Blue Heron on the Bayou....Oil Painting

"Blue Heron on the Bayou"....12x24...oil......$290(sold)

This is a painting I did for the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs. Their website is beautiful, but I have to say the way they list the artists leaves a lot to be desired. If you click on the right to see Visit our Vendors...it brings up a word document and I am on page 13 out of 14 if anyone wants to take it to that level. I would advise just look at the other stuff and skip that step. My booth is #710 and I will be in a spot off of Government between Government and DeSoto. I am going down there for something else this weekend so I will check it out and get better directions for those who are near enough to attend. It is a wonderful festival with so many talented artisans...I am just proud to be there!

Martin the Crab...

Martin the Crab....8x16.....oil.......$130(sold)

I have a friend, Martin. He paints crabs. In fact he is "the Original Crab Man". He will think that I am painting crabs because he paints crabs and because he has outsold me at the last two shows we have been to. However, I do have witnesses that I painted crabs before I knew him. (if you go to this link you will have to scroll down past the twin's first sonogram, but there is, indeed, a crab down there.)

I painted that crab because I was going to be doing a show in South Louisiana and I knew that it would be popular down there. (and it did sell, by the way) That is the same reason I painted this guy...I will not only be in Covington again, this year, but I will also be at the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs...another venue where seafood in general, will be popular.

Plus, if you read my former post about the new artist I found that I admire greatly...Carole Foret...you will see that she has some great crab paintings and it just got me in a "crabby mood".

More Tabascos for the Art Festivals...

Painting #1 Painting #2
#1......Just a Drop.......8x16......oil.......$130(sold)

#2...Tilted Tabasco...10x20.....oil......$200

You may say, "is this woman not tired of painting Tabasco?" I'm really not. There are many good thoughts associated with the Tabasco paintings I do, one of which is that they always sell, lol. But aside from that, some of the most important men in my life put Tabasco on everything. One of my first paintings that I did as a gift was a Tabasco for one of my favorite people in the world, my stepdad, Bob. Plus, it is such an iconic item. There are Tabasco clothes, and housewares. If you are sporting a Tabasco tie or shirt, it says something about you...you have a spicy side.

Plus, I have discovered another thing I like about them...just like my tomatoes that I paint all the time, I just love painting the shades of red that you use...I love the way that alizarin crimson gives way to cad red deep and then cad red light...and when you add that pop of orange on there...well, I guess I am lucky, it just never gets old.

Painting 1 Painting 2

#1"Middleman"..10x20...oil on canvas...$200

#2"Hotty"....12x24...oil on canvas...$290(sold)

This first painting is a composition that my son and daughter-in-law have been wanting me to paint for a while. They saw something similar in a restaurant in Lexington. I love the negative space. I want to revisit this one another time and try it again. But I love the idea of it. Thanks Michael and Heather.

Painting 2 is another Tabasco for my upcoming art festivals. I like it...see, I told you not all my paintings were going to be "twisty" like yesterdays's.

Tabasco with a Twist...Oil paintings

Painting 1 Painting 2

Painting..................."Pssst"....10x20.....oil on canvas....$200(sold)

Painting...."Twist of Tabasco".....12x24....oil on canvas....$290

I have struggled, since I returned from my two are shows, to get back into painting mode. The posts from the last few days since I returned have been of paintings that I had done prior to the shows that I had not had time to post before I left.

I knew why I was struggling...it was because I was headed in a new direction. I had looked at lots of good art at the two shows I had been a part of, plus I had spent 8 days in a tent surrounded by my own work. I knew what I liked and I knew also, what was missing. I knew where I sort of wanted to go but I just couldn't break out and make a move in that direction. I unpacked and primed new canvases and did all sorts of "useful" stuff instead of painting.



But then I saw the art of Carole Foret online. She is where I want to be. She even paints Tabasco! Looking at her stuff got me going. It says what I want my work to say. I want my paintings to look like they are moving. I want them to be alive and happy and colorful. I had the colorful part and the happy part (according to comments I heard during my art festival stint) but I was missing the moving part. The work you see above is a result of combining what I already did with what I see others doing. I will not switch completely over to this form of expression, but I can tell you for sure you will be seeing more of it.

Slices, Cantaloupe on cutting board oil painting...

Slices...12x12...oil on gw canvas....$150

These cantaloupe slices just looked so nice and juicy that I had to paint them. And those of you who know me well know that I don't eat melon of any kind. But you know what? I love to slice cantaloupe. Is that weird or what? I love to cut it open and scoop out the seeds and cut it in half and into slices and cut off the rind. Then I pop it into a bowl and into the fridge for someone else to eat. I don't even really like the smell of them. Hmmmm.

For any of you out there with super computer skills...I had started trying to make a little simple webpage on GoDaddy.com, where I bought my domain name. I had not even gotten past a title really. Then I was redirected by a friend to use the publishing application that is a part of this blog. Through that I was able to get my blog configured so that if someone types in www. and then my name it comes to this blog(which is what I want)...but if they just type in lorriedrennan.com it gives an error message that I have published my web page incorrectly and directs me to the "web site tonight" which is the designing program from godaddy that I was using. I did some DNS numbers, when I did the part that worked yesterday, that were supposed to redirect to my blog even if they didn't use the www. but it is not working. Does anyone have experience with this?

I want to have new business cards printed up ASAP, but I don't want to put the web address on there it if won't work correctly.

Hay bale oil painting....and big news!

Marmalade Skies...30x40 oil painting....$1200($1300 framed)

I took this picture on the way through Georgia a couple of years ago. I have always wanted to paint it and I am glad that I did.

The title comes from a Beatles song...Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds...."Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies" It was running through my head the whole time I was painting this. Those Beatles sure did have a way with words didn't they?

Now for big news....on the advice from an artist friend that I just met at the Shrimp Festival, Terri Keller, I have bought my own domain name! Soon, when all the little miniature computer gremlins finish working their magic, and if I did it right, which is a big IF, you will be able to type in lorriedrennan.com and you will be brought directly to my blog. I tried it with the www in front of it and it works now, but since I didn't do it the easy way and go directly through the blogger program, I had to do a couple of extra steps to get it to work without the www. Those things take a day or two to catch on I think.

So try it. My blog actually looks better if you view it on the actual blog page...if you gt it sent directly to your email you just get the white background. I designed a nice page, but you have to click on my name at the top of your email to go to it. Some of the paintings just look so much better on the black background, I think.

Anyway, thanks Terri, for your help. It's not like you are sitting around looking for things to do!

Reflection....Bird standing in the water oil painting

Reflection....10x20....Oil on gw canvas....$200(sold)

I took this photo quite a while ago in an obscure area down on the coast. Thanks to my zoom lens I was able to get the shot and not disturb the bird as he peacefully stood there.

This is a paintover, a painting painted over another painting (one that didn't quite work out). The hope is that the underpainting will evidence itself in an interesting manner and therefore add to the painting that is on top. This one definitely does that. The vertical lines that you can see are texture from the underpainting and create a very interesting look...sort of like the water is coming toward you, which on the shore, it always is.

Shaken or Stirred & Does it Matter?, Oil paintings of vodka & martini

Shaken or Stirred?....6x12....oil on gw canvas....$80

Does it Matter?.....6x12......oil on gw canvas.....$80

These were originally going to be very different....they were to be larger, and for specific person, but major life changes called for the commission to be canceled. But my husband liked the idea so much that he encouraged me to paint it anyway. And the titles, I think, asks a question that begs to be answered.

Rainy Day Street Car on Canal...

Rainy Day Street Car in New Orleans....24x36.....oil on gw canvas....$860(sold)

When I paint I always show what I have worked on to my husband and my daughter when they get home. They are like my first responder critics, if something isn't working, they always tell me. When Dacia, my daughter, saw this one she said that she really liked it and that it was different from the other streetcars that I had painted. She said, " It looks like a rainy day, and you know how I love rainy days!" What a wonderful child! Because of course, it was a rainy day and I wanted that to come across and she got it immediately. This one goes in the "W" column.

We just returned last night from the whirlwind, marathon art show tour. I was gone for almost two weeks. I met a lot of nice people and got to see art friends from all over. I even met people that follow my blog. It was hard, hard work, but also great fun. I froze on Sunday in the rain in Shreveport and less than a week later I almost passed out from 105 degree heat index in Gulf Shores.

I also won my first Patron Award while in Gulf Shores so I'd like to send a big thank-you to the owners of Cosmo's Restaurant in Orange Beach. They are nice people and they have a place in my personal art history book. They run a wonderful restaurant that I frequent whenever I am in that area. I had never met them till they came to buy art. They are opening another restaurant named Cobalt so I'm sure it will be nothing short of wonderful and successful like Cosmo's. And did I mention that they have great taste in art?

I have two more shows this fall coming up in November. For now, it's time to do a little wedding planning for my daughter, Dacia. We're off with our entourage to check out bridal gowns this weekend. And it's gonna be fun!

Jazzy Trio, Oil painting from New Orleans

Jazzy Trio....30x30...oil on 1.5 gallery wrap......$900

These musicians were playing outside the Cathedral in New Orleans when we went down there for our anniversary this past August. The guy in the yellow shirt seems to be playing to his own particular audience.

All in all I am very happy with this one and have enjoyed having it around so much that it has been in my living room since I painted it. It is off to the art show today to possibly find a new home.

Wish me luck as I travel and work myself into the ground over the next week. I will try to post starting again next Thursday when I will have internet access again. Until then I'll be going from sun-up till sundown....

Have You Seen my Glasses? II, Wine Art Oil Painting

Have You Seen My Glasses? II...24x24....Oil on 1.5 gallery wrap....$575(sold)

This is one of my faviorite paintings to come off my brush in a while. I am loving this look of the "Party behind the subject" where the light is just a glow in the background. It makes you wonder what is going on back there.