Homestead

"Homestead"
6" x 6"

I've decided to sit on this one (not literally silly!) for a little bit.  Is it done?  Maybe.  I think mostly it's done, but perhaps a little fiddling with the foliage above and to the right of the chimney is required.  But I'm not going to kill it . . . I promise.  And then I'll sign it.  Thanks for viewing and have a great weekend -- and a long one for some of you!

An Untitled WIP and More!

"Untitled for now" - wip
6" x 6"
watercolor on aquabord

So while I should've been painting and finishing this up as well as a couple others, I tried to make a video.  Eeeeeaaaaiiii!  But I'm going to post it -- my first little "tutorial" -- and it's pretty lame.  I have no idea how the quality will be . . . I'm navigating my way through figuring out sizing and such.  I know my resolutions with regards to images, but this is a whole new ball of wax.  Oh . . . and just so you know . . . this was "filmed" with a small digital camera, by my left hand, while my right hand was doing all the work!  Ha!  But I ordered a little tripod, which I've been meaning to order for a long time to help with taking photos.  (I know . . . I  should have titled this post "True Confessions" now I've exposed my totally rinky-dink operation here!  I feel like the little man behind the curtain.)  Anyway be kind when you watch this . . . I always joke with my students that I can't paint and talk at the same time and now here's my proof.  But alas, I thought you might like to see.  This is a "no fear zone" right?  So here' goes... 

Farmhouse and News

"Farmhouse"
6" x 6"

Ok . . . well . . . I suppose I have some `splainin' to do.  I'm still working on my Fisher Price project -- so don't worry I'm not that sick in the head.  In fact, I have a few more started and am moving closer to finishing the first.  BUT I had an urge to do a landscape on the aquabord.  I like the aquabord.  And I like the aquabord for landscapes I decided.  I just ordered a frame for it and am interested to see how it will look.  I'll be sure to post the results so stay tuned.  Also, I have an open studio coming up -- October 13th and 14th and am getting ready for that, which may explain my mania (or maybe not).  Anyway, I'm telling you this so that you can be prepared for even more random painting tangents. Oh and if you're interested in our tour you can get more information at www.backroadsstudiotour.com or on our facebook page.  :)

And speaking of the Tour -- my "news" is that I was one of three artists in our group, featured in an article in Worcester Living Magazine.  You can read my interview here (don't be alarmed -- I look about 10 feet tall, but I'm really not) and if you'd like to read the whole article click here, then click on each artist's name under the photo -- (which incidentally was taken in my studio during last year's tour and I don't look so much like a giant in that picture.)  Seriously though -- if you have the time, check out our website we have some really amazingly talented artists creating very cool stuff!  I feel very lucky to be included.

Have a great day and thank you for visiting my blog!  :)

Raspberries & Fun With Cropping!

"Raspberries"
8.75" x 9"
(watercolor on Fabriano soft-pressed paper)

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I had a very busy weekend -- visiting my brother and sister-in-law on Saturday and then a trip to Fenway to watch the Red Sox win today! But I did manage to get a glaze or two on "Raspberries" to finish it up. I'm not sure I like all the space around the actual carton, so I had some fun in Photoshop cropping it in tighter, both centered and a little off-center, while playing around with what it would look like matted and framed. You can view my experiments below. And please let me know what you think. I will put this painting up for auction tomorrow -- but will sell it the way it is and let the buyer decide how they would like it cropped . . . or not.  Have a great day and thank you for visiting . . . I'm off to bed!

On Line - Continued

"On Line at the Theatre" - wip
11" x 14"

I worked on this some more today and it's starting to develop.  But I must admit, I spent a good portion of the day outdoors, chillin' by the pool, trying to squeeze out some more summer before it's gone.  Here in the Northeast our sweet, warm days are numbered, so I'm trying to make the most of what's left of them.  But I'll try to work harder tomorrow . . . (at my tan) . . . nooooo . . . my painting!  :)  

Thanks for visiting!

On Line At The Theatre - wip

"On Line At The Theatre" - wip
11" x 14"

This is my first fisher price painting on aquabord and it's much larger than any I've done in the past.  I was hoping to be a little further along already, but this is the "surprise" I was talking about. (I hope you're not disappointed.) I LOVED playing with the FP Village as a kid -- do you recognize it? I had wanted to use this as my "street view" for the DPW Challenge -- but I obviously didn't make the first week. I'll probably still submit it -- it's a little out of the box for the challenge -- but all in good fun. :)

I have a series of these paintings in mind -- all on this scale -- and for a particular purpose that I'll divulge at a later date.  Hopefully it will all work out. In the meantime, stay tuned . . . I have some fun ones planned and thank you for visiting my blog.  :)

Raspberries Progress

"Raspberries" - wip3
8.75" x 9"

"Raspberries" - wip2

"Raspberries" - wip 1

I did some more work on "Raspberries" but still have some details to do.  I thought you might like to see the progression thus far.  I thought it was looking just a bit too boring so I decided to put in the "wallpaper" and "pink-up" that table surface.  Still have some decisions to make, but I'm aiming to have this painting, along with another, completed this week.  Until my next post -- Happy Painting!

Hurricane Lantern

"Hurricane Lantern"
(watercolor on Fabriano soft-pressed paper)
9" x 7.75"

(what this painting could look like framed)

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In previous posts I think I've referred to this painting as "Kerosene Lamp" -- but I decided that when speaking, I usually call these types of lamps "Hurricane Lanterns" -- so I just went with it.  I was hoping to have another painting done for today, but it's still in the works.  So stay tuned . . . "same bat time; same bat channel."  (Does that bring back memories or what!?  Here's a neat little tidbit -- my neighbor starred in a couple of original Batman t.v. series episodes as Vincent Price's "Egghead" character's female sidekick, "Ms. Bacon."  How cool is that!?)

Enjoy your weekend.  

Hydrangea II -- Completed

"Hydrangea II"
8" x 8"
watercolor on aquabord

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`Finished this one this afternoon, hope you like it.  I'm back doing some final touches on my raspberry painting and laying down washes on my other new one. How's that for suspense? I'm hoping to post that one all finished by Friday. I better get moving!

Hydrangea II - continued

Hydrangea II - wip
8" x 8"

I was hoping I would have this finished by now, but I worked on another unfinished piece and started another painting. :o (Forgive me, I couldn't resist -- oh and that's my surprise face in case you couldn't tell.) BUT like I said, I am working on other unfinished paintings as well, so it's all good. :) I still could finish this one by tonight, but I wouldn't be able to photograph it until it's dark out, so I decided to give you what I have right now. And just think, you now can look forward to reading my next few posts where I reveal a few new surprises: hopefully a couple finished paintings and a new one revealed!  Have a great night and thanks for reading.

New Look, New WIP

Ok . . . so sometimes we try, try and try some more, with less than desirable results and are forced to just abort the mission!  :) Such is the case with "No Beggin'" -- so I am chalking it up as a "study." Ya, that's the ticket . . . a "study." The photo was kind of dark which was good, because the people then popped, but I just made a muddy mess of it. So I'm going to try this one again -- but this time I'm going to be careful with the background. I'll probably take some more photos because I like the story or theme of the painting, "no beggin'" but I hate the painting. And I just LOVE that kitchen. It deserves a much better rendering.

"Hydrangea II" - WIP
6" x 6"

I just put on the second/third glazes on the redware mug this morning and it was delightful. So hopefully I'll have this one finished up later today.

Now onto some other news. If you haven't noticed, I changed my blog design a little. I've been listening to "Artists Helping Artists" (if you don't know what I'm talking about and you're an artist, you MUST check it out - Leslie Saeta is wonderful -- as well as her original partner Dreama Tolle Perry.  I'm looking forward to hearing more from other artists.  Fellow bloggers Carrie Waller and Crystal Cook had a great interview a little while ago) and I'm very excited about all that I'm learning!  So this is my first attempt at implementing some of the important advice they've shared regarding building a brand and marketing. The new banner, fresh look and tag line are my first steps toward creating a consistent message about who I am as an artist (unfortunately "Scatter-brained ADD Artist" isn't really an option). I've also worked on my website, tweaking it to reflect the same message. Hopefully I can stay more current with it, as I've let it slide since I started this blog. Aaah, so much to do, so little time -- but isn't it fun and exciting!?  :)  Anyway, click here to check it out if you get the chance. -- Oops - at first I forgot the "c" and I typed "lick here" instead of "click here." Thank goodness I noticed, or else you'd all be licking your screens wondering why nothing was happening! You can thank me later.  :)

So that's the news around here.  Hope you are having a pleasant Monday.

Making Progress

"Kerosene Lamp" - wip 

I made some progress today on my kerosene lamp but still have lots of little details to do. I'm not liking that globe right now, so I'll be sleeping on that and seeing what to do next. Time away from a painting usually does the trick when I'm not sure how to proceed.

The next painting is another Fisher Price -- I'm sure you figured that out on your own.  :)  I just took some new pictures of the village I bought on ebay and am excited to start on some new ones.  They're pretty goofy. Speaking of goofy -- that curl on the baby's head looks like a G-clef.  :)

"No Beggin'"

Hydrangea I

"Hydrangea I"
6" x 6"
(watercolor on Aquabord)

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I'm hopefully on a roll and will be finishing some of my unfinished work this week. (Although I'm sure I won't be able to contain myself and will start some new ones as well.)  :)  Have a great day.

New Hydrangea

"Hydrangea" - wip
6" x 6"

Please excuse me . . . I think I'm stuck in some kind of new painting vortex.  I just keep starting these new paintings and not finishing anything.  I promise I will get some things done this week.  In the meantime, here's my latest.  Still has a ways to go, but I'm having so much fun!  Oh and it's on aquabord.

Finishing Up and Starting

"Raspberries" -- wip

"Kerosene Lamp" -- wip

So I'm finishing up "Raspberries" . . . still have a little more work on it and I started "Kerosene Lamp" today.  I just couldn't pass up starting this one.  I took the photo in my front hall.  We'll see how it comes out.  Carrie Waller is the glass expert but I'm going to give this one a whirl anyway.  A girl has to start somewhere, eh?  :)  And I still have those citrus paintings to finish -- the oranges and limes -- not to mention a few other still life paintings.  I'm also working on a 6" x 6" floral that I'm just starting to draw now.  Yeesh, I've got a lot of painting to do!  I'm very excited.  Have a good weekend.

"Bette"

"Bette"
6" x 6"
(watercolor on Aquabord)

Click here to bid

So I finished my DPW Challenge today.  I'm excited to seal it and see how it looks all glossy.  That's always fun for me.  Truth be told I could have done a lot better with the cropping of this . . . it's nothing too exciting.  There are some really nice paintings over at DPW -- some people did a fantastic job with their compositions.  I was a bit hasty . . . oh well.  :)  Have a good day and keep painting!

Rose - wip

"Rose" - wip
6" x 6"

I should probably leave the florals to Arena Shawn and Jacqueline Gnott, but I couldn't help but try the latest DPW challenge.  This is on Aquabord. It has a long way to go, but I thought I'd share.  I can't tell you how many paintings I have going that I need to finish, not to mention the ones that I'm ready to start. I was hoping that I would be painting and posting pretty regularly like I'd done a couple weeks ago, but then life got in the way and I was once again behind the eight ball. I guess that's just how it's going to be so thanks for continuing to follow my erratic posting. 

That reminds me of a story -- my dad was once stopped on his way home from work by a policeman because apparently he was swerving around the road. The police officer thought he was drunk, but my dad was just trying to change the station on the radio. (Luckily he got off with just a warning). However, when my dad relayed the story to my mom and me he said the officer told him he was "driving erotically" at which point we burst out laughing. We told him we were pretty sure the policeman said "erratically" unless my dad was doing something WAY different than just changing the radio stations . . . and he probably wouldn't have been let off with just a warning.  :)