6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h
I am hearing Monty Python... "And now for something completely different!"
When you are having trouble, switch gears for awhile.
This was a fun little painting. Its the road my in-laws live off in Indiana. We have nice walks down to the stream and collect nuts and leaves, etc. along the way. I'd paint these areas in all the seasons if I could. Hmm... that gives me an idea for tomorrow!
7x5 oil on linen panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
No, my creativity is not pouring forth. Bummer. This was a struggle once again today.
But I am pleased with the result. I have narrowed down my trouble though. Drawing. I can't seem to draw. Usually, I start a painting by sketching my lines/shapes with my brush and a thinned dark like alizarin and that is sufficient to get me going. I can see the finished painting basically.
But the last couple of days, I can't seem to get that initial part of it. To get through this painting I divided up my panel, diligently drew with pencil all my lines, measured very carefully, etc. I much prefer being able to start with a flourish.
Ah, the struggles of an artist. Not nearly so thought-provoking a read as, say, van Gogh.
7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
This title may well describe me today (or perhaps humble pie?). I choked. I guess I was too proud of myself last week, because today I tried things and wiped off numerous times - large and small. I ended by going back to a scene I painted before. Something that might build my confidence. I think I liked the scene too because I felt a little lonely perhaps and wanted something with just a lone figure in it.
I quit early today and will take care of some business. Better luck tomorrow!
7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
I love this theme!! I think what excites me most about these restaurant scenes is that I am basically painting "abstract". It just happens to look like something when I am done putting in my lines and color shapes.
I've been really pleased with my work lately. Hope I'm not heading for a crash!
Below is my larger version of the chefs from a couple days ago.
I also updated my website with larger gallery works if you would like to see what else I've been doing lately.
Chefs de Partie
12x12 oil on panel - contest entry for now
6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
This is another one I'd like to do larger. However, the image was taken on a cloudy day and that really makes it difficult to make it interesting and not "flat". I think the store itself works because there is a lot of color going on there, but I have to figure out how much of the rest of the building and street to include. I have never liked to paint "tonally" though sometimes I very much admire such work (Twachtman is a good example). Its very hard for me to paint on a cloudy day.
This is the Bleeker Farm grocery in the Village.
6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
This was a test run for a 12x12 I'd like to do. I am not sure it worked out well small. But its fun. Better close up actually, though much of my work is too impressionistic to look closely and better viewed framed and on a wall.
We joke when painting outdoors that we've painted a "50-footer"... meaning that its best viewed from 50 feet away.
7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
My first small offering of the new year (finally). I'm excited to be back to a more normal routine starting today.
This gives you a taste of what else I've been working on. Mainly larger cafe scenes.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous new year!
Been musing on "what now." I want to think of some interesting project to embark on for this blog especially. Not precisely New Year resolutions, but something to keep me growing and moving forward. When I began this blog, it was with no real expectation of success or ... well... any idea of what might happen. A year plus later, I've painted nearly 200 small works, sold quite a few (Thanks to ALL for your support), found my "voice" or calling and what really excites me in subject matter, and gained three new galleries. So this year much of my work will be focused on gallery pieces, but this blog is really important to me also and I want to make it interesting to those of you who have come to enjoy my art. I love this community that I have joined. I enjoy seeing many other artists work. I am inspired by them and really enjoy the feedback I get... whats not to like about that?
I named this a journal because I knew that "daily painting" (posting a completed work for sale every day) was beyond my scope and I wanted to be able to share more - the larger work, the progress of paintings, the sketches and studies. I do paint every weekday for the most part. But with just the 4 hours or so I get to wear my artist's cap (apron?), I can't do as much as I like. AND I need to not feel inadequate because of that. So right now, I am musing about how to divy up that time for blog and gallery work. But for certain, I am going to post more sketches and work in progress... I do think (correct me if I am wrong) that sharing some of the other processes in the creation of art is interesting. I know I like to see how other artists develop a painting. (just fyi - I can spend nearly as much time on a 5x7 $100 painting as a larger work - so those little pieces are not exactly whipped out with ease!)
Other ideas at this point are to do one day a week painting from life in a cafe/coffeeshop. And figure sessions.
I'm also looking into changing from google to feedburner, if it automatically send these posts - saving me a step. Can anyone answer that for me so I don't have to research it?
I'll keep you posted.
;-)
Merry Mangoes - 11x14 oil on linen panel
$150 + $11 s/h
Trulucks Bar - 12x12 oil on panel
$150 + $11 s/h
Two more offerings. The still life was ages ago and the bar scene has a very Toulouse Lautrec ambiance needing just the right home and space I suppose.
Ya'll contact me if you want to purchase either and I will send an invoice via Paypal.
12x12 oil on panel
$150 + $11 s/h - sold
This is in the Maximilian Room in the hotel. Painted last year with a very warm glow.
Happy New Year to you all!
22x14 oil on linen panel
sold
Making way for the new!
14x11 oil on linen panel$175 + $11 s/h (unframed) - sold
My studio renovation continues and I am realizing that I have quite a few paintings that need homes. So following a very successful artist friend's lead (if V....Vaughan can do it, so can I basically!), I am going to offer some "older" works at discounted prices.
And so first up is a man viewing the painting "Three Marys at the Tomb" at the Blanton in Austin. This was painted either end of last year or early this year. And its not as garish as this image makes it appear.
I am going to continue to offer up some older works, including some landscapes. Something very few see from me anymore!
6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
I have not vanished, but we all know how the holidays are! We've had a lovely Christmas and are still enjoying time off. But I have missed my painting. Today I took some time and painted while my husband put together some of the new shelving I am putting in the studio. One "resolution" underway. I am going to revamp that room and make it more functional and less of a dumping ground for all the old furniture from the house.
This was a lot of fun to paint as I focused just on the extreme light and dark of this woman sitting in a window reading. Her skin tones were marvelous and the light just heavenly. I painted it with thinner washes and bold strokes.
This may be my last painting to post this year. We shall see. Happy New Year early!
10x8 oil on panel
sold
Another commission I did for a NYC lover. One more commission to get through (before Christmas) and then I hope to do some small works again. My husband is off for a couple of weeks and it really throws my schedule off! I can't work with him at home. Tomorrow is my daughter's last day of preschool too. Between the two of them, I am lucky to get to take a deep breath all day. When do I get to go on break/vacation?
The Daily Painters Gallery group thought it would be neat to post images of our studios, so I thought I'd share, though I am really ashamed of the mess. Thats supposed to be a sign of genius, right?
Well, its a sign of being very busy at least. On the easel, a homemade one, is a wedding painting commission. This back corner, by the windows, is where the work is done. Also in the room is a large desk and computer, though not the one I use daily, boxes of frames, packing materials, bookshelves, about 12 files of art magazines dating back to 1987 probably, and 300 pounds of art books (why are art books so big?).
Also in the room are my 4 different pochade boxes for plein air painting, two display easels, my daughter's art easel, a lot of her paintings, my old paintings and old art materials and a requisite boom box... which I hope Santa will replace.
I regularly have dreams about finding a large, unknown-of space in my house where I can put my studio. Lord, do I wish! This is a spare room. And given that I do not want to rent a studio away from home, and I can't afford a $60,000 addition.... I am going to clear the clutter out, get a nice set of shelving up (hello Container Store) and get rid of all the extra furniture and debris that is not specific to my work. AFTER my commissions are done and out.
10x8 oil on panel
sold
This is a commission I've done for a friend. It was fun to do revisit the scene I painted in the West Village. I bet it looks a bit different now. Wonder if they have snow?
7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold
This may look familiar. I wanted to paint this man again. Sorry I've been MIA on the small works. Been very busy with larger works and illness.
20x20 oil on linensold
This painting was done months ago and hung about my studio because I never felt it was quite right. This past weekend I was able to address its issues and I think its really very nice now. My issues with it were that the faces were all too red, the background too yellow and uninteresting and the floor rather nondescript... I think its been much improved. And the man in the foreground makes me think of a handsome, rugged, outdoor-type.
Could be my cold medicine making me think gibberish. Very likely.
16x16 oil on linen panel
soldI love the ambiance in finer restaurants. The murmur of voices, low, classical music playing, the clink of china and crystal. Ahhh... I think my husband needs to take me out to dinner this weekend.
