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!

Dude on the Beach

6x6 oil on panel Click to purchase $50
How it might looked framed: Pictured is a Randy Higbee frame from King of Frame

I painted this a couple days ago from a photo reference of my time on the boat this past summer. This guy had the right idea, up to his ankles in the water that felt like a spa on a 90 degree day.....I'm going to wish I saved all these summer pics in the middle of February but I can't help myself, I miss summer already!

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 :)

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.....

Yellow Chair in the Surf

6x6 oil on panel $50 click here to buy

6x6 oil on panel $50 click here to buy

This is a painting from a photo I took this summer at the beach. I don't why this light chair didn't get tossed away by the waves, but it looked like a lovely place to just sit and enjoy the day....The owner must not be far off, as she left her hat behind! The other painting from today was this seagull. There was hudreds on the beach that day, but when I went to take a picture, this one just stared at me like "I dare you!"

Here's how they might looked framed. These are Randy Higbee frames, he has an incredible selection of frames, including "floater" frames and you just pop in the painting, no expert framing necessary. His website is called King of Frames. I also use American Frame here in Ohio, I like that you can view the painting in any frame on their website before you buy, just copy the image to your computer and upload it on their site. Here is their website

Hidden Pepper

I went out to take pictures of the rapidly fading flowers and gardens and I found this red ripe pepper hiding among the otherwise empty garden....I had to paint it, of course. I think I'll pick it and put it in a still life with lighter objects, this one just isn't working for me! However, If it works for you, it can be yours for the low low price of $30. 6x6 oil on panel, click here to purchase. The frame is a Randy Higbee frame and can be purchased separately by going to his website

Pears 4 Sale

I have a fascination with pears. Here are two paintings I painted back when I was in art school, and It's time to let them go. Both are 16x20 on stretched canvas and for sale in my Etsy shop. Click here to purchase. $125 each.

Cherry Trio

5x7 oil on canvas board $50

To purchase click here: http://atimeforart.com

I've been very neglectful in my posting this summer and I'm going to force myself to get back on track. I've been getting ready for an outdoor sho at the end of the month so I've been working on several larger paintings. Yesterday I decided I needed to step away from those and do a small one so I felt like I accomplished something.

Poppies in a Pot

To purchase this painting (5x7 oil on stretched canvas, $55) click here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/76396111/poppies-in-a-pot-original-daily-oil

I've been working on 2 large flower paintings for an upcoming show, I decided to paint something quick just so I could feel like I accomplished something.....this on is 5x7 on stretched canvas.

And the Winner Is........................

Arlene! (randomly selected by my 16 year old son for fairness)..........Thank you all for your comments and visiting my blog,......I think it's way more exciting to give a painting away than selling one, I always wanted to be the "winner"....I'll keep trying! Congrats to Arlene Chipman, please email me at kdukat4@yahoo.com or reply to this post with your email so I can get your address to ship you your sunflower painting! I like the giveaway so much, I think I'll do another soon!

This week has been absolutely crazy for me, notice the lack of any post in the last week! I was suprised by my wonderful boyfriend of 5 years with a new "toy", a red convertible coupe, kind of like I had in high school only so much nicer.....(I had a 1979 rusty Fiat, that I drove all over New Hampshire when I was in my teens....which I sold when I left for the Navy)....Now, with 4 "almost grown" kids later, (and vans, sedans, suv's aside), I got my dream car...The best part of it and a huge surprise for me was the marriage proposal that came with it! I have an incredible fiance who accepts me for the crazy artist that I am!

Phew! As if that wasn't enough, my two oldest boys graduated from high school this week. I am so proud of them both, but most especially for my oldest, Jake, who is autistic, and who has struggled mostly socially his entire school career. I can't thank enough the teachers along the way who knew how to get through to him, and accepted his hugs with affection in return. Good Luck to Jared also, who heads off to college in the fall....it's harder than it looks!!!

Also, after a spring of storms and rain, we had the most glorious week of sun ever, and I was able to plant all my flowers and vegatable garden....it was so nice to see all the farmers out plowing their fields and planting their corn.....it was a close call, as we live in the "bread basket" of America.....

Finally, I have almost all of my daily painting on display in various locations throughout Ohio, the latest being Coffee Amici in Findlay, who has an entire wall devoted to changing exhibits of local artists and generously takes no commissions. If you live in the area, please frequent them for their generosity to the arts. I have been very blessed this year, I'm not quite sure what I've done to deserve it, but I certainly know who to thank. I'm posting a pic of a work in progress that is destined for a show at the end of June. ( I need 5 larger paintings for a wine and art festival in Findlay, so I'm going for a garden/flower theme. This is a peony from my garden....As always, I started out with the brush, and when I became frustrated, switched over to palette knife.....why does the palette knife seem to be my solution to a dead painting....hmmmmmmm time will tell!not a great pic as I took it with my phone)

All caught up and Epiphany!

So I had an epiphany today after I finished this painting, part of the daily paitworks weekly challenge that I missed while I was away in NC, but thanks largely to Dreama for this challenge, and Carol Marine for all the the past challenges by jove I think I've got it!!!.....I've been in a serious painting rut of late, painting daily since January and I've been all over the place with style and subject matter, struggling to find one that suites me enough to just run with it. The only consistancy in my painting is when I complete the weekly challenge....so when I started this challenge, I thought back to my other paintings that I felt proudest of when I was finished and decided to tackle this one the same way....I used the knowledge from Carol's "One stroke per color" and the latest value challenge to tackle the Kitty, and I am pleased with this one! I think I have found the beginnings of a style, and can't wait to keep going with it, thanks so much Dreama and Carol, keep the challenges coming!!

Really Rhubarb???

I painted this yesterday for the weekly challenge....a hail storm came today and destroyed all of the rest of my rhubarb....glad I have some documentation of it....the pics above show the aftermath of the hailstorm and my painting the day before...

Daffodils, Daisies, and Doldrums

This week has been the absolute worst since I started daily painting...I don't think I accomplished a single satisfying painting...Yesterday I started work on a larger picture of a rose, worked on it it for 3 hours, and when I went to clean up, the painting tipped over and landed directly on my palette, Needless to say there were 8 or huge globs of paint neatly ordered in spectrum order.....I decided not to even tackle that mess today, and decided to set up a cheerful still life to beat the awful weather doldrums and rut I am in.....Here is my attempt at a glass of daisies and daffodils, even they refused to cooperate as I tried to arrange them so I finally gave up in disgust.

Complementary Commission

I've been putting off 3 commissions of friends' pets for at least a month now, and since this is already a dreary week with the wintery cold and rain, I figured I may as well go ahead and tackle them....Now I know why I put them off....This is a good lesson for me as well, and it makes me dread the next two a bit (ok, a LOT). In the future, I will insist that I take or approve the reference photo first.....This dog is actually the easiest of the 3 I have to do in regards to reference material....uggg...except for the fact that it is an interior ( I haven't done any interiors yet) and both reference photos she gave me were taken with the light source directly behind the dog, not my favorite composition at all....and then there's all the sports paraphenalia...ugggg...and on top of all that, I'm doing this one for free....uggg. I'll just post the paintings, enough said.....

Ten Fold Sold and Caramel Cuteness

This post is largely in part a message of gratitude to David and Carol Marine and their wonderful artist friendly site for daily painters www.dailypaintworks.com (I don't know why, but everytime I try to make something a hyperlink it doesn't work, grrrr) I've never met them, nor taken a workshop from Carol, but stumbled across the site when I began daily painting. I've done all but one of the weekly challenges and they have all helped me grow tremendously as a painter. When they posted the Help Japan Challenge, I opted in, and was a little discouraged when my painting didn't sell the first two times around....The third week it was posted, it got a bid! the benefactor, a fine gentleman from Barbados, purchased the work and to my surprise and delight, purchased two more of my paintings! I never expected the response I recieve just by doing what I love best, painting and giving back....I hope the efforts David and Carol put forth regularly for all artists out there are returned 10 fold, like it has for me. Thank you isn't enough for their dedication to their art.

I painted "Shoop" today, for this week's challenge....I had already planned on painting this cute little bunny, but the challenge to use complementary colors helped with my pallette choices....Shoop is a baby bunny in my barn that found a wonderful ome this week thanks to Margie Shoop, and she used the adjective "caramel cuteness" to describe him perfectly!

Roosters, chickens, and hens oh my!

I am on a chicken kick this week, thanks to the Carol Marine challenge....I finished my 5th chicken painting today with one still on the easel...I am very happy with the last one I did, so maybe I'll stop painting chickens and move on to dogs....I have 3 commissions for 3 different families for their beloved pets, for some reason I keep putting it off. Commissions are not easy for me, it takes me much longer to paint them and I tend to overwork it....Hopefully these will go smoothly, I just need to bite the bullet and do it.

Tonight I have invited some local artists over to my home to discuss selling art online. I've been a longtime seller on the various sites and am willing to share my pros, cons, and knowledge of my experiences...hopefully it goes well, I'm not a good speaker in front of a group of my peers, and I'm not even sure what I'm going to say, but someday I would like to give painting workshops so this will be good practice....plus I need to come out of hibernation and start networking with real people, not just internet folks I want to get out there, so wish me luck!!

Weekends and Challenges

Most people look forward to the weekend to relax, catch up on housework, etc....but being a "stay at home mom/painter" , the weekends (esp at the tail end of winter) tend to get anxious for me. I have so many ideas in my head of things I want to paint or create, and weekends come much too soon. Weekends are "family" time and I need to learn the fine art of balance. I have 4 children, ages 12,16,17,18..... and It won't be long before I wake up and realize that they've grown up and moved on with their own lives....It's hard because they are at the age where they want to go out with friends but Mom's at the age wondering where did all the time go and how can I make it up? I have a feeling I will probably make it up by painting their childhood since I didn't have time to do so when they were young....For now, I look forward to "family movie night", summers on the boat, track meets, soccer games, new bunnies and kittens in the barn, band and choir concerts, driver's ed, proms, and upcoming graduations....(gulp, sob).....Painting everyday has truly helped me get through some of life's challenges....the loss of a dog, a friend with cancer, and now my kids leaving the nest......What does this have to do with Abraham Lincoln? Well, not a whole lot, except that it was this weeks Challenge on the Daily Paintworks site, and it reminded me of my favorite quote by him. I hope my kids think this about me someday.

"All that I am and hope to be, I owe to my mother"

~Abe Lincoln