Red Mug

5 x 7 oil on canvas board
I did what I've heard others do; went to Goodwill in search of colorful still life dishes (and my daughter can use them in her apartment). It seems that Monday is a good morning to go -- new things are in after a weekend of people unloading their garages, etc. I got a good haul that day, about eight Pier One mugs for 50 cents each. Also found a nice big heavy wood tray for $5 that had a $50 Pottery Barn sticker on the bottom. Since I avoid the mall like the plague this worked out well for me :0)

Pearly Bird

6 x 6 oil on canvas, private collection

I have a mother of pearl bird that my mother-in-law brought me from Mexico. It is so delicate and I love the way the light hits it from any angle. I'm a big bird lover anyway so I have several small collectible birds. However, speaking of birds, they have eaten almost all of our grapes we just noticed. That is not a good thing! (for us, -- it's great for them! I hear a very vocal/happy mockingbird out there today - running on grape fructose no doubt) We'll figure something out by the time the next crops sprouts again next year. Maybe we'll need a scarecrow...

New Website, Blog & Upcoming Show

camilleolsenart.com, my new website, is finally loaded up with paintings. I hope you will stop by and see what it has to offer. I am going to move this blog there so everything is all in one place.

Also in August I will be in a group show at Russ & Company Salon in Austin, Texas. The opening is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, August 14th but the paintings will be up for almost a month, from August 9th through the first week in September. Kevin Dunne, Karina Martens, Connie Miller, Robbin Robertson, Deborah Thomas and I will all have five or six paintings each on view throughout the salon, located in a renovated three-story house near downtown. It should be a fun place to check out a great variety of artwork.

And finally, the 5 x 7 painting above is one I did several years ago from a photo of a child pouting at the beach. I love the 80's outfit. I have been so busy uploading photos to the new website that I didn't get a chance to paint the last several days. Back to it today...

First Grapes

7 x 5 oil on canvas panel
I've shown you our little family vineyard before, and this week we've had the excitement of watching our first ever bunches of grapes turn from green to red and a lot of shades in between. I got out there in the blazing sun today (because I ran while it was cooler earlier) and attempted to capture the feeling. I loved the sun coming translucently through the leaves. We have nice big leaves that I can imagine could probably be wrapped around something yummy and cooked to eat. I'll have to google recipes because I feel sure in Greece I had some kind of rice dish wrapped in grape leaves, dolmades I think. I'm so glad my husband decided to plant these vines just two years ago. It was his dad's idea - he bought us vines and said, you need to plant a vineyard!