Sunny Nap

6.5 x 6.5 oil on cradled hardboard
This week I've had my easel set up in the kitchen with a bunch of small prepared boards.  I thought it would be fun to paint my rabbit whenever I see him sitting still or asleep and this is one I did today.  He had positioned himself right under a sunny window, snuggled up alongside his favorite stuffed animal Shamu. I could see the golden sunlight coming through and illuminating his ear, and the painting shows that in real life but didn't come out in this photo.   He looked so warm and blissful and it was like meditation to paint him napping.  It reminded me of having a young baby the way we were tiptoeing around trying to not wake him up -- funny.  I have starts on about seven other paintings of him in various poses and I plan to get them all more finished as I find him posing each way for me again. I'm also working on a portrait in group sessions with some other artist friends the next couple of weeks so this will keep me on my painting toes between times.

Rescued Pig in Haybed

9 x 12 pastel on paper, matted  $59 incl. S/H
More playing around with pastels.  I saw an image on the internet of a very contented-looking rescued pig at an animal sanctuary and was very taken with her sweet face. The thought of a rescued animal helps me focus on the "glass half full" aspects of it all.  Pigs are really intelligent and sweet (if treated well), and that's part of what helped me give up bacon and ham, which I loved to eat as much as anyone.

Cedar Elm Grove in Sunlight

14 x 11 oil on panel

Day two on this painting of a grove of cedar elms in the afternoon sun.  The first day I had a lot of low hanging branches obscuring my view of many of the tree trunks behind them.  I ended up doing quite a bit of tree trimming after I put my paint away so today I could see all 25 or so of them.  It was interesting how the light was a different color this afternoon even though it was, I believe, just as sunny as it was on Monday.  I will keep plugging away on landscapes even though they really challenge me.

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!

Time To Relax

12 x 16 oil on panel   SOLD
Nice cool saltillo tile is the perfect place for a bunny to sprawl out and beat the summer heat. And it's a good way to keep an eye on his owner while she paints to make sure she doesn't pull a fast one and slip out the door, never to return. Sometimes I think that's what he thinks I have in mind doing. Little does he know that I like our setup and I'm here to stay. Fear not, Disco.

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...

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!

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.

Octopus Tree

11 x 14 oil on panel
Friends and I met in a park between the Heart Hospital and Central Market yesterday for en plein air painting. This tree reminded me of an octopus; the lower branches were long and resting on the ground. I liked studying the details of the water reflections and I liked the tranquil feeling I got from painting this scene. I think John Muir was on to something...

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...