Boheme

A new local event that was most successful (a little rain at the end of the day but it was a welcomed, warm summer rain).  Fun to do but now it's on to planning the next which take place the third week of November.  I often question my planning tactics as I approach a deadline but realize that I can 

never be completely in control because all the good stuff happens from the creative frenzy that takes place.  Good ideas just seem to abound and I have to take advantage of them as they appear.

A Little Christmas Show

An exhibition of paintings this weekend!  I love seeing them all together.  

I can't believe it's December 1st tomorrow!  But after the buildup towards Christmas is the

cocooning of winter which means time for books and more painting which is a good thing to

look forward to.

So Far, So Good

Still working on my small format paintings.  Except for a few weeks where I switched to watercolors as you have probably noticed from previous blog entries, I have been working on more of the 6" x 6"'s in oil.  The list is growing for all the ideas that evolve from this endeavour and I'm pretty much busy for the rest of 2011.  But I'll always make room for the next great idea.  At this point, I'm collecting ideas for themes with 9 in each category.  Animals are my current theme and seasons were another as you might have noticed from the fruits and vegetables pictured above.  Cherries have been photographed and so have plums and I still want to do something with watermelons....and on and on!  And I did want to do a series of landscapes.....

Catching Up

I've been anxious to get back to my small format paintings.   The summer weather slowed me down a bit but although I didn't work oils I did quite a few watercolors in the last two weeks.  

The painting I'm posting today was 98% finished several weeks ago but I did need to tweak a few things about it and I still might.  It is a study for a larger vertical format painting that I would like to do of a tall vase of white gladiolas and I wasn't sure about the color palette but now that I've done this smaller version, I think I like it enough to continue.

White Jug, Green Apple

6" x 6" x 1.5" Oil on wood panel

Radishes.....

I really should find more backgrounds.   I seem to always reach for the gingham fabrics.  They do seem to set off the more organic lines of the subjects.   But I recently painted a silver spoon on a damask fabric and I just may stay with the ginghams!  I'll post that one later.  Until then, here are some radishes.....

Radishes on Green Gingham

6" x 6" x 1.5"

Before I move on...

The second image (the rectangular one measuring 6" x 8") was the first of the series of paintings of our cat.  I just returned to the finishing touches on this one this afternoon.  The photo below is my favorite, although the tuft of fur in her right ear is bothering me as I look at it here.  I may do something about that.  I find it distracting.  Otherwise I am happy with the likeness.

This one is so dramatic with the black background as she looks into the light.  My paintings can only be as good as my references.  Thanks to my daughter for taking the photo that provided me with this one.

My new favorite fruit......to paint

I love the range of color when painting grapes.  The muted hilites on the exterior and the semi translucent interior that absorbs the light seemed daunting at first but I found it enjoyable.  Would like to do more soon but I have a few new subjects to explore first.

6" x 6" on wood cradled panel

Oil

$80

Daffodils

In case you haven't noticed, I'm terrible with titles, with my blog entries as well as the paintings themselves.   Some people can be so clever with naming their work.  Lyrics from songs are an interesting source, although I can't recall any songs about daffodils??

I knew working with yellows would be a challenge.  A third of the way through I thought ... "Okay, remember to stay away from anything predominantly yellow.  But once I figured out how to subdue this vibrant color to create the contrasts, it started to pull together and I quite liked it.

Working with this small format (6" x 6") though, I actually felt confident enough to do another one.  Only this time I would simplify the group and remove the flower on the right and enlarge the huddled group.  Tomorrow I'll post the newer version.

....."And the Daffodils Look Lovely Today"!!!!  There...I did it.  I looked up lyrics with "daffodils"

in it.  And that is what I found.   I guess this works.   Song by the Cranberries.

And the Daffodils Look Lovely Today
6" x 6" Oil
SOLD

Not the most organized palette but it did look lovely too with the sun streaking across the brilliant yellows.

Davidson Farm

I don't do landscapes as often as florals but this is a scene I pass by nearly everyday and had to do one as part of my "daily" paintings.  These smaller formats are like "thumbnail" sketches towards larger formats.  This will be at the exhibition this weekend.

...and back to the small format paintings

A little grouping with two of the vases I purchased at the local Library that holds a rummage sale every Saturday morning.  Similar to one of my recent postings but this time with a pear.  These two paintings were my breakthrough paintings as far as loosening up with the brushstrokes but I have since returned to my tighter style.  Having said that I do like the end results.  I will simply have to focus choosing subject matter that I don't feel compelled to work too much detail into.

5" x 7"

Oil on Masonite

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

On my Easel....

On my easel this week...a painting of Cooper, a golden retriever sitting on a dock in happier days.
I rarely take the time to document the stages of a painting but thought I should.  The first four images
are the building up stages.  I am (hopefully) now at the fun stage.

After this last photo, I have started adding the lightest colored fur and deepening the darks.  The

texture of the fur has only been indicated here and there for reference, so this is where the details

begin.

Signed, sealed and (almost) delivered...

From little labels measuring 2" x 4.5" to a painting measuring 3 x 5 feet. Finished this week, a request for fields, fence, pink flowers and horses. These photos were just before the finishing touches.

Penny stopped in to give her approval...

Painting my way through summer....

I've literally had to dash out into the garden on these super cold and rainy days to pick the tulips and lilacs before they're gone.
But once the flowers are inside, I get busy photographing them and forget what's happening outside. After the paintings
of flowers from Easter and Mother's Day (see the Bonne Maman and Rose paintings from earlier posts) I am now able to use
what grows in my garden. I have lilac trees but the one I planted three years ago was my favorite. A Burgundy color with
large florets that begged to be painted. I was so disappointed when they failed to bloom for two consecutive years and so last
Fall I dug it up and moved it. That did it....this Spring I had eight clusters. So I have my photos to last me until next year (minus the glorious scent). I think I'm done with painting tulips for the moment in favor of the aforementioned lilacs and Irises that I have yet to photograph. I do enjoy the silhouette of Irises.....they're so distinctive....and as I'm looking out the window, I'm thinking that I should arrange them with some white bleeding hearts.
Pictured here are tulip paintings new and old......

The pink watercolor tulips are almost finished. A format that I enjoy, taking photos from above on an assembly of objects
patterns and textures. The framed red tulips were just delivered and is in the same room as the painting of red tulips
on the doors of their armoire. The white tulips were painted with acrylic in a favorite vase, and the final pic is of a still
life in my temporary studio in the village. A studio I've had since February and will have until the end of July.

On my Easel This Morning

I always seem to have to paint flowers just before their bloom time. My hydrangea bushes have only started to hint at the flowers they'll produce this summer but these paintings have to be finished now. This one is nearing completion but is only one half of the diptych that I've planned. So far - so good on this half......
and here it is completed....the painting in reality does flow from left to right and matches up unlike in my photo where a slight
slant due to the canvas leaning a little differently makes it look otherwise. And just added a close up of the right panel with the chickadee....

SPRING!!....Blossoms

I've worked on several variations on these blossoms from photos taken last year from these wonderful little trees just outside my favorite local café. Working on them kept me in "flowers" over a very long winter.....and as I put my brushes down to take a break after completing this one today, I stepped outside into 30 degree temperatures!


I thought I'd experiment and see if I could upload my own little videos taken on my Sony Cybershot digital camera....and it works!
This video was taken last summer and features my two little doxies (Maggie and Penny) hanging out at their favorite pond (right outside our back door). Absolutely enthralled with the gold fish that seem to be attracted to Maggie's ears floating on the surface, the fish flock to her which keeps her entertained. I worried about her falling in and drowning only to find out she can
quite comfortably stand on her hind legs so I made some underwater steps to facilitate her walking out on her own.

Hudson Scenes

This used to be one of my favorite little shops on the Main Road in Hudson. Now occupied by offices, it lives on in my
memory with this little painting.

It's Spring Somewhere.....

From a series of paintings that I did in the naive/primitive style. This scene is just the color/subject matter I need right
now to focus on anything but the winter weather we're still having. I will have this image available as greeting cards within
the week. Just email me if you're interested....