"Dry Docked"

8 x 10

oil on gessoed hardboard

A recent plein air painting from Calvin Liang's workshop painted at Highland Lakes Marina on Lake Travis.

"Anderson Grist Mill"

9 x 12

oil on gessoed hardboard

This was my first day's painting from my recent workshop with Calvin Liang. We started the week at the Anderson Mill, an old grist mill dating from around the Civil War days.  

Here is Calvin in front of the mill and just starting his demo in the morning. Not sure what he is saying in this photo, but am sure he is stressing the importance of the four elements in the structure of a painting: shape, color and it's correct temperature, values, and edges-sharp, soft or lost. He stressed these four principles all week. Thanks, Calvin, I need the repetition! 

This photo of our workshop attendees, along with Calvin and Qiang who organized the class, was taken the last day of the workshop. What a sterling group, I couldn't have asked for a more talented bunch of artists to spend the week with. As you can see, the weather was sunny and perfect all week long. 

"Red Row Boat"

9 x 12

oil on gessoed hardboard

Packing up with great anticipation for the Calvin Liang plein air workshop next week in the Austin area. Before I put the lid on all the paints, I wanted to try Calvin's suggested palette, so what better way than to experiment with one of his painting subjects. Check out the link above to see Calvin's paintings at the Greenhouse Gallery in San Antonio.

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! 

"Pears and Bamboo"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Think this is my first attempt at painting pears, have these sitting on a small bamboo stand. Think I'll use them again but in a different setting, but have to hurry before they get eaten! 

"Antique Books of Common Prayer"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

These miniature antique books were a gift, perfectly tied together as a small package...two Books of Common Prayer, one from Sussex, England, and the smaller one, a New Testament dated in the early 1900's.

"Sunflowers and Pumpkins"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

sold

Can't resist a fresh bouquet of sunflowers at the market! Seemed like a perfect match for the pumpkins and autumn leaves. We are so grateful to finally have some cooler Fall temperatures.

"Colorado in the Fall"

8 x 10

oil on hardboard

Last year we spent a week in the Fall with friends in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. This was painted from a photograph taken on one of our many hikes through the area. Although this was painted in the studio, I'm hoping to get more involved with plein air painting, especially now that the Texas temperatures have dropped below 100.

"Birdie"

7 1/2 x 8

oil on hardboard
sold

Birdie is our friend's year and a half year old shih tzu, a cuter face is not to be found!

"Patty Cake"

8 x 8

oil on hardboard
sold

I was out shopping yesterday and saw this adorable child with her grandmother, who I quickly asked if she minded if I take a photograph. Gave her one of my cards so she wouldn't think I was a stalker! But I was instantly taken in by this happy little girl, and with so much hair at such a young age. She immediately started playing "patty cake" when I took my camera out. Had never painted dark skin tones, so refered to Color Mixing Recipes by William F. Powell for a good formula. A great reference book if you haven't read it.

"The Gifts"

8 x 10

oil on hardboard

This painting is a set up of two gifts from friends. The stein was a surprise from an artist friend who knows I like to paint still life's and the peaches were given to my husband by a friend at church. The terra cotta rim around the stein seemed to be a perfect match with the peaches.Thanks, Angela and  Sandy.

Postcard

Just had these new postcards printed at Vistaprint. Not quite the moo.com card but similar. I've had "writer's block" lately or do you call it "painter's block". I have been painting but not anything I wanted to post, you know, something that would come back to haunt me in a year or two!

"Fishing In Pagosa Springs"

8 x 10

oil on gessoed hardboard

The Some Texas Artists Like to Paint blog has a different theme each month and for September it's "fish". Not having any idea what I would contribute, I looked through some past photographs and found this, a guy fishing in the stream in downtown Pagosa Springs. We were fortunate to spend a week with friends in Colorado last year and I remember snapping this photo from a bridge along the river walk. Thought the overhead view and foreshortened figure looked a little abstract amidst the water and rocks.

"Morning Fruit"

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas

Some of the best grapefruit comes from the Texas Rio Grande Valley. This half never made it back to the refrigerator!

"Brass Vase"

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas
available at Dutch Art Gallery

I'm real excited about this painting! Have finally seen some results in this still life in trying to achieve a looser style. I really don't know why that is so hard for some of us. Maybe it helped that I had a lot of time to "think" about this painting. Everything for this still life was set up at the end of last week, when I got a call from the painter ready to repair the ceiling in the breakfast room where I have my "studio" set up. We had had one of those "pesky little step through the ceiling accidents". So, the vegetables go back in the refrigerator until today, repairs done and it's time to paint again. Had mentally painted this for a couple of days, reminding myself to first block everything in very loosely with a large fan brush. My husband says golf is so hard and challenging because there's so much to remember and think about. Painting is just like that!

"Talavera Sunflowers"

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas
available at Dutch Art Gallery

This is a talavera jar that I usually keep small packages of smarties in for my grandchildren, but thought it looked perfect as a vase for these sunflowers. The peppers will go in shrimp and grits tonight, still enjoying the tastes of Charleston!

"Dreaming"

7 1/2 x 8

oil on hardboard

This month the theme for the blog Some Texas Artists Like To Paint is "dreams", and I have painted this picture of my granddaughter napping at age 3 (she's now 13). Be sure and check out what my fellow Texas artist friends are posting.

"Last Putt of the Day"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Another golf shot inspired by the recent British Open.

I have a good friend who just started her blog, check it out http://suethompsonpaints.blogspot.com/ and welcome her to our blogging community.

"In The Rough"

8 x 10

oil on hardboard

sold

Thought this was a great shot from the recent British Open. My golfer husband said a better title would have been "Out of the Rough" if the player hit the ball correctly. Which ever is correct, you get the idea!

"Texas Star"

8 x 10

oil on hardboard

sold

Texas is known as the Lone Star state, and I think the real star (besides the one on the flag) is the Texas cowboy.

"Sunflowers in Blue and White"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

sold

Thanks to Qiang Huang and his help in painting a blue and white vase in a recent workshop, I find I am now drawn to these china pieces more and more for use in still lifes. Having fresh sunflowers is an added bonus!

"Summer Table"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Had fun with this "summer" setup of sunflowers and watermelon! Reminds me of a previous painting I did of my grandson last year. Thanks for all of your previous comments, hope you are all having a great summer!

"Red, White and Blue"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

"Bowl Full Of Cherries"

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas

Old books and blue and white, some of my favorite things!

"Antique Book"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

sold

Enjoyed incorporating this old Shakespearean book, dated 1858, into this painting. It's a beautiful book with a gold embossed cover and spine, but is so fragile that just by opening it causes pages to loosen, so it's not handled very often.

"Surfing"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

There's a different kind of surfing going on at the beaches these days! This sun worshiper at Hilton Head Island was staying connected to the outside world by "surfing the internet".

"Hilton Head Beach"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

The beaches on Hilton Head Island were incredibly beautiful and pristine.

On another subject, my "Johnny Appleseed" painting has been purchased by the Toby Jug Museum in Evanston, Il. Check out the museum's site to learn more about the history of these unique ceramics.

"Beaufort Bay"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Just returned from a tour of the Low Country around Charleston and Savannah; loved everything we saw, but especially Beaufort, South Carolina. This is a view of the bay in Beaufort with the lush marshes in the foreground. These are the grasses that are used in the gullah baskets handwoven in the area. Beaufort was also one of the cities used in the filming of Forrest Gump.

"NEW BLOG"

8 x 10

oil on gessoed hardboard

Some Texas Artists Like To Paint is a new blog that officially kicks off June 1, so I invite you to visit our new group of Texas artists who will paint a different assigned theme each month. Of course we had to start out with "anything Texas" for this first month. When I saw this longhorn steer skull hanging on the front of a bar-b-q joint in Glen Rose, Texas, I thought this had to be my first entry. The longhorn, the Lone Star flag, the weathered wood siding...all screamed TEXAS to me. So visit often and see the many interpretations that all the different artists have to share.

"Texas Pickup"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

Don't you think the pickup truck should be the official Texas state vehicle! On the highway outside of Lampasas, I spotted this one with cactus planted in the bed of the truck and sitting in a field of spring wildflowers and bluebonnets.

"Out To Pasture"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas
sold

Spotted this old rusty tractor out in a field on the back roads of the Texas Hill Country. It might have been put out to pasture as a work horse, but it still holds lots of beauty for an artist's eye.

ACA Award "Santa Fe Vendor"

8 x 10

oil on gessoed hardboard

The Dallas Associated Creative Artists (ACA) Annual Awards Show was last night and I feel very fortunate to have won one of the Merit Awards with my "Santa Fe Vendor" entry. He is a favorite of mine painted from a photo taken at the train station marketplace in Santa Fe. The show will hang at the Artist's Showplace for the month of May and I encourage anyone in the area to drop by to see some outstanding paintings. I'll attach my other two entries in the show.

11 x 14

"Johnny Appleseed"

sold

11 x 14

"Fruit Basket Turnover"

"Texas Pastures"

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas

A couple of weeks ago we were heading south on highway 281 in the Texas Hill Country and were awestruck when we saw these fields of yellow wildflowers. A quick u-turn produced this lazy afternoon scene.

"Copper Tray"

11 x 14 (canvas size)

oil on stretched canvas

Decided to post this most recent painting in the frame. We've been out of town and it was great to get back home to paint. While we were gone I ran across this copper tray at an estate sale. I could just picture it in a still life setting, so couldn't resist bringing it home.

"Copper Teapot"

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas
sold

Just found this teapot at an estate sale, and the cantaloupe and grapes were a part of our dinner. My husband says he can't tell if I'm buying food to eat or to paint! How about both!

"Herbs"

11 x 14

oil on stretched canvas

These parsley, rosemary, and basil plants were nice enough to "pose" for me before I repotted them! They will definitely end up in some summer dishes before long.

"Azalea Trail"

11 x 14

oil on hardboard

My second plein air painting! Our group went back to the Turtle Creek area in Dallas since the azaleas are in full bloom. There were only four of us today, but lots of fun to see the different interpretations of almost the same scene. I quit a little early to run out to SouthWest Galleries to see the plein air exhibit there. Be sure to go by if you are in the Dallas area.

"Pansies" and I'm a Winner!

8 x 10

oil on stretched canvas

The pansies this Spring have been "out of sight" beautiful! Hope they last a little longer, but I'm afraid they won't be happy with the approaching Texas heat.

On another note! Not long ago I discovered the wonderful artwork of Lisa Daria, and signed up to follow her blog. To my great surprise, this morning there was an email from Lisa announcing that in a drawing (by her dog, no less) that I had won her 300th daily painting. Check out her blog and enjoy her colorful, fresh style. Can't wait to receive my new painting...my birthday's next week, I'll consider it an early gift!!! Thank you, Lisa, and Brie (the dog)!!!

6 x 6 acrylic by Lisa Daria

Happy Easter

11 x 14

oil on canvas

Thought that I would paint something this week with an Easter theme, but never got around to it, so decided to post these bunnies that I painted over 20 years ago. Vladan Stiha (1908-1992) had a showroom at the LaFonda Hotel in Santa Fe and I remember being very inspired by his work. He mainly painted art of the Southwest but also created the most memorable works with ducks, and also rabbits. Thanks to Mr. Stiha for the inspiration for this Easter greeting to each of you!