Up at the Show

Gardenia Shadow, all done and on display. Happy.

#201

Myself, again

White and Gold

8"x8" acrylic on panel

SOLD

Well, there's no accounting for mood swings, that's for sure, but I'm very pleased with where this one has deposited us. Aren't the colors just wonderful? White china is amazing! And my first attempt at that gold trim... tricky stuff, but so satisfying. Good piece for number 200- exciting, isn't it?

#200

Aargh!

White Orchids
NFS

Stuck in a moment where nothing is coming off my brush right, and it's infuriating- always happens right after I get a nice, "in the groove" doing paintings I'm in love with spell... thankfully they're generally short-lived cycles. Still, gr.

I think I'll go do a round on the elliptical machine and see if I feel any differently when I get back. You guys have a wonderful night!

#199

Daydreaming

Stuck in my sketchbook again- forgive me?

#198

A little different

Reflections

NFS

Trying something a bit uncharacteristic, but nice. Bringing back old faithful with the shell.... and then setting it on a gold candy wrapper to get that fascinating reflection. Really enjoyed painting it, trying to get my head around it.... always something new, huh?

#197

Red Roses

Three Red Roses
5"x7" acrylic on panel
SOLD

Don't you lovely how bright they are, how well they stand out from the background? I've always found red roses impossible, that rich, velvety texture they get sometimes.... well these roses weren't quite that type, with the sunlight shining through them, no, but they had that wonderful, intense color wrapped in with all of the intricacies and whorls and folds that make roses so wonderfully real. Happy with the result. Hope you're all having a good night!

And another one.

This one maybe even more interesting- the flower itself is submerged, you see? that's going to be interesting, trying to get it just right.... but something about those distortions and the play of light, it's just fascinating, you know? Pretty stuff.

Work In Progress.

Yep, 'nother one. Absolutely loving this gardenia thing.

Caught in my sketchbook again.

And happy to be there. So glad for the whole sketchbook thing- I don't know how other artists get by without them. A few people in my life actually refer to it as my portable brain- not that it's self functioning, but that I couldn't function without it. True enough.

The weather has been very summertime lately, somewhat hot but mostly just so humid that you feel like you're swimming every time you step outside, with a thunderstorm rolling through in the evening. (Dixon is totally traumatized by that, of course. he's afraid of the whole thunder and lightning thing) So somewhere in the midst of all that moisture, a bunch of mushrooms popped up in the apartment lawn. I got some very, very strange looks when I picked a couple and took them upstairs with me, but, well.... the sacrifices we make for art. Or for passing fancies :)

Doodling

Very, very nearly done with the gardenias.... sheesh, even I'm getting tired of hearing me say that... but no, fully intending to post it all done and happy in the next day or two. For now, well, I got a very pretty little thank you card in the mail, lovely pattern on it, and I've never really tried to show a pattern like that before so I thought I'd give it a nice, casual sort of preliminary try.

Water soluble graphite, charcoal, acrylic paint. Lots of fun, as always. Good night!

#193

Let there be color!

Gardenia Shadow
9"x12" acrylic on gallery-mounted hardboard panel
available through the Distinct Appointments Gallery

There's times, especially when I'm a little scared of losing the values on a piece, where I feel like I'd be perfectly content to do the whole thing in just white and payne's gray, or some other wonderfully neutral but pleasent combination. White, burnt sienna, and a nice light blue are fun too. But here.... I knew I had to take a deep breath and add some hints of color.

Green gold, a pale yellow, hints of quinacridone burnt orange in addition to what was already there, and it feels so much more alive now, so much more vibrant. Almost there.

#191

The next step

Moving along nicely.... tried a smaller piece as a daily, and just couldn't focus on it, so I went back to the fidgetties and details here. It's amazing how many petals need to be individually shaped on a piece like this, like you're sculpting each one of them or something. Wild. And isn't the watermarking in the background just fascinating?

I'm really looking forawrd to seeing it done- seems to be moving towards something really high contrast, but still graceful, you know? Balanced. That's what I'm hoping for, anyways.

#190

And another start

Always interesting, huh? At the moment it's too many starts and not enough finishes, but that'll be turned around as long as I keep moving forward on all fronts, yes? That's the theory, anyways. At least I love all of them. :)

#189

And half done.

Bit of a trend here, yes? I just started noticing that, but it's okay. this one- the beastly part of it will be getting the shine on the gold trim in the teacup. Looking forward to it. Tomorrow night, perhaps? Now, well- it's my bedtime. I was up too late last night, and so I'm going to head to bed and listen to the rain falling. *happy sigh*

Almost there

More finishing, more detail.... correcting my mess up on her forehead, and the mysterious-migrating-features thing that had happened on her nose, just a little bit. But the mouth is perfect, the hair actually looks soft and touchable, the glasses are so close to being right... I'm enjoying this process. Hope you are too :)

Sixteen

A not-yet-done portrait of my little sister- this is as far as it was last night, but I think I might be able to finish her today :) Her driving, yes, but you'll only be able to see the road in her most prized possession- those durned sunglasses. It's the first portrait I've done in forever, so I'm really excited. Happy Fourth, everyone!

Dark Chocolate

As shallow and stereotypically feminine as it may be, there is no day that can't be made better by chocolate- especially if it comes in the Lindt Lindor Extra Dark Truffles variety. This happy little member of a "just because I love you" bag of them from Mark is therefore immortalized for all the world :D

Seriously, though, it's a great challenge everyone should try- all the little crinkles in the overly reflective plastic surface were great, and the little highlights in the gold script, and figuring out how on earth to make the clear parts of the plastic not look totally and completely weird....

#185

Gardenia

Gardenia
8"x10" mixed media on hardboard panel
available through the Distinct Appointment Gallery

See, I told you! Isn't it beautiful? I might fidget with it some more- want to put some water droplets on the petals, I think, and maybe add some more personality to the stem, but right now.... *happy sigh* think I'll put some progress pics up over at Moment by Moment, too, pretty sure I've got some buried in this computer, probably even at the top of the piles....

#184

*I was quite wrong, I don't seem to have any progress pics of my beautiful new gardenia. however I did find a few of the river rocks and posted them- pleasent viewing :)

Three's just one of those numbers...

collection of Alden Hall
And part three, all my little jewels. I'll put them all up on eBay together tomorrow night- just a little procrastination to stretch things out a bit. And the painting for tomorrow night- well, it is soooo not a daily, but it's almost done, so very nearly there, and I'm just in love with it... can't wait? Well, tune in again :) I'll give you a hint- it's a freakin 'nother flower. Just can't get away from those things, so perfect and fragile....

#183

At the Eno

collection of Alden Hall

Part two :) there's so much to love about doing these, it's amazing to me... and isn't that green just amazing? Just a thin scrumbling of Sap Green, nothing crazy, and then blues in the shadows and some transparent gold tones where the sun was shining through the water a bit more, on that larger stone with the tip peaking out of the water...

Okay, going to bed now, before I get totally obsessive over the details. Again. Sleep tight!

Down by the River

River Rock

4"x6" acrylic on canvas

collection of Alden Hall

One part of the tiniest triptych ever, and it's just the cutest thing, all the beautiful colors and fun textures and weirdness with trying to figure out how on earth to portray partially submerged river rocks.... seriously, though, in love with these guys. And now, you don't get to see them all till, well, one tomorrow and one Monday. And then they'll go on eBay, and that'll be fun.

Till tomorrow, then. Love you guys, and sleep tight!

Obsessions

"Grains of Sand"
5"x7" acrylic on panel
NFS

Something out of my head, for a change. Turned out pretty well. So does this mean I spend too much of my day watching the clock? Could be, but the passage of time just seems to be a general obsession.... and all the fascinating little bits and pieces that go into old style watches.... I think I ought to try and find one of those old pocket watches, the windy-uppy kind with all the little gears and stuff visible in the back when you open up a little door.

Where on earth do I get all these pictures in my head? No idea, but it works out all right anyways. You guys have a good night- it's finally officially the weekend!

RePost

"Glow"

5"x7" acrylic on panel

SOLD

And this one is kind of a repeat- didn't sell the first time around, but I was completely in love with it, the white-light feeling coming through the petals and everything, so I fiddled around and made some changes, and now it's even stronger, so we're reposting.

You guys have a wonderful evening!

Gr.

Can't get the stupid images to upload- the internet signal is too weak, the images are too large, blah blah blah. Gr. Promis I'll post tomorrow night- and if you simply must see them tonight, well, I uploaded to eBay before my signal strength totally vanished, so they're over there. Or rather here, if you want to click. Hope you're having a wonderful night- and it's past my bedtime, so that's where I'm headed.There we go! Tomorrow afternoon, but eh, whatever.

SOLD

Apologies

I never get sick- ever ever ever. Which is part of why I'm at a complete loss to figure out why I'm suddenly and miserably light headed and nauseous. So here's an older pretty to look at, and know that I'll be back tomorrow. I think I'll go back to do some more roses on the little 5x7 panels- missing that. Have a good night! Hope you feel better than I do!

Red

In the sketchbook tonight, playing with the roses from Duke Gardens, having fun with layers. Trying to figure out what to paint for tomorrow, because for some reason I totally drew a blank tonight except for my doodlebugging here. *hugs*

#177

Gardenias

Work in Progress of a lovely bunch of my favorite flowers- the whole apartment smells wonderful from them, and it's enough to make me smile in and of itself. Very nice. Isn't that shadow going to be amazing? And those rich, creamy petals.... not yet, I know. But I'll get it up here again when it's done.

Dessert

Work in Progress, of a little key lime tart and that wonderfully tiny espresso cup. And a spoon kind of tying it all together.... nowhere near "there" yet, but promissing nonetheless. I think I'm most looking forward to doing the close work on the whipped cream and little lime slice on the tart, at the moment.

Spotlight

Work in progress- some very pretty roses, or at least the beginnings of them. Love how translucent some of the petals feel, and the background turned out a really wonderful dark neutral. Happy.

Fossils

Considering it was just yesterday I was complaining about a distinct lack of black or white paint in my studio, and since I certainly don't have time on weekdays to run to Raleigh for art supplies, this may seem an odd choice. Unless, of course, you're in my head. (scary place. wouldn't recommend it.)

It's all charcoal and gesso on canvas. If you don't put fixative on an underdrawing in nice soft charcoal, it gives you the most wonderful soft grey-to-black lines and shadows- something I've often enjoyed, but never used quite as much as this time.

I'd been wanting to do this one for a while anyways, and been scared of it- rightfully so. It's a fossil thing I got at a First Friday a while back, a rounded black stone that had been split open to show this wonderful imprint of an old spiral type shell..... love them anyways, and I've got an additional fondness for fossils, but so far I'd only smiled at it and petted it (yes, I'm serious), not tried to make a painting subject out of it. Well, I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt!

Other than that, well... it's Thursday night. So tomorrow is Friday, and then it's the weekend. Smiles, everyone!

#172

Sketching Today

Partially because I'm irritated with myself for running out of white paint. And black. Not quite out-out, but close enough that you don't really want to use that last bit of it.... Oh, well- it's a wonderful reason to go out to the art supply store.

And get some more of those cute little panels, and some more of those larger ones.... don't know why I'm so enamored with painting on firm surfaces after all that time on canvas, but I'm really enjoying it. Taking pleasure in the little things, thankfully :)

Experimentation

Water soluble pencil and acrylic paint and some gesso and scratching and generally having fun with more stuff with the roses from Duke Gardens. It's a good, peaceful feeling at the end of a very pretty day.

#170

and Monday.

Horizon Storm

5"x7" acrylic on panel

NFS

#169

Sunday

Spreading my Wings

5"x7" acrylic on panel

NFS

#168

Saturday

Scatter

5"x7" acrylic on panel

NFS

#167

Friday

Rising

5"x7" acrylic on panel

NFS

#166

the pretty things

"Glow"

5"x7" acrylic on panel

NFS

Roses from Duke Gardens again, looking at some ones I'm doing a larger piece on- and really trying to focus on the light coming through the petals, how wonderfully bright it has been here lately. It surprised me by looking kind of pastel-y in the end, very pretty and feminine. I think I'm going to try her out in a frame tomorrow- beautiful.

Oh, and I'm going to be out of town this weekend- down in Georgia for my aunt's wedding :) Really looking forward to it, but I'm not planning on doing any painting in the hotel room, so I'll probably be posting sketches when I get back instead. Love me anyways?

Resounding snores are echoing from the bedroom, and morning comes early- goodnight, ya'll!

#165

PS- just figured out how to do the linking thing- ridiculously pleased with myself, especially when you consider how simple it is. hehe.

Imagine

"Tropicana"

5"x7" acrylic on panel

SOLD

Well, it's been a very productive Wednesday, all things considered- a bit odd, but you accept those days as they come. As for this painting- quite unlike me, isn't it? And yet I think it came out beautifully, very much the little punch of color. I'm content, this evening- hoping you are, too.

And now Dixon has gone and climbed in bed with Mark, and I'm thinking it's about time I follow him. Provided, of course, I can get this blasted image to upload.

Seashell Silhouette

NFS
Or however you spell that. Finished on lovely piece, started on another I am really looking forward to seeing finished- and kind of experimented on my daily here. But that's what they're for, right? (If you want to see the other two from today, then http://kellie-hill.blogspot.com/ ) Goodnight, everybody!

Lime Wedges

NFS
Fun with greens today :) Aren't they wonderful and bright and glowing? Lots of fun. Backlighting citrus fruit is a wonderful thing.

and Sunday

"Crossing"

5"x7" acrylic on panel

collection of Kelly Wallace

Happy little painting for a beautiful day- everything this weekend was from pictures I've been taking at the farmers market- it's a great place, yes? The heat has turned the light all silvery-white lately, and it's leaving me perfectly relaxed- and unfortunately a bit lazy. But I got a lot done today, and hopefully we'll have some beautiful new stuff for tomorrow night :) Took some gorgeous reference pics at Duke Gardens today, especially of the roses, braving triple digit temperatures for them. It was beautiful.

Saturday

"Waiting"

5"x7" acrylic on panel

NFS

And, again, unfinished. As of yet. Noticing a pattern? Well, tonight's is finished anyways. Coming up next :)

Friday

"Sunflower"

5"x7" acrylic on canvas

NFS

And still waiting to be finished- bad me.

In the sun.

"Solace"

5"x7" acrylic on canvas

NFS

Went with a dried rose as a subject tonight, of all things- no real formula for it, it was so hard in some ways, but I really enjoyed it, and I really love the result- and how about those colors? and the strong shadow? Love love love.

Lemons

"Blue and Gold"

5"x7" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

Back to something more summery, brighter. More hopeful. Not sure if it's actual optimism or just trying to force the issue, but I feel good about the painting, the textures and the way the shadows play off the rounded shapes of the lemons. And there's always believing that tomorrow will be batter than today. *hug*

Cup and Saucer

Cup and Saucer
NFS

Fun with blues, and a little bit of brown.... they makes for the most wonderful greys, don't you think? I believe I messed up with the ellipses, but I'm quite proud of some of the modeling, and those fun little highlights there at the bottom of the cup, those are very nice.

Bits and pieces, always. Sometimes I'm very happy with the whole, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be terribly in love with every inch of the canvas. Maybe I'll find out at some point :) Until then- in love with certain parts, and varying degress of satisfied with the rest. That's still a good thing- I've got that I'm my own worst critic thing going, usually.

And a happy Tuesday. It really felt like it ought to be later in the week, but of course the calender is somewhat more reliable than my fickle emotions. Good thing we have calenders.

Apples and Other Things

"Half"

5"x7" acrylic on canvas
SOLD

Something a little different tonight, going back to some higher contrast still life stuff. And probably going to do some sketching after this, to try and work up the nerve to do some more work on a beautiful commission I'm working on. Gr. Hate it when my own paintings intimidate me.

Here- like I said, something a little higher contrast, but still with very neutral colors. The flesh of the apple was particularly fun- I feel like I've learned so much lately about all the little bits of color that hide in white. Happy Monday, everyone!

Reflecting

Seagulls
NFS

Daydreaming. Summertime and getting away, watching the seagulls on the beach. Sitting in the sand making drip castles and chasing sand fleas. Then spending most of the day floating in the ocean, ignoring the entire world. Listening the the pull of the waves on the shoreline.

And just getting away from everything. It's a nice idea, isn't it? Wonderful. And yet, tomorrow is still Monday. Oh, whatever. Happy tonight anyways.

Memory

The Chapel
NFS

Just thoughts and memories already. Sad, and soft, and experimenting with greying down the colors, seeing how to create a complete impression without adding all that detail and contrast- it just felt wrong, on this one. But it turned out right, this way.