He Is watercolor and ink 5"x7" #279

Sometimes all one can accomplish in a day is to do sketches and sometimes the best one can do in a day is a sketch. This is one of those days.

Glass Vase 6"x6" oil #266

I wanted to practice doing glass and I liked the abstracted qualities of this composition.

Carnival Kiss 5x7" oil #236

This is another Carol Marine challenge. The idea is to do each stroke a different color. That means you have to mix each time before putting the brush on the canvas. The main thing it did for me is make me really think about my strokes and make them count which keeps it fresh looking and loose. It is a carnival squash, an onion, and a garlic.
SOLD

Celebrate oil 6x6 #168

More merriment....

Antonia 8x10" oil

#112 On Thursday nights I go to the Chaffee Art Center and they host a live model. We draw and I always try to do a few quick oil studies. I use only burnt umber, white, a bit of cad. red, and some black because those are the only paints they have! I paint on mat board, whatever colors are available, and use a really cheap and overused bristle brush. It is not the ideal situation, but I am so grateful to be able to paint from a model, that I just see it as a time to learn and play. I live in Vermont and they often say that skiers in VT are really good because they often have to learn on slopes with lots of ice. That is how I look at this.

Happy Halloween Toes 4x4" oil

Happy Halloween weekend. I am getting to go visit my grandson this weekend so I suspect a few pastels will be done while I am there. I have found that pastels fit into uncertain time schedules, are easy to transport, easily available and just a fun way to paint when I am away from home. I don't quite get why it is called painting though, it is really drawing. I really did have my toes painted for Halloween, something I would not have done except for the generosity of my good friend who treated me to a pedicure. I liked putting all this detail into a small space. The cover is actually an oil cloth I made to cover my coffee table. It is heavy weight canvas with a 10 layers of gesso underneath and 4 layers of polyurethane on top. #111
sold

From Me To You 4x4" oil

I am painting a lot on really small panels, mostly 4"x4". I think this decision is one to consider, just like what to paint. I like the way the little panels look and painting something complicated on them is a real challenge, so I think it is helping me get better control of the brush. I have to give Karen Appleton a lot of honor because painting bows is really tricky. #110

Surprise! 4"x4" oil SOLD

Karen Appleton, karenappleton.blogspot.com, is a contemporary artist of extraordinary skill who specializes in painting gifts and symbolic gift packages. She advised me (don't you love the internet?) to paint what I have a passion for not to focus on what is salable. On the tails of her advice, Robert Genn's bi-weekly newsletter (www.painterskeys.com) had this to say: "Are we, like the local baker, simply making a line of tarts for popular consumption, or are we engaged in something more lofty and significant? Many would say the difference is passion, and while there are undoubtedly passionate bakers, our painterly productivity needs to be based on a noble drive and not on calculated reasoning and bare commerce." So I have been thinking log and hard about this. I am asking myself what I really like to paint. What is my passion? Truth be told I love painting all kinds of things in part because I love the challenge of painting very diverse subject matter. So I am going to do some small gift packages because I want to explore that. In doing a couple I realized that I love to paint things that require me to see them really abstractly. For me to get the ribbons right I see them as tiny slivers of light and shadow. When painting people from odd angles I love the process of foreshortening and I remember the thrill I got from it many years ago when I did my first life drawings. The more foreshortened the better I like it. Karin Jurick (karinjurick.blogspot.com/ )frequently paints people walking beneath a bridge or under a balcony. I like landscapes that are of an odd but oddly familiar angle like looking straight up. My friend and former fellow painter Carrie Diehl (www.carriediehl.com/) does interesting series like this. I think that is why I like to paint people's feet. They tell a story and we just don't give much attention to them. I love painting still lifes if they are from above or below like Carol Marine does (carolmarine.blogspot.com/) or if the items are oddly arranged. So I feel like I am starting a new chapter in my art. It is the journey of sdiscovery of my passion. I thank the other artists and their insights which have helped me think about this. #109

Tess 18x18" oil

Finally, after much struggle,I finished this portrait of Tess. In the process I learned a lot about the subtleties of dog head structure and how to paint from several varying photographic references to gain a better understanding of the shape and values needed. Tess is very hyperactive so getting a good photo of her was next to impossible. I hope I have captured a bit of her energy too.
SOLD

Evidence of the Divine 8x10" oil

"Imagination is evidence of the Divine."
– William Blake
My friend took me to get a pedicure...something neither of us ever does. I got my toes painted for Halloween. She got lovely pinkish toes. I think there is a painting in this. Anyway, there were mandalas hanging at the spa so I painted this Celtic inspired earthy mandala for Theresa as a thank you for the fun morning we had. I am still struggling to paint Tess (dog portrait) so it was nice to do something easy and fun. #107

Boomer 18"x18" oil

This was a commission...one of two dog portraits...the other is a wipe off and I have to start over...ergh...part of the story.... #106
SOLD

Leaf 6x6" pastel

another pastel sketch.... #104

Round On Round 6x6" pastel

Round and red on round and red..... #103

She Has Such a Pretty Face 8x10" oil

This is a quick oil study in broad values. The title is a phrase I always hear people use when they are referring to a chubby girl. I painted this at a model session at the Chaffee Art Center and when someone saw my painting that is what they said.I am grateful to have the opportunity to do this once a week because it is such a good exercise. This model was really good and was able to strike interesting poses and hold them. Mostly I drew in charcoal but I painted this at the very end. #102

Going Out II oil 5x7

This is the second version of a little painting I really liked. I was going to change the shoe color, but I just like this. There is no red in this painting, and I think it still works! I guess I could make her toe nails red. #101
SOLD

Can We Go Now? 5x7" oil

This stance just says to me impatience which is why I titled it "Can We Go Now?" It was fun doing the pant wrinkles. This is my 100th posted painting!#100
SOLD

"My Feet" by Eva 4"x4"

My friend's daughter's daughter (geezz I'm getting old) was given the camera and she took a lovely photo of her feet, so I painted it. I really like that there is still an imprint from her sock. She clearly thought to take her socks off to do the photo. These are really beautiful feet...or 'tootsies' as her mom calls them. Thank you Eva! #99

Not In the Kitchen 8x8" oil

I have been painting lots of pale yellows...I wonder what that means? This woman is in her mid-fifties. She really is this pretty and this young looking. If she wasn't so nice we could easily hate her! She loves working out with the kettle ball (the weight) therefore she has her kettle in in the gym, "Not In the Kitchen." #98
SOLD

Waiting On the Edge oil 4x4"

I liked her Robin Hood boots and her kind of pigeon-toed stance and the fact that she looks like she is standing on the edge. #97

Water Weights 5x7" oil

Call me crazy, but I love this painting. This is one of those "white on white" deals and I love all the variations of white and gray and the abstract composition and the warmth of it. #95