Music

6"x6" oil

This took me a bit to figure out the floor and finally I just decided to add a red rug and that seemed to pull it together.  It is interesting that when I struggle with a painting, somehow the struggle just shows up in the painting.  Sometimes it helps and sometimes it just looks fussy and ruins it.  You decide.

Mirror Illusions

This was tricky. The idea of painting a concave surface made of multitudes of hexagonal mirrors was daunting, but in the end, it is all illusion anyway!  Someone said, and I often repeat it to myself, that it is all just shapes,  lines and values on a 2 dimensional surface when you apply chemicals that reflect color.  This simplifies it for me when I am feeling overwhelmed.

The View

8"x8" oil

I did this painting in acrylic but was not happy with the results so I changed some things and re-did it in oil.  I am really disappointed in how the photo looks because the colors are all wrong, but this was after multiple attempts so I am going with it, and after the snow storm which is burying us right now, I am going to change up my indoor set up and come up with a better way to take photos!  So, use your imagination with this one!
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Barrier To Perception

4"x6" oil

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Finding the Story (Blue)

8"x8" oil

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Poetry 8"x8" oil #377 figurative

Had a good day...felt good and my friend inspired me to paint, so I did.  Stuart Davis is an interesting painter...I see the visual poetry in his work although I don't really "get" it.  I may paint this one again with a different palette.

Savoring the Sweet Beauty of Renoir 8"x8" acrylic #333

The advantage of doing a painting a day is in the routine, the ability to really practice a particular skill or technique, the need to be decisive, do confident brush work, and explore color. The advantage of spending more time on a painting, or revisiting it, is that you can make some better decisions and revise it for an improved painting. This one I revisited after doing one in oil I really liked. I realized I didn't like the original background painting so I changed it to this Renoir and like it much more.
SOLD

Embracing Monet's Sunset 8"x8" oil #331

I based this on a photo that I have already painted in acrylic on canvas, but I wanted to do one in oil on panel. I changed the background painting to Monet's "Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt". He did a couple of these, in different seasons, as he did with many paintings. I liked the stripes on the woman's shirt and sweater and how the floor mimics the sunset. In the acrylic version all the colors were analogous which gave a whole different color harmony to the painting. I also did the acrylic with color washes.
SOLD

Stepping Out With Friends 5"x7" oil #286

Two patrons at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art admiring Roy Lichtenstein's "Stepping Out." I like the way his foot is turned on edge. It makes me wonder what he is thinking about. I have observed this posture a few times in people studying paintings. Maybe it is just the result of a tired foot.

Finding the Story in Blue oil 8"x8" #261

This another interpretation of a photo I took at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I wanted to try different colors. It was an interesting experiment. I also revised yesterday's painting a little so I am posting that.

Interrupted oil 8"x8" #259

Back to painting finally! I haven't been able to sit comfortably in a position in which I could paint for the last couple of weeks as I try to regain my life after my skiing accident, surgery and learning to get around on crutches. In the meantime, I have really come to appreciate my life and what I am able to accomplish on a daily basis. Good health and all the other blessings in my life are not to be taken for granted. My heart goes out to all those people who have to learn how to be ambulatory after an accident which forever changes them. I do not have a handicapped accessible studio, or rather my studio is, but getting there from the house is not. Trying to explain to someone where everything I need is, has also been a challenge, but today I modified my methods and materials and finished this piece. I am glad that it isn't terrible because being discouraged is not easy for me right now. On the other hand, I had to photograph it without getting up, so the lighting is terrible and it distorts the colors and values. You will have to take my word for it, but it is much better in person!

Resting Gaze oil 8"x8" #254

I enjoyed working on the gallery series this weekend after just doing watercolors for a week. When I was doing this, I realized that the stranger in the striped shirt was becoming the image of a very close friend. Frequently student artists will reveal a bit of a self portrait in painting models. I think we just gravitate to what is familiar. I see this person as someone who is resting for her friend's sake, but she is anxious to keep her attention on the art she loves so much. I think her friend wishes she had brought her ipod!

The feet painting is my submission to the Daily Paintworks challenge for Japan. If you go to http://dailypaintworks.com/Challenge/FC50B15D-5016-4E5E-87F2-87C3F79BA65B you can bid on this painting or many others by all kinds of artists and all proceeds will go to help Japan. The theme is "Home."
SOLD

Femme Fatale oil 5"x7" #253

This guy looks pretty intimidated by this cartoonish Amazonian "Femme Fatale looming over him.

Family Tradegy 8"x8" oil #242

This family was really drawn in by this large painting. Unfortunately I forgot to get the details of the painting. It is a compelling painting which I believe tells the story of a dead child. I think it is Italian but you can never be sure without the historical details because artists seemed to frequently draw imagery from other cultures. There is a strong circular design to the composition and as a family, I can see how they would feel the emotion of the story. I researched it on the Met's site, but couldn't find it.

Strangers oil 6"x6" #216

Three people on a bench against a wall share the space but not a friendship and yet there is an intimacy in it. The colors are a bit off in this photo. The reds in the girl's clothes are bright but the reds in the floor are actually much more brown...I tried to adjust it, but I couldn't come up with a better result. I like the composition which makes the shadow and negative space equally as important as the figures.

Naptime oil 8"x8" #212

I knew going into this one that it was a compositional risk. It has two focal points separated by an empty room. I went ahead and painted it thinking I pull it off if the two sides balance each other. I played with the idea of putting a another person in, but didn't. I am hoping to get some opinions on this one. I really like the sleeping figures and I find the gentleman giving a passing glance at the painting interesting, but I am not sure the whole painting works. So if you have a thought, let me know.

Mind Boggle 8"x8" oil #211

Optical illusion art objects are always fun for museum goers who like modern art. People are really good with their hands or they touch everything. Mostly I think they are aware of how close they come to objects and it always makes for a good pose.

Discovering Bonnnat 8"x8" oil #210

This is a favorite image of mine which I have painted once before, but this one is in a square format and the colors are lighter and cooler. For some reason I tend to go with a particular palette for a number of paintings and then switch to another one. I may do a lot of warm yellows or cool blues or tend toward lavender grays or greens. I am not sure why I do this so I am just going to call it "my personality style showing itself." I like the figures in this painting but I really am paying tribute to Bonnat's Roman Girl at the Fountain, which I think is an exquisite painting.
SOLD

On Closer Inspection 5x7" oil #209

I struggled with the colors on this one...trying to balance the warms and cools and choosing the right color for the walls and clothing. Those struggles are good because they make me really think about what I am doing. Sometimes it just comes easy and it turns out right, but even if I struggle and I don't get it just right, the struggle is productive. This has a cooler temperature than many of the museum paintings I've done and I am not sure I like that, at least for this one. I do like the way they are studying this and the tension in the arm that is being held back...it is clear she has an awareness that she doesn't want to touch this art. She is holding back her bags so they don't swing forward.
SOLD

Tiffany 5"x7" oil #208

This Tiffany window at the Met is breathtaking. There is something so special about light shining through colored glass. I like the way her clothes and the walls and floor are similar in hue and value except for the dark jacket. I really tried to give the window painting a glow. This one works for me and I think it follows Carol Marine's recommendation for a primary value, a secondary value and a smidge.