"Garden Store Dog"

"Garden Store Dog"
14X11
Oil on Linen Panel
Available


It was an adorable scene that day. My daughter and I were at Pike Nursery in Charlotte, picking out plants for her yard, when a lady was pushing her cart with this great little Cairn Terrier in the basket. After asking about him, we found out his name is Frasier. He smiled nearly the whole time we talked ...I wonder if he knew we were saying the nicest things about him. I took several pictures of him and then a bit later, as I looked across the aisle in the store I saw this one and snapped another picture. I think this one is my favorite.

You never know where inspiration will find you....I thought I was going to be taking pictures of flowers...instead I came home with pictures of this happy little fellow!!

"Garden Store Dog" In Progress

This one is later this afternoon..
The bottom pic is from this morning.



"Garden Store Dog" In Progress
14X11
Oil on Linen Panel

As I am wading my way through the leaves and details, I am asking myself if I should have cropped this further and just painted our little fellow in the cart. But the idea might have been lost in that case, since I really wanted a sense of place. Atmosphere means something to me, giving a subject a place to be in this case especially, getting the feeling of a good and patient dog sitting in a place unlikely for a dog, yet good as gold just waiting for his owner to finish shopping. So while I would have found it easier to paint less of the scene, to me, the scene contributes so much to the feeling of this one.

From here out, I am going to be working on the bottom third and working the whole painting in a way that, hopefully, won't lose the dog in the landscape. All paintings are about values...but this one is killing me with values...how much dark, how much light, how many shades of green .....oh my gosh. Very challenging.

Daily Painting, "Vespa 4"

"Vespa 4"
10X8
Oil on Linen Panel
Available (As a collection...Unframed @ 150.00 each)

Right about now I am thinking Sausalito. What do you think?? Venice Beach? La Jolla? Monterey? East Coast....Boca? Where ever you are you can put your mind on this Vespa and tour someplace wonderful......You name the place!!!

Now I've finished my short Vespa fetish for the time being. The collection includes Yellow, Blue, Green, and Red! My daughter liked the green one best....I think because of the white wall tires. And now that I think of it, she had a little scooter when she was a small tyke that was green with white wall tires. Maybe that's why. Anyway, they are all 8X10's and make a really fun collection for the Vespa lover .....or for anyone with Vespa dreams!! It has been a lot of fun doing these and I hope whoever decides to buy them has as much fun looking at them as I did thinking about them while painting!!! They will look good hanging together, or in pairs, or individually.

Above are the four for you to see! Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge the view!

Daily Painting, "Vespa 3"

"Vespa 3"
8X10
Oil on Linen Panel
Available

Green means "Go!" Ah, dear petrol loving friends, how doth your vehicle go? It goes on roads using oil and humming along, getting us gratefully where we need to go. Somehow I don't remember people resenting this in earlier years of my lifetime. In fact, we were proud of our car manufacturing industry and, as I previously mentioned, my Dad the tire dealer made a good living selling those wonderful round rubber things that meet the road!!!

I love to drive and, I suppose this will not make me popular, but I love the smell of gasoline. I love energy. I love mobility. My carbon footprint is not that large, people. I don't owe anybody any carbon credits. I don't own a hummer and I don't fly places even once a year, though I would if I had the opportunity. I am good for the earth and I only use what I need, so don't go crashing on me for telling you this, but oil is good for engines. (I never did buy into those stupid plastic bags at the grocery store because I happen to know they are made from oil and that trees are a renewable resource, plus I reuse the paper bags and they bio-degrade. You can count me on the cutting edge...ahead of the curve on that one!)

So here is some food for thought today for my thoughtful friends who can read and write and know the difference between corn oil and sweet crude: Washington, May 9 - Gas prices have soared from a $2.33 per gallon average on January 4, 2007 – Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) first day as House Speaker – to a record high of $3.67 per gallon today, according to AAA. This recent gasoline thing is NOT "Bush's fault!" The price of a gallon of gas went up only .90 from the day he took office in 2000 until the Democrats took charge of congress in 2006, a year and a half ago.

We'll all be driving Vespas if this keeps up. I recommend drilling in Anwar and building a few refineries, using nuclear power and "clean" burning modern coal plants. And for God's sake, let me have my incandescent lightbulbs!!! I am not causing the world to fall apart because I use ENERGY!!!!

One more Vespa to do....what color next? I'm thinking red, the color of passion!!!

Daily Painting, "Peony Buds"

"Peony Buds"
7.5X11
Oil on Gessoed Masonite Panel
Available


In my previous post I was waxing rhapsodic about my peonies and saying how much I love them like babies.....when, as I finished this painting this morning, it dawned on me how symbolic it is that I picked this composition for Mother's Day! I have two children, both of whom I adore and cherish tons!! One older. One younger. As I finished this today, my eyes saw two burgeoning buds...just like my own children. So Happy Mother's Day today to all of you...and Happy Mother's Day to me!! Nurture nature!! It's a good thing!!

Daily Painting, "Vespa 2"

"Vespa 2"
10X8
Oil on Linen Panel

Click picture to enlarge the view.


One yellow and one blue. The question is which is next, black or red? Still deciding. If I can maintain my focus on this I plan to have four total to make a group for the wall of some hopefully Vespa crazy customer who lives to zoom around the urban jungle. (or anyone else who just loves to dream of wheels) I have frames in mind that are perfect for this collection, but will purchase them when I have all four finished.

The focus problem is that the outdoors is absolute heaven here lately and I am going to head out there for some garden chores. The peonies are just opening up, honeysuckle is blooming already, and my hydrangeas are full of budded promise!! It's intoxicating just to have the windows and doors open! I do want to paint peonies, too, and the window of opportunity is NOW. So that means the other two Vespas may have to wait a bit.
Stay tuned!! :-)

Daily Painting, "Vespa 1"

"Vespa 1"
8X10
Oil on Linen Panel
Available

Click on the picture for a larger view.

Grab it and GO!!!! Would that I could!!! Run away.....today! But instead I am going to a landscape workshop tomorrow and then I will be working on the next Vespa..first of next week!!!