Remembered Landscape #3- The Creek

6"x4" oil

I am just getting over the flu so haven't painted for a week.
This was harder to do because there were several days between actually seeing it and then painting it from memory and it was kind of complicated. I think the key is to keep it loose and not too detailed. I may have to rethink this one.

Remembered Landscape #1 The Meadow

4"x6" oil  Price $45

 I have several projects going at once right now (not my favorite way to work) but I am happy that I am inspired and able to do this.  This project is to do small oil paintings of remembered landscapes.  I drive to the gym every morning and am so fortunate to have so many beautiful things to look at along the way.  I study what I see and then when I have time, I recall what I saw and paint it.  I think it is a wonderful way to train myself to quickly record an idea made of shapes and color and then when I think about it later, the key features are what comes out.  I started very simply for this 1st one.  They will get more complicated as I go, I think, although that is not my intention.

Self Portrait In Big Scarf oil 4"x6"

I have been wanting to do a large series of self portraits to practice doing faces from life.  I am the most cooperative model I have!  This one was inspired by a DPW challenge to paint fabric, so I put on a big scarf and am looking down.  I didn't worry so much about making the scarf look authentic, and I didn't use the actual colors of the scarf, but kept it to a limited palette.  I really like how it turned out and I put it as my profile on my FB page.

$45  $10 ship

Flutters 5"x7" mixed media

It is the back end of abstract weekend.  I titled this "Flutters" as in "the butterfly flutters over the flower" and also "I have the flutters looking down this black diamond ski trail."  The beauty of motion and that uncomfortable motion in the belly are universally familiar sensations for humankind.  That is about as profound as I get.  I consider this to be a feminine piece.  I saw a performance by the Peking Acrobats this week and was astounded by their athleticism, but even more impressed by how delicate and feminine the women looked and their performance included lovely dance moves and live music.  Their strength, stamina and flexibility were superb.  I think that experience influenced this piece.

$45 $10 ship

Zoning In 4"x5" mixed media

It is the front end of an abstract weekend.  I am referring to both my art and my life.  Yesterday was the prelude with almost perfect skiing conditions and then a race to get ready for today.  Today is all about our big fund raiser for the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center with a big "gala" event tonight.  Gala is one of those words I don't often have a chance to use.  Tomorrow is relax and get things back to normal day.  But today, I am "Zoning In" on the tasks that need to be completed.

$45 $10 ship

Soaking Bath 4"x4" oil

Daily Paintworks had a challenge to paint a women bather.  I entered this challenge with a painting I did from the photo that was offered by Carol Marine.  Then I decided to do this one, which was something I had wanted to do for a long time but forgot abut it.  My sister-in-law Anne Holzschuh, who is an extremely talented artist, did a similar type of painting when she was in high school and I always thought this would be a fun painting to do.  Making the bubbles was the real challenge, but I think it works!

SOLD

Dance of the Flower People 4"x4" mixed media

If people morphed with flowers and danced around, that is what I think this painting is about!

It's About the Details 4"x4" acrylic

I thought I would do a tiny bit of Pollock on this one.  Tried out a different combination of colors too.

$45 $10 ship

Game Board 5"x5" mixed media

There are a lot of layers to this one.  When it was done I thought it reminded me of an abstract game board which made me think of the challenges in solving a puzzle or winning a game: the excitement, the trepidation, the disappointments and the thrill of success while keeping a cool head.  That is a metaphor for life as well.  I like to do Suduko and much like painting, the excitement of doing it is what I like.  When I realize I am coming into the home stretch and have solved the problem, I lose that excitement.  I finish because it doesn't feel right to leave it undone, but I love the doing of it most.  Of course not every painting comes to a satisfying finish.  Many paintings still bug me for ages until I rework them or toss them.
$45 $10 ship

Creation 4"x4" oil

I am trying to come up with a method for my madness with the option of changing it at will.  So I decided to post abstracts on weekends and other work during the week.  I love doing the abstracts and want to continue to explore how to do this, but there are other things I want to do too.  The weekends tend to be the most challenging time for me to find time to paint.  This works well for painting abstracts because I tend to do them more quickly.

$45  $10 ship

With Hope 4"x6" watercolor

Something different...I did this with watercolor, which is not my medium, but a tool I would like to become proficient with.  I went for drama with this one.  After doing my last DPW challenge I received a comment that it reminded them of Crystal Cook's work, so I looked her up and she does wonderful, dramatic, up close portraits of children (among other subjects).  This is nothing like her style, yet she was my inspiration. I hope to do more watercolor in the future.  Belinda Del Pesco is another water colorist that uses high contrast and a bit of gritty surface.  Her work is dynamic.  I like this combination, although I can appreciate the transparent lovely colors of artist Jo McKenzie as well.  That gives you three artists to look up if you don't already know their work!

$45 $10 ship

Act IV acrylic 4"x4"

Day 27 of the 30 Day Challenge

 This is the last piece and tomorrow I will post the all four pieces together.  I like the composition of this one and I think it makes a nice abstract. 

$45 $10 ship

Act II 4"x4" acrylic

Day 26 of the 30 Day Challenge.  Act III is interesting because it is divided into right and left, brilliant color vs. darkness.  The floating pedals help balance it out and the suggestion of cool foliage in the shadows.  This is an odd composition, but I think you can do all kinds of contrary things when working in small sizes that you couldn't pull off on a larger piece.

$45 $10 ship

Act II 4"x4" acrylic

Day 25 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  
 This is Act II of a 4 part play.  The wind is still gently blowing and light is intense in the summer heat.  I can't say that for today as we head out to ski, I think it might have reached zero degrees which means it is only going to be single digit negative on the mountain (lets hope the wind doesn't kick up). $45 $10 ship

Act I 4"x4" oil

This is the first part of a four piece painting.  The idea is that each part stand on its own but that they all fit together in the end.  I am painting them separately with the same palette and adding "floating pedals" to unify all four pieces.

$45 $10 ship

Not So Subtle 4"x4" acrylic

I like the movement in this one...the juxtaposition of straight lines and large shapes and curvy lines and small spaces.

$45 $10 ship

Rhythms and Rhymes 4"x4" acrylic

My house if filled with music as my husband is a collector (mostly of vinyl albums) and we have music playing gadgets everywhere.  We are also a family of rhymes because we love to make up rhymes for everything to entertain ourselves and our grandkids.

$45 $10 ship

Warmth of Winter Magic 4"x4" acrylic

30 Paintings 30 Days Challenge:  Abstracts and Large Paintings (something different) day 18    This is a transition piece from the non-objective abstracts to abstracts that are based on something I have seen.  I was inspired by the shape of a rhododendron bush on a really cold day when the leaves curl into tubes and the snow wraps itself around everything.  This is my reality today.  I think I will go skiing.

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Mumbo Jumbo 4"x4" acrylic

This is last of this particular series and I think I may frame them all together.  I titled this "Mumbo Jumbo" because it sounds cool to say it and generally means "something incomprehensible" to most of us.  When I researched it though, I found out it is from a  Mandingo name Maamajomboo, a masked dancer that took part in religious ceremonies.  It represented an idol of chaos or something.  Anyway I didn't mean to represent anything dark so just take the phrase as something light hearted and silly.

$45 $10 ship

Flibbertigibbet 4"x4" acrylic

30 Paintings 30 Days Challenge:  Abstracts and Large Paintings (something different) day 16
 When I was in school my mom would show her sympathy for my neurotic wining about how one of the girls hurt my feelings by calling them a "flibbertigibbet."  Definition: A silly, scatterbrained, or garrulous person, a flighty or whimsical person.  It didn't sound mean at the time and I think she did it just to amuse me and diffuse the power I had given their remarks or actions.  She would also tell me not to be a flibbertigibbet.  Isn't that a great word.  It does and silly dance off your tongue when it is said.  I think in many ways I am actually a flibbertigibbet, but then, that is part of the charm!

$45 $10 ship