Painting Challenge Day 4

And still keeping with a theme of paintings for the 3 Paintings in 5 Days, here is a selection of still life paintings.

Haven't done as many still life setups lately since I have gotten more involved in painting en plein air with the Outdoor Painter's Society.

 So guess that tells you what the theme for day five will be!

Thanks for following along with this challenge where people are posting their works on Facebook. Just in case you think I can't count, I couldn't decide on just three paintings, so here are five instead!

"Orange and Sunflowers"

9 x 12

oil on canvas panel

Sold

I've been concentrating on plein air paintings so much lately, it was nice to do something different. 

I have an upcoming plein air competition event this fall so will still be getting ready for that, but hope to do more fun pieces like this as well...altho, believe it or not, this too was painted outside from a still life set up. 

Copper Tray

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas, $125
sold

Bought this beautiful copper tray at my favorite shopping spot, a garage sale. Was visiting my son in Houston and on an early morning walk, I stopped at a sale and asked them to "hold" this tray while I went back to the house for money. I thought it was well worth the extra walking!

"Antique Book"

16 x 20

oil on stretched canvas
sold

I've used this old book in another still life set up before and love how the light plays across the cover and other objects. It's a Shakespearean book dated 1858, beautiful with a gold embossed cover and spine. Being so fragile, just by opening it, it causes pages to loosen, therefore it is not handled very often. 

If you follow my blog, you know how much I painted in the month of January...a great start to the new year, but I've slowed down the daily painting this month since I am getting ready for a number of Spring shows. That involves a little more time dealing with special frames, hangers, entry forms, etc. This is one of the entries I have submitted to one of the shows and will find out in several weeks if it is accepted.

"Basket of Cuties"

16 x 20

Oil on stretched canvas

purchase through Daily Paintworks

Happy New Year!

This hand woven basket of cuties and the pair of vine tomatoes were on my kitchen counter and caught my eye when the sun was "just right" for capturing the afternoon light. Love it when a painting "just happens"!
(The sides of this canvas is also painted allowing you to enjoy the painting without a frame.)

"Saints and Santa"

8 x 10

oil on hardboard panel
sold

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with hopes of a lot of saints and santas in your holiday!

This past weekend the Outdoor Painters Society held their annual Christmas lunch and a "dirty Santa gift exchange". Over 30 artists attended and brought an 8 x 10 painting wrapped in brown paper, which were promptly traded and exchanged until all packages were opened. I am happy to show you my "gift" from pastel artist, Nancy Bozeman, who I had just met on a recent OPS paint out in the Palo Duro Canyon. Hope you'll visit Nancy's website and enjoy her other beautiful pastels. 

October Pumpkins

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

sold

Haven't posted in ages and felt like this painting was just the one to say Happy Fall! We are in the midst of updating our kitchen, so I've had a paint brush in my hand but it's been for cabinets and walls! My painting area is on the edge of this "mess" so have had to abandon the oil paints for a couple of weeks. Looking forward to getting set up again before too much longer. In the meantime I hope you all are enjoying this Fall weather and I wish you plenty of sunflowers and pumpkins in your days ahead!

"Hydrangeas and Holland Tiles"

20 x 24

oil on stretched canvas - available at Dutch Art Gallery

                                       


Actually planned to photograph a sequence of this painting but only managed to get the original set up and block in (both included). Somehow I got so involved in the process, I forgot to stop and take  more photos...but you get the idea. Love these hand painted tiles from Holland, they were a "find" at one of my estate sale jaunts, but haven't installed them yet...someday they will find a permanent home!

"Watermelon Reflections"

8 x 10

oil on hardboard

Carol Marine continues to come up with great exercises for the DPW weekly challenge! This was a photograph that was presented upside down. By painting in this manner, one focuses more on shapes, values and colors rather than a certain object. This was especially challenging with all the reflections and then the reflections of reflections, do you see all that? It's always a pleasant surprise when you finish and finally flip the painting right side up! Try it, it works!

"Fresh Cherries"

6 x 6

oil

The DPW challenge this week is The Balance Challenge submitted by Cathleen Rehfeld. Lots of fun entries to check out!

"Confetti Gift"

6 x 6

oil
sold

After being out of town for a couple of weeks and house guests after that, I hadn't painted in about 3 weeks so it was fun to get back in the grove with the DPW weekly challenge.  

"Clay Pots"

11 x 5

oil on moleskin paper

The Texas Moleskin Round Up blog features some interesting paintings with varied themes. I think Jean Townsend's moleskin wins the prize for the most unusual topic for her book and that is detritus (noun, meaning rubbish, scrap, or junk) These clay pots in my backyard have been "rescued" from the trash making someone else's junk my treasure! Thanks for the challenge, Jean. 

"Blue and White Still Life"

6 x 6

oil on hardboard

Never seem to get tired of blue and white,  this is an arrangement in our entrance hall.

"Tarnished Copper"

9 x 12

oil on gessoed hardboard

Jerry Hunsinger is a wonderful artist living in Howe, Texas, about an hour north of Dallas. I had the pleasure of taking a Saturday morning class in her backyard studio this past weekend. What a treat to watch Jerry's demo followed by a painting session in her studio. Some of the class painted from photos while I chose to paint this beautiful copper pot from many of Jerry's collectibles. Be sure to check out her website and enjoy her artwork, especially the portraits. Saw one of her pet portraits that I hoped would follow me home, but unfortunately it didn't! Will look forward to future classes with Jerry, maybe plein air next time if anyone in the Dallas area wants to join us!

"Blue Plate Special"

6 x 6

oil on hardboard

sold

Couldn't resist this assortment of colors from the last trip to the grocery shopping!

"Blue and White Collectibles"

oil on gessoed moleskin paper

The first of March begins a new project for a number of Texas artists. The Texas Moleskin Round Up is officially under way! A group of us have purchased our personal moleskin book and started this project with painting in our journal, and now it's time to send it off to the next artist to enter her preferred work. At the end of this "round robin" we should each have our own book back with artwork from everyone else in the group. Am sure it will be a fun project and a real treasure to have at the end of the book's journey. Check our new website occasionally to see how we are progressing, and thanks for following along!

"Saints Galore"

8 x 10

oil on gessoed hardboard

Christmas greetings from the three saints on my kitchen window sill!

"Outdoor Still Life"

9 x 12

oil on gessoed hardboard

The weather was perfect the other day for plein air, so set up in the backyard and painted this scene from  our patio table. 

Donation

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas
sold

This painting, titled "One Left Out", is being donated to the art auction for New Friends New Life, an organization that benefits young women in trouble and their families in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.   

This is painted with the Swedish artist Anders Zorn palette using only four colors, cadmium red light, yellow orche, ivory black, and titanium white. 

"Onion and Garlic Picnic"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Getting ready to make a big jump into plein air painting! Heading to a workshop with Calvin Liang and, weather permitting, we'll be painting on location north of Austin around the lake area. Hope to get his suggested palette together and practice with it before I head that direction in a few days. Am so excited to have the opportunity to study with Liang and to also learn more from a previous workshop instructor Qiang Huang who is sponsoring this workshop. Two such fabulous artists!