Purple Door

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Love this purple door with the morning glory vines. 

Yes, it is a tad crooked but hey, it's an antique house.

Check out our Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge for their takes on doors.

Two Alike

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I think white eggplants are just beautiful. 

Plein Air Study

I met Sally Dean at Green Harbor this morning for a plein air workout. Trust me, it was a workout. Let me count the ways things can go awry when painting boats. The tide is going out. The sun is moving. The boats are moving. After fighting the composition by wiping out some of the boats, I settled on just making a complete statement and spent the rest of the time making the painting work. Using artistic license I eliminated the rest of the houses and boats and made the trees look like Maine. I didn't see it until I photographed it but there's a major tangent running from the cabin of the boat up the edge of the house. I think I'll give it another try tomorrow.

The actual scene

Back on the Horse

I needed this week to catch up with myself after an intense Labor Day weekend that segued right into my Carol Marine workshop. Here are some photos of one of the first exercises Carol gave us which was to map out the values to include a dominant value, a secondary value and a 'smidge'.  Carol has an uncanny eye for the subtle grayed color/temperature changes that move into the shadows. Her workshop is just packed with information and I've never met anyone who gives more of herself to her students. This girl is a powerhouse!! I didn't get this kind of instruction in Art School. Really.
Forgive my indulgence in posting this photo of my sweet little boys who are growing up too fast. I enjoy them SO much!!!

Carol Marine Workshop Wrap

It was fabulous!!

Carol Marine Workshop

Next week I'm attending my second Carol Marine workshop hosted by Kelley MacDonald in her Warren, Rhode Island Studio. The dates are September 8-10. Carol has blogged her way to success with over one thousand and counting, daily paintings most of which are snatched up on eBay. It seems that there is one slot left if anyone would like to come. I highly recommend it.
You may have noticed that I'm slacking a bit on the paintings and it's true. I've been busy with summer fun but I have been doing a couple of 16x20 studio paintings of Cape scenes which I'll reveal soon. Don't forget to check out Fresh Paint Daily Painters where I am one of the featured artists. They've added some new artists and they rock!

Michael Costello Opening at Julie Heller Gallery

I'm taking an overnight trip to Provincetown to attend my friend Michael Costello's "Gods and Monsters" show at Julie Heller Gallery.

Michael is seriously good at both representational art and the kind of art that really stops people in their tracks. He tends to portray his models as the 'not conventionally beautiful people'. He's a hardworking fearless artist. Check him out.

Take Me Out #2

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I love these little take out cartons that are sold in the party stores. My favorite kind of food is already cooked (not by me) and just lands on my table.  The painting is, as always, more subtle and fresh in the 'real'. I don't even want to talk about the difficulty of taking and resizing photos ;(  Be sure to check out the Fresh Paint Daily Painters site to see the work of some of my fellow artists.

Black Eyed Susans

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I have a new setup and some new lighting angles for my still lifes. Also, I use tissue paper for many of my backgrounds. I also have a new camera and am having a hard time getting good photos. It's time to read the book :( The color in this painting is much better than this photo shows. 

Bennett's General Store

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This is an iconic scene here in Duxbury, Massachusetts. In the winter this jeep wears a hardtop roof. Lettered onto the sides of the Jeep are the items the store carries. Ice cold beer, Wine, Spirits, Deli, Subs, Breakfast and Sandwiches. I don't think I've ever seen a painting of it. Am I the first?

Check out Fresh Paint Daily Painters, a new group of artists I was invited to join.  

Cosmos

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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.

I'm Away from My Desk ;)

Ray and Chrissie at Green Harbor

My favorite niece Chrissie and her sweet husband Ray are here on a rare vacation from their business in Naples, Florida to attend a family wedding and are staying with Don and me this week. The wedding which took place on Saturday evening was a fabulous family time. I saw cousins and relatives I've not seen in too long. It was a magical day and we're all still under the spell. I will paint again soon. Really ;)

Melissa and David~ August 7, 2010

 

 

Our Lady Help of Christians Church

The Boss

SOLD

On our recent trip to Nova Scotia we visited That Dutchman's Cheese Farm in Upper Economy. It sits high on a hill overlooking the Bay of Fundy and they have walking trails and an array of animals including chickens, roosters, turkeys, emus and even peacocks! Fabulous. We watched them make the cheese and of course sampled some and came home with a few wedges. It is a blissful place.

This painting is for the Girls Just Wanna Paint monthly challenge the theme of which is Fin, Fur or Feather. This fabulous white rooster had all the hens chasing after HIM!!

MG Roadster

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I had to stop and snag a photo of this cool MG Roadster circa 1950 or so. I remember that a friend of my parents had one of these in red and when I was a toddler he took me for a ride in it. I was quite fascinated with the small size of the car.

Golden Oldie

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 I love this beautiful cup given to me by my dear friend, Miss Sally Dean.  By the way, if you are in the area over the weekend, Duxbury Art Association is holding their annual Summer Members' Show at the Ellison Center for the Arts at 64 St. George Street in Duxbury, MA. I've put twenty of my small paintings into the Artist Studio Sale which will be open on Saturday from 10 to 4.  I might mention that the prices are attractive ;}

Days Cottages, Truro

This looks like the same painting I posted on June 25th but it's a larger copy done for Provincetown Art Association's annual 12x12 Auction. The bidding ends in early September so don't be late :D

Hydrangeas

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After finishing the 'Cherry Scramble', I threw a little 5x5 board up,  toned it with Quinacridone Magenta and proceeded to do this painting of hydrangeas without a setup. I never do a painting out of my head but I just felt this. Love the colors. A little Wolf Kahn, ya think?

"Cherry Scramble"

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 How is everyone enjoying the New England heat wave so far? I'm sequestered in my a/c studio room at home. Every now and then I run out to water or do some garden chores and run back in when I start dripping. It's cherry season and I bought two kinds. The red and yellow ones and the dark red ones. Delicious!  For some other beautiful cherry paintings check out Dana Cooper's blog  and Claudia Hammer's blog. These ladies rock.

Syncronized Swimming

These slices of Golden Delicious apples reminded me of those Olympic swimming competitions. This one was painted in the ambient light from a window. Kind of flattened the values.

Two Islands Farm

This is our last day and of course it dawned beautifully. I was up with the birds (crows, are there any louder birds anywhere?) and out early to paint. Went up to Two Islands and stopped to take photos of some horses in a pasture. They all came running over to greet me and since they were in deep grass I never saw the little donkey who brought up the rear until his head emerged from the tall grass! Meanwhile, talk about swarms of flies of every kind!! I had to paint in the car with the windows up and the air on. Hedonistic....I know, I know...

I really used artists' license in this little study. Eliminated the porch on the house and the windows. Looks like two barns. Also, I had added some flowers against the white barn and after seeing the photo on the computer I took them out. It's what we call over working or not knowing when to stop ;) All they did was grab the eye to notice that they didn't enhance the

composition at all!