Three amigos

6x6 oil on panel click here to buy $60

Trying to master the apple and white tulip. Someething tells me you will see more tulips until they are wilted. Interesting thing I noticed about tulips: when I bought them they were tightly closed, I got them into the studio and put them in water. As they warmed up, they opened a little, but the one I put in the still life under the light opened up literally as I watched, like a time lapse video.

Tangerine Tango part Two!

6x6 oil on panel click here to bid

Here is my second attempt at using the Pantone color of the year Tangerine Tango. I actually kind of like it.

Boston Wharf and Learning to Simplify

6x6 oil on panel

This was a tough one, and I still need to do some work on it, but I need to learn to simplify a scene like this with lots of detail. I'm posting the reference photo as well as the painting, constructive criticism welcome.

Boston Harbor and 6 squared show

6x6 oil on panel

This is the first of a Boston Harbor series I am doing from my recent trip to New England. I have been debating entering the Higbee 6x6 show, but am not sure if my artwork is "good enough" for the show, and I also am not sure how to price for that show. The cost of framing and then the entry fee is more than my asking price for a painting, so not sure if it is worth it but am wondering from other artists who have entered this in the past if the exposure makes it worth the price and potential rejection? Let me know your thoughts!

A Day Late, or Two....

6x6 oil on panel To purchase click here $50

How it might looked framed, this is from the Randy Higbee collections, King of Frames

I have the kind of personality that I'm always a day late and a dollar short....I even drive my car far beyond when the low fuel warning light comes on, usually because I'm a dollar short, but sometimes, I just can't be bothered with stopping for gas, as my mind is on other things....one of these days I'm going to run out, like I did when my kids were little, in a snowstorm and we had to trudge to the gas station in a near blizzard....sigh....they never let me forget that.

Here's is Carol Marine's weekly challenge, Paint your Pumpkin. Of course I didn't get mine carved, so I used her photo reference. and I'm a day, actually 2 days late after Halloween....but I did however, get a photograph of my pumpkin with my studio kitty for a past challenge I need to catch up on, the Superstition Challenge. One would think that it would be easy to paint it the same time I painted the pumpkin challenge...but Nooo....not this sista, that would be thinking ahead! Lol, perhaps tomorrow, but I'm sure by then I'll be painting gas cans or something else :)

Cezanne I am not!

6x6 oil on panel $50 click here to buy

Once in awhile its fun to try a "master copy" a painting from one of the art masters. Cezanne is one of my favorite painters so I attempted one of his simplest still lives. A lot can be learned by doing these exercises, mostly that I have a lot to learn!

Landscape Refresher

11x14 oil on panel $75 to purchase click here

Since I was gone for a week I needed to do a painting step by step from one of my art instruction books. I chose a landscape since I have lots of pics from my travels to New Hampshire to paint! The clouds gave me some fits, among other things, but since it was just an excercise to get back into the swing of it, I didn't stress too much. I think sometimes we artists, especially those whose livlihood depends on it, worry too much about the finished product of the work, rather than the process of painting. I've found that when I just paint everything as if It's just for practice, things turn out much better. It's one of the reasons I hate commissions because the stress of what I think the commissioner expects inhibits me from painting well and enjoying it.

Hay Rolls

8x10 oil on streched canvas $65 click here to buy.

I love seeing fresh cut hay in the fields, and those rolls look like such fun! If I was a kid again I probably would be sitting atop one of them in the warm fall sun reading a book.

Studio almost done and catching up...

8x10 oil on canvas panel SOLD

Studio "After"

"Studio "Before"

I've been working on my studio for about 6 weeks now, trying to put away glass supplies and organize it for winter painting use...I made the back area (approx 12x12 space, a kind of gallery, to hang my finished drying works (see left side), and framed works (back and right wall.....) and the middle area (where I paint, (shown is just a few feet of it...) and the back (not shown) (approx 14x12 is supply and storage).....I put in a heater that works wonderfully, heats up the whole studio in less than an hour, and keeps it warm the rest of the day. Now that I have a proper work space for the fall and winter season, I've decided to try to catch up on the Daily Paintworks weekly challenges....I've been so behind on their challenges, and it makes me feel like I'm missing out! I learn a lot from each one, so I want to catch up before I start my own series.....Here is the Old Mill Challenge. Since it is fall I decided to change the foliage from the greenery in the provided pic from a spring/summer pic to fall colors....I have such a hard time with landscapes, and this took me all day, but I do learn more everytime, so I will keep at it.....

"Bo"

8x10 oil on stretched canvas NFS

I painted "Bo" for my son's girlfriend. She wanted to give her dad something special for his birthday, and this was a dog he lost to cancer several years ago. What a sad story, he would take the dog to a clinic hours away every week for chemo treatments, that didn't end up working anyway. Initially she sent me a photo from her cell phone taken of a framed picture of Bo, glass glare and all! I laughed and told her no way could I do him justice without seeing the actual photo or at least a decent scan, so she brought me the photo and here he is! I hope her dad likes it.

The kids are finally all back at school, and I've been working really hard for the past few weeks on my studio that is in the barn. When I started painting, I started this past winter and used the sunporch...my studio in the barn is cold in the winter and also it was filled to the brim with glass fusing equipment and supplies....I tend to be a hoarder when it comes to art supplies so this summer I've slowly been going through my stuff and throwing and giving lots away.....I'm almost 90% there, and I will have a wonderful studio for year-round if I can find an efficient way to heat it! It's approximately 12 feet by 36 feet, insulated with a concrete floor, that will be partially carpeted when I'm finished. Suggestions appreciated if you have them. I tried an Eden pure heater last year, and it did not heat sufficiently.....

Will post pics soon, I've even made a small "gallery" area in the back of the studio to hang my finished pieces....I'm itching to get back to painting all day once this is complete.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

Ok, at the risk of offending some, (as I clearly did on Facebook earlier today) I can't tell you how excited I am that the kids are going back to school. I have 4 children, one with autism who graduated but is seeking out his first job, one that just started college, one in high school AND college (Mr. Smartypants) and one in Jr. High. I love them all dearly and enjoyed my time with them this summer. HOWEVER....anyone that tries to work at home knows how difficult it can be with all the interruptions. Sooo...as I said in my title "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the YEEAARRRRR....."

Ok, celebration done. The junior higher is still at home, but I did manage to finish a painting I started on my Staycation. When I was painting it on the boat I knew the values were all off, so today I took the photo of it and turned it black and white so I could just deal with value. I had no color reference, except for memory of the day, and it was very very difficult. However, I do feel that I stayed true to the values, and that is a big plus for me, I tend to make everything too dark and intense.....

Triple Trouble-Work in Progress

I've been putting off this commission for some time now, because it's the biggest painting I've done to date....but I've given myself a deadline of Sunday the 31st, for my show, so here is where I stand today....lots of work yet, but I'm motivated now!

These fellas look like they've just been chastised for doing something very bad, all huddled together as if they won't get in trouble looking so cute. No doubt they were lounging on the picnic table, tearing up newly planted rose bushes, or have been found sleeping on the forbidden furniture. I wonder who the ringleader is.....