Naples National Art Festival

Here I am with a couple of (wax) characters at the Festival on Saturday. I'm a volunteer booth sitter and my niece Chrissie joined me and snapped this photo. We had a blast and the art was awesome. Over three hundred artists!!

I am mesmerized by these mobiles made of wire by Artist Michael Gard of San Francisco

 

 

 

Emilie Pritchard fiber artist

My Chrissie and her Tugboat

Be sure to check out the Girls Just Wanna Paint Challenge and see our magazine spread :D

Beach Sunset

I go to the beach later in the afternoon and I always wait for the sun to set which is a big deal here. The West coast of Florida is like an Island where the sun sets into the Gulf of Mexico. People start showing up with their coolers and dinners and beach chairs around 5 o'clock and everyone settles in for the show. Here's a little sketch from the beach last Wednesday and a shot of the star of the show.

Coffee Break

 

My husband and I often muse aloud that we wish we'd started a coffee shop (gold mine) ;) Who knew that people would leave their homes in the early morning to go out and buy coffee at $2-$3 per cup and furthermore would continue to refuel all day long at the ubiquitous Dunkin' Donuts and Starbuck's coffee shops that have sprung up everywhere. Starbuck's keeps their coffee drinkers on site by offering WiFi and  den like shops with reading material, comfy chairs and nice lighting. Marketing genius. We have our own little gem in Marshfield called the Coffee Shack which has the best glazed jelly donuts in the world. This is my submission for my rockin' Girls Just Wanna Paint blog. Check out our magazine article over there.

Zippo

 

I'm catching up with myself. Yesterday was a painting marathon and I have a few finished pieces and one that needs a tweak. This one is the current 'challenge' on Daily Paintworks.  All of the paintings are for sale there as well as here ;)

DPW Challenge '55 Chrysler Imperial

 

This classic Chrysler Imperial was the first subject of the Daily Paint Works new painting challenge thrown out to the artist community by Carol Marine. It's an exciting opportunity to participate in a high profile group of painters. Check it out!

Snow Peas

 

Ever be working in the kitchen and have to stop and photograph the food?  I've had this photo of snow peas for a while and I was needing a challenge so I threw caution to the wind today and painted it without a drawing. This is a 10"x10" painting on 300lb Arches paper.Here are the stages of the painting.

Buoys Club

 

These buoys are hanging on my friend Sue's shed right next to the beach. This is the quintessential 'at the shore' scene. My pal Kelley MacDonald did a fabulous painting of this very shed which appears in the current issue of South West Art on the sixth page in which is an ad for Contemporary Fine Art International. Half of the fun is thinking up titles for each post!

Going to the Dogs

 

Provincetown is known  to be one of, if not THE most dog friendly town on the planet. I encountered these two in a Provincetown gallery last summer. Wonder what the dog thinks.

Wonder how long it takes these two to just go out for a newspaper

Provincetown Sunset

I got the most wonderful comment from my friend Lorna on yesterday's post. 

She said, "Mary, I think this is my favourite of your paintings.  I don't know why but I love being able to recognize something without it looking exactly like what I would see if I were there myself."

I loved what she said because every artist creates for the connection with the viewer and literal interpretation isn't the only way to go. Thank you Lorna! 

Today's painting is a bit more literal using watercolor and my Micron Pigma pen.

Provincetown at Dusk

I applied and was chosen to show my work in a Trap Shed on McMillan Wharf in Provincetown for the week of July 18-24. About a half dozen of these little sheds are rented out to artists with the approval of the Pier Corporation and are fairly new to the Wharf scene.  I visited with some of the artists this past summer and wanted to go for it since I've always felt a connection to Provincetown and love painting there. The beauty of the location is that everyone who comes by boat has to walk right by these sheds. That would be many hundreds of people each day :D This scene is from Bradford Street looking toward the Pilgrim Monument. I never get tired of the beauty of this place.

Shovel Me Out

 

SOLD

Visit Girls Just Wanna Paint to see our paintings of "Winter". 

This is the Green Harbor General Store decked out in its Christmas finery and plenty of snow.

Pinned

Pinned 6x6 oil

SOLD

 Remember these wooden clothespins? They must be antiques. Everything's made of plastic now :(