Happy Holidays!

Wishing you every happiness this Holiday Season, the Merriest Christmas and prosperity in the New Year. Thank you for being a friend and fan. I look forward to the new year and new creative endeavors.

  

All the best to you and your family!

Robin 

Anything But Pedestrian

10x20 oil on canvas panel
sold


A walk down Congress Avenue in Austin. Its generally not a mundane tour of the city. :-)

_____________

Consider a fine art print for a holiday gift this year - 

16x12" giclee on fine art paper - signed limited edition of 20

$80 incl. shipping
16 still available

Les Deux Gamin

12x12 oil on panel
sold

A little blast from the past. Ready to find a permanent home!

I dreamed about going to NYC last night. This is a little corner bistro in the West Village where we had lunch one day during a workshop. I hope that the city, and New Jersey and surrounding areas are recovering from Sandy. What a devastating mess. My thoughts are with all in those affected areas.

Gelato Counter

18x12 oil on linen
Available at Russell Collection Fine Art

We had a very fun opening reception last night at the gallery for the Femme show. What a great bunch of artists and a very eclectic show. Nine of the 11 featured artists were there. Several of my new paintings sold which I consider high praise. 

I had fun taking pictures with my iPhone apps. I used Hipstamatic on these below.  The show hangs until Dec. 22nd so do stop in to see it if you can.

 

Slow Pour

20x24 oil on panel -
Sold

Opening night tonight at the "Femme" show at Russell Collection Fine Art in Austin and I had two paintings sold during previews yesterday!
The paintings were larger scale for me and definitely harder. The other I really struggled over, but the results apparently were satisfactory! Its a good feeling to know going in that I have sales and people like what they see!

If you are in Austin do come by tonight during the reception and say hello and see the wonderful variety of work created by some very talented women!

étudiant des arts - Giclee GIVEAWAY

And the winner is Jane C. - CONGRATULATIONS!

What fun this was! Thanks so much for writing in and telling me what you liked. The breakdown was interesting - the winning theme was "art patrons". Next were laundry scenes, birds-eye views and city/restaurant. What great feedback!

The painting below is the one now featured as my first ever limited edition print. It is a 16x12 giclee print on fine art paper, signed and limited to only 20 prints.

$80 limited edition (20 prints)
16x12 giclee on fine art paper

Since so many like the museum paintings I wanted to revisit this little "copiste" in the National Gallery. I can't seem to get enough of her at work copying one of Berthe Morisot's lovely works (The Mother and Sister of the Artist 1869/70). Unfortunately, this image has some glare on it and I will replace it as soon as I can get a good photo in daylight. I finished up too late tonight. Its been a hectic week. I was frantically working on paintings for a group show opening tomorrow night at the Russell Collection. "Femme" features all their women artists. I took in 9 paintings - some larger scale than usual for me. I had good news this evening. Two already sold! What a feeling, especially after lots of angst over one in particular!

Now, if you'd like to purchase a limited edition print, email me and I can send you a invoice via paypal. $80 includes shipping.
If you would like to own the original - send me an email!

Mon - Fri

6x6 oil on panel
$125 + s/h - sold


As another thanks - and in the hopes of moving some of my smaller works out of my studio and making room for new - I am offering 15% off my ETSY site with the code THANKS12.

As an artist I think its hard to live with my past works sometimes. In a way, its hard to move on and keep creating and being inspired when I keep seeing these previous works sitting and staring at me. Some I love and hang onto but even those pale after awhile. We are ever evolving and growing and I think its important to look forward. My husband laughs at me and says I hate everything I do as soon as I finish it (not true) - but it is true that I am always looking ahead to the next piece. Not only is the creating of it what drives me, but I always feel that with beginning anew, there is nothing but potential to create something really beautiful.

In the book Art & Fear the authors talk about the idea that each brush stroke diminishes the painting's potential. As in, the more you work on a piece, the more it can only become ONE piece. But in the beginning, the possibilities are endless. 

Anyway - its an awesome book. And please help me by clearing out my studio.  :-)

Thanksgiving Give Away

It has been another amazing year together. I want to thank all the people who check my blog on a regular basis, leave heartfelt comments, chat with me via my website and "like" my Facebook posts. It means everything to me to share my work and have an audience to be inspired by.

This Thanksgiving week I wanted to say thank you with a special giveaway!

The winner will receive both my "Looking Back" and "Vignettes" books as well as a special - first time ever! - Limited  Edition giclee print on paper.

  

How to enter: Leave a comment and tell me what painting or subject of mine that you like most; I'd love to know!

A winner will be selected at random on Friday, November 30th.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Hard Day's Night

 

6x6 oil on panel

$125 + s/h - sold

Coffee Break

6x6 oil on panel


I actually broke out some small panels last week in the hopes of getting a few paintings to send to the "6 inch Squared" exhibition and sale at the Randy Higbee Gallery. The one above is shipping today and the opening reception is December 8th.

Color Guard

12x9 oil on cradled panel
sold

Happy Halloween everyone! I've been running around like crazy the last few days between a weekend campout, Halloween prep, school activities, etc. I hope this isn't the slippery slope into the holidays. I need to be doing more painting! 

Stripes

12x12 oil on cradled panel

Available at Gardner Colby Gallery.

My thoughts and prayers are with the people in my favorite city (NYC) and the whole Northeast dealing with Sandy. What a terrific storm. I hope all will be well soon and that the damage is soon cleared up. Be safe, my friends!

Morning Stroll

12x12 oil on cradled panel

Available at Gardner Colby Gallery.

Foggy Top

11x14 oil on panel
$500 unframed
Available from my studio

This was such a beautiful setting. I saw it driving in and out of Bushwhack Road in Kerrville and wanted to paint it. The morning I did so was very foggy. The fog would move in and out over the hillside and I wanted to capture that haze, the muted tones and the lost edges of the hillside. The little metal roof sometimes would just glow too. Now, tonal paintings are not my forte' but I often like to try a higher "key" painting and this was a good exercise. I had a couple of fun ladies pull over where I painted along the roadside who were thrilled that I had chosen this subject. They'd often thought it needed painting. Another person pulled over to see if I had car trouble. Nice people out there in Kerrville.

Figure Sketch

V.... sketching, chatting on the phone, etc.

Still get together with V....Vaughan regularly to sketch and talk shop. Last week, she was taking care of all kinds of business - and sketching her rodeo riders - and was an inviting subject herself to sketch. I think the top one needs to be a painting.

Mike's Tractor

11x14 oil on panel
sold

This was my second painting of the weekend paint out. My first is really not worth showing - or keeping. But this tractor and old gnarled oak just intrigued me. It was a challenging scene to paint. I was sure I wasn't going to be able to do it. AND my new friend Mike wanted to watch me work! After a rocky start, I settled down and figured out how to paint the tree and the background and then began to make some marks on the tractor until it began to look like a tractor! Its loose and colorful. Sometimes its a lot of fun to leave things in the sketchy phase and don't retouch those bold color "test" marks. 

I'm about to head out to another type of farmland - Indiana - to celebrate my inlaws 50th wedding anniversary. Will be mixing a little business in there and plan to meet a collector about a commission of her favorite restaurant. What a cool job I have! :-)

Road Block

10x10 oil on panel  
$425 framed
Available at the Kerrville Arts & Culture Center

Another painting from my weekend in Kerrville. This one also hangs in the show at the KACC until Nov. 3. Just like my figurative works, I prefer closer views to vistas when painting outdoors. This sunny ranch road and gate looked so welcoming hugged by all the bright greens of the surrounding trees. 

Don't Fence Me In

11x14 oil on panel
$700
Available at the Kerrville Arts & Culture Center

What a weekend! My painting above won first place in the plein air painting event judged by Albert Handell. I am "gobsmacked" - to borrow a fun word from the Brits. Its a good word. I am still so amazed. There was a lot of talent out there - some 70 artists attended I think - and some really lovely paintings were created during the event. I am thrilled for the KACC for putting together such a good event. I hope they continue and I will definitely go back. We had access to some amazingly beautiful hill country properties. 

Above is the painting in progress along with a cute couple of goats that roamed around keeping us company. I just loved the ramshackle scene and the old gnarled oaks. I was more comfortable than ever working outdoors and didn't get lost or forget how to paint. I was able to apply what I normally in the studio quite naturally. BUT I stopped before I thought I should. LOL
That might be the key. I loved the looseness of this scene. I didn't want to go too far. 

Albert Handell (in the cap above) was the judge and he is leading a workshop in the area this week. I left three paintings at the KACC and if there are sales a percentage goes to support the excellent art community and arts center in Kerrville.

I've put a photo album of the event on my Facebook page - check it out!

A Gem of a Building

Much to my surprise, I was the winner of the quick draw challenge yesterday evening! We had a block of downtown Kerrville to choose from and 90 minutes to paint. I loved the old buildings and particularly the sun on this white stone with the bright Texas sky behind it. The building (from 1890) houses a jewelry store. Ron Rencher was the judge for the quick draw. I'm pretty pleased with the win. My first ever such event! Perhaps my trips to NYC have paid off!

10x12 oil on panel  
$550 framed
Available at the Kerrville Arts & Culture Center

Guadalupe Morning

I'm participating in a plein air painting event in Kerrville, Texas this weekend. We've had access to some beautiful spots on the river and on private ranches. I painted the one below at the river this morning and then two more out along bushwhack creek. Yep.

I'm recruiting my strength for a quick draw event at 5 pm tonight. Will be a fun challenge as its downtown and during a public block party (a monthly wine share!)

 

Sparkling River

12x16 oil on panel  
$850 framed
Available at the Kerrville Arts & Culture Center

Sunny Cafe

10x12 oil on panel
Ask Gardner Colby Gallery about this painting.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT time!
I've been invited to join Gardner Colby Gallery in Naples, Florida. I am very excited to have my work represented by this excellent gallery in such a great market. 

There has been more than a little shifting around of my work this late summer and soon my gallery from Vermont will be relocated to Louisville, KY and renamed "Fine Art Firm." I will be sending them new work for their grand opening. More on these openings and events to come!

Work in Progress

Well here it is - a little glimpse of a work in progress. Isn't that white daunting? This is my first larger "vignette". I love the intimate, slice-of-life, subject matter and have wanted try working on a larger scale. I didn't do much to alter this blank sheet of linen (I'll stretch or mount it later). I first tried sketching in with my brush but then felt I needed more drawing so went in with charcoal. And made a mess.

Once I wiped off the false start, I used my more usual method of sketching a road map of sorts with the brush and then massing in. The goal is not to create an exact duplicate of a scene, so I forgave myself little errors in drawing and eliminated some clutter.

I made some "notes" on the darks and then used my favorite little trick of wiping out the lightest lights with a little OMS on a rag. Linen is great for this reason - you can wipe it back to a clean white surface again. And clean lights/whites are important to create beautiful highlights.

 Now I worked all the darker and middle tones -most of the painting.

A little more progress being made... but its not done yet. I've left her face and clothes undone and set the painting aside today to work on a new painting while I mull this one over for a few days. I'm not quite satisfied with the "tightness" either. (Everything is compartmentalized. ?) I might even have my model come back to sit for the final touches. This was painted from a study and photos of a model. My second go at a larger work began more easily - with lots of massing in and moving around the panel.

This is as yet unnamed, and is 22x28" on linen. My plan is to show it at the Russell Collection Fine Art Gallery "Femme" show opening in December in Austin. Its nice to have time to work on these larger pieces and live with them before sending them out.

If you care to keep reading, I will tell you that I my plan this year is to paint larger and slow down. I tend to work fast, but that meant that each week I was trying to create multiple gallery-worthy paintings and stressing about it. I have a lot of work available (lots of small works since the Vignettes show) and I think I can relax and really consider what I want to paint and what I want to say.

Basking in the Sun

8x10 oil on paper (paper size 9x12)
$120 + s/h
PURCHASE

An image of basking in the sun today following a full day of rain in central Texas yesterday. We have had beautiful weather and I do believe that fall is really here. I can't believe how quickly the days are going already now that school is in session.

My new goal is to work larger, and I have begun! It definitely takes longer than the small scale I've been used to. But I find that if I can move around and work in different areas, with enough interesting elements in the image, I don't get bored. I've taken some pictures during the process and perhaps I will show you those tomorrow as I wrap up my first larger scale scene.

Daily Distraction

5x7 oil on panel
$100 + s/h
PURCHASE

This is from the "archives" as was yesterday's post. After my studio clean up, I realized I have a lot of little paintings here that haven't been seen in awhile. Remember to look at ETSY for more paintings available direct from my studio.

Spring Fling

6x6 oil on panel
sold

A couple of kids swimming in the luxuriously cold waters of Barton Springs Pool in Austin. I love the green water - its so clear and reflective. And such a relief on hot days!

Sketches @ Le Cordon Bleu

I'm officially back to work! I spent the first two weeks of the new school year putting my studio back into order. I've rearranged and cleared out and have a beautiful space to work in again! I began painting again today - working on a few painted sketches for a beach commission. I hope the client likes one of the ideas so I can get to work on the large piece.

I've been sketching a lot lately. My friend V...Vaughan is teaching a sketching workshop once a week this month so I've joined her in that. And then I heard of an open house at our local cooking school in Austin and we met over there to enjoy the demo, sketch and take notes on some delicious French and Italian dishes.

I have more and more things in the works this fall and a full page of "to do" items so stay tuned. :-)

Double Latte in AIS show

I'm happy to share the news that my painting was accepted to show at the 13th annual American Impressionist Society show! The show opens in November in Indianapolis. Maybe 13 is my lucky number :)

Birds Eye

8x8 cradled panels each
sold

This set is probably arriving at Edward Montgomery Gallery in Carmel today, but is already spoken for we believe. I'll post otherwise if they are still available.

I'm in Jackson hole right now and this is likely the last Internet service I will have. It will be good to be "unplugged" for a bit.
This incredible landscape is just stunning! I want to move here. I don't think any words or pictures can do it justice. I'm walking around town continually staring upward at the mountains and tripping all over. Does anyone get used to this scenery?

Today we will get to visit a few local galleries and then head to Yellowstone.

Picking Up

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed
 
Ok - last one of this series. And though I am in the final throes of packing for our trip to YELLOWSTONE!!! I will write one last little story about model painting. This one isn't anything more than personality conflicts. I tired again to set up a model in public places over a year ago I guess. We had just a few artists at first, nice and small, but then someone invited so and so, and they invited another, and it grew and grew. Which is a good thing, but even the larger outdoor space we had at Mozarts on the lake, was getting cramped and I worried about our becoming a nuisance. AND we had someone join who was a real organizer and stronger leader than me (notice how politely I am saying this) so I was soon feeling pushed out of my own group. I didn't feel like it was going in the direction I had hoped. I'm kinda free-form and relaxed about things like this, and I shy away from organized stuff. If it gets too rigid, it isn't fun. Ultimately, winter came and we moved to a friend's indoor space and the models took on too traditional and stuffy a pose, so I stopped going and I believe the group kinda melted away again. 


Now I am just going to hire models when I need and want and invite a friend or two to join me if they like. No schedules, no drama, lots of variety, etc. 


We all have our ways of working that suit us best, and while its good to get out of our comfort zones to try new things, its also good to recognize what works for us and makes us happy and productive.  And there is no shame in preferring your studio, or being alone, or listening to heavy metal or talk radio, or having certain beliefs...the shame comes from not letting yourself be who you are. wow, I'm waxing kinda zen here.

May you all be happy and productive in whatever you do.  :-)

Mirror Mirror

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed
 
This is the same model as yesterday. This was mostly a photo session we'd done at this location, hence the different scenes. I had some comments about arranging models rather than just taking candids - which I do a great deal of too! A few years ago (I can't keep track of time!) I had the idea to hire models to pose at my house and even to pose in public spaces. I wanted to paint more from life, but still paint the scenes I love, not just a figure posed or nudes from a life drawing session. There are a lot of resources in Austin for models so finding references wasn't too hard. You can probably find them in your area through colleges, the art community, theater community, etc. 


BUT - you never can tell about personalities and I've heard horror stories from models as well as artists. I have a minorly scarey/funny story myself. Luckily, the model was fine when I had her at my house and another location in town, but she invited some of us to come to her property to paint there. Terri and Carol might chuckle over this memory! We drove out to this place, buried in the woods and a little rundown. No grand vistas, no water, lots of "funny smoke" in the air, shall we say. She took us on a grand tour through the brush telling us her big ideas about a music event she was planning on the property - spicing things up with some outlandish ideas of government plots, oil and gas industry poisonings, etc. It just got weirder. And we are all too polite to just take off, so we tried to set up and paint - our backs together in  a circle practically. Carol, as I recall managed to get a neat painting in of an abandoned car... hmmm, that seemed to become a theme for her! HA HA
Anyway, the woman was on something and unbalanced and we were happy to make as hasty a retreat as we could. I was a little shaken. 
Moral of the story, don't go out to paint alone. Ever. 


It took me awhile to decide to try the model thing again - and this time I focused on public spaces like outdoor cafes, etc. And it went well... for awhile. There is ANOTHER story. Stay tuned!

Finishing Touches

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed 


I had three paintings of this model in the show! I didn't realize I had quite so many of her. I'll show the others in the next couple of days. She is a lovely model and I loved the intimate "toilette" scenes we arranged during down times at a class. 

Two weeks ago my friend - and fabulous artist - V....Vaughan came over for a model session at my house. Its really wonderful to have the opportunity to compose scenes, photograph and paint from life in the comfort of your own home. Naturally, you want good people to work with in this case - and boy do I have a story for you about that!

Below is the study I started of Kelli. We had her in so many outfits and places all over the house and yard that we ended up only painting about 30 minutes. My daughter and her friend got into the action too and put on costumes and acted out scenes for us too. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait until I begin working larger scenes this fall from the images we captured during this session. I will unveil some new, big works, at the Russell Collection "Femme" show in Austin during December.

 

Barista

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed 

MapQuest

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed


Another scene inspired by my NYC trip in May. The light those first two mornings had a strange glare and brightness to it that seemed unusual for the city. Today I'm working on some beach scenes for a commission. I can share these studies in a week or so. This is the first year in ages we won't make a trip to the beaches in FL. We're vacationing in Yellowstone this year and are very much looking forward to that!

Sunny Cafe

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

Promenade

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

Don't forget to look at ETSY or my dailypainters.com or dailypaintworks.com galleries for available smaller paintings - works on paper, 6x6 panels, pastels, and some mid-sized works. Between the small online works and my galleries, there are plenty of nice paintings that need homes! I've been surprised that I've been getting interest in some older works lately. Some of you are looking deep! :-) 

Portrait Society

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

I've been working on some commissions lately which I can share with you soon. For now, we'll keep looking at the new works available at Tidewater until the end of my show July 14th.

Taking the Plunge

10x12 oil on panel

Available at Tidewater Gallery

Ah.. Barton Springs Pool... a truly special place for all Austinites. Year round, this spring fed pool is 68 degrees. Even on the hottest days, all I can do is get my feet in and splash some water on the rest of me. Its a great spot for people watching though and soaking up Austin's relaxed, friendly atmosphere. This is no small swimmin' hole either - its more than 18 feet deep at one end and I don't know how long. This couple is taking the plunge in more than one way!

Here is a great video someone put together of people plunging in - Enjoy!