Green Apple Daily Oil Painting

Green Apple..........6x8.......oil on board..........$75

I am in a whirlwind this week so I am proud to have this to post. It is not the most riveting of paintings that I have ever done, but I have learned from it and that is what the Daily Painting situation is all about is it not?

Hotel King Edward Daily Oil Painting

Hotel King Edward...Oil on Board......5x7........$120

This hotel is a local landmark in Jackson, MS. It was quite the place in it's day and there is talk again of fixing it up and restoring it to former glory. I have painted it twice before from other viewpoints and this was an experiment to see if I could capture it's feel on such a small format.

Currents...Abstract Painting... Blues, Greens

Currents.........30x40.......Oil on Canvas.........$600

Okay, I went into my studio and just went with the flow (pardon the pun). I had these wonderful colors on my pallete and I just started playing with them and this emerged. I put this aside to figure out what I needed to do next. Once I walked into the room several times and saw it and loved it, plus got input from friends and family, I decided to leave it as is.

I think good pieces of art have several things in common and one of them is that they evoke an emotional response from the viewer. This one evokes such a feeling of calmness that I think it has merit based on that alone. Who can't use a little injection of calmness in their day?

Orange Slice Daily OIl Painting

Orange Slice....Oil On Board....6x6.......$50

This piece was a total experiement. One, I actually painted on a day when I had ten thousand other things to do and I actually made time and went and did it.

The other part of the experiment was the photographing part. I used my digital camera and then when I got ready to prepare it for posting I tried a different program for modifying it.

What some folks don't know is that these photos just don't pop into the computer looking like they do when they appear on the blog. They have to be cropped and tweaked so the color looks as close to the real thing as possible. Which is, of course, im-possible.

I have been using my HP Image Zone program to get them ready for prime time, but in talking to just about everyone else, I hear that they are using Adobe Photoshop. I really like my IZ and I am oh, so, comfortable with it, but it lacks a lot of the capabilities that I think I need. Primarily the little thing where you can "skew" your image. (that's where you take a square painting that does not fit perfectly into the square crop and gently pull the corner to where it will fit.)

I have an incredibly old version of Photoshop (ok, it's 3.0) Don't know where it came from, have never used it till today, don't know what a layer is, so I am just swimming in mud. But I got this on here so I guess that is something. It is not quite exactly right, in that the left edge of the plate is not quite so close to the edge of the painting, but at least it is on here. By the way, I think other people have version 7.0 now, not that I am working with a dinosaur here, or anything.

Garlic Ready...Daily Oil Painting

Garlic Ready......12x12.......Oil on Canvas.......$150(sold)

Final for the series....and of course it gave me the most trouble. It had the most delicious reddy, blue-y, purple color. But every color I mixed was too red or too blue. Remixing three thousand times did give it some depth, though.

I think now I am ready for some spaghetti!

Tomatoes Ready...Daily Oil Painting

Tomatoes Ready........Oil on Canvas......12x12......$150 (sold)

This is number three of the spaghetti series. You can't have spaghetti without tomatoes, now can you? If you follow this blog you know that I have vast experience with tomatoes, so this one did flow a little easier than yesterday's. It's sort of nice doing a series, it takes out the big decision on what to paint.

I got some interesting news yesterday. Southern Living Magazine which is really BIG regionally here in the South (and in other places around the country, I have heard) came to a gallery where I display paintings a few weeks ago. They took copious amounts of photos and the gallery owner found out yesterday that one of the photos they are using includes 3 of my 12 x 12 paintings of....you guessed it!......TOMATOES! It is a photo of a little set-up she has in the gallery with red benches and larger paintings on the wall, but across the bottom are my tomatoes. So, it may be a half- inch square picture in a 1/2 page article......but it is in Southern Living! Look for it in the June issue coming soon to a newstand near you!

Green Peppers Ready Daily Oil Painting

Green Peppers Ready...Oil paint on Canvas.....12x12.....$150(sold)

This is painting number two of the 4-part series of spaghetti ingredients.

I don't know if anyone else is this way or not, but I am finding that I concentrate so hard lately on putting the little blocks of color together to make a painting that I don't really see the painting till much later. I have to take a break and be away from it not working on it for several hours and then when I come back I can see the forms have taken shape.

That really happened with this one. It was a sea of chunks of green and I really thought I would need to wipe it. Then later I look and see three green peppers...with stems, no less! Who knew?!

I have also been at a couple of computers lately and viewed my blog on different monitors and Holy Guacamole! They are so different! One had the color all pale and sort of orange-y. Another had it way dark...I mean really dark. So on that computer (mom) this one is going to look like a black canvas with three green humps floating on it. Really annoying to know that these images I work so hard to synchronise still end up distorted. Bummer. Also, the glow of blue on this one is just unavoidable glare (in the time I had to work with this one).

Red Oinions Ready Daily Oil Painting

Red Onions Ready......Oil on Canvas......12x12..........$150

I guess my Ready for Spaghetti painting inspired me, so today I began a series of 12x12 paintings that I hope someone will want to display as a group. This is the first time I have painted red onions and it was pretty interesting work trying to get the color to make sense.

Ready for Spaghetti Daily Oil Painting

Ready for Spaghetti......8x10 Oil on Board.......$150


I did this one as my first start to finish painting after returning from my trip. I expected it to be less than stellar since I am normally a few days getting back in the groove, but I have to say there are things about this that I just love! I think painting all the time pays off in that you start seeing things better. Example, there is a real difference in the light hitting the zucchini on the end compared to that that is coming through the olive oil bottle. I just love the light hitting the table through the bottle, too.

Wine Pairing Daily Oil Painting

This one is one I started on a very uninspired day. Luckily, I realized that there were things I liked about it even though it looked seriously poopy. I stopped and put it away for another day. That day was yesterday. The colors in this are so much prettier in person. But then aren't we all?

Shrimp,Crawfish,Gumbo and Lemons Daily Oil Painting

Shrimp, Crawfish, Gumbo and Lemons......20x24 Oil on Canvas......$450(sold)

This is the one I was working on when the lights went out the Friday before we left for Denver. In a show of how much more dedicated I am nowadays...I ran miles of extension cord from the generator on Saturday and "finished" this one even though I had to pack for our trip and do a million other things. When I got back and looked at it in the light of day there were a few things that needed fixin' , as we say in the South. So here it is after a little freshening up.

I am really proud that I have changed my way of thinking about painting. Before I would have blown it off in a heartbeat because conditions were less than ideal. But instead, I really like this one, my favorite one in a while for a lot of technical reasons.

While in Denver I got to attend the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Very inspiring to say the least. Is it just me or do other artists do this....I look at a painting by a really famous artist and I think "wow, if that was my painting I would never have left that scratchy part, or that thin part, or whatever". I realize that I need to walk away long before I do sometimes.

Back at last!

Pelican Gliding over the Marsh.....6x8......oil on board.......$100

Okay I had this painting ready to post on Friday the 4th. But a bad storm came through our area and knocked out our power for two days. By then we had left for our trip to Colorado and were gone for a week. Then today when I got on to post it, our internet was down. So with no further ado....we have the Pelican Gliding over the Marsh.

I have checked out my paintings after being gone and have seen them with new eyes. I have corrections to make on a couple of them and will have more to post tomorrow. It could have something to do with the fact that I painted one of them in the "dark" Saturday morning when the electricity was out!

Tomatoes by the Window Daily Oil Painting

"Tomatoes by the Window"......6x6...Oil on board......$100(sold)

Today my post is of a RED object in honor of the movement to wear red on Fridays to support our troups. I had hoped to have a painting of one of my favorite musicians in a red shirt, but it did not happen. However, I am painting today in a red shirt.

The email I got informing of this idea was way more eloquent than my meager ramblings here, but suffice it to say it really struck me. We do not have to support the war, or the president in order to support the men and women who are managing their families by email and putting their lives on hold for our country.

So by golly let's make this country a "sea of RED" much like the home side at a football game as the email said. I can only imagine what it would be like as the family member of a soldier to walk into a mall or office and see predominantly red attire every Friday and to watch it spread as this idea catches on.

To those of you who are wearing red to promote awareness of women's heart health, carry on. The more the merrier. Both are good reasons.

My painting is one of two I worked on yesterday, the other is larger and not ready for prime time, yet.

Farmer's Market Apple Basket Daily Oil Painting

Farmer's Market Apple Basket......6x8...oil on board......$100

I will have to say that my committment to daily painting came through in grand style yesterday. A friend dropped by and wanted to take my daughter and me out to dinner, so they sat there and watched every move I made while I painted this one. Not much pressure. But I hung in there until I had something to work with. I then tweaked it a couple of times this morning before it was ready for prime time. It is from a photo taken at the wonderful farmer's market in Santa Fe when I was there for Carol Marine's workshop.

"Cruisin' Canal St.".....16x20.....Oil on Canvas......$350

This is the larger painting I did yesterday before my audience got there. I do love my streetcars.

24 x 36 Original Oil Painting Old Red Truck...

36x24 Original Oil Painting..."Old Red".....Oil on Canvas....$900

This is the large painting I started day before yesterday. I finished it yesterday and I really like it. It sort of snuck up on me. I kept painting all these pieces and parts and hunks of color and when I walked back in my studio after lunch yesterday I said, "Wow, when did this become a painting?!" I took the photo last Friday when I made the run to the coast.

I looked up the criteria for joining the Daily Painters group that some artists I know belong to and one of the rules is that you have to have been posting daily paintings for at least four months before you apply. So I guess April is as good a starting point as any. I don't think people realize what a huge committment it is to try to do anything virtually every day consistantly.





Anyway here is my second daily painting based on a photo I took in Sana Fe. It is one of those cute little Shasta campers that were popular long ago. Very cozy.

"Cozy Camper".......6x8......Oil on board.......$100

12x12 Daily Oil Painting of Bright Tomato

12 x12 oil on canvas "Bad Hair Day" $150

Yesterday was quite productive! I have been really organized lately, but more on that later. I was able to do this great tomato that I bought at the store on Sunday. I bought it because of its wonderful greenery and hence the title for this one.

I also worked on a large (24x36) painting of a cool red truck. It is coming out well, just a little more structured that I really want it to be. Hope to fix that today.

Ok, now I have to share with everyone a really cool blog I have found. The artist is Maggie Stiefvater and she is an author as well as an artist. She has a book that is available for pre-sale on Amazon.com and if her book writing is anything like her blog posts, I feel I must read it. I have copied her articles on time management and setting priorities and have taken them to heart. This art thing isn't going to just happen on its own you know.