break of dawn

 I mentioned last week that I got up early and took some pictures while I was visiting my sister in north Alabama.  This painting is loosely based on one of the photos I took.  There was a great, yellowish light on these two.  I  have a hard time passing by pastures of cows and not stopping to take pictures.  It hurts my heart to drive on by.  But....at times it is going to hurt the rest of my body if I do stop because of the dangerous road conditions.  I took a chance and parked along side a busy highway to get this shot.  Glad I did.  This is painted on a 10 x 10" gallery wrap canvas.
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red pail

 The creative juices are flowing....  "red pail"....  Maybe I should have done my open up the dictionary and point trick?  This is painted on a 12 x 16" gallery wrap canvas.
Have a great weekend.
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my girl

 My trip to Orlando got delayed so I made a trip to visit my sister in north Alabama. She lives in a rural area so I woke up with the sun this morning to take pictures.  I wanted to bring this inquisitive calf home with me.  ( I am not positive a cow was not living in my apartment before we moved in.)  She nuzzled other calves out of the way when they tried to get close.  She was not quite as colorful as my rendition but I think my feelings for her played into this piece.  This is painted on a 12 x 12" gallery wrap canvas.sold

all to myself

 I have not painted a cow in a while.  I got an e mail from someone today  complimenting my cow paintings so I decided to paint one of my favorite subjects.  This one could not help sneaking a peek back at me.  This is painted on an 8 x 8" gallery wrapped canvas.
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red goggles

 I have been taking advantage of time to paint because after this weekend it is going to be a little slim for me.  Headed to Orlando next week to help my son get settled into an apartment.  The same son who in less than two years has lived in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and now Florida.  I kidded him that living so close to Disneyworld that he will probably put one of those goofy stickers of the stick figures with the mickey mouse ears on his truck.  If you knew Ben, you would know that that will not happen.
I took this picture in Watercolor, FL a few weeks ago.  Loved her hands.  It is painted on an 18 x 24" gallery wrapped canvas.

delicate

  I am at a point in my life when I love to see little kids.  It has been a long time since I have had to take care of them so maybe that is why I take such delight in them.
I painted this on an 8 x 10" linen panel.  I am including a picture of my reference photo. I liked the little girl but wanted to put her in a different setting. I might paint her again and change the background for a different effect.
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mellow

 I have mentioned before how I have a hard time coming up with names for still life paintings.  I have about decided to just open the dictionary and challenge myself to pick a word or thought off of one of the two open pages.  Today I saw mellow.  That works.  This is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas.
One final thought from Nancy's workshop that I should have  mentioned before anything else.....the importance of drawing!!  You can not expect to paint without knowing how to draw.  You may be able to fake it for a while but after a bit you are going to be handicapped.  Practice drawing all the time.  The following statement is from a worksheet Nancy gave us.
"Drawing is the underpinning of our paintings....not exact drawing on the canvas that we can meticulously color in with paint, but the ability to catch the essence of the subject. We can develop this ability by daily small doses of practice.  Even 5 minutes a day drawing anything at hand will improve your work and your understanding immeasurably."
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sand between my toes

 I think it is very helpful after taking a workshop to paint the next few days.  It helps to remind you of the things you were taught and are working on.  One thing Nancy Franke taught us was to look for is the S shape in human forms.  I am not sure I am real clear on this.  I hope if Nancy reads this she will comment on the purpose.   Thinking it comes into play when you are trying to work up your compositions. The following is my canvas with the sketch and I highlighted the S shape I found in this one.  This is painted on a 12 x 12" canvas.  Thank you to so many who have encouraged me with your comments.sold

well.....

 This is the second piece I did at Nancy Franke's workshop.  I rarely finish paintings at workshops let alone post them.  Watching her paint and listening to her advice helped me crank out two in around three hours.  This is painted on an 18 x 24" unprimed canvas that she gave me. After seeing the photograph I brought to paint she felt it would look great on the unprimed.  Agreed!  This is the little girl that I stalked at an outside market in Florida a few weeks ago.  In reality, she was standing in front of a vegetable stand.  Another thing Nancy addressed.....make your photographs into anything you want. They are just a tool for your painting. Add, subtract, change, delete, whatever to help with your painting.  Be creative!
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go lightly

This was the first study I did yesterday at Nancy Franke's workshop.  The workshop was one of the most fulfilling, fun and educational workshops I have done.  Nancy was a hoot and a holler.  If you do not speak southern that means gregarious.  She is a pint sized ball of energy and I wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home.
The focus of the workshop was painting children.  Not portraits. She uses a limited palette of white (lukas) and a cool and warm of each of the primary colors. I thought it would be harder for me to trim down my palette but I really liked it. She emphasized finding direction in your composition, the s shape in most human forms, getting the children's proportions right, not over working brushwork, high key color palette and the importance of edges.  Lots more.  I have one more  painting that I will post tomorrow and will try to think of other thoughts.  I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take from Nancy and to get to know some other artists at the workshop.  It was a great time!
This study was painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.sold

Nancy's first demo piece.  Odd how much the picture I brought to paint looked similar to Nancy's .  This is one of Nancy's grand daughters.

flowery

 I worked to keep this very loose in the interpretaion of the flowers.  I really squinted down to see the shapes that were formed when I did. I spent a lot of time looking at different arrangements and canvas sizes to decide what was the most interesting composition.  Got pretty excited when I discovered this 6 x 12" size.  I  use a view finder to help with deciding on compositions.
I am headed to Atlanta Sunday for a one day workshop with Nancy Franke.  She is an amazing artist that I discovered through Kathy Cousart. This workshop is focusing on painting children.  She has a beautiful color palette and style.  I will try to remember to take pictures.
 
Happy father's day to all those Dad's out there.  I am so thankful to still have my father in my life.  He is a retired Methodist minister. He was elected Bishop and served in that role for the last sixteen years of his career.  He has been teaching at my alma mater, Birmingham Southern College for the last ten or so years.  I can't go anywhere with out my Dad's reputation and influence preceding me.   A very good thing.  Thanks Dad!
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My Mom and Dad

 Bob and Martha Morgan

cup and lemons

 Queen Anne's Lace is blooming all over so I picked some and thought it looked nice with this blue cup.  This is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas.
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pacified

 This was supposed to be much looser than it is. ONE day I am going to get my mind right and not overwork a face.  Why can I do everything but the face loose?There is a fine line that I am trying to walk.  Just getting started.
I have an exciting artist I want to share with you.  John Kelley was one of my first oil painting teachers and he has started blogging and is showing his work on Daily Paintworks.  He is an award winning artist and is and has been in numerous galleries. He is a great teacher if you get the chance. He works with pastel and with oils.  Check his site out ......http://ontheeasel.blogspot.com/. He is offering some of his work at crazy low prices for a short while.  Don't miss out.  Check out his beautiful website at http://jkelleyart.com/sold

pears and raniers

 I think these fruits work well together.  Thanks to those of you who answered my question about the names of this type of cherry. This is painted on a 6 x 12" linen canvas.
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apples and cherries

 I decided I needed to put cherries in the title because you might not be able to identify them otherwise.  Anyone know the name of the cherries that are yellow and red?  Red and yellow cherries?
I had so much fun painting this today.  I listened to my neighbor's band "Act of Congress".  So good!   The first day we moved into our apartment we met this cute, young couple with identical twin boys that are 18 months old.  Seeing these little ones makes me so happy and brings back fun memories.  The Dad is in "Act of Congress" and I just downloaded two of their albums to my i tunes account.  I am always listening to music and so I  am glad to discover them.  I wish I was saavy enough to add a couple of their songs to my blog. Go to i tunes  and you can listen to samples of their music.
This is painted on a 5 x 7" linen canvas.sold

medicinal medley

 Coming up with different still life set ups that are interesting to me and the viewer is always a challenge.  I started with the purple orchid and chose items from there. I personally like to paint flowers that are stemmy rather than real full.  I think  bunches of flowers are overwhelming to me.  This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.
Have a great weekend!
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itsy bitsy

 This little girl reminds me a bit of the old coppertone ad.  Not much better than the smell of coppertone.  Maybe it is because it brings back memories of being at the pool, beach or lake.
This is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrapped canvas.

peaches and wedgewood

 Think it is time to eat these peaches.  They have served me well.  This is painted on a 5 x 7" linen panel.
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teapot and peaches

 Another day of ignoring the mess in my studio. (it is actually a bedroom in the apartment we are renting) The problem is I have two rooms full of art stuff cramped into one room.  The only person inconvenienced by the mess is me so...... I paint on.

It has been fun to rediscover some of my still life props.  They are packed away in a big box that is sitting in the middle of my "studio".  It has been very freeing to paint from life and stand a good distance away from my canvas.  I often paint from photos on my computer monitor and I find myself sitting too close to my computer and easel.  It is easier to be loose when you are standing away from your canvas.

I always appreciate your comments on my work.  Even thought I do not respond to comments individually, I treasure your thoughts and am thankful for the time you take to share them.  It is very time consuming with all the security changes blogger has made.
This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen panel.sold