Abstracts......ribbons of color................Oil Paintings

 36x36...............................Sunrise,Sunset

30x30.................................If the Rain Comes

I have done some abstracts such as this in the past on a much smaller scale.....such as 6x6 inches.  I was asked by an art consultant if I could do them on a larger scale.  I think these qualify.  I can't wait to play around with this some more.  

Cotton on Deep Red .....oil painting

10x20........Vertical Cotton

This is a version of the single cotton bolls that have proven to be very popular.  I wanted to do one that would fit in a vertical space.  This is the result.

Tomatoes!............oil paintings

12x12...........Round Tomato

 

12x12..........Squatty Tomato

I paint tomatoes as much or more than I do pears.  Not sure why I don't find the same interest in apples or any other red fruit or vegetable, but I don't.  I have come to find out that's just the way it is.  

Very Large, Very Red Abstract......oil painting

24x36.....Oil Painting

This is a very interesting painting.  I painted it straight from my gut.  I let the paint tell me what to do.  When I was done I stood back and looked.  I don't know if it was because it was around Valentine's day or what, but it looked like a heartbeat on one of those machine readouts.  Interestingly I said this to a medical person that was viewing the painting and he said, "if this was a heart rhythm, this person would be in trouble!"  lol

 

Then I took the painting down to one of the galleries in New Orleans that represents me.  I just took it in and gave them no preconceived notion of what it was.  It is now hanging vertically and is entitled "The River".

That's what I love about abstracts....Everyone is entitled to see what they see.

Tomato Trio....oil painting....#28 of 30 paintings in 30 days....

 

8x16.....oil on canvas....$150

 

A fellow artist gave me some advice that someone had given her one time.  We both come regularly to the Red River Revel in Shreveport.  She said that it is good to always have something new going on in your tent when the people come back....the ones that visit you every year.  It's not good to have the same old same old.  Well tomatoes are one of my normal things that I sell regularly and I love to paint them.  So for a different twist I decided to combine them with another one of my favorite elements....the black and white checkerboard pattern.  It give them a really different vibe I think.

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".  

Red Hot Chili Pepper...oil painting.....#23 of 30 paintings in 30 days

 

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

 

Long, tall chili pepper will fit on a skinny wall beside your window or between two doors.  Perfect little kitchen painting.

*****update....there was a little misdirection in the dates and times of these last two posts.  But if you look backward you will find the painting you thought you would find.  Also, note to self, these long tall paintings do NOT show well in a tiny square thumbnail. lol

Pouting Tomato....Oil Painting.....#17 of 30 Painting in 30 Days...

 

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

 

 

I have fallen into the habit, like fellow painter Carol Marine, of assigning human attributes to the inanimate objects that I paint.  To me this group of tomatoes is like a group of your grandkids....you ask them to line up for a picture and there is one that pouts and turns their back and will have none of it.  Well, I didn't feel like coaxing the big guy that is looking away....I just went for it.  I wonder if he will regret it later. 

Tabasco......Oil Painting......#16 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days...

 

12x24......Oil on Canvas.....$$340

 

I have to have at least four or five Tabasco paintings ready as I head into the fall show season because they are a popular item.  This one is on the coolest green background!  It is different from any green I have mixed before and really complements the red bottle. 

 

Museum-Worthy Tomato.....oil painting......#9 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days...

 

12x12.....oil on canvas......$170

 

This is the tomato that I painted on location at the Mississippi Museum of Art this past Saturday.  I was a part of their "50 Paintings in 50 Hours" celebration as the "Old Masters to Monet" exhibit came to a close.  I had such a great time visiting with people and seeing all the great art we have right here in our own backyard!  What a great day!

It's Hot....Tabasco Oil Painting....4 of 30 paintings in 30 days

 

10x20.......oil on Canvas........$240

 

Red on Turquoise....one of my favorite combos.  Your kitchen needs a little spicing up.  Right?

Tomato Portrait and Workshop Announcement....Oil painting 3 of 30 in 30 Days

 

8x8...............oil on canvas.............$75

 

Painting number three in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days online challenge.  I am featuring this juicy tomato today because I have a juicy announcement to go with it. 

 

It's official....I will be conducting a 2-day workshop on February 14 & 15, 2014.  It will be hosted by the nice people of the Delta Art Association and will be held in Greenville, MS. The workshop will be $200.  If anyone would like to participate you can contact me and I will put you on the list for more info as the final details are arranged. 

 

The title of the workshop will be Big, Bold, Funky, Chunky (and no that is not a description of the artist!).  We will focus on tips and tricks to loosen up, gain confidence and produce bolder, braver art.  We will work with palette knives and use other activities to get loose.  I will share my list of "Things I wish I had Known from the Beginning" as well as "Things I knew and Use All the Time".

It is a fun workshop with a relaxed, encouraging vibe that is perfect for beginners as well as experienced painters wanting to "loosen up".

 

Come join us in the Delta and see what it is all about.  Spaces are limited so once you decide to come, don't put off letting us know.  

Tomato.....Original Oil Painting

12x12.....oil on gallery wrap......$170

 

My real title for this is "Potential Salsa Dancer" but you know how Google takes things so literally! 

I am gearing up for the 30 paintings in 30 days September challenge on Leslie Saeta's blog!  Oh yeah, I'm fixing to blow up your inbox with a new painting every day in September!  Wish me luck!!!!!

What's for Dinner?.....Oil Painting

This is a fairly large painting...24x24...and I can just see it gracing a dining room wall somewhere.  The background is so much prettier than the photo seems to indicate.  I'll admit this one has spent a little time in my living room.  (The ones I really like, I bring them out of the foyer and rest them on the fireplace where I can see them when I watch TV at night.  That way I get to enjoy them for a while before they find a new home.)

Tabasco and Peppers....oil paintings

Tabasco is still going strong, as well, in the popularity department...this time I have added peppers with some of them.  The folks in Shreveport live so close to Texas that they thought the peppers on the right were supposed to be a boot.  I see their point.

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.)