Friday 28 December 2012

babysitting - 12x24" (nearing completion)


I am making progress with this one but I am feeling the lack of light as I usually do this time of year. I don't think I could take a place like Alaska and having to use only artificial lighting for months at a time. I probably have another day on this one (I had to completely re-draw the figure on the right).......though I have mixed up a bit of paint in advance (much easier in natural light) and will keep going until I can't. I can't believe we are nearly at 2013............so, Happy New Year!

Wednesday 26 December 2012

happy holidays delayed


Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday - I did. I went to my sister's for a day and a half in Charleston. My kids and I pretty much combined holiday togetherness at Thanksgiving. Prior to that I began this but felt a certain rebelliousness towards picking up the brushes and went for some long walks at the beach to just explore without paints. I love the light of winter but sometimes I want a broader view of everything rather than focusing on one view as one tends to do when painting.........since winter light changes so quickly and it's so comfortable (at least here) it seems a good time to do that. There is something about the solstice that makes me quite reflective.....so I just go with it more than I used to.

Wednesday 19 December 2012

marsh color study - 11x14"

 
I am probably going to do more on this but it's so wet right now that I can't........I really felt like fooling around with color today so the marsh in my backyard served my purposes well.

Monday 17 December 2012

lagoon complete - 18" square


I don't have much to say today..........I'm glad I finished this and have begun another. I am in "finishing things up mode" and remain so saddened by Friday's shooting in Connecticut that it's hard to sound upbeat and positive in a blog post. Sometimes I become so sickened by our American culture - its blatant materialism, violence and intentional ignorance - all I can do is paint.

Thursday 13 December 2012

the lagoon - 18x18"


I started this painting last spring when I was pretty new to the area.............not familiar with the shape of the trees or the lay of the landscape. Needless to say, I got a bit stuck and put it on the "drying wall." After a summer of painting outdoors at this location I felt like I wanted and could finish it so I picked it up again and have pretty much re-done the entire thing (it's nearing completion). Another way I have to motivate myself to finish a painting I know I want to finish is to order a frame for it..........nothing lost because I can always use the frame but it gives me that impetus to at least try to get it done. 

Tuesday 11 December 2012

refinery light - 14x11"


I had never really seen an oil refinery prior to my drive to Austin......I wasn't prepared for mile after mile of them stretching from mid-Louisiana into Eastern Texas. The air was bright and totally filled with an acrid haze that seemed to make everything uncomfortable to look at. My eyes burned and the air smelled.............I had just driven through a visual paradise of swamps and wetlands so it was rather shocking to reach "oil-land." How anyone could not see and feel the pollution everywhere is beyond me. So, I thought I would make a stab at painting it.

Thursday 6 December 2012

let's explore - 9x12"


I have a cat and they don't travel well so I really love to watch dogs at the beach........they seem so delighted to be out and thrilled by everything (including the pile of net they were exploring when I saw them).

Tuesday 4 December 2012

New Orleans Doorway - 12" square


I really loved New Orleans...............this bar was open early Sunday morning in the French Quarter and the streets were sort of crowded for mid November. I am definitely going back for a few days just to paint.

Sunday 2 December 2012

tangerines (10x8" study)

 
 
 
 
It was so nice out that I had to work there today..................Since I consider still-lifes my weakest area, every once in a while I get a strong desire to improve at them. I never really had the space to do set-ups so I feel all thumbs when I attempt one. I decided that I would paint a portion of my tangerine tree since it requires no set-up at all!