Elizabeth Robbins Workshop

Whew!  I know it has been awhile, but things have been so busy lately.  I guess running after three 13-year-olds will do that to you.  I finally got to take a break and get away for a wonderful art workshop given by the fabulous and talented Elizabeth Robbins.  Check her out at http://www.elizabethrobbinsart.com/.  Not only is she a wonderful still life painter, but she is a very talented teacher as well.  She gave lots of hints and tips on theory and materials, not just how to paint in her style.  I was very grateful to be able to attend.  Above is a very poor photograph of the painting I completed in class.  It is still at my friend, Joan's, house while it dries -- the workshop was in Virginia and I didn't want to try and move a wet painting all the way back to Texas.  This next image, below, is the beautiful demo that Elizabeth did at the end of the workshop that I am lucky enough to now own.  I wish I had even an ounce of her skill.  Isn't she marvelous?!

She gave me lots of new techniques to try out at home.  I can't wait to get started, but I probably won't be able to really get going until after the Thanksgiving holiday.  We are leaving for London tomorrow morning and I am hoping to get some workable photos to use for more paintings!  Happy early Thanksgiving, everyone!

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!

Moody Blues

"Moody Blues"

5" x 7"

Stretched Canvas

I was feeling like I wanted to paint something with a little drama or feeling to it.  I know, I know, a candle doesn't seem very dramatic all by itself, but this candle photo I found on my favorite photos-for-artists site had a mood about it.  I wish I could credit the photographer, but her name was not on the site. At any rate, it wasn't the Zen-like painting session I thought it would be--it was a relatively difficult painting.  Who would have thought something so simple would be so troublesome.  I thought the flame would be the worst part, but trying to show the glow through the actual candle body was a real bear! Hopefully, I managed it well enough.  I think I might be able to evaluate it better after I step away from it for a day or two!

Nesting Instinct

"Nesting Instinct"

10" x10"

Stretched Canvas

Fall is my nesting time.  The kids go off to school and I finally have a chance to put right everything in the house that got "put wrong" all summer!  I find great peace in the sudden solitude (although in a few days I will be missing their sweet voices and messy ways -- okay, maybe not the messy ways...) and I love to see everything in it's place finally.  Maybe a little latent OCD?  Sure, but why fight a good thing...heh,heh!  More importantly, I got my studio in total zen condition, so I am ready to crank on the paintings.  Too bad it is maybe too much of a tabula rasa -- like a big, blank white canvas, a clean studio can be a little daunting!  Here we go....

The Onion that Doesn't Make You Cry

"Almost Bloomin' Onion"

5" x 7"

Stretched Canvas

Onions -- I love 'em!  Fried and in sauces, soups and stews (but never raw, except the red ones!).  The only problem is the tears when you are slicing one up.  Oh yes, I know all the tricks (cut in a certain direction, hold your breath and, my personal favorite, the onion goggles), but they never seem to work for me (what a surprise).  This is the ONLY onion that hasn't made me cry yet -- although I am fairly certain it wouldn't taste very good in a stew!

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!

Fall Rose

 8" x 8" Stretched Canvas

1 1/2" deep sides

This is a companion to my earlier pink rose close-up.  I really enjoy the repetitive folds, they are quite relaxing to paint!  I have a bazillion rose pictures that I took when Jim and I went to Portland, OR for a week this summer.  The International Rose Test Garden is there and free to the public -- acres and acres of gorgeous blooms in every hue, size and scent.  I actually took more pictures than the camera could handle and needed a second memory card!  It is kind of daunting when you have so many pictures to choose from, and then, of course, I need to be in the "mood" to paint roses or they don't work out they way I want them too.  Good thing I am a woman as well as an artist and to changing my mind is just a part of my nature.  That way no one can blame me for procrastinating on my rose paintings!

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!

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?

Summer!

 "Summer!"

5 x 7

Stretched canvas

Summer has not reached some of my northern friends yet, but it is already here in Houston and other points south!  The kids are looking forward to making a big splash next weekend and some of our neighborhood pools have already opened for the season.  Wish I had one in MY backyard, but instead I have a stupid house in Nashville.  Hmmmm.  How is that a benefit to me here, I am wondering?  Perhaps I should have painted a great big mortgage payoff check, but, in view of the fact that the world will be ending tomorrow anyway, I thought a pool scene would be more fitting.  Par-tay, everyone!!

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!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

"Apples for Sue"

8 x 10

Stretched Canvas

Look for me on Etsy soon!

Okay, it IS a day earlier, but I am going to take a mini-vacation from posting tomorrow to celebrate!  This painting is dedicated to my mother-in-law and my kids' favorite Grammy, Sue.  She loves painted lace, and I did this one with her in mind.  She has an earlier painting of mine of some hydrangeas in a vase with a lace tablecloth that I think it is just about the ugliest painting I have ever seen!  Just goes to show, when you look at something with eyes of love, it always shines!   We love you, Grammy Sue -- Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

BIRTHDAY WATERMELON

"Watermelon Still Life"

8 x 10

Stretched canvas

Look for me on Etsy soon!

Ok, ok, I know -- what do birthdays and watermelon have in common?  Well,  I LOVE watermelon and instead of birthday cake every year on my birthday, I have a watermelon -- even though it isn't usually the best of melons (my birthday is May 29 -- hint, hint) because they aren't technically "in season" yet!

I did use a photo for this, but I bought a little icebox melon to set in front of me for extra added effect.  It was hard to depict how juicy the melon looked.  I will have to practice and maybe do some studies of just melon!  Of course, that will only work out if I don't get distracted and eat my set up!

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....

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!