Ah-Ha, oil on panel, each 6 x 8

Nothing to say....

"Erskine's yard", oil on panel, 6 x 8

Click here to bid or see my eBay store. Bidding starts at only $50 for an original oil painting!

Ocean Sundown, oil on panel, 5 x 10

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Sheeps, oil on paper, 2.5 x 3.5

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"Ma and Pa", 6 x 8, oil on panel

So here's another painting I've done from an old photo I found in a thrift store. (see the reference photo below) I am trying after all these years to loosen up my painting style...back beyond how loose I was long ago. I am told by some very well respected artists that it is very difficult to do after having spent so much time doing pretty representational work. I am inclined to agree - fervently : ). But I am all about hitting my head against a brick wall. That is probably what I am best known for.

Coming At You, 8 x 10, oil on panel, 8 x 10

Still unable to paint with any regularity because of life. C'est la vie. But when I can I hope to post more than one piece as I am tonight.


In the Weeds. Oil on panel, 8 x 8

Contact me if you're interested in with of these pieces. They are each $85.

Show this Weekend!!!

Hey everyone! Sorry I don't have a painting to post today (or for the last little while). I have been busy gearing up for this show. I've participated in this group show for years now and I wanted to take this opportunity to tell all of you about it. We are a group of artists chosen to show together because of our professionalism and because each of us works in a very different way. For instance, there will be another painter there with me but she does Chinese Brush Painting. There will be 2 jewelers with very different styles...etc. You get my drift. It is a great place to look for gifts and something for yourself.
For more info, click on Intown Artists Show and Sale.
I will be there the entire time so come talk to me and see a bunch of these daily paintings in person - some were posted to my blog and some were not.

Someone's Grandmother, oil on paper, 15 x 19

At least I suppose she's a grandmother. I love going to antique stores and finding old photos. I've used a lot in my non-painting work and now I am beginning to play with them in paintings. I want to keep the looseness and wacked out colors of the farm animal pieces in more and more of my work.
I have just finished this 48 x 48 commission (see below) and so now I am freed up to paint what strikes me. I still have a local show coming up...The Intown Artists' Show and Sale. It will be the first weekend in December and will have my unsold blog pieces in it as well as some other stuff I've created of late. The great thing for you is that the pieces will be inexpensive since they are small. I've already sold many as gifts. Original art for a song. I love that.
I will be showing with 9 other fine artists. We do this show every year (though I was absent last year). It is a great opportunity to see many artists from different mediums together for one long weekend. See my web site for more info...I'll add details soon.

B&W Cow, 6 x 8, oil on panel

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I'm getting restless. I've always painted fairly quickly but I have slowed considerable when doing the previous daily paintings. This particular piece is more how I like to paint. I feel a lot more comfortable with the broad strokes and the variety of colors (wait until you see tomorrow's post).
The paintings I did in the 1990's were very colorful and fanciful. They were mostly interiors that I made up in my head. And they sold very well. Then, when I started painting en plein air, my work became more realist and I was really enjoying what I was learning. Now I've reached a point where I want to combine both disciplines.
Tell me if you like this new work. That's part of the purpose of this blog - feedback.

"Light ", oil painting a day, 10 x 12

SOLD
Click here to visit my eBay store

I really like the atmosphere in this painting. I also have to do larger paintings to stay comfortable. The smaller size is a good challenge and economical, but some subjects make me want to break out the bigger guns. For instance, I have a great deal of trouble painting flowers so small. But then I always got a "needs improvement" check mark on my report cards when it came to "staying in the lines".

Pruners, oil on board, 6 x 6

Happy to be back painting again. It is like riding a bike, I didn't forget how but I've been a bit wobbly. Had to wipe down several before this one came along.

Bunny About to Run, oil on paper, 10 x 10

If interested in this painting, contact Frameworks Gallery.

Hammered, 5 x 10, oil on panel

If you're interested in this piece, please email me.

Still up and going! got the studio back in shape and I am inspired once again. Good thing since I have 2 shows this fall.

Palette Knife, 5 x 10, oil on panel

Please email me if you're interested in this piece.

I feel as though I might actually be back. Truthfully, I was having a hard time finding my rhythm after all the excitement this past month. We're not done cleaning up the mess, but I can finally reallocate time to painting more and more.

I am quite a sloppy painter, I don't like to keep a neat studio. Instead, I move around a lot and play music and dance (no, that won't show up on youtube). Then, the next day I prefer to spend the first hour or so that I am in the studio to straightening up from the previous day's activities. That allows me to find my grove. I also like to have a painting started from the day before so I can launch right in as soon as my paints thaw.

Yarg! Scoundrels about!

Not the Shoe, oil on paper, 10 x 10 available at Frameworks Gallery SOLD Get this! While my Dad was in the hospital, my mother's caregiver stripped my parents checking accounts, started other accounts, stole items from the house, had 5 cell phone accounts created.....it goes on and on. That's why I chose an ASS for my image today. I've been tag teaming with my brother to unearth evidence and generally stop the bleeding. That's why I haven't been around.

At the bank, when I discovered the theft, the police said they were working 3 weeks out. I replied in a sing song voice, "I know where she is this very minute, about 2 blocks away". Suddenly, cops and detectives descended on my parents house and grabbed her up.

I want to say more, but shouldn't until after the trial. I do want to say that my parents are not naive, she was creative. It can happen to anyone.

"Sunflower", 6 x 8, oil on panel

SOLD

My trusty jar again.

I have been busy with family emergencies and unable to paint as much as I'd like. Even forgot that my car's check engine light came on yesterday and I needed to fix it today so I can drive home to the see about the parents. Now I have to scramble to get home a different way. It always pays to slow down and take a breath, but especially when things aren't going smoothly. I'll learn one day...
Click here to purchase.

Caster, 6 x 6, oil on panel

Whew, I am beat. I've been working on the 36 x 48 piece all day. Almost done and then I can post the "movie".
Went out with friends last night and though I am grateful they do what they do for a living, man is that not for me! One is a Major with the police department and the other is a nurse. Believe me, society is much better off if I stay in my basement and paint! I joke with them and say that just because they may have said as children "I am gonna grow up to be a police officer/nurse" that no one would have held them to it. But they are very good at what they do so I guess we all end up where we're supposed to.
More tomorrow.
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Strike Lighter, 6 x 8, oil on panel

Remember this from high school chemistry class? Haven't seen on in years (I won't say how many). Just happens I have one in a propane kit I have but have never used.

I am working on a 36 x 48 canvas right now of a landscape. Painting exactly what I appeals to me and shutting out the other voices that tell me to paint what sells, what I am already comfortable with... I want challenges and to paint for me. That is the only way I know to have a successful painting. I have to be immersed in the painting; become one with the work. That is when I am happiest and the result is best. The only drawback is that it makes it difficult to talk about the work, because I don't really know how it happens - it flows and I flow with it. Hey I'm happy doing what I love and that is enough for me. Grateful I can be one of the people who gets to say that at the end of every day.

By the way, I am making a "movie" of the big painting. When it is done, I'll post the "movie". Can't wait!

Pencil Shavings, 6 x 6, oil on panel

SOLD
As promised, here's the beauty in the ordinary. Thanks, Erin. Wanted to bail on this pretty early on, it seemed to be forever before it was apparent what the image was.

Speaking of bailing, I've learned a lot in my painting career about the dangers of solitude. I have moments when a voice says "you can't do that, its too hard". I think we all do at some point in our lives. But those thoughts are of my own creation and have no validity.

I read in a golf magazine once about the lack of confidence that can strike in the tee box. It's a little like going on stage, even if just for a moment. I can really have doubts about my abilities then. Well, the magazine suggested that you pretend that your caddy were saying those things to you, like "don't bother, the ball is just going to go into the (woods/ pond/parking lot)". The magazine said that you would fire a caddy that does that, right? So fire the caddy in your head!

Pears, oil on panel, 6 x 8

A very still life. But not mine. I'm headed out again, this time to L.A. (around here that means Lower Alabama). Lots of us girls have rented a house in Fort Morgan and plan to let loose. Haven't decided whether to take painting stuff or not. I kinda want a break. We'll see. There may be rain and that could make for some spectacular sunsets or billowy clouds.
Anyway, I'll try to post tomorrow before I take off Friday.