Chaperoned

See, the flower and the apple are in love, but they can't be trusted alone, so the brown bottle is chaperoning. And what's the fork there for you ask? Uhhhh...

Nothing To See Here

What are these sneaky flowers doing with this innocent apple? The flowers look sweet but their showiness is suspicious to me. Why are they making so much noise, I wonder. And what does the plate have to do with it all? Hmmm....

Dinghies - SOLD

I snapped this photo in Maine last year. For most of my time there it was gray and drizzly, but we got one morning of sunshine and I took advantage of it.

My friend Tricia took photos at the party last night and has kindly shared them with me. I just posted them here on my Studio blog.

Kid Paint - SOLD

I set my son up to paint the other day with some watercolors. When he was done he brought me the little bowls to wash, which all had just a tiny bit of paint left over. It suddenly occured to me - dude, these are cool - I could paint these! Duh. Sometimes the coolest stuff is right in front of me and I don't even think to paint it. I vow to keep my eyes more open.

Keaton - SOLD

Happy Mother's Day to all you fellow mom's out there! This is a painting I did last week of my nephew, Keaton. When Keaton was two I was watching him one day and he saw some ant bites on my son's legs. He said "what happened?" I said, "oh, he got bit by some ants." He thought for a few minutes and then said "Aunt Carol bites?" I still get a kick out of that. I hope Keaton's mom is having a wonderful day!

Let Us In Already - SOLD

The dogs above belong to my stepdaughters and their mom. Maya, the star, proved very photogenic. Can you tell it's hot already here in Texas?

But not tonight. Tonight, for my party, the weather was perfect! Cool and dry. I gave my husband the task of taking pictures and unfortunately he took VERY few and only of just a few of our visitors (I mean, where am I, David?!), at the beginning of the evening. I guess he was too busy visiting. I want to thank all of you who came, and all who wrote wishing you could come. It means a lot to me to be surrounded by such kind, supportive folks. And no, this is not just the wine talking. : )

Yellow Scattered - SOLD

Lately I've switched pretty exclusively to the Ampersand gessoboards. I personally LOVE the smooth surface (though it took some getting used to and does NOT work well with bristle brushes, in case you want to try them out). I've got a bunch of Raymar panels in varying sizes that I'd like to replace, so I am offering them for half what I got them for. I don't want to mess with shipping them, so I'm hoping I'll have some takers at my party tomorrow. They're great panels, especially for starting out. I used them for years, and was always very happy with both the panels and the service at Raymar.

Sittin in the Shade - SOLD

This is another car scene from the Gold King Mine in Jerome, AZ.

Easter Bunch - SOLD

I took my son, Jacob, to an easter event in our small town a few weeks ago. It was overcast for most of the time, but I just couldn't resist snapping a few shots of these 3 girls. They went everywhere together. And those bunny ears ...

Odd Company - SOLD

I've been saving this very cool green bottle for the perfect moment. It was a gift from a student, and I am very grateful to add it to my collection. Thank you!

Value Study - SOLD

This is my example painting for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge! It's a value study and I've arranged it so I have a dominant value (value that takes up the most room in the painting), a secondary value, and a smidge value (smallest amount). Dominant = mid value, Secondary = light, and Smidge = dark. See the value challenge to learn more.

Empty Pool - SOLD

The pool I've been lazing around this afternoon was, thankfully, NOT empty. But there were stripes on the towels. : ) Tomorrow is the first day of my workshop here in Sedona. Updates soon ...

Egg-centric - SOLD

This workshop (in Atlanta) had the complete opposite space issue than the one previous to it - we had more than enough. So much I had to whistle sometimes to get their attention. In the photo below you can see the space I used for demos in front, and all my kids ranged throughout the room.

Below are my demos from class, including one where they took bets to see how few strokes I could use to paint a pinky/red knockout rose. I think the total was 47 (for those in the know, please correct me if I'm wrong).

Here are of my few kids looking awfully serious. This was during the 5-minute value exercise, so they were concentrating, understandably.

And here is the whole, silly group! I told the one hiding I wouldn't call her out on it, so I won't. And I'm not one to break a promise. Nope, not a peep from me. I won't even mention it.

It was a great 3 days!!

All About Me - SOLD

nfs

I thought I'd drop into cyber-world for a minute today to post my self-portrait for the Daily Paintworks "All about Me" Challenge! I've been teaching the last couple of days and as usual am completely exhausted at the end of each day. Thank goodness for wine is all I can say. But, about this painting above, I was outside one day taking pictures of my paintings for my blog and I thought, maybe we should have a self-portrait challenge - I think I'll take a picture for my reference. So I turned my camera around, clicked off a few of my most normal faces, and painted my favorite. I'm quite happy with the result. I think I'll hang it on the wall in my studio as a reminder to never take myself too seriously!

Pile of Sweet - SOLD

You've heard the deal about ... if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be. Well, 2 of my top choices, both still alive, would be Karin Jurick and Neil Hollingsworth. So tonight's dinner was a dream come true! I forgot my camera or else I would have gotten a picture with them to prove it. Two of the nicest, most down to earth people in the world, and both AMAZING artists!! I am so lucky.

Upon Closer Inspection - SOLD

Somehow we made it through the mid-week slumps - ok, so I had to threaten time-outs a few times - but we made it. And I saw some real breakthroughs, which for a teacher is the best feedback I could receive.

DAILYPAINTWORKS update: We will be opening the site up for general membership (on the all artists & today's art pages, & your own gallery/store page (see mine), for $9.95/mo) with access to auctions (free up to 4th re-listing, then 50 cents & 3% of winning bid) on June 14th. Read more about it.

For Me? - SOLD

So my class here in Sedona finished up yesterday. My husband and son went with me, and I got a photo from the night we all went out to dinner together. Who's the star here?

Below is one of my demo paintings from last week (sold). A couple of my students found these at a local thrift store. One even wore them ... but could only stand a few minutes of the torture. But they made for a fabulous still life setup.

Plums on Tissue - SOLD

I've been hesitant to announce that I'm in Sedona for an extra week painting with friends because ... well, frankly, at this point, I'm 2 for 7. Meaning of the 7 paintings I've done so far, I've not wiped 2. Sigh. It's such an overwhelmingly beautiful place, and I'm struggling. But I'm having an absolute blast with my friends, drinking LOTS and LOTS of wine, and getting just a little sunburned and bug bit. Tomorrow we're off to Jerome for a healthy dose of old trucks. I have a feeling my odds will be a little better there. Photos coming ...

Happy Monday - SOLD

Have you ever received a gift completely unexpectedly? On a random day, for no reason? I felt this painting really invoked that feeling. "What's this for?" "No reason." "But today isn't a special day." "Yes it is, it's Monday - Happy Monday!"

Hogging the Spotlight

With these flowers I was really trying to suggest the 3 dimensions with some fairly broad strokes first, and then redefine them from the outside. I feel I've gotten a little too picky with them lately. I love the loose feel of them.