Peep Show

Peeps

4x6"

oil

A tragedy in three chomping acts:  An artist, bleary-eyed, exhausted, and half-crazed from staring at yellow Peeps for over an hour, was suddenly overcome with hunger and consumed her three models one by one last night.  Possibly, it was the paint fumes that caused this hideous lapse of self-control.  Perhaps it was the sugary glitter, the glare of unnatural color, the delicious memory of Peeps from the past.  The scent of their sweet plump bodies, the misaligned beady eyes.  But whatever really caused this ravenous behavior, this uncontrollable gluttony, may never be known.  Only a few grains of sugar are all that's left of the little slug-like creatures.  Fortunately, the painting was finished before the Peeps brutal demise.

Saki Bottle

Saki Bottle

4x6"

oil
SOLD
DPW Japan Challenge

 Week two of the Help Japan Challenge and I'm proud to announce that we've raised over $22,000 so far! 

I painted this Saki Bottle while doing a Paint-Along-Demo in my class yesterday.  Had the students paint common, everyday glass jars and bottles.  This saki bottle resonated with special meaning... Product of Japan printed on the side.  It's been in our kitchen cabinet for many years... will have to paint it again with a flower inside.    

Weekly Challenge Auction for Japan

Venice Dunes for Japan

8x10"

oil

All proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.  Auction is on now at: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenges. Starting bid is 50. 

Small Painting Class

Strawberries

6x8"

oil

I declared a Strawberry Day in my painting class.  Each student was given a strawberry or two or three... We were only going to paint them for an hour but suddenly three hours passed and we all had delicious paintings.  What a wonder!  Then we ate our still life objects.  Doesn't get any better!

Old Orchid

Orchid 2011

4x6"

oil

This old orchid hangs in the grapefruit tree.  Every year it surprises me by blooming just before Thanksgiving when I bring it inside the screened in porch (lani, for Florida folks) and the flowers last until well after Christmas.   It's almost like having an artificial flower.  This is the second time I've painted it.  First is below.  The color changes with different lighting conditions.  The recent painting was in full sun, backlit, my favorite way to paint flowers.  The first was inside with the light hitting it from a window.  I think this plant is at least ten years old and has survived tremendous neglect, although I've heard orchids do best that way.   Wish it were the same with people.

Orchid 2009

4x6"

oil

Peace River National Art Festival

Proud to be in the Peace River National Art Festival in Punta Gorda, Florida this weekend.


http://boulderbrook.net/peace-river-national-art-festival.html

The Rose Project

White Rose

6x8"

oil

Demo that I embarrassed myself with during my small paintings class yesterday.  Gave each student a white rose.  (tip: although I don't like artificial flowers, they hold up well under the lights, don't wilt, and force the artist to use memory and imagination.  And are cheap.)  My demo was a paint-along.  Had students mix puddles of paint to match dark, light, and medium values on their palettes before starting.  The rose was set on a sheet of white paper.  White on white forces the eye to search for warms, cools, and values.  Everything was fine and dandy.  Mixed up my puddles and started to paint wondering why my colors looked so, well, dull?  In the dim light of the classroom, realized I had dipped my brush into the burnt sienna, instead of the alizarin crimson.  My face turned crimson to match and I had a lot of work to salvage the colors in my demo.  Not my favorite painting, but the students endured the torture of the project and happily left with roses to practice with.

Weekly Challenge 7

Fabric and Roses

6x8"

oil

This weeks challenge was tough!  Paint a white object and show the reflections.  Painted Sunday and then wiped it out.  Started over today.  Learned a lot from my mistakes.  Every painting, even if it's a wipeout is just practice for the next one.  Wish I could paint faster.

Had this piece of fabric for years and never know what to do with it until now.  It was a challenge to get it to work with the soft colored still life.  But had fun painting the roses.  Thanks to Carol Marine's suggestion ( a wonderful Dailypaintworks artist, find her in the link below)... just paint the general color first, then add the dark "bits" and then add the light "bits."  I also squinted a lot to see the warm and cool colors, and values, too.  This painting will be available when it dries.  Please email me for details.  Thanks!

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenges

Bird in a Bag

Bird in a Bag

6x4"

oil
Pink Canary
 

Got a tour of a breeder's canary rooms yesterday and my heart went out to a pink one.  Had no intention of getting another bird, so I had left my tiny travel cage at home.  No problem, said the breeder, putting my bird in a bag. 

My pink canary had plenty of ventilation from the webbing and peeked out at me all the way home.  And it worked well with my husband thinking I was only bringing home some potatoes and not another darn bird.  But it didn't take long before he noticed the bright pink new one in the flight cage.  He's singing right now, the canary, not my husband, who didn't seem to mind much at all.   And thanks to a friend's suggestion, I've named him "Spuds."

      So I felt compelled to immortalize the potato bag and illustrate my blog story.  Is this then an illustration or a painting... and is there really a difference?  

 

Orchids and Birds

 Orange Orchid

6x8"

oil

"Come over and paint my orchid," my friend said, so I spent the morning surrounded by parrots and other birds.  Tonio, the canary, was the star singer.  Harley, the African gray parrot, pleaded for a cracker, Lyric, the cockatoo, just said, "Hi, Lyric," over and over.  The lovebird and parrotlets chattered, while outside the mockingbirds and cardinals sang.  Not a bad way to spend a morning.

Yesterday, I actually gave up and wiped a painting off!  My husband had handed me an onion and said, "Here, paint this."  I had just been inspired by reading a book about impressionistic palette knife painting, so I experimented with a new technique.  Rats.  It didn't work out as easily as the art book proclaimed.  So I gave the onion back for my husband to cook.  Every failure is just practice for future work.  I'm not ready to give up my brushes, but will experiment with the darn palette knife later.

Weekly Challenge Six

Abe and Again

6x8"

oil

The Challenge this week at http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenges is to paint Abe first with only burnt umber, ultramarine blue and white.  Then full color.  I'm thrilled to be a part of this learning experience.  A five dollar bill will never look the same to me.  And if you're thinking of purchasing my painting you'll need about twenty.

Daily Painting

Pansy Pandemonium

8x6"

oil

After a morning hullabaloo, paying bills, shopping, traffic, and talking to phone robots, it was refreshing to stop and simply paint pansies.  When the breeze hits my flower pots, the pansies wobble and bounce like people picking fruit in the produce aisle at Walmart, pandemonium, not a pretty sight.  Anyway, I liked the sound of pandemonium and pansies together.  Should have been peaceful pansies, because that's how I felt after painting them.  Pansy painting... visual meditation.   Ah.....

Plein Air Painters of Florida in Venice

 

 Windy Day at Sharkeys

 8x10"

oil
Sold

Painted with fellow artists while the wind blew and tourists roamed.  This is a view of Venice Pier next to Sharkeys.  Was struck by the white tent and the blowing palms, some were just sticks, killed by the harsh winter, so I had to add leaves.  Pleased with the light and dark contrasts.  Did a lot of squinting to see values and to keep blowing sand out of my eyes.

Please be patient while I figure out how to add Paypal and Ebay links to my blog.  Right now, at least I got it connected... but want to make a better, less forceful, more artistic presentation for the buttons.   But they work.   So buy, buy, buy!   Bye...

Before and After

Purple Flower

8x6"

oil

Started this painting about a year ago as a class demo and it stayed in a pile of unfinished paintings waiting to be painted over.  I recycle old paintings I don't like by turning them upside down and starting new ones right on top.  Sometimes, happy color accidents happen with this method.  But I liked the composition and colors of this old demo.  Finished it today using some of the new painting methods I've learned from the Weekly Challenge on dailypaintworks.com.   The Challenge has filled my head with a lot of new techniques and it will take some time to absorb them into my "style," whatever that is.  Great learning new things, guess if you think you know it all your finished, and how boring would that be! 

Below is the "before" version:

First sketched with ultramarine blue, then added come local colors.  Changed the handle on the flower  vase to strengthen the composition.  Had to make up a lot about the lighting because it was a different setup, but still had most of the objects.
Apology:  In my haste to post, I neglected to remove the nickels that held my finished painting off the scanner!  But it is a useful trick for scanning wet paintings!

Portrait Demo

Mahogany Woman

20x16"

oil

Entered this painting into the Portrait Society of America competition this morning.  The woman is my student who painted with me the day we found the mahogany seed pods in the park.  Yes, this is Florida and we do have cowboys.  This woman lives on a ranch and has horses.  It was a cold, winter morning the day we painted.  Couldn't resist painting her outfit.

The painting was a struggle, wiped off the face and painted it over and over.  It really is not a good likeness of the model, but I wanted to show a strong woman with character and that's what I got.  The outfit and background painted themselves.  Below are a few steps in the process:

Stage 1, drawing with brush and raw sienna

Stage 2, flat color with white, black, yellow ochre, alizarin