Girls Just Wanna Paint - Dog Days

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• This is the teeny tiny front cover of my 2.5x3” book
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• Oh, the dog days of summer! 
• Hot, humid and long. 
• I’ve been hugging the air conditioner while working on a little “concertina” folded book, in my dining room/kitchen studio. This is a meditative way of thinking about how to design each page or spread of pages. I have a hoard of gelli printed papers, ephemera, paint, Posca pens and embellishments. 
• I hope you enjoy these process photos.
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The Road Less Traveled

“Which Way Should I Go?” 12”x15” 

mixed media on watercolor paper

By Mary Sheehan Winn

On Instagram @ mary_sheehan_winn 

Every single decision we make changes the direction of our lives. It’s just that simple. 

I’m lately working in various genres of art. Some traditional and some experimental. This is a multilayered piece including crayon, paint, and gelli printed papers. For a traditional painter like myself it’s a constant struggle to cover up elements and make changes, or to know if it’s finished. 

I’ll let the viewer decide.

This is my piece for the Girls Just Wanna Paint Challenge.

The beginning 

Burning Bush

“Burning Bush” 9x12 oil on panel

I painted outdoors on one of the last warm days and was struck by the light shining through the foliage of this flaming orange bush, against the dark background. I knew I had to take it on! It was a struggle to “make” something out of the area around the bush, which was actually a stone wall, but I figured it out using temperature and color.  I had only to create some shadow areas with a grayed down mid range dark. I toned the canvas orange which preserved the glow of the bush.

Christmas Angel

Peace, love & Joy to all and a blessed New Year.

This special Christmas angel was given to me last year by a dear friend and is a centerpiece on our table year 'round. 

This painting is for her 🎄

Lilacs in McCoy Vase

Lilacs in Blue 

9x12 oil on masonite
$250

My painting retreat was invigorating and enriching. 

The company of six women in an old Farmhouse painting, eating, drinking, talking and laughing for a week was just what I needed to break me out of my rut. 

The fresh scent of lilacs, which were out in abundance, filled the house and one rainy day we set up and painted them. 

I brought my favorite blue pitcher with me to use for still life and it was perfect!

Maine. 

The air. 

The surf. 

The pine trees. 

The rocks. 

I love it.

Pemaquid Lighthouse

Yes, I climbed all the way down the rocks to get the iconic shot. Worth it ;) 

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Painting Retreat

"Lilies"

6x6 watercolor
$100

I am off for a week of painting with a stellar group of fun ladies on the rocky coast of Maine. One week of focusing only on my art is exactly what I need at this time.
I did this watercolor in Naples a few months ago. In my quest for abstraction, what better subject than lily pads?  
I'll be posting more of these studies which never made the blog this winter and you can look forward to some paintings of beautiful, soulful Maine!

Painting Shiny

Vermeil Cup

Class Demo

I'd like to say that I'm setting the world on fire here in Naples, but the fact is, I'm on island time. Sitting, reading, eating out and touring South Florida with Don and generally lazing about.
However, I have my students to keep me on the straight and narrow!
Tuesday, I painted this shiny silver cup. It's not metal but a soft vermeil kind of finish and it was extremely difficult to paint. Linda watched me sweat through my demo and then took on the task. The big issue with this finish was that it doesn't reflect mirror like images of the surrounding area as metal would, only color and shadow. We are going to go after it again next week which is the best way to understand it.
Meanwhile, I read a bunch of books including, The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank by Ellen Feldman, The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian, The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom, The Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner, Local Girls by Alica Hoffman and Some Girls Some Hats and Hitler; a true love story by Trudi Kanter. They were all good in an "okay" kind of way, but I'm still looking for that really great read.

Painting Glass

Glass Demo

6x6 oil 

I've been teaching every other Friday at the Von Liebig and have the most wonderful students. Fearless and full of enthusiasm, they tackle anything I throw at them. 
Yesterday's lesson was painting glass which is difficult but not as difficult as one would think. The point is to paint the masses and the shapes. 
The lessons are quite advanced but it's a good learning experience, much like my early classes with John Kilroy. He threw us into the deep end of the pool and really made us "see". Those classes, as I like to say, "broke me out" from a rut, where I was painting subjects that were beyond my abilities at the time, and ending up having a lot of unfinished paintings hanging around the studio. From that experience I feel that it's better to teach the same fundamentals to all levels of painters and give them the tools they need to advance.

Linda's Painting.

I think she's got it!

Happy 2015!

Wendell

6x6 oil on raymar panel NFS

The last post of the year is for our GJWP painting challenge blog, the topic of which is 'memory'.
From many cherished memories, I chose this painting of my dearest, much missed boy, Wendell. 
I am a total cat girl and am about to embark on a cat painting challenge. If anyone has any cat photos they'd like me to try my hand at, please send them to me at wendl15@verizon.net. 
In the meantime, every day is a new day to start over. To be better. To reach a goal. To change what you can and accept what you can't. Happy New Year to all of my family, friends and supporters. I wish you the best in 2015. 

Expression

"Wendell"
9x12 watercolor abstract 

The topic for our GJWP Challenge this month is "Expression". There are so many ways to interpret that word but for me, it's all about my art. This is a watercolor/abstract painting of my Wendell.

More Morning Glories #3 of 30 in 30

Morning Glories

8x8 watercolor on Arches

This is my third painting for Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 challenge. My greatest pleasure during the amazing summer of 2014 has been the incredible weather with low humidity, temperatures consistently in the 75-80 range, and hardly any mosquitos.  WHAT?!
Next to that, which was pretty big for me, I've been loving sitting on my deck enjoying our little slice of oceanside nirvana and painting. Our 'Heavenly Blue' Morning Glories are in full bloom and I cannot get enough of this beautiful shade of blue. 
The painting is much lighter and cleaner than I can reproduce in this photo. Back at it again tomorrow.

Spencer's Island

Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia

4x10 watercolor

I made this little sketch in pen and ink before doing the painting. Some elements have been eliminated to showcase the smooth water and Spencer's Island which is off to the left. This is where the Mary Celeste was built. I often wish I could go back in time and see what this land looked like during the Age of Sail. 

Try This at Home

"Old Glory"

6x6 oil on panel

I am on what's known as a 'stay-cation'. There is no place I'd rather be than home during the summer, and this particular summer is one of the best ones, weather wise, that we've seen in a while. 

YES! Perfect New England summer!

I've been spending my days on our deck under a shady umbrella, painting. First up were my mother's little garden gnomes who live with me now. She loved for me to refresh them for her and of course they had a lot more panache after a meeting with me and my brush.

But, our sweet little shed, the purple trim painted by my husband, has been calling to me and yesterday I answered the call. Actually, the flag is my favorite part.

Mama's Garden Gnomes in progress

Girl in Surf- sketchbook drawing

Girl in Surf

sketchbook 6x6 

nfs

Very unusual low humidity and cool breezes have been the norm this summer and I spent yesterday on the beach basking in the glory of it all. Sketching on the beach is difficult because everything is moving but last night I did this drawing from one of my photos. I would like to point you to my fellow artist and friend Jody Regan whose sketchbook is a treasure of beauty. Enjoy!

Island Getaway

Little Gasparilla Getaway

6x6 watercolor

Watercolor throwback to our trip to Little Gasparilla Island in March. 

This little cottage is literally ON the beach!

Three Step Value Study and A Feature

 Step One: two values

I painted this twilight scene from my neighborhood using a burnt umber value study. The first step is just the lightest and darkest values. In the second step I wipe out the middle values leaving the lightest and darkest and in step three I added color but you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see the finish. That was not an intentional tease but there is so much glare on the photo that I just can't post it ;)

Also, check out Barbara Stroud's eclectic art, food and style blog. Barbara lives in Charleston, South Carolina, is widely traveled and is a big art lover who has featured some wonderful painters on her blog. I was truly proud to be featured two years ago today! Go there to see a link to that post and wonderful shots of Charleston which is a city I can't wait to visit! 

Step Two: three values

Tiny Paintings

Red Barn 4"x4"

oil on planel

It seems like winter is just going to hang on here in New England so this painting of a red barn in the not so long ago snow seems appropriate. I'm used to being a snowbird and yesterday as I walked the beach in wind whipping 45 (feels like 30) degrees, I thought about Naples but, it was 91 degrees there. Is there no happy medium?
This is a tiny painting and it's leading you to more tiny paintings by Sharon McGauley, an artist from Maine and the Cape. I love how her tiny paintings look so BIG!

Bay of Fundy Monolith

Bay of Fundy Monolith

4x10 Watercolor

I've been working on hot pressed paper which I love for its smoothness but I bought a little 4x10 block of Arches 140 Cold Pressed paper and I found that I liked the way 

the paint takes to the surface. 

It may even be better.

Don and I are heading home to New England tomorrow. It's been a great and much needed get away.

Shark Tank

"Shark Tank"

6"x12" oil on panel

I'm really happy with this one :) I love the colors and the movement. Yup, I do.

Thayer Academy

Thayer Academy

6x6 oil on panel

This painting is a late entry into this month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge. I know. I'm bad. Check out their paintings and stay tuned for news about our GJWP Fall show at Thayer Academy. We'll be showing our challenge paintings and since the gallery can accommodate larger works we'll have a few of those too.