On the way to something good...

....a salad maybe?   

Eventually I will be organized enough to actually paint a food group that alludes to what was being made...

Encouraged by the looseness of the last one I launched into this next painting but even I can see that I began to tighten up again.  But that's okay.  I really like this one and I'm developing a sense of how to start to achieve the desired results.  This is also a "fact finding" mission!

The Start to Something Good
6" x 6" Oil on Wood Cradled Panel

                             

Getting There...

Okay, now that I've started my third small format painting,  I'm curious to try different substrates to see what effects I can achieve.  Stretched canvases I already had on hand, but I hadn't painted on the wood

cradled panels with oils before (only acrylics for mixed media pieces).  I'm liking this!  This is more like what I've been trying to achieve.  But at this stage, I'm not yet in my comfort zone.  Pre-mixing my key colors also helps with the spontaneous brushstrokes.

Chrysanthemum and Green Apple
6" x 8" Oil on Wood Cradled Panel
$80.00

In search of a brushtroke....

Another little 6x6 oil painting of tangerines in a silver footed bowl.  Would you believe the reason behind

these little 6x6 canvases is so that I can explore methods and hopefully loosen up a little bit.  Eventually I would like to learn to stop the blending and "nitpicking" in favor of gestural brush strokes (as much as one can gesture within a 6" x 6" space!)  But for now this is like my safety net.....More to come in the days ahead.

Tangerine in Silver Footed Bowl
6" x 6" Oil        

Back to painting......

I'm never very far away from my easel anyway but I haven't posted new paintings for awhile so here is a little 6x6 oil painting...  Seeing it here, I can see there is a little tweaking to do here and there....

Blue Pot with Tangerines
6x6 Oil on canvas

More silver core beads...

I've added some new copper and brass beads to my new silver core glass beads and assembled them into a bracelet.  The possibilities are expanding!  The addition of embossed bead caps provides more opportunity to add embellishments to the already beautiful colors of the glass.  In the photo you can see two of the brass beads with the addition of a sterling silver (ss) divider that I have faceted to catch the light.  To the left is a silver bead with three free spinning sterling rings and to the right is a section of silver tubing with an overlay of fine silver that also moves freely.  Although the glass beads look beautiful on their own, the addition of these spacers adds to the uniqueness....and they all work with Pandora and Chamilia line of

bracelets too.

                              

Etsy Treasury!

It's always nice when someone picks your artwork to showcase and I was so honored Jill Rosoff in this treasury of watercolors on Etsy.  Her shop is RosoffArtworks on Etsy. (a pretty terrific watercolor artist too).

CuPcAkEs.....!

My daughter had the enviable job of photographing these cupcakes (my photos are below, hers are way better) for a client with just such a business.  I played lighting assistant (ahem).  It was very hard to photograph, edit, post and wait for a response from the client but after a hearty approval, we were

free to consume.....and they were goooooood.  I may even paint some of them....And if you're in the area, you may want to consider ordering from http://www.gateauxkatiecakes.com 

and these are some of my daughters photos from that session - waaay better.....

Back at my torch.....

PuRe CoLoR ThErApY is what I needed this morning and this is the result.....each color of each glass bead is melted onto a steel mandrel in various layers and designs, cooled in a controlled manner (annealed in a kiln), cleaned and sorted and ready to be incorporated into jewellery.  I start with a plan
but segue into many more.....

An order for fifteen of these hearts and a crayon colored necklace with one of my sterling silver
hand made chains.  I feel better now.... : > )

More In and Around the Studio...

I love the little porcelain chickadee in this painting.  It is part of a salt and pepper shaker that I picked up at the local library that runs a rummage sale every Saturday morning.  I keep telling myself that I can skip

going but then 10:00 a.m. rolls around and I run over in case I miss something like this that will make an 

appearance in one of my paintings.   One of these days I will put together another blog with photos of  the neat things I've found.  They truly are my treasures.

I become so easily distracted when I'm searching for a component.  Just looking at the containers of left

over bits from previous projects and collected demos and experiments (like etching for example) and I become mesmerized.   It's like opening up a treasure chest and just appreciating the strands of gemstones and pearls (okay snap out of it....what was I looking for?)