Teapot

5x7 acrylic on canvasboard
private collection

The last painting for August, I did our wonderful, much-used teapot... it works, though, it was strangely soft and cool today. Beautiful, but not very summery, you know? Ooh, and some more excitement- I picked up some sushi from Whole Foods today, very different visually from the sort I usually eat, so maybe thats tomorrow :)

#609

Overflow

12x12 acrylic on cradled hardboard

Had a whole lot of fun with this one :) The texture on the rocks, the rich greens of the mosses, the glints of light on the water, her all glowy and pale.... I dunno, I wanted something haunting and delicately cool. In-between.

(yeah, just reread that last paragraph.... this is why Im a painter and not a writer)

#608

Calla Sketch

sketchbook

Just doodling today, from my imagination, actually :) Had an idea and wanted to see how it might work, you know? Also, it is officially late summer! I got scuppernong grapes and tuberoses at the farmers market this morning, and Im thrilled that the whole place smells of flowers, and the grapes are delicious. Yay!

#607

Egg VIII

sketchbook

Back to eggs, was wondering how it would look if I just cracked one and left it on the countertop... yes, ick. And yes, my Mama raised me better than that :D Then again, she also taught me how to clean countertops, and it is an interesting result, yes? I love all the yellows!

#606

Yellow Iris II

5x7 acrylic on canvasboard

collection of Katie Gresham

Revisiting my yellow irises... really searching for subtlety this time, for blues and greys and softness. Its so easy for me to get swept away in intense color, intense sunlight, but sometimes other things can get lost in all of that... I dunno, but I really think toning down some of the usual *flower!* elements helped this one to be more about the way irises look so delicate and voluptuous at the same time, the wonderful petals and curves and fragility. I hope so :)

#605

Egg VII

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of Michael Mitchell

Wish I could figure out why exactly raw eggs are appealing enough to overcome the ick factor :) And wondering what other somewhat icky things would pull through in the same way.... I mean, its the translucency and the shininess, right? The glowy insides and the fragile shell. Contrasts and potential.

#604

Plum Half

5x7 acrylic on canvasboard

collection of Maryann Knipscheer

Continuation from yesterday.... Trying to learn more from the same subject. Well, obviously not the exact same subject, since that one is all gobbled up and not around to pose anymore :) Almost the exact same. I think my favorite thing about the inside of plums is how the flesh reddens so beautifully near the skin (disturbingly animal, words like flesh and skin, but I couldnt come up with anything better using my pregnancy-addled brain. suggestions?).

#603

Plum Slice

5x7 acrylic on canvasboard

Love the colors on this one! Isnt it just wonderful when you discover something new, some unexpected combination that makes a wonderful glowy result? In this case; Naples Yellow, Indian Yellow, Cadmium Red Medium, Permanent Violet, and Dioxine Purple for the plum itself... I love fruit :)

#602

Eventide

6x8 acrylic on canvasboard

collection of Lucille Rice

The beach at sunrise, standing in the surf, the moon still in the sky.... Everything quiet and right.

#601

Sky Study V

sketchbook

Happy post number 600! Dude, hard to believe.... at least it is for me :) Im making sure to get this posted in the morning, because weve got a party to go to later, and goodness knows, when I go somewhere social in the afternoon the chances of me posting that night go waaay down. So, here we are- happy, scattered clouds scudding across the sky, and a church on the hill.

Woohoo, Saturday!

#600

Sky Study IV

sketchbook

Pretty skies, pretty clouds :) Edited this one waaaay down, like picked this one, um, area of clouds out of a sky full of them and just showed that against the clear blue sky. I really like the effect! Lets see, anything else going on? The leaves are starting to change on a few trees, which is kind of freaking me out- too early for that!- and its Friday- yay!- and today I am officially eight months pregnant. Kind of wild.

Hope everyone is getting ready for a wonderful weekend!

#599

Egg VI

5x7 acrylic on panel

collection of Frank Tranfaglia

And heres a subject we havent seen in a while! The incredibly golden yolk, the transparent-gold of the egg white, the translucent sort of glow of the shells... Haha, and the bubbles, here and there. I love bubbles!

#598

Olive Shot

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of M. Faith Angell

Happy! The glass, the weird way the olives refract through it where they touch and leave little wet marks, the bright white highlights and the grey-blue reflections... just fun, you know? I was just going to do it all centered, just the olives in the shot glass, but that odd one in the background came into the composition at the last minute and just seemed to add something to the whole. Fun :)

#597

Pina Colada

5x7 acrylic on panel

Yay, fruity drinks! You do have to love pina coladas, seriously... its funny, because I dont really like coconut, but its the texture that gets me, not the taste, you know? Which of course means that this sort of thing is perfectly fine :)

#596

Sweet Tea

5x7 acrylic on panel

collection of Breedlove Publications

My first attempt at painting ice- geez, that stuff is tricky! Frozen water, how bad could it be, right? Nuh-uh. But thats why we do this daily painting thing, to grow and improve and expand horizons, that sort of happy stuff.

#595

Morning Light II

8x8 acrylic on cradled hardboard panel

Really happy with the feeling on this one, the pale light and the way the cup and saucer feel so heavy and warm. And 8x8 is such a comfortable size, you know?

Ooh, and this one and the apricots from Friday are in the Etsy store now! :D

#594

Pink Tulip II

sketchbook

Having fun with the pretty flowers.... wondering why I almost never do white backgrounds with this sort of thing. I think the idea is for the really brightly sunlit petals to be all high-contrast-y against a dark background, but it doesnt necessarily loose that sunniness when its white on white, and I dont know why. Any ideas?

#593

Apricots V - Sunbeam

12x12 acrylic on cradled hardboard panel

Decided I needed to go ahead and get this posted- otherwise it will be another oops-its-after-midnight sort of evening, and then I wont have posted anything for today, and that would make me sad :( So its here now, in all of its sunshiney glory, and should be up in my Etsy store (thats a link, click on it) soon, though most likely not tonight.... Happy Friday, everybody!

#592

Oceans Edge

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of Wilhelm Holler

Wet sand reflecting the sky, faint sand tracks and bubbles from the last waves still clinging to the sides of the shell... summertime really is my favorite season :)

#591

Pale Gold

5x7 acrylic on panel

Hard to believe we are almost up to post #600, isn't it? This is revisiting something I tried a while ago, just experimenting with overlapping translucency and complimentary colors.

#590

Shaken, not Stirred

5x7 acrylic on panel

collection of Jennifer Herrick

Still occasionally obsessing over alcohol. Obviously. But I wanted something dramatic, tilted at kind of a drunken perspective, and I had just watched Quantum of Solace... dumb name, if you ask me, but I'm a sucker for shoot-em-up type movies and James Bond is awesome. I loved it :) So, ladies and gentlemen, a three olive martini! What is the big deal with shaking versus stirring, anyways? And how on earth could it be right to have a drink that could have olives in it, much less a piece of onion? Seriously?

#589

Gold and Glass III

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of Diane Saslaw

This was a fun one.... yes, youve seen this cup before, but I made a few changes to it for this painting. everything is rounder, cleaner- I really wanted it to just be focused on the glowing tea and the sunlit glass. And the tea part was working out fine, but the glass just wasnt there, and just wasnt there, and just wasnt... and then, when I put the pale-blue-grey reflections on the side of the teacup, all of a sudden it was there. Most paintings have that moment, the step that really makes them sing, but for this one it was so pronounced, you know? Makes me happy :)

#588

Cherry on Dark

sketchbook

And more of the same :) Trying to get it to feel rounder, more touchable, you know? More immediate.

#587

Cherries on Pale

sketchbook

Just having fun :) Alizarin Crimson and Cadmium Red Medium for the cherries, I love that combination... and the pretty highlights, of course. Happy Saturday to everyone!

Oh, yeah, and I went to a informal sort of horse show today and got some cool reference photos! Exciting, though I need to finish a few other pieces before I start on the new ones in my head... always a dilema, but a good sort of one, right?

#586

Erin at the Ocean

8x8 acrylic on cradled panel

collection of Rhonda Pritchett

Worked up one of the sketches into something much more finished, and I love it, even though parts did just about drive me crazy! I think my favorite thing is how her skin tones turned out... and then the absolute hardest part was the face and hair, I always struggle with faces from this angle, and she has this wonderful thick blond hair that was just crazy in this light.... Anywho. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

#585

Tuberoses II

5x7 acrylic on panel

Summertime colors, and one of my favorite summertime flowers. I dont know what it is about creamy, delicate white flowers, the ones with rich waxy petals, heavy with fragrance, but I am an absolute sucker for that sort. Everyone has their quirks, right? And so far as it goes, thats not a bad one. Like, dancing naked in a rainstorm... that could get you arrested. Or struck by lightning. Flowers never hurt anybody :)

#584

Silver Spoon

5x7 acrylic on panel

collection of Candy Johnsey

Trying to challenge myself with the perspective on this one- tricky, most definitely, but I feel like I pulled it off :) Got the idea from the Beer Stein piece a little while back, the way light plays over metal is just amazing, isnt it? Something you can go forever without noticing, but once you do... id like to try some copper soon, but I dont have the right piece yet. And Im a bit scared of it. Lets make that a by-the-end-of-the-year sort of goal, yes? Penalty: forty lashes with a wet noodle :)

#583

Midmorning Blue

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of Andrew Klemens

You know, this one did not photograph well at all... so many little colors :) And the funny perspective, Im enjoying that.
And if you want the weirdness high point of my day, it was seeing a commercial for- seriously- vibrating mascara. Am I the only one to find this wonderfully absurd?
#582

Tangerine on Blue

6x6 acrylic on panel

Seem to be intent on driving myself absolutely crazy today. Like this morning I was totally in love with this painting Ive been hard at work on for a couple of weeks.... and suddenly it doesnt seem any good to me at all and I just want to pitch it over the balcony. No fun.

So Im feeling all melodramatic and angsty, and feeling stupid for feeling all melodramatic and angsty, and even more stupid knowing that its probably hormonal and everything will be all better in the morning. Or even sooner.... like in fifteen minutes when suddenly Im in a different mood. Ugh. Dont know how I put up with me, much less how the husband and the cat manage it!

Oh, and Im completely deaf in one ear. Since like Friday- its the oceans fault. But well worth it.

And I had someone threaten me with a holy hand grenade in the grocery store today. Well, not really, but the lady was absolutely glaring daggers at me. In her defense, Im visibly pregnant and was buying wine. In my defense, its for cooking, and its none of her freaking business anyways.

Sorry for the tirade. I should probably delete it, since I feel that mood shift coming on already... all sparkles and cuddly fuzzies :) Same mood I was in when I did this tangerine this morning, come to think of it...

#581

Study of Cassie II

sketchbook

And for tonight, my little sister... it seems that Im fascinated by the people aspect of our beach trip, at least for the moment :) Dont worry, we found some beautiful shells, and Mama and I took some gorgeous pictures of sunrise/sunset pictures while we were down there. Ooh, and with some shells we took and set them in the sand at the edge of the waves, and Mama took pictures while I fielded them, chasing down the shells that tried to escape into the ocean. Very entertaining for all onlookers, hehe.

#580

Study of Erin

sketchbook

#579

Study of Anna

sketchbook

#578

Self Portrait in Profile

sketchbook

#577

Yellow Iris

6x8 acrylic on canvasboard
collection of Anna Wright

And another post Im not sure will go off right. Either way, Ill be back on, hm, Saturday. I think. With lots of sketches and such from the beach!

#576

Sushi III - All in a Row

5x7 acrylic on panel

Ok, not sure if this is gonna work or not.... more sushi :) Happy colors!

#575

White on White

6x6 acrylic on panel

Going to the beach tomorrow!!!! So, Im about to try the thing where you can theoretically do posts for the next few days and have them show up when theyre supposed to.... if you dont see me again for a while, then it didnt work and the beach doesnt have internet access. We shall see :)

#574

Green Fields

sketchbook

I need to do exercises like this more often! I dont care what anyone says, you cant get any color you want using just primaries... but I limited myself to primaries, white, and black on this one, and its a good thing, you know, forces you to really look at the relationships between the colors youre trying to mix, and to really practice your color mixing- both very valuble things. Besides, Im kind of scared of greens, and so this.... well, is entirely green, seems like :)

#573

Orange Candy

sketchbook

Just something small... having fun tinkering with orange :) More Cadmium Red Light and Hansa Yellow Opaque.

#572

Abalone and Glass

8x8 acrylic on cradled panel

collection of Lucille Rice

And it will be available on my Etsy Store.... just as soon as Im sure its done :-/ I mean, I love it as it sits right now, but what with all the iridescence and all the curves that have to be just perfect.... not ready to make that call for sure right now. The colors are wild, though, huh? Get this: Burnt Umber, Paynes Grey, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Turquois, Dioxine Purple, Quinacridone Crimson, Iron Oxide Red, Hansa Yellow, Neutral Grey, and White. Which would be total overkill if it wasnt that crazy little shell. Oooh, and you see the rainbow in the marble? Fun :)

#571

Appletini

6x6 acrylic on panel

Nothing profound here :) Just alcohol. Or, more accurately, wishful thinking. Last time I actually had on of these, gee... Mark and I were going to Oxygen regularly, before it got all ghetto, and Addie was bartending every night. She always gave me like three cherries, though :D
#570

Eggplant II

6x6 acrylic on panel

Got some perfectly adorable eggplants at the farmers market- Kermit eggplants, mostly, all white and green. Working on painting those.... but there was one of the more familiar variety in the batch, so thats what we are trying tonight :)

#569

Orchids on Blue

6x6 acrylic on panel

Something cool and soft tonight.... You know, today Ive been married to my wonderful husband for two years, and we are officially seven months pregnant. Im not sure why orchids felt like the right thing to paint, but they did... and Im not sure why time seems to go so fast sometimes. I suppose that doesnt get any better, though, does it?
Mark is on his way home from school, now, so I guess I ought to get off the computer :) Sending happies out to all of you!
#568

Sushi II

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of Diane Schaefer

Trying the sushi again- just as much fun this time :) The red background is a bit unusual for me, I know- Mamas idea, but I think it works wonderfully with the subject!

#567

Sushi I

6x6 acrylic on cradled hardboard panel

Isnt this just too much fun? All the pretty colors.... Had some sushi for lunch yesterday and just had to bring a bit home to model :) The cat thinks Im crazy, understandably... Putting it in my Etsy Store, if youre interested- please do check it out!

#566

Bottle Study

sketchbook

Dont worry, Im still here, and Baby is still safe and sound and inside :) We went to a birthday party yesterday that was supposed to be an afternoon affair, and somehow when we got home it was past midnight! Ah, well, time flies and all that... Catching up a bit today, of course.

#565

Waterlilies III

sketchbook

Having trouble today... and its my own durn fault. Reading The Dangerous Summer by Hemingway, and I love Hemingway, always get so artistically inspired when Im reading one of his books (this is my first time through this one), but I can never paint worth anything when Im in the middle of one of them. Weird, huh?

#564

Espresso and Lace

6x6 acrylic on panel

What kind of a crazy person decides to put a doily in a daily painting? Augh! Well, have to keep me on my toes somehow :)

#563

Fishing at Dawn

6x6 acrylic on panel

Staying with the darker painting thing, apparently.... very peaceful, though :)

#562

Beer Stein

5x7 acrylic on panel

collection of Janine ODonnell

Inspired by a recent trip to the Baltimore Museum of Art- they have a really cool silver collection :) Lots of fun trying to get this shiny enough, and after all that color yesterday I thought it would be cool to try something almost monochromatic, you know?

#561

Hurricane

6x6 acrylic on panel

collection of Linda H Grote

I seem to have decided that, since I cant have any alcohol, painting it might be the next best thing :) And silly pink umbrella drinks... well, how can that go wrong? hehehe....

#560