6 x 6"
oil on linen
$125
This is Gracie. I covet Gracie. She will never be mine. She almost was, but alas, my friend Ann-Marie persevered and changed Gracie from a vicious beast into a fluffy muffin. She now lives happily with her brother in fur, Roscoe. He's a tad bigger but Gracie rules the roost. When we jam, she'll jump up on the couch, stand on her hinds and lick the inside of your ear. Not a great feeling, but since it's Gracie, I don't mind it one bit. I also have my eye on Roscoe. We'll see.
16 x 20"
oil on canvas
SOLD
Icky day. These kinds of days usually make me happy. Oh well. I'm working dailies and commissions and neither is near done, so I'd like you to meet Shelby. She was a commission I did a few years back.
6 x 6"
Oil on linen
$125
This is the second in a series of the branches from the rhodadenren bush outside my studio window. These are more fun than I've ever had painting. Took me back to that great feeling of warmth and safety I'd inevitably feel whenever I'd take out my brand spanking new, 3-tiered box of crayola crayons, run my hand over the rough, nubbley, newsprint surface of my coloring book and settle down on my bedroom floor to stay within the lines for hours. Such a simple time. All I had to worry about was which dress I'd wear to school the next day. Yes, back in the day we actually had to dress up to go to school. But, again, I digress.
The linen, painted black is my new favorite surface to work on. When I press my brush against it—it gives and I get that warm, gooey feeling again. Just perfect. I think I'll be doing one more of these and group them. We'll see. Beautiful day here. Soon be time to rake some leaves.
16 x 20"
oil on canvas
SOLD
I'm working on a series of dailies and haven't finished so again, I'm posting a commission, actually a gift. Sometimes I really like leaving the toned canvas as a background. I'm really glad it's Friday. Enjoy.
6 x 7.75"
Oil on board
$125
This started out as a lot of fun. This is my third daily on board and it's been 2 weeks of waiting for the paint to dry, puttin' this puppy in the oven, the use of a hair dryer and a less than toasty, early fall, sun soak. I just decided to put it out of it's misery and force a finish.
I love the subject matter. It's the headstock of my Paul Reed Smith guitar. I've taken a lot of graphically lit closeups of it and I'm going to do more, just not on board. The boards and I have officially decided to go our separate ways. Sad but true. Perhaps himself will enjoy the remaining seven left in stock.
18 X 24"
Oil on canvas
SOLD
Working on a commission today and thought I could get it far enough to post, but no go so I'm posting a recent commission. I'm afraid I went a tad overboard clover-wise but I couldn't help myself—himself is Irish. I like this because it's less a portrait and more a painting.
Also, I'd like to apologize to anyone who left a comment here that I haven't responded to. When I began blogging there were no comments made, obviously, because who knew I was posting except me and my closest relative, so I just assumed I'd never get any feedback. Fast forward to today, I noticed one and then I noticed lots! I do apologize and hope no one thought me rude. It's not a real big deal, I know, but if someone takes the time to comment on my work/ranting, I feel it's only proper to say thank you, assuming of course the comment was nice, which they've all been...so far. So thank you and I apologize.
5 X 7"
Oil on canvas
$100
If you've been following my musings/whining, you'll remember the wedding cake and the visit from our friend, the artist. Well these puppies were among the gifts he brought. He told me what they were, but I forgot. I wanted to do these on linen but none were dry enough to work on since I painted every surface black yesterday after my happy time with the leaves. Plus, I want to post a painting every day this week, so I had to rush this, but, I think it works.
6 x 6"
Oil on linen
$125
I am very happy. When one "teaches" themselves to do something, and I use the term "teaches" loosely, one usually gets bogged down by ego and cannot see the forest for the trees. It takes a while for me to actually get around to using the advice I'm always asking for. Guess it's one of those "I have to discover it myself" kind of ego saving exercises. Or perhaps I was just scared? Who cares? Two words! Black canvas. I feel as though a door has been opened up on so many new possibilities with my work. I'm actually feeling brave. It's been a while since I had such a growth spurt. Feels good. Haven't whined or heavy sighed in at least 48 hours. About my work anyway.
I was painting last week when I looked out my front window and saw the sun glowing on the rhodadenren bush outside. There I was, in the front yard, flannel jams and Frankenstein flip flops, shooting the bush with the dige. Got some nice shots. More to come.
7 x 5"
Oil on canvas
$125
I bought himself all manner of gourmet accoutrement one Christmas. This bottle, empty now, was filled with blood orange oil. Amazing stuff. Just the scent of it made you feel all gooey and warm inside. He added it to a lobster dish once and took it to another whole level. Seems anything he added it to was enhanced in a way that made the dish somehow ethereal or other worldly good. Who cares if he's not on top of the garbage to the curb thing. The man can cook! For real!
Anyway, the bottle is one of our favorites and I thought it warranted a daily effort. A quick thought regarding painting on a black surface—odds botkins!!! It is the answer to everything! Thank you to an incredible artist, Jelaine Faunce, for that advice.
18 X 24"
Oil on canvas
SOLD
I miss the white hot sun of a mid-summer noon day. Never thought I'd say that, but nothing is drying! I've got a painting in the oven. Never thought I'd say that either.
I began the as yet unfinished daily on Thursday of last week! My first on a pre-painted black surface. Oh my! I get it now. So, I went and painted all of my toned canvasses and board surfaces, save one, black and they're not dry enough to paint on yet! Oh well.
I haven't posted in days and I am beginning to feel untethered from the planet again. This is a recent commission and his name is Freeway. Is he not scrunchable cute?
Working on a process yet again. The plan is to have this studio working like a well-oiled timepiece from back in the day. Commissions, dailies, gallery hopefuls broken down into hourly compartments. I know I can do this. Just step away from the mouse Suzanne.
12 X 12"
Oil on canvas
SOLD
I'm working on linen, which for me means layers, which means a few days so I'm posting a pet commission. This one was great fun to work on and my client is happy. Who could ask for more?
12 X 12"
Oil on canvas
$150
ndp
This is the first one I did in this style. My previous nudes were quick studies. These last three are more detailed. I love the simplicity of choosing only three colors—dark, midtone and highlight. It's a good way to study value.
12 X 12"
Oil on canvas
$150
ndp
I'm really happy with these so I'm going to post here even though they've appeared on the Daily Painter's site. I love the way they look within the content of the page. Hope himself is right.
12 X 12"
Oil on canvas
$150
Himself assures me there are nude images throughout blogger, and I really want to post the nudes I'm doing, so I'll take a chance and see what happens. I find I'm drawn to the female form when I paint, but decided to include males as well. In life class there is no choice, the model is the model and you are forced to draw the poses he or she takes. That eliminates procrastination, which I'm really good at. But, here at home, doing a daily, I've got so much reference material it took me an hour to decide which pose to do.
It's amazing what's available to artists nowadays. I bought a series of books called Virtual Pose which include a cd that allows you to view the model in Quicktime. You can then take your mouse, position it over the image, drag and the model turns 360 degrees so you can draw the same pose from any position. Incredible!
24 X 36"
Oil on canvas
NDP
I feel like I haven't been working simply because I've gotten used to posting on my blog and haven't been able to do so because I'm working on nude studies. This piece has been going on for the last year or so. I hate it, I like it, I loathe it, I love it, depending upon the day, my mood and whether or not it's raining in Pittsburgh. Anyway, I need a few more hours and it'll be done, but I thought I'd post anyway, just so I know—like the pink bunny beating that bass drum—I'm still going. The faces need work but it's coming along. I called it the Glad Bag because that honking great green mass of plastic, a little right of center, looks as though it's ready to swallow up everything and everybody.
16 X 20"
oil on canvas
NFS
I want to post, but I'm doing nudes and they're a no-no, so I'm posting this study of a friend's daughter. It's unfinished, but I like the lightly-toned canvas against her skin tones and wanted to share.
These past few days, I've been doing nude studies in oil and I'm having so much fun. I just can't believe the natural beauty of the human form, the shadow and light falling on the form to create such incredible shapes.
These paintings can be seen on dailypainters.com.
5 x 7"
Oil on canvas
$175
It's simply amazing what kind of logic the voice employs. I'm accepted to Daily Painter's and I proceed to try to paint like someone else because the voice says that what got me accepted wasn't good enough. Hmmm. Curious. After the candy corn, I discovered that I need to be me. The pieces probably don't look much different, but the application of the paint is and I'm much happier with the method I've been using. Painting in layers is also good and sometimes necessary, but I'm not that familiar with it and the work was beginning to look stiff. I need to make friends with layers and building relationships takes time, so patience is key.
I'm not going to whine today, I feel like a professional. As a matter of fact, I'm quite happy.
