And more shells

Overlap
NFS

Just glad that it's Friday, at the moment. Had fun with the shadows one this one, all the little ridges and peculiarities. And right now I'm having a fantastic time being half drunk and watching Jeff Dunham- freakin awesome comedian, absolute must watch. Love all of you, and looking forward to tomorrow's painting too, huh?

#152

Fade Away

Starfish
NFS

More of the pale on pale- it's really drawing me in. Oh, and if you're curious, I posted all of my dailies that involve shot glasses over on Moment by Moment ( http://kellie-hill.blogspot.com/ ) Not that many of them, really, but I was curious and thought I would share.

At any rate, a tiny starfish- looks like it's reaching up, doesn't it? I focused more on the play of light this time, rather than the texture and all of its intricacies- save that for next time, I guess. Hope you're all having a beautiful evening. Me, I'm glad the week is almost over.

#151

Summertime

"Magnolia"
6"x6" acrylic on canvas

All about the pale-on-pale lately, aren't I? Nope, no idea where it's coming from, but I like it- pleasent, and makes me looks really hard for all the colors within the whites. Like all the greys and greens and browns in this magnolia blossom.... and once again I find myself wishing that I could paint smells, that flawlessly rich and yet delicate, citrusy magnolia scent. It's intoxicating.

And in case you hadn't noticed- yep, it's in a shot glass. Had it in a wonderful big bistro shot glass, but changed my mind and moved it down to a regular one- it played the blossom itself up more, that way. We'll see what tomorrow night brings.

#150

And goodbye again.

"Pale"
6"x6" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Came home from my Aunt's funeral, and my orchid had started shedding blossoms- and this one, sitting there on top of the bookcase, looked like it would be a good challenge. Well, it was a challenge at any rate. More cursing of those tricky little flowers centers- and an ever growing appreciation for the alchemy of light, how it transform everything. And now, thank goodness, I am sleepy. So I'm going to go turn my incense off, take a shower, and crawl into my nice soft bed- and I'll think about tomorrow when it gets here. Good night!

Monday

Calla Lilies
5"x7" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Sunday

Calla Lilies
5"x7" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Saturday

Calla Lily
NFS

Friday

Calla Lily
NFS

Ghost Tree

NFS
Peaceful, but lonely. And a beautiful, hopeful light shining through.
#144

Wandering....

Work in progress, though probably almost done- isn't that a great sense of atmosphere? And the light coming through.... as to why the queen anne's lace is pink, well, I have no idea. Perhaps it'll be a little more traditional when the painting is finished :) Until then, well, I'm here in the shadows.

#143

Goodbyes

NFS
#142

Daydreams

"Peonies"
6"x12" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Trying to figure things out- or maybe that's just what I'm telling myself because I want to explain away this dismal mood, act like there's no reasons behind it. Bleh.

At any rate, those same peonies from last night, donw much bigger and all focused on the flowers instead of the whole bouquet and how it relates to it's surroundings. Loved the idea- not thrilled with the painting as it is right now, and not for sure on why. Oh, well- there's always tomorrow's. And I ceratinly got an appreciation for how impossible peonies can be to paint- and I thought roses were tricky!

Stormy Springtime

"Peonies"

8"x10" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

Got these be-e-a-utiful peonies at the farmer's market on Saturday, and the whole apartment smells of them right now. It's funny, because I usually would have gone with white ones with the getting-flowers-to-paint thing, but I fell into temptation with these glorious, overabundant violet-red beauties, and I love how it turned out with this painting, how these seem to fly above all that dense foilage, the heavy glass of the vase, the fragile tracery of the shadows..... seeing so much tonight, and it's nice.

#140

Espresso

"Saturday Morning"
8"x10" acrylic on canvas

Spent much longer on this one than I originally intended, but I just got too engrossed in it to do otherwise. Isn't red a wonderful color? And then the little espresso set had that thing going where something that is white and shiny is actually every color except white, which is just infuriating and fascinating and wonderful.

Grateful for weekends, tonight :)

#139

and Friday.

"Fold"
6"x6" acrylic on canvas
NFS

I used to wonder how people could paint the exact same thing over and over again.... well, no more. Even if the pieces themselves aren't better each time (thoug if you look at it more overall than individual picture, I'm definately getting better), I learn something new each time, and that in itself is immensely encouraging.

Now I just need to find a way to add a few more hours to each day. Can we vote to slow the earth's rotational speed?

#138

Thursday

"Center"
6"x6" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Happy Tonight

"Shine"

5"x7" acrylic on stretched canvas

NFS

Ridiculously pleased with myself on this one- called out my favorite shell, and didn't use a speck of true white until the very end of it, and got the most wonderful, glistening surface on her as a result- very proud :) The most lovely cool greys.... ought to try to find a more iridescent spiral one like this, to try. Or maybe try some oyster shells, I know I've seen some other artists trying them and it looks like a fascinating challenge....

Ideas, ideas, ideas. *happy sigh* Well, it's time for sleeping right now- there's always tomorrow.

#136

Shadows and such

"Segments"
6"x6" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Another look at what I did yesterday, approaching the colors a little differently. Oranges are an interesting fruit to paint- surprising, more than anything. It might help if I had a decent orange paint, but yellows and reds are lots of fun, I know. Mixing colors and the way it makes you see new things and all that.

#135

Mimosas

"Sunshine"

5x5 acrylic on panel

NFS

Wanted something strong and summery today, something taken straight out of someplace even more delightfully southern than North Carolina- and some beautiful oranges, stee-raight from the grocery store seemed just exactly right.

As for the blog post's title.... ah, well, who doesn't love mimosas? And now I'm off to move some clothes into the dryer, take a shower, and crawl into bed next to my adorable husband, who is fast asleep and snoring under a mountain of bed linens. Good night!

Peace in the Valley

"Rhodedendron"

6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas

SOLD

Content tonight, and hopeful, and rather proud of this little guy- this is the first rhodedendron I've ever tried to paint, and they are notoriously difficult, but it went very well. Trumpet shaped flowers have always been a challenge for me, and a whole group of them arranged in a ball like this, with wonderfully thin, transucent petals and an intricate shadow full of greens and subtleties was a wonderful Sunday project. Oh, and Happy Mother's Day!

Right now there is a glorious storm going on right now, and that's always nice, with the lightning and thunder and the wonderful sound of the rain.... I'm also doing a pretty good job of tuning out the car alarms that have been set off by the aforesaid lightning and thunder :)

#133

Quietly

"Interior"
16"x20" acrylic on canvas
private collection

Looking forward to lots of sleep tonight, peace and quiet and rest- and tomorrow, to getting back into the dailies more. I'm thinking bones would be really intriguing, actually- like shells, except more poignant and stark. But still the shells, and the flowers, and I'd like to try some old fashioned clock components- more ideas tonight, for some reason :)

A good thing- something to look forward to, to grow into. At the show today one lady told me that what I bring to every show is so different, and that it's a good thing. That intrigues me.

#132

Almost done.... I think.

Pretty painting, that I'm happy with. And my little brother is all graduated now, rocket scientist that he is, and my wonderful Aunt has decided to fight her cancer and looks a whole lot better- she's going through radiation, and starting some physical therapy, and I'm so glad she's being so remarkable and strong and inspiring, and I am really hoping it all comes out okay.

Hope with me :)

Kicking myself.

Managed a fairly pretty painting tonight, and then guess what I realized I went and left at work? Yep- my camera. So, no pretty picture until tomorrow night. Forgive me?
"Magnolia"
6"x6" acrylic on canvas
NFS

Yay! That's better :)

Sketching tonight

Out of sorts, and decided I couldn't manage a decent daily- one of my aunts, a wonderful woman who has always made me feel loved, someone I love and trust unconditionally, has been battling cancer for a while now, and now they're looking at hospice because it's just spread too much, and I'm heartbroken, and feeling lost. Angry at how stupid and unfair all this is, frustrated by my inability to help at all.

Sketching like this- it's simple, kind of drives everything else away, and I appreciate that.

#129

Flowers in shot glasses again

"Lilies"
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
NFS

Sad tonight, worrying over things I have no control over. But there are always small joys- hold on to them.

#128

Sunlight and sand

"Spire"

5"x7" acrylic on panel

SOLD

More of a traditional conch shape, tonight, with that familiar glow coming from within the shell, and the strangely blue relected lights, the surprising ridges.... I'm a long way from capturing everything about the shell, but I'm happy with the discoveries I'm making.

#127

Beacons

"Sweet Home"
5"x7" acrylic on panel
SOLD

The same little guy as last night, with a change in position. I love the striping coming through on the inside of that curve, the rainbow color transition along the surface of the shell itself, the hollows and contours of it all, so human, in a way. Like a fossil, some sort of fetishist artifact.

#126

Seashells again

"Shadows"
5"x5" acrylic on panel
SOLD

It's a new one! I went and got some seashells from One World Market today, more subjects to paint, more pretties and ideas and ways to fantasize about being at the beach :)

#125

Quiet tonight

It's a WIP of one of my larger paintings, because my daily was truly unbearable and I refuse to share it. Hope you guys arehaving a good night- as for me, I'm tired, stressed, and it's now midnight, and I've been up since five since I was at work at six.... yeah, I'm going to bed. Hoping for a beautiful day tomorrow.

#124

Taking a breath

"Duckie"
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Something happy tonight, a smiling little rubber duck looking up at all of us, the contrast between the yellows and the purples just singing, and the shadows being loads and loads of fun. Smile, everyone!

#123

Better....

"That Smile"
NFS

But I think I'll take a break from people for a bit, circle the wagons on that subject. how can something that I'm so familiar with drawing be so difficult to paint? Silly question, I know... but still. Sleepy tonight, and hoping for a beautiful day tomorrow.

#122

Gr

"Highlights"
NFS

Well, I'm really happy with one of the larger pieces I'm working on right now, and also really happy with some of the sketches I've got done for a comission that's coming up... so I'm forgiving myself for sucking on tonight's little painting. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow? Even though there's some parts on this one... I dunno, you ever have one of those where you feel like you're right on the edge of something, where you're learning and implementing things, they're just not coming together in a synthesized whole yet? Yep.

Goodnight!

#121

A little different

"Golden Girl"
NFS

Because people are really freakin tricky, and because even though I wanted to do my seashell again today I'm afraid I'll get tired of it, or something. So, trying people, just for a few days. I'm actually very proud of her hair, and her nose turned out pretty well too :)

Happy Monday, everyone. Just turned off the news- tornado damage is depressing- and I'm moving towards that whole shower-and-go-to-bed thing. Sweet dreams!

#120

... and Sunday.

"Balance"
5"x7" acrylic on board
collection of Lois Sharpe

And perhaps the most beautiful thing I've ever painted. Almost enough so to make the last few days worth it. Maybe.

So, my excuses for not posting? Thursday I came home from work and had a long overdue total nervous breakdown- seriously, I was useless for the entire evening. Freaked poor Mark out horribly, but he was a supportive angel, as usual. Friday was almost as dreadful, but I got a righteous-anger energy-spurt that afternoon, followed by a last-minute-panic can't-freak-out-just-now thing due to having a show Saturday morning that I was woefully underprepared for.

So, up way too late Friday night, and up early Saturday morning, but the show went just fine (fun, met some cool people, we're planning on doing it again, yay!). Came home exhausted (show of hands, who isn't exhausted after a show? yeah, that's what I thought) and trooped straight out to freakin' BFE for a party/cookout/sleepover thing. My long suffering husband's social bug was appeased, and it was fun- but once more, no time for painting.

So we come home this morning, after pit stops at a truck stop for breakfast (yep), an auto parts joint for octane booster (husband was driving), and groceries (every Sunday morning), and I sat down for a while and didn't do anything- and then I moved over and sat down and painted for a while. And it felt wonderful, and I'm extremely proud of "yesterday's" orchids, and even more proud of this shell piece.... *happy sigh*

But now I've truly got to go to bed, because otherwise the whole Monday thing will be even worse than it would be anyways. Here's to a brand new week, everybody! May it go as well as it can!

#119

Saturday

#118

Friday

#117

Thursday

#116

Another one undone.

Hope this isn't the beginnning of an unfortunate trend- no, I'm sure it's not. Spent some time on this one, yes, but also spent a lot of the evening watching Pan's Labyrinth for the first time- really good movie. Fascinating, really. Back to normal tomorrow, promise :) Have a good night!

#115

Back to my orchids.

Except that I didn't have the time to finish this one tonight- it got unexpectedly complicated. Still, I'm happy with it, considering the half-done thing, and I'm guessing I'll have it done for you tomoorow night. Something to look forward to, yes?

#114

Swirl.

Just a doodle tonight, appreciating how the light comes through the delicate layers of the shell. And the fancy little highlights, and the bluish tones in the shadows...

#113

And more of the same.

You have to love the unabashed sensuality of orchids- of all flowers, really, but it's the most pronounced in orchids, at least to me. There's something creamy and stark about this little piece, and yet I'm not sure how I feel about it.... perhaps it will be clearer tomorrow, and I'll know more thoroughly what I've learned. *smile* That's the best thing about these little dailies, isn't it? Learning, growing. Goodnight!

Orchids.

"Orchid"
5"x7" acrylic on panel
SOLD

Isn't this one just wonderful? Couldn't be happier with the colors, and everything seems laid out just right.... the flower centers were tricky, blast them, but they always are. Lovely. Got them today at Whole Foods, desperately needed some orchids and had just planned on some cut ones, but of course they were all out, so I got this little guy.

Cutest little potted plant ever- if she had cheeks, I would pinch them, but as things stand I've just been making little cooing noises at her all evening. *happy sigh*

#111

A beginning.

What is it with me and Friday nights, lately? It's like by the end of the week I just can't function artistically or something. Oh, well, I'll be back tomorrow. This is one I started tonight, thinking about an elemental theme- do you see the clouds, in the lace? My current favorite part :)

Have a wonderful beginning-of-the-weekend!

#110

Sketching.

A glass bowl, with three beautiful little limes in it. A simple enough task, and with so much possibility. This evening, at the end of a prodigiously long, awful and yet wonderful day, well, this is the best I can manage- the broad strokes, a bit of the way the glass shines blue where it's thick, the roundness of the limes and the sensual tracery of the shadows. I'm content- a glad that tomorrow is Friday. Looking forward to the weekend with me?

#109

Having some fun.

"Peek a Boo"
8"x10" acrylic on canvas


Isn't glass distortion just the most fascinating thing you've ever encountered? It's been a horribly long day, and tomorrow promises to be even longer.... but take a deep breath with me. Ahhhh.... yes. Just like that. All better, huh?


#108

Savory.

"Garlic Cloves"
5"x5" acrylic and charcoal on panel

I'm putting process shots of this one up on Moment by Moment ( http://kellie-hill.blogspot.com/ )- simply because I'm fascinated by the whole process thing, I guess, and because I'm tired of posting nothing but wip's over there. Sometimes it seems like I never finish anything, I swear.... but then I get in the right mood, and the right completions just seem to happen. Waiting, impatiently, for that mood to strike.

Anywho, this one.... saw some garlic cloves of Abbey Ryan's (http://www.ryanstudio.blogspot.com/ ), I never would have thought to try it otherwise- hers are amazing. I'm proud of some parts of mine, especially that middle clove, even though the shading on that front group isn't bad, if I do say so myself :) Happy trails to you all!

#107

Daydreams.

"Moonrise on the Ocean"
5"x7" acrylic on panel
NFS

Part imagination, part daydreaming my way through a National Geographic, I'm conent with this piece- and I wish that place existed, and that it was warm and peaceful and uninhabited, and that I was there on a nice, long vacation. Sounds like a marvelous idea, doesn't it? Peaceful dreams!

#106

The air smells of summer.

"Spiral"
5"x5" acrylic on panel

SOLD

Bringing one of the shells back into rotation, and I'm so glad of it- so happy with this painting, so enthralled with the subject itself. There are so many wonderful things in this world to be grateful for.

Remind me of that when it's time to get up and head to work tomorrow morning, yes? Hope all of you had a perfectly beautiful weekend!

#105

Yep. Guess what I forgot to do last night?

SOLD

But I am so in love with painting on panels instead of stretched canvas, that I'm not berating myself but so horribly for saving last night as a draft, and flaking out on that whole "posting" thing. Yeah.

But seriously, these panel thingies are awesome, the paint behaves so differently.... it's like it distributes more evenly, thinner..... provides more of an opportunity for translucent scrumbling, which can be so pretty. At any rate, very happy with this one, and if it wasn't so horribly late right now I'd go ahead and post it on eBay. As it stands, well, that can happen tomorrow. Sleep soundly!

#104