Something Different

nfs

Something very different, at least for me. I am so not a sculptor, but I think this little lady is close to being ready to pose for a still life :)

#1034

Moth and Cocoon

nfs

I love this moth it's just beautiful, and the cocoon... it's the darndest thing, because I really love the idea of a cocoon, the beauty and purpose of it, but it just looks like a rolled up leaf. I need to figure out a way of communicating its beauty, you know? The perfection of what it really is and how it is almost expressed in the reality of it.
I doubt I'm making any sense. But I know there's something there, that I can find it and communicate the idea...
#1033

More doodling

nfs

more of the same. She looks surprisingly agreeable for a just-arrested person, yes?
#1032

Just a doodle

nfs

I got inspired by Karin Jurik's new project and tried to look up some mugshots to sketch from... it seems I wound up with a hot girls mugshots list, which I thought was very strange but not necessarily a bad thing. I wish they'd included more of this girl's leopard-print halter top over bright pink bra straps combination, it might've been fun to paint.
On second though, it's probably better this way :)

#1031

Black and White

nfs

Just goofing around in my sketchbook- it's an interesting idea, though, changing the color of the line in reaction to the background color. Wonder how I could use it as part of a realistic painting?
#1030

Apples and Blue Sky

12"x12"

in a rotating private collection

See why I'm so excited? The pink blush on the one apple, the scrap of cloud in the background, the dings on the windowsill, the absolutely amazing colors and reflected lights...

#1029

Reliquary

12"x16"

click here for purchase information

Ok, so obviously and seriously not a daily painting... but I finished up this one and another one today, so I'm sharing this one today and the other tomorrow :) You see the little flower (the stamp) I put in the back, for the butterfly? And the heart shape in the wood grain? And I really, really loved painting the whole box thing in a more intense way.

#1028

Black and White

nfs

Something strange, I guess it's a values sketch, from the same batch of photos... I was really trying to avoid detail, of it really being a picture of something at all, I wanted to try what you're always told to do, with just painting the shapes, and I think I may have taken it a little far :-/
#1027

Girl in Profile

nfs

I was totally sketchy and took some pictures of this beautiful girl this morning at the farmer's market with my camera phone...
#1026

Flower Hearts

6"x8"

sold

'nother silly.

I discovered something with this one, though, that I'm sure I can use on my "real" paintings- if you paint one color over another absolutely dry color and then go over it, lightly and selectively, with a diaper wipe while it is still a little tacky to the touch- stop laughing at me, I'm serious- it's a really cool effect!

#1025

Polka Dots

6"x6"

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Something very silly. Fun to do, though.
#1024

Studying Wyeth 2

nfs

Actually something from yesterday. I am very decidedly out of sorts today, nothing that I start is going right, and I can't puzzle out why.
#1023

Studying Wyeth

nfs

Sketching with the baby in my lap again, from my favorite book on Andrew Wyeth. I love people's profiles... I wish I was better at asking people to pose for me. On the rare occasion I work up the nerve and they agree, I have a lot of fun with it :)
#1022

Apple on the Windowsill

6"x8"

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Just a study for a 12"x12" I'm working on, trying to understand the roundness and the reflected lights...

#1021

Pine cone Contour Drawing

nfs

Yeesh, have you ever tried to draw one of these things?!? Scary difficult... I think it's the complexity, yes, but it's such an ordered complexity that you have to be really exact. And the shape, the growth pattern, it's kind of like a whole pine tree, which is really cool.

#1020

Elmer's School Glue

nfs

It is remarkable how elmer's ends up on every parents-please-buy-this-stuff list for every elementary school student like anywhere... how did that happen?
And Nugget's party went very well. She was thoroughly puzzled by the whole thing, but loved having all the people over! Wonderful people brought her fun and wonderful presents, and ate homemade chocolate cake and coconut cake... that seems like as good a recipe for success as any I can come up with :)
#1019

Hedgeyhog

nfs

One of my little angel's favorite toys... she selected it at the last Whimsical Women show by biting its nose, and that is still the preferred method of carrying it around :D It also has the added virtue of being super cuddly.
Her first birthday party is tomorrow... or later today, more accurately. I think she'll really enjoy it. I'm scared I'll mess it up somehow, having never thrown a birthday party before :-/
#1018

Whisky

nfs

Just looking at this, you would swear I was imbibing... but no, sketches come out lopsided when the baby is sleeping in your lap while you're drawing :) And isn't "whisky" supposed to be spelled "whiskey"? I just went with the spelling on the lable, figuring that if you're making the stuff then you ought to have a better idea of how it's spelled that someone like me, who never even drinks it... but still.
It's just a really cool bottle, I couldn't help but want to draw it. Not sure how to work it in to a still life, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.
#1017

Singing Seahorse

nfs

just a sketch, obviously.... things are crazy right now!

#1016

Looking Up

6"x8"

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Well... the giraffe again. From a very unusual, for me, viewpoint. I tried to make it clear what was going on by having the little face much brighter and crisper than the body.

PS- WHY can't I get the centering vs. the left sided text thing to work tonight? I don't know why some nights the blog text gets so wonky :(
#1015

Skipping Along

two 6"x8" panels

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Naomi loves this giraffe, and I'm doing a great big painting of it, so I'm tinkering with it on a smaller scale first. I think I'm liking this double panel idea....

#1014

Queen of Pigs

nfs

Geez, I just get stranger every day, don't I?
#1013

Velosachicken

nfs

Another joke Naomi can't get yet. I thought it looked kinda scary and dinasaurish. But she laughs anyways, and draws with me :)
#1012

Turkey Hands

nfs

Ok, this doesn't really need any explanation, right? Wrong month for it, but it made me laugh. Naomi doesn't get the joke yet...
#1011

Chicken and Green Squiggles

nfs

Just a doodle. I think I'll be posting more like this over the next few weeks- Naomi is feeling more needy lately, for whatever reason.... teething maybe? I can't be sure yet :-/ Poor little critter. And I'm kinda going crazy trying to make sure I'm ready for my solo show at Broad Street Cafe- I'm hanging November 1st!- so, yeah, the blog is going to be getting some doodles. And then I'll post all the beautiful paintings I'm putting up at Broad Street to make up for it :)

#1010

Two Marbles

6"x8"

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Well, you can see that the studio wall behind me has emptied considerably.... a bunch of stuff went to Bull City Art and Frame recently :) And I'm loving the burnt sienna and ultramarine thing this painting has going, it's a beautiful combination. Almost a complementary situation, right?

#1009

Heirloom Tomato

6"x8"

sold

This tomato is the coolest shape- the farmers market is a wonderful place- and can you believe the reflected lights along the bottom curve of it?

#1008

Silver Skull II

6"x6"

sold

Revisiting the silver skull, from a different angle this time, and with a more purplish cast overall. I do so love the swirling patterns, but I'm hoping to get some more real skulls added to my collection of still life thingies... probably possum or something weird like that.

#1007

Pear and Grey

6"x8"

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Still playing with those slow-drying acrylics, and still really enjoying them :) And yes, the pear did really sit leaning like that. I love how much personality fruit has!

#1006

Pomegranate on Pale

8"x8"

available

And this one got a pale greenish background, a new color for me and quite lovely. But the main this for me was finally painting a cut-open pomegranate. It wasn't as tricky as I thought it'd be.... actually I started over on that area several times, and finally settled on a more impressionistic approach than usual. And it's the highlight on each little seed thing that really makes it come alive :)

#1005

Lemon on Pale

8"x8"

available

The green pear got a pinkinsh background, and the yellow lemon gets a purplish one....

#1004