On the Chopping Block....Oil painting

This is a little bit of a departure for me.  I think is the first painting I have done of this type with the dark brown background.  I really like it.  But my favorite part is the skin on the onion!  I LOVE the pink in it!  and the highlight!  It just doesn't take much to make me happy!

My Crab, Shrimp, Crawfish, Oyster series is still proving to be a favorite.  They are so versatile... horizontal on a backsplash, vertical in a group of two or three, hung in a block of four, three in one spot and the fourth on an easel on a pile of cookbooks.  Lots of ideas and luckily lots of seafood in the sea! 

Tomatoes....Oil paintings

                     

    

I have decided to streamline my blogging process.  I want to share my art, but life keeps getting busier.  My plan is to try to do blog posts that don't take as much time, so therefore they may actually get done.  If you are interestd in a certain piece, feel free to email me about the size and cost.  It takes a while to center that info under the photo and not everyone needs that...so poof, it is gone by the wayside.

These are the tomatoes that I promised "tomorrow" a couple of weeks ago.  Someone at one of my shows reminded me that they were still waiting for tomatoes....so here they are! 

My tomatoes have been very popular this fall!  I sold 5 (five!) tomato paintings at RedRiverRevel in Shreveport and could possibly have sold more if I had had them. 

Ok, I am off to paint! (You guessed it!  Tomatoes today.)

Pear-Palooza....oil paintings of fruit.

"Three Pears Hanging Out".....8x16......oil on canvas.....$140

 

"Pear Pair"...6x12 (ea.).....oil on canvas.....$80 (ea.)

I am getting ready for four, possibly five, outdoor art shows this fall, plus a gallery show in September.  One of the tried and true subject matters that always seems to be popular is the ever expressive pear.  So it is lucky that I don't get tired of painting them.  Or tomatoes either.  Tomatoes to come tomorrow.

The Crabby Couple...Oil painting

10x20.....Oil on canvas......SOLD

I have been prodded from more than one arena to get busy and update my blog.  So here I am.  Me and the Crabby Couple. 

It was quite hot at my last outdoor art show and the mood was less than stellar between my husband and me as we set up my tent and hung paintings.  I pulled out this painting and said, "Oh, another Crabby Couple".  I was so delighted with my outstanding wit that my mood was better from then on.  (Plus a storm passed to the south of us and the wind picked up and the temp dropped about 15 degrees...that helped too.)

Pears and More Pears....Oil Paintings

A Chorus Line...Pears....18x36...Oil on canvas.....$725



Pear Squares....6x6........oil on canvas....$55. ea.

Pears are, to me, the fruit with the most personality.  They have "body language".  I like to paint them.  I am particularly happy with these that I have painted recently.  I have one more set of four, but I forgot to photo them in the Great Photo Shoot the other day.

Welcome to those of you who are joining me from Facebook, thanks to my sweet daughter-in-law's mention in her status.  I have the best supportive family on the planet!

Also, to those that have subscribed to my blog and get my posts in your email each day that I actually manage to make one(thank-you)...I have a hint for you.  If you click on the name of my blog at the top of the email...  in my emails from other artists it is written in grey....it will take you to my actual blog.  My stuff  looks so much better on the blog than it does in the stark white email environment.  Just a quick hint to increase your viewing pleasure. 

A Chorus Line...Tomatoes Oil Painting

A Chorus Line...Tomatoes....18x36....Oil on canvas......$725

This is a little different from my other tomato paintings.  For one it is larger, and it also features several tomatoes.  I can just picture it above a buffet in someone's dining room or in a keeping room.  I do love painting tomatoes.

   

   



Sports Nuggets... Basketball, Baseball,Soccer, Golf...Oil on Canvas...6x6 ea.....$55 ea.

Now these little jewels!  Oh MY!!  They were so much fun to paint. I love the drama of the lighting and the colors!  They are tiny by my standards, just 6x6 inches!  I can just see them on a backsplash in someone's man cave.  Or in a sports nut's room.  Or a nursery!  I love oil paintings as an unexpected touch of class in a baby's room. 

Tools of the Trade....oil painting.....

"Tools of the Trade"......12x24....oil......SOLD

This is a variation of my Tabasco trend...I like it and plan to do more similar pairings....with other condiments, on tablescapes, and with spices and foods that you would commonly see with Tabasco.

This is one of the paintings that I have done for my upcoming outdoor festival...Doubledecker in Oxford.  I am done painting now and need to do prints and put wires on the backs and make title cards.  All aspects of the "other side" of the glamorous life of an artist.  The part that people don't think about when they ask how long it takes to do a "painting".  Sometimes the painting is the quick part...it's the "work" that takes all the time.

Cup Stack....Oil painting

Cup Stack......10x20.....Oil.......$225

This one draws from the imagination....a bit....I just couldn't get a set of cups and saucers to stay like that for long!

Morning Snack....oil painting...

Morning Snack....8x10.....Oil.....$125

This is another painting from my workshop this past weekend. I like the looseness of it. I told Carole, the teacher, that I was way out of my comfort zone...working with a different pallette of colors, a different brush (I've been using pallette knives lately), and working small again for the first time in a long time. The last painting I did before this workshop was 3 feet by 4 feet...this one was 8 x 10 inches! But it is good to do things that stretch you.

Oysters on the Halfshell...Oil painting...

Oysters on the Halfshell....12x12....oil....SOLD

This is a painting that I did at my workshop in Alabama this past weekend. Carole Foretwas the teacher. We had a great weekend, ate great food (thanks to Todd), met her beautiful daughters, and got to paint!!! Great people in the class. All around just what I needed in a lot of ways. I love my oysters....plan to paint more.

And to those in my family (or your family for that matter, if they are not the same folks I am already talking about) that are experiencing serious troubles right now, please know that I am praying for you "without ceasing". You know who you are.

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.

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.