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Saturday, March 29, 2008

Periwinkle Cup, 6x6 Oil


I bought these little cups and saucers at the cafe (now defunct) downstairs from my previous studio.  I love the yellow, periwinkle and rose cups with turquoise accents.  What a challenge to paint though, because the colors are slightly muted but still saturated.  Why am I doing so many coffee themed Daily Paintings?  Certainly not because they're in demand :).  I am challenged by the shift in elipses as your eye hits the rim of the cup, the base of the cup, the saucer top - throw in a handle, and it's a morning's eye exercise!    There's that and I love good coffee!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Scottsdale Artists' School Mug, Oil, 6x6


Back to the studio and raring to go.  Finally over the sore throat caught on the plane, I could focus on doing my Painting A Day and not have it look like.... well, the 3 Coke bottles I've been trying to paint all week!  I am also fooling around in the studio with self portraits.  It's terrible when your model won't stay still - even more terrible when it's YOU who are the model!  I'll post those tomorrow on my studio blog for a laugh.  
This is the mug I got when I went to Peggi Kroll Roberts' workshop in Scottsdale.  Well worth the trip, and this was my souvenir.  Reds, as usual, a devil to work with.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Sketches From Mexico, Acrylic





I lost all my photos from Mexico :0 but I have a few acrylic sketches that were done there.  Yeah, yeah, I know about the perspective being off, and stuff like that, but I tried to capture the feel, the colors, the impression I had of San Miguel.  It's a wonderful place, but changing day by day, becoming more 'americanized' because so many Americans are there.  Here are some things that won't change...

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Mexican Adventures

Hi, everyone! I´m in sunny San Miguel de Allende, Mexico this week, painting away. What would be the worst thing to happen to me (art-wise) besides breaking my easel (which I did the FIRST time I came here)? I took 300 gorgeous shots and LOST my CAMERA. Uh huh. So... no photos of this beautiful place, or my paintings or anything.

The first day I was here I foolishly thought that, since it was a Sunday the town sqare (called the Jardin - pronounced ¨Har-DEEN¨) would be pretty deserted. HMMM...... not on Palm Sunday it wasn´t! There were billions (well, it seemed like it) of people there to watch the big processions, the holy statues carried around, etc. But I set up right in front of the big church (the Parroquia) and painted this wonderful pink gothic church. I had kids leaning their heads on my shoulders (I did sit down), and Americans asking questions, and Mexicans, too - the whole time. I actually made a friend (hi, Helga!) and sold the painting right off the easel. I sold Paula Villanova´s, too (with her permission, of course!).

Since then we´ve stood at what turned out to be the busiest intersection in town with busses constantly going by, and fumes blurring our eyes, and painted the vista. We´ve stood at the opening of the Mercado, dodging commerical trucks, and vast numbers of pedestrians to paint a gorgeous Jacaranda tree in it´s purple bloom (I especially enjoyed this session, as my easel blew over me in a giant gust of wind while I was bending to get some different paint, and the bucket of water attached to the easel (acrylics, this trip) dumped onto my shoulders, and ran down into my pants, looking, well, embarassing to say the least, not to mention how comfortable that is!). And today I painted a fruit vendor back at the Jardeen and met millions more kind and friendly people, some of them actually could speak English, too. Tomorrow is a sightseeing day, going to Guanaguato, which has a French influence in the architecture, and Delores Hidalgo, which is a pottery area. Hopefully I will refrain from buying myself any more souvenirs, as I bought a painting from Ros Farbush´s Opening for myself!

I probably won´t post again till Monday.... but hopefully that will inclue photos of my Mexican pieces! Thanks for checking in!

Monday, March 10, 2008

You Say Toe-MAH-Toe, 5x7 Oil

SOLD


I think the third time's the charm.  This is (for now) the end of the tomato paintings. I like the way the composition worked out.  I also like the looseness of the brushstrokes, and I think I finally got a background that I like (radiant blue by Gamblin).  I hope to post again on Wednesday, but I'm going to try to set up a new blog for my trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  I'm going on a painting trip with Paula Villanova.  This is our 3rd visit to San Miguel, so hopefully we'll hit the ground running this time!  I've also posted some new work on my Studio Blog, you might want to visit.  Let me know what you think about my 'departure' in style there, OK?

I Say "To-MAY-to", Oil, 6x6


SOLD

I decided to explore the tomato a little more and get a little looser (my husband is questioning my eyesight, saying I'm painting 'blurry' lines) and I like the background a bit more here.  I just have to say it - I LOVE oil paint.  Oh, I like acrylic, watercolor and pastels, too, but I love the feel of oil paint.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

One Hot Tomato, 6x6 Oil


Oh, the wonders of technology.  I finished this yesterday before I left the studio, but cropped it and posted from the Honda Dealership, where my car is getting serviced!  The little tomato looks a bit flattened out in the photo - I'll look again, but it seemed to have more depth in real life.  I love the irridescent green background, thank you Daniel Smith Oils!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Black, No Sugar, To Go, 5x7 Oil


Got a comment from a fabulous artist, Sally Dean, that I should be mindful in painting things like toss-away coffee cups, that they really pollute the environment - and so today I'm painting my 'green' coffee mug.  Also, it comes from Coastal Roasters - any visit to RI should include stopping in at this gem of a coffee shop, particularly on a nice day, when you can sit outside and get, essentially, my view ;)  So here's my 'green' cup with the green lid.  Actually, it's Tim's cup, but I gave it to him (and hid it today so he'd leave it for me to paint!).
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