Looking Out From Within

26 x 11 oil on panel

 This was a 'getting back on the horse' exercise today.   I've got my studio set up back where I had it before, which really doesn't have the greatest natural light at this point in time.   I found that if I stood in the family room looking into it (the family room having super bright natural light) that I could really see my palette and I was able to focus and get after it.  It will all work out but ideally I would just take over the entire family room for my studio!  I'm sure no one in this house would have a problem with that.  :-)

We watched the old Kirk Douglas/Anthony Quinn movie about Van Gogh last night.  I had never seen it before and it got me all inspired to get my rear in gear today.  Thanks, Kirk!   I also found out I got in the Plein Air Austin juried exhibition next month (reception is Oct. 16th, 2 to 4 in the Chase Bank Building).  First time I've entered this show so I was relieved not to be... r...r...rejected!  Only entered one painting, the one of Boggy Creek Farm.  I feel like things are looking up in my art world; I've had a really good year so far on painting sales.  This could be my first year to qualify for paying taxes on my art income -- yikes!  It helps that I have weaned myself off of giving paintings away.  :-)

Sunset Profile

5 x 4 inches, oil on canvas, NFS
Again from the same photo but this time I painted her in oil and trying Hawthorne's 'spots of color' approach. I was just looking at Frank Gardner's 100 Mudheads Challenge site today and was glad to be reminded that I need to make paint spots that don't blend together. Every once in a while I have to relearn things because I get mentally lazy (or because my brain is just plain impaired). So in this study for the future portrait of my niece, I was attempting to follow Hawthorne's rule. And this is tiny if you will note the size. I'm not used to making such small strokes with a little bitty brush. Tricky, but a good exercise for me.

Shed Late Afternoon

12 x 12 oil on panel, SOLD

This is what I'm going to call quasi plein air, because I was looking out our window at this backyard scene. We have a whole lot of big trees so we always have a ton of stripey shadows this time of day. I had just painted some trim on the house and turned around and saw this and decided it was time to switch out paint and subject being painted. But oh man, really hot out there, so I painted it through the window in the cool of the A.C. I should try it again tomorrow out in the heat and see if the outcome is much different. Maybe at a different time of day too.

New Bales

12 x 16 oil on panel - plein air + studio  SOLD
This is the painting I did by the side of the road after the Plein Air Austin paintout weekend in Hunt, Texas in May. A sudden windstorm and approaching rain caused me to have to stop painting on the spot and I finished it at home. I included the fence, which I decided should have been left out (Stapleton Kearns' advice on his blog, and I agree one shouldn't 'fence out' the viewer). So, today I reworked the foreground and touched up some other areas. I thought it had too much mustard yellow in it before. Anyway I like it better now. This hay was super fresh - looked like it had just been baled and I tried to use tones that would convey that.

Great Times - study

6 x 6 oil on canvas

Here's a small study of some young boys in a small town athletic club. Specifically the Athens (TX) Athletic Club, in about 1932. More specifically that's my dad in the center of the front row. Written underneath the photo was "Estes Park, Colorado - Great times - Ersh."

Since I painted this from a blurry old black and white photo I thought sepia tones would work well just to establish major value areas. I really, really need to get some new brushes, the ones I used for this are like rakes, they're so old. Bad, bad, naughty Camille!

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...

Lone Bloom

6 x 8 oil on canvas

Only one yellow bloom remains on our cactus outside. I liked the play of the shadows and the side lighting. This is only the second time I have painted cactus. 

AN2 Colt

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas panel  SOLD
This Russian biplane is my husband's favorite airplane. I thought this image lent itself well to a value study.

Sift Through It

5 x 4 inches, oil on canvas
I like this old fashioned flour sifter. I'm always finding symbolism (holdover from English Lit. classes) everywhere I look. This object reminds me not only of the times we have baked bread or made cakes and cookies in our kitchen, but also this: There is so much negative in the world, and I need to sift through it and focus on the positive. Change things if need be and if I can, but otherwise, enjoy the beauty and wonder of the life I'm blessed to have right now. Knock on wood. I just posted this on Kim Rempel's new Mundane Objects Challenge. So far she has a ball of twine, a hammer, a roll of tape and this sifter.

Down Time

12 x 16 oil on panel
I brought some brown and white paint with me to the lake last weekend and began this one right on the boat. The waves of course made it so I was having to really grab the floor with my toes to stay upright, much less get the paint mixed and where I wanted it. I used a book with a ziploc bag around it for my palette and got a Very rough sketch down which I finished at home a few days later. I've been out of town and just now had a chance to post it here.

Cobalt Glass

16 x 12 oil on Ampersand board with natural pine frame, $200
I've always loved colored glass. My grandmother Mary LaRue always had colored bottles lined up on a window sill: cranberry, cobalt, red, green. Her whole house was painted and decorated in gorgeous Victorian colors that remind me now of Vuillard's palette. So when I got older and saw cobalt glasses for sale I knew I had to have some. Since then I've run across old wine bottles in the same blue. And here they are on a linen tablecloth in the sunshine, with a little Becker Vineyards cabernet. This painting will be in an upcoming show at Ross and Co. Salon in Austin, TX.

Barefoot and Pregnant

12 x 16 oil on panel  SOLD
These two goats weren't sure what to make of my taking their pictures yesterday. The pregnant female froze in her tracks and didn't move for about three minutes while I was clicking away. I wanted to reassure her that I wouldn't do them any harm. I had a long conversation with a wild turkey in a tree one time, but so far I don't speak goatese. I guess I should work on that, I'll put it on my list.

Before Wii

11 x 14 oil on panel, SOLD
My sisters and I were monkeys. In 1967 you had to entertain yourself, there was no Wii. We were not exactly ladylike girls...

Who Goes There?

14 x 11 oil on panel SOLD
This rooster is a resident at Boggy Creek Farm. He was strutting around slowly as roosters do, letting everyone know he was the shiznit. I decided he needed painting for the Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week. I got multiple photo views of him that I hope to paint. I think he is the prettiest breed of rooster, with shiny gold silky feathers that slide all over his back when he turns. In this shot he had quickly turned his head and paused, vigilant to see who dared try to pass. *None* shall pass!

Boggy Creek Farm

9 x 12 oil on canvas panel, shown framed in pine
More beginner plein air from me; not too proud to post my early efforts. I painted this on site at Boggy Creek Farm in East Austin. Deborah Thomas, Nina Brodsky, Robin Cheers and several others were there painting also. Quick decision-making has never been my forte and that is a required skill with this sport. But I'm beginning to see more than one or two greens in front of me. I had a great time afterward photographing chickens and roosters. Nice mild breezy morning and no bugs biting, yay!

Show-Off

14 x 18 oil on canvas board, $150 plus s/h, SOLD
We saw this beautiful shiny red Cadillac this past weekend at the Lone Star Roundup antique auto show. I thought with her red paint and shiny headlights she should be on the beach, showing off. So now she is.

Barton Springs Afternoon

9 x 12 oil on canvas board   SOLD
Several friends met me at Barton Springs this afternoon and here is what I painted on site. My family is kidding me now because I was so appalled that people don't know to be quiet around someone trying to paint something outdoors (okay, in a public place, yes). But even with my earplugs in I had a super hard time concentrating on what I was seeing and what the colors were and how to mix them. I could hear a man talking to one of the others "So you do this just for fun?" (don't ever say that) "How long have you been doing this?" "I mean how long have you been an artist?" ... Remind me not to paint in a public place again anytime soon...
I will get better, but first will need much better earplugs! Trying again tomorrow morning with the Plein Air Austin group at Zilker Botanical Gardens. Should be more quiet... one can hope!

Model A Truck

12 x 12 oil on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas, private collection

We saw this old rusted Model A truck when we went out of town this weekend so we stopped and I got photos of it. It had a lantern hanging inside the passenger window -- I wondered if that came standard. The chrome on the front still looked amazingly good considering the years. It's fun to imagine someone getting it for their first wheels... first taste of freedom. It was someone's pride and joy I'm sure.

Nude Eggplant

5 x 7 oil on canvas, private collection
This is mine from a couple of years ago, when I first switched to oil paint, and it is now owned by artist Bruce Docker. I have something else going on my easel today and I will probably put up a photo of it tomorrow. I'm so glad we stopped and got some fun reference photos on our way back from Houston this weekend; lots of fun projects ahead from that group including the one I'm working on. I'm going to try and start posting more often because I'm considering looking into joining a daily painting group. Some will be quick studies and others more labor-intensive. Thank you for stopping by!

Underwater Bliss

14 x 10 oil on canvas, SOLD

It so happens that this girl's last name is Bliss, so I changed the title to reflect both her surname as well as her happy state of mind. Her dad says he loves it and that it looks just like her, so I went ahead and signed it. Hooray for a finished, successful commission!