sakonnet light - 17x11 - pastel

This is an "oldie but goodie" which I did a couple of years ago. I haven't been using pastels much but I always sort of liked this one and today was a sort of chopped up day. I did a couple of small studies for practice but nothing I wanted to take a picture of and then proceeded to spend nearly an hour looking for my cell phone which I dropped in the garden while I pulled stinging nettle for a bit after lunch. I came back in to work on larger stuff when my arms were so covered with welts from the nettle that I had to stop but at least I managed to find the phone!

tanning - 8" square

I must have been wrong about uploading yesterday since today blogspot uploaded like it usually does. I confess that I am not terribly interested in all of the ins and outs of my computer. It is finally sunny but so windy that working outside was not even a remote possibility. The next couple of days promise to be better.

new upload!

Well, that was tricky.........blogspot seems to have a new upload feature. It took me a bit to get only a single image of this and God knows, I didn't want more than one. I did finish this one yesterday and am on to another. The weather remains gloomy and cold and is now quite windy as well - so I am in again today. I am less frustrated and my throat isn't sore so that is a good thing.

sunflower struggle - 8" square

One of those days! My throat is still really sore and it is terribly gloomy outside.....I have wiped down two "starts" already so I figured that I should take a photo quick before I decide I hate this. I really wanted to paint outside from life and when the weather didn't cooperate I decided I needed to practice yellows so I started fooling around with the sunflowers again. Oh well, I guess that the trick is to stay with it even when you struggle. The day flew by even while wiping down so I suppose I am happy even though quite frustrated.

sunflower sketch - 7x5"

Just a quick sketch today - I got home yesterday afternoon and now feel like I am getting a cold. The weekend was nice, we ate way too much but my Dad had a good time. Boy, is it hard to shop for an 89 year old man! He got another painting because everything that I saw in the stores would have been ridiculous for him.

update

I have changed this quite a bit and might just finish today. I will be away until the beginning of next week - my Dad's 89th birthday!

cloud practice - 8x10"

I decided that I need to really get back into practice, practice, practice outdoors - to get back into the plein air mode. It amazes me how I grab onto methods that work and then forget the practice and development of skill without worrying about the end product so much. The clouds were pretty amazing and the midday light is hard until you really begin to look since at first they are pretty blue/white/violet. So, I grabbed some scrap board and went nuts!

beach folk - 16x8 - beginning

Just working out the larger shapes, values, pattern and colors for this picture.

polar express - 10" square

After a spell of nice weather, we are back to the gloom - low gray clouds, drizzle and temps. in the 40's. I am still working on large things but managed to finish this one and begin another small format one.

polar express - 10" square - step 1

OMG (I always wanted to use that silly abbreviation) - I spent half the day going through the SBA & FEMA paperwork! How do people survive in jobs like that without becoming suicidal? Our flood wasn't exactly devastating so I cannot imagine just how awful it could be. At any rate, I didn't finish this so here is a progress report.

city carnival - 12x9" (completed)

This one is done even though I am not totally satisfied with the car in the front............I took it out and then added it back in slightly re-drawn. I continue to work on some larger uncompleted work.

spring flower study - 10x8"

I hardly ever do still life (my space doesn't really provide for that) but today is beautiful and the flowers in my side garden called to me. I gave myself an hour away from larger paintings. Mixed results but it was fun.

tour bus update

Lots of things to finish so I might be posting updates rather than so many new smaller things.

city carnival - 12x9"

Lots of closing my eyes to visualize this one! I am trying to paint a scene I saw recently - a carnival in fading golden light shining on the backsides of these rides and the tiny bit of glow on the tent. I had a great time at the reception for the "Imagine Red" show last night and it was nice to meet people and win a prize. I am obviously not done with this painting.

Olneyville kids - 12x6"

Another gorgeous day with summerlike weather - I volunteered at English for Action's child art program the other night and took several photos in the neighborhood. These kids were quite a distance away and the setting sun threw wonderful light on their porch.

1st prize!!!! and a wipe-out

I am totally excited.........I came in from a day of painting semi-struggle and answered the phone to hear the news that this painting won a first prize at the juried "Imagine Red" show at the Portsmouth Art Guild. Good thing I can re-post this since what I did outdoors today is pretty awful.

back on track

The cleanup is nearly done. Just a mention of the show currently on at the Bristol Art Museum - it is fantastic! Kathy Weber and Rob Rey are two of the painters - I urge anyone in this area to see it, you won't be sad that you made the effort.

tripps - 10" square

This one isn't done............I have been quite distracted by all of the clean up that the flood has demanded. Started one yesterday and wiped it off. The entire neighborhood is covered with dust and grit - I had to paint inside even though it was beautiful outside because of the dirt that was settling on the palette. I would have gone somewhere else but was trying to get stuff out of the basement in time for today's trash pick up. Even as I type, the keyboard feels gritty and I just cleaned it. Oh, well, it will be over soon.

sunshine - 8" square

I have had a great week - just kidding. Even though I should be dealing with the basement before the mildew is an inch thick, I decided that I had to paint outside since it is actually sunny. The neighborhood is a mess! Now that the sun is out, the silt on the road is drying and sending clouds of dirt up into the air everytime a car goes by, there are rocks and trash from the flood everywhere. We had a rather festive day yesterday when the word came out that the president was going to visit our street - news crews and crowds were all over the place til about 5pm when everyone gave up and went home............the president didn't visit. Well, it's all up from here, back to work.