lynn

 
Loved the posture of my friend in this painting. Checking out the water with her hands on her hips. Kind of played with the water being abstracted in the background. Painted this on a 5 x 7" gallery wrap canvas.
Happy to report that we did not see any signs of oil while we were on the coast. BP had workers down there "looking" for oil. Seemed to be doing a lot of nothing. At least they are employing people.
Preparing to work on another photo I took at the beach this weekend.

beach baby

 
Just got back from a rainy weekend at the beach. Still lots of fun. Managed to luck out and get some good photos between showers. A grandfather and his granddaughter came out to play for about ten miniutes. I felt like I had won the lottery. She was so cute and she brought her teddy bear with her to the beach. You will probably see this little girl and her grandfather on my blog a few more times in the future.
Today's painting was just a quick exercise. I painted this on a 5 x 7 gesso board that was primed with black. Taking Karin Jurick's workshop in November so thought I would give her method a shot. Whoa. Hard for me. I am not used to the slicker surface OR painting on top of black. I think it is really cool when some artists like Karin, Jeff Mahorney, or Karen Bruson do it. I might practice it some more but think I will continue painting on my favored linen with a rust tone until the workshop.

onions

Loved playing with the colors in these onions. Painted this one day last week. Am taking a couple days break from painting to enjoy the beach.
This is painted on a 5 x 7' linen canvas.SOLD

tea time

 
I have to say that this was not fun to paint. I tightened up and struggled through it. I am happy with the result but
it took way too long to paint.

Vying for affection

 
I have had the photo that this painting was based on as my screen saver for a while. It just makes me smile. Took the photo last Fall in Waynesville, NC. ( I guess that is where Wayne lived?) Waynesville is a quaint town in western North Carolina. Good shopping, food and galleries. They have several festivals in the Fall. I think this was the Apple festival. These three were part of a square dance group. There were a few other women in the group but these two fellows only had eyes for this lady. She had a beautiful smile and great gams.
This is painted on a 12 x 24" gallery wrapped canvas. In the photograph there was a crowd of smiling people behind the dancers. Had to play with what to put in the background. I guess it is kind of an abstracted building. Felt like I needed to break up some of the space. I think it works.?

hairy onion

 
I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning and rehanging work on walls in my studio. Looks so good and feels so good today. I am scheduled to do some shows beginning in September so I needed to take stock of what I have. Sometimes I get so bogged down in painting that my studio gets pretty bad. Referring to it as my studio makes me chuckle because I paint in my garage. It works pretty well and the price is right.
Painting the onion was a fun release after organizing all day. It is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas. Plan to do a companion piece today.

pottery and fruit

Did you get chill bumps when you read that title? I am open to suggestions.
The stacked bowls were not suposed to make an appearance in this painting. It was going to be the tomatoes and the mug. They kept looking at me from over on my shelf and I felt sorry for them. I do think they compliment the mug. I think I need to put them out of my vision so that I can move on.
This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas. SOLD

picking

The reference for this painting was a twelve year old boy who was at an open mike night in Kentucky. Same event as the two men in a previous post. He was a very good banjo player but all business. I did not see him crack one smile during the five or six songs he played. He had a strong spot light right over his head so his face was mostly hidden in the shadow of his hat. Think he was perfectly fine with that. This is painted on a 6 x 12" gallery wrap canvas.
SOLD

rooster gone wild

 
Poor Mr. Wonderful. I kind of made him look more like a peacock today. Gave him a bigger comb and feather extensions. And then....I guess a dye job. He might not like all these frills but I do. This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen canvas.
$ 150.00 ( includes S & H )

time out

I am going to go ahead and toot my on horn on this one. "toot, toot". I am really happy with the way this painting turned out. The photograph I used as a reference was taken about 45 years ago. My brother in law was around twelve at the time. What a treasure of a photograph. Don't you want to trade places with him?
This is the second time I have painted this. I painted it ten years ago when I first started painting. It hangs in their home now. Think that one was 18x 24". Painted this piece on an 8 x 16" gallery wrap canvas. The elongated canvas makes for interesting composition. Tried to keep this one loose and not worry about capturing David's features. (of course I did when I did not have to) I painted a lot of this with a palette knife.
I really think the painting looks better in person. The colors are pretty nice. Good day for me!SOLD

kentucky bluegrass

 
This is based on a photograph that I took while on a work trip with my church in July. We attended an open mike night in a nearby town. Great taste of local culture. We were inside and there was a strong light right over the guy in the white shirt. Am trying to edit photos down and figure out what works and doesn't. Was fun to do some figurative work after so many still lifes. This is painted on a 6 x 12" gallery wrap canvas.
$165.00(includes shipping)

green grapes and apples

 
I have a new appreciation for you artists who paint various fabrics into their work. I really did not know how to handle the stripes in this piece. Almost scrubbed it but trudged through as a learning experience. How do you handle shadows and light variations? Need to look at Gwen Bell's work. She is a master at fabrics. Love her cup series.
This is painted on a linen 8x10" canvas.

$175.00(includes shipping)

green grapes in wedgewood

 
I really do not like to use my left brain much. Had to use it a lot yesterday. Had to figure out a lot of techno things. This included reading instructions. Ugh! But...after many hours of frustration and and muttering a few unkind words at my computer, I figured some problems out. I am giving my left side a much needed break today.
This piece is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas. $125.00 (includes shipping)
Happy weekend to all.

blooming onion

If you need help naming your paintings, I am open for business. It is so hard to think of titles. Hard enough to come up with new set ups and then.....you have to come up with a name. Sometimes it is easy but more often than not I just settle.
This is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas.SOLD

SOLD

riding into the light

The reference for this painting was a photograph I took in Audubon Park in New Orleans. She was a pretty casual rider. Flip flops and tube top. Painted this on an 8 x 10" linen canvas.
So many things to celebrate. My son just graduated from Auburn University yesterday! So proud of him. Starting a job in China in January. Great guy with a bright future.
I am also joining a great group of painters on FreshPaintDailyPainters. Have admired the work of many of these artists for a while. Looking forward to learning more about the others. Check out the site. I am so new to it that I have quite a bit to learn. Just glad to be back to painting after a few days absence.
Click on this painting to see it larger.SOLD

sweet onion

 
It was nice to paint one painting at a time today. I chose a set up that was pretty challenging for me. Lots of variations of white. This is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas.$120.00(includes shipping

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Millie X Two

 
Are you confused? I am. I have a friend who commissioned me to paint her recently deceased schnauzer. Wanted one painting for each daughter. Decided to paint these 5 x 7"'s in one shot. Set up the two canvases on the easel and got to work. Never done this before and do not think I will do it again. Really confusing. It was kind of an experiment in how differently artists can portray the same subject even when painting at exactly the same moment. I did not have any great method or strategy. Kind of jumped all over the place. {much like my everyday life.) You can see that there are differences. Don't look too long or you might get sick. Should I have posted a warning at the top?

just a little peek

 
This is a commission piece of my friend's grandsons. Isn't it such a typical picture of little boys? They look so curious. Wonder what trouble they are ready to get into? I hope something that won't get their outfits too dirty.
This is painted on an 11 x 14" canvas.

pears in planter

 
Another creative title. I could have named it "pears in a tarnished silver planter with weird scalloped edges that were hard to paint". Decided to paint the pears with leaves one more time. The leaves are getting a bit
shriveled. Painted this on an 8 x 10" linen canvas. Am okay pleased with it. Wish i had placed the cherry blossoms a little further out. Speaking of cherry blossoms, they are fake. Not just now blooming in Biirmingham. Don't think they could handle 100 degree temps. I am wondering how you guys feel about fake flowers. I personally have only two types of fake that I will use in set ups. I have some very good silk sunflowers and these cherry blossoms. I guess depending on the way you paint it may or may not matter. Wonder what you flower painter's take is on this.8 x 10