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!!!

Daily Painting, Framing Matters

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready....

As I mentioned previously, there is a local guild show coming up. I've spent some time the last few days agonizing over which pieces to enter. My husband had his say in the matter, as did several other family members. And here are the three we collectively decided upon. The Peony is the largest. It is 16X12. The Hydrangeas is 9X12. And the Apple...entitled "Sustenance" is 8X10.

These are standard sizes, and standard is what I generally try to adhere to in order to make framing an easier matter. Framing can be expensive and I spend a great deal of time and effort to find the best frames I can find at affordable prices. (affordable prices being subjective.) I love frames. I could eat them up if they are nice ones. It is actually fun to search them out. More fun when I find the ones I like. I have the curse my mother used to call, "Champagne taste on a beer budget." So that makes it even more challenging. I have to say though, that a frame can make or break the painting. The wrong frame can just wreck the look, deaden the colors, or flatten it to death. But the right one can enhance, brighten, and give the painting more depth. It's so great when you find the right one!!! Don't give up until you do it right. It's like the icing on the cake..... :-)

Daily Painting Portrait, "Ella at Three"

"Ella at Three"
16X12
Oil on Linen Panel

Click to enlarge the picture.

At last. The morning was taken by going over the background entirely in order to dull it down some and give the whole painting more depth. I think, if I look back, this painting has taken me the better part of six weeks. More than I anticipated, but not having done a portrait in oil prior to this, I guess I really didn't know what to expect.

Just to add to the story a bit...the chair is a family heirloom. It is part of a set of six curly maple chairs that were in my mother's family, three generations back from her life. They were among some of her favorite possessions and I am privileged to be the keeper of them now, before passing them along to the next generation. It's kind of fun to commemorate them in this painting along with the adorable grandchild that my mother didn't get to see. Hopefully, I have connected the chain of our family while painting this.

Local guild shows are coming up fast, so I'll be working toward those for the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!

Daily Painting Portrait, "Ella at Three" In Progress

Click to enlarge the picture.

As you can see, this is still on the easel. Today I finished the bottom of her dress, the bottom right side of the chair,and tweaked the shadows under Paddinton. Except for going back to work the background more, I believe I am actually about at the end. I am very pleased with the way the dress turned out. After painting a few hours on it today and not getting it where I quite wanted, I remembered about Ariane Beigneux again...that she had used a palette knife. So I grabbed one and started in with it on the fabric of the dress. I have to thank her for this...never having used one before, I found it to be very helpful and achieved the look I was wanting.

Daily Painting Portrait, "Ella at Three" In Progress

I worked on Paddington Bear, some of the chair and the lower part of her dress today. Her dress is still being worked on..shadows under Paddington are not finished. But... Thought you might like to see Paddington close-up to cheer your day!!
It's getting there. Trust me!

Daily Painting, "Lifeguard at Ft. Belvoir"

"Lifeguard at Ft. Belvoir"
8X10
Oil on Gessoed Board
Availble from the artist

Man, I do not know what is with this weather, but the paint kept getting sticky and it would come off half the time when I put my brush back down. Very frustrating. Pretty sketchy around the blue and white buoys at the top, but given the problems I was having I guess it will have to do. Must be the air conditioning, but believe me I am not complaining about air conditioning at this moment.

Anyway, dive in! Splash away!!! It's the only outdoor thing you can do that won't kill you this week. Think cool! Very very cool....and refreshing....and live through until Sept.

Daily Painting Still Life, "Sustenance"

"Sustenance"
8X10
Oil on Linen Panel
Available $450.00
Click the picture to enlarge
Contact me

Finished this afternoon. Hot off the easel. I even have a frame I love for this one. I am picturing this painting next to someone's reading chair. It exudes contemplation in all ways. The price includes the frame. Mother's Day this weekend.....do you need something for your Mom, the one who loves to read?

And you know, Father's Day is coming up! This seems to me to be the perfect gift for the guy who likes to read! Let me know.

Daily Painting Baby's Sign, "Bennett's Guard"

Detail from "Bennett's Guard"





"Bennett's Guard"
10X17.5
Acrylic on Board
NFS
Click to enlarge

Bennett is almost five months old already! This is his emblem. It took a good bit of searching around for the right theme for Bennett. I am not sure why I landed on this, but I found the Royal Beefeater Guard Bear and as soon as I saw it I knew this was it. I love stuffed bears. I still have mine from when I was little. Mine resembles the Velveteen Rabbit with half of his fur rubbed off from my holding him and loving him so much. He resides in the linen closet and every so often I take him out and tell him I love him all over again.

When my children were little we had a wonderful neighbor gentleman named Mr. Cole. We had a lake directly behind our house which was wonderful for wildlife and views and row boating. However, whenever my children were outside I was like a Mad Mother Hen worrying constantly about watching my little ones, afraid someone was going to go plunk into that lake. Mr. Cole noticed this and one day he told me that children have Guardian Angels to watch them when parents can't. No comfort to me....it was a nice thought, but I wasn't about to leave that to chance. Now looking back on it, I think Mr. Cole was the Guardian Angel because, while I was the nervous young mom, he was also watching my children. We really liked Mr. Cole.

I hope our Bennett has a Guardian angel, too...because, as you know, boys will be boys! For now he has a Royal Beefeater Guard to put over his crib!

Daily Painting Floral Still Life, "Yellow Vase"

Detail

"Yellow Vase"
12X22
Oil on Board
Artist's Collection

Click to enlarge

One more before I take off to tend to my Dad. Believe it or not, this is a painting that acts as a disguise for our breaker box. You know, those ugly gray metal things that look like some ugly hardware on the wall in some inconvenient spot that is impossible to decorate around. My solution was to have that adorable "Norm Abram" type guy I am married to make a door frame around the breaker box and, voila, we have something gorgeous to look at!! (Another option would be to use a chalk board to put inside the frame and then you have something very useful)

The art tip I wanted to point out here, too, is how some paintings offer so much more than just the original composition. There are paintings within paintings. Lately I have been noticing this more and more. I seem to finish a painting and then notice a particular area that could be a painting on its own. One smaller spot that is simpler usually and that is what I am meaning to show you here with the Detail picture above.