Margaritas at 5:00!!

"MARGARITAS AT 5:00!!"

6 x 6

Stretched Canvas, Sides Painted

Watch for me on Etsy soon!

I'm dedicating this one to my friend, Judy, in Nashville who sends these awesome, politically pertinent, emails out under that tagline!  I think it is an especially appropriate painting for today, since I am leaving tomorrow to do my first 1/2 marathon and I will probably be needin' the 'ritas afterward!  Those green spheres in the painting aren't key limes, though, but limequats -- a heavenly cross between a lime and a kumquat with the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors.  They are very small, so 1/2 is perfect to pop into an iced tea or squeeze into some ice water.  Hmmm....or drizzle over shrimp on the barbie....or broiled salmon...or in a delicate vinaigrette to dress some crisp, bright greens.  Or wait!  Whipped into some rich vanilla custard for a pie....or....I think I might be crossing the line into food porn.  I'd better switch to more sedate food subjects!

Cupcake!

"Cupcake"

SOLD

5 x 5

Stretched Canvas

Available on Etsy soon!

This cupcake is a result of a new Facebook friend's comment on the lemon painting.  K.C. said her daughter reached out for the lemons for her tea and maybe she needed some cookies to go with!  I didn't have time to bake cookies, but I ran to the little cupcake shop down the street and came back with this decadent treat.  I added the cherries myself and messed around with the frosting a little to get it right and then, just for kicks and grins, spotlighted the side cherry.  It was fun to paint and even MORE fun to clean up afterwards!  Mmmm-mmmm!  This is why I love painting food items....

When Life Gives You Lemons...

"Lemony Goodness"

5 x 7 

stretched canvas with sides painted

Available on Etsy soon

Well, in this case, I made iced tea.  And when I cut into the lemon for a slice of lemony goodness in my glass, they just looked so....uh...well...yellow...I just had to paint them!  Love yellow -- such a happy color -- it is hard to be a sourpuss looking at yellow, even if it is in the tart form of a lemon!  I am not sure if I am finished with these -- I am going to sleep on it and check it out in the morning!  Oooh!  Plus I figured out how to post these to Facebook AND how to ship a painting from home!  This goes to show that even an old dog CAN learn new code!!  Sorry about the glare on the painting -- photographing at night will do that!

Easter Flowers

Study of Chris Nesvadba's "Bold Still Life"

18 x 18

Stretched Canvas

Okay, this beautiful bouquet is a study I did of Chris Nesvadba's "Bold Still Life".  He was an extremely talented artist whose works are still widely available in galleries.  Mine is nowhere near as beautiful as the original, but I was so happy today that I wanted to paint something bright and spontaneous to reflect my mood.   There will be time tomorrow for more produce!

Getting a Buzz

"Buzzer"

8 x 6 stretched canvas 

40.00

SOLD

Well, anyone who knows me well knows I have a thing for bees.  I can even pet the fuzzy bumbles that ramble around the garden -- maybe one day I will be known as "the bee whisperer"!  This was my second attempt at a painting a bee.  The first was much more whimsical and abstract -- I'm not sure if I will get the  courage to post it.  I liked this one so much though, that I decided to use it on my Moo.com (shameless plug here) business cards!  Happy Easter, everyone!

Oh, and I want to let everyone know that my Etsy store is up and running so if you are interested in any of the paintings you can just purchase them there!

Still Veggin'

"Pepper" 6 x 8

$40.00

Buy me at the Paintopia by missbuzz shop on Etsy!

I guess I am still in a vegetative state!  This pepper painting really looks better in person than in the picture. Sadly, my photography skills are not up to par -- yet another thing I need to learn in order to make this whole art/internet thing work!  I did a better job on this one of hitting the dark, medium, and light values, but I still probably could have gone darker overall.  What do you think?

Oh, and an apology to the bad link I sent -- I REALLY must have been veggin' when I did that!  All part of the the learning process I guess!  Thanks for being patient....

Starting Out

"Radishes"
8 x 10
$50.00

Buy me at the Paintopeia by missbuzz store on Etsy

"Jalapenos"
9 x 12
$65.00

Buy me at the Paintopeia by missbuzz store on Etsy! 

There are no lack of fiery jalapenos in Houston -- we have them on eggs, in meatloaf and even in ice cream -- it just seemed right to paint some!  Yes, we moved to Houston in 2010 and we have finally settled in.  Of course, I am aware of what the summer will be like  -- hot as jalapenos --  but I intend to combat that with a healthy dose of air conditioning and a well-supplied art studio.  Aaaah, the smell of oil paints in the morning!  I am posting a few of the paintings I have done since being here, which I painted when I was in a vegetative mood.  Who knows what will be next, as I do tend to be the Queen of Inconsistency when it comes to what I like.  I am hoping as I grow and progress as an artist I will be able to narrow my style, color and subject likes down.  But there IS something to be said for glorious randomness!!

I got a big dose of inspiration when I recently attended a workshop given by a fabulous artist, Qiang Huang, near Houston.  I really had to break out of my box (I guess I do have some filters!) since I tend to be a rather tense painter and Qiang's works, while painted with a great deal of thought, give the appearance of artful effortlessness.  To see some of his work (and I highly recommend it) follow this link: www.qhart.com. I met quite a few wonderful people and talented painters there -- I have a long way to go!  It is Qiang's wealth of information and the encouragement of Marty Hatcher, (check out Marty's wonderful work at www.martyhatcher.com) who hosted the workshop, that gave me the confidence to start this blog!

On a positive note, I did sell my first painting here in Houston recently!!  Of course, at that point I wasn't as organized as I am now (thanks to Qiang!) so I don't have a photo of the painting to show.  I will be on top of that next time!  In the meantime, I am going to post paintings I have for sale on this blog while I work on getting a website up and running as well as an Ebay store.

So enough of computers and back to the easel!