Gin and Tonic

"Gin and Tonic"
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Well, tomorrow is Friday, and soon follows the wekend, which I am wholeheartedly looking forward to. Perhaps we need to celebrate it's arrival in advance, yes? So here's a gin and tonic, with plenty of lime- don't be shy now, drink up!

It was fun to do, with all the little reflected colors and bubbles and such- actually, there were more bubbles when I started the painting... there was even ice in the glass, but of course it melted. I suppose if I want to paint something frozen or very bubbly, then I should work from a photograph and not from life. But I like the bubbles anyways, and who needs ice? Let's say it was lovingly run through one of those little mixing contraptions, and came out icy cold and delicious. Yes, I like that story.

PS- Mark knew I was having a rotten day, so he went out and found something new- apparently Ferrero Rochere now has a dark chocolate version of that glorious hazlenut confabulation thing they're famous for. Best. Thing. Ever. Dark chocolate actually goes wonderful with gin and tonic, too ;)

Post #31

Back in the Kitchen

"Pastry Mixer"
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Well, we're back in the kitchen again for this one. I'm not sure how I feel about it- I'm very proud of certain parts, though. And the little parallel blades do make for interesting shadows.

I think I might be craving color again soon- flowers, to be specific. Now, where best to find them this time of year? And what colors am I craving? What about you guys- and color or flower suggestions? Please comment! My brain is just addled (how on earth do you spell that one?) this week.

Love to all...

Post #30

Waiting for Summer

"Waiting for Summer"
5"x7" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

I was in the kitchen, seriously considering whether I should paint the pastry mixer, or the potato masher, or one of Mark's grill toys- and I opened up the junk drawers and found these guys, and realized I wanted to do something curvy, with translucent parts.

My sunglasses get relegated to some hidden corner for the duration of every winter, but hey, it was in the sixties today and sunny, and I'm craving something summery. Not too bright yet, though- I was really enjoying that black-and-white thing, I think it's helping me to see values a lot better. So it was black, neutral grey, white- and some smalt hue, which is a color I love but always seem to forget to buy some when I run out, and some iridescent bronze, which I just couldn't resist yesterday. Every now and then I get in a kick where I want to use iridescents- irides-iridescence?

Well, I'm going to go sit on the couch with some CSI on (and then House which is a totally addictive show, and is Bones new tonight too?), and work on taxes stuff. You guys have fun!

Post #29

2006 Chardonnay

The computer and I are NOT getting along right now. I'll try to upload my image again in a minute- fifth time's the charm.

In the meantime, I'll go ahead and say this- I've officially got my car back now, and I have never been so happy to be behind the wheel in my life. I made my pilgrimmage to Jerry's Artarama, and got lots of canvases and some more paints. Some of the colors I've never tried before, and I'm just dying to make pictures that revolve around them... I just didn't want to jump in right away, it's dangerous that way ;)

"Chardonnay"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Thank goodness it uploaded- I definately want to have a painting up here for every single day this year. Next year, too, of course, but my mind works better with set periods of time, and consistent repetition- sounds very dull, but I promise I'm eccentric enough elsewhere to make up for it.

I'm also glad it uploaded because I'm terribly proud of those two little bubbles at the top of the wine, and those little hatch marks reflected from the bottom of the bottle. Mark likes the shadow best. Dixon doesn't care- he's playing fetch with Mark right now, and couldn't be happier.

Yes, the cat plays fetch. And he catches balls in midair, if he's in the mood- he's a very exceptional kitty, if I do say so myself.

Whoops- he just chased the ball off the carpet and onto the linoleum, which provides less than ideal traction. Collides with the front door- the neighbors really must be wondering about the noise- captures the ball, and now he's brought it to me. I must go attend to his highness's game. Goodnight!

Post #28

Measure to Measure

"Measuring Cup"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

I had fun with this one- the blues produced by the thickness of the glass, the reds reflected throughout from the measuring lines- the shadow cast by the measuring cup itself was actually really strange, though. Surprised me.

Well, it's past bedtime, so I guess I should go take a shower and settle in.

Post #27

Corkscrew

"Corkscrew"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Wow, today was a long day. And I'm still kicking myself for not being able to go to my cousin Susan's baby shower today... I really wish I could've been there, but I haven't had a car since Friday, and the way things were- well, now I'll be getting her back on Monday, and if I hadn't been in town it would've been more like Tuesday or Wednesday, and that would've thrown off all kinds of other things. As an additional excuse, I'm useless at baby showers- all that happiness and estrogen just leave me feeling sad that I don't have a baby already :(

Sorry about that. Bleh, I know. I'm also useless when I'm tired, and I picked up a dreadful sleep deficit this week. Somehow this painting turned out well anyway- I love the shadow, and all the little reflections on the metal, and the corkscrew part was such a challenge, but it's those challenging parts that you actually pull off that you end up liking the most, isn't it?

Post #26

Can Opener

"Can Opener"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

This one was a lot of fun- there's something so clean about the pure form-follows-function pieces, isn't there? And then, metal is always interesting. You know my Mama has this old can opener that tiny and all metal, doesn't really have a set of handles but it works really well once you get the knack. I'll have to see if I can borrow that one to paint :)

And I'm just thrilled with how my blog is going! My wonderful cousin Stephanie emailed me to a bunch of people she knows so I've been getting a lot of hits from her area, and my Mama was showing it around at her work and one of the marvelous women there wants to buy my orchids work-in-progress post from the other day, and then I've been getting hits from all over the world- like the United Kingdom and Greece and Thailand and Spain and South Africa and all kinds of places- totally awesome! And then I've got a show coming up soon, so I'm going to do postcards at this one instead of business cards, and make sure to include the blogsite on them... I'm sorry, I'm kind of a.d.d. tonight.

But the good news is that I'll be getting my car back tomorrow (yay!), and I'll be going art supply shopping soon after that, I need to refill on some of my favorite colors and get some more canvases for my dailies. I'm also thinking of getting some smaller sizes- initially the 8"x10" just seemed incredibly tiny, but I'd like to tinker with getting a little smaller, getting even more of that "jewel" effect.

*sigh* I can't wait till tomorrow's painting! I love this :)

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend, too!

Post #25

Eggs, Anyone?

"Eggs, Anyone?"
8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

I like this kitchen stuff idea :-D Tomorrow is a can opener- I've got it sketched out already, and I'm really excited about that!

Took a page out of the book of the fabulous Carol Marine (http://carolmarine.blogspot.com) and got my husband to give me a name for this one, because all I could come up with was the stunningly unoriginal "Whisk".

Okay, now I'm back off to ebay to email the person who sold me a part for my poor dead car- if it doesn't get here soon I'm going to have to mail him a spring-mounted boxing glove or something like that. *sigh*

At any rate, tomorrow is Friday and that's always a happy thing. Hugs to all!

Post #24

Work in Progress

I'll have to make sure not to catch so much glare in this one, next time- I was stuck taking this picture in the dark. I tried painting some habenero peppers tonight- cutest little things in the world, all set up to get painted, and they would just not act right on the canvas.

So I went ahead and played with this one some more, and I'm really happy with it, so far- all kinds of stuff going on in the layers in the background, and the orchids just kind of glowing against it all. The leaves just showed up tonight- kind of surprised me, but they feel right.

There's something else- maybe the habeneros were misbehaving because they knew my mind was a little bit elsewhere- lately kitchen utensils and such have been popping up in the corner of my eye. I think tomorrow I may try an egg whisk or something.... a can opener, a pair of tongs, a measuring cup, pastry cutter, pizza cutter, a set of measuring spoons... how on earth do people ever run out of things to paint?

Here's to the painting-a-day thing! I was doing a little surfing earlier today, and apparently this whole thing- which the initiated apparently refer to as the POD movement- was started by a man named Duane Keiser. He's got his painting a day blog (http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com/), and then a very informative 'nother blog at http://keiseronpainting.blogspot.com/. Just in case anyone wants to go look....

Post #23

Windows

"Windows"
6"x12" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

For me, this is a meditation piece, windows reaching into the earth, letting us see what it is that holds the tree there, so strong and peaceful. The play with the textures on this one is great, and I love all of the soft edges. I try not to get too self-conscious or existential with my work- I mean, the teddybears yesterday were just simple and fun, but some days you need to create something that is a personal symbol for peace and trust.

Post #22

The Teddybear Wedding

"The Teddybear Wedding"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Mark and I have been married 6 months today! So this morning, at freakin' four am when we woke up and he had to drive me to work.... well, him holding out his hand and saying "Happy Anniversary" actually made that unholy hour feel a lot better.

This cute little pair came with a wedding gift, and they live on a bookcase now, but something about how plushy they are, how absurdly round, always makes me smile. Hope they do the same for you!

Post #21

Pretties

Pretties
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Every day is a good day, as long as you can cock your head and squint at it just right. I've got a plan for getting the car towed and fixed, and a plan for getting to work until that happens- if you can call having Mark drive me there and back every day a plan- and I got a lot of painting done, which included doing this one, which was just a delight. A little tricky, but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Post #20

A wintery mix

"Seashore"
16"x20 acrylic on canvas
collection of Ricky and Terry Hall

As a gesture of defiance of all things January, here's one to take you to the ocean, all warm winds and salt water, the sound of the waves and the hot blank sand punctuated by finely articulated seashells. *sigh*

It's been either sleeting, snowing, or raining here all day, and darkness is just now falling. There's a half-dozen bright-red cardinals in a sapling just off our balcony, puffed out so much their scarcely identifiable as birds. In the next sapling over there's a single female cardinal along with four little greyish birds that I don't know the name of, but they have a pretty song. I've been trying to coax the little guys up on the porch where they could at least be dry, Mark is going to be sweeping birdseed out of the cracks for the next week and a half, but they're so fluttery and jumpy- they always end up right back out there in the trees.

At least the squirrels have the good sense to stay wherever their version of "inside" is- haven't seen one of them today, and they usually spend all available daylight hours chasing each other up and down the larger trees.

So here's to winter weather *raising glass of water* and to desperately hoping that every resident of Durham has the good sense to keep their butts off the road, because goodness knows that Southerners cannot and should not drive in this sort of mess. *drinks deeply*

Post #19

The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

"Chamomile"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

This was a good painting to work on tonight- chamomile tea is always a good thing, though, isn't it? Nice and soothing, with a little bit of honey in it... I should try painting some tea with a lemon slice floating in it, I bet that would be beautiful.

I'm sure I'm violating some kind of somebody's copyright, using the title of a book as the title of today's blog post, especially when I (beastly unfortunate) can't remember the name of the author.... hold on, I'll go find it.

There we go. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz- loved it as a kid. Don't you just love amazon? I do- if I could go on there more often without spending obscene amounts of money that I really, really don't have.... oh, whatever. I say my mouse is demon-possessed. That's right, Kellie- blame it on the poor, defenseless mouse.

Which, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hardly ever click over to Amazon, that blessed, insubstantial wonderland for all bibliophiles everywhere.

What was so bad about it? It began with some serious but not unexpected work drama, and moved into the usual gallery of people drama. And then, as I was on the way to Home Depot to purchase the ninth smoke detector of the day, my car begins squealing, shaking, and smoking.

These are three very-not-good s's when it comes to vehicular issues- and trust me, you are reading the blog of a woman who can sense the finer distinctions between the aromas of burning oil, transmission fluid, and brake fluid. A woman who has crawled under her pickup truck in a crowded parking lot to bang on her gas tank with a brick to get her fuel pump working. Repeatedly. A woman who has dealt with the smaller inconveniences of doors that will not unlock, vehicles that refuse to go in reverse, vehicles that spontaneously redlined and had to be turned off in the middle of the road, radios that magically tuned themselves to static, brake fluid leaks so severe that a single thirty mile trip required completely refilling the tank, and things generally being so messed up under the hood that I once had a mechanic express his sincere wonder that the thing I was driving at the time had not burst into flame on the way to the mechanic shop. I'm familiar with vehicular issues.

So, my poor car is on the side of the road in downtown Durham, and I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to remedy this problem. And until that occurs, I'm going to go have my first Rangpur gin and tonic since New Year's Eve. You guys have a wonderful Friday night.

Post #18

Whoops! Almost forgot to punch in a title...

Study of Sargent's Portrait of Lady Agnew
9"x12" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

I love Sargent. Love-love-love. I've tried to reproduce that quirky smile he gave her, that oh-so-direct gaze, even that lovely thick hair, and, well... I'm certainly not Sargent, but I like the result.

Now I've got about two and a half seconds before I have to leave for yoga class, or I'm going to be hideously late. So here I go, off through the miserable, freezing rain that is North Carolina's version of winter, in my t-shirt and wonderfully comfy yoga pants and floppy little swim-sneaker-thingys. Hope you're all doing wonderful!

Okay, I'm back. Just for a minute- it's just about bedtime. Yoga was absolutely wonderful, thank you, Virginia! I feel great now. And something occurred to me while I was in class- see, there's a point, I'm not just back to waste time- the Durham Crafts Market! I have something now that I think I could sell there, next to the Durham Farmer's Market- pictures of fruits and vegetables andother happy little still lifes!

I guess pricing will largely depend on how well similar things are doing on ebay.... have any of you other artists tried something like this, at a Farmers Market? How did it go?

Post #17

The Littlest Teapot

"The Littlest Teapot"
6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

This little guy has been sneaking into my peripheral vision for a while now, trying to pose for a picture- isn't it cute? I got it for Christmas one year about a decade ago, and it's the sort of cute little teapot that's designed to brew up and pour out just one cup of tea- which, since Mark doesn't really share my infatuation with herbal teas, works out just fine.

It was fun to paint, too- not really shiny, but not really dull, either, and with all kinds of shadows playing in the little handle part.

I've got a confession to make, too. I've been absolutely lusting after the cutest little teacup and saucer-y set thing at Linens and Things... I should go get it, you say? Really, are you sure? Well, if you insist.... hehe. If I convince myself well enough, there should be a painting of it by the end of the week.

Post #16

Monet for Becky

"Monet"
acrylic and mixed media on stretched canvas
collection of Rebecca Hill

Well, I'm all caught up in a big painting today, so I don't feel like doing a daily painting.... I still should, shouldn't I? Yes, you're right... If I do one, then I'll post it, don't worry.

At any rate, let me introduce you to Monet, my niece. I did this for Becky, my wonderful sister-in-law, wanting to do a slightly abstracted pet portrait of Monet in something warm and dreamy, with lots of texture and layering to add interest. I really like it, though there are some parts that I'd like to change- and I had a lot of fun doing it, which is always nice.

Hope you're all having a wonderful day! It went and got cold here again, so the cat is acting like a lunatic... I think I'll go make paninis for supper before I get back to painting, too.

Post #15

Water Glass

"Water Glass"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Those links just keep getting longer and longer, don't they? And nothing seemed right tonight- I tried lemons, and they just wouldn't behave at all, briefly contemplated bananas, but wound up with this glass of water, in spite of how impossible it was to get all of those beautiful reflections and dancing shadows.

I dunno, I like how it turned out, but it feels overworked somehow, and I used so much white- I guess I'll try it on a colored ground next time. Yeah, that'll be pretty- a vibrant blue or something.

Post #14

Sunday Morning for Two

"Sunday Morning for Two"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Early morning makes for such long, wonderful shadows sometimes. I just couldn't resist these two when I was at Goodwill looking for models for my still lifes :) and they serve double duty- modeling and serving coffee, to be specific. Mark was all sweet and sunshiney today, and it was just cool enough that I really shouldn't have had the door open, but I did anyway...


*sigh* I love weekends, even if I do tend to have an insecure, overwhelmed little spell at the end of them sometimes- just me and my craziness I guess, needing to remember that there's always another day.

Post lucky number 13

Saturday Sharing

"Andrew"
16"x20" acrylic on canvas
collection of Jim and Emily Flynn

Portraits always seem to make me nervous, no matter how much I actually enjoy doing them. And a baby, something that soft and new....

At any rate, thanks very much to my mother who helped me out with several very important spots in this one that needed tweaking prior to completion, I'm very happy with the way Andrew turned out. Isn't it wonderful having people who love you around to comment on your work and help you figure out if anything needs changing?

Post #12

Apricots in Waiting

"Apricots in Waiting"
8"x10" acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

My first few paintings just sold on ebay, which I'm totally ecstatic about. Because that means that I'm reaching more people, reaching them over the internet, which is great because as much fun as shows are, meeting all of those people and sitting in tents painting and having fun, no one can do shows all the time, and no one can reach people all over the world through shows, or even through galleries. I'm gushing a little, aren't I? Sorry about that....

Oh, and I've decided something, something that affects this weekend! On Saturdays and Sundays I'm planning on posting one of my paintings each day, yes, but also one of somebody else's- spread the love around, help people to find other wonderful artists, all that good stuff.

Hoping each and every one of you guys is having a wonderful start to the weekend- I'm happy as can be, with this warm weather and plenty of painting supplies ;)

Question for the evening- how often do you really think about how remarkable our sight is? I mean, we take all of this light, all of these wonderful colors, and somehow we organize them into objects, into landscapes, into people, into all of this beauty... today I tried for a few minutes, really hard, to look at everthing in front of me without judgement, without trying to organize it into anything. I couldn't do it, of course, but I got closer, and it was nice. Beautiful.

Post #11

Shifting Dreams

"Shifting Dreams"
11"x14" acrylic and mixed media on canvas
SOLD

This one, I'm not really sure where it came from. I read that the dragonfly was an old symbol for change, in Egypt I think, and it just seemed right somehow, with the empty, textured field and the stylized trees and warm colors.

I suppose I'm in a thoughtful mood tonight, ignoring the car show blaring on the tv behind me (Mark, my husband, is the car buff) and wanting to say something funny, or at least mildly entertaining- but nothing comes to mind. At least it's a peaceful sort of absence of thought. Hope you all have a wonderful night!

Post #10

Indulgence

"Dove"
8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas

This one was fun. What I really wanted to do was a glass of red wine, right- so I pour a big glass of Honeyrun's Elderberry Honey Wine, which I think is wonderful, delicious stuff. The problem is, it's so dark it looks black- none of those beauitful, rich red lights showing through.

So I try it in a narrower glass, but that doesn't work. And then I drink some, figuring maybe if there's less in the glass.... well, soon it's gone, and I, who have less than no tolerance for alcohol, am a little bit tipsy. The upside is that I got to staring at one of my dark Dove chocolates, and realize that it's really pretty. So I partially unwrap one, and sit down with a glass of ice water and paint it out.

The foil was tricky, and I'm not completely happy with the effect- but it does manage to look very much like what it's supposed to be, in a very "painterly" way, so I'm content. I think next time I'll show a bit more of the chocolate, too- that'll be fun.

Post #9

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

study of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring
8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas

I love Vermeer. Something about the way he portrayed light- it's just intoxicating. So here I did a study, tried to learn from him- I always do learn, when I do a study of some great artists work. Sargent's amazing figures, Monet's colors, Vermeer's light, Degas's dancers, Klimt's crazy patterns and stylized figures... and have you ever tried to copy a Cassatt? Much more complex than it looks, I promise. And then you get into it, start really seeing things a whole new way, and really appreciating how much more there is to that artist than what you initially saw.

Or at least, that's how it is for me. And I have a confession to make- I like reading books almost as much as looking at paintings, and I did this one at the end of reading- for like the fifth time- Tracy Chevalier's "Girl with a Pearl Earring".

I love, love, love reading books, historically based or otherwise, about artists- it always inspires me, somehow. I just started- again- Anne Rice's "Belinda" (she wrote it as Anne Rampling). It's not hugely artsy, and goodness knows don't get it for your child, way too much sex in it for that... but it's a nice, easy read, with a lot of wonderful super-visual prose.

Some more favorites?

-Margaret Atwood's "Cats Eye", which is wonderful, classic Atwood, and supposedly her most autobiographical book
-"The Painter" by Will Davenport isn't bad, and there's not much historical fiction on Rembrandt, but it's pure speculation
-"The Birth of Venus" by Sarah Dunant is enjoyable, with solid characters
-I really liked Karen Essex's "Leonardo's Swans"
-Ross King's "Brunelleschi's Dome" is about Florentine architecture, and a wonderful read
-"As Above, so Below" by Rudy Rucker is a good, well researched book about Peter Bruegel
-"Zoia's Gold" by Philip Sington is a bit dark, but turns into a fascinating psychological study of the artist
-and Susan Vreeland's "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" (which is more about the imaginary Vermeer painting than the artist) and "The Passion of Artemesia" (a good telling of that story) are both very nice reads

Any opinions on what I should do a study of next?

Post #8

Three Lemons

Three Lemons
8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Monday- a perfect sort of "if life gives you lemons" day, isn't it? Actually, today has been kind of back and forth, which is entirely the fault of me and my wonky emotions.

On the upside, and I don't know if this is just a phase or what, finishing a painting every day for this blog has just inspired me- I have more ideas and inspirations, now, and it's wonderful to me that the human mind can work like that- that by tapping it, you refill it as well. Like I said, I'm hoping this isn't just a phase, that it'll stick for a good long while- I do love painting.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go work on one I just started- it's been running around in my head all day, and I did this after I'd gotten it just roughed in a little, making sure I didn't jump in too fast and spoil it, you know- and now, back to the weird table in the corner of the dining room that I use as an easel! Have a wonderful night, everyone!

Post # 7

Mother and Child

"Mother and Child" 18"x18"
acrylic on stretched canvas
collection of Amna Warner

Well, it's not really a daily painting- and it's not for sale, either, it's for a beautifully pregnant friend of mine.

It also shows the reason behind one of my few New Years Resolutions. My artistic style has multiple personalities, or something- there's time when I feel like I could just eat the paint up, and I want to lay it on rich and traditional. And then there's times when all I want to do is play with glazes, or dry scrumbling like this one, and usually with those things end up kind of mixed media- buttons and lace and sheets out of old hymnals all get tangled up with my paint somehow.

Don't get me wrong, I love the end results- or, if I don't love them, I paint over them and they never get to escape the narrow confines of my studio. Like this one- I love it. The colors are so much fun, she's sitting in the rocking chair but it's not at all a realistic rocking chair, and it all just comes together so serene and dreamlike.

But I've definitely got a mini-me on my shoulder nagging me about needing to have a definitive "style", something immediately identifiable, recognizable... and, unfortunately, shoulder-mini-mes are extremely difficult to reason with. So one of my resolutions this year is to narrow things down into two camps- just two, and I have to come into this with no preconceived divisions or anything like that. *sigh* Well, I've got a year to do it, and hopefully this blog and you guys will help it to happen...

Oh, those links! I knew I was forgetting something in my rambling on. And on. And on. Sorry about that.

Kay Nielson- http://www.artsycraftsy.com/nielson_prints.html
John Bauer- http://www.artsycraftsy.com/bauer_prints.html

um... at the risk of being the last person on the planet to think this, isn't John Bauer that guy on 24?

and I've thought of another necessary resolution- I need to figure out how to make somebody's name or an individual word change colors and turn into a link that takes you somewhere on the internet, instead of having to type out the links on the screen- at least, everyone else is doing it, so it seems like it must be a good idea.

Post #6

Apricots

"Apricots" 8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas
SOLD

Hello, hello, hello! Well, I did end up at work today, and after I get this posted the husband and I are going to a Miss Catastrophe Pageant, which should be an absolute hoot- all of the contestants are male, mostly overgrown rednecks, all dressed as women, and I'm sure all of them will ham it up as much as humanly possible.

So these apricots seem just wonderfully cheerful to me- part of me wanted to call them Summertime Apricots, but that just doesn't seem right this time of year, lovely blue shadows aside.

Post #5

Floor.

SOLD

*sigh* it's been one of those days- but at least it's Friday, right?

This one gave me fits- something about the shot glass laying down on the table threw me, even though the shadows are just wonderful fun to play with. It feels like I got it right this last time :) and I've officially decided that I like painting clear stuff- all of those wonderful little reflections and refractions....

Don't have anything to post with the whole January-studying-those-two-artists thing, not yet- but I should tomorrow, I think. I've just been looking at the pictures so far. And I get to paint apricots again tomorrow, too- goody!

Three Tequila...

SOLD

Whew! And this one is for everyone else out there who was at work at 6 o'clock in the morning, walking through the 20 degree just-before-dawn to get to the office!

Seriously, this one was so much fun- I filled up shot #3 to the brim, which, it turns out, gives you a lot more color to play with. I think I'd like to do orange juice soon, too- it'd be a wonderful color. That's going to be one of the coolest parts of this whole painting-a-day thing, is getting to do so many of them, actually getting to put on canvas most all of the ideas I've got in my head.

Oh, and something else exciting? Maggie Stiefvater, of Greywaren Art ( http://greywarenart.blogspot.com/ ) is doing this thing where she studies the amazing illustrators Kay Nielson and John Bauer for the month of January, and does work incorporating their artistic styles, and I'm going to do it too!

(I just hate I missed last year- they did John Singer Sargent, who is totally my artistic idol.)

Sorry I'm sounding so ditzy- it's been a long day. But skiddle-dee-doo, I'm getting ready to go to yoga class at the y- no, I'm not at all flexible, it's actually quite funny to watch- and that will make me all better!

Two Tequila...

SOLD

You know, I dreamed about painting last night? I'll take that as a good sign.

This tequila shot goes out to all of those who need warming- today was the first day this winter that it actually failed to get above freezing, and I am not happy about that. I mean, I know global warming is a problem, everyone knows that, and I wish the arctic circle all of the cold, snowy weather in the world- but if the southeastern United States never had daytime temps below the fifties, that would be just fine with me.

Again, this is one of four paintings, all on 8"x10" stretched canvases- I failed to say that yesterday- that will all go on ebay together on January 4th starting at 99 cents each.

One Tequila....

SOLD

Hello and Happy New Year!

This post- one shot of tequila- is part "Happy New Year!" (even though last night for me was mostly gin and tonic) and part "one painting a day- oh my goodness, Kellie, what have you gotten yourself into?"

The idea is the old "One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor", so this and the next three paintings/posts will enter into the land of ebay on January fourth, with the auctions starting at 99 cents each (why don't keyboards have that little "cents" sign? I can't find it anywhere)

And just so you know- I was planning on painting apricots for my first post, honest- they're just the cutest fruit in the world, so far as I'm concerned- but I have a cat.

I started on the painting, went to get a glass of water, and guess who decided he wanted to play in my still life? Oh, well- apricots can be my post on Saturday, in that case, and I'll try to convince Dixon the cat that the reason we give him little catnip balls to play with is because we want him to leave the other round things in the house alone (he doesn't like tequila, so I knew he'd leave that be).