Attitude

16"x20" acrylic

I am back from traveling and ready to paint!  This is a demo for a beginners class at the Chaffee Art Center.   Everyone had a good time and some really nice paintings came out of it.  I focused on creating the design using geometric shapes and how to create varying brushwork.  When I do these demos I don't feel like I am painting subject matter that is most exciting to me, rather I try and choose a few things that offer teachable moments and subjects that are interesting and simple enough to not be intimidating.  I am still refining how I do this; the learning curve for me seems to be infinite!  On another note, I went to Washington, D.C., a city of abundant free museums and excellent artwork!

To purchase this painting click here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Rooster

16"x20" acrylic

This is a painting I did in planning for the class I am teaching June 12 at the Chaffee Art Center.  I went pretty abstract with the front lower and right sides, with the suggestion of foliage.  I planned it out mathematically first which was different and fun.  Click here for the demo slideshow.

To purchase this painting click here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Patterned Pears

8"x8" acrylic

This painting was inspired by Nancy Colella's patterned painting exercises.  I am not sure I got it right, but it was fun to try and I do like the graphic effect.  The idea is to flatten the colors and values so that they are represented by a specific shape and then use lines to add compositional interest.  I think I will try this again tomorrow.

To purchase this painting click here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Lobster Buoys

8"x8" oil

I have not painted as much as I would like but I have been artistically busy.  I went to the Vermont Arts Council retreat for 2 days this week on the invitation of the Director, Carol Driscoll, of The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center and not only got to stay the very cool Grand Isle Lake House, but also got to meet and see how the minds of some very smart and creative people work.  I did a demo for the Chaffee Art Center Open Studio event this past weekend.  So my question is:  how loose is too loose?  In the above painting, I kept it very loose because I wanted to pack up and go home.  The environment was challenging for me because there were some significant distractions,  I thought about working on it some more in my studio, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it as is.  I know what I painted (lobster buoys hanging from a rack which also holds an inverted row boat).  At first I was really interested in the shadows and light falling across the rowboat, but then the dancing shapes of the buoys just looked so cool to me that cut loose of the highlights on the boat.  I also thought that more detail would only confuse the composition.  Anyway, I would love to know what you think!

To purchase this piece go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here

To sign up for my blog (go to the right column and enter your email address in the 3rd box down)

or to leave a comment go here

You will not receive junk mail or your address will not be given out...ever!

To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Memorial Day

As I promised on my blog and Facebook page I am giving away 3 abstract paintings this month. I printed up the names of folks who signed up for my newsletter and put those in one pile. Another pile was for those of you who liked my Facebook Fanpage or Friended me, and finally if you made a comment on my blog, or subscribed to it, you were entered for the third give-away.  I took all of the names and randomly drew one for each painting.  Unbelievably when I drew the name for the newsletter, it was ME! Seriously, I forgot I was the first person to sign up for my own newsletter and I won!  Well obviously that won't work, so I disqualified myself, and all my relatives (sorry).  Next time I am going to use one of those services that chooses names randomly! So, here are the winners:  Scott Garren,  the next one is Celia Blanco, and finally, the last painting goes to Linda McBain.  Thanks you for participating and I hope you enjoyed my newsletter!

I am auctioning a painting to aid Oklahoma tornado recovery efforts.  Go here to see painting or to bid.

Queue

8"x10" oil

I have been busy (who isn't) having my biannual panic attack about having too much stuff and needing to purge.  It is easy to avoid the process because it is so time consuming and there's no tangible benefit until everything is organized, at the dump or donation shop.  Art supplies are my worst offense because I always think I need everything.  My big goal (along with the millions of drawers, closets, cabinets, etc) is to really ruthlessly clean my studio and set it up for maximum utilization as well as aesthetics.  I thought saying it out loud (aka blogging about it) would make it seem more doable but in actuality, I am feeling the panic more acutely!!!!   I  picked it up and it is already organized, and I got a bunch of boxes for the sorting/purging part....then...... I painted this quick acrylic as a reward.  Purging comes next week!  Speaking of next week, if you live in the area, I have a painting class Wednesday night at the Chaffee Downtown...come down and have some fun!
This is Vermont's Open Studio weekend.  Hope everyone has a great time this holiday weekend.  What are you doing?

To buy this painting click here.

By the way, Sunday is the last day to enter my triple painting give away!  This is how:

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here

To sign up for my blog (go to the right column and enter your email address in the 5th box down)

  here

You will not receive junk mail or your address will not be given out...ever!

To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Vingnette

I got my good camera back from the shop and this is a much better image of yesterday's painting.  I decided to post this one separately so I would have  reminder of the importance of good photography!  Instead of painting this afternoon, I sat in the sun with a friend and "chilled" away a few hours and then ran a couple of errands (getting my camera).  I loved not accomplishing many "things."  I am not painting tomorrow because I am going to Boston with artist friends to see the Michelangelo exhibit!!!  and, in the "ya just got to keep on trying" category I was finally able to put my little demo slide video on the sidebar of my blog! Yeah!

To Purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here

To sign up for my blog (go to the right column and enter your email address in the 5th box down)

  here

You will not receive junk mail or your address will not be given out...ever!

To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Vignette

7.5"x7.5" oil

This is by-far the worst photo I have posted.  "Why bother posting it?" you ask.  Well I am honestly feeling overwhelmed with all the computer related things I am having to learn to make progress, and to get a good photo I need to learn a whole lot more!  I am in "sitting behind the computer" twilight zone!  So I really like this painting and I will re-photograph it.  It is a study in greens and they are all different, and so are the yellows and the reds!  It is actually much more interesting than it looks with lots of subtleties and variations.  Ugh!  Oh well...greens are special...they require attention and work and I really wanted to figure them out.  I am not done with this theme, but I learned that cadmium yellow light is a great mixing color, where Indian yellow makes most greens look a bit orangish.  Green Gold can be accomplished by mixing Sap green and Cadmium Yellow light.  Phthalo Green (Blue Shade) and Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) are very versatile and a lot of fun.  I also learned that doing abstracts is not easy or without some frustration!  Have I bored you yet?  If not, tell me what you know about greens!

Difficulties of trying to be a techie

So...I am doing Leslie Saeta's 30 day marketing challenge.  Today she showed us how to re-size YouTube videos to put on our blog so we can show examples of demos, etc.  So I figured out the re-sizing part, but when I tried to get my video to show, a different one came up: "Ali G On the Environment."  I watched it...he is a British rapper-comedian and it is quite funny so I decided to leave it until I can figure out what I am doing wrong.  If you have any insight please let me know!
And, once again, I am giving away 3 paintings so enter to win one of them by:

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here

To sign up for my blog (go to the right column and enter your email address in the 3rd box down)

or to leave a comment go here

You will not receive junk mail or your address will not be given out...ever!

To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

These are the three paintings:

Each painting is 5"x7" oil on panel (unframed)

Together Alone

If you think this looks a lot like the painting I posted yesterday, you would be right!  This is a larger version I did as a demo for a class.  I also did two of these for a (dated) challenge for Daily Paintworks to do two paintings that are the same but different.  This one I painted in acrylic first very quickly to lay down the local colors, then I applied oil alla prima.  Which one do you like better?  I haven't decided what I am going to do with this painting yet.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 
Here are the two paintings side by side.  The first one is actually 1/2 the size of the second.

Alone Together

8"x10" oil

What kind of paintings do you like? I have been thinking about all the different things I do, and my favorites run the gamut of subject matter. "Alone Together" This was a oil practice demo I did for a recent painting class of beginners painting in acrylic. I also did one in class in acrylic on a larger canvas. 

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

 To purchase this painting go here.

Snack Time

8"10" oil Commission SOLD

It was the perfect weather day. I did some gardening, and really should have claimed it a not "sick day" and just go for a hike....but no...I stuck to it and got caught up on a few things. This painting is a commission based on a previous painting I did. The growler is occasionally filled with one of Vermont's famous micro brews and if you drop by, my husband would gladly share it with you!

Ready, Set, Go!

8"x10" acrylic

This is the determined "Tom Boy" Princess (is Tom Boy PC???)!   Look good and ride fast!  She reminds me of Pippi Longstockings a bit!  To purchase this painting go here. I painted this while visiting my mom who is also a painter.  She paints in acrylics so I did too. Here is an example of her work:

Finally, I am giving away 3 paintings so enter to win one of them by:

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here

To sign up for my blog (go to the right column and enter your email address in the 3rd box down)

or to leave a comment go here

You will not receive junk mail or your address will not be given out...ever!

To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

These are the three paintings:

Each painting is 5"x7" oil on panel (unframed)

3 Painting Give Away

I am going to give away, not one, not two, but three abstract paintings!  One for signing up for my newsletter. One for subscribing to my blog (or if you leave a comment if you are already a follower) and one for "liking" me on Facebook.  The winners will be announced at the end of May, when my newsletter comes out.  Here is where you go to enter:

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here

To sign up for my blog (go to the right column and enter your email address in the 3rd box down)

or to leave a comment go here

You will not receive junk mail or your address will not be given out...ever!

To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

These are the three paintings:

Each painting is 5"x7" oil on panel (unframed)

Tonal Jazz

5"x7" oil

This painting is the third in a group I have done.  I have decided to give away all three this month!  I will be posting a contest the next couple of days, so if you like abstracts, then keep an eye on this.  All three paintings were the result of color studies.  This one is actually a study in mixing grays and each gray on this piece is made from a different mixture of colors, not including any color of black or gray.  I really enjoyed doing these and may continue with this abstract trend.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Landing

8"x10" acrylic

I spent the past week in NC with my family.  My mother is a painter and so it is always fun to paint with her.  We painted several days, including once with her "painting group."  I don't take my tools when I travel there, so I rely on her paints, canvases, brushes and set up.  I took my ipad with images I wanted to paint but found that distracting.  I need to spend some time with it figuring out how to delay the "sleep" mode and how to brighten the screen.  I like painting on slick panels so canvas always throws me a bit.  Acrylics are great, but they dry so fast, and my mom paints with colors she likes, which are different than what I am used to.  The brushes...well, my mom does beautiful work, but she likes bristle brushes and she scrubs the paint into the canvas so her brushes are atrocious! She will admit this as well!  Anyway, I did get this little piece done.

To purchase this painting go here.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Valentine's Day

6"x6" oil

To purchase this painting go here.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Mind Boggle

6"x6" oil

To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Barrier To Perception

4"x6" oil

To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Undecided

6"x6" oil

To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Lessons with Matisse

6"x6" oil

To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Femme Fatale

5"x7" oil

To purchase painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Finding the Story (Blue)

8"x8" oil

To purchase painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Family Tragedy

8"x8" oil

To purchase painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Strawberry Trio

4"x4" oil

I plan on eating a lot of these very soon...organic and fresh!  Go here to see my May newsletter.

To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Between Games

5"x7" oil

I took a chance with this one in the composition....I could have fitted her nicely into the center somewhere and defined what she was leaning against, but I thought it would be interesting to make it edge to edge, like she is leaning against the side of the painting.  I am sure this breaks some rule, but I found it to be fun.  I really loved painting this and am happy with the results!

To Purchase this painting go here.

A newsletter will be published today so:

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

I was interviewed on pegtv's art show...it is about 1/2 hour long...  if you want to look at it go here    then, you have to click on "PEGTV 15 talk shows"  the "Arts Show with Christine" is the 3rd one down (the volume on my mike is a little loud) 

The Circus

8"x10" oil

Something I have learned about myself, when I am overly stimulated visually, it is hard for me to paint.  I found this to be true after visiting Las Vegas for 2 weeks for the purpose of painting, and also after attending the circus last week.  This painting is a result of that visit, and although I am happy with the final result, the process was a bit painful.  I have also come to the conclusion that I can't paint when my grand children are visiting.  I am way too distracted!

To Purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Painted Jeans

Canvas is not the only painting surface!  I had these old jeans that were covered in paint so I decided to just add some more.  Not exactly a painting, but I used paint and a brush!  The colorful pink legging is my 1 year old granddaughter.

Garlic

5"x7" oil

The current DPW challenge is to do white on white.  The tricky thing about doing an almost all white painting is getting the values correct.  I wanted the light on the plate to be warm and the tablecloth to be cooler. I did a stone carving workshop this weekend and my subject was a garlic bulb.  I am going to do a lot of garlic paintings to really get to know this subject...and maybe another sculpture or two.

 To purchase this painting click here

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Prelude in D Minor

5"x7" oil

This is another exploration of color and music inspired by Rachmaninoff.  I especially like the explosion of pink at the top center and the wavy lines.  I think I learn a lot in these playful pieces.  However, retention of my learning may be another issue....

 To purchase this painting click here

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Concerto in C Minor

5"x7" oil

This past weekend I did a stone carving workshop.  It was a 2 day affair and I had every intention of finishing my piece in the 16 hours I devoted to it, but you know what they say about the best layed plans of mice and men.... The workshop was filled with interesting conversations about a myriad of topics including the connection between art and music.  This inspired me to do some color studies using music as my inspiration.  I am keeping a notebook (gessoed canvas paper) of my color mixes, which is a little tricky with oils since they dry so slowly.  I am covering each page with wax paper, which will further delay the drying time, but also preserve the mix.  As I do the color mixes, I also am doing a painting, like this first piece, in which I chose (after listening to a lot of music) Rachmaninoff's Concerto #2.  He wrote this concerto in 1900 after a serious spell with depression that lasted about 10 years.  He had completely given up music and then started therapy with Dr. Dahl who used the auto-suggestion statement, "You will begin to write your concerto.  You will work with great facility.  The Concerto will be of excellent quality."  The result, is that we now have this lovely piece of music.  It is interesting how many artists suffer from depression...I guess from trying to reach that intangible thing!

 To purchase this painting click here

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

The Gardners

6"x6" oil

This is surely a sign of spring.  The gardeners are out trying to get those seeds to come up quickly!  I made a little demo slide show of this.  You can see it here.

 To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

The Music Maker

6"x6" oil

If we could all be as brave and free as a little one banging away at the piano. I really want to learn to play the fiddle.  I heard on an interview on NPR the other day that for someone to be a professional classical violinist they need to start at 3 or 7 at the latest.  How can a 3 year old know what they want to do with their life?  I am a whole lot older than that and still figuring it out!  Well clearly I will never be a professional classical violinist, but I can still have fun like this baby.  I can make my own music, discover what a violin can do in the hands of a neophyte grandma, and learn a little on the way as well.  Thanks for looking at my work.  I hope you can hear the music.

 To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

The Dishwasher

6"x6" oil

These are not my favorite colors, but I really like the subject matter.  I am so drawn to interesting stances that folks make and I love painting kids.  This little guy loves washing dishes and is very meticulous about it right down to putting on his apron.  It really is like painting someone in a gallery looking at a painting, except the gallery is really a galley and the painting is really a reflection in the window. You can see some of my gallery viewers here.  One of my favorite artists, Karin Jurik, encouraged me to do these.

To purchase this painting go here.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Happy Days

5"x7" oil

I love the warm colors on this one.  This young man is as sweet and charming as he looks!  It seems a juxtaposition that he is in uniform and in a dangerous place. I posted this because his mom suddenly got sick and is in the hospital so we are praying for a quick recovery for her and safety for him.  It just seemed like an apropos posting after the events of yesterday.  Being in the NE and having family that works in Boston just makes it seem a bit more personal.  It is a good day to be grateful!

To purchase this painting go here.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here

A Young Artist's Demo

Click here to see why it is good to start young!

It's A Beautiful Day

5"x10" oil

This revised painting elicits memories of a wonderful painting trip hosted by my new friend Karen.
To purchase this painting go here.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here
To see my DPW gallery go here 

Getting a Tan 6"x6" oil

This is not a new painting but one I found in the organization of my photo files.  It is one of my favorite still life paintings and quite frankly I am surprised it has not sold!  I set it up on a bright, warm summer day outside when the light was strong and overhead.  I painted really fast to get the values down and capture the angles of the shadows.  I also like it because the pitcher has that mysterious dark hole and I made it when I was doing a lot of ceramics.  I don't think I still have it as I gave away a lot of the pieces I made.  Maybe I have subconsciously been holding on to this one and that is why it hasn't sold...but I am ready to clean out the closets so this one is available! I have to say, the warm colors are inspiring to me as I look out on yesterday's snow!  Hope you are having a "real" spring day!
To purchase this painting go here.
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here

A Pretend Dragon 5"x7" oil

This painting was a challenge for me for a lot of reasons.  I painted it from a photo that had 2 main values, predominately dark against bright white.  The colors were also a challenge because the house is a pale yellow and their clothes were black and gray (common colors for ski clothes).  My friend was going through some really tough medical issues at the time.  Her daughter encouraged her to put on her ski clothes and "pose" and just "pretend," hence the title.  Because she was feeling poorly at the time, the photo didn't reflect her beautiful spirit.  She is one of those people who sparkles and you hardly notice her actual features because her personality is what you see.  She is an athlete and a real optimist and all around fun, real person.  These are qualities you have to interpret when doing a portrait.  Her dog, Dragon, passed on since the photo was taken so this painting is dedicated to him.  I think a dragon is a great symbol of strength and power and those are the qualities that helped my friend Kim get through her trials. It is so encouraging to see her active, happy and rosy cheeked again! I need to tweak a few things, but it is mostly done.
SOLD
To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here

The Bird Tree 5"x7" oil

This is the second value study I added color to. This was so much different than the previous one I posted because color really helped define the spaces where the values were really close.  I kept the graphic feel but now the squirrel and bird pop out.  This painting was a lot of fun to do.  Adding color to the value study was like paint-by-number...which although all the art teachers regale the stunting power of these crafts, were quite fun to do and gave me a desire to understand how they were created.  What about you?  Did you do paint-by-number?
To purchase this painting go here.


To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here

Family Story Time 5"x7" oil

This was a value study I did a bit ago and decided to add color to it.  My value study was in 3 values and I tried to stick with that.  What I learned is that it is really easy to think a color is dark or light, but compared to the black, white, gray study, they weren't close.  I think I've got the values thing down and then I do an exercise like this and I see that I need to continue to work on this....maybe forever.  I like this painting because I think it has a good composition and I liked the original drawing.  I am reworking another painting that I just can't get quite right and I fear it is because my original drawing was not right.  I may never finish it, but trying to figure out the problem is also worthwhile.  I still need to correct my photography set-up because this looks more yellow than the original painting is.

To purchase this painting go here.


To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here

Up, Up and Away 16"x20" acrylic

I feel like I have been away from painting for a very long time.  I was very busy with technical aspects of art, and then life priorities stepped in to remind me that this is not the only important thing I do.  This painting is a work-up for a demo I will be doing on Wednesday for a painting class.  I am really conscience that they will mostly be beginner painters and I don't want to overwhelm them. I woke up thinking about hot air balloons and how stunning they are, and it occurred to me that this would make fun subject matter and each person can personalize their balloon and landscape.  I think it is pretty simple design that could be accomplished in a couple of hours.  What do you think?

To purchase this painting go here.

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here

Contemplation 16"x20" acrylic

This was a demo I did for a beginning painting group class.  I needed an image that could be completed on 16"x20" within 2 1/2 hours.  I thought long and hard about what to do and decided on this image but had some other images as examples, with a bird feeder instead of a person, or grape vines instead of flowers.  I got the idea for the composition of the flowers from painter Carolee Clark who does lovely, fun graphic images.  The class had a great time and everyone was happy with their creations which of course were entirely different from mine and each others'.

To purchase this painting click here .

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here

Fun In the Sun 6"x6" oil

This is one of the paintings that I found when organizing my photos.  I had posted an earlier version of it, then reworked it a bit and forgot to re-post it.  I am painting and will have new work to post later this week.  I have a couple more projects to complete, including creating a better set-up for photographing my work.  Sometimes the yellow lights play havoc on my images, so I need to find the balance...as I do in every aspect of my life.  I have put up my skis for the season and am thinking about gardening and summertime, so this beach scene really appeals to me.

To purchase this painting click here .

To sign up for my newsletter go here
To "like" my fanpage go here
To go to my website click here