"Orange Light" --- SOLD

This is from a couple of weeks ago. I didn't get to paint today because I used my son's nap to go and look for a new frame stock for my larger paintings. I am realizing that frames are very personal. What I choose may not work for anyone else. But it's got to work for the gallery, at least. But it's complicated. Can I find a style that works for every painting? And how much do I spend on a potentially thrown-away frame? And do I add that to the cost of the painting? Do I double that amount to account for the gallery's cut? Argh.

"Asparagus" --- SOLD

I love painting asparagus! This is the second batch I've painted - the first was Tuesday (in a larger painting). Who knew!? And those blue rubber bands - man oh man. : )

I'm off camping for the weekend with my family. I'll be back on Sunday. Have a great weekend!

"Apples & Oranges" --- SOLD

This is a commission I did recently. Yes, I had the title in mind before I painted it. : ) I did a larger painting today, and no small one.

"Cut in Half" --- SOLD

I realized a few days ago that when I save an image for the web (as a .jpg) it noticeably reduces the saturation of the colors. Man! What really bugs me is that I've been saving images this way for years and I JUST noticed it! But then once I was on a friend's computer looking at my blog and thought they were way too saturated. I suppose we can't account for everything. Sigh.

This orange bell pepper was abandoned by one of my students at my workshop last weekend. It was kind of old and getting wrinkled on the outside, so I cut it in half to paint. I actually had a whole bag-full of produce leftover from the workshop. I painted what I could and juiced the rest. I hate to waste. : ) Only one apple remains. Oh, and I still had glass in my shadow box, hence the little highlights on the undersides of the pepper pieces. Because the peppers are translucent the light shone through them and made their shadows "red".

"Herding Slices" --- SOLD

One of my son's favorite movie's is "Babe." If you're not familiar with it, (as I AM) the main character, a pig, ends up herding sheep. In shifting these slices around for a few days now I started to see myself as a herder of sorts. A still life herder you could say.

"Backlit Orange" --- SOLD

I was fiddling around with these orange slices trying to find a nice composition with the light coming from the side (as usual). I leaned forward to get something beside my box and glanced in to see this. They were just glowing! I'm sure I didn't do them any kind of justice, but I like how it turned out.

"Lemon Reflections" --- SOLD

I used foil under the lemon slices to get this effect, and a purple sheet of paper back behind the setup to get the purple bits in the ground. I got the idea/was inspired by this painting by Will Klemm who shows in the same gallery as me here in Austin.

"Lemon Boats" --- SOLD

Not much to say about this one except that I am really enjoying the new brush. I think they need to make paint brushes like tooth brushes - with that little blue part that fades - and when it fades to half you need to replace it. Otherwise I get cheap and my painting suffers.

"2 Bells and a Cup" --- SOLD

I'm such an idiot. Here I am AGAIN working with old brushes that are a pain in the you know what to use. And just putting up with it. Today I pulled out a new brush I had forgotten about and -WHEW- what a difference! I can make crisp edges again. And instead of scrubbing in colors because my brush is stubby, each stroke is full and a joy to put down. This is me being happy! : )

"Practically Six" --- SOLD

When I set up these red apples against the green ground I thought "now that's an eye twister" but then because of the way I had the glass and some paper beneath it I got this line of turquiose along the bottom row. As soon as I saw that I knew I had to paint it. It was a fun one.

Tomorrow I am giving a demo/talk to the Daughters of the American Revolution. The demo piece will be given to someone in the audience, so I won't be able to post it. Wish me luck.

"Demo Apples" & "Self Portrait" --- SOLD

It always takes me a couple of days to recover from a workshop, but I'm back now. Above is my demo peice from the first day. Below is my demo from the third day - a self-portrait. I was completely out of my comfort zone on this one, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. There was even a little live auction afterwards and I ended up selling it - a painting of ME - crazy!



Justin Clayton and Qiang Huang showed up on the last day of the workshop, fellow dailypaintworks painters. They are pictured here below, along with Karin and I.

Round Rock Workshop

Here are some students watching Karin's demo today. Everything's going splendidly, but I'm exhausted. Time to get some sleep.

"Four For Dinner" --- SOLD

I got ahead by a few days, so this was done a couple of days ago. The demo today turned out well and I will post it later once I get a good photo of it. The title for today's painting was given to me by my houseguest and fabulous painter Susan Carlin. Really - check her out!

Below is from Karin's demo today. I thought it would be interesting for you guys to see her starting a painting. It was AMAZING to see her paint this - spur of the moment - a photo taken by a student of a little girl painting with a huge shirt on. The workshop is going really well. Karin is a natural teacher.

"A Crazy Bunch" --- SOLD

I had a crazy bunch of artists over at my house tonight as a little welcome party for Karin Jurick. I just feel incredibly lucky to know so many wonderful people!

Our workshop starts tomorrow, and I've promised to post some pictures so watch out for them. If you're nearby and you'd like to attend the business portion (2-3 hours on Sunday at 1pm) come to the Williamson County Art Center in Round Rock. And if you let me know that you're coming I'll print out the material for you. Thanks! (cost is $25 to attend)

"Rad Reflections" --- SOLD

I am very happy with how this one turned out. I decided to paint fast and furious and thick. ThickER anyway - I paint fairly thin usually. And I just kept squinting at the shapes and colors and putting down what I saw ... and ... well ... it looks like radishes and radish reflections! Which is what it was - thankfully. : )

I had dinner tonight with Karin Jurick. She DROVE all the way here from Georgia for our workshop this weekend. She's way cool in person - this is going to be a great workshop!

"Let Him Fly" --- SOLD

I am not a sappy person. That established, I have to say this reminds me of my son - almost 3 - and how he is slowly discovering things on his own and venturing further and further from my side with confidence.

Yes, these are the same two peices of cantelope from yesterday. : ) I am happy to say I am fully motivated again - the break did me good.

"Cantelope 2" --- SOLD

I talk a lot in my workshops about the benefits of painting every day. There are so many: you become less emotionally involved with each painting; you are less fearful; you feel more free to experiment; you grow quickly; etc. But what I am now realizing is that you need down time too. Just like your body HAS TO sleep, your brain/creative side NEEDS time to process - to learn - to rest. I hit a wall with my painting last week, and I think it was because I was using every spare second to paint/work. I was pushing myself so hard to produce produce produce that I became a machine, and not a creative machine. So going forward, I may produce a little less, but hopefully what I do paint will be better - more inspired - and I will enjoy the process more. Here's to happy painting, and some down time too.

"Apple & Spoon" --- SOLD

I was on a run yesterday with my measuring spoons so I did an extra painting. Today I did a large painting of fruit (go figure). Sometimes I feel like a painting machine and I forget what motivated me to paint in the first place. Ok - I admit it - I feel like that now - so I've decided to take a little break so I'm nice and fresh for my workshop next week. I am going off to see my folks for the weekend and will be back Sunday. I finally get to glaze the pots I threw forever ago, and then my mom will fire them and THEN I can use them in my paintings! Wahoo!

"Measure Up" --- SOLD

Someone left a comment recently voting for one odd kitchen implement painting a week - I like it, and I'll do my best. I'll amend it though to "something different" once a week. Different than what I usually do. I love these measuring spoons and I enjoyed playing around with the composition and finding an interesting angle.

Check out this new artist on the daily painting scene: Cathleen Rehfeld. Also see her larger paintings. She's got a real flair for color and composition!

"Sunflower 1 & 2" --- SOLD

I've painted a lot of sunflowers lately. I did the one below first, then 3 large paintings with sunflowers, then this one above. The biggest thing I learned, in painting yellow, is that you've got to paint the lightest spots FIRST, before anything else, and then paint all the darker bits around it. If you try to go in with any light bits of yellow to make highlights, it doesn't work - they blend right in with whatever's already there.



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"Frontal Labotomy" --- SOLD

My husband came up with the title for this one. He's pretty proud of himself. You could say "bottle in front of me" or you could say ...

"Grape Light" --- SOLD

This is a magical bunch of grapes - I've used it in 3 paintings now within the last few days, believe it or not! To get this effect I shadowed part of it with a larger object (a cup in this case), that you can't see. I got the idea from a larger painting I just did where the cup IS in the painting (along with other things). I liked it so much I did this small one of just the grapes.

I am now being represented by a new gallery: Twinhouse Gallery in Atlanta GA. If you're in the area, it's a great gallery with a lot of fantastic artists, including Neil and Karen Hollingsworth and Karin Jurick. Check it out!