Day 2

6x6 oil on panel click HERE to buy $50

I must admit that I am quite out of practice with my painting and I had a heck of a time with these apples.  I'm looking forward to getting back in the groove again painting everyday, maybe even twice a day :)

Covered Bridge

11x14 oil on linen board  Click here to bid 

Now that fall is finally here I am hoping to post and paint more regularly.  Show season is officially over with the exception of a December widget (craft) show (widgets are things I make that are low in price and SELL, like tiny paintings, magnets, jewelry, etc....Widgets are not real art but they help pay the bills especially around the holidays.  I like making widgets sometimes, it's a nice diversion from painting.)  This painting is from a painting retreat I went to last month in French Lick, Indiana compliments of a wonderful friend and fellow artist Marianne Van Rohr.  We met at a workshop last year and i attended another workshop this past spring with her.  She generously shared her timeshare with fellow artists and we had a wonderful week of fellowship, painting, and visiting.  We took many photos of this idyllic town so I'm certain you will see more of them in the near future.

Me and My Shadow

8x10 oil on panel

 Erika's 8x8 oil on panel

Today I had a studio guest and since it was a gorgeous spring day we decided to paint a fresh tulip in nice spring colors.....We both thought that the simple set up would be perfect.  Not so.  The tulip opened and blossomed before our very eyes, changing entirely by the time we were done painting.  Erika managed to salvage hers in a final act of desperation that involved a palette knife and firm ruler.  I, on the hand, not so much.  I do like how the shadow reminds me of when I was a kid and posing my shadow against the wall.  I thought I was a fashion model.  tee hee.  On the other hand,  It was interesting to meet another artist messier than I am.  She didn't even notice the paint she dropped until she stepped in it at least 20 times.

Art in the Round

Oil on 78 vinyl record Click HERE to bid

8x10 oil on panel Click HERE to bid

Last night at our challenge group we decided on 2 challenges for next month, one of them is just using the theme "Green", to be interpreted any way you want.  The other was simply because I have 3 boxes of old 78 vinyl records sitting in the barn taking up space, so you guessed it, painting on the record.   Today I primed several with spray acrylic primer.  When dry I'll sand them and then paint, but I also wanted to see if I could paint straight on the record since it has grooves for a bit of tooth.  It is a very nice surface to paint on, the oils don't get sucked into the board like canvas or gessoboard.  I'm not quite sure how to deal with the hole in the middle yet, in this case, perhaps a worm in the apple?  or clock workings?  Either way, it's pretty darn cool, and for sale.  Bidding starts at $1

I also finished my painting from yesterday.

Wild Girl

6x6 oil on panel Click HERE to bid. Bidding starts at $30

I wanted to try to paint a wine bottle today, lord knows I have enough of them around from my glass fusing/slumping days, and of course drinking it now and again, so I thought Wild Girl would be fun....well.....I probably shouldn't have thrown in the lipstick and red wine glass to complicate things........I'll definately try the wine bottle again, perhaps with something simpler.  I had a difficult time with the cast shadows too, perhaps a clear wine glass would help. ;)  This one reminds me of my good buddy Laurie Mueller from the Aurora workshop....Cheers!

Red Barns

8x10 oil on panel click here to bid (starts at $60)

This summer I'm going to be doing a few art shows, and I realized that I need to start painting a few larger paintings or I'm going to have to figure out a way to display 6x6 unframed paintings....little easels are ok for some of them, but then i'm at the mercy of the weather.  I can frame some, but that gets expensive and people like to frame their own works anyway.  I have lots of nice wood frames for 8x10 though, so I'm going to start to do more paintings in that size, and maybe a really big one every couple weeks since those tend to draw a crowd to your booth,  but don't sell very often.

 Today I painted a farm from down the road.  I love this grouping of red barns so you will likely see it again, but I wanted to see if I could pull it off with the clear blue sky and still make it interesting.  There was not a cloud in the sky that day so it was a crystal clear flat blue.  I figured the palette knife always makes it interesting, so here is Ohio red barns on an autumn day.

Wheely Willy and Dreama

6x6 oil on panel SOLD

I "found" this little fella in my Mom's basement, she tends to hoard a lot of stuff down there, it's an artists still life dream.  Wall to wall shelves of stuff like this.....mostly antiques.  She keeps saying she's going to sell it on Ebay when she retires next year, but I think she likes her wall of stuff.  Whenever I go home to visit, I I like to browse  in her basement.  Last time I was there she threatened to lock it, but I managed to smuggle a few things out.  Tee Hee. (Hope she doesn't follow my blog)   I painted this for this weeks DPW challenge, paint something with wheels.  Wheels are harder than I thought, if you don't get them just right it's easy to see.  He has a cloth scarf that is really a checkerboard pattern  but I wasn't about to tackle that challenge.  He also has a string to pull him and when you do, his little cloth legs go up and down.  The rest is shiny wood.  I wish I knew his name.  I'll call him Wheely Willy

as for Dreama....I can't believe I haven't shared the best news yet!  I just signed up for Dreama Tolle-Perry's Nashville Tennessee workshop in April.  (yes it's my birthday gift from my fiance....Carol Marine for Christmas, Dreama for birthday....perhaps when we get married it will be Saeta for anniversary?  one can only dream...)  Now the only thing that would make it better is if my new bff  Laurie Mueller from Carol's workshop got off the waiting list and got in....it will be a road trip to remember!!! (normally I would link her blog, but she hasn't set one up yet. hint hint)  hint.