Poppy Series

Poppy Study #1/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/ 

Poppy Study #2/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/ 

Poppy Study #3/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/

Poppy Study #4/ oil on board/ 4" x4" /

"E" and "F"

"E" is for/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/ $75

I had already painted eggplants for "E" but I wasn't sure I liked the painting so I retried them today. I love how the bright blue patch near the purple creates the illusion of "shine"

"F" is for/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/SOLD

Moving along, here is "F" from the bright green early fig to the softer browner ripe fig. This painting I was thinking about edges and added random fragments of color over a soft muted dull background.

Dog Study: Prototype for "Pet a Day"

This is a study for a larger commission painting. This measures 10" x 8, a nice size for a compact pet portrait. I plan on painting my "Pet a Day" studies either 8"' x 10" or 8" x 8". I have seven pets to paint so far. I am hoping for a month of pet paintings, so if you are considering sending me your image, it is not too late and please send it soon.
Remember this is a project where 25% of the sale will be donated to Animal Crackers (local pet rescue)  and if enough paintings are completed, a book of pet paintings will be created and 100% of book profit will go to Animal Crackers.

Iris Study #8

SOLD

This iris has very light pink body with a stunning orange beard. It was beautifully backlit in the early morning spring light.

This was painted over a primed black acrylic background. This background seems to make it easier to judge the values of strongly lit objects.

Spring Bouquet

Spring Bouquet/oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ SOLD

Some days (like yesterday) I just can't paint. All the colors are mushy and grey. The edges are too sharp or too soft or just not right. Today, painting was so much easier. This is the painting that I was going for yesterday (Yesterday's was so bad that it had been scraped and scraped and finally was suitable only for the bin.)  Today, I gessoed a scrap of mat board and tested each color mix before applying a deliberate stroke exactly where I wanted that color to be. I love the fresh, clean colors this resulted in.



In addition, I almost finished the large wall quilt that is to be my "Welcome Grant" gift. Grant came earlier than his great aunt anticipated, being a first child and all.
Here is a "sneak peek" of this gift, almost completed. This gender neutral quilt is from a pattern by Keri Designs (link). Keri is a very talented quilt artist who has permission from Charley Harper's estate to use some of his designs in the most amazing wall quilts. Keri's patterns are full-sized, well written and easy to follow. If you are not familiar with Charley Harper's wonderful work (link) you can start with this site. I also love the board books that incorporate his designs.

Orange Beard Study

Orange Beard Study/ oil on board/ 6" x 6" /revised see post June 24

I loved the sunshine on these bright orange beards. This study was done while finishing another large painting for submission to a show deadline next week.

Blue-Billed Ducklings for the Fundraiser

Blue-Billed Ducklings/ watercolor/ 6" x 6"/ sold

Daily Paintworks is again sponsoring an auction to help. This time, it is the victims of The Oklahoma Tornado. This painting is my donation. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this auction will be donated to the Salvation Army.

If this is not a painting that you like, please look at the many wonderful paintings being donated.

Thank you.

Iris Study #5

Iris Study #5/ oil on board/ 4" x 4" /SOLD

Another in the little iris series, this one is also backlit. I love the pinks with the contrasting yellow-orange beards.

Backlit Iris

Backlit Iris Study/ oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ SOLD

This is a larger iris study, closely cropped to focus on the beautiful glowing backlit colors.  Although most of the irises have finished blooming here for 2013, I have some beautiful images until they return next year.

White Iris Study

White Iris Study/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"

This is another small iris study. The challenge on this painting was to paint the velvet richness and mass of the falls contrasted with the delicate standards, all on a white on white flower.

"D" is for

"D" is for/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/ Sold

Thank you for your suggestions for the letter "D" for my "Alphabet Fruit and Vegetable Series". After the dandelions were completed, another friend suggested "Dragon Fruit" (link). This is an absolutely beautiful fruit that I have never see nor heard of. Next visit to Whole Foods, it may replace this "D". Until then, "E" is easier. My goal is to complete a series of great little paintings to then make into "Alphabet Books" for my new great niece and nephews.

Sylvan Heights and Flamingo Study

Many of you know that I have difficulty driving because of my vision. Therefore, I depend on the kindness of my friends and family to take me places beyond the small area near my house. Today, my husband took me to "Duckling Day" at Sylvan Heights (link). Sylvan Heights Bird Park allows an "up-close experience with over 2,000 ducks, geese, swans and other exotic birds from around the world" in an 18 acre facility. It is not to be missed if you are ever in the area. Here my husband (notice his handwritten correction to his "Mr Church" name tag) is "modeling" for me in the park's newest attraction "The Landing Zone" where visitors can purchase "feed sticks" to interact with the many birds in this exhibit.  "Duckling Day" was an amazing experience. The park's staff ands volunteers worked to make this a fantastic event as they hosted, educated and guided all of us today.

And, you know I am excited to have added to my bird images.... another of the subjects that I LOVE to paint.

Flamingo Study/ watercolor/12"x 10"/ SOLD

  This is another of the residents of The Landing Zone.

Rose Study

Rose Study/ oil on board/ 5" x 5"

While my large watercolor progresses layer by layer, this is a small study attempting to learn square deliberate brush strokes. Roses season is just starting so there will be plenty to practice on. My alphabet project got stuck at "d". Today I came across "dill"at the market. It seems more appealing that "dates". Any other suggestions?

Daisies and Roses and Foxgloves Worked Out

Daisies and Roses/ oil on board/ 8" x 8"

This small painting started by underpainting with magenta and coral acrylic paint. I scraped some of the painting back to expose pieces of the underpainting  and scratched the surface to "free" some of the tight flowers.

To understand how to paint foxgloves, I zoomed in on a couple of the blossoms.
These were dimensional on a white background also, so technically this will work. To achieve form: there are soft value shifts across the top of the blossoms, That means that where there is a change in value, the transition line has to be wet and blended. There is also a color transition from "warm" permanent rose to "cool" passionate purple, sometimes with a little cobalt to blue it further. The rim between the outer blossom and the tunnel inside is a very light value and then there is a sharp edge and a shadow color that has grey in it. Lastly, the inner dots have soft edges and blur together by a light directed clear water wash.

This background is three glazes of indigo over an underpainting of blurred greens and purples.

Pidgeon Study in time for Watercolor Wednesday

I had hoped to post the digitalis (foxgloves) that I started working on earlier this week.

Unfortunately, the two studies I have done of them have flat and dull blossoms. I have learned that each small tubular flowers needs to have its shadow painted to give dimension. However, I haven't found the value change or the warm/cool color shifts that will make each blossom as beautiful as  they are in life.

In the meanwhile. this is a study of a pidgeon that is my center of interest in a large painting I am working on. My goals for this bird were 1. have the lights and darks make an interesting abstract pattern
2. get the iridescent shine on the bird's breast and.

 The colors I used included pthalo green, passionate purple, diaxozine purple, cobalt teal, indigo, sepia and burnt sienna. The feet were done with alizarin crimson and scarlet red and the eyes with indian yellow, and transparent orange with the other colors.

Back to the foxgloves as my morning warm up tomorrow.

E's Bouquet

Bouquet for E/ oil on board/ 8" x 8"

Today, the sunshine was perfect and pink and red geraniums and snapdragons and daisies were  blooming. I had been asked to create a floral painting to compliment the colors in the photo below.
I primed a board with yellow green acrylic paint. After painting in the flowers, I used Julie Ford Oliver's fracturing technique (link) to move the color around.

Goldfish Study #4

Goldfish Study #4/ watercolor/ 8" x 8"/ SOLD

I couldn't post yesterday because I had a series of paintings that weren't working. Therefore, this morning I knew exactly what I was working on as the day started. Today was a better painting day and this is one of the studies.
I love painting this fish. I love the "movement" of its fins, the "shine" of the scales and the reflections in the glass. Here is #4 and the series will continue.

Spring Irises

The yellow iris was one of 200 images I collected today walking 5 miles through the area surrounding us. Many of my own irises were the winter food to the voracious pine voles that have eaten everything else tasty in my garden (including rose bush roots). Unlike the rabbits who "pay land usage fees" by posing for paintings, these are unattractive little varmints.
However, this spring has been wonderful for other peoples' irises. It was a delight to go and find all the fabulous colors and varieties. There is one yard about 2 miles away that is almost completely filled with irises: both front and back yards.
I expect to paint more irises as a break from the completion of the produce alphabet which is up next.

Digitalis Study

This is a small study to understand the form and the colors of the foxgloves. To paint these flowers well, the flower structure, the curves and the deep centers and the shadows and will need to be worked out.So far, in this sketch, the flowers are too flat.

Hanging Out: Fish Study #2

Hanging Out: Fish Study #2/watercolor/ 8" x 6" / SOLD

A small watercolor today while I keep my oil paints put away for Spring Open Studio tomorrow. The challenge on this fish is to capture the sparkle on his body.

Pink Iris and Framing Small Daily Paintings

This is a small study squeezed into a day getting last minute things ready for Spring Open Studio.

Learning to frame small daily paintings will be a project following this week. I am hoping to partner with a local framer, Ashley Myers of Sutton's Framing (link). Ashley has found an interesting way to frame small boards without molding, allowing creative grouping of a series of paintings, and minimizing framing costs.  Until we complete this project, I have researched recommendations from other daily painters. I recently ordered three different frames from Daily Painters Frames (link). All three frames are unique and beautifully constructed. They were packed extremely well and the customer service was wonderful.

Below are quickly photographed images of these frames. I thought I might be able to use the 5" x 5" frame for a 4" x 4" painting but that was not possible. These are all small paintings on gesso board. The fractured primroses  measure 5" x 5", the beach girl  6" x 6" and the rabbit measures 8" x 8".

Silk Irises Completed

Silk Irises/ dye painted silk applied to canvas/ 20" x 20"

The subject of this painting is a bouquet of beautiful dutch irises from Fishing Creek Flower Farm (link). This is the silk iris painting now completed (see this blog Monday April 29 for process photos). The silk, after seaming, has been attached to gesso-coated canvas with a layer of acrylic mat medium. Both the steaming and the layer of mat medium intensify the colors.  Therefore, in planning this, the painting should be two values lighter than desired....

Large Beach Painting: Sand Castles

Painting a large format is still fairly new to me. Moving that amount of paint and covering the surface so that the painting continues to be interesting and still harmonious is a great new challenge. Many children have been on and disappeared from (were wiped off of) this particular beach. These are the ones that are "captured". This is one of the large new paintings for Spring Open Studio next week.

April's Paintings Minus the Pets

Almost ready for Spring Open Studio.
Matting, framing, organizing....Looking forward to it. Hope to see you there!

A Dog (Pet) a Day Project

Each day, I try to complete a "Daily Painting" in addition to a larger work. This "Daily Painting"  is a painting that is small format and is completed in 1- 4 hours. This little painting usually answers an artistic question. It may be a study for a larger painting.  It may be an exploration of a particular set of colors. It may be trying a new brush, a new stroke, or a new technique. Every daily painting is an exercise, mostly in "looseness" and happiness in being a painter.  Each one completed adds to the number of canvases and hours of painting to grow as a painter.  One of the subjects I love to paint is pets. I am a cat person, but I love to paint dogs as much or more than cats. Perhaps this is because dogs are so "joyful" and "in the moment". Perhaps this is because I have not met a dog owner who isn't happy to have his or her pet pose for me as I pass walking with my camera and to date, no cats are leash-trained.

Recently my friend Kat Coy, who is a fabulous painter, (see her work here) shared one of Clair Hartmann's wonderful dog paintings (see Clair's work here). Clair has this fantastic project to support her local animal rescue. Both Kat and Clair have fantastic descriptions of "how to take photos of your pets" and Clair has some remarkable pet poses.
Hmmm...1. I have a sweet friend who is passionate about a local animal rescue.
               2. I love to paint dogs (and cats).
               3. I want to continue learning from daily paintings, and sometimes finding subjects is time consuming.
So, I hope to copy Clair Hartmann: paint daily paintings of pets and support the local animal rescue that is my friend's passion. These will be 8" x 10" size. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from these pet painting sales will be donated to Animal Crackers. If there are enough completed, a book containing the best images will be created with 100% of proceeds going to Animal Crackers. If you send me an image, your pet could be a "Cover Dog (or cat). To any of you that are coming May 9 to my Spring Open Studio to look around, please think about bringing a photo of your best pet!!