Sand Crabs......Oil paintings

 12x24................Curious Crawler

12x24............Colorful Crustation

These are a couple of my new creations for the Red River Revel.  I can't believe I leave in 9 days!  Lots to do before then.  The top painting is from a photo that my daughter-in-law took on vacation this year.  This little guy kept creeping closer and closer.  Then he stopped to pose.  The one on the bottom is his colorful cousin.  (Pretty much made up the colors on him, so don't go looking for this species anywhere)

Shore 'Nuff.............Oil painting of shore bird

8x16......"Shore 'Nuff"

This is from a photo that I took from one of our vacations on Dauphin Island in Alabama.  We have been there 4 years in a row and have made plans to go back next year.  This guy definitely does not mind sharing his home with us.  He has been quite friendly.

10x30......Egret I

10x30.....Egret II

These birds we painted from photos in my collection of shorebirds and then I made up the backgrounds so that they would fit together.  I didn't use to have the confidence to just make stuff up like that, but I do it every now and then since I have gotten more miles of painting behind me.

Crabby Guy....oil painting.....#29 of 30 paintings in 30 days...

 

8x24.....oil on canvas.....$230

 

In deciding what I wanted to post on this second to last day of the 30 in 30 challenge, I was looking through the remainder of my new fall paintings.  I came across this one and I said "Oh, I need to show this crabby guy!"  So he is now the Crabby Guy...He has cousins known as  the Crabby Couple.  I may make a whole Crabby Family one day, who knows?

Wading...Oil Painting of a Blue Crab(Challenge #1)

 

10x20.....Wading.......$240

 

September is here!  And so begins the Leslie Saeta 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge.  I am looking forward to trying to accomplish the goal of 30 new paintings posted in 30 days!  Wish me luck!

 

This is one of my favorite new paintings.  In person the water on this one looks so real that it seems that if you touched him your hand would get wet.  But who would touch a crab running around loose in his own element? 

 

We just returned and unloaded the car from our trip to New Orleans for the Palmer Park Art Market.  I'm hot, tired and hungry .....feeling a little crabby. Hence the choice for my first of thirty paintings.   



Walking Heron at Dauphin Island Oil Painting...

Dauphin Island Neighbor.....18x36........$775

 

I took this photo when we vacationed on Dauphin Island last year.  There is a bird sanctuary there and this guy has definitely made himself at home.  He just played it cool and walked right past me on several occasions.

 

IT'S ALMOST SEPTEMBER!!!!  Sunday begins the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge I mentioned in my last post.  I work rather large sometimes and one painting may spill over into more than one day, so therefore my goal is to feature a new piece each day that has been done this summer. (And believe me 30 posts in 30 days is a challenge for me, in itself!) Whenever possible I will post a painting that I did that day, but when that is not feasible my other new work will be there to take up the slack.

 

MEANWHILE, we are off to New Orleans this afternoon for the Palmer Park Art Market tomorrow.  It looks like it will be a hot time in the old town! 

 

Have a great Labor Day everyone!

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".

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.

Corona on the Beach...16x36

This is my first painting since returning from my art class/extravaganza in Santa Fe. I cannot express what an effect that week had on me as a person and as an artist. The workshop itself, the people I met and the art that I saw while there all bonded together and hit me right between the eyes. I came home wanting to be a better artist and convinced that I could be one. Thanks to Carol, Bernie, Paula, Bruce, Faye, Jeannette, Vicki, Kathryn, Bonnie, Mary, oh my gosh, the list just goes on....suffice it to say, thanks to all of you who touched my life.



This painting is certainly different from what we did in class...to start with it is 18" x 36". But, I was able to apply many things that I learned in class to a painting such as this, as well as the small format that we worked on.



This is a painting that I had committed to weeks ago for a pal who did wome work for us, so this one is for Stephen. As promised it is the first one I did when I "started painting again".