Buttercups

30 Paintings of Comfort and Joy, Number Twelve

Painting flowers and abstract are wonderfully enjoyable to me.  I got a two-for-one deal here.

I am obviously pining for Spring with these last two paintings.  Winter can be lovely to paint and I may try a Winter landscape but I'm already ready for warmer days.  I did take a walk last night (trying to get in those 10,000 steps).  It was dark and chilly and the walking path was quite clear of other people, if a bit slippery.  Don't worry tho- I had my flashlight and reflective vest so I made my attempts at safety, anyway.

I am having some trouble with my lighting again so some more experimentation is in order, I guess.  Forgive me for the shiny areas.

"Buttercups"
6" x 6" oil on Gessobord
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

First Blush

30 Paintings of Comfort and Joy, Number Eleven

The first pink trees of Spring are Cherry, Flowering Crab, and then Redbud.  And they are glorious.  Gorgeous pin petals floating on the wind like confetti.  This tree is still in all its glory, not yet ravaged by Spring rains and wind.

"First Blush"
6" x 6" oil on Gessobord
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

30-in-30, Day Nineteen. Cage Free Series 026

Shimmering Ruby
Cage Free Series 026

Hummingbirds are so quick, when I see them in the yard they catch me off guard and I usually think it is a large bee buzzing around before I can focus on it to realize it's a little bird friend.  I wanted to capture that feeling of quick movement in this painting.

It's Friday, Yay!  And it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  My husband is all set with his eye patch, a bandanna for his head and he probably has a toy parrot squirreled away somewhere that he'll attach to his shoulder.  If you're really into the Pirate thing, you can dress up and Krispy Kreme will give you a free dozen.


"Shimmering Ruby"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord, unframed.
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.
See the other participating artists at Leslie Saeta's blog.

30-in-30 Day Three -- Cage Free 010

"Little Nipper"
Cage Free Series 010

Hummingbirds are amazing creatures.  The glow of their feathers just takes my breath away.  We have a few hummingbirds in our yard from time to time but I have never fed them.  My neighbor feeds birds and that will have to be good enough for me.  I seem to attract squirrels when I put out feeders.

I woke up this morning congratulating myself for being so organized.  I jumped up, turned on the tea pot to start it brewing while I went in to brush my teeth.  Feeling rather tired from staying up a little late, but glad for all I have accomplished this week.  When I got back to the kitchen, the tea pot was quiet and nothing had brewed.  My heart sank as I wondered,  "Is it broken?"  Then I realized, nope... I forgot to fill it last night.  Ugh.  The rest of the day has to go more smoothly than that, right?  Let's hope.


"Little Nipper"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord, unframed.
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.
See the rest of the artists participating in the 30-in-30 on Leslie Saeta's blog.



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Early Morning

"Early Morning"

A little bit brushwork, a little bit palette knife.  A little bit impressionistic, a little bit abstract.
How ever you think to label it, I love it.

My painting lately has been sporadic at best.  Listening to podcasts from Artists Helping Artists the artists are always talking about how quickly they grew in their art and learned so quickly when they painted more often.  Like working a muscle, it takes time.  Can I make a mid-year resolution?  I resolve to paint more often, again.  My goal is two hours a night.

I started this painting some time ago and wasn't happy with it.  So I turned it into an abstract.  Now I think it's great.  We can do that.  As artists, if we don't like how something is turning out, we can make it into something else.  Sometimes I put away a painting that is half-finished and go back to it much later.

"Early Morning"
12" x 12" oil on gessobord, unframed
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

Spring Breeze

Spring Breeze

A slightly abstracted floral.

I have lots of flowers all over my yard.  Some are cultivated and some grow wild.  The white flowers in this painting are the flowers from wild blackberries.  They are full of thorns and the petals are so delicate they fall off with the slightest touch.  They say an artist has to suffer for their art well I certainly did with plenty of pokes from these flowers.


"Spring Breeze"
9" x 12" oil on gessobord, unframed
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

Cage Free Series 004 Spring Messenger -- SOLD

Spring Messenger

A round Chickadee peers into the Spring flowers.

You thought I forgot about the birds series, didn't you?  Nah.  I have lots of birds I still want to paint.  It's the getting-around-to-it part that I'm having trouble with.  Lately it has been beautiful outside so I have been out taking lots of reference photos that I'll use when it is blistering hot outside and I can hang out in my nice, cool basement studio and paint paint PAINT.

"Spring Messenger"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord
SOLD

Bloom of Youth

Bloom of Youth

We are having a bit of rain again this week and my lawn is loving it though I am dreading having to mow in a few days when the rain finally stops.  In the mean time, I will sit in my studio with the laundry running and paint these lovelies.  The largest bloom is beyond its peak but the petals are so soft I hoped to capture that here.

"Bloom of Youth"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord, unframed.
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

Happy Mother's Day -- SOLD

Mother's Day Peony

Peony flowers are so lovely and delicate.  Perfect for Mother.  These were on a huge display one day at the store and by the next day when I went to get more, they were sold out.  We love our Peonies.

A little secret, when I was a child I disliked these flowers because they always had ants crawling on them.  Later I learned that ants actually help the flowers open and become so beautiful.

Mother's Day Peony
6" x 6" oil on Gessobord, unframed.
Available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

Cage Free Series 001 (SOLD)

Small Majestic

I am starting a series I'm calling "Cage Free" that will feature all sorts of feathered friends.  As of now, I don't have a set number I intend to paint but 100 sounds like a nice round number.  No time frame of how long it will take to paint 100 birds so you'll just have to stick around and see.

Wish me luck!

I will continue to paint flowers, still life, landscapes, and abstract as well so I will be busy! busy!

"Small Majestic"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

Something For My Valentine

"Be Mine"

Chocolate hearts and flowers for Valentine's Day.

We are snowed-in again in the East.  I'm not sure I'll even get out to get hubby a birthday gift.  He is my Valentine-Birthday boy.  Good thing he likes chocolate hearts.

I hope your Valentines gets you something really special.


"Be Mine"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord.
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

Awake

Crocus in Snow

After my own long Winter's Nap (which I needed after 30 paintings in 30 days!) I thought of Crocus.  We don't have a lot of snow any longer but it's still rather cold.  Even so, I saw new buds of grass peeking out in the yard, and I'm beginning to get cabin fever.  The Crocus in my yard should start coming out soon and it's always a pleasure to see them.  The squirrels dig them up and plant them in other places, so I'm always surprised wherever I see them.


"Crocus in Snow"
6" x 6" oil on gessobord
This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

30 in 30 Clean-up

Done

I was surprised at how clean and organized my studio stayed during the 30-in-30 Challenge.  The photo above was taken at about Day 23.  I was certainly glad I had a drying rack and lots of supplies on hand before the challenge started.  With that said, I really didn't plan ahead very well.  I knew about the challenge and was tossing around the idea of doing it early in December but despite Leslie's suggestion, I did not check to make sure I had enough.  I never ran out of anything I desperately needed but that's only because I'm a bit of a supplies-hoarder.  I was most surprised at how many tubes of paint are now down to almost nothing, especially White.  Before the challenge, I had one and a half large tubes (150 ml) of white paint and now I'm down to less than a quarter of the last tube.

My Poinsettia is still hanging on but she has seen better days.  I had a tiny one before Christmas but that one died within a week.  Apparently Poinsettia prefer cold, dark basements to warm, light kitchens.  I had no idea.

I am so thankful for doing this Challenge and for Leslie Saeta who encourages all of us to keep pushing and keep improving.  I have so many more paintings swirling around in my head, just wanting to be done and that is definitely a good thing.  My visitor stats have jumped significantly this month and I have sold more art in one month than I did all of last year.  I have taken a couple of days off from the studio but have spent a huge amount of time amassing reference photos for future paintings.

Later I will do Leslie's collage of the month's paintings.  Looking forward to that.  But right now, I need to get to the factory... yikes!  I'm late.  

 

Poinsettia, still kicking. 

30 in 30, Day Twenty-nine

"Banishing the Cold"

Something bright and sunny for a cold winter morning?  Yes, please!  Just an inch of snow (or so) for us overnight.  School was closed anyway for the end of the mid-term so it should be a decent ride in to the factory.  I was watching the Weather Channel last night, feeling for all those people in the South who have no idea how to deal with all that snow.  Hopefully few lost power and today will be warm enough to melt all the snow.  Crossing my fingers for them.

Just one more left after today.  It's a good one.  Come back and see it!  :D

"Banishing the Cold"

8" x 8" oil on gessobord.

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction. 

30 in 30, Day Twenty-eight

"Petal Pusher"

Day Twenty-eight!  I am so close to the finish.  My personal goal was 20 paintings but I made it past that.  After I got past the first week, I had to stop thinking about the goal of 20 and just focus on painting.  I know myself enough that if I only focused on the short goal, the long goal would not happen.  I have enjoyed this experience and have learned so much. 

"Petal Pusher"

6" x 6" oil on gessobord.

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

30 in 30, Day Twenty-five (SOLD)

"Winding Path"

Dreaming of Spring and lazy walks in the garden.

I'm tired of the cold weather and yesterday I saw no less than SEVEN Robins on my roof.  Boy, did they look mad that I was keeping all this snow in my yard!  I hope they have somewhere warm to shelter.  It certainly is not in my yard.  Not for a couple more months, anyway.

"Winding Path"

6" x 6" oil on Gessobord.

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

30 in 30, Day Twenty-one (SOLD)

Lady Trio

It is a snow day today so I'm getting in lots of painting.  I wasn't able to paint much over the previous weekend and got a little behind.  I was thinking, if I do a 30 in 30 Challenge again in the future, I may do all 30 before it starts.  I keep trying not to put a lot of pressure on myself.  I do want to keep up but life is busy!

The flowers have been fun but tomorrow brings something different, again.  Hope you'll stop by to see what's behind Curtain #22.

"Lady Trio"

8" x 8" oil on Gessobord.

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

30 in 30, Day Twenty

"Success!"

I call this one "Success"  because that's what it is, in a couple of ways.  First, it is the first Sunflower that I have been really happy with how it turned out.  Others in the past have just been okay.  But this one, I really like.  Second, it is my catch-up painting, after I got behind in the 30 in 30 Challenge.

"Success!"

6" x 8" oil on Raymar panel

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.

30 in 30, Number Nineteen (SOLD)

"Old Fashioned"



Trying some different techniques, here.  Some are working great!  I'm learning so much with all of this painting, and that's the point.  The more I paint, the more inspirations I get and I probably have about 500 photos saved to my phone that I wish to work from.  Yay!!  Yes, I use the tiny screen on my phone to work from so I stay loose don't get wrapped up in the details.

"Old Fashioned"

8" x 8" oil on Gessobord

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction. 

30 in 30, Number Eighteen (SOLD)

"Remembrance"

I chose to try some flower studies with a somewhat abstract flair.  I really like how this one came out.  I have ideas for more so those will be coming right up.

"Remembrance"

8" x 8" oil on Gessobord.

This painting is available through Daily Paintworks Auction.