quad

I typically paint still life's from live set ups but I just made this one up.  I have painted enough pears in my lifetime to have a pretty good knowledge of them.  I love painting the colors and shapes of pears but my VERY favorite part to paint is the stem. I love making that little swoosh mark that turns the shape into a pear.  These could just be greenish eggs without the magical stem.  Wondering if any other pear painters out there share my enthusiasm for this inedible part of the fruit. 

 This is painted on a 6 x 8 x 2" canvas.sold

sprouts

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 Crazy weather going on around our area.  A "huge" snow storm (2") hit our area by surprise.  It may not sound like much but we Southeners are not used to driving on icy roads. The roads were not prepped with anything so the result was "winter gridlock 2014"!  Fun for us but not for a whole lots of folks that were stranded away from their homes. Temperatures in the very low teens. My husband walked eight miles home from his work.  He said it was very invigorating. Have to love that attitude considering a few miles of it were on the interstate.  He made better time than most of the emergency vehicles.

I have spent some of the last few days preparing to do a show in Nashville next weekend.  I have painted some small still lifes and "sprouts" are one example.  It is painted on a 6 x 6 x 2" gallery wrapped canvas.  The show is the "Art Event at Lipscomb Academy".  The show runs from February 7-9.  Would love to see you if you are in the area.

The view out of my studio window after it snowed. The picture below is the partially frozen creek below our house.  Never painted our creek before.  On the list.

retreat

I think my workshop may have helped me more than anyone.  I guess it reinforced and reminded me of things that I think are important to creating successful art work. I tried to share tools that all of my teachers felt were necessary to produce stimulating paintings.  I have had the good fortune to take lessons from many very talented artists and I have appropriated bits and pieces from all of them that have helped my work mature.
This is painted on a 12 x 16 x 2" canvas.sold

putting two and two and two together

That is a long title but that is what I noticed about the painting.  This was the still life demo I did at my workshop.  Towards the end of the painting I noticed that everything was falling off the bottom left corner so I scrubbed that area out and reworked it. This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen canvas.

windswept

The students in my workshop were so accomplished that we were able to paint two paintings on Sunday.  I demoed (that is a cool word for demonstrated) "amy" in the morning and "windswept" in the early afternoon.  I was glad that both paintings turned out.  I touched up the paintings a little bit after the workshop.  I did not get up and move back from my paintings much until after I was finished.  If I had I would have caught some of the issues.  So important!  

The first day we did still lifes and I scrubbed out part of my painting at the end of my demonstration.  That gave them lots of confidence in my abilities.  I will post it tomorrow.  

I did not get to photograph the paintings the class did of "windswept" because some folks had to leave a little early and well....I forgot.  They did a great job.

I painted my version on an 8 x 10 x 2" canvas. Sold

amy

My studio is lonely today.  It enjoyed having nine lovely ladies over the weekend.  It was" fulled up".  We painted still life set ups on Saturday and we worked from two of my photographs on Sunday. "amy" the cow was named so because my sister in law, Amy, provided delicious lunches both days.  We meant this to be a compliment.  Amy looks nothing like this cow.

This was my first time to conduct a workshop and it was a good experience for me and I think the students.  Everybody seemed to enjoy each other and they did a great job.  There were a couple that were very new to painting but you can see from the work below that they all did great.  It was so fun to see their paintings come to life.  "amy" was the demo I did before they painted their cows and my amy is a little jealous of some of these amys.  I am a proud mama.  Thank you to this great group !sold

two and two eighths

I am digging deep for these titles.  Still practicing still life for the weekend workshop.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen panel.

back to basics

I am teaching a workshop this weekend so I am experimenting with set ups.  Some of my favorite paintings are of pears.  The colors and shapes always draw me in. I have been having a hard time focusing this week because I have a lot going on in my life.  Pears always make me happier. This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen panel.

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lemony

One of my husband's co workers gave him this lemon with the leaves still intact.  It is such a treat to get to paint fruit fresh off the tree.  I am going to concentrate on still life for the next couple of days because we are going to do still life work the first day of my workshop.  I feel a little rusty after spending so much time doing commissions from photographs around the holidays.  I started my painting career doing still life and feel it is an integral part of the painting journey.  A great way to learn about drawing, value and color. This is painted on an 8 x 10" linen panel.sold

tail end

I started this rooster painting a couple of weeks ago and finally had a chance to finish him.  He is painted on an 18 x 36" gallery wrap canvas.  The long tail roosters are quite beautiful but very camera shy.

I am preparing and looking forward to the first workshop that I am having at my home next weekend.  Hopefully it will be the first of many.  Sold

goldenrod

Goldenrod was the state flower of Alabama for fifty or so years. It is now the camellia. I love seeing pastures of  cows when the goldenrod is blooming.
 I hope this sunny scene will help  brighten your New Year.   This is painted on a 3 x 3' canvas.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my art work.  Your comments and support mean a lot to me.  I hope the coming year brings you good things and happiness! Happy 2014!sold

emma

 This was the year of painting labs for me.  Think I painted four or five this Christmas. Emma belongs to one of my friend's daughters.  The final painting is a bit different from this because we decided to unfold her right ear.  I did not get a chance to photograph it but we both liked it a little better.  This is painted on an 8 x 10"canvas.sold

jack

 Merry Christmas!  My youngest son's room mate received this as a surprise from his parents this morning.  Painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas.
Hope you all have a great day!sold

sugar smash

 This is the first time this baby had had anything sweet.  I think she liked it.  A group of office workers commisioned this to give to their boss at the Christmas party.  His first grand child.  It is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrap.sold

war eagle

 These kumquats came from Auburn, Alabama.  I really did not think of the title until after I painted it but it works.  The Auburn Tiger's colors are orange and blue.  I have a son and alot of friends who went there so I am a fan. I am one of those crazy people who also cheers for Alabama.  Hoping Auburn wins the National  Football Championship Jan 6th. "war eagle" is painted on a 5 x 7" linen panel.sold

precious cargo

 And engineer!  This is a Christmas commission for a new friend.  I have a soft spot for Moms of twins so I worked very hard to make this painting work. I tried to abandon ship once but then tried another photo and it came together.  These darling twin girls do not have much hair now so my attempts kept making them look like little old men.  I wish you could see how beautiful these girls are in person.  They all three have huge, blue eyes.  This painting really makes me smile.  It is painted on an 8 x 10".sold

emma

 It is always fun painting shaggy dogs.  Another Christmas commission for a special someone.  This is painted on an 8 x 10".
Have a great weekend! Are we really this close to Christmas? Better get going.sold

Lucky

 Lucky is a camera shy dog so I made a little house call to try and capture his gorgeous face.  He is the companion to one of my friend's parents.  Her Dad recently passed so Lucky is even more special to her Mom now.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" canvas.

My internet has been on the fritz for a couple of weeks now.  I have been very busy painting but not able to post.  I am finishing up my last commission needed before Christmas and then I plan to take a wee break.

If you are in the Birmingham area, I am participating in the Mountain Brook Art Association Holiday show in the lower level of Brookwood Mall.  Lots of wonderful artists represented.  Hours are  the same as the mall hours.sold

Tennesseans

 These are the children of one of my Tennessee cousins.  My husband's family is from beautiful eastern Tennessee where they live amongst rolling hills with the Smokey mountains in the distance. Can't get much better than that.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" canvas.sold

vizsla

 First time to hear of this breed.  Similar to a weimaraner.  Yes, I had to look up the spelling of both of these breeds.  This is an 8 x 10" and is a Christmas surprise for someone.sold

spring in his step

 This is the second time I have painted this little boy. I have seen three or four pictures of him and he seems full of life in each photo.  It is kind of hard to read in the painting but in this pose his left foot is off the sand.  Similar to the first picture of him with the orange board, he is moving forward without looking.  He is just happy to be at the beach.  I bet we can all relate.  This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas.

Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and get to spend time with someone that you are thankful for.sold

blind determination

 The grandmother of this young boy loved this photo because it showed him striding toward the water blindly and with determination.  Look out world!  This is painted on an 11 x 14".
Working hard to get several commissions done before I get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Hoping we can get to my parents in Western North Carolina.  We Southerners do not do well with icy or snowy roads. I will be much like this young one with my determination to get there and have fun.sold

vanilla

 Pretty stately pose.  All he needs is a crown.  This is a commission piece for a Michigan patron.  I love that she is giving her brothers portraits of their dogs.  I do not know the dogs names so in my mind one was chocolate and the other vanilla.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrapped canvas.sold

chocolate

 This is a commission piece for a new patron from Michigan. She is surprising her brother with it for Christmas.  She has two brothers and I am going to paint her other brother's lab tomorrow.  It is fun to paint commissions that are going to make some people's Christmas a little merrier.  This is painted on an 8 x 10" gallery wrap canvas.sold

good hair day

 I am off and running with commissions.  This particular patron has graduated from me painting her family's dogs to painting their children.  This is a painting of her nephew.  His eyelashes and hair make him pretty enough to be a girl.
I travelled to Savannah, GA last week to participate in the  annual Telfair Museum Art Show. It was my first time to visit Savannah and it was quite a treat.  I made some new artist and patron friends.  Happy to say that lots of my paintings have new homes.sold

yin and yang

 This is painted on an 11 x 14" linen canvas.sold

mottie moment

 Thank heavens for small things and maybe genes.  My kids call my mother Mottie and she is one of the most talented and resourceful people that I know.  She inherited it from her father who could make something out of nothing.
I have been struggling with ways to showcase my small paintings at shows. In the past, I have hauled this long, heavy table around and things would constantly fall or blow over.  Last night I got the idea of looking for an old book or magazine rack.  Right before I was headed out to look at some second hand stores I saw this old and unused shoe rack in my garage.   The shelves were laying down flat so I had to figure out a way to make them lay slanted for better viewing.  Drilling new holes would have taken WAAYY too much time and skill so I used my handy zip ties. I secured the wire shelves to the shelf above it and at the top, to the wood. (Only had to remove the ends of the shelf that are the top part of the slant.  )  I left the bottom shelf flat so that the whole piece could have some support and to lay some more paintings. That was more than a mouthful of words and you are probably still confused.
This is going to make the perfect accessory to my tent which has panels to hang large works.  I will take a picture of my set up this weekend at the Moss Rock Show.  Perfect timing to figure out using recycled goods because this show celebrates the environment.

Thanks Mom for sharing a little bit of your creativity gene with me.