"The Rose"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Click here to buy now with PayPal.  $80. + s/h.

I found myself chasing daylight to get a photo again today since I got a late start in the studio.  I admire so many artists who are able to simplify and capture the essence of a subject with minimal brush strokes... It's not as easy as it looks!  My natural tendency is to fuss way too much with details.  With limited time today I didn't have the luxury of fussing, so I used a large brush and got it done.  I'm happy enough with the effort that  I want to explore some more in this direction.

"A Flute of Marbles"

5" x 7" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
- SOLD -

This is probably the marble finale, at least for a while.  I do have another interesting idea for a single marble so I'll probably go back to painting some more of them when I decide I'm ready to torture myself again!  I feel a need to loosen up big time after all of this attention to tedious detail.  I was on the road to a more loose and painterly style then I drove right into the ditch when I started painting marbles.

This is very colorful!  Not only is there a lot of color in the marbles but then the glass picks up and reflects them.  For the background I used Alizarin Crimson with Ultramarine Blue then added a few other colors in some places to get some interesting blacks and grays.  Don't know if all that will show up on your monitor.

For those of you who may not know... The larger turquoise marble is a "shooter".  I'm not sure exactly how the game goes but it has something to do with drawing a circle, putting the smaller marbles inside the circle then "shooting" the big one at the the small ones to win those you are able to knock out.  There must be some other rules.

 

"Marble #3"

4" x 4" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Click here to buy now with PayPal.  $60 + s/h

Back to my marbles!  After the little Traveling Chicken's visit, getting some paintings shipped out and catching up in my office, I'm finally able to get back to my marble series.  This is just a common cat's eye probably from the 1950's.  I'm still looking at some of the really spectacular handmade marbles on Ebay but I just haven't been able to bring myself to pay the price needed to score one.

Next I'll probably try a painting with multiple marbles in some sort of set up.  I have some ideas but we'll see how they pan out once I actually start playing around with them.  Lighting is tricky with these little gems.  Stay tuned!

"The Kudzu Adventure"

6" x 6" oil on gessoboard
- SOLD -

This is the world-famous "Traveling Chicken".  She is a little ceramic chicken who started on her journey when Azra in the UK hatched this idea and sent her off across the big pond back in April.  Although she's only been traveling for a few months she has already visited many interesting places and has had some very exciting adventures!  Click to go to the Traveling Chicken blog to read about them, including her latest "Kudzu Adventure" here in Georgia while she was visiting me.  I almost lost her in my backyard after a Kudzu vine wiggled through her tiny pink ribbon, hoisted her up and stuck her onto my fence!

If you are an artist and would like to have her visit you, click on the "Sign Up" tab at the top of the Traveling Chicken blog for instructions. There is a growing wait list as you will see.  She is quite the world traveler rubbing elbows... errr, chicken wings... with some pretty famous artists!  (Like Carol Marine, one of my favorites, for one!)

What fun!  Now I will be saying goodbye to her and her entourage.  Yes, she travels with a whole crew... long story!  I'll carefully pack them up and mail them to Karen in Wisconsin next.  Can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Stay tuned for more marbles in my series... I haven't forgotten but I just got a little side-tracked with my house guest for a few days.:)


      

"Marble #2"

4" x 4" oil on gessoboard
- SOLD -

The second in my series.  Again I messed around for a long time selecting which marble to paint and then with placement and lighting.  I discovered that setting it on top of my magnifying light so it was lit from below really showed the inside of the marble at it's best.  Then I added some purple paper so the color would reflect up under the marble.  I nearly went blind trying to look at it but the effect was pretty cool!

Update:  Ugh...!  I struggled to get this photo correct.  In my original post I explained it didn't look quite right.  Well, I took some new photos today and I have replaced the original one with this new and improved photo.  It looks pretty accurate now on my monitor anyway.  The background should be a soft grayish purple.  

I've been asking around to see if I can locate and borrow a really spectacular marble but no luck yet.  I placed a couple bids on ebay but have not scored anything I can afford yet.  My gosh there are some beautiful marbles with things like "double ribbon" and "latticinio" in the titles.  I'm not sure what all of it means but I know a pretty marble when I see one.

"Marble #1"

4" x 4" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
- SOLD -

This is the first time I've tried painting a marble.  Fun!  I love gazing into these shiny little orbs with all their beautiful swirls and ribbons and colors.  They mesmerize me.  So, this is the first in a small series I'm going to do so I can learn about painting them and decide if it's something I want to pursue further.  It's ridiculous how much time I spent trying to select which marble to paint first, trying it out in different settings, figuring out the perfect angle and playing around with lighting and shadows.  Good grief!  So finally I just picked one, plunked it down on a plain piece of paper with a bright light shining on it and dove in.

I've been doing the craziest mixed-up things lately.  I ordered a whole pile of 5" x 5" panels by mistake instead of my usual 6" x 6".  Now I'm out of 6" x 6", I don't know why but I don't want to paint on 5" x 5", so I'll use some 4" x 4" panels until my new order gets here.   And this is just one of many silly mistakes I've made recently... so, today's subject is appropriate.  I really think I've lost my marbles!

  

"'A' is for Apple"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Click here to buy now with PayPal .  $90 + s/h

It's back to school time and these red apples in my kitchen kept reminding me of all the teachers and students out there preparing for another year.  I loved school and I still remember being both excited and nervous.  When I was little (and life was simpler) a new box of crayons was always the best part for me!  Anyone remember the big fat ones with a flat side so they wouldn't roll off the desk?

I sold "Cherry on White"!  Also sold "Three Apples" using the DPW auction and there was a bidding frenzy!  Well, maybe not a frenzy but here were three different bidders and a little bit of bidding action. :)  "Three Apples" comes closest to the "look" I would like to achieve in my work and I feel it is one of my best daily paintings so far.  It's more painterly than most of mine and, for some reason I was able to get into the "zone" when I painted it.  I've not been able to repeat it since.  I was a little sad to put it in an envelope and mail it to Colorado today.

"Retro Cherries"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Click here to Buy Now through PayPal.  $90.

Found this little plate at Goodwill and loved the retro pattern.  I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out even though it's different than I envisioned it when I started.  I'm still finding it very difficult to loosen up and continue to fall back into old habits.  I've started reading Alla Prima, Everything I Know About Painting by Richard Schmidt and hope some of his thoughts will influence my painting.  His style is wonderful and loose and he points out that looseness "should be the way a painting appears, not how it is accomplished."  He talks a lot about being deliberate, careful and accurate which at first seems contrary to looseness, but apparently not so.  For me being careful and accurate translates into being very tight.  I have so much to learn...

I think I broke part of my blog.  Pretty sure no emails announcing my last post, "Three Amigos", went out to all the wonderful people who have "subscribed".  I tweaked the wording about subscribing and in the process must have somehow messed up the feed.   I've gone back over it all and hopefully it's okay now but I don't have a lot of confidence that it is.  A lot of this is a mystery to me so I just try to figure it out as I go.

I'm trying "buy now" on this one instead of putting it in the DPW auction.  I wonder what most buyers prefer...   Do they like "buy now" so they can easily finalize a purchase?  Do they find it inconvenient to have to keep up with an auction or do they enjoy the bidding process?

"Three Amigos"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
Click here to buy now with PayPal.  $90 + s/h 

This is how the weather has been here in GA!  Hot! Hot! Hot!   It's been over a week since my last post and I've been struggling to carve out enough time to paint.  Life gets in the way but I do my best to balance it all out.

I have a bid on "Blueberries and Cow Creamer" and the auction ends this evening so it's sold for sure.  Also have a bid on "Homegrown" so it's a gonner too.  Yea!

I am so thankful to all of you out there who support live working artists.  What an age we live in with the internet making this all possible!  As I have said before, the main focus of my blog is to record my efforts as I explore painting and strive to find my artistic voice.  Selling my paintings is secondary but, I have to say, it's very affirming and encouraging when someone selects one of mine out of the thousands that are available. :)  Thank you!

"Egghead"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessoboard
 Click here to buy now with PayPal.  $50.

My farmer friend at our local Open Air Market told me when he picked this eggplant he thought of me.  Hmmm...  I painted an eggplant I bought from him last week so when he saw this one he thought I might want to paint it too.  It has a "nose" on both sides of it but I picked this side to paint.  Silly, I know.  Now, I'm finished with eggplants for a while. :)  Really.

Still having a hard time photographing these wet oil paintings.  I noticed Carol Marine has a new Daily Paintworks Tutorial about how she does it.  I think I better take a look at it and see if I can get some desperately needed tips.

By the way, when I posted "I am the Eggplant" last week I thought no one would be interested in purchasing it.  Ha!  It got well above average views, several people following the auction and got a bid on the first day.  Go figure!

"Homegrown"

6" x 6" oil on Amersand Gessoboard
- SOLD -

I like how these green stripes compliment the red tomatoes and add a graphic punch, so I've painted this same tea towel again.  These tomatoes came from a friend's backyard and I am pleased that she's been sharing the abundance.  Thanks!

I got bogged down in painting fussy details again and no matter how much I tried to talk myself out of it I just kept at it.  There are a few places that I was able to maintain a little looseness and soft edges.  Anyway, I'm still pleased with this one.  Hope you like it too. :)

"I am the Eggplant"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessoboard
- SOLD -

Picked this up at our local farmer's market from a grower who's family has been farming here for many generations.  He probably thought I was a little nuts being so picky about which eggplant to buy. Then I explained that I planned to take it home and paint it, that confirmed it.

If you're a Beatles fan you've heard the song... "I am a Walrus" from their Magical Mystery Tour.  Well, turns out they weren't saying "I am the eggplant" as I and many of us thought, the real lyric is:  "I am the eggman, They are the eggmen, I am the walrus, Goo goo g'joob."  I'm sticking with my "eggplant" version.  Really, it still makes just as much sense, or nonsense. :)  I'm not painting a walrus.

"Three Apples"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessoboard
- SOLD -

I'm happy with this one... much looser while still depicting a high level of detail.  I tried focusing on painting the light rather than painting the objects.  I took time to study values, did a lot of squinting and painted general areas of lights and darks to create volume and solidity first.  This prevented me from getting bogged down in the details too early in the process and somehow that liberated me to play around more freely.  I am determined to do more exploring but I finally feel like I'm moving in the right direction.  Stay tuned!

Update... "Pear with White Stripes" sold in the DPW auction yesterday... thank you!

"Blueberries and Cream"

8" x 10" oil on canvas board
-SOLD-

I'm picking blueberries almost daily from the four blueberry bushes in my backyard.  One of my favorite fruits!  The colors are beautiful as they go from white, green, pink, purple, blue then eaten with all shades in between.

This is a little larger than my previous posted paintings and I changed to a rectangle which worked better for this composition.  I know, I've been yammering on and on about trying to loosen up my style and then I go off and do something like this!  I tried to fight it but the details won!  So, then I just surrendered and thoroughly enjoyed painting every tiny little brush stroke for every tiny little detail!   I've found I'm really loving painting fabric but this is the first time I've attempted anything lacy.  I'm pleased with the outcome.  I've raised the price on this one since it's larger and it took me two full days to paint it.  Enjoyable days, but still, two days...

P.S.  After failing to sell in the DPW auction with a starting price of $150, I've dropped the price to $100 and will try one more time.

"Pear with White Stripes"

6" x 6" oil on gessoboard
- SOLD -

It doesn't take much to make me happy...  like a lumpy Bartlett and, what a bonus, this one still had a leaf clinging to it when I found it at the grocery store!  I started painting this pear sitting on top of a gray book but it looked too boring and drab so I covered the book with this tea towel and repainted the lower section... now I'm even happier!  I love painting fabric and have found that adding a common old tea towel to a set up works well for me.  I like the casual feeling it creates combined with the graphic element of the stripes.

"Tea with Lemon"

6" x 6" oil on Ampersand Gessobord
- SOLD -

This interesting old English teapot is on loan to me from my friend, Susan.  The teacup was sent to me by my sister, Karen, who is kind enough to occasionally contribute to my collection of painting props.  It was fun to capture the copper color and I'm pretty happy with the finished painting.

* Ugh!  I struggled to get this photo and I'm still not very happy with it.  I had problems with reflections, with accurate color, dead batteries... then it got too dark last night to try anymore.  I took this one this morning and replaced the one I originally posted... it's better but on my monitor the yellows should be a little yellower and the blues a little richer and the background maybe a touch darker.  It's my best attempt so here we go...

Late breaking news... "Apple with Green Stripes" just sold at auction and, get this.... there was a huge bidding war and the price went sky-high.  Okay, well not really... there were only two people bidding and it only went to $46.  Still, it makes me feel good that there was a little bit of auction action. :)

*Note:  After this painting dried enough I scanned it and got a better image so I replaced the picture on July 1.  It is now a much better representation of the actual painting. :)

"Apple with Red Stripes"

6" x 6" oil on gessoboard
- SOLD -

Another apple study on a striped tea towel.  I like the graphic element that stripes add to a composition.  Check out all the powerful paintings entered in "The Stripe Challenge" posted by the fabulous Carol Marine over at Daily PaintWorks.  I'll have to add this one to the mix.  

And here's an update on the bidding for my last two paintings... "Mickey on a Mirror" auction ends tomorrow, June 18, and it's still only at $40 so, unless someone swoops in soon, the bidder will have it at a bargain price!  "Apple with Green Stripes" still has a few days to go and it's still at $40 also.

"Apple with Green Stripes"

6" x 6" oil on gessoboard
-SOLD-

Apples seem to be the "go to" practice subject for a lot of artists to loosen up.  Huh!  I just can't seem to be able to put down a few bold strokes and call it quits!  There was a lot going on on the surface of this apple and I got sucked into the detail again.  But still, I don't feel like the apple is toooo over-worked and I did manage to keep the fabric looser and more painterly.  So, overall, I think I'm pretty happy with this one!

I'm beginning to love working in oils.  But it still seems cumbersome to have to wait for paintings to dry before shipping.  Do most buyers know and expect this?  The only other option would be to wait until they are dry before I post each picture but I can't do that since I think my blog would lose the true spirit of being a visual diary of my work.  So, let it be known... bidding for this painting will start tomorrow and go for seven days.  It will not ship until two to three weeks after the auction ends.

BTW... update on my last post, "Mickey on a Mirror".... it will be sold on the Daily Paintworks auction!  Yea!   "Thank you!" to whoever put the first bid on it.  :)

"Mickey on a Mirror"

6" x 6" oil on gessoboaard
-SOLD-

I picked up this little Mickey Mouse toy at a garage sale recently.  I don't know why but I just thought I should take him home and paint him.  In an effort to make the composition more interesting I placed him on top of a mirror.

Still working on my oil painting skills and still liking the change from acrylics for the most part.  I have a long way to go but I'm learning a little more with each painting.  For some reason I found this one pulled me back into the picky, tight style that I've been trying to free myself from.  I think probably because he's stiff and made of plastic with hard edges it was difficult for me to loosen up on him.  Oh well, maybe next time...

"Daisies and Strawberries"

6" x 6" oil on gessoboard
 Click here to buy now with PayPal.  $100 + s/h

I've resurfaced after over a week's absence.  I've really been itching to paint more but life gets in the way sometimes.  Here's my second attempt at an oil painting.  I've signed up for four weekly oil painting classes to glean some knowledge from an experienced instructor hoping to jump start the learning process.  She has been very helpful.  I started this one in class and finished it today at home.  I'm not totally in love with oils yet but I certainly am smitten!  Lots of fun!  I'm seeing many possibilities that acrylics could never offer.  

Now I'm wondering how long these little guys will take to dry... what to do if someone actually buys one and I have to ship it... from what I've read on other blogs, I think about three weeks.  I know some artists choose not to varnish, some do, some (like me) need to figure all this out!

Stay tuned, more oils to come...