Fresh Melon

Another great thing about this area - all the fresh produce stands and farmers markets on every corner. My folks also grow their own veggies and I am pigging out on the best tomatoes and cucs, free stone peaches from Georgia and wonderful melons. One just can't get fresh produce like this in Austin. This guy was carrying home his melon from a farmer's market in nearby High Springs.
Its fun doing quick sketches like this. I will be working on finished paintings of many of these scenes later in the month.

Florida Sketches

This is just one of the scenes I've been enjoying the last week. The sky is actually looking over my parent's pond at late evening. We had enjoyed some much needed rain most of the day. One thing I adore about the southeast is the spanish moss dripping from trees (the pines and the wonderful old oaks) and I tried to capture this in my little rendering which began as a seven stroke, but with my rather absorbant canvas pad, it was not easy to spread the paint. I had my mom experimenting alongside me too which was fun. And Anna of course, painting on the floor of the lanai, below us. More tomorrow!

Update

Summer is upon us. This week we have family visiting and then I have a week off and then we are traveling for awhile. My posts will be infrequent until July. Then my daughter will have summer camps and I will be able to get back to the fun little small works again. When I do get some time, I am going to be working on some larger cafe scenes for Artworks Gallery in Austin.

Dinner is Served

16x8 oil on panel

I love this painting. It came so easily, yet the image I worked from was horrible. I suppose the thing was, I had it in mind before I even began. Unlike another painting I worked on all week and still am not satisfied with. When a painting works like this, its so exhilarating. I wish I could say that they were all so "easy" and felt so good! But those home runs are what keep all artists striving and working.

Outdoor Seating

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

I did a similar scene to this last fall. But its such a perfect setting to paint again. And its pretty different from my earlier interpretation (see Oct.). The couple is sitting outside Jo's Coffee shop on Second Street in Austin.

Happy Hour

7x5 oil on Clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

I think my most favorite subject is cafe/restaurant scenes. This is a great club and restaurant called Reeds Jazz & Supper Club. It has a rich interior with red velvet curtains and intimate little tables reminiscent of old movies which I love.

A Bit About Clayboard

I thought I'd write some info about the "Claybord" (an Ampersand product) support that I like to paint on.
I had a problem last fall and suddenly hated painting on linen/cotton. The weave just threw me off. I hated the way my brush dragged on it. I had some panels that were like just a white masonite and I loved the very smooth, slick surface, but I did not remember where I got them (and no product info on the back). I also wanted to try to paint on a black surface and so tried black Claybord. I love the slick surface - my brush just glides over it and leaves a nice stroke, no dragging and no weave showing through. I get richer colors and feel that I can see my painting better as it develops out of the dark surface.
Claybord is made for scratch techniques and an excellent example of this is the art of Naquaiya (see my right column for a link). But I checked with Ampersand and some historical information and it can be used for oil painting. Turns out some of the masters used clay in their supports and its especially good for glazing techniques.
It IS absorbant though and oils will dry quickly and almost powdery (esp. if you use a lot of white). So before painting, I spray the surface with a coating of damar retouch varnish to seal it and retard that absorption. That helps quite a bit and then when the painting is dry and I varnish it, the paint shines beautifully and the brushwork is really luscious, with no weave! Its all just the texture of the brush and oils. And I love it. I am so glad that I found the surface. Now, gessoboard is a close second to this surface and I do use it as well (painting it first with black gesso), but the brush does not glide quite so well. I use a lot of long strokes in my work too, so the slicker surfaces are ideal for me.
To see a work on black clayboard progress click here.

News

I just realized this morning that my daughter has just two weeks of school left. And from then until a July summer camp I will have her with me all hours. That means my time painting will be seriously hampered. In June we are also heading to FL for our annual beach trip. That should provide me with lots of inspiration at least to rev myself up to begin working again in earnest.

In other news, this Sunday is the gala fundraising event for the Austin Girls School for which I've donated a small painting. A friend's daughter attends the school and I am so impressed by all I hear from them.

And I had two paintings accepted to show with the Society of Master Impressionists at the Sunset Art Gallery in Amarillo. The show opens June 2 and runs through July 2. It should be a wonderful exhibit of some very fine contemporary impressionism.

Crosswalk

5x7 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h handling - sold

This was fun but hard to get so many people on such a small scale! I can see this really large though and I think I will try it like a 30x40 maybe. Something bold and almost geometric or abstracted with very little background/environment.

Downtown V

6x6 oil on gessoboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

Downtown IV

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal

I am really pleased with this little series. And in particular this guy resting in the doorway. I hadn't really intended to do a series, but the images keep presenting themselves to me and its been a lot of fun to paint urban people. I think the reason I am drawn to figures so much is that I like to pause life and let the viewer interpret the narrative. Is he resting? Is he homeless? Is he panhandling? Is he waiting for the store to open?

Downtown III

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal - sold

Musicians are quite often seen in the Austin landscape. Here, a well-worn guitarist is walking along Sixth Street.

Downtown II

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal

Another sunny day downtown. I think I am in a city mood because I just signed up for a workshop with Charles Sovek to be held New York City in August! I am very excited about the trip and learning from a wonderful artist and teacher.

Downtown

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h via Paypal

This lady was outside a restaurant waiting for her ride after Sunday brunch one sunny morning.

After The Storm

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h

I've been watching too much news... and not sleeping well. I am just so saddened and sorry for the people of VT. This little vignette is sort of an expression of hope though. The rains have stopped and the sun is glinting off the damp pavement and my young neighbor here is twirling her umbrella looking at something beyond our vision.

My Alma Mater

My heart breaks today for my alma mater, Virginia Tech, and all those people involved with the terror there today. I love VT and had some of the best years of my life there. I can't imagine that pretty campus being the scene to such awful events. I am really rather speechless but felt that I had to express my sympathies and shared hurt in some way. My prayers for the victims and their families and those left to question and find peace in a formerly safe and comforting home away from home.

Thoughtful Spot

7x5 oil on clayboard
$100 + $11 s/h

This lady is meditating the contemporary collection in the Blanton Museum in Austin.

Pole Barn

6x8 oil on paper
nfs
This is a bit more work than the original seven strokes. But the limited strokes were a great way to start a painting, as I mentioned yesterday.

Seven Strokes

oil on paper

My friend and fellow artist V Vaughan inspired me to try this "technique". Today I painted at her farm with Plein Air Austin and did several scenes using just seven brushtrokes. The idea is to plan the values and colors and how you'll lay it in, and load your brush and not lift while you make your strokes. It was a great experiment and I really enjoyed the exercise. I also found that it was a great way to lay a scene in quickly allowing more time to dabble with deatils while the light remains. I wonder if this would work for figures/cafes?

Down Time

I have not disappeared... but my time has become so very limited lately with school functions, appointments, spring garden and house cleaning, business things (taxes, slides and contests) and my daughter's 4th birthday plans. It will be another week before I am able to get back into any routine of painting.

I've always worked in spurts, to be honest, so this is normal to have a few weeks downtime - I've just never had an audience!

I am processing though and will reenter the studio with fresher eyes and more motivation.