Figuratively Speaking - What?

8"x10" oil

When I photographed this cute little guy he was really unsure of what I wanted.  It made him look reticent which was not what I was going for.  He had that look that said, "What?"  My husband eats bacon and I am a vegetarian, so I buy him bacon crumbles from the warehouse store and that way he always has some meat to sprinkle on his salad, eggs, or rice.  I went and got some of his bacon to see if I could convince the pup to cooperate.  It did the trick a little too well.  I suddenly had all his attention and could have had him dressed in a clown suit and juggling balls for those bacon bits. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to bribe people so easily?  Maybe not.  I don't think I could handle that kind of power.  I have a lot of fun things coming up that require much preparation. I suspect when people are trying to break into my concentration force field I give them that look of, "What?"  I am not sure if I just blundered through multiple things when I was younger or if in fact I just can't do so many things at one time now that I qualify for Medicare.  My life is made of lists and if it isn't on the list, it just ain't going to happen!  I can't complain though.  I got to meet a sweet little dog that hasn't quite got the gist of manners or good behavior but has loads of potential.  I have days filled with things on my list that I get to do and on a good day, I get to check a lot of them off my list.  Right now....blog post....check....that's done!  Go Figure!

Rufus

6"6" SOLD

Sometimes I think I am a real smarty pants and just about that time the universe gives me one of those painful humbling lessons.  Right now I am trying to learn a bunch of stuff about how computers work and how to utilize software and clever apps.  I feel like I am a Stranger In a Strange Land.  Can you relate?  One of my big tasks is organizing my photos, which were casually sorted before I got a new laptop and new software, so now it is a complete mess. The whole smarty pants concept can be applied to my pride over the 600 billion photos I have stored.....at least until I started to reorganize them.  Well, at least now I have something to occupy me for the rest of my time on this planet. Go Figure!

Cheval Blanc

6"x6" oil for sale by auction

Cheval Blanc....White Horse.  Wandering back roads in Quebec, I came upon this white horse on a hill framed in green.  I stopped to photograph it and he/she temporarily set aside eating to look up and pose.  It was a good day.  Not my usual subject matter, but it sure was fun to paint.

Woof!

6"x6" oil

Carol Browne another artist, posted a photo of her dog with the request that others interpret it in their style.  I thought he was so cute, so I  jumped on the band wagon and whipped this out.  The second image is the first layer of paint I put down, just to give you an idea of how I start a painting

Rooster

6"x6" oil

Thank you
Judy Pritchard O'Hara‎ for allowing me to paint from the photo of your beautiful rooster.  I actually did two paintings of him today, this one is oil, and another one in acrylic on slate.  I am not sure what the attraction is for chickens and roosters, but I have to say, I am drawn to them to paint.

Hello Kitty

6"x6" oil 

Thank you Jennifer Sanchez for the photo reference for this painting.  Although I am very allergic to cats, I really do like them a lot.  They can be haute and irresistibly adorable all at once.

Day 27 Slate - Bluebird

14"x11" acrylic on slate

He is a regal looking guy isn't he.  I am making good progress on the studio, doing a little bit each day.  If I get it to a place where it looks lovely, I may post a photo.

Day 20 Slate - Cardinal

11"x14" acrylic on slate 

It is a beautiful sunny, but chilly day in the Northeast.  I am hoping to accomplish a lot today.  As I wind down in this 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, I will be returning to oil painting on panels.  I have enjoyed doing this challenge and painting on slate.

Day 17 Slate - Downy Woodpecker

11"x17"  Acrylic on slate 

We get a lot of Downy Woodpeckers at our crabapple tree, in part because it is getting old and is full of insects, and also because we have a suet feeder.  They can be pretty piggish about their eating habits at the feeder, staying for long periods of time and sucking down that seed filled fat.  I think I need to do bluebirds and cardinals, but I need to change subject matter for the moment.  I think I have a short attention span.  So this will be the last bird for a  while.

Day 15 Slate - Dark Eyed Juncos

11"x14"  acrylic on slate

This is a sweet little bird familiar to residents all over America.  While the chickadees and nuthatches flit among the trees, the Mourning Doves and Juncos can be found under the bird feeders on the ground.  The Mourning Doves walk and the Juncos hop.

Day 14 Slate - Mourning Doves

11"x14" acrylic on slate

Mourning doves have such an interesting shape with their round little heads and plump bodies.  The dots on their wings remind me of Lady Bugs.  In England Lady Bugs are called Lady Birds, but I think Mourning Doves could comfortably embrace that monicker.

Day 13 - nuthatches

11"x14" acrylic on slate

Onward and upward with the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.  I have been painting the birds I see outside my window, like these interesting nuthatches, painted slightly more blue than they appear in R.L. (real life) so that they contrast with the gray background slate.

Day 12 Slate - Chickadees

11"x14" acrylic on slate

Chickadees are the sweetest little song birds.  They have the perfect "cute" shape are sociable and don't descend in frantic hoards.  They also have lovely markings and are one of my absolute favorites at the bird feeder.

Butterfly Zentangle

5"x10" watercolor and ink

I have been wanting to try zentangle so here it is. I know I didn't follow "the rules" but then, I never do. It was fun, but very time consuming. It is meditative, but I think most of creating art can be that way. Not always, but frequently.

Monarch #13

9"x10" watercolor

What a special moment my friend and photographer, Lowell Klock, captured when this Monarch and Swallowtail decided to nectar up on the same flower.  There are a lot of decisions to make when interpreting a photo into paint.  I chose to add ink lines in the end to tie the darks together.  I like how it gives it a very illustrative effect.  The brownish/purplish background was achieved with many layers of colors which dried in between applications.  I really like this approach to watercolor and hope I can master how to use it effectively.

Monarch#1

8"x11" watercolor

I have a project this month and I chose to do watercolor.  WHAT WAS I THINKING????  I am not a watercolorist, I am an oil painter.  I can't tell you the amount of terror I experienced doing this.  So, what did I learn?  1) Maybe by the end of this project I will know how to paint monarchs 2) Do not get Phalo Blue paint (even watercolor) under your fingernails  3) They say watercolor is a challenging medium for good reason! 4)  If you don't challenge yourself you won't grow (at least I think that is true)

Goats View

6"x6" oil

These goats looked as happy as any goats I have ever seen.  I am not sure I could correctly describe what a happy goat looks like, but they sure looked confident, well fed, and like they got a lot of attention.  I don't think they are the easiest animals to have around, but they sure are fun to watch.

30-30 Challenge #24

2"x4.5" acrylic

This is #24 in the 30 day painting challenge.  I am so glad I decided to do miniatures as I have learned a lot including the importance of composition.  I missed that a bit with this one as the top bird is not quite positioned at the most advantageous place.  But my main concern with this one is that it looks like the wings are moving and I think I got that.  Value is so important in painting and I continue to see that when something isn't working, frequently it has something to do with the values (light and dark) against each other.

More Fun

watercolor  each 4"x4"

Wesley

6"x6" oil SOLD

This is the last of a series of commissions I did.  I learned a lot by doing several in a row, but I am ready to move on to other things.  I have a number of projects pending, it is just a matter of choosing which one to do first.  It is good to be busy and focused...right? I think I need to set up a big board to list my projects....white board?  bulletin board?  or chalk board?  m-m-m-m

There is a glare on this.  I usually photograph my work with my studio doors open but it is too cold right now for that, so I need to create a different set-up for getting good photos.