"Three's a Crowd" --- SOLD

I set this up today and just couldn't get myself to paint it on a 6x6 canvas, so I went up a size - to 10"x10". It was so much fun. I love doing these sunflowers. And I've always loved painting glass.

"Sunflower Dots" --- SOLD

My friend Dani asked me today if she could come over and watch me paint, so this was really a demo peice. I learned ... that I should really pick a simpler subject when I give a demo. This was a tough one, and I struggled with painting it and talking about it as I went. But, it was good practice, and from her questions I got some new ideas for things I can teach in my workshop. Thanks, Dani. My workshop in Santa Fe starts a week from Monday, and I'm super excited about it!

"Two Pair" --- SOLD

When I first started this daily paintings practice, I mostly painted one thing at a time: one apple, one leaf, etc. A month or so later, a friend asked "why don't you put more into them?" At that point I don't think I was ready to do much more than very simple compositions. Each time I tried something tougher, I hated the result. But then slowly, over time, I became more confident, and steadily painted more challenging set-ups. Today I painted ... well 6 things really: 2 pears, 2 bottles, and 2 flowers. Dude. I think that's the most so far.

"One on a Plate" --- SOLD

"Plate" suddenly seems like a strangely spelled word. I think I've been awake too long today. Check out this website: http://clicks.robertgenn.com/painters-remorse.php. It was recommended to me last week. This fellow posts thoughts on art, and other artists comment on his thoughts. If you scroll down, you'll see I wrote a little about daily painting.

"Admirers" --- SOLD

This might sound silly, but what I learned from this one is that I can have small things running off the edge of the canvas, as long as they're not the center of attention. Often I have things cut off, but generally they're large on the canvas. Suddenly I feel like I have a lot more space on my canvas. Like I said ... it's silly. I also learned that if I'm not happy with one part of my painting, I can wipe just it off, and try it over. The flower was a bit oddly shaped, and I came back into my studio after an hour or so and decided to throw caution to the wind and redo it. I'm much happier with it.

Throwing pots...

What a silly name for it - throwing! On the other hand, I felt like throwing a few of them across the room when they didn't work out. Thank goodness I was going for simple shapes, otherwise I'da been there a while longer. :) Thanks, mom.

"Leading" --- n/a

Today I decided to put all the RULES out of my head and just compose based on instinct. This is the result and I must say it was more fun than usual. I should do it more often. I think maybe sometimes all those rules in my head crowd out the creativity, or perhaps the rules are kept in one side of my brain, (I forget - which is right and which is left?) and the creative side is the other, and it's difficult for me to use both.

Afterwards, it seemed that the lemons were leading the eye to the glass creamer, hence the title. But then the lemons seem to be the main focus, so perhaps they're just leading you around to keep you entertained???

"Hint of Lime" --- SOLD

I may have mentioned before that my mom makes wonderful pottery. Well, it suddenly occurred to me that rather than searching the thrift stores and junk shops for less than ideal vases, pots, etc., I could use my mom's studio and make my own. So this weekend, we are in the hill country, visiting my folks, throwing some pots. I've taken several classes, but it was long ago and I'm a little rusty. I'm having a great time though, and will post a picture or two tomorrow. It might take a little while to get these things into my paintings, but I'll point them out when they arrive.

"Colors" --- SOLD

I started twice on this one, wiping off the first attempt. Sometimes wiping can be the best tool towards a good painting. When I start over, I'm usually more open to stepping outside my comfort zone and trying something new. So this time, with the orange specifically, I scrubbed in a middle orange color right off the bat. I went way outside the edges of the orange with the color. Then I came in with the blue around it to define the edges, but only loosely. Then I painted the rest of the orange, and only then finished up with the edges. I'm very happy with the effect.

"Three Oranges" --- SOLD

I've got a new favorite artist. His name is John Michael Carter and I found him somewhat randomly, online. His work is very traditional, and it's not so much the subject matter or the compositions that I am drawn to, but rather just the WAY he paints. It's loose and ... lovely. Some of you who read this blog send me artist links once in a while, and I really appreciate it! Please don't hesitate - I am always interested in seeing new art.

"Blue Cup" --- SOLD

I read in a book on art marketing the other day that you should only sell art that you're proud of. I like parts of this one, but over-all I think it's an awkward composition, so I'm not going to sell it. However, it IS my painting for today, and I didn't have time to paint another, so I felt I should post it anyway.

Today I got an email from a fellow who critiques art. He is critiquing mine right now. Thought you might like to read it: http://artandcritique.blogspot.com/

"Lemon Pot" --- SOLD

I got this "new" pot at an antique store yesterday. I got a bunch of other stuff too, so expect new subject matter. I think I'm more happy with these lemons than with any others I've painted. They are very suggested. To get these I had to paint outside the lines. What I mean by that, is that with every stroke, especially around the edges of the lemon, I let the stroke go further than the lemon, out into the colors around them. Then I came back with the colors beside them and kind of fuzzed the edges a bit ... I think this is the fuzziest writing I've done! :) Argh, but I'm tired. I don't think I'm getting enough sleep - please forgive me.

"Lemons on the Edge" --- SOLD

I did these lemons as a warm-up to a commissioned piece with lemons. I ended up painting all day, and now I'm TIRED! zzzz...

"Pink & Sassy" --- SOLD

This was a fun one. I seem to be especially drawn to very simple compositions.

Today I watched a wonderful demo given by Qiang Huang, and visited the studio of Dalhart Windberg. Windberg has an immaculate studio, and about 2 room-fulls of the most fantastic still life objects I've ever seen. No wonder it's so hard for me to find anything good at junk stores - he's got it all!!! The upside - it motivated me to come home and clean my studio.

"Green & Pink" --- SOLD

I used a different process for this one, and I'm not sure why. I painted everything but the flower at first, and did the flower last. Usually I work everything sort of together to get the edges the way I like. Halfway through I considered wiping it off and starting over, because the painting seemed so dark and so ... green. Maybe I was afraid of the flower. Imagine. :/ But then as soon as I finished the flower, the whole thing pulled together and balanced out.

"Red Rose" --- SOLD

When you look at a blank canvas, there are a zillion possibilities. I've always been quite excited by any flat, white space. As soon as you put down your first mark, you've narrowed down your possibilities, but only just a little. About halfway through, its still fairly exciting, but now you've made some big choices and if anything's dried, there's no turning back. Every time I finish a painting, even if I love it, I'm still a little dissapointed because of all those paintings that could have been. The great thing about daily painting is: there's always tomorrow, and another blank canvas. It's that thought that keeps me going every day.

"Sunflower" --- SOLD

This is another flower from the arrangement I recieved the other day. I am REALLY enjoying painting these flowers. The vase is actually kind of a curved rectangle if you look at it from above. I don't know if you can tell that from this painting ... can you? After some experimenting, I found it was best to squint at the flower and suggest the petals rather than try to capture every one. And I didn't originally intend for the flower to extend past the top of the painting, but it happened and I like it.

"Day Lily" --- n/a

Thank you, Wayne and Carol, for the beautiful flowers! I picked one out today and painted it. Now my whole studio smells like a day lily.

When I was trying to pick a background for this, I tried all sorts of patterned fabric, and colored paper. Nothing seemed to work. Every color/pattern battled with the pink and white of the flower. I finally settled on black construction paper. Extremely sophisticated, yet no one can tell in the painting. Unless ... I ... tell everyone ... dang it!

"Four Eighths" --- SOLD

I finally got sick of the pitcher and apple. Anyone have a preference of the 5?

I find I really enjoy painting this way the most - several similar objects, usually fruit, from above, including shadows. I like the bright colors and the simplicity of it. It's what I always come back to after trying other things. It's my safety net.

One thing I learned with this one, is that if I dull down the background a bit, the bright orange really pops! So I just added a touch of red and yellow to my blue background to gray it down just a little. I think it's actually a little brighter here than in reality. It's so hard to capture the painting exactly with a camera.

"Pitcher & Apple 5" --- n/a

This one came together rather well I think, though it was a struggle. Sometimes I get so frustrated in the middle of a painting, if anyone speaks to me I yell at them. I end up apologizing to my husband for this rather often. :)

We are going camping for a couple of days, but I hope to be back painting on Monday.

"Pitcher & Apple 4" --- SOLD

Here I've got the pitcher at a different angle, and the background darker than before. I like that the handle is off in shadow, the light a bit more dramatic. I'm not sick of this series yet ...

"Pitcher & Apple 3" --- SOLD

I like the subtle difference in color between the pitcher and the background. I got carried away and cut off the top bit of the pitcher - woops! But ... in my defense, I was trying to make the apple the focus, so it shouldn't matter that part of the pitcher is missing, right?

So far, I'd have to say the first painting captured the shape of the pitcher best. I made the spout too small here.

"Pitcher & Apple 2" --- n/a

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I was going for something with a bit more value contrast here than in the first one. The lighter cloth is/was actually a light blue, but I realize now that you can't really tell here. I love all the colors in the vase. One thing I realize here is that normally when I post a painting and get the proportion of something so that it looks correct, but may not be exactly what that thing looked like - you would never know it because you'll never see my subject. But when I'm painting one thing over and over, you can see those little mistakes. heh heh ...

"Pitcher & Apple 1" --- n/a

I've decided to do a series with these two objects. The pitcher I found in Galveston this past weekend at a junk store. I saw it and realized I couldn't possibly live another day without it. The apple ... is just a regular apple, but I think it goes particularly well with the pitcher size/color wise. I'll do this series until I'm sick of it, and then maybe we can do some sort of vote on favorites. I think it might be interesting.

"Apple in Shadow" --- SOLD

This painting is proof that if you don't get the proportions right, you're sunk. The bowl is all wrong. I think I drew it from one angle and painted in the bottom of it from another angle. Argh. I hate it when that happens. I hate it more when I don't realize my mistake until I'm about the post the picture and realize it's all wrong. I also hate it when I'm happy with the rest of it, but one part wrecks the whole painting. If anyone is willing to look past this and wants to buy it, please let me know, as I am not posting it on ebay. Thanks.

"Bit of Orange" --- SOLD

This was so much fun to paint. I am feeling much more confident about what I need to put down first, second, etc. For this one, I put down the blue shadow first, then a bit of of the shadowed parts of the vase. Then I put in the darkest of the flowers parts, then lighter and lighter to the lightest of the flower parts. Then I put in the background, again from darkest to lightest, cutting into the flowers with that nice blue-gray. Ok, so the vase is leaning just a bit - and that's what I get for not getting the drawing right first! In real life, the orange flowers just pop - more subdued in this picture.

"Peekaboo" --- SOLD

Every once in a while I finish a painting, step back, and can't believe I did it. This is one. It's funny too because when I was framing it with my viewfinder, I wasn't crazy about the composition. I'm glad I painted it anyway. I'm really happy with it. It seems - sophisticated, though I'm not sure why I feel that way.

Speaking of viewfinders - I highly recommend using them. Mine are just small peices of cardboard with holes cut in them. It's important to get the proportions right, and the holes should be relatively small (my 6x8 is a couple inches wide) so you can get exactly what you want framed in it. It REALLY helps with composing, and really cripples your process if you don't - you end up guessing where things go instead of planning it out. I'm all for planning.

"Green Cabbage" --- n/a

It turns out cabbage is a real challenge to paint. I didn't think it would be easy, but I didn't think it would be this hard either. My husband says there's a big difference between what I think is fun and interesting to paint, and what other people want to buy and hang in their house. I guess that's something, as business-people, all us artists have to think about. That is, if we want to eat. But every once in a while I just have to paint something challenging for me, and hope someone else appreciates it as an image.

"Red Delicious" --- SOLD

With this one I wanted to experiment with: 1. a composition with just one thing in it, 2. the edges of that thing, and 3. the variation in color of the background. What, me, pick just one thing? -Never- I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though the apple seems kind of lonely.

So, what I learned is: 1. having one thing in a composition leaves that thing kind of lonely, 2. if I paint past the edges with one color (red, in this example) and then cut back in with the other color (green-ish here) it produces this kind of edge, and 3. As long as the value is correct and the color is relatively close, I can put all kinds of color bits in with another (as with the bits of purple and yellow and blue in the green).