Seven UP!

7-UP

6" x 12" 

Stretched Canvas

Finally!  I found some time for paint therapy again.  Life has been busy and very complicated lately and I am so grateful to all of my friends who are bearing with me throughout! Life was much easier when I was a kid, that's for sure.  In keeping with that notion, I borrowed a photograph from a fellow Etsy seller, Pieces of Olde, because it reminded me of summer in the 70s.  If you want the real thing, please visit her at http://www.etsy.com/listing/76843556/vintage-7-up-pop-bottle-soda-70s .  A big thanks for giving me permission to use the photo.  It was fun and fabulous to paint!  I have some touching up to do here and there, but I couldn't wait to get it posted, so I just went ahead and posted the UN-finished product -- heh, heh!

Fall Down

"Acorn"

5" x 7"

Stretched Canvas

Still in a fall funk.  I say "funk" because we still have temps over 100, and they are predicting it to last into September.  So, while I wish it were a leaf-changing, hoodie-wearing time of year in reality, I will have to settle for a painting to remind me of what could, or SHOULD, be!  I painted this little picture from a photo in the Morguefile -- a great resource of free photos that all artists should know about!  The nut is still on the tree, and, from the green look of the leaves, he is probably having the same kind of fall as I am -- green, hot and very un-fall-like!

Orange Ya Glad?

 "Orange Ya Glad"

6" x 6" 

Stretched Canvas

This one was fun!  I love using saturated colors like these -- they are so rich and yummy.  It is unusual to see them altogether in one place -- usually there is a dull background highlighted with pops of color.  This one seems to work, though.  The orange looks so juicy you can almost smell it!

Epiphany!

"The Epiphany"

8" x 10"

Artist's Gesso Board

I painted this abstract piece on a day when I was feeling inspired about painting on gesso boards! They have such a wonderfully smooth surface and the paint seems to have a mind of its own when the brush hits the surface. I suppose I could control it more, but then...why? We all have to be so controlled in life -- isn't it nice to let go once in awhile? Try it, and see!

Pepper Love

"Pepper Love"

8" x 10" 

Artist's Gesso Board

I love food and I have a particular affinity for peppers.  When I found a series of photographs from MorgueFile featuring some sweet bells, I just had to start painting.  I am still working on the boards, but I have found that brand DOES matter here.  This board was very hard to paint wet-on-wet, which is my usual M.O. and I had to wait ages for the paint to dry in between.  I still have some touch up to do on the green pepper but, again, I am just waiting for paint to dry.  Now I know why so many artists get frustrated with oils.  These two bells looked so cozy snuggled up together that I had to have "love" in the title.  Don't they look like newlyweds?  Awwwww.  Mr. Potatohead would be jealous!

Board Again!

 "Cloudwatch"

9" x 12"

Artist's Gesso Board

Loving the board!  LOVING IT!  This was a "mental landscape" -- just something from my head that worked up great on this board.  I reworked it once, to add intensity to the dark clouds on the left and add substance and drama to the central cloud mass.  It was so easy to rework on the board.  And, again, the color intensity is striking --- you really need to see it "in person" to know what I mean.  You might have had a chance on August 6th, when I was going to do a local show, but I chickened out.  I need more time to get my booth together and figure out how to take credit cards and such.  It is not like selling on line!  That is okay, though, I will be ready to go in the Spring!

And I have so many new things to paint, thanks to my trip to Portland, OR.  I am posting this from the hotel there, in fact!  I can't wait to take all my new ideas and pictures and get painting next week!

Getting Board!

"A Cool Change"

8" x 10"

Artist's Gesso Board

Ah, gesso board, how do I love thee?  I bought a painting by one of my faves, Qiang Huang and it was done on this sweet little board.  I had often noticed paintings done on these, but never thought I would be unfaithful to the canvas.  It took just one night and I was totally hooked!  The paint works up so well on these little gems -- smooth, creamy, luscious with a richness of color that I don't think canvas can compete with.  I went right out and did it again!  This is my first try -- with the rocks from one Hawaii photo my husband took and the clouds from another.   What fun!

Happy Fourth of July!!

"Good Eatin'"

8" x 10"

Stretched Canvas

Happy Birthday, America!  And what can be more American than some luscious red home-grown tomatoes to slap on your backyard burger?  Thanks to my eagle-eyed friend, Anne Fleetwood, for supplying the absolute picture of yumminess!  Too bad these weren't "for real" -- I love nothing better than a tomato sandwich in the hot summertime and not those nasty grocery store tomatoes that taste like so much school paste -- real, red-blooded American tomatoes, warm from the garden sun, left on the window sill to ripen and sliced thickly and salted.  Yum!  Enjoy the party, America!

Painting White

"Ooey Gooey Chocolate Pie"

6" x 6" 

Stretched Canvas

Back to my comfort zone again with this slice of my friend Anne's birthday pie that she so thoughtfully photographed for me.  It was fun and interesting to paint since the plate and the meringue were both white.  It presented a challenge to represent the "white-ness" with color.  I ended up using dioxazine purple, cerulean blue and magenta to form the shadowed areas with a touch of naples yellow to warm up the meringue where the light was shining through.  Too bad I didn't have the original to eat afterwards, though!

Food, Glorious Food!

"Birthday Cupcake"

5" x 5" 

Stretched Canvas

I guess you gotta go with what you know!  I had snapped a picture of a cupcake my sweet friend, Michelle, brought me for my birthday a few months ago.  Given my sudden lack of inspiration and/or talent, I thought I would return to the safety of my comfort ....food!  And, you know -- I think it turned out pretty well and my whole painting session just seemed to have -- what is it the LAX bros call it?? -- flow.  Yes, it had flow.  So I am going with it.... On to the next serving!

Back to the Tropics!

"Texas Palms"

5" x 7"

Stretched Canvas

Well, after a short foray back into food, I hit the holiday road again with another tropical themed painting.  This wasn't my favorite, mostly because I am not so good at being a loosey-goosey painter.  I did like the color combo, though!  I am not sure where to go next -- I was lucky enough to cadge a whole bunch of wonderful tropical water/boats/communities photos from a friend who went on a cruise and I could use them to springboard into more tropical paintings.  But then, my attention span is short and my mind is wandering on to other things.  I really want to put more color onto my palette, but I am not sure what I want to paint.  Dilemma!  Any suggestions?

Back to Food!

"Margarita Cupcake"

6" x 6"

Stretched Canvas

Look for me on Etsy soon!

I just had to take a break from the beach paintings for just a minute and, you know, my favorite other subject is food!  I had a great birthday last weekend (even though I ate my birthday melon a day early AND didn't get the candles like I had planned) and a sweet friend brought me two yummy cupcakes to celebrate.  This one was Margarita flavored and it was the most awesome cupcake EVER!  It had a little straw in it, just like a drink and a slice of jellied lime!  Of course, I took pictures of BOTH cupcakes for future painting reference (what a goober!) but this bright one appealed to me today!  Bottoms up!

More Birthday Watermelon!

"Watermelon Slice"

6 x 6

Stretched Canvas

Look for me on Etsy soon!

As the birthday nears, I get more and more excited about the "Birthday Melon".  This year, I think I will have candles in mine, as suggested by my friend, Anne (here comes another shameless plug), from Etsy at The Chunky Mermaid.  

But I digress.  No candles in this painting, but still a whole lot of melon.  Try as I might not to be a "blendy" painter I am still at it -- blendy blendy blendy all over the place.  I did try to NOT blend this one to begin with, but it didn't look like much of a melon -- it was just a Christmas-y sort of blobby red-and-green abstract.  *Sigh*  I guess I might have to resign myself to painting like a frou-frou blender drink instead of "straight up".  Hmmm.  I guess birthday drinks might be on my mind, too!!