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 :( 

Chinatown, Boston pen ink and watercolor

I have two things going here. I'm using the sketch book to hone my drawing skills. There are no short cuts there. This drawing is from a Google Earth street view of a Chinatown street in Boston which is this month's subject of Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout. I also broke out my sweet little 6x6 pochade box and began a painting of clothes pins which is some what in need of a tweak before I post the final version. This little box is the proto-type and will be refined to include a slide out palette. Email jfinbar@comcast.net for info on it and others like it.

Wolfie and Abba-I couldn't resist ;)

Just Sketching

I bought some of those cool sketching pens you can use with paints and started doing some pen and ink sketches for my Gallery the Art Boutique at Tin City. The original watercolor of Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe was painted last Spring and I did this pen and ink w/c this afternoon. This is a fabulous little Road House out on Rte 41 in the Everglades. If you want to see some fantastic pen and ink watercolors check out Urban Sketchers and their links. Drawing is so important and we artists tend to want to get right to the paint. It's almost like the drawing part is the sit ups and the paint is the pool ;)

Connie Hayes Interior

I've finally settled in here in Naples and today I found a set of acrylics that I have never used. I must admit that sometimes I'm at a loss as to what I should paint. I worry that I look too much like the painters I admire and it holds me back. It shouldn't. I know it's all been done and that we all bring our own view to our subjects. I decided to use the acrylics and was pleasantly surprised at how well I was able to 'feel' them. They also seem different from when I used them in Art School which was forever ago and they don't seem to change value as much as I remembered. I chose to copy a beautiful interior scene painted by the incomparable Connie Hayes, author of "Borrowed Views". What fun! 

Although I try to eschew political comments on my blog, today is Martin Luther King day and I've watched some wonderful biographical and Historical programs about him. I lived through the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and  Medgar Evers. People who had the courage of their convictions. I was young and I felt the grief. The shootings in Tucson mirror those bewildering events. The lone gunman looking for notoriety, strikes again. Changing all of our lives.

Snowed In

Virginia Sunset

We awoke to snow Sunday morning and our plan to leave early ended up being 8 am. But can I just say that my hyper-hubby was really cool about it? After a beautiful sunny drive we pulled into our fabulous pet friendly Best Western in  Fredricksburg, Virgina and had our Gerard Farms turkey sandwiches for supper. Woke up early today ready to make Brunswick, Georgia. All went well until around mile 280 of the drive when the snow began to spit and suddenly the road was covered with three inches of snow with cars skidding and sliding. I was on the phone in a flash and got us a room at the BW in Lumberton. We checked in at 12:30. Thank Heaven because North Carolina is shut down. They have one snowplow and they don't use salt. The parking lot is rutted with frozen ice and we are hunkered down until this weather clears. Seriously, snowed in in North Carolina?
Since I don't have a painting for you let me share the work of Robin J. Mitchell a fellow member of Fresh Paint Daily Painters. 

View from our room

 

 

Beach Umbrella

6x6 oil on RayMar panel $100 plus $10 S&H

 

I tried to generate a PayPal Buy Now button but there was one hitch that I couldn't resolve so email me if you are interested in this sunny beach scene. We're supposed to leave for Naples this Saturday but the forecast calls for snow Friday and Saturday so there may be a delay. Southern Florida is trending towards cold winters last year and this. Already the growers there are in crisis. So, when I go over to the beach I'll be wearing my fleece. I know, I know it's doesn't snow but...whatever ;) I'll take the barbs.

Happy New Year

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I've never made a New Year's resolution that I didn't abandon soon after but I do view the beginning of the year as a blank canvas so to speak. Along these lines I plan to broaden my horizons by teaching classes in my studio starting in May when I return from Naples. Teaching is a mutually satisfying exchange in which the teacher learns from the students and I can't wait to get started!! I'll post more info on that later. I also plan to spice up my blog with links I've been collecting to the many artists I admire out there in cyberspace. Today's link, which is also on my sidebar, is to Artists Helping Artists a talk radio show by artists Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry. If you can't listen live on Thursdays all of the shows are archived and you can listen while you paint or browse the blogs. This blog has done much more than I could have have imagined when I started it. It keeps me focused and my work has improved consistently. I have to thank all of you who follow and comment and encouragement me. You make my day! Happy New Year!

Liz

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Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers, friends, and followers. I had a wonderful day with my family and of course my favorite little boys, Colin and Ryan. There was lots of food and desserts. 
Also, we've narrowly escaped 2 feet of snow from a 48 hour Blizzard which knocked out power and closed roads far and wide. Fortunately not our power. We are on the rain/snow line and got mostly a sleet mix and high seas. I'm going to post some photos over on my Not Really a Cleaning Lady blog for those who don't live near the water and haven't experienced it's 'winter mood'.

 Mama and I do the tree together every year

 Auntie Ag gives Ryan and Colin Hess Trucks each Christmas

Waiting

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 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.