Setting Suns

After a little over a month in rehab healing from her broken hip, my very determined mother moved back into her home with the help of full time aides.  She continued to receive physical therapy and to reclaim her independence.  After a few weeks back home she asked me to bring Dazz, her dog, back home to her which took us from 4 to 3 dogs at our house.  Mom has continued to improve and is now doing outpatient PT at the main building of her retirement community.  She still has overnight aides but has reduced her daytime hours from 11AM to 7PM.  She's back to inviting friends over for lunch, grocery shopping and bridge.  As long as she has her walker and an aide to bend and reach for her, there seems to be no stopping her.  Needless to say, it's taken a lot of patience and determination on her part and coordinating between her, me and the agency to bring it all about.

I know there's a way to segue from the above into blogging about me painting  ... um ... it takes patience, determination and coordination????  All true.

After all the detail of my Gate 21 painting I needed to turn to something colorful and expansive.  Sunsets were craving to come out of my brush.

Harbor Sunset 11 x 14  $225

I was still drawn to the beauty that is Charleston SC but didn't want to start another gate or building.  So, of course, I chose a whole BUNCH of buildings reflected in sunset.  I was determined to paint looser.  I remembered to take pictures as I worked.  

Charleston Sunset  11 x 14  $225

By the way, my painting does NOT have black on the sides.  I attempted new things on this painting and was pleased with the way it turned out.  However, it was time to move on from cities and sunsets to something else.    

Workshop with Helen K Beacham

I've been trying so hard to update my blog but keep allowing other things to distract me.  Today I was determined to at the very least post photos from the terrific workshop I attended in April, but before I'd entered even one word or photo I decided I needed to set up another blog page of all my paintings in one place with sizes, pricing and the ability to enlarge them.  Let me tell you, that's really s l o w going!!  Have no idea when I'll finish it.  Just figuring out how to go about it took me a while.  

The workshop with the wonderfully talented Helen Beacham was so educational for me, not to mention great fun.  Helen posed for a quick selfie with me.

 Adding my first washes and trying very hard to catch up .

 To make sure we learn as much as possible Helen starts us in on adding details - but I'm still working on beginning washes UNDER the details  (below)

Below was where I had to stop because our 2 day workshop was over.  Helen told us she normally needs 3 days to cover what she did in our 2 day one.  She opened my eyes to seeing colors that I'd ignored before.  We think we see gray or black gates but we're missing the purples and blues and greens that are there.  And BRICKS!  Don't get me started.  The decision making that's involved in what details to include and what to allow the viewer to fill in on their own can be really challenging when you're in the learning process.     

I was excited and pleased when I finally finished my painting.                               Gate 21  11 x 14  $225 matted, unframed

This afternoon I am locked away in my office, door closed on all 4 dogs, determined to start and finish the drawing required for my workshop tomorrow with Helen K. Beacham Fine Art. My mind has been on or escaping from everything but art since Mom's fall. I'm SO looking forward to having two days (Fri 10 - 4 and Sat 10 - 3) to focus on nothing but learning and creating.

A few days before Mom's fall I finished my very first and, I'm sure, not my last, chicken painting.  I took progress photos and wanted to share them with you.  This is  Hyacinth, one of the 3 baby chicks my daughter, Meridith, has been raising.  Hyacinth was just beginning to get her adult feathers in and Mer sent a selfie of the two of them showing the little chicken snuggled up under Mer's chin.  I chose to paint in a different background so the focus would be on Hyacinth.   I really need to take another photo of the finished painting as I have,  in addition to finally signing it, gone back in and softened the edges just about everywhere but on her chest and face.  Doing that draws even more attention to where I want it to be.  I learned a great deal about texture vs softness while painting this little girl.  She is 9" x 11" and can be purchased for $165 including matte. 

Southern Butter Pecan

$165  8 x 10

I started Southern Butter Pecan a week ago last Wednesday while painting with my group.  Last Wednesday I worked on it again and have been working on it off and on since.  I started out believing that this was a painting I could do in the style of another artist I admire who paints much looser than I do.  As you can see, that was a epic fail because I kept getting caught up in the details in an attempt to make it pop.  Maybe I'm beginning to become locked into MY style because I can't seem to make myself go directions that seem uncomfortable to me.  I wanted that pop!  At any rate, I'm pleased with these three ladies.  I'm wondering what their names are.  My inspiration came from a photo taken by Steve Lyddon and posted on Paint My Photo.  

I'm really looking forward to taking my very first painting workshop April 17 and 18 with Helen K. Beacham.  It looks like the focus will be mostly on architectural subject matter and perspective.  I love her paintings so am very excited.  I'm ALSO excited about trying out something I ordered and  which just arrived - Inktense  Blocks.  No more on that subject until I see whether or not I'm able to work with them.  The videos I watched showed such luscious colors. Yum!!

Unmindful Mindfulness Moments Can Still Be Fruitful

Blue Bowl & Blushing Pair of Pears

8 x 10  

$175 matted, unframed

My most recent painting is above.  Somewhere on an internet photo site I saw a picture of a fluted bowl with 2 pears in front of it that I really liked. I drew the outline of the 3 objects but no details, set it aside to save for a painting day but then forgot to save the image to refer back to. I could no longer remember anything about it other than the fluted part of the bowl was red.  This presented me with the perfect opportunity to be brave and paint what I wanted to see rather than drawing so much upon what I saw.  I know I ended up with something much more exciting than than the photo I originally saw. Note to self: Taking chances when painting can be fruitful.  

Speaking of fruit ....  and this refers back to the title of this post ... most of my close friends know that I attempt to practice mindfulness as much as I can - basically trying to stay in the moment and observe my thoughts, emotions and reactions to what's going on.  It makes for a much less stressful existence.  The other morning I had just finished reading an article on different ways to hold your own gallery shows and, with my latest painting of the pears lying where I could see it, I started to prepare my usual breakfast of cereal with a half banana sliced on top accompanied by a glass of water and a side of vitamins served in a small dipping cup.  I was mindful that I'd drifted off into thoughts of my own future gallery show, and I gently brought my mind back to slicing my banana, noticing it's scent, how ripe it was and how the sharp knife made such nice thin slices that dropped off and then stuck to the slice that fell before it.  I was aware that it was quite a creative stack of banana slices and stepped back to admire it when I suddenly realized what I'd done.  My laughter brought all 3 of the dogs running into the kitchen to see what was up.  I had completely forgotten to pour my cereal and had carefully and artistically sliced my banana into the small cup holding my vitamins.  Oops! 

Here's a picture of the pears that I took at night.  I had dimmed the lights in the breakfast room where I paint and walked through to get a glass of water when I realized the painting was absolutely glowing in the dim light.  I LOVED the colors and stood there playing with the light switch and watching how the painting changed with the light.  

I've now painted lemons in a copper pot, oranges on a plate and in a bowl, and pears in a painting that glows in the changing light. Actually, this is my second painting of pears.  I commissioned myself to do a painting to give as a wedding present to my nephew, Rick and his wife, Debra.  I wanted to share 2 of the progress pictures I took while working on it.  Again I was inspired by a photograph but decided to change and enhance the colors and shadows.  I ended up being really happy with the way it turned out.  

The above photo was taken in poor light so it looks a little dull.

I forgot to take a picture of it before I matted and framed it so this was taken through the glass.  I wrote on the matte:

Debra & Rick ... A Pearfect Pairing ...  March 8, 2015

I want to paint peaches next.  Wish I'd thought to take a picture of my sliced bananas topping my vitamins; not because it was beautiful or worth painting, but because it looked so mindful in a strange way.  It reminded me of the carrot that 8 year old granddaughter Kate pared down to a thin stick when she was here for dinner the last time.  We both had been stuck in our mindful moments.  Some are more fruitful than others. 

I love this quote I saw on watercolor artist Morton E Solberg Sr.'s Facebook page:  Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."  Henry Ward Beecher 

Fun Times in Febrrrrrrrrrruary!

We had a low of 14 degrees in the wee hours of the morning yesterday here in South Carolina.  One of our doggies refused to go outside except for very serious business.  The other two managed a few runs around the yard when the sun was at it's brightest.  I'm not complaining.  I have friends in MA where the snow is over their heads.  However, I'm really not used to wearing so many layers of clothes inside, and it's drafty painting in my favorite spot (breakfast room) because of all the windows.  I end up hiding out in my office and playing on my computer. . . Good time to update my blog.

Wanted to share the web site of a terrific watercolorist: Marney Ward. . . I long to be able to capture the light as she does with her beautiful floral paintings.  Please click around her pages and enjoy.  http://www.marneyward.com/

I'm getting back into the swing of regular painting again.  Being able to see better has eased my frustration big time.  Here's my first barn, a subject matter that's a favorite among painters.

And here it was the 1st time I thought I was finished with it .

Same red barn but I felt it was just sitting there with no story.  Just a barn.  It also seemed out of balance somehow.  So I added some pale yellow on the horizon and put in a cold winter cloud.  I also increased the shadow on the snow at the bottom left.  What do you think?  Does it have a little more to say now? 

I also started another barn.  This one is a little warmer to look at although not as well cared for. Hope to get back to it today and finish. 

And, I must confess that I also attempted to paint a big wet on wet colorful stormy sky based on the style and technique of a painter who shared it all on a "You can do this too, don't I make it look easy?" YouTube video.  Timing and skill is everything when trying to paint like this.  Obviously my timing was off and my skill was lacking because my paint looks like mud in the sky.  

I'll give it another try at a later date.  I was way out of my comfort zone painting freely with no drawing.  It was still fun, but it would have been even better if my painting had turned out the way I envisioned it.  Such is life! 

Going with the flow of negative painting

I started this painting (8 x 11) last week and finished it late this afternoon.  I chose the subject because I needed a self taught lesson in negative painting, something I really struggle with. 

Nothing was drawn out, I just started painting, placing a yellow wash all over the paper.  I then dropped in some of the beautiful new Quinacridone color paints I recently treated myself to - reds, and rusts, and umbers.  Next I dropped in a bit of a terrific bright green.  The task before me was to start painting around the colors to gradually create a tree branch with colorful fall leaves that had fallen into the water.  

I had seen a photo of leaves floating in water and used it for inspiration,  but after getting a feeling for what colors to use, I put the photo away.  It's difficult to describe how strange it was for me to just paint and not constantly have a photo to refer back to for reference. I wanted to paint something looser and more impressionistic than what I usually do.  This was my way to try doing that.  For some reason,  and maybe it's just due to taking the picture in the late afternoon light from the window, the water did not register as green as it is in the actual painting.

I'm so glad that I stuck this one out because there were so many moments when I wanted to just put it aside and work on painting something I'm more familiar with.  I learned along the way that it's OK to and I'm capable of changing my initial ideas as I go along.  It's not necessary to stick with what I think I want because I could be missing out on something much better if I don't go with the flow - literally - when working with watercolors.