Moon Shadows Series.....Oil Painting

Moon with Tree Silhouette...12x12....oil on canvas(sold)
(I do have more paint, so if you like this contact me about doing something similar, but different, made just for you!)

The second in my Moon Shadow series.  I took a little poetic license with this one.  But I love the effect and since I am an artist I can do strange things.  Just ask my kids.  

New Home for this Landscape!.......Oil Painting

I love it when I get to see my work in it's forever home.  I even got to see this one in person.  It looks like it was made to go there.  But then, that's what a commission is, isn't it?  It was, indeed, actually MADE to go right there!

Barn and Field...................oil painting

I have been enjoying my journey with my newfound philosophies and mindsets.  (see last three posts) This particular painting is a "paintover" which always makes for amazing texture and depth.  I love how this turned out.  Hope you do too.If you know anyone that is looking for a nice 30x40 barn painting send them my way.

Reflections on a Lake....Oil Painting

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.

Poppies.....oil painting......#27 of 30 paintings in 30 days...

 

18x36......oil painting.....$775

 

I have been much more comfortable painting flowers since my workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry this summer.  I will have to say, I am just more comfortable painting....period.  It's like anything else, the more you do it the more comfortable you are. 

 

Every now and then I go back to paint a subject that I have painted in the past when I was first learning how to use oil paints.  This happened recently with  a bell pepper.  I remember the first time I painted one....all the little dips and shadows around the top....and getting the stem in there and looking like it stuck out.  It seemed like a foreign language and I was just muttering a few phrases here and there.

 

But just recently I had a commission to do three small paintings of a red, green and gold bell pepper.  It was so much easier this time and I realized that I have been getting better over time.  I wouldn't say that I am "fluent" yet, still lots more to learn and more discipline to apply, but I am at least "conversational".  

Lake in Lecco, Italy......oil painting.....#26 of 30 paintings in 30 days...

 

18x36.....oil painting.....$775

 

This is a little place in the Lake District in Italy...a little town called Lecco.  This is where we stayed our first two night of our trip in 2010.  We had traveled by ferry to Bellagio on this day and as we returned and were walking back to our hotel, the light was just so gorgeous!  I took many pictures along the way and lagged way behind my fellow travelers.....as usual.  lol

Barn and Hay Bales.....oil painting.......#19 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

 

16x20....oil on canvas.....$375

 

I love the colors in this one.  And since here in Mississippi the temperatures have finally dipped into the 80's it seems that fall is in the air.  These big rolls of hay are in every field this time of year.  I took a little liberty with the trees, they are definitely not that colorful around here yet.  But as I said, the "low" temps have got me thinking of Autumn...

Lake District, Bellagio, Italy....Oil Painting.....18 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

 

24x30.....oil on canvas......$850

 

 

This is a photo that I took in 2010 when my husband and I went to Italy with some dear friends of ours.  This is near the beginning of our trip when we visited the town of Bellagio in the Lake District of northern Italy.  We had our first of many long wine lunches there. This particular wine bar was where we had the amazing Puglia Olives.  What you see are my husband and our friend speaking with the proprietor.  They were scoping out a spot and I will have to say this was an excellent choice!  Wonderful little places were just around every corner.  Great memories. 

Water's Edge....Oil Painting.....#13 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days....

 

20x24......oil on canvas.........$575

 

This is a scene from the edge of the water where our house in Gulfport used to be pre-Katrina.  We sure do miss the good times down there.  With God's grace we will be able to have the family convene down there again one day.

Lovelace Drugstore, Downtown Ocean Springs....Oil painting.....#12 of 30 paintings in 30 days

 

12x24.....oil on Canvas.....$340

 

This is from my hometown of Ocean Springs, MS.  Lovelace drugs is a fixture in the downtown area.  I remember sitting in front of Lovelace's under the oak tree in high school and having a bake sale for the Paper Staff.  I met a wonderful older gentleman that I went on to interview for the paper.  He paraphrased this Longfellow poem and I have always remembered it.....

 

"I often think of the little town,

seated beside the sea

and in my dreams stroll up and down

the pleasant streets of the dear old town

and my youth comes back to me."

Italy....oil paintings

Scenes from our trip to Italy in 2010.  What wonderful memories.  I can still remember taking photos at every turn....everywhere you looked was a painting.

Courtyard in Sorrento.....oil painting

This was painted from a photo from our trip to Sorrento in southern Italy last September.  I don't know for sure what this building was.  It looked like a church, but when you peeked into this courtyard there was art hanging on the walls in the walkway fehind these arches.  Whatever it was it was my kind of place!

"On the Way to San G"....16x20...oil on canvas.....SOLD

This is one of the paintings that sold this past weekend at "Art in the Pass".  It was painted from a photo I took on our trip to Italy this past fall.  The couple that bought it had been to Italy as well and it brought back good memories for them, too.  That's about all you can ask of a painting...to evoke a positive emotion.

"Pond"ering....oil painting landscape....

"Pond"ering.....8x10......oil on board......SOLD

Continuing in the landscape genre....these little gems look so great right now lined up in my living room. I love that I get to keep my paintings around the house and live with them while they dry. I feel like a foster parent.

Something different is on tap for tomorrow, though. No need to get stuck on one thing for too long. That's the beauty of this job.

On another note, let's just say we've been knocking it out of the park with wedding planning lately. My little chick is going to have a wedding that is as cool and unique as she is.

Where No One Goes....Oil painting Landscape...

Where No One Goes....8x10....oil on board......SOLD
This is another one of those little landscapes....8x10 is counted as little when you're normally doing 30x40 or 20x24. This is one of those that benefited from my friend Julie's "smear tactics". I put the paint on the board and it was just terrible....so then I started in with the pallette knife, adding paint and loosening it up....and ended up with a painting that I just love! You know what they say...sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

From Now On.....Oil painting landscape

From Now On....8x10....Oil on Board.....SOLD

Not sure where this one came from...meaning, it is a departure from my normal style and subject matter. But I really like it. The title refers to the song lyric, "Blue skies, nothing but blue skies from now on..." It looks so much better in person. I have to get the hang of this photographing part!

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!

Friday's Work...

I did this pear yesterday afternoon after I had posted the pelicans. I was feeling the time drawing to a close where I can just paint all day long so I was reluctant to put up my paints and wash my brushes. I did this pear from life with thoughts of what I learned in class near the surface of my thoughts. I changed backgrounds at the last minute and the ground color was not what I would have used. However it made this interesting background color, sort of a departure for me. The pear is 11x14.Speaking of departures I decided to do something different from my normal repertoire and this guy is the result. I took his photo when we visited Hilton Head Island this summer. I am sorry to say he was a pet and not just in the wild but he was colorful, noisy and happy(like me). He is 12x24.

In keeping with the departure theme, this landscape was born out of the desire to not throw away the beautiful colors I had left over from some of the paintings of the last couple of days. I took my pallette knife and created this sunset. A total departure...I feel like there is no way I can come close to imitating the beauty of a sunset, so I normally don't try. This is 11x 14 and just sort of makes me smile.