"Two Green" --- SOLD

I read in a book a while back that that you should never do a still life from a 45 degree angle - that it makes the object(s) look like it's going to slide right off the painting. Lately I have found that I can get a much more dynamic view this way, so I am questioning this "rule". Any thoughts on this?

"In Your Face" --- SOLD

Still the same big tomato but a different vantage point. I'm envious of those who can make objects look like they're going to reach out and grab you. This tomato may not grab you, but it's at least a bit 3-D, yeah?

"Tomato-ettes" --- SOLD

We signed up this year with a local organic farm that delivers a box of vegetables each week. This week we got a whole bunch of these tiny orange tomatoes. I love the color as they wander into the shadow of the large tomato. The light shines through the large tomato leaving red on the small ones. I love it.

"Mondrian Tomato" --- SOLD

I thought of a great new diet idea for artists: paint all your food before you eat it. Either we'd all learn to paint really fast, or we'd die of starvation. : )

"Piggy Bank" & the last photo from Canada --- SOLD

I did this pig before I left and completely forgot to post it.

Last night was the student show. Most of my class was there so we got some pictures (see below). It's been a great class and today is the last day. As always I am ready to get home but sad to leave my new friends! Thanks, ya'll, for making it great, eh?!

"Apple #854" & more workshop photos --- SOLD

Ok, I haven't painted 854 apples, but sometimes I feel like I have. : ) This apple was my demo yesterday. I give my students first dibs ... and at this point I've still nothing to put on ebay. Below are a couple of photos from this week's class. There are 17 students, the most I've ever had on my own. They say herding artists is like herding cats, but so far I haven't had nearly that much trouble with this group. : )



My kids, hard at work.

More Canada Photos

Here's one of my demos from last week - a dark blue cup with white dots. It was a tough one and I didn't manage to get a great photo. My students bought up every one of my demos. I ended up teaching on Saturday as well with just a few students (since I missed Monday). For lunch, since there were just a few of us, we drove into town and had a very nice lunch. Below is a photo of us outside the Rusty Pelican (Jim, Judy, me & Shelley). Shelley was hesitant to smile much as she thought the other photo I posted of her made her look at bit manic. : ) She is probably the most generous person I've ever met as she invited me back to her house on the lake to relax on Sunday with her & her family. I had a lovely time and she was so nice as to send me back to Red Deer with an extensive care package - enough food for the rest of the week! Thank you Shelley and family!



Tomorrow I start a new class with 17 students. I just hope the students are as fun and enthousiastic as the first group!

EMAIL TROUBLE

I am having trouble with my email. I can receive it but I can't reply or send any email out at all. I have one more week here in Canada - one more workshop - so please bear with me. I won't be able to mail out any paintings until I get back either, as I can't send the invoices to my husband. I will be back on the 2nd of August and will be getting stuff out in the few days after that. Thank you for your patience!!! -Carol

More Canada Workshop Photos

My students have purchased all of my demos so far, and I didn't photograph them in time to post, so here are more photos from the workshop. Above: my kids busy at work.



Above: a few of my new buds. There are about 12 workshops going on at once here this week at Red Deer College during their "Summer Series", and there will be all new ones next week. Every Thursday they have a student show to share all the work with everyone here. These are some of my students at the show, admiring all the great art.



Above: some of my student's paintings in the show. It's a terrible photo - they were sitting on a window sill with tons of light coming in from behind. I couldn't get them all because there were people in the way.

"Codependent" --- SOLD

I was out all evening with my students and am back with enough time to post just this before I collapse from exhaustion. I did this before I left home - a flower from my garden. It's a very delicate little flower, and was closed up before I finished the painting. I left it in my studio and the next day when I went up it was open again. It opened and closed for a few days and then the pedals fell off right before I left for Canada.

I am having some technical difficulties with my email. I can get it but I can't send it. So if you've sent me something in the last few days and are wondering why I haven't responded ... well, that's why. Please be patient with me.

"Family Matters" & Canada Workshop --- SOLD

BUY NOW $90

Well, I had quite a time getting here to Canada. My flight was late getting into Dallas and my connecting flight was clear across the airport (the Dallas airport is GIGANTIC!). I ran all the way but still didn't get there in time. The airline couldn't get me on another flight until the next day, so I stayed over in Dallas one night and ended up here yesterday at 4 in the afternoon on my first day of class, quitting time! So I met my class this morning and am going to squeeze a 5-day workshop into 4 days. Below is the view from the dorm room where they put me up. The trees are gorgeous. It gets dark here at 10 pm!!!



This is the huge room where I am teaching. I took this before all the students arrived this morning. We had a great first day and more to come.



And here are a few of the students in action. By the way, the painting above is one I did before I left. I'll post more from here later. Now I need some major sleep, eh?!

"Magic Carpet" --- SOLD

This is a tomato from my mother's garden. I picked it myself and got it home before the stem started to dry out, which is quite a change from the tomatoes I get at the store.

Tomorrow I leave for Canada for 2 weeks. I'll have my computer so I'll continue to post. In fact I've just purchased a new backpack that my laptop will fit into. It also comes out easily, which was my main objective. When you go through security anymore at the airport you've got to remove your computer from the case, in addition to taking off shoes, taking out cameras, removing coins, etc. Ugh. It's rather embarrassing to hold up the entire line. :{ Perhaps I should think about slip on shoes ... hmmmm

"Stacked" --- SOLD

I have many, many cups, and they all get regularly rearranged as I pull them out and put them back on their shelves. These 3 got stacked together by chance and I just loved the color combination.

I discovered the scrapbooking section at Hobby Lobby the other day. They have tons and tons of papers ... some with patterns and some with solid colors. I found quite a few new solid colors to use as backgrounds that I didn't have before. This new teal was among them.

David Lobenberg, a great artist/teacher in CA, left a comment on my blog today pointing me to New England artist, Colin Page. I did and his work is outstanding! Check it out.

"Yard Bug" --- SOLD

I loved the old broken down VW in the yard of this country home. This is the last of my run of landscapes. I plan to do them more often after this. At least as often as I can get out ... which is totally unpredictable with a 3-yr-old in tow. : )

I'm off to Canada this Sunday for 2 weeks. I've got 2 back-to-back workshops at Red Deer College in Alberta. Speaking of workshops ... I've recently added a 2-day December workshop in San Antonio, and a 5-day January workshop in Salado, TX. My entire schedule is listed over to the right.

"All Downhill" --- SOLD

This is my last painting from Inks Lake. It was the first composition where I put my viewfinder up and immediately had it. Where the others were a struggle and I had to keep mentally taking things out and moving things. This was perfect.

Now I'm off to do today's German lesson. : )

"Goin' Home" --- SOLD

Sally and I got one last painting session in on Sunday before she had to dash off to the airport & back to Florida. This was a scene close to my house. We live in the outskirts of Austin, in a neighborhood but very close to "the country". I have 2 more landscapes to share, but they were both slightly damaged coming out of my wet painting box. I'll post them as soon as I can fix them.

"Owees" --- SOLD

My son calls anything with thorns "owees," including this prickly pear cactus.

Thank you all for the great response about easels!! I really appreciate the feedback. Unfortunately the comments were about half for EasyL and half for Open Box M. Soooo... I haven't decided yet what I'll do but I did get my husband thinking about the idea of making one (when I told him how expensive they are). He is the handiest guy I know, and if anyone can make it, he can. But there's also a time crunch, AND he has a full time job. So we'll see.

"Windy" --- SOLD

This spot was very near the spot from yesterday's post, just further up the hill. It was a very windy day, especially up there, so it was a challenge to remain sane long enough to finish this.

Until about 4 years ago I painted exclusively from photos. Then I met Gordon Fowler who recommended I try plein air painting and lent me a Guerrilla Box to use. I fell in love with painting from life and the next time I saw Gordon he said the box was mine! I've used it ever since, but I am now considering buying a lighter one, especially for my upcoming trip to Germany. I am looking at either an Easy-L or Open Box M. There is a fairly large price difference between the two and I am wondering if anyone has any advice/experience with either, or another they like better. Thank you in advance for your input.

"Pink Rock Hill" --- SOLD

When I painted this the sun was directly over-head, I was standing on granite (hence the pink rock) and there was no shade nearby. I have an umbrella that pokes into the ground and it was a no-go with all the granite, so I, and my painting (& palette), were directly in the sun. I'm sure there are rules against this in the plein air world (please let me know if there are). I definitely thought the granite hill was going to be lighter than it is here, but otherwise it's pretty much what I thought I was painting. : )

"Inks Lake" --- SOLD

We had a wonderful time at Inks Lake. Sally is a fabulous painter, a fabulous camping/painting buddy, and a fabulous person in general. She was like an old friend by the second day. This isn't to say we had no mishaps. We battled wind, ants, intense heat ... chased umbrella's, nursed sunburns, dragged our painting gear for MILES (ok, maybe not that far), and cried over squished paintings ... but it was all made worth it by a couple dips in the lake, an air-conditioned pop-up, and a few good paintings for both of us. This was my first painting, the only one I got with the actual lake in it.

"Resolved" --- SOLD

Here's another version of the pears, on a blue background. I'm posting this right before I run out the door for my camping/painting adventure! Ta ta and back on Friday.

"Face Off" --- SOLD

There is nothing more satisfying, for me, than putting down a few strokes, stepping back, and seeing a 3-dimensional object(s) appear 3-dimensional ... in 2-D. Pears are up there in the category of most satisfying. I'm not sure what it is about them, but I really enjoyed this. I was also trying for some glow, as there was some there in reality. Glow is tough because it's more cerebral than intuitive. I can see the glow, but only if I'm looking at the whole thing at once. If I look just at the background color, I no longer see it. If that makes sense. : )

Tomorrow I am leaving for a 3-day camping/painting trip with a fabulous painter/blogger from Florida, SC Shisler. Hopefully we will both have some success. I'll post results on Friday when I get back, and perhaps one more still life before I leave tomorrow.

"Drei Birnen" --- SOLD

The title for this means "Three Pears," in German. I was trying to capture the bright light on the pears without exaggerating the drama. It was really satisfying to paint, and I enjoyed making the brush strokes a bit choppy.

"For You --- SOLD

Ok, I admit it, I originally got the gift painting idea from Karen Appleton, who does the most magnificent bows I've ever seen!

I just spent a lovely day with my extended family at a belated 4th of July party. The centerpeice for the table was a ceramic coil pot I made when I was a kid, which my beloved Grandma has kept all these years. There's no greater expression of love. Thank you, Grandma!

"For Me?" --- SOLD

It took me 3 tries to get this right. The first was on a teal background. The colors were amazing, but I just couldn't capture it. I'll try that again later. I was inspired to paint little packages when I was at the book store the other day and saw a shelf of little gold boxes of chocolates with green, polka-dot ribbon! For $20. I thought "yikes! I can make that myself, AND get some good chocolate, for much less." I thought I'd try some plain ribbon first. It was a good change of pace and a great challenge.

"Huddle" --- SOLD

I'm back on Ebay! I found a way around the problem, finally. Whew.

Thank you all so much for the overwhelming response concerning our Germany adventure. Today my husband bought a book on German and the checkout guy at Borders said "Sprechen sie Duetsch?" and he just froze! : ) It was so funny. He fumbled his way through it but I can tell you the same thing would have happened to me. We've been doing the tapes, and it's one thing to respond to a tape and another to respond to a human being. : ) This is going to be a trip!

"Private Party" --- SOLD

Because of a glich with Ebay (their glich) this painting is listed with ebid.com. Feel free to check out my feedback ratings on ebay (since I don't have any on ebid yet). Thank you for bearing with me through this!

Here is my second set of sewn stripes. I LOVED doing these white flowers against the dark stripes.

Personal news (nothing to do with painting): my husband was adopted from Germany when he was a baby and has just this last week found his birth parents. They are married to each other, which is quite rare to find in this situation, and because his birth father is quite old we are going to Germany to visit them soon (August). Until then we are trying to learn as much German as we can, as they speak no English. I feel like my head is going to explode with all the new vocabulary! Auf wiedersehen.

"Sugar" --- SOLD

Because of a glich with Ebay (their glich) this painting is listed with ebid.com. Feel free to check out my feedback ratings on ebay (since I don't have any on ebid yet). Thank you for bearing with me through this!

I meant to post the solo strawberry yesterday and this one today, but because of my problems with Ebay I'm doing them both at once. I found this sugar bowl at a junk/antique store recently, but not to paint. I thought it was just a cute little bowl. I filled it with sugar and put it in my kitchen. Later I was setting up a larger painting in my studio and it just needed something ... so I wandered around the house and - BAM - there was the sugar bowl, a perfect fit! I enjoyed painting it so much I did it again small.

"Strawberry-zilla" --- SOLD

IMPORTANT: I am having technical issues with Ebay. It's their problem but they tell me it will take 5-7 days to resolve. So, meanwhile I have researched other auction sites and have posted this painting on ebid.net. It is a reputable site so I don't anticipate any problems. Feel free to check out my feedback ratings on ebay (since I don't have any on ebid yet). Thank you for bearing with me through this!

The mystery of the paint gift was never solved - so I'll assume it was promotional (from M. Graham and co). I have been using it the past few days and like it but not more than my regular Utrecht paint. That may be because I'm used to the consistency of my regular paint - familiar with what it can do. The M. Graham paint is ... looser? It's more like warm butter, where my regular paint is a little stiffer. I find I can go a little thicker with my regular paint, which I like. But, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I am still experimenting with it and will report if my opinion changes.

"Hanging Out" --- SOLD

My son is asking a lot of questions these days. It started out with "What's that?" and now, depending on the answer to the first question, he asks what the thing is doing. So, if it's a tree, for instance, he says "what's the tree doing?". I say things like "the tree is growing," or "it's blowing in the wind." But he keeps asking, as if my answer isn't quite right, and after a while I hit my fallback answer which is "it's hanging out." For some reason he seems to be satisfied when things are just hanging out. Now he's getting into "why?". So, if he asks, "why are these strawberries hanging out?", can I in good conscience answer "they just are"?

"True Love" --- SOLD

I normally use a viewfinder that's about 2 inches sqaure, but wanted to zoom in on these cherries ... so I cut a much smaller viewfinder - about 1/2 inch square. It's very cozy. I find that it doesn't work on anything larger because if it's too close to my face the edges of the square get very fuzzy. Which reminds me of the time I did a self-portrait (at a recent workshop). I got a mirror and held the viewfinder up to frame my face. Unfortunately, all I could see in the mirror was the viewfinder. : ) Sometimes it takes me a minute.

"Rendezvous" --- SOLD

Sharon asked me today to share some about how I paint with a 3 yr-old running around. Well, I don't. : ) From the beginning I have painted only when he naps and (knock on wood) he still sleeps 2-3 hours/day. It's actually the perfect amount of time to do a small painting every day. I've also hired a sitter to come 2 days a week so I can do larger paintings for galleries. And ... sometimes I paint on the weekends when my husband can watch Jacob. In some ways I think I'm more productive now than before Jacob - since now there's no excuse - when it's time to paint, it's time to paint.

"Polka-dot Two Step"

BUY NOW $90

I am LOVING making my own fabric designs. Above are peppers on more stamped fabric, and below is the larger (20"x20") painting I did today, and the background fabric was created by cutting 2 colors into strips and sewing them together. It was a bit of work, but totally worth it. Tonight I went and bought a whole bunch of new colors for more stripes. Dude!

Today, in the mail, I received some M. Graham & Co. paints & medium. I didn't order it, so I'm a bit perplexed. There's no note, so if someone out there sent this to me, please let me know. If it's promotional, how did they find me? I'm not familiar with the company, but I'll try them out and tell you what I think.

"Two Hot" --- SOLD

I'm not sure what kind of peppers these are, but they spoke to me when I saw them at the store. I realize now that the shadow on the left is kind of jutty ... but it's how it was. Another juggle between what's real and what looks good and I may have dropped the ball. But I love the colors - the bright yellow-orange and the gray-purple ground.

"Cherry Rings" --- SOLD

Back to cherries now, and a new stamped fabric. And today, today I ventured into batik, and I won't even post my first attempt. Somehow it turned out so light as to be almost non-existent. : ) All art is a process.

"One Last Goodbye" --- SOLD

This is my last rose attempt ... for now. My hero in the rose painting department is John Michael Carter. He is a master of them (among other things) and someday, when my boy is older, I will be able to take a workshop from him. Until then ...

"An Offer" --- SOLD

For this rose I used a different light. The last two were spot-lit with a "daylight" spotlight that is actually fairly yellow compared to ... the light I used here which is VERY white. I tried a slightly different approach here and waited to put the darks into the flower at the very end. This worked well I think but it was really hard to get a feel for it as I went along. I had to try hard to get the lighter values right as I went, and to trust that it would work out in the end.

"Desert Rose" --- SOLD

I know I keep saying this, but roses are freakin' hard to paint! The next two are going to use a different light on the rose. The light I used on this one shined ... shone? ... right through the petals making the whole thing glow. While pretty, it made it even more challenging.

"A Rose Note" --- SOLD

This one was more difficult to paint than it maybe looks. Getting the shadow to line up just right with the background stripes ... and then the rose on top of that ... yikes. But I am really pleased with how it turned out ... especially the glass (it's simple but you can tell what it is!). I painted several more small roses today as I had the whole day to paint and didn't feel like doing a large one. It's a good thing too because by the end of today the roses were done for. I'll be posting them going forward - they show how I experimented with techniques in rose painting. It was really fun!

"Distressed" --- SOLD

Let me just state for the record that roses are tough to paint (if you want a challenge, paint a rose). I tried a million compositions before I found this one. The shadow really spoke to me, and the color of the rose against this background. This evening I stamped more fabric. I still haven't tackled the batik, even though I have all the materials. I have to admit - I'm a bit daunted by it. I know once I get started I'll be fine ... but it's the getting started I'm having trouble doing. : )

"Unreal Tomatoes" & "Back to Back" --- SOLD

I did these 3 paintings last week. When I started the tomatoes above they looked fine. I started with the most saturated oranges and went darker. When I started in on the background suddenly the tomatoes seemed unbelievably glowy. (yes, glowy is a word) They WERE fairly lit, but perhaps not quite this much. I then moved onto this one...



...and re-learned a valuable lesson. On days when I do a large painting first, I tend to feel a bit ... spent ... for lack of a better word, and any small ones I do afterwards are generally less inspired. : ) The painting below is the one I did before these 2. It's a bit more traditional than what I generally do, but the cheese was begging to be painted from this angle, and everything else just fit into place around it. I am including 2 details pictures below it.




(detail)


(detail)