'Seeing Stars' Block in

There seems to be no end to the fun I can have with Starfruits. I bought a basket of 4 at the flea market for only $2. Since they go for $2 apiece at Publix, I was thrilled. This block in took me a few hours to get the drawing right. In doing so, I lost some of the punchy darks I need for the forms but I'm happy with the color. I'm also heartened by my diligence in getting it this far, although my brain was bent after several hours and I wanted to get up and run away. It takes patience to really see. You can tell I'm going for a Jennifer Bellinger here. I love her fruit still lifes and so admire her ability to paint stripes. She has patience. Meanwhile, I've been busy matting about a dozen small watercolors, getting a print framed, delivering all of it to the Art Boutique at Tin City, going to a family birthday party on Saturday and the Naples National Art Show on Sunday. Tomorrow Tommy and Anne arrive with Ryan-5 and Colin-3 for a week. Today I washed all the mini blinds and all the bedroom windows inside and out ;) etc..etc.. I'll be back.

Orange Parasol 6x6

If you happen to find yourself in Naples, Florida, check out a new gallery called The Art Boutique at Tin City. It's located in the front section of the buildings closest to Rte 41 and it's next to The Wine Store. After sampling some Florida wines you can browse the Boutique where you'll find some whimsical stoneware sculpture , some beautiful and well priced fused glass and a bunch of paintings, cards and prints by yours truly. Everything in this gallery is priced right. Stop by and try some wine and meet Mary, Julie or Charles who are working the gallery. As for today's painting. I bought this wonderful glass block vase at Goodwill store but haven't used it much. It's full of angles and reflections and could drive a painter nuts. It did me.

Star Fruit #2

Before I get to my post today, I will mention that many of you have been telling me about problems accessing my blog or my comments section over the past several months. I ask that you email me at Wendl15@verizon.net (How do I make my email a link?) if you have this problem and thanks to those who have. It seems to be something I will have to go to blogger help and figure out myself. I would rather have a root canal :( Also, my feeds seem to have been interrupted by my blog becoming oversize and 'invalid'. That will take another trip to FeedBurner help and there's something I need to do there to reduce the size of my blog. I KNEW this had been TOO EASY, TOO LONG :::grrrr:::: So bear with me. I will get it straightened out soon. On a lighter note, a little gallery called "Art Boutique at Tin City", opened up here in Naples a few weeks ago and I was asked to submit work. They accepted some of my 6x6's on easels and a rack of my note cards. I'm waiting on mats for a number of small watercolors to shrink wrap for bin work and they asked for several copies of my giclee of Day's Cottages, one to be framed. Today I went down and painted in the gallery. Behind me was a picture window which folks could watch through. The staff are great people who are really into it. They have to re-hang frequently as new art comes in and are very attentive but not intrusive to the browsers. Rather than try for a winning painting in the unfamiliar setting, I used the time to finish up this star fruit painting, and schmooze with the customers. It was great! Here are some photos from today.

Star of the Day 6x6

"Star of the day", was the song that was sung to the Winner on the original (in the Boston area) reality talent show, 'Community Auditions'. It aired Sunday mornings live, and showcased an array of baton twirling, tap dancing and musical offerings. Yes, someone at Channel 5 thought of it first ;) Today I honed my skills on the star fruit but didn't get a photo during the daylight so I'm posting this shot of my setup with the painting. You can see some of the cool props I have waiting for me to paint. I also put a few finishing touches on "Star Burst", and another painting which I will post later. I find that once I'm warmed up, that's the time to pull a painting to finish. Since I usually use the same colors, they are already mixed on my palette and I can figure out what the painting needs and go right into it. It was fun.

Weird Al Yankovich

I couldn't resist posting this. Weird Al just kicks butt with his parodies. I promise a painting tomorrow ;)