Afternoon w/Dona

12x12 oil/linen

My sister Nina and I had such a great time doing a portrait painting switch-off last spring, that I convinced my painter friend, Dona, to try it. The little one that I managed to start that day (previous post - months ago)before it rained us out, inspired me to have a go at it with photo.

Thanks for looking.

Friday 8mph

5x7 Oil on panel SOLD

Still loving the laundry.

thanks for looking

A Flap Over Nothing

5x7 oil on linen panel SOLD

This is going into a "Small Pictures" show at the region's art center.
Thanks for looking.

Portraits

The long awaited portrait pleases the subject. Phew.


Maggie 18x24 Oil on Linen

It's satisfying to deliver the finished commissioned work. This painting was so much fun to do. I love challenges. If they don't happen on their own, I'll create them. We wanted this painting to include items from the family summer home. Wicker sofa, red begonia, art on the wall.
Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear your comments.

Friday Morning SOLD

Friday Morning 12x12 Oil on Linen




Untitled (circa 1990?) 9x12 acrylic on warped Fredrix canvasboard

When I started making the transition from choreographer/dancer back to painter twenty years ago, the lower image was one of a few paintings I did of the shed/clothesline in our back yard. It vied with a view to the north for my personal Motif #1. As you can see, I was determined to include every angel head nail in my painting.

Carol Marine commented that when she felt she was at a fork in her development of style, she chose to eschew realism for a looser, more expressive style because she found that more challenging.
Her explanation really hit home for me. It is a struggle to resist becoming enslaved by what's there in front of you, and find the essence.
The top image 'Friday Morning' painting is silent poetry. An ode to the less-than-majestic sights that bring happiness. Kind of zen. Be Here Now.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. A special thanks to Denny for washing the (I'm embarrassed to admit - Martha Stewart)sheets every week.

Transition

The View East 6x6 Oil on Board SOLD

My friend, Dona M., has loaned me a book by Lois Griffel. She writes about colorist vs. tonalist approaches to creating form, distance, etc. First attempt here. I used palette knife and paper towels.

Survivors

Five Cherries 6x6 Oil on Linen panel

It was hard to get started on this one. At first I had about 10 cherries in a silver bowl. When I was done with the painting, I wiped it off and ate a cherry. Then another. Got rid of the bowl. Ate a few more. Finally, I saw the composition I should have done from the start.
Thanks for stopping by and I love to hear your thoughts.

Southerly Gust

Southerly Gust 5x7 Oil on linen panel SOLD

I went into a frenzy of spring cleaning yesterday, having realized that it is now officially summer, AND it provided a procrastination opportunity as I thought about the subject for the day's painting. The white dresser cloths and a few curtains on the line provided the answer. It's been a number of years since I'd painted this view and I thought to dig up the old renditions to show you. Believe me when I say, this is livelier, looser and improved. I can't wait for the next sunny day to do the bedroom curtains!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love to hear your thoughts.

Afternoon

Dona M 5x7 Oil on Linen panel

A painter friend and I got together for an afternoon of painting and posing. 15 minutes and then switch. My goal with this was to place the features accurately (50% successful - haha) and to apply each brushstroke with no blending (85% successful). Out the window went attention to temperature, color and logic. I think if I'd reversed the colors of her cheeks, it would have made more sense. And the shoulder on the left could use shade. I had to finish it at home because it started raining and I almost wiped it but what the heck. Here it is.

Strawberry Quintet

Strawberry Quintet 6x6 Oil on Linen Panel

I was smarter this year and picked my berries just before they ripened, much to the birds' dismay. However, 2 or 3 berries every day are just not enough! So we went picking at a local farm and were swimming in them for 3 days. Yum.

Tulips

Temple Favorite 5x7 oil on linen


Back in April, while in Oregon, my parents and sister and I visited Wooden Shoe tulip farm. There were also some monks visiting and the sight was unbelievable. Visitors were in a frenzy taking photos of the monks in the tulips, it was such a feast for the eyes. I'm kind of thinking we should all wear orange robes. Especially when the weather has been overcast for a few days in a row. I am definitely ordering some of these bulbs for my garden. Temple Favorite is the name. Perfect.

My Shadow!

My Shadow 5x7 oil on Linen panel

The Foosball was no match when this young boy caught sight of his shadow. How lucky I was to have my camera pointed. I thought I was going to get a shot of him as he picked up the toy. I was delighted to catch this moment of wonder.

The Broken Egg

The Broken Egg 6x6 Oil on Linen Panel

Another from Carol's workshop. Although I fussed with it when I got home because I was having medium issues last week. Too oily, the shadow wasn't sticking to the linen. And you know how annoying it is to have shadows lying about your feet.

Grapes

Never Blue with Purple 6x6 Oil on linen panel

In the movie, the Door in the Floor, Kim Basinger warns her young tenant(? sorry, I don't want to get into the plot, here) about color compatibility. I think it was "Never pink with lilac". And recently a neighbor mentioned learning never to put blue and purple together. There are so many rules floating around that probably began as paragraphs with perfectly sound logic. But every time the rule is repeated, something gets left off and we end up with a pronouncement that makes us wonder. Huh?
Maybe two hundred years ago a farmer was mixing a salve for his horse's wounded leg and told his daughter, "Never mix gentian blue with purple loosestrife."
What do you think?

Keep it Simple

Ovo Trio 5x7 Oil on Double Primed Linen mounted on panel.

In Carol Marine's Workshop, we had just completed some timed exercises in which each brushstroke is carefully laid down where it belongs, all happy in its correct value and saturation and LEFT ALONE.
So what do I choose as a layout to further practice these concepts? Eggs. Not the best idea. I ended up blending a little just so I could call it quits and clean up for the day.

Radishes Return

Radish Bunch 5x7 Oil on Linen Panel

When I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Portland, they served radishes as an hors d' oeuvre. Sliced, with butter, sea salt and pepper. Yummy.
While I was painting these, Carol warned me that I would have only about 20 minutes before the leaves wilted away to nothing. I wonder why that happens so much faster than with other root vegetables?

Two in a row

Apricot Quartet Study 6x6

More value and brush exercises. These were fun. Timed, fast, no fussing allowed. The lower right actually has a bit of Carol's help on the top of the fruit.

Guess where I've been

Radishing 6x6 Oil on panel

Carol Marine really is an exceptionally good teacher. I was hoping for an energizing workshop providing an opportunity to focus on values and it exceeded my hopes. What a nice week.

I've added feedburner to my blog. I feel as if this may be laughably outdated. Should I be tweeting each post?

Inlet

Inlet Mixed media 8x16 on warped Raymar Art Panel

My intention today was to paint something. Instead, I decided to tackle two of my largest aggravations.
1. Photographing dark paintings with the least amount of washout.
2. Finding a streamlined way to import the photo to the computer, edit (including reducing size {Microsoft Office Picture Manager =MOPM} and applying a watermark { Picasa}), and post to the blog.

On the photography section, -/@%$#&*! (here I am, back to try writing this all again after a slight brush with my thumb erased my initial post) (haha) (keep smiling) my third attempt was to face the painting toward a dark corner, tilted back about 20 degrees (or up towards the meeting of wall and ceiling). This was to reduce the effect of the windows behind the painting. I also set my camera on the backlight mode. In editing on MOPM, I decreased brightness to -11. Definitely the best of my efforts.

On the second part, I have to admit that once again, I don't remember all the steps that I took. But it seemed like way too many.
I think I had trouble at first because on my computer the window for choosing the method of importing photos was not opening. Once that finally appeared (after 45 minutes of pressing buttons and talking to myself, as well as escaping to a game of freecell) I think I chose to import to windows. Then I think that offered an option to OPEN the image in MOPM, where I edited. Cropped, adjusted brightness, and resized (I like to do this for two reasons which may be totally misguided. Is it true that a smaller size loads faster? And is it true that a smaller size provides more protection against images being stolen?).
Okay, then for the just mentioned reasons, I like to overlay a watermark, but haven't figured out how to do that on MOPM, so I go to Picasa for that step. From there, I hit "BLOG THIS". It irks me to do so. I consider blog to be a noun, against all logic. I post to my blog. I have a blog. But putting a photo of a painting into a blog usually is called uploading. I would prefer uniformity. "UPLOAD THIS to BLOG" would suffice.

About the painting. I'm about to try to add an image. Cross your fingers.
Okay it worked. This is the oil underpainting from which I began. I disliked the intensity of the Pthalo turquoise and Alizarin Crimson. So I started playing with my new Sennelier oil pastels. My goal was to darken and neutralize as much as possible. I guess I could have taken it even further than the current "Inlet", seen at the top of this post. It is March, after all. .

Comments? Preferences? Counseling? All appreciated.
Thank you all so much for words of encouragement over the past months. Thank you, Susie Gregory, for the award. I am going to try to attend to its requirements this week. :)

More than two hours

Slope 6x6 oil on Raymar canvas panel

Kind of a small image, isn't it? This is why I stopped blogging. Since last July when hard drive crashed, NOTHING has been smooth with posting. And while I'm complaining, why does it take me more than two hours to get a good photo of a little painting that took less than two hours to paint? grrrrrrr.
So I guess I need to try harder. Or go skiing.
:)

Danby Mountain

Danby Mountain 6x8 oil on Raymar panel

I know it seemed as if I'd disappeared. I've been having a blast teaching kids how to ski on Bromley Mountain. Then recovering from teaching kids how to ski on Bromley Mountain. Then psyching myself up to enjoy teaching kids to ski.............etc. The past two days of teaching were below 8 degrees, so besides teaching, the instructors have to keep a sharp eye out for frostbite. I don't really think that makes for a very good or fun experience for the kids, but amazingly, most seem to enjoy their days. I, on the other hand, enjoy the end-of-day soak in a tub of hot water (not to be confused with a hot tub). And today, after countless weeks of wiping every painting, I'm posting a new one. Perhaps the freeze is over.