Yellow Yellow. . . #493

I'll just put these yellow lemons in this yellow bowl and do a quick little still life -

Ha! This was a challenge - a good challenge, mind you -

Click here to purchase, acrylic, 6x6", $100

LIfe is like. . . #492

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Together #491

I have finally unearthed the (perky) creamer to the much featured sugar bowl.

There was a cookie where the flower is, but it never stood a chance. I ate it. Long before I got to that part. Brie feels the same way about apple still lifes on the floor. One minute the apple is there, the next it's gone - eh - live for the moment.

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Warp #490

Here's another pot I made - I like the color of it and the shape makes painting ellipses so much easier when one's vessel is warped to begin with. I was playing w/the reflections today on the side of it.

I was asked to share my palette - my colors of choice are limited because then I mix all my colors and I think this is better for color harmony. I use Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic, because I like the caps - their caps are easy to get on and off, no teeth or pliers required.

The colors I use are:

Alizarin Crimson

Cadmium Red Medium

Cadmium Yellow Light

Cadmium Yellow Medium

Phthalo Blue (green shade)

Ultramarine Blue (green shade)

Titanium White

Click here to purchase above painting, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Salty #489

SOLD

Salt shakers make good little vases. When you can get the top off.

Yardment #488

As luck would have it, a new black eyed susan bush sprouted. . . next to the tomato tree, to the right of the sage grove. . . summer is not over yet.

Do you ever change your paintings temporarily to black and white in Photoshop - just to see if the values are working? It's a handy trick when something isn't going right in color to see exactly where your values are off without being confused by color.

Click here to purchase the above color piece, 6x6", acrylic, $100 - paypal

Smurfy #487

You were expecting today's title to be Not Flowers, weren't you? So was I.

I think I should buy myself lots of fresh flowers this coming winter (it's not here yet, I know, I know) but what better way to spend the winter but with a room full of flowers and painting them. I missed the flowers today, but I have all these teeny tiny, itty bitty pieces of fruit. Think Smurf sized.

6x6", acrylic, $100 - Click here to purchase - paypal

Other News; Brie and I received a glorious acquisition to our permanent collection today. I'll unveil it at a later date. Brie's been promoted to curator, she's got to catalog it first, but there's no pushing her, that one works at her own pace.

Not Fruit #486

SOLD

I went to the store today and bought a whole lot of miniature fruit - bite sized pears and plums and other little things. . . It's like Hershey Miniatures, except fruit - but despite my bounty, I painted these purple flowers.

If You Can't Eat 'Em #485

SOLD

Still tomato season.

Lemon Lime Lemon Lime and #484

I've been playing with lemons today - the one on the gray background is from today - the other is from the workshop I took on Saturday at Page's.

Other News: I'm getting ready for the Hingham Arts Walk, it's Oct 17th - but I had to order my frames today and now maybe some postcards. . .

Click here to purchase #484, on gray background

Good - Natured Apples #483

These apples are not crabby at all - I've given them a new name.

Click here to purchase, 6x6", $100, acrylic

Jelly Jar #482

There's a great shop in Bryantville, MA called Salvage Chic - it sells the perfect trinkets for still lifes. This jar is an antique jelly jar, complete with a metal lid, embossed with "Ball" - It's where I go to buy myself a present (or two) - If you've ever read the book, "The Artist's Way" you might remember the part about buying oneself presents? That's one of my favorite parts of that book!

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Sunshine #481

Coffee makes a good medium for acrylic.

I got up nice and early this morning, but admittedly, didn't get my full eight hours. . . I'm a little clumsy on this amount of sleep - after tripping over my easel and light cord, I er, um, mistakenly got coffee on the brush (don't ask) - instead of getting up and risking life and limb, I went with it.

I did this little vase again because I'm having a fun time differentiating between the two yellows, that of the flower and that of the vase.

Other News: I'm off to paint outside with Page Railsback today - even though I already painted this morning. I wanted to paint another still life this morning first w/the lessons of Carol Marine in my head and now I can go and paint outside, all warmed up.

Click here to purchase, $100, 6x6"

Crabby Apples #480

SOLD

Miniature sized fruit is the best thing to paint on these little panels. I have no idea what one would bake with a crab apple, but I got them at the food store - epicurious here I come (lookout).

Other News: Painting on the Square - tomorrow will be my last Saturday for the season painting in Hingham Square. I did it every Saturday all summer and now that it will potentially be getting cold, I think it's a good time to stop for this year. I want to do it again next year but I hope other painters join in too! Tomorrow I'll be there with an outdoor painting class taught by Page Railsback - she's doing four different Saturday sessions, email her if you are interested in joining one or all. Page Railsback pagie35@comcast.net

The Littlest Vase (ever) #479

SOLD

This little vase started off as a GREAT BIG pot. . . but if you've ever used a wheel to make a piece of pottery, unusual things can just kind of happen. The big pot fell over, into itself, things got warped and what have you, and seconds into my great big pot, I had the littlest vase ever. I enjoy painting pictures of it so much more than making it.

When I painted this tonight. I tried to think of things to fix and adjust kind of like at the workshop. I've made some big magic marker notes so as I go along I can remind myself.

Other News: Brie has not tried to sleep on any surfaces other than her velvet settee and normal sleeping spots. No nightstands, dining room tables (yup, she's tried, it's a three ring circus around here) or other flat surfaces.

Ding #478

SOLD

To date I've been applying highlights as if I was painting a glistening tooth on a cartoon wolf. You know what I mean, the pure white starburst accompanied by a dinging bell when a wolf in a cartoon (or any big toothed creature) smiles.

Well, I've been shown the way - the secret is this - it's the color of the object, PLUS white, PLUS warm yellow (in my case 'cause my light is warm).

That's it.

No more glistening teeth for me, but I will miss the ringing of the bell every time I put one on.

I think the highlight on this isn't quite warm enough but it's an improvement.

Post Grad #477

SOLD

What would the first day after a CM workshop be without a painting of apples and a cropped plate?

Other than the obvious setup (no one else does it quite like her - clearly) - I am left thinking of this today; as I work on my stuff post class - what if, my brushstrokes were always the right value? I know! A revelation. Sometimes, I admit, I get so happy with the shape or density or direction of a stroke, I don't always fix a value that could have been better defined. I might slip back into bad habits, but for now, I have a little check list. Ooops, right now I see one thing I promised myself I would never do again - but that'll be my little secret.

Oh, and what about those highlights, huh? Not bad right?

This is the first one I did today and it was a little hard, I was thinking a lot, I'm going to go paint some more now, but thought I'd share this

Before and After (# 475& #476)

#476 (today's) 6x6", acrylic, click here to purchase

#475 (yesterday's) 6x6", acrylic, click here to purchase

If I thought the Carol Marine workshop was the bee's knees the first time, I can't begin to describe how I feel completing my SECOND workshop. You see, the first time I took her workshop I hadn't been painting too much - I would try, get discouraged, try again - I knew I had a lot to learn but I had no idea how much there was. CM is a gifted teacher! Such ease! She simply makes sense and is clear, sincere and practical.

AND three other students from the first workshop I took also came back for a second time, so I got to meet them again AND a whole bunch of new people, some from not too far away and others from my two FAVORITE states, Vermont and Rhode Island. I had such a good time and again, if you've never taken a Carol Marine workshop please consider it!

Other News: She taught me the trick to highlights! I'll test it out tomorrow and share.

More News Still: Things that go bump in the night. . . Brie, the dog, tried to sleep on top of the nightstand during her first night's stay at my parents' house. . . such the calamity at one a.m. . .

Day #475

I painted (a lot) today but I'm at the Carol Marine workshop so I don't have my trusty scanner and all that good stuff - so I'll post photos tomorrow night when I get home. . . Please, accept this photo of my fluffy dog in my absence.

A++ #474

I'm all yours Carol Marine - I'm ready. Okay, sure, I'm not bringing oils, but other than that I'm a good student. I took her workshop over a year ago and I learned a lot. But as far as oil paint is concerned, I learned, I didn't like it. Mind you, I love when other people do it, but for now it just doesn't work for me. I want flexibility, I want fast dry time, I want exactly the opposite of what oil paint gives me.

On that note, I do not know if I'll be posting tomorrow due to computer logistics. I thought of posting something in advance, but that's not in the spirit of this blog. So, I'll try my best, but rest assured I'll be painting and I'll post again Monday night.

Click here to purchase, 8x8", acrylic, $175

Conservation #473

I'm conserving my energy for the Carol Marine workshop on Sunday - I can't wait! Okay, I still did this one today and tomorrow I'm painting in Hingham Square - you'll definitely catch me in the act at noon - I'll be behind Zona's tomorrow - come by and paint with me?

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Trouble #472

Tomatoes are nothing but trouble this time of year. I got it bad. I might need to turn into a tomato fairy and deliver them to unsuspecting neighbors (roll up the car windows, you've been forewarned, ladies, save yourselves). Those two little tomato plants turned into four - I really don't know what happened - and I never even watered the garden - I know - how can that be? I can prove it, I didn't take the hose out of the basement this year.

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Alfresco #471

SOLD

One of the first people I met online through painting has just sent me the most amazing photos and has also given me permission to paint from them. These unexpected surprises in my inbox make my day!

I thought this was my favorite photo but as I go back through them I can't tell anymore which is my favorite, because there are so many I love. As we know I've been practicing with photos and this one was great, dark background colorful birds, dining on what appears to be tomatoes. And what I keep discovering is it's fun to paint from other people's photos (as long as you have their permission, of course) because it might not necessarily have been something I would have painted on my own.

This is one of those paintings I'll be painting again, because I wonder what else I can do with it.

Two More Days of Summer #470

I tried to resist, I set up another still life only to paint this one way across the room! It's kind of where it landed yesterday after I was done with it. What can I say? I'll probably go on a daisy kick after this - oh dear.

Click here to purchase, 6x6", $100, acrylic

Lemon Lemon #469

Having a tough time letting go of summer. . . !

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

More Yardments #468

A few last things from the yard before the end of the summer.

Click here to purchase, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Hingham Square Take Two #467

Have you ever played the game Twister?

The forecast stated the winds would pick up this afternoon, and they were not kidding. To combat the wind, I had one hand on my easel, one on my brush and another on the paper palette to keep it from blowing onto itself (yes, I have three hands now) - oh and one foot on the tripod to keep that from blowing over and then to add to the visual interest of this ill choreographed piece I kept changing the direction of my canvas so it would be more aerodynamic (what will I think of next?).

This, of course, was all manageable until I had to reload the white paint. That was when it turned into Twister, managing all of the above with random body parts while extending aforementioned third arm to reach my just out of reach white paint - it was a good workout.

Despite all that I discovered it is much easier to work bigger outside than I had imagined, this piece is 12"x12". I revisited the same spot I was in last weekend, I really, really liked the lighting on the red building last weekend and was happy to go play with it again today.

Click here to purchase, 12" x 12", acrylic, $350

"The Surprised Were Surprised" #466

I can't take credit for the title, it was a line in a book- the book's name I can't remember, but I think I have the quote right.

I finished the 2x3ft one I was working on yesterday - I keep promising pictures of the bigger ones, I have to make good on this.

OH, HEY, these are the tomatoes I planted at the beginning of the summer, the one's from Earnie's serve yourself plant sale -

Click here to purchase, paypal, 6x6", acrylic, $100

Petite Plums #465

SOLD

Back to my petite paintings (6x6") - what better way to feature these itty bitty plums.

Okay, I thought I'd have nothing exciting to post today, but lo and behold, I have two things.

First thing: I also painted an eight by eight today AND started on a REALLY big one - 2x3 feet - that one is on canvas, so let's just say, I'm having my canvas battle because I really like masonite, but there was this really nice canvas in the basement with a really bad tree attempt I did once and I figured, why not.

The other thing: There are TWO last minute openings for the Carol Marine workshop taking place in Rhode Island, Sept 8-10 - contact Kelley Macdonald if you are interested: http://kelleymacdonalddailypaint.blogspot.com/ -

If you've never taken a Carol Marine workshop, I can't express how great it is and this one is taking place in one my favorite areas and rumor has it there are FANTASTIC people taking (and hosting) this workshop.

Shhhh #464

SOLD

I have been working a little bigger lately because I've been practicing using a bigger brush. . .