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!

Underwater Girl ~ Day Two

14 x 10 oil on canvas

Still have a way to go; am piecing her together like a quilt. I believe the crazy colors floating over her head are her locks of long hair, or else just the reflection of her hair. Her smile is bigger than this so I'll be making adjustments for that; I've only started on the mouth area anyway. It still has some days of work to go, but I like the direction it has taken so far.

Underwater Girl (in Progress)

14 x 10 oil on canvas

Here's what's on my easel tonight. This is a commissioned work in progress of a friend's daughter floating underwater years ago; she is grown now. The original photo has some pretty wild colors floating above her head so I'm playing with the abstract forms and colors there first before I do her face. Her face will be very paled out and bluish as will her hands. That hand on the right will change a lot but I'm happy with the other one mostly. No matter how this turns out, it has been so much fun I almost don't even care how it ends up looking! Okay, that's a lie. But I wish all my paintings were this much fun. I'll post it when it is done.

Splash Day

7 x 5 oil on canvas, private collection

This is my last Flying Moleskins painting and it is for James Parker, whose book theme is animals. Here are some furry girls who love to dive in a wonderful river with cliffs and gorgeous scenery out in Wimberley, Texas. Although I doubt they care about the scenery; they just want to make a big splash. As I worked on this yesterday I was wishing I could jump in with them -- it was warm enough here!

Geese 2 - Study

8 x 10 oil on canvas, private collection

The color in the top detail is closer to true although it is overall really warmer and darker even than this. Continuing back to the geese we saw at the lake last summer. They seemed always to follow the leader, but in this image one wasn't so sure about the plan. This painting is for Vern Schwarz for our Flying Moleskins project. See Vern, I told you I wouldn't forget you. It will be on its way to you when it dries.

Delicate Balance

6 x 6 oil on canvas

I posted these grapefruit last night from my evening light photo and here they are again in better morning light. These colors are much closer to how it really looks. I was dismayed to see that they looked more like onions than grapefruit from the way my camera blued and dulled down the yellow and orange undertones. I definitely have it on my to-do list that I will try to do my photographing in the morning. Also need to learn to Photoshop (so my colors are true to the original) and I am also building my new website. There is so much more to being an artist than just making stuff, darn it. Anyway, this painting was done with the objective of making each stroke of paint one separate color from the others. No blending allowed. I did my best to follow that but sometimes I forgot -- old habits die hard. Here are the other entries so far for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge.

Delicate Balance

6 x 6 oil on canvas

I took on the Daily Paintworks Challenge to paint any subject with just one stroke at a time. The natural tendency is to smooth out and blend colors, which just makes them end up looking muddy. Here we have two Texas Ruby Red grapefruit with a pink grapefruit balanced on top. Carol Marine is the Pied Piper of one-stroke painting and I certainly need to take a page from her book. This was fun, I'll try to do more of these.

Yoga Time

5 x 7 oil on canvas (study)  SOLD

Several things came together to make me want to do this one today. First, yesterday I painted three sofas (very boring) and watched The Biggest Loser last night. Then I got a big kick out of a fun Rachel Renault painting this morning. Yesterday I also found photos of a clay sculpture I did in college of a figure with roughly this fluffy form so I based these women on looking at that. I have been doing a lot of small studies lately but not posting them; thought everyone might appreciate the break. :-)

Portrait of Madeline Olsen

17 x 13 oil on canvas, nfs

Better photo without so much glare. I don't want to risk losing those much-beloved blog comments the other post got so I'll just leave that one up for now. Not that I'm fishing for comments. This has a little in common with the Kelli Bland portrait with the blue hair highlights. You can't really teach an old dog new tricks. Anyway, what a joy to paint my daughter :-) Have a great day, peeps!

Portrait of Madeline

17 x 13 oil on canvas, nfs

This is my younger daughter. I painted her from a photo that gave her a bluish glow, which I really liked. This image has a lot of glare on the top so I may switch it out tomorrow for a better one. I have missed painting people on a larger canvas and with more color like this. Feels very satisfying.

Portrait of Sheila Tajima

6 x 6 oil on canvas, not for sale
I saw the artist Sheila Tajima's black and white baby photo awhile back, with her tiny kimono and her luminous expression. I thought it should surely be a painting. I almost added color but opted to paint it as I saw it. So this is my offering to Sheila for The Flying Moleskins project. I hope she enjoys it. I have changed it slightly since last night (still don't have her as beautiful as she was!) and I accidentally deleted the entire post with five wonderful comments (which were greatly appreciated). I have successfully switched out photos before but I guess I managed to forget exactly how I did it. sigh.

Sun on the Pit

8 x 8 oil on canvas

Change of plans since it warmed up this morning. I walked outside and saw the sun hitting the wood under the barbeque pit with all the beautiful highlights and shadows and knew I had to try and capture the scene. Our wonderful brother in law had this pit custom made for us out of oil field pipe and surprised us with it. It weighs about three tons. Looking at it puts me in the mood to get some coals going in there for some barbeque...

Drink

5 x 7 oil on canvas

I'm doing value studies as I try to get back in the saddle. Recently I'm fascinated with what I've learned about hydration. The theory I heard is that all pain and disease are directly caused by chronic dehydration, and all are reversible without drugs (and with proper supporting diet and exercise). Supposedly after a certain age we don't realize we are thirsty until too late, and cells and related systems close down in order to manage the body's remaining water supply. So I think that after this value study I'll paint a water glass in color. This is our crystal pattern, Kildare by Waterford.

Help

8 x 10 oil , NFS

This is my contribution to Adebanji Alade's book for our Flying Moleskins site. He chose homelessness as his theme. This man was by the side of the road on Highway 71 on the way to Houston a few weeks ago. I had the feeling he hadn't been panhandling for a long time; he looked like he could have been anyone I see listening to live music at Threadgill's or at ACL Fest in Austin.

Beached Sailboat

8 x 10 acrylic on paper

I almost chose animals to paint for Dean Haven on our Flying Moleskins site, since he and I both like to paint them. But something, I'm not sure what, made me feel like doing a seaside scene. This summer we were in Port Aransas, Texas and I saw this catamaran on the shoreline. My husband thinks it was either a Hobie 18 or a Nacra. But it reminded me of when he and I were dating and we would go out on his Hobie Cat and oh man, we had so much fun. I wasn't a sailor but he was, and he did all the work and I lounged and got a tan. Not really, I held the rudder sometimes, and when we came about I'd duck the boom and jump to the other side. That's helping, right?

Geese 1

24 x 48 oil on board
Five beautiful, huge geese crowded around me at the lake one night, so I dropped some food for them and a feeding frenzy ensued. These geese had no fear of people at all, honking loudly and looking at me like they knew me. So beautiful, and I wondered where they had been. All I am saying... is give geese a chance.

Keep Paddling

12 x 12 x 1 1/2 oil on canvas
Here are two more of the ducks in the group I saw that day at Canyon Lake. I remember having the impression that the white one was the mother of the group, and she looked tired. I felt a connection to her! I was glad her young offspring were being fed, even if she might have chosen other fare for them, at least they wouldn't be as hungry.

Ducks

8 x 10 oil on canvas
I saw these ducks at Canyon Lake this past Sunday afternoon. They had just caught sight of people with french fries, which they love, and they also liked my hulled sunflower seeds. I'm a huge fan of ducks; we used to have some that hung out in our back yard in Dallas that overlooked Turtle Creek. We had a treehouse, and not a care in the world. I guess ducks take me back to that time. I remember listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and my dad would grill burgers while they ambled around our yard. This one is for Edward Burton on our website The Flying Moleskins.

Almost Ready

8 x 10 oil on canvas, private collection
This is a small rough study for what will be a bigger commissioned piece. Same dad and baby models as the last painting but this has the mom also. The larger one will have about twice as much water on the left.

Flying

12 x 12 oil on cradled wood panel, private collection

My daughters' childhood friend has grown up, married and she has a new baby. I have memories of my own girls at this age at the beach. Their dad could always make them laugh the hardest.

Mmmm...Margaritas

12 x 12 x 1 1/2 oil on cradled board
We've been making Alton Brown's fresh margaritas around here lately. It requires that we keep a nice supply of limes on hand. I was working on a study for a dog portrait commission earlier today and when I came to a stopping point on it I decided to keep the painting party going. So here are tomorrow night's margaritas-to-be... and maybe the next night's too.

Thanks, Matt

7x5 oil on canvas
This is my tribute to Dana Cooper's son Matt, who is currently serving in the Air Force. Since I'm so far doing all figurative work for our Flying Moleskins project I hoped Dana would like seeing a painting of her handsome son. It goes without saying that he's courageous, and I can see from his photo that he's also handsome and strong. I can't imagine how proud of him Dana must be. So if I had a hat, I'd be taking it off and saying "Thank you, Matt for all you have done and are doing for our country." And I say the same to anyone else who has served in our military.

Self-Portrait

16 x 20 oil on canvas
I painted this for a self-portrait show. It is painted thinly so it would dry fast and I could roll it up and mail it in a tube.

Artist Celeste Bergin just emailed me to tell me she painted herself this afternoon after being inspired by this painting earlier today, and she said so on her blog entry and linked back here. So take a look at her cool self portrait in black and white - I love the half-glasses and un-self-conscious attitude of it. Thank you for the plug, Celeste :0) She does such arresting work; my favorites are her landscapes with bigtime drama or just really cool moods. I love this painting of herself from today, too... really striking. Maybe I'll have to do a black and white one myself as a tribute back to her :0)

B&W&Red Self Portrait Tweaked

I decided I needed some darker values so I decided to darken my shirt. While I was at it I shortened and hopefully softened the neck. And I made a few tiny changes in the face that probably no one will notice. So I hope I made it look a little better. Same 16 x 16 oil on board as below. And I see what Vern was talking about... that upper right corner keeps photographing as ochre-y. But it's just the same warm red with a touch of black, Scout's honor, guys and gals!

B&W & Red Self-Portrait

Choosing one color for this self-portrait wasn't an easy decision, but those were the rules at Alice Thompson's new challenge site, Calypso Moon Artist Movement. Black and white plus only one other color. I almost used transparent oxide red which is a warm brown. I chose Rembrandt's Permanent Red Medium because it is a nice warm red (has some yellow in it), and I thought black plus white would be close enough to blue. Therefore I had something close to the three primaries to work with. It's funny I chose red because it used to be (decades ago) my least favorite color in the world. Now I have come to embrace red and I enjoy the punch of it. To me, red really delivers a nice zing with black, gray and white and I thought it would give good skin tones. I wish I could say I chose it for some deep, symbolic, intellectual reason. Nope!
Alice also wanted us to include some shoulder area. Next time I'll do a pose that is less frontal because I've got broad shoulders and this has sort of a Ten-HUT! feeling to it. But it was fun and I'm glad I participated. 16 x 16 oil on board.

Portrait of Karin Jurick

I joined 117 other artists to honor and thank Karin Jurick for all her work on the DSFDF website (the idea of artist Jill Polsby). I know that many, many other artists would have wanted to participate but this was done in secrecy in a brief time span and not everyone knew about it. Anyway I used the photo she submitted for the last portrait challenge, as did the others. So far I have not resorted to using a projected image as a guide for any artwork but I was tempted by this project. I'm still learning to wrap features around a turned head in a realistic way. Trying to capture her flawless, peachy skin was a challenge but I enjoyed the effort immensely. Hope you enjoy this 10 x 8 oil on canvas.

Also, thank you so much to Trish Siegel and Millie Nguyen for giving me the Sunshine Award for creativity and positivity in blogging. The other artists in whose company I find myself make me feel very humbled. Please visit their sites to see their wonderful work. Thank you again, Trish and Millie!

Michelle Burnett as a Baby

This is my latest entry on The Flying Moleskins site (link at right). Michelle Burnett requested a theme of snapshots or postcards from our lives, but I saw this photo of her as a toddler and couldn't resist it. The colors are more golden and less pale in person. I was attempting to get a "faded photograph" (like the song) antique snapshot feeling. This 5 x 16" piece is done in oil on the gessoed watercolor paper of Michelle's moleskin sketchbook. In about 6 months or so it should finally reach her after the other 11 artists sketch or paint their own work in it. (13 of us in all) Michelle, you were a joy to paint. And you must have been a beautiful baby, 'cause baby, look at you now!

Portrait of Richard Olsen, 8 x 5 study

As some of you may know, I have just begun participating in an artist challenge group called The Flying Moleskins. Thirteen artists will be playing "pass the sketchbook (or moleskin as they are called)" through the postal service, each of us painting or sketching according to whatever theme was requested by the original owner. For my own book's first entry I painted my husband Richard from a photo. It was done in just a few hours in acrylic so that it would be dry in time to mail and it is smaller than I'd prefer so I really think of it as just a study. He and I have been together for over 30 years and I've never painted him before -- ??? Well, for one thing, it's really hard to get him to "strike a pose" and be still. I look forward to doing a larger version in oil that really catches his essence. This one does come close I think but I believe I can do better.

AFG Group Art Show

My painting of Kelli Bland has been on display at the United States Art Authority the past few weeks. About 10 artists were represented in the group show for Austin Figurative Gallery.

Portrait of Leslie Lockhart

I want to say right off the bat that I accidentally mixed in some acrylic paint with my oils in the early stages of this one, hence the flaky look to the surface. If it were a commission I would have started over with a new clean canvas but I wasn't even sure it was my final version. (this being the second attempt) So, thank goodness tonight is the final deadline or I was tempted to start again with a third canvas. This is 11 x 14 oil (plus acrylic :) on gallery wrap canvas. Happy New Year to all!

Fat Fender Chevy

My husband has been wanting a 1955 or 1956 fat fender Chevy truck like this since he first laid eyes on one. He likes the split window and wants one in International Harvester Green. I'm not sure he'll ever really buy one because he enjoys dreaming about it so much. This particular truck is by the side of Highway 71 between Austin and Houston. I think my husband knows where each one of these is, all over Texas. So I thought I'd paint him one. But I can paint him another one if anyone buys it at the Maranda Pleasant Gallery Artbox Show this Saturday night. :) $100 with a portion going to charity. 12 x 12, acrylic on 2 inch deep cradled wood panel. SOLD

Mutt

This is Mutt (of "Mutt 'n Jeff" -- another painting from a few years ago featuring a seagull and penguin who were hanging out together in Port Aransas). This will be at the Maranda Pleasant Gallery Holiday Artbox Show on December 5th here in Austin. 12 x 12 x 2 oil on cradled wood panel. SOLD

Shiner

I wanted this to be super loose to convey the movement of my friend KK's dog Shiner having fun with his tennis ball. I had it even looser than this but, you know how that goes! This is really small for me but I may do a 12x12 oil of it for the Maranda Pleasant show in Austin on December 5th. 5x5 acrylic on canvas. Private Collection.

Portrait of Kelli Bland

November 2, 2009 -- When I'm not sure what to paint sometimes I'll take out an old AFG sketch and try to flesh it out some. Having to try and recall what the model looked like is tricky so as always, it's not an exact likeness. For example I don't recall she really had patchwork hair. 16 x 20 oil on board.

Gimme Some Cow Candy

We visited our friends' family farm this weekend and I got to photograph cows being fed. One came up to me and got her face right up under my camera so I snapped her picture. She thought I had cow candy, then turned around afterward to see all the other cows with bowls full of it. Well, I didn't trick her on purpose. Her eyes were so big as she tried not to get her horns caught, lifting her chin up. So cute. 16 x 20 x 1.5 oil on gallery wrap canvas.

Umbrella Girls, WIP New Detail

The complete painting (previous version) is several posts below but here is a new detail as of last night. I'm having trouble getting a good photo. My next task is to alter the fearful facial expression -- I think both my girls were enjoying the rainy night and the cool wind sweeping past them. Remember, this is Texas... we love our rain, when we get it! 20 x 16 oil/canvas, Not for Sale.

Portrait of Honoria Starbuck - WIP

I have a big collection of my earlier paintings done in acrylic at Austin Figurative Gallery. I intend to rework and finish out as many of them as I can, as most of them are pretty much sketches (often done in 15 minutes or less). This portrait started that way; one night at AFG the model didn't show up so we all took turns sitting. This is the Austin artist Honoria Starbuck. I might turn the background into an indoor or abstract setting and her blouse is just mostly blocked in. From the bottom up are: the original sketch (I like the fresh colors and spontaneity of it) and then yesterday's oil version, and at the top, today's version with a face close-up. 20 x 24 oil on canvas.

Grapefruit

Today I wanted to try a new painting place in my house since my studio is feeling uninspiring to me. The light in one bathroom is really bright with big white counter space. I kind of liked it :) So I just did this little setup of three grapefruit (which sat at such a nice height on the bathroom shelf). It's a mostly white bathroom and I have a feeling I may end up painting my studio all white and working on the lighting. I need as few visual distractions as possible when I'm awaiting "the Muse." The main thing is that I'm just trying to get in the swing again so this was what the doctor ordered... a little warm-up, back to oil painting today. Busy weekend ahead and then Monday I'll see about working on my umbrella girls portrait. The next day, Madeline (little umbrella girl) comes home from 7 weeks in Paris! woohoo! I cannot wait! 8 x 10 oil Private Collection.

Addie In Her New Home

I was so happy and proud to get this photo of my portrait of Addie in its new home. It is now installed in the Johns household of Dallas, Texas (where I grew up and where most of my family still lives). The canvas is almost 2 inches deep with edges painted a lacquered brownish red but that doesn't show in this photo. Anyway I think it blends very nicely with the setting, and it inspires me to do all the animal portraits I can. I love the idea of making more people happy with permanent memories of their beloved pets. So, that's a goal -- more practice in that direction. I think I'll see if I can find a photo of our yellow tabby cat Henry we had when the girls were little... he was like a dog, and that's a high compliment from me.

Time Out

It has been over a year since I painted in acrylic so I thought I'd see how that felt again. Wasn't thrilled with how fast it kept drying and I missed the smooth stroke of an oily paintbrush. The good thing was that the colors stayed separated. Might try it again in oil for comparison but I already sent this one in to Karin Jurick. 11 x 12 inches on canvas. Private Collection. (afterthought -- do any of you ever paint an entire painting again over a completed acrylic one?)

Pennsylvania Landscape

As I was nearing the end of painting this tonight I started hearing Kenny Rogers singing "...You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away..." ... Not a good sign considering I know I should have walked away sooner. I waited until about 6 PM tonight to start this after a busy last several weeks. I thought I should at least go ahead and face the challenge and if I missed the deadline, oh well. It was those silos that were putting me off... I kept getting tired of seeing them and then I wasn't sure what the focal point should be. So I decided just to paint it for the experience of trying to capture the patterns receding into the distance. I think I learned a good bit and it got me thinking about things I'll need to know when I paint landscapes with a distant horizon. It will take lots of practice -- sure is harder than I thought it would be! Oh well, it was painted in a rush -- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 12 x 12 x 1, oil on gallery wrap canvas

Umbrella Girls - WIP

This portrait is a work in progress (detail at top). These are our daughters about 19 years ago. I have been looking at Dana Cooper's and Paula Villanova's beautiful portraits. They are both amazing, inspiring painters. 16 x 20 oil on canvas, NFS.

Our Woodshed

This is my first attempt in a long time to do a landscape. 24 x 20 oil on stretched canvas.