12-31-09

Bob's painting is finished!  Now I get to start new paintings!  I completed 23 paintings in the year 2009!  It's really been a fun year, and I'm expecting next year to be even more fun!

12-31-09 Happy New Year!

I finished Chrissy's Caterpillar today, except perhaps for the usual small tweaking I find after staring at it for a couple of days.  Now I'm going to finish Bob's painting of Buddy and Pepper by the Pool.  Happy New Year everyone!

12-14-09

The last shoe in the series is finished!  My friend Lisa says I should do a perpetual shoe series, and as I enjoy painting them, I'm sure this one isn't the last shoe I'll ever paint, but the series of shoes is complete.  Now I'm going to work on Chrissy's Caterpillar!

12-2-09

Yesterday and today were fun painting days.  I started the final shoe in that part of the series.  I haven't decided whether to name is "That's Hot" (it's a Paris Hilton shoe), or "Black Tie".  Here's the painting in progress.  I've almost finished Chrissy's Caterpiller, and made lots of progress on Bob's painting of Buddy and Pepper by the Pool.

11-28-09

I'm making slow progress lately on the paintings in progress; it's a busy time of the year!  A couple of things have happened lately.  I sent ten images of recent paintings to an expert to be critiqued.  I wanted to know why my paintings don't get selected for alot of the shows to which I enter.  It's actually a little scary to do that, because you have to be ready to hear criticism.  I was, though, and what I got from it that was most valuable is that I've lost some of my "painter-ly-ness", and I think it's because I've been painting mostly from photographs.  I'm getting pretty good at copying a photograph, which is making me a pretty good artist.   I don't want to be a pretty good painter.  I want to be a GREAT painter!  I'll spend the rest of my life striving to reach that goal.  That's half the fun of it, really.

I've decided to start painting mostly from life.  I'll be doing alot of small practice paintings, and will be calling them my "Plein Air, Alla Prima".  They'll be just as described.  I'll set up simple still-lifes, or go outside somewhere and paint a scene, giving myself one hour from the moment my brush touches the canvas.  I believe this will help me become a better painter, plus it's fun to paint like that!  Here's the first one; I'd like to do one a day, but haven't done it - need to organize my time better, obviously!  I might go to two hours after a few one-hour sessions - depends on how I feel about it at the time.  The cool thing is that I'll be enjoying myself!

The picture is less bright than the painting really is - I kind of like it.

Next year about this time, I'm planning to have a one-woman show.  I love doing that!  I don't know any more details than that, but will start planning it after the first of the year.  I'll have plenty of paintings for it; so far this year, I've completed 20 paintings, and will be up to at least  22 or 23 by the end of the year.  That's alot of painting!  It's really been great, and I do think my paintings are better than they were at the beginning of the year.  I look forward to continueing my "Painting Frenzy", as a friend and fellow painter called it.

11-12-09

I'm posting an "in progress" photo of Bob's and Chrissy's paintings - they're coming along.  I'll be starting on another mailbox painting hopefully tomorrow - I had almost forgotten about that series!  I plan to have a show next year; I don't have details yet, but will certainly let you know.

The shoe series should be finished by the end of the year, and I've decided to hold the originals for my show, but I have prints available.  The series is designed to all go together, so that's the way I'd like to show them.  They will look great in my show!  I have the shoes now for the final painting, and will be starting on that painting very soon!

I'm still waiting for the rest of the pictures of THE guitar, so when I get those, I'll be starting on the musical instrument series.  I'm really looking forward to that!

11-11-09

I made progress on Bob's painting, "Buddy & Pepper by the Pool" yesterday, and today will be working on Chrissy's Caterpillar.   The mailbox series is calling me, too, so I'll be starting up on that again.  That means I'll be working on three series, which will keep those creative juices flowing, for sure!  The one and only mailbox I painted has been sold, but I have lots of photos, and 8 X 8 panels that I prepared just for them. 

11-06-09

Folsom Lake College graciously allowed me to go in and photograph some musical instruments - it was very cool indeed!  I'm compiling quite a few images of musical instruments. 

I must apologize; the photo of Regal is a little off.  For some reason, my computer reads the greens as bluer than they are, especially if it's a green-ish blue.  I had forgotten that and posted it before I corrected it, so I'm posting the corrected image now.

As you can see, there's quite a difference.  This is much closer to the original!  I should be receiving the black heels that I'll be using for the last in the series.  They are gorgeous!  I won't say too much, but the format will be different for the black one, and it will be designed to fit in the middle of the five.

11-04-09

Here it is - Regal is finished!  That is number 4 of 5 in Phase I of the "Goin' for THE LOOK" Series.  Next will be the black one - I think we can all relate to black heels!  Women - because we wear them, men - because they like them.   Part of THE LOOK is, of course, the purse, which will be Phase II.

The other series I'll be starting is the musical instrument series.  I'm still milling ideas around for the title of the series, but so far the best one is "Art & Soul".  I like that.  They kind of go together.  I'm very excited about the first one, which is that fabulous guitar, the  '59 Gibson L5!  I just got more pictures today, and will be getting even more, so who knows, I might have to do more than one!  It's a gorgeous guitar!  There's lots of sentimental attachment involved in an instrument like this; it's been loved, and is part of a family history with wonderful memories surrounding it.  I look forward very much to painting it.

11-03-09

The purple shoe is finished, I think.  I've learned from experience to wait a day to decide if it's done.  I almost always do a little tweaking.  I'll post a photo in a couple of days.

I'm looking forward to a day of photographing musical instruments on Friday - I'll have masses of photos to choose from!

10-30-09

I finally got my pictures in the computer from the show at Folsom Lake College, so thought I would share one so you can see what my display looked like.  I really like my new display panels; they help make my exhibit look professional.

10-29-09

I finally got a chance to paint after almost 2 weeks!!!  Sometimes life just gets in the way!  It was fun; I worked on the purple shoe - it's almost finished; just have some detail work left to do.  No, I'm not going to show the photo yet - but soon!  As I like to stand when I paint, I still need to take more breaks than before my foot surgery, but it's healing a little every day.

I've decided to make Phase II of the "Going for THE LOOK" Series "The Purses", Phase III will be "The Hats", Phase IV will be "The Dresses", and Phase V will be "The Jewelry".  Of course this will take quite some time to complete, but one at a time will get it done, and it will definitely be fun!  These will all be the same size (11 X 14), and I'll be providing open-edition giclee prints of them.

I've also decided to start a series of musical instruments, inspired by a new friend, who's father played a really cool '59 Gibson Sunburst guitar.  I've been researching and I'll be photographing lots of instruments in the next few weeks.  Like my "Portrait of Red Boots", these will be portraits.  I feel that a musical instrument can have an aura of it's own, given to it by the loving hands that played them, and I hope to portray that feeling in the paintings.  I'm planning to begin the series as soon as I finish my two gift paintings, so I should be started on it by the end of the year.  For these paintings, there will be various sizes.  I want to choose the size and shape to fit the instrument.

So that will be it for a while as far as series go - these two will keep me busy, that's for sure!  Along with the two series, I'll still be painting other subjects; I'll be doing several small still-life paintings from life to hone my skills (you should see all the props I've collected over the years!) and, of course, commissioned paintings whenever they are requested.

10-26-09

I had a great time at the art show at Folsom Lake College last Friday night.  It had good attendance; there was a great variety of types of art, as well as levels of experience.  For some of the artists this was their first show!  There were acoustal guitarists/singers followed by the Afro Cuban Funk Band, who were really talented and entertaining.  If you can attend the next one, I would highly recommend this show.

10-24-09

I'll be participating in an art show at Folsom Lake College this Friday night; it's their first of what they hope to be many shows.  They're expanding their arts department, and the new buildings are huge!  There will be painters, sculptors, and two bands there, which will make it quite fun.  It will be in the building called "The Roost"; the show starts at 6:00 and goes through the evening.

Still working on the three in the last photo - slowed down a little these last few days, but will be back up to speed soon!

10-06-09

Now I'm working on three again!  I'll be working on two of them today - the one for Bob, which is Buddy and Pepper, our canine sons I told you about, and the Purple Shoe, which is called "Regal".  Tomorrow, I'll be working on Chrissy's Caterpiller, which is really a fun one!  I'm having alot of fun, as always when I paint, and can't wait to finish them so I can start new ones!

09-23-09

I had a fabulous time at the American Visions Gallery last Saturday; the Michael Goddard show was really fun.  He has alot of personality, and obviously has fun with his art.

I finally finished the painting of the Mehrten Ranch House; it's a comission piece, and I think they will like it.  They've waited a while for it, but not as long as Bob has waited for his painting of Pepper!  (For those who don't know Pepper, he's our canine son!)  At least I have the sketch of it on the canvas, and it's going to be started this week.  It has Pepper when he was a puppy, along with his big brother, Buddy, who was a fabulous dog who isn't with us any more.

I'll be doing the sketch of the purple shoe, along with Chrissy's Caterpiller this afternoon and evening.  It sure has been good to be able to get around and stand up to paint again!  My foot is healing nicely.

09-19-09

I re-worked SSSultry a little - forgot something!  I'll be going to see the show for Michael Goddard at the American Visions Gallery here in Folsom today.  I'm really looking forward to it!  His work is completely different from mine, very unique, bright, neon-like, very cool.

I'm excited about starting new paintings - Can hardly wait!

Chrissy's Caterpiller is for Christmas, as well as Bob's painting of Pepper and Buddy by the pool, but I'll still be continueing on with the "Going for The Look" series, phase I, which is, of course, the shoes.  I haven't decided what Phase II will be yet, but probably the hats.  Then, of course there will be Phase III.

09-18-09

Well, I did work on the Portrait of My Red Boots once more, and it has a couple of small differences, but haven't gotten a photo of it that I'm happy with, so I'll just say that last photo is pretty close.  I did, however, finish SSSultry today, and although the photo isn't very good because of the light reflections, you can see the painting fairly well.  When I take it in to have the prints made, I will be able to get a much better image!

Next Shoe in the series will be called "Regal".

Along with that, I'll be working on the Mehrten Ranch painting, which is almost finished, Pepper and Buddy for Bob, and  Chrissy's Caterpiller.  Those will be fun!

09-15-09

I think I finished the Portrait of My Red Boots today, although sometimes I find something that needs to be tweaked after a couple of days.  There will probably be some small changes before I have the final photos.  It's done for today, though. 

I'm hoping to also work on the Mehrten Ranch House painting this afternoon.  I am really having fun today!  With my foot healing so well, it's getting easier to spend time at my easels.

09-11-09

I'm just getting ready to sit and put my foot up and knit for a little while. Then I will paint, and finally finish the Portrait of My Red Boots! I'll let you know how it goes! In the meantime, I'll upload the first two in the shoe series for you. ttyl.

The blue one is called "High Class".

The red one is called "Attitude".

09-10-09

I'm blogging! How cool is that? I haven't been painting much in the last couple of weeks, as I had foot surgery, but I will talk about how things have been anyway. The last painting I finished was "Jeremey's Mailbox" which I did to enter in a show. It wasn't accepted, but I like it anyway, and will be doing a small series of mailboxes after I finish the shoe series.

I'm working on the Mehrten Ranch House painting, SSSultry (the third in the shoe series), and Portrait of my Red Boots. I'll post those photos later, next time I get around to getting current photos of them. I plan to paint this afternoon, probably on the red boots painting, as it's probably the closest to being finished.

It will probably take me a little time to figure out this blogging thing, so bear with me!