val Vitali was cooking up something luscious, and we were late.  But. It. Was. So. Beautiful.  The heat of the day was gone and it was getting chilly.  The crowds had thinned out and the slight breeze caught the smell of the salt air.  And quiet.  Soooo deliciously quiet....

Ah, yes, dinner was waiting for us, and I swear nothing had ever tasted better.  And sitting around that big table with 5 ridiculously accomplished artists, full of good cheer and a sip or two of wine.... it was a perfect day for an artist in Maine....

Christmas Cove, 8x8 Inches, Oil

Christmas Cove, 8x8 Inches

I am a little technologically challenged here at our retreat in Maine!  I have to drive into the Post Office parking lot to make a call from my cell phone, and make a 1/2 hour trip to the closest wi-fi.   I just loved this little painting I got done the other morning.  The light was perfect and it just seemed to flow.  I don't sell the paintings I do on these trips, they are way better than postcards.

It's like a girls' camp here.  We paint, we read, we tell stories, and eat very well!  We are all lavishing attention on 'Maurice', as we call him (better than 'Hitler, regardless of the mustache!), who literally 'laps it all up'.

Everywhere I look is a painting.
Oh, yeah, and I was almost eaten by a lobster - they're BIG up here!

**forgive me for not responding to comments or emails - I have no internet connection and have to drive a long way to get one....I'll be home soon!**

1st Maine Painting. 6x8 Inches, Oil

This is the first attempt to paint in Maine this week.  Damariscotta harbor area.  Gotta run - no juice, no good internet connection!!!!

Hazy, Hot and Humid, 6x8 Inches, Oil Painting

This was a demo from my Painting Safari on Friday.  It was the OPPOSITE of hazy, hot and humid, and for that I was grateful, but no one was feeling intrepid, so we had the session at my studio and worked from photos.  I asked people to try to select from my photos an image that had close values, as much like the day we were experiencing.  This image from a past Summer did the trick.  I really, really like the way it came out, and truthfully, I've painted those 'lozenge' suns many times before and this time I got it.

I'm sorry for those of your who like hot weather, but I'm as happy as the clams here in Maine on my painting trip!  To connect to the internet I have to drive for 1/2 hour - for a public wi-fi, so there probably won't be many posts this week, and I apologize.

Please send Paco your good thoughts as he is on 'vacation' with my son, Conor in Boston.  As you can see above, he adores Conor.  But he still worries about whether his Mom will come home....

Got Vermouth? 5x7 Inches, Oil

SOLD

OK, for now... an end to the Olive series (some of you are going "YAY", I know!)  No, I'm not done with cocktails... I have a few more - ahem - in mind.  I love the blue in this Bombay Sapphire bottle.  And - what's more fun than green olives and red pimento's?

I get into the label, too...  maybe in another life I'll be a sign painter.  OK, tomorrow I'm headed to Maine for a painting week with some awesome painters.  My household will miss me, and I them... but I will be in a happy (but not internet connected) place.   

Happy Anniversary Toast, 6x6 Inches, Oil

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Lots of people (me included) have anniversaries this month.  We've been so busy that we're putting off the actual *celebration* (read: Al Forno's for dinner) till July, but I can be sure Tim will make me one of his Signature Martini's on the 24th, which is our Day.  I want to say Happy Anniversary to all you out there who also celebrate this month.  Hey, I'm so into painting the olives this week I just couldn't help myself.  Next week it'll be the rocks and wilds of Maine.  So.... Cheers to ALL my blog readers!

And.... remember I did the 'giveaway' of the Kelley's Jellies T-shirt? Here it is!  Sheila from CA won it, and I was thrilled because I've been a fan of HERS for a long time!  Check her blog out!

Olive-ya, Olive-ya, Olive-ya!!! 6x6 Inches, Oil

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Olives x3, on a mylar-covered cloth!  They are so fun to paint!  But I promise there will be other subjects...

OK, also, I'm getting ready for a painting trip to Maine next week. Aside from the devastation Paco and the kitties will once again feel... I'm pumped!  

Painting clothes:  packed

Painting gear:  packed

Now to decide: wine or vodka...

and brownies or banana bread....

Plein Air Demo, 5x7 Inches

Last week we had our first Painting Safari - a fun, plein air class that happens in a different location each week.  I swear I'm the luckiest person in the world - these students are amazing women and we have the BEST time!  Aside from losing my camera (found the next day...) it was a perfect day.  Above is an enlargement of a portion of it - I made use of Laurel Daniel's "mother color" which is ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and a bit of burnt umber, to establish the darks.

  Then, because the light changes so much outdoors, I made "color notes - see below - so I'd have accurate colors from the MOMENT I had chosen to paint:

This image seems to have lost the lavender sky at the horizon, but you get the idea.  We believe we were looking across the river at Barrington, RI.  

If you live nearby, you can check the upcoming location for our Safari and join us!

Tower Of Olives, 8x6, Oil

SOLD

I was going to do a stack of donuts for the Daily Paintworks Challenge this week.  Oh, sure, at first it was all 'teacups and plates' in my mind, but then I thought "Wait... I could do a stack of DONUTS!"  Of course I stopped at a new DD's, with the skimpiest frosting (see my other post about WHY people order frosted donuts) I'd ever seen.  Still, I thought, I could make it work.

I put down a jelly donut (properly 'encouraged' to give up a little jelly), and topped it with a Strawberry Frosted, then took a bite out of a Boston Cream (this was a sacrifice - they are one of my LEAST favorite donuts!) and put it on top.  Zooomed all the way in with my viewfinder and was SO excited about this until... all of a sudden... PLOP - SCRABBLE - gulp, smack, gulp ... the top two donuts had SLID off the bottom one!   And my trusty Studio Pup was on them like a fly on watermelon!

So... without further ado I slid a bunch of olives onto a skewer.  Stuck the skewer through the top of a box, and set the light up.  Olives were a TON of fun :) The skewer tilts a little but, but that's OK!  Find the Gin & Vermouth!   I'm going to do more!

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...

Three Olive Martini-time

This painting is reserved for a very good friend, who said she wanted it but may have forgotten about it... :)

I'll hold on to it for her.  It's been a Three Martini YEAR! :)

Time is flying so fast, but there's more and more to do and see and experience... I'm very, very grateful for my life and everyone in it.  I have been blessed with wonderful family and friends, both near and far. So, yes, this is a painting from a while ago, but it spoke to my mood, more than the wipers I've been producing.  Someone told me that when you are frustrated with your paintings you are at the cusp of something new.

Let's hope it's something both new and wonderful!

Peppermints, 6x6 Inches, Oil

SOLD

I had so many things to paint, but I couldn't decide.    So I grabbed my little peppermints and painted them.  I just love the shapes and colors of them.  And then there's the celpohane...:)

Sheila from California won the "I Love Kelley's Jellies" T-shirt!  I'll do another giveaway - when I hit 200 subscribers.  Hopefully soon!

Ugh... just read that we have severe thunderstorms and rain and hail are moving through our area.  I left every window in the studio open so the night air would drift in, nice and cool, for my class today.... uh, oh!

Belated National Donut Day, 6x6 Inches, Oil (T-shirt Giveaway)

$100 &$10 S&H

Well, I missed posting a donut on National Donut Day last week because I was in Sedona - a town, believe it or not, without a donut shop.  Can you imagine?  I was totally out of my element.  The closest they came to a donut shop was a bagel shop, which, .... come on!  So... clearing out the cobwebs, and jet lag, etc. today I went to Sip & Dip (remember Tina, the greatest Donut Girl ever?  She remembered me - "Oh, the Donut Lady!") and got a great big (about 2 1/2 inches tall) jelly donut.  My favorite part of the painting was the drip, of course, in the detail below:

Now, here's the thing.  I got a T-shirt made that says "I love Kelley's Jellies!" with an image of one of my donut paintings on it.  Size Large (will definitely shrink).  The first person to email me saying they want it, and gives me their address gets it - I'll pay for the shipping.  

Happy National Donut Day... Belated!

Sedona Views, 2x3 Inches each

I've been out of touch for about a week, as I was on a painting trip in Sedona.  We stayed in a wonderful suite with a balcony with a 180 degree view of the gorgeous red rocks.  Here, is that view, from the left view, the straight ahead view, and the view to the right.  My favorite was Snoopy Rock,  the straight on view - as he lies on his doghouse on his back:

These were each done at different times of the day, so the light was different on each.  It took DAYS to get the hang of the red rocks.  It was so magnificent.  I kept looking and saying to myself "This is perfection - anything I do will be 'less'.."  but still I had to try!

When I arrived, my friend Mary and I stopped at the Scottsdale Artists' School and picked up new, AWESOME plein air easels.  Photo below:

And...well it was really, really, REALLY windy the first day out, and I had set up near the edge of a cliff (yes... I do now look back and ask myself "Why?") and the expected happened:  a huge gust of wind picked up my easel and tossed it over the edge of the cliff - fortunately before I had opened my Gamsol container!!!  See cliff below:

It's hard to see, I know, but this little ledge at the bottom was about 4 feet from the top level, and my palette broke away from the tripod and got caught on the rocks to the left of the dead tree which was hanging over the edge of the cliff, and the tripod and panel got jammed up in the tree.  My brushes were jettisoned off the cliff entirely, landing like missiles on the bank of the creek below.  Fortunately Carol had just had a dream about mountain climbing, and, instead of being mad that I almost impaled her, grabbed the brushes and bravely scaled the sheer side of the rock, and brought them back to me!

Note to self: Remember what you already knew about filling a bag with rocks and hooking it to the easel....

Sorry this is such a long post!  It was such an EXcellent adventure!