Vanderbilt Beach Palms -Plein Air

Vanderbilt Palms
8x10 Oil on Hardboard
Plein Air   SOLD

Vanderbilt Beach is a great place to find a lot of different subjects for plein air painting.  I had a great spot for painting, under a teki  hut.  Which gave me great lighting for the few hours I worked on this.
Trying hard to get out more and paint.  Have a few paintings in the finishing stages right now.  One may even be finished tonight.  Stay tuned.  :-D

Plein Air at Shangri-La Springs

Pottery in Oil
8X10 on linen hardboard

Its been a good long while since I did any Plein Air painting.  It really did feel good to get out and paint.

There group of painters from the Estero Fl. area that get together on Wednesday to paint outdoors and I was happy to join in the fun.  We painted for about 2 1/2 hours at  Shangri-La Springs, Bonita Fl.  This painting is done in oil and is a 8X10.  Sometimes the simplest subjects make the best paintings don't they?  I know I needed a simple painting to start off with. 

YSU Festival of the Arts, Youngstown Oh.

Have to give a shout of thanks to all my customers who helped make the show a success.  I always feel so honored that my art graces their walls and homes.

Sunflowers to Bluebirds

Bluebird
5x7 Oil

The Bluebirds are  back!  So I took a few hours from painting sunflowers to painting Bluebirds.


Their such wonderfully colored birds with a kind eye and I do love to paint them.

Sunflowers, Sunflowers, and more Sunflowers

 Sunflowers are the subject for "A Painting A Day" Facebook page that a friend started.  So here are a couple of quick studies.  Most took only a 1/2 hour or so..
The two lighter paintings which gambit to a lighter sepia tonal color scheme are the result of cleaning up the palette.   Always a good exercise to use a limited palette but I think what was left on the palette was just a bit to sparse in terms of darks.  But they still look pretty.  :)

5x7 Oil

8x10 oil

11x14 Oil

11x14 Oil

Copper and Fruit #3 in the Still Life Challenge

Copper and Fruit
Oil on 8x10 Canvas

  Here is #3 from the challenge.

  Took about 6 hours to complete the painting and its one of the most involved pieces I have ever done. First because of the amount of subjects. Secondly due to the limited palette I used. (T. white, Alz. Crimson, Ult. Blue, Cad. Yellow Lt. and Burnt Umber.) . Thirdly, since the fruit was fake it was much harder to paint.

   If the painting looks a bit flat its because there are no highlights at present.  I will add them later when the paint is dry to the touch.

Thanks Robbie for the CUTE FRUIT and neat copper bowl.  ;)

Vase #2 in the Still Life Challenge

Vase
12x9 Oil on Linen Hardboard

Number 2 in the challenge. Have three more to get done tomorrow and I'll be caught up.

I've started using a new style of painting.. I have made my own slo-dry medium and have more time to paint wet-in-wet.  I think I do like it better than the liquin.  Its something I have been planning and drafting in my head while I do my pottery.

This challenge came along at a good time.  Helped me get off my butt and get some paint on the canvas.

Tea Cup

Tea Cup
5x7 Oil on Linen Hardboard

Lately I have not been up to the challenge of painting.  To much other arty projects going on.  Mainly pottery.
But when Val started I daily painting challenge page on face book I realized I really wanted to start painting again.

This challenge is a 10 day still life.. Day one for me but I think its day 6 for others.  Always a bit late.  ;)
Took about an hour.. course my tea was a tad cool.  But was fun to just push some paint!

Pots fresh out of the kiln!

 Just a few of the pots that came out of the kiln this past week.  I did a few over that I was not happy with how the glaze turned out.  I'm satisfied with the way they turned out this time about.

Did some sculptured fish vases too..  They sure take lots of time to make but the end effect is well worth it.

The Cape Coral "Wild About Wildlife"

 I was honored to have my painting "Bluebird" awarded 1st place at the Cape Coral Art League.  The show was titled "Wild About Wildlife."  Couldn't pass the show up because how often do you see a show that the theme revolves about animals?
  There were many lovely paintings.. as you can see by the one below mine in the picture.  Thanks again to the Cape Coral Art League for putting on a great show!

Berry Bowls, Pitchers, and Sugar Bowls.

Berry Bowls

Small Pitchers and Sugar Bowls

These are a few of the pieces that came out of the kiln Monday.  Of course I'm a bit excited that only 3 pieces did not quite turn out the way I wanted.  But you will have that.   Oh.. and all the lids popped off!!!!  Wow... Last year it seemed like every lid had to be chiseled off.

I will be posting a few more in a few days.

Koi Fish

Porcelain Sculpture
"Koi"

These fish sculptures are such fun to do.  Everyone is different as the expressions change with each one.  
Since I just pulled these out of the kiln on Wednesday night after church.  I didn't get photos because I was so tired. By the time I remembered that I didn't have any pics these 4 were the only ones left.  




I lined the fish up like they were swimming amongst the tea cups.  They looked so cute even the guys had smiles on their faces as they went by the booth.  I always strive to get an emphatic connection from the viewer with my paintings, sculpture should be no different.

Koi- An Altered Vase

Stoneware
Altered Wheel thrown pot
4"high x 9"long

An altered stoneware pot, first thrown on the wheel, then pinched, prodded and cut to form a fish.

  The stoneware I use is very very dark, almost chocolate in color.  This effects the glaze color a bit.  So it will be interesting to see just how much brighter the orange and whites will be.

Little Piggy Banks Ready For Market

Stoneware and Porcelain
Altered pot technique

  When I paint I have the finished painting in my mind and follow it to the end.  But with altering pots it doesn't quite work that way.  When you bang it on the table, pinch, pull or cut it up the end result never quite matches the mental image in my head.  (I think that is why I'm so captivated with the pottery.)
  In saying that, these little piggies have been pitching me fits since September. The results really didn't match how I wanted them to look.  But the outcome is no less appealing to the eye and touch.  As a friend said.. "Oh, how CUTE! They are just adorable!"  And I have to agree.  :)

Wolf

Wolf
Oil on Linen Hardboard
16x20

When I started the art journey I always wanted to paint a wolf or two.  So I had collected a few reference photos and had them in my "When I am a better painter box."  The rule being that when I pick a photo from this box it has to be painted.  Thing was that this time I had a fearfully large 16x20 canvas to put it on in front of me.
So while I finished this with some trepidation I'm almost happy with it!
Because its so much larger than the little 5x7's and 8x10's that seem to pop of the paintbrush so easily.  I'm a bit nervous about putting down brush strokes.  A small brush can explain the dramatic little details on smaller canvas, but those shapes and strokes get lost in the bigger paintings.  I'm sure there is a way to 'explain' the stroke the way I want in these larger formats.  Just have to keep at it.  Practice...

Bluebird

Bluebird
8x10 Oil on hardboard

Finally got the painting to where I was satisfied with it.  The part of the painting that pitched me fits was a 1x1 inch square area.  It only took 4 months for me to get it how I wanted it.  ::Sigh::

But it is done!  ;)

Great Trail Festival

Been busy potting the last month.  Here are a few examples at what I'll be taking to the
Malvern Great Trail Festival   
Aug. 23-24 and
Aug.30-31 & Sept. 1

Lots of reds with lovely blues this year to go along with my colors from last year.  Just can help adding more colors.  Its the artist in me that makes me do it.  ;)

Hope to see you at the show!  Click on the link for directions and other info!

Youngstown Festival of The Arts 2014

It was an awesome show!!   Just want to thank everyone who visited my booth as well as those who took treasures home with them.  Its nice know that my art is appreciated and displayed proudly.  Thanks again!!

Sunflowers

5x7 Oil on Panel

Oil on Panel.. Can't wait for the real sunflowers to come out!

Pottery for YSU Festival of The Arts

Getting ready for the Youngstown State University Festival of The Arts. 

Shown are just a couple of pieces from the first batch out of the kiln.  The wall flowers hangers are beyond cute.

I have new paintings as well.

Hope you all can make the show and see some of the pottery and paintings in person.  :)

Southwest Villa

Southwest Villa
Oil on Canvas Hardboard
11x14

Finally finished this painting.  It was not really a struggle except for the open window which took more thought than I expected.. But focal points are everything!

Chowdown For Hunger

  The last few months have been just a wee bit hectic.  Pottery students as well as painting students have kept me occupied.  But I found some time to setup at the Chowdown for Hunger event in Estero, Fl.

  I have not been physically painting but I have been studying it on a mental plane.   Which sometimes can be as challenging as putting a brush stroke to canvas.
  When I was first starting out on the art road I wanted to know how light works and why atmosphere effects it.  A mentor told me not to worry about it, just follow the suggested techniques/rules artists follow.  Ugh.. Not the answer I wanted to hear, because there has to be a 'reason' for the suggested rule.  So of course, me being far to inquisitive for my own good, I could not let the notion go and the hunt was on.
   After reading several texts on light waves and how atmosphere effects those waves, I realized that the eye is a factor too, on how these waves affect how humans see the world around them.  So off to find books on how the human eye works.  The time was well spent because while I only gathered a rudimentary understanding, it was all I needed to incorporate what I learned into my painting process. The work I produced showed a leap forward in how I represented light planes within my paintings. 
   Artists ask me how I was able to accomplish so much in such a short time.  They write it off as the fact that I have talent above most.  I can not emphasize just how wrong I feel their perception is!  Art is an understanding of paint and how paint is applied so that it represents objects.  So understanding the light and time spent learning how to draw with a paint brush was the key to starting to paint well.

    David Leffel, often called the artists artist, has been a wonderful find for me this winter.  I joined his website and watched some of his videos.   In the videos he mentions how painting is a study of science and how things work in life.  To which I heartily agree.
  

Road Runner

Road Runner
5x7 Oil on Hardboard

Now... we all know how much I love birds.  This one was a little different to sit down and paint.  Love the "hair doo." 
I have been trying out a new toy.. its an oil paint medium that I really have come to love the feel of.  A few years ago I tried Lukas Med. 5 that gives the paint the same wonderful silky feel as the Maroger.  I would have still been using the stuff but the odor was just awful.

The Maroger doesn't have that,  in fact it smells wonderful and it also gives the paint an automatic varnish quality.  Though there are two drawbacks with it though.  One being the price, which is pretty high compared to other mediums.  The second is that if your using a paint with a lower pigment load you end up with more of a glaze than a layer of paint.  I did break down and purchase several tubes of M. Harding's paint to see if my suspicions were correct.  Harding's product has a higher paint pigment load and to my delight his paint did help with keeping an impasto build up.  The photo of 'Road Runner" doesn't show the depth I achieved in painting with the Maroger, but its there.

Sweet and Sour

Sweet and Sour
Oil 5x17 hardboard

I usually avoid more than two elements, unless its a landscape, so this was a fun challenge.  I found fruit looses that wonderful sheen when its first cut if you take to long to paint it.  Next time I either have to paint faster or have fruit on hand.  Perhaps maybe a stronger light so that its not to close to the fruit may help. What would probably be the best is to make a shadow box.

The Orange

Orange 1
5x7 panel

Quick 20 minute still life diddle I did while Joe was watching football.  Oil on panel 5x7.  I like the painting though the orange is a tad bit floaty.   Hmm.. Guess I should not have eaten the orange just yet.  ;)  When it drys a bit I'll fix it.

"Color, color everywhere and not a thing to paint."
Sometimes that happens doesn't it?  You find yourself in one of these little ruts and can't seem to find something to paint.  Even though the world is just chock full of things nothing seems to suit.

   I'm trying to shake off one of those little ruts right now.  I've been afraid to paint for the last 4 or 5 months.  Yes, afraid to paint.  Why?  Because people, though meaning well, keep saying things such as, "You have to paint bigger."   Then there is the one I hear most often, "Your paintings are lovely but to win you need to capture more wall space, paint bigger."  I have several large canvases started but don't want to finish.  There is just to much tension to preform going on when I sit down to paint.
  When I was painting for 8 months my mentor gently insisted that I start to enter art shows.  His reasoning?  As a tool to compare my work with other artists to see where I needed improvement and to lean about styles.   He was right, I have learned much from shows.  But, truthfully while its nice to win or place its not necessary.  (Btw.. never say that out loud to an artist who takes winning seriously.) 
   What it all boils down to is this,   I don't want to paint better than other artists I just want to paint better for me.  Wherever that takes my art is where I want to be. 

Ceramic Bird Houses

Took some time to relax and finish the bird houses.  The plant hanger was a perfect find to hang them on.  The bottom has a flat iron wire shelf which you can put a potted plant on it as I did.  The plant gives it a really lovely look whether you put it in the garden or a sunny location inside and it makes the hanger even sturdier.
All the bird houses have nice big clean outs for those who would love to hang them off a tree limb or put them on a post.

Send me an email if you would like one as I am in the process of making different styles right now. 

Giraffe

Giraffe
18X24 oil

I met this fellow at the Naples Zoo.  Got to hand feed him, which was way more than cool. 

I have struggled with this painting for 4 months.  (There are three other giraffes hiding under this one. )   I think the struggling was because of the size of it, 18x24.  It is just plain hard to add interest to large areas that do not have shifts in planes of light.  Learned much and now its time to move on to the next painting.

A little aside about Giraffes:
Such unique animals, aren't they?  Not only to look at, but internally as well.  Did you know that they have special valves in their neck arteries that keeps the blood circulating so it doesn't just keep draining back down to the heart?  God sure knows how to design doesn't he!

Pottery Just out of the oven!

 I have been so busy with creating that posting photos of my artwork and pottery has been lax.  I just keep moving to the next project.

The pottery has most of my attention the past few months with having to get an inventory for the summer shows up north.  Though I now see a bit of daylight and I have been catching up on some much needed r&r with my painting!   Well as least I had a few hours to create the Christmas Kitty posted below.  :)

Christmas Kitty

Purrrfect Christmas
Oil 6x6

The Estero Art League of Florida is hosting the meeting of the Art Council of Southwest Florida.  Members were given a 6x6 canvas to paint something Christmas holiday related to jazz up the meeting and show of member skills. This is my submission.
Normally I don't get excited about my paintings but this one turned out just 'to Cute!'   A fellow artist friend thinks paintings should not be cute.  He is much to serious.. :)