Girls Just Wanna Paint: Summer Memories

“First Place” sketchbook watercolor 

There are so many things to love about the Marshfield Fair and Horticulture Hall is one of my favorites. On a recent rainy day, a friend and I sat inside and painted this display of sunflowers. Traffic was minimal and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. 

Our Fair is awesome!

Tulips

"Tulips"

11x14 oil on canvas

My sister left me these tulips as a welcome present and I painted them in acrylic which is a new medium for me. 

I really like the smoothness of the paint. 

Because it dries quickly, but not as quickly as I thought it did, you can work over it and the under layer shows through.

I'll post a step by step of the next tulip painting. 

Stay tuned.

Peaches and Peonies

Peonies and Peaches 

9x12 watercolor

Well maybe they aren't peonies, but the point 

was to have a good time with my watercolors and ink pens. 

I did the drawing without a reference 

and the fun part was the paint.

I'm here in Naples, Florida with family and friends 

and it's been a wonderful change of pace. 

Sun and fun :)

Red Roses

"Studio View"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
Click to Buy

I don't think I realized how much I love the color red in all of its variations until I began to use so many different reds in my painting. Since it's a primary, red cannot be mixed and so I have a grab bag of reds which are a must have, particularly for flowers.
Today in the studio I set this little vase of wild roses (clipped from an abandoned building near my studio) on the window sill, backlit against the treescape outside the. The yellow flowers look to be some form of dandelion. 
My friend and fellow GJWP artist, Lisa Daria Kennedy was the inspiration for this very loosely painted bouquet of reds. This is a subject she favors and she has plenty of experience considering she's painted over a thousand daily paintings!

Palette Knife Painting

Red Flowers 6x6
SOLD @DPW Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser

I have been paying more attention to leaf raking and perennial planting and purging of the extraneous clutter in our house than I have been to my painting and my blog. I did have a few studio sessions that yielded a couple of wipers but I have also addressed and mailed many Open Studios cards, so that's progress.
Open Studios is November 17th and 18th this year and I will have lots of little paintings for sale.
This palette knife painting is straight out of my head. It was fun mixing and slapping it on, late into the night while I watched a documentary about the Doors. That was a blast from my past! 

Peachy Gerbera Daisy

Gerbera Daisy 6x6 oil on gesso board

This Gerbera was a tough one. Part of the flower is in the shadow and is very dark and part of the flower is brightly lit. The value pattern is one of the key elements in a painting and this was a bit of a struggle. Despite the brilliant colors in the flower the mixtures are mostly grays so as to set off the pops of color throughout the painting.
Also, in spite of some sprinkles I managed to get in my swim this morning.. Of course I was the only one in the pool :D
I can't tell you what a distraction sunny days are. I feel like I should be out doing something but today, I'm loving  the cool, cloudy, rainy day we're having. Perfect for being in the studio. 
My last class at Von Liebig is Thursday, April 26 from 9-12. Click on my Classes and Workshops page above to sign up on line. This class has been a lot of fun! Hope to see you there.

Gardenia in Red

"Gardenia in Red"

4x4 oil on gesso board

This time I dressed this gardenia in red. I must cruise around the neighborhood and see if anyone has gardenia bushes I can clip a bloom off of. 

I will ASK first. Promise.

Commercial Street Hollyhocks

 

Yes, the stars of the show here were actually the hollyhocks but I forgot to put them in the title. I took another shot at this because I needed the practice with such complicated subject matter. This on is 10x10 on a RayMar panel. Summer in New England is incredibly short but sweet and I'm enjoying the weather and the beach. Today my mama and I are going to lunch at the ocean side Fairview Restaurant. I'm posting this sneak preview of my painting in process. A 12x12 version of the Classic Bug. Stay tuned.

Garden Tour for Clift Rodgers Library

I had a great day yesterday painting at a garden tour organized to benefit the Clift Rodgers Free Library, a little gem of a library/consignment shop in Marshfield Hills. I set up right under the umbrella at the refreshment table and painted the beautiful sunflowers the hostess had set there to accompany all the sugary treats.The weather couldn't have been better and the day flew by as horticulture fans roamed the grounds enjoying the flowers. Thanks to all of the generous homeowners and the organizers of the tour for the beautiful day!!

Waiting

Click to Bid

 Another painting of my favorite subject, white mums. Waiting for Christmas, of course.

We've got a little bit of snow here and I'm inside painting with my little babies sleeping next to me.

Heaven.

 

Standing By

Click to Bid

I picked up this cool bottle at a yard sale for 50 cents. It has lots of green in it so I used a lavender background and a light teal ground to set it upon. I love to paint white carnations because of the dramatic lights on the petals.

Cosmos

Click to Bid

My 'kids' left to go home to Naples but we had a wonderful time and the weather couldn't have been better. Very unusual summer here in New England. Today I got back on the horse so to speak. I say this whenever I haven't painted in a while and it's true. It's almost like I've never painted at all.

Pink Peony

 

SOLD

I received a beautiful bouquet of Peonies from a friend and must hasten to paint them because they don't last that long. They smell great and are one of the most beautiful of the Spring flowers and they are really, really hard to paint. 

Email me if you want to buy this, I'm not listing on eBay at the moment.

Solitaire

 SOLD

I still remember buying several of these Ball jars at a yard sale back in the 70's for 50 cents apiece. I love the color, especially with the orangey red Gerbera Daisy.

Lady In Red

CLICK TO BID

Having flowers around the house is an indulgence worth the cost. Especially since they insure that there's always a prop to paint. I'm in love with the red/green color scheme, here.

Yesterday I worked as a volunteer 'booth sitter' for the Downtown Naples Festival of The Arts Show. The day was sunny and clear with high temperature of about 80 and NO HUMIDITY. My favorite weather. I had a great time meeting the artists and shopping for a few pieces of original art. Check out this deluxe golf cart with a Wisconsin license plate on it. 

This is Naples, after all.

The Gift 12x12

I am back from Mexico with a tan my dermatologist will have a fit over. Back in my studio yesterday, I put a few finishing touches on this painting. I was also given a beautiful assortment of flowers by my dear friend, Teak and can't wait to begin using them in my still life set ups.

Spider Mums and Red Parasol study

I started this painting Saturday and am sticking to Carol Marine's method here. Choose a color scheme from the color wheel. Decide on a value pattern using the rule of thirds and above all, one brush stroke at a time. I know I've heard this countless times but her work shows that less is more. I'm going for economy of brushwork.There are some good spots in this but the background may be too broken up. I always have some White Spider Mums in my house. I love them.

Yellow Flower

I hesitate to post this but I feel brave. The first shot is the start I did in Carol's workshop and the second shot is the one from today, where I tried to bring it to some kind of finish (futzed with it..more like) I think I'll just start over ;)

White Spider Mums 12x12

Just picked up the ole hammer and started hitting myself on the head again this morning. Here's my setup in front of what we call our bird window. Using natural light I am actually designing the painting as I go. It just happened that way but it's a good lesson. Had to make a run to the store for some more lemons and some plums and some cat food. Here are a few enticing 'details'. I always have a vase of white spider mums in the house. I've never painted them though. Too scary ;)

Dogwood Blossom

I should have stuck with the bananas maybe? A learning experience. That's what I call the ones that get away. I wiped this off 3 times before making a final effort. In the meantime my props wilted and I'm just not feeling the love for this piece. So, I'm wiping it off again and calling it a night. I included a detail here because it looks pretty out of context and because I wanted to post something for everyone who comes by here. You all make my day. The news isn't all bad though, the Red Sox came back to beat Cleveland just like they did last fall :D