Nets out - 14x11"

This is a crummy photo but it's so windy outside, there was no way I could get a decent one (it's supposed to be like this for a few days). Anyway, I was also pleased to feel like I'm somewhat back on track as far as work goes so I thought I would post. I think I am still somewhat flu affected.........just weird little aches and pains and occasional feverish moments. I am very grateful that it's almost gone!

palmettos and fog - 11x14"

I made a good start on this, but..............I only took the photo because a fog bank came in quite quickly! I got to the beach at high tide before it was light and it was amazing. I had a wonderful three hours and did a couple of totally wretched small things (to remain forever unposted) and really felt the pure delight of painting again. Since I use this blog primarily as a journal rather than a marketing tool, you will probably notice more posts like this one rather than more formal photos of finished paintings that are about to be framed. Right now I really feel the need to just learn and experiment.

inland - 14x11" study on site

Not great but it was an enjoyable experience and that made me remember why I paint in the first place! I find that pressure (self-induced) to produce work suitable for framing on a regular basis can really stifle the ability to work at all.........when this happens I have to give myself permission to play and enjoy the work again. I began this morning at the beach but forgot my palette knives and then found that they were all I wanted to use. I drove inland after failing there and had much better luck.

stuck!!!

 

Wow, am I stuck at the moment! Things were going along fine until the flu sidetracked me and now that I am feeling better, nothing seems to be working at all. So, this is a drab little plein air thing I decided to post since I have not wiped it down like everything else this week. I don't often get stuck for this long so I am finding it incredibly frustrating. I think I'll go to the beach early tomorrow morning and try to unblock myself.

still life beginnings

I couldn't resist these roses at the grocery store yesterday so I got them. I still don't really understand the finer points of setting up a still life and have never really had the space for it so I tend to go simple.........controlling the light source is the biggest problem and the drastic change of light is what  stopped my work on this picture today. Where I paint inside has light from three directions (all but north) and it actually stays true for much of the day but then it gets really, really different!

january geranium study - 8x10"

Just a quick study today.............despite the warm weather we have had here recently, there is little color in the landscape. These geraniums I transplanted from the window boxes last fall are a bright spot. I am still feeling kind of crappy from the flu so I have been trying to get out to paint rather than working on anything complex indoors (the necessary focus is still eluding me anyway). 

getting there

 I am finally feeling a little better..............I had been working on this when the flu "hit" me. Went out plein air for two hours today to the Broad River - did a wiper for sure but it was wonderful to be out again after being sick for more than a week. The weather was beautiful and a pod of dolphins decided they would cheer me up while I was working. Every day is a little better but, boy, would I recommend a flu shot for anyone who hasn't gotten one yet!

earth ball (10x10") & the flu

Wow...........on Thursday, I was standing at the easel painting and I was suddenly freezing - seriously freezing. By evening I had to get under the covers and turn the heat way up and by Friday I knew I was really sick and didn't even try to function. Made it to Urgent Care on Sunday and tested positive for influenza - got some Tamiflu and am slowly beginning to recover. I am posting this picture because it is one of the paintings that I put into the Beaufort Art Association Gallery exhibit this month and I have barely cleaned a paintbrush since Thursday.......I recommend Tamiflu however, I actually woke up for a few hours yesterday afternoon! Pretty Awesome.

New Orleans morning - 12x16" (unfinished)

First post of 2013 - hard to believe. I've been working on this for the last couple of days.............I was drawn to all  of the puddles on the street and how they reflected the sky so well. I ran out of the titanium white that I normally use (M. Graham) and have been using some other brand which is drying really fast so I feel like I am fighting to keep the paint wet enough. Luckily my online order arrives tomorrow and I found a tube of Graham that was mostly gone in my plein air bag! In addition to that, a painting with so much shadow in it can be very difficult to photograph so I apologize about the picture.