Catch

A friend took several photos at my eldest sons baseball games and this is one of them. It is of the coach's son playing catcher. This team plays its first game in city tournament tonight! Wish us luck! Also, I have started two more from this team - both pitching pics. I am not sure when I will get to finish them. I am beginning art classes with 3 wonderful girls tomorrow and so my time will be filled with planning for my time with them for a while!

Max the dog and his boy - revised

I worked on the face some more - not a good photo, I know. My camera has gone wonky and is not focusing where I want it to. Anyway, I am much happier with it. It is interesting to me how differently I see my work on the computer screen than right in front of me. Its like its someone else's and I can be more objective.

Max the dog and his boy

This is my nephew and his dog, Max. Enjoy!

Fruit

acrylic on 9 8x8x1 canvases $540

If you are interested in this painting please contact Willis Gray Gallery

256-355-7616

I am very excited that summer has finally arrived! My children are home from school and with the excpetion of some lingering baseball games, I am free to set my own schedule! This means I am free to be in my studio again! I am also excited to have finished this one. I have been working on it ever so slowly for months now. I posted apple # 1 months ago.

"Shades" accepted for exhibition

The Carnegie Visual Arts Center in Decatur, Alabama has accepted this piece to exhibit and be juried as a part of their Embracing Art VI. It will be on display from May 16th until June 14th at the Carnegie. This was my first attempt at entering my art into anything and I am thrilled to have this piece accepted!

New Orleans Street Band

Yes, finally I can post another painting! I enjoyed painting this one - lots of detail. The canvas is missing the usual texture. I missed it, I really love the effect the texture has on the finished painting.

Alyson B. Stanfield, Artbizcoach.com

Recently, Alyson answered a question I had for her regarding what constitutes a "show" of paintings. I am grateful for her answer. If you get a moment, visit her site. It has been an inspiration to follow and keep me on track with my goals! She also posted one of my paintings on her blog - Buffalo#2.

www.artbizcoach.com

www.artbizblog.com

Also look for her new book I'd Rather Be In The Studio! - which you can find on her site or at www.idratherbeinthestudio.com

Thanks Alyson!

I am still here!

My trip to New Orleans was wonderful. My return home - not so much. Tom and I must have inhaled the flu bug when we boarded the plane and were both sick from Sun - Wed. of last week. Needless to say duties of mom and housewife have been in serious catch-up mode from the trip and the illness! I did start a painting today of one of the street bands in New Orleans. It is larger than usual so look for it next week! I also have almost completed my abstract tree - look for it soon as well!

Ballet Recital

8x16 Acrylic on Canvas

I painted this of my beautiful niece last night at Wine and Paint With Carole Foret. I had a wonderful time and met some fun ladies! Some of whom I hope were encouraged to begin painting! The image I used for this painting is from my niece's ballet recital in Beijing last year. The yellow was a challenge for me - especially since I only brought yellow cad light (lemony color). I had to mix some darker yellows for the darks in the costume - but I like how the red looks and I think it helps the background. I still need to finish her hands, but that will have to wait until next week! This is my last post until Monday! Off to NOLA!

From my sketchbook. . .

Yes, another guitar lesson. This is a sketch of my daughter at about one - once again at the beach. She is looking down playing with her toes in the picture. I enjoyed trying to get the angle of her face and her cleft chin also posed a bit of a challenge from the angle. I have really enjoyed having this 30 minutes of uninterrupted quiet drawing time.

Tonight I am going to Carole Foret's studio to "Wine and Paint" with her. I am very excited to get to spend some time with the wonderful woman as well as meet new artists too! Tomorrow will be the last post for the week. I am going to New Orleans for the weekend and need to get ready. I am hoping to come up with tons of reference photos and sketches. But, we will see. I am not very practiced at sketching from life, so this should be a wonderful learning experience!

Portrait #2

11x14 Acrylic on Canvas

Another one of my dear friends lent me a photo of her sweet daughter to practice my portrait skills on. I am happy with the painting over all, but not really satisfied that I captured this littlel girl as she truely is! It is still not exactly her. It's close, but not quite. Ah well, this is why I practice, practice, practice!

Portrait

12x12 Acrylic

I am working on improving my portrait skills. When I work on portraits I have to concentrate on relationship of shapes more so than on other types of paintings. This sweet little girl belongs to one of my closet friends. I am thankful to her for letting me practice on her child! This painting greatly resembles her, but is not really her. Not yet, anyway. I am putting it away for today because I have looked so closely at it I can no longer see it correctly! I am so thankful for art! It really is a passion!

Finished Buffalo #3

Acrylic on 24x48x1 canvas $590
If you are interested in this painting please contact Willis Gray Gallery

256-355-7616

Buffalo #3 is currently enjoying a proud spot in my living room I enjoyed working on this one as the "leader"as my daughter calls him proved to be challenging with more detail. I included a photo with a flash so you can see the reflective gold.

Buffalo # 2

Acrylic on 20x30x1 canvas SOLD

If you are interested in this painting please contact Willis Gray Gallery

256-355-7616

This is supposed to be a triptych. I am having a difficult time arranging buffalo for the other two panels. So, he and his faithful follower may be the lone buffalo for the final buffalo #3. He is still missing his gold highlights - hopefully to come today (if all goes well!) and I will post this one and the finished buffalo # 2 later today. I am anxious to get to this abstract tree I have had stuck in my head for weeks. . .

From my sketch book

Another Monday, another guitar lesson, another sketch! This is of my husband and daughter at the beach a couple of years ago.

Playing in the Surf

10x16 Acrylic on Canvas

This is a precious little boy! He found such joy in being at the beach and playing in the surf. This is one of the paintings I completed this weekend at the lake. I really had fun working on it.

Weekend at the cabin with the girls!

Lisa with a good book. (Above)

A view from the front porch. (Below)

Above - CeeCee (embarassed by the sweater I am sure, but it was COLD!) And our easels set up in front of the picture window for light.

We had a wonderful, relaxing time this weekend at my family cabin on Lake Guntersville. This year there were four of us to make the trip (two of our usual crew couldn't make it). We spent our time relaxing, reading, watching movies, and for 2 of us - painting! I was able to complete one painting and almost complete another one. Pics of those will be in my following post!

A big thank you to Lisa, Britt, and Michelle for making these weekends so special! I love your company and look forward to this trip again soon!

Buffalo # 2 Almost done. . .

I have actually changed his face 2 or 3 times since I took this photo last night! The main idea in this one is for the buffalo in front to represent a leader and the ones in the back his followers. I guess that is self explanatory, just thought I would say it anyway! This buffalo painting WILL be done today! I am ready to start the buffalo #3.

You know I realized today that I always very optimistically say that I will be getting to this or that in the next few days when in reality it seems to take weeks. My mind sure moves faster than my time to paint will allow! Ahhh, such is the life!

I am going to the lake with girls this weekend and I am taking my painting supplies. I hope that I can get some paintings accomplished while having some good social time with some of my very best friends! We take this trip annually and I truely look forward to it from the moment it ends to the moment it begins again!

Shades

This is my sweet daughter at almost 2. She loves sunglasses - and loves showing them off! This was a "See my glasses?" pose. I think I got the perspective of looking down on her pretty well. This was a fun angle to work from. Painted from a photo.

From my sketchbook. . .

This is a sketch of one of my boys looking at the critters he caught and detained in a sandbucket. It is so cold and wintery I am longing for the beach. I did this sketch from a photo while I waited for my oldest son to get out of his guitar lesson. I am trying to find more little nooks of time to practice my drawing skills. I think this will greatly enhance my paintings!

Apple Study #1

Acrylic on Canvas 8x8 (1 of 9)

I am doing 9 apple studies to make up one painting on 9 individual canvases. This is the first of those! I will be paintings these as a warm up to larger pieces I am working on or to vent frustration over those same larger pieces!

You know how you come to that point in a painting where you are stuck, frustrated, and wonder how you are going to pull it off? Well, I am getting to the point where I realize that if I just pull away for awhile and come back to it, I can see my work with a fresh eye and push on through it. What a wonderful revelation this has been! I now have 4 different projects going on and I am moving between them. When I get to that stuck place in one, I move to another and so forth.

I am thrilled with my newly organized studio! I will have to take pics and post them before it gets too lived in!

Work in Progress - Buffalo #2

24x48

This is a new buffalo painting that I am working on. I also have another buffalo painting in the works, but not yet started. Look for it in the next few days - after this one is done, of course!

Portrait of the PJ

This is another painting from the pictures my husband brought back from his fishing trip to Panama. This is the boat he and his friends stayed on. It really is a beautiful boat!

I am still here!

I apologize for the lack of posts over the past couple of months! The holidays really cut into my creative time! I am spending the month of January organizing myself and my studio. My studio was once the kids playroom and needs alot of TLC to make it a place I don't mind working in. Last year I worked in my dining room and found this a bit much to clean up at a moments notice!


I will post pics of my newly updated studio as soon as I am finished with it! Also, I have 3 painting projects going on and I will share these as they are completed!


Have a happy new year!

Apple Picking

11x 14 (?) Commission

This was commissioned by a very dear family friend as a gift for her son. I enjoyed working on it - and actually did two other paintings from the series of photos she gave me. I will post them as soon as I am finished with them!

Christmas has come and gone and I am anxious to get back into the studio! If only Christmas decorations could pack themselves away. . . .

Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival - Pensacola, FL

I hate that I have not had time to paint much in the past month. Too many fall festivals and also my oldest's 10th birthday to celebrate have hindered my creative time! I did, however, dedicate alot of thought to my art. I took my 3 kids and headed to see my dear friend in Pace, FL. We went to the Arts Festival and had a wonderful time. It was so inspiring to see so many talented artists in one area. They also had a wonderful children's area.

I have started 2 paintings from my husband's Panama trip. I will post them as soon as they are done!

Panama Marlin Fishing

Acrylic 12x12 Canvas $125

This is my husband on his recent marlin fishing trip in Panama, South America. He and his friends had a phenomenal time - the fishing down there is incredible! Look for more paintings of their trip soon!

Buffalo

Acrylic 24x48 Canvas SOLD

This is the monster I worked on today. It is not quite done, their feet need work and so do their faces. Overall, I am pleased with the classic composition. I also enjoyed using some metallic paint in this one in the highlights. A friend of mine has some extraordinary artwork in her house and some of her favorite pieces have metallics in them. After a visit at her house I was inspired to incorporate some metallic paint into this painting.

Finished it today! I am happy with the end result - which is not that different from where it was in the original photo.

UPDATE: I donated this one to the Decatur General Hosital Foundation Gala. It sold at auction and now has a wonderful home with the Sheltons! I hope they love it!

Apples

Acrylic 8x16 Canvas SOLD

I painted this today. I was so excited to finally get to paint again! It has been way too long! when I get behind in my housework, I REALLY get behind! Finally , I am mostly caught up so I painted today! Look for more over the next week or so. My husband has just returned from a fishing trip in Panama South America. Can't wait to get to those images!

I Got One!

Acrylic 11x14 Canvas SOLD

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have not been able to paint for a week. Today, however, I let everything else go and enjoyed the beautiful day.

This is my darling niece when she was around 3. It makes me smile! You can see her proud struggle carrying that huge pumpkin! Once again, I enjoyed the texture of the sand and medium on the canvas.

the FINISHED murals

Pickin' Pumpkins

Acrylic on Canvas 11x14 $125

I enjoyed painting this scene of my father and my younger son looking for the perfect pumpkin. I painted on texture, once again, and found the texture to be exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Look for more pumpkin patch scenes on paper over the next couple of weeks. I will be trying to work something out for a larger painting.

Pumpkin Topiary

Acrylic on Canvas 12x24 $185 SOLD

I am really enjoying trying out new textures and new subjects on the texture. I am also in the mood for fall (as if the subject of the next couple of posts should show!) Enjoy!

Skim Boarding

Acrylic 12x24 on canvas $250

I embraced my tendancy toward minimalism and used alot of what I learned at the workshop this weekend and painted this. This is my sweet son looking for the perfect skim with his skim board. I really love the texture!

Claire told me about how she uses sand in her paintings so I went out to the kids sandbox and scooped some into an empty parmesan container and voila! I have texture! Thanks Claire!

Photos from the Workshop

Carole Foret & Claire Kayser Destination Workshop

Acrylic on Canvas

I had a wonderful time this weekend at a Destination Workshop with twin artists Carole Foret and Claire Kayser (to see their fabulous work check out their websites and blogs - links to the left) Two of my good friends and I headed to Jackson, TN for this great workshop at the Art Under a Hot Tin Roof Gallery. I learned a ton! To sum it up:

1. The JOY of a filbert brush.

2.Toning

3. Scumbling

4. I CAN mix the paint on the canvas

5. Accentuate the dark and light highlights

6. Texture the canvas first

7. MISTAKES ARE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR TEXTURE

8. Pallet knives are a great tool for texture

Their next one is in Rosemary Beach, FL. I highly recommend it as a fun girls weekend with some great women - as well as the opportunity to learn from these wonderful artists!

Lobster Feast

Acrylic on Canvas 20x40 $450

I painted this to hang in my kitchen. I wanted somthing whimsical to hang over an antique buffet we have. My kitchen is painted a gray purple and I think this fits in really well!
If you want it for your kitchen, however, I am sure I could let it go!

Haunting Face of Need

Watercolor 20x24

If you haven't noticed, I haven't been able to paint this week! It has really stressed me out! But, it has been for a good reason. I have been getting myself ready (and my family ready for me to be gone) to go to a painting workshop out of town this weekend with two of my closest friends! We are going to Jackson, TN to Art on a Hot Tin Roof to attend a workshop led by Carole Foret and her sister Claire Kayser. I am very excited! It will be the first painting workshop I have attended. I am hoping to come home inspired and full of ideas!

This watercolor is one I did years ago. This woman was in a magazine with an article about the poverty in her area. Her face really haunted me, so I painted it, several times. There are thousands more like her out there that we turn a blind eye to everyday.

Murals

These are murals I am working on for my niece and nephew. Both are shown in progress. They are on floor canvas and measure about 4 feet by 3.5 feet. They have been really fun to work on! I am happy to take commissions for murals on canvas, such as these. They are $550.

Daisy Mae

12x12 Pencil on Paper NFS

I couldn't post CeeCee without posting DaisyMae. She died this past November of old age (15) and kidney failure. She was my constant companion through college, she was with me when I got married and had my children. I miss her dearly. I did this pencil sketch when she was young, 1996. I didn't take it out of the frame and you can see her collar hanging on the side.

Cee Cee

Acrylic 12x12 on Paper

This is my puppy, CeeCee. I got her for myself for my birthday this past February. I have been reluctant to paint her, afraid she would look like one huge ball of yarn. This really is a good representation of her. She is one big fur ball! My daughter loves to coordinate their ponytails - one or two, and what color the holder will be. CeeCee is constantly at my feet or in my lap. She is my first small dog. My husband thinks she is more like a cat - and there really are alot of similarities. (Like her favorite place to sleep is on the pillow over my head!)

The Brakefield Cabin

Acrylic 12x12 on Paper $120

This is the cabin where I spent many a summer weekend and spring break as a child! Now my kids have the opportunity to share in the same lovely experiences I did. My husband and I took the kids to the cabin to celebrate the last weekend of summer before school started. They fished, went swimming, for boat rides, and tubing. I sketched, read a new book (The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger) and painted this!