Mother's Pottery #6

Mother's Pottery # 6

6x8in  oil on canvas  100.

This is a triangular shaped dish with little feet underneath. Not too big
and not too small, I love it.
Behind is a serving platter and at the side is a small bowl with a
built in divider which is handy for nuts. They are all in the same
shades of blues and creams.
Mother wanted her work to be used so she would ask me what
I needed for entertaining and would come up with practical, but
unusual shapes. Hard for me to get my head around
the fact that these were all made at the local senior citizen center where
she went once a week. That is what a great teacher can inspire artists to do.

Artist Note:


I was given the tangerines by a friend who bought them in San Francisco
on her way back to New Mexico
Two were on the same stem and I made the mistake of painting them like that.
Oh Brother...headlights!
I do know better. I had started off with three tangerines and decided to move
one out because I wanted the pottery to be part of the focal area...
but then forgot the two lined up, side by side.
I was fortunate to have a fellow artist and friend stop by and after hearing
my frustration at not being satisfied with the painting, gently suggested
peeling one of the oranges. Bingo...I had fun placing segments and after
removing the paint from the original orange I repainted it.
So being brave and totally interested in passing on helpful info
here is the before image. Remember NOT to do HEADLIGHTS!

Mother's Pottery #5

Mother's Pottery #5

8x6in  oil on canvas   100.

This vase is really lovely and the ruffled edges hold flowers in different positions.
It was the hardest one to paint so far.

Mother had arthritis in her hands and could not use the wheel for her pottery
so she did slab and coil. She used the heels of her feet to manipulate the clay
into the desired consistency. We would be having a cuppa together
and she would be busy moving from one foot to the other as
natural as could be.
I got such a kick out of seeing her finding a way to keep doing what she loved.

Artist Note:

Another scraper! I started with the flowers in the vase but then found
they hid the essence of the top shape too much.
I forgot what the main focus was to be. Duh!

The white glaze had some of the clay color showing through from underneath
so I had to put on paint and lightly scrape some of it off to capture it.
I used Transparent White from Rembrandt, which helped a lot.

 Angle brush and knife were used on this.

Mother's Pottery #4

Mother's Pottery #4

8x6in  oil on canvas panel    100.

The round bowl with the floating lemons has my mothers fingerprints where she made little depressions in the clay...just like when she was making a pie crust. We use this bowl almost every morning for a fruit salad and sometimes I find myself resting my own fingertips in the indentations, feeling her vibrations.

Mother often had a bowl of floating lemons in water and she would rest the back of her hands in the water for a while and, as she never had one brown spot on her hands, she believe it worked!

Artist Note.

I started this off with a drawing done with a round brush using Ultra Blue in a thin, transparent manner. I lifted off any errors quite cleanly. After massing in the shapes I lifted out the lemon slices using a thirsty brush and then a cloth to make sure it was dry to the touch so it would not pollute the yellow paint when I put it in. On something like this if I had painted the yellow in first I would have had to be careful not to pollute the blue.
The tricky part was painting the water in the bowl.  I really had to be aware of the subtle difference in value and color, above and below the waterline. The bowl has a swath of creamy white which runs in an abstract manner in-between two shades of blue glazes. There is no way I could capture it so I went for the overall effect. This is something most of us have to learn. Just because it IS a certain way does not mean you HAVE to paint it that way (if it looks awkward.)
For the lemons it helps to remember that yellow in the shade moves to a middle/darker value. I used a red/purple in these to tone down the value of the yellow where I wanted it darker and warmer and
a blue/purple for the greener, cooler shade.

Mother's Pottery #3

Mother's Pottery #3

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  100.

These are two pieces my mother made which I use constantly.
The tall one is wonderful for flowers or grasses and the small one
I use for paper clips.
Mother only started her pottery at the age of 70 and she took to it
right away. Classes were at the local senior citizen center and she was lucky
enough to have a fabulous, caring teacher who spotted her talent and allowed
her to do free-form shapes and glazes.  Her work was not popular with the
others in the class because  they did molds and more traditional items but
I adored her work from the get-go and became her biggest fan.
A story I love to tell is how her teacher entered a piece of mother's
in a big crafts show in NYC and she won...drum roll...FIRST PLACE!

Mother's Pottery #2

Mother's Pottery #2

6x6in oil on canvas 85.

My mother has been gone now 12 years but for some reason I am really
thinking about her a lot and when I painted a bowl she
had made, yesterday, it felt good...so today I am painting one of my favorite pieces.
I usually keep pens in it but they didn't look like how I feel about my mother
and I decided to go with the dogwood flowers.
Like all good immigrants do, when my mother visited me from England
I took her to Washington, D.C., where the dogwoods happened to be blooming
and she was filled with total delight.
These happy memories came back as I was painting this .

Artist Note:

I started with a warm under-painting and general placement
showing the direction of the light.
I am trying to keep everything loose and have to start that way.
I did work carefully on the pottery and it got too fiddly...great art term!
So I scraped it all off and it immediately looked better and I went back in
to try and keep it that way.
I was careful to leave the highlight white, lighter than the dogwood.
It may not show up on here, but they are lighter.
Mother's glazes were a wonder to behold.
She knew no fear and mixed and dripped never knowing what they
would be like until they survived the kiln.
I love the unusual shape of this piece and her small little add on at the front.

Fruit Bowl

Fruit Bowl

6x6in  oil on canvas panel     SOLD

I missed doing the pansies. The color and shapes were so interesting.

This fruit bowl is one my mother made and holds special meaning for me.

Artist Note:

I tried to be impressionistic with this piece and struggled...wiped off and
did it three more times. Photographed it and saw everything I didn't like
and wiped it all off and started again.
Does this sound familiar to anyone out there?

Pansy Time #10

Pansy Time #10



8x6in oil on canvas panel 100.

This is a last one of the pansy series. Do I hear a sigh of relief?

But, I have really enjoyed it and made new discoveries along the way.


Artist Note:

This is a combination of using a brush and painting knife.

I liked this impressionistic style so I want to explore if I can achieve it with a
different subject matter.
I have a feeling I will have to really understand what I am painting
to be able to do it.
I do know when I started the pansy series I could not
have painted them this way.
This technique is difficult for me to do because I have to choose
what to leave out or mess up.  I also have to be careful I do
not take it into what I call calendar art...meaning too pretty.

Pansy Time #9

Pansy Time #9

8x6in  oil on canvas   100.

Pass the sunglasses please!

This is purely a decorative piece and I enjoyed myself immensely playing around with pattern and color.
It was  purposely different to any of the other the other pansy paintings.
I was inspired to do it by my Picasso Rose piece from November 28th, of last year, (below) but not to be quite so Picasso(y).

Artist Note:

Fun, fun, fun.
I started by drawing with an acid free ink, felt tip pen.
I filled in all the big shapes with flat areas of color.
I used a pointed shaper to lift off some of the patterns
where I had deliberately painted a different color underneath
for this purpose.
I used a rigger (script liner) brush to do the line-work.

Pansy Time #8

Pansy Time #8

6x6in  oil on canvas  SOLD

This has been a busy painting day with other projects so I decided to do a quick study of a pansy.
Trying to keep the brushwork loose, but still giving a sense of accuracy.

Pansy Time #7

Pansy Time #7

5x7in  oil on canvas    90.

Nothing like a little bit of color to brighten the day.
I loved the colors from yesterday but did not want to repeat them all.

Artist Note:

This one is all about how I am feeling about the painting process.
 Today I am having fun making an emotional response to the shapes and colors I have been working with.
 I wanted to achieve a soft atmosphere so I placed transition colors/values
between dark and light areas and I deliberately swooshed edges.
A few specks of pure color have been added in the center area and
I deliberately grayed out the colors as they moved
towards the edge of the canvas.

This whole process may look as if it was easily achieved,
but this little sucker took me a long time to do.
I had to keep scraping everything off and begin again.

This maybe a decorative piece but I hope you find  it has heart!

Pansy Time #6

Pansy Time #6

5x7in   oil on canvas   90.

Continuing the series with more freedom. By now I have the feel as well as
knowledge of the pansy structure.


Artist Note:

Using the same three colors as yesterday but handling the
painting in a far more abstract manner.

Using the same triad of colors as yesterday, I pre-mixed the
different variations of colors ahead on the palette.
The design I had in mind was to have the flowers in the top, left area
and the vase to continue out of the bottom.
I started with the main yellow pansy, working outwards from there. 
I used only a knife and let what was happening on the canvas dictate what came next.

Pansy Time #5

Pansy Time #5

8x6in   oil on canvas board   100.

I am still having a stimulating and fun time painting the Pansy Series.

Artist Note:

After doing the close-up viewpoint yesterday I went for a more modern design approach today.
I started with organizing my shapes, keeping in mind I wanted strong negative areas.
I had some new objects I wanted to paint and needed some help in finding a color scheme.

I turned to the book, "Confident Color" by Nita Leland. (North Light)
I chose Modern Triad.
Hansa Yellow Light, Quinacridone Magenta and Phthalo Blue. Plus Titanium White.
It is amazing what a full range of values and colors you can get with just these three plus white.

I am fortunate enough to have several of my own paintings included in this excellent book.
Just a wee bit of bragging!

Pansy Time #4

Pansy Time #4

8x6in oil on canvas board 100.


Continuing the Pansy Series.

This time I placed them in colorful vases which competed for attention.
A purely decorative and fun piece to do.

Pansy Time #3

Pansy Time #3

6x8in oil on canvas board 100.

Continuing with the Pansy series...the happy flower!

Artist Note:


The diagonal linkage of the pansies is to offset the strong horizontal viewpoint.
I addedthe striped cloth and polka dot mug for pattern and depth
The palette knife was used for most of this.

Pansy Time #2

Pansy Time # 2

8x6in oil on canvas board   100.

I am still feeling the glow from Valentines Day so continuing to
paint "happy" flowers seems perfect.

Artist Note:

Unlike yesterday, this painting went easily onto the canvas.
Was it because of the old expression...practice makes perfect?
Certainly, some of the mistakes I made yesterday were still fresh in my mind
as were the parts I did which I liked.

I used an angle brush with synthetic hair and short handle for most of this. See below.

I think that this type of brush is perfect for short crisp strokes using the tip
but is also great at blending two sides together when you dip either side into
the colors you need. Above I show how a light and dark green blend smoothly
with one stroke.
Different to the "opposing strokes" technique - on the right -  which gives energy
to the surface. Both methods were used on this painting.

Pansy Time

Pansy Time

6x8in  oil on canvas SOLD

Picked a bunch of pansies today as they would be drooping by tomorrow and I wanted to paint them. Such cheerful, happy looking flowers.

It is Valentines evening so I am off early to join my wonderful husband.
Hope many of you are enjoying the day and all it means. Beloved family members, friends and pets are
included too.

Sunday Morning Drive in Nambe, NM

Sunday Morning Drive

11x14'  oil on canvas board.  not for sale.


This was from a photo I took when a friend and I were roaming the area
of the beautiful old village of Nambe, New Mexico, looking for some place
to paint and more importantly, where we would be allowed to set up our gear.
This turned out to be a place where we were moved from... before we ever started.
I was allowed to take a photo.

Artist Note:

This is the demo I did in class today.

The first block-in is my favorite part. Lots of fun to place colors and not
worry about getting it right.  Below you will see I placed simple shapes
defining the different elements. I did pay attention to the warm and cool colors.
They show up well on the trees in this shot.

I used only transparent colors before I started going into the
opaques to establish my light areas.
This is the first time I have done a painting with yellow stripes in the road
but the road looked like water without them. How did I know that?
I had an audience of expert artists. Demos can be nerve racking!

Lemon With Your Tea?

Lemon With Your Tea?

6x8in  oil on canvas board.   100.

I managed to get out to see some art at a show in our convention center today and enjoyed myself.
I saw modernism, impressionism, realism, abstract and contemporary work.  Photography was in quite a few booths too. Competition for the shoppers dollar has to be jewelry. There were easily more booths selling different types of jewelry than anything else.

It was fun talking to the artists and catching up on art gossip because between teaching and the daily painting I have become quite a recluse.

Artist Notes:

Following through with another set up influenced by yesterdays painting. I really am going to enjoy painting the new mug. It has a lovely shape and the red interior and matching spoon is great fun.
Red is very hard to photograph as it jumps out like a neon sign even though I had used green and transparent brown oxide to calm it down.
I am playing around with a stripe pattern just for my own interest to see how far I can push it..

Odd Man Out

Odd Man Out.

6x8in oil on canvas board   100.

Guess which item is "the odd man out."

Artist Note:

After the difficulty of painting the "White on White" Challenge,  it has been rewarding to read the complementary comments on the DailyPaintworks page.
Even so, I feel like doing a little bit more contemporary imagery with color.

Whenever an artist can use a full range of values, they get more impact. The placement of a large, very dark area near a smaller light one can give it a pop that makes it noticed. The reversed order is true also. I see this used a lot in the paintings submitted for shows. A smart move as more often than not, subtlety is wasted when an image is only seen for a few seconds by the judges.

Here I linked the back, dark mug into both the light and dark top area and placed a light cup to go up into the dark. This prevented the polka dot mug from sticking out like a sore thumb.

The mug with the spoon in the handle is a new addition to my collection and this is the first time I have painted it. It will be brilliant with my red teapot. Maybe tomorrow?

Trying Different Ways of...

Trying Different Ways of...

oil on canvas 6x8in oil on canvas board 100.

A more contemporary approach and the effort it took to get it to my acceptance level.

Artist Note:

After doing the White on White Challenge I had a hard time not going back to a tonal painting so I set myself a goal to see how many different ways I could attempt a more contemporary set-up.

Here is the first one. I thought I would go more colorful.

I was not comfortable with all of it - a little bit too
unconnected.

So I tried it another way on a 6x6in format

This one I liked better but did not feel an emotional connection so I went back to studying my light and dark pattern and that is how I ended up with the top one, which I do like. It is 98% percent palette knife.

There were elements I wanted to maintain.
I liked the little bottle behind the white vase and the small striped cloth beneath them. The green oriental box is a lovely piece I find intriguing. It was only when I linked it to a dark mug that it all worked.
I was raised with,  "if at first you do not succeed, then try, try, try again."
It appears to be my artist mantra.

Back Road to Hatch

Back Road to Hatch, NM.

6x9in  oil on gallery wrap canvas   125.

This is a painting I did in the Fall. It is a lovely spot on the way from Las Cruces to Hatch. The Chili capitol of New Mexico. The best chilies in the world are grown there...ask anyone from New Mexico. The red plant on the bank may have been rogue, red chili plants, but not sure.

Local people may not recognize the spot as I chose not to paint the rusting car, washing machine and other assorted unwanted items.

I did paint today but ended up washing every attempt off.
Not always easy being an artist.

White on White Challenge

White on White Challenge

8x6in  oil on canvas board  SOLD

 Ann Feldman (artist) came up with a rather difficult subject for this weeks Daily Paintworks Challenge.
I wanted to try it because the focus of our Artist Guild last month was on the the principals of painting white or black and I didn't demo more than a white block.
Check out the entries. There are a few who added a touch of color as an accent and it they look very effective.


Artist Note:

The principal of painting white in shadow is that it goes to the same value as black in the light. Both are basically move to a middle value.
Another principle is verticals are darker in value than horizontal areas if  the light source is from above to some degree.
I kept reminding myself of these principals because I kept wanting to punch up some parts for drama.
I can glaze color over this if I want to once it is dry.
I was careful not to paint the creamers too light so the highlight would show up.

This took several hours so I know now I should have done a single object...it would have gone a lot faster!