part and parcel

I tried to remember things I stressed to my workshop attendees as I painted this today.  At the top of the list was "make every stroke count".  Don't slap paint on your canvas without a purpose.

I am painting at a fund raiser for the University of Alabama at Birmingham's  Comprehensive Cancer Center this Saturday night. It is one of the nation's leading  cancer research and treatment centers. The fund raiser is called "Art Blink" because the artists have and hour and a half to complete a painting.  Attendees bid on the paintings to raise money for the cancer center's fund for excellence. (research, family assistance, etc) It is a black tie affair so the only downside is that I have to dress up.  Even so....I am honored and excited to be a part of this affair.  I am going to paint a large rooster that will be auctioned. This one is a warm up and is a 6 x 12 x 2".sold

sunny

 This was the painting ( 8 x 10") I demoed yesterday for day two of my workshop.  It was one of my favorite pictures and memories from our trip to Costa Rica. Our family was having dinner at a place literally on the edge  of the beach so we watched the sun set and I got some great pictures of this young one. I told my class it sounded more romantic than it was.  There were lots of hawkers on the beach who came and tried to sell you anything from pottery, bird whistles, jewelry and drugs.sold

Below are some more photos of my awesome students hard at work.

noodled

 I just finished my weekend workshop and it was so fun looking back through the pictures.  I had one surprise photo that is the bottom one of this post.  The Montgomery twosome/funsome took a selfie.  We had a wonderful group of people and painters.  The first day I painted "noodled" for my demo. (8 x 10") I did not really noodle it during the demo but  I had a hard time leaving it alone this morning before the workshop started.  I did not take my own advice to stop working on it when it was finished and fresh.  The ladies all painted great cows and in one case a great looking horse.
I will share some more pictures of the workshop tomorrow.  I already miss my new friends.

love like crazy

The title was inspired by Lee Brice's song but it is appropriate for the way I feel about red angus in the late afternoon sun.  This cow is my sister's next door neighbor.  She does not live on a farm but she is surrounded by them.  I got so excited when I saw these on my way to Nashville last weekend that I was having a hard time holding my camera steady.  The lighting was perfect and so were the cows.  They came right up to the fence hoping I was there to feed them.  It did not help that I drove up on a tractor.  (just kidding about that)
This is painted on a 16 x 20 x 2" canvas.  

all dressed up

I don't paint hens very often but this one caught my eye.  I mostly favor the bright colors in roosters.  I might have exaggerated her tail feathers a bit....
This is painted on an 8 x 8 x 2" canvas.sold 

whole lot of lemon

My Dad always ordered iced tea with a "whole lot of lemon" when we would dine out.  This is painted on an 8 x 8" linen panel.  

Have a good weekend!

long stem

I bought a few roses yesterday and am enjoying painting them.  I intentionally painted this a little looser.  I love painting on an elongated canvas.  This one is a 12 x 24 x 2". 

The scene when I went out to photograph the painting.  Ruthie thinks she is so cool.  She is. A snake in February?  My husband did not think he liked cats until he learned they help keep snakes away.  Ruthie is his hero. He is not a snake lover.  The second night we were in Costa Rica he opened our room door and there was a small black snake greeting him.  It could not have happened to a better person.  I just got my running shoe and pushed it outside.  I make fun of him but if it had been a big spider I would not have slept the rest of the trip.

mardi gras

I have not painted my colorful bowls in a while.  This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen panel.

tres limones

 I am trying to get back to painting after a long absence.  I actually painted most of this a while back but decided it was missing something.  I added the knife today and I think it works much better.  I plan on painting still life set ups for a few days because I miss it.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen panel.

A few pictures from our Costa Rica trip.   The first two are shots of canyoneering in the Los Rocos canyon.  Our favorite thing the whole trip.  

Lots and lots of cows everywhere.  Any small space of land would host some.  In the middle of our first resort.  

A sloth in the Rain forest.  They stay in a tree eating for a week or more. They only go down once a week for their  constitutional.  We got it to look at us by whistling.  Their predators are eagles. I have a mean eagle whistle. If they have a baby and it falls out the tree, they would rather have another one than to go down and get it.  That is not only lazy, that is bad.

A sable tree in the rain forest.  

Views of Tamarindo beach.  

keeper

Sold

I am posting a large 24 x 36 x 2" painting that I painted a few weeks ago.  I don't always post the larger paintings that I do for shows.  I am not very good at photographing large pieces.  This is pretty representative of the work.

I had a wonderful vacation with my family and now feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.  We did volcano hikes through the rain forest,  canyoneered through La Roco canyon, fished, sons surfed, and we all hiked and zip lined through the cloud forest in Monteverde.   We started in the rain forest around Arenal Volcano, then went to Tamarindo beach area and finished up in the cloud forest at 5000 ft elevation in Monteverde.  I will try to share some pictures and information about this beautiful country in the coming posts.

I have been busy since returning preparing for the Art Event at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville this Friday through Sunday.  I LOVE going to Nashville.  I am lucky to stay with a good friend, visit with my artist friends, see previous patrons and meet new ones. I will mostly be featuring my animal pieces.  I will also have one display panel of my beach figurative pieces.  Click on the highlighted Lipscomb phrase to go to the link for the show information.