Silence

8"x16"
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I'm pushing myself to use more soft edges.... and here, just about all of the edges are soft! I love the difference in the way things feel because of that :)

just doodling....

Captain Chihuahua

11"x14"
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Just something very, very silly :)

White Koi

5"x7"
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Inspired by the goldfish pond at Duke Gardens- trying to get the glow of the sun off the fish brightening the water :)

Dancing Eggplant

8"x10"
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Pretty little thing :) Every year I have this problem- I have no idea how to cook eggplants so I'll actually eat them, the texture has always thrown me off, but they're just so BEAUTIFUL I can't resist getting some and trying them every summer!

WIP

having fun :) Going back and forth between doing Day of the Dead makeup with this little girl again- it'd be awesome, but I don't want to detract from the amazing way the light is hitting her eyes....

WIP

just started this one- Naomi is so brilliant :)

Two Bones

5"x7"
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Interesting shapes, don't you think? Duck, in case you're wondering.....
It's funny, I think skulls might be easier to paint than other bones, if only because of the instantly-identifiable factor. Like in a movie or tv show, what is the first bone uncovered, ALWAYS? Skull. Never anything ambiguous or small, no finger bones or little pointy toe bones that could be mistaken for weird pebbles, always a gaping, staring skull right there at the top of the heap..... what movie was that, Terminator, Terminator II, with the massive tank thingey rolling over human bones? Except it was nothing but skulls. Either the robots were taking the rest out for barbeque, or it was even more futuristic than it was pretending to be and the humans were nothing but heads in jars, a la Futurama.

Ok, clearly I'm losing my mind.

Off to bed now. More painting tomorrow.

Birdhouse Gourd

5"x7"
sold

Happy little gourd :)
After reading that many mosquito-eating birdies (something called a purple martin, for instance) like to nest in birdhouse gourds, Naomi and I decided to try to grow some on the fence out front this year to make into little houses for next year.... this is the first one we've picked, and I just think it is adorable!

Cherokee Purple II

5"x7"
sold

Just beautiful :) My garden is seriously overgrown, though, I was looking for ground cherries and somehow found myself staring at this thing! Strangely, I think my favorite part of it is the ghosting of Alizarin Crimson down at the bottom to form a soft reflection of the tomato itself....

Tomatillo

5"x7"
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My tomatillos are finally getting ripe! We're going to be drowning in them soon, they are some seriously prolific plants :)

Throwing Knife

5"x7"
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And.... well, I guess we're back out of the flowers catagory. I've started playing around with knife throwing as, well I guess it'd be a hobby. Definitely a challenge, but I'm enjoying it! And the knives are adorable.

Gardenia on Grey

5"x7"
sold

Wow, is it September already? How did that happen?
Figured I'd do a pretty little flower today, just to contrast with the monster skull from yesterday :)

Kashi Skull

so.... it seems I'm writing a book. well, creating one, since it's at least as much drawing and painting as it is writing.
all about monsters. this is a progress shot of part of one page, a Kashi skull- a monster from Africa that has a human face in front, and a hyena face, usually hidden by an elaborate hairstyle, in the back. cool huh?

Shadows and Transitions

9"x12"
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My little muse, and a cow skull :)
I love how something so simple can be so much more, you know? It's like the fact that the play of light over her ribs is what drew me in initially, but there's just so many amazing shapes and contours happening. And I think this counts as continuing my exploration of masks, and most definitely magical realism....

Two Persimmons

8"x10"
sold

Just a little bit bigger than the 5"x7"s :)
Apparently I really love painting persimmons.... and I wanted to not only try two of them together, but have them doing something a bit... magical. Like flying. Flying persimmons. Or maybe jumping.
Makes perfect sense.

Persimmon on Grey

5"x7"
sold

Had to paint it again! I was really trying to create a rounded, tangible form here, where yesterday it was more about atmosphere and perspective, I suppose.

Persimmon Rising

5"x7"
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It's been feeling an awful lot like fall, lately.... and persimmons are so beautiful. Well, all fruit is beautiful, isn't it? Like it's there just to draw our eyes.

Little Strawberry

5"x7"
sold

Look what I picked out in the garden this morning!
*happy dance*
It's impossible to run out of things to paint- there is just so much beauty in the world :)

Antique Wrench

5"x7"
sold

All about the greys! Textures and shades of grey come together and make magic, right?

Avocado Half VII

5"x7"
sold

So.... I guess what I really want to say is.... I like to paint avocados.

That is all.

Release the Kraken

16"x20"
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Just something silly :)

Waterlily Pond

5"x7"
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Happy little lilies- it's all summer today! Experimenting at Duke Gardens, trying to keep things really abstract and get the contrast between the sun-bright lily pads and flowers, and the dark water.

Sketch of Alcide

9"x12"

Ok, so..... I watch True Blood. And I have discovered that the pretty people on the tv will hold still for you if you press pause, making them relatively easy to sketch ;)
Joe Manganiello (hopefully I'm spelling that right) plays a character named Alcide Herveaux (maybe I'm spelling that right too?) on True Blood (well, at least the name of the show itself is easy), and I had a lot of fun with this sketch. It started off as just graphite on gessoed canvasboard, because graphite feels amazing on gesso, but I couldn't manage his lovely salt-and-pepper beard in graphite and the acrylics started sneaking in somehow. And dripping. I love the dripping.

One Reading of Ophelia

9"x12"
private collection

I almost don't want to sell this one.... She just came out so perfect. I'm loving the shades-of-grey background, and then going back in and infusing all the different areas with subtle color is lots of fun.

The Seeker

11"x14"
private collection

My beautiful, amazing little girl again :) Continuing with my exploration of masks, definitely, but I am more in love with the light in this painting than anything else!

Cherokee Purple

5"x7"
sold

Yay, tomatoes! More specifically, yay Cherokee Purples. They're the best tomatoes EVER, even if they are a little bit funny looking. Lots of fun to paint though :) The ones in the garden haven't done too well this year, what with all the rain and cool weather, but they've done allright, and I just got this little beauty off the vone yesterday!

and another sketch!

headed off to the farmers' market now :) hope you all have a wonderful day!

just a sketch

that I think will be a painting soon :)

The Poet

Have I shared this one before? I can't remember. She caught my eye, up on the wall, and I'm doing some more painting on her now :)

Summer Peach

5"x7"
sold

I don't think I've painted a peach yet this year, somehow! I could be wrong, you know my brain....

Still, they're just irresistable. Lumpy fuzziness, vibrant colors, all the promise in the world knowing the juicy numminess that's inside :9

Tequila and Lime

5"x7"
sold

One of those weeks! But at least beautiful little paintings can come out of all that, right? I would have liked to do the salt thing, but that just seems like it would have been impossible to paint!
Also, I don't dip glasses in salt. Quirky, I guess, but I don't like mixing savories into sweets or beverages. Sugar on the rim, now that I could do, but it wouldn't be any easier to paint.....

Approaching Storm

5"x7"
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Just a beautiful thundercloud that rolled through this evening!
And while the cloud itself was quite real, I took creative liberties with the setting. I wanted to see how she'd look looming over wide open spaces, as opposed to the trees, trees, and more trees we have around here :)

Mummified Fairy

11"x14" drawing

for a book I'm doing :)

Sketch of Cara

I'm doing #drawingaugust over on twitter (@kelliehill, if you're on there too), and this is what I drew today..... I lurve that my friends will pose for me!

Sunset Road

5"x7"
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Spooky time of evening, even when you're somewhere beautiful :) Wide open sky, and you can hear the ocean but you can't see it, and everything on earth is just.... fading.....

Rain Puddle

5"x7"
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Still at the beach, just not on the shore..... something about this just pulled me in. Well, reflections always have that effect on me :)

Green Wave

5"x7"
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More escapism :) Waves are so much fun to paint, though, so many wonderful textures and shapes. Also fun to swim in!

Golden Goat

8"x8"
sold

Goats are funny looking. Fun to paint, though, especially when the sun is right!

Sea and Sky

5"x7"
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Just some pretty colors, for you :)

another WIP!

very excited about this one :)

just a start on something strange.....

Red Bikini

4"x6"
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<3 p="">

Swimming Forward

4"x6"
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Still going with the idea from yesterday :) I really missed doing these swimmers! This one is my cousin Anna, though of course it's impossible to tell that here....

Drifting

4"x6"
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Just because it's summertime :)

Pink Skirt

5"x7"
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Just plain grumpy today. Nothing has gone drastically wrong, but everything feels not quite right.
*pouts*
Well, at least this turned out well. Hope you're all having a better day than me!

....creepy WIP...

White Sundress

5"x7"
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Almost forgot to post tonight! And that would have made me sad, I love how this one turned out :)

On the Way Home

8"x10"
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There's this cool little farmhouse, very near the house I grew up in- I can't count the number of times I've driven past it, often thinking it'd be fun to paint.... well last night I found it absolutely irresistible :)

Faded Red

5"x7"
sold

Denim is getting to be more and more fun to paint! Well, initially it was just driving me bonkers, so the fact that it is ANY fun to paint now is a vast improvement.... turns out the main problem was me making the colors too saturated. And I was afraid of overworking so I wasn't putting down *quite* enough layers.
:)