The Rose Bouquet

The Rose Bouquet

7x5in  oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

A very impressionistic painting today.
Painted from a set up in the studio.

Thinking of all the devastation from
Hurricane Sandy and wondering how Mother Nature
can produce such beauty as this, and yet have the
destructive power to simply crush it all.
Sending prayers to all those who are suffering.
One feels so helpless.

If anyone buys this please know I will donate all the
money to the Salvation Army Sandy Hurricane Fund.

Red, Yellow, Green and Blue

Red, Yellow, Green and Blue

6x6in oil on canvas panel   $100. SOLD

After the quiet and lovely harmony of yesterday's piece
I come roaring back into color.
This is a new teapot and it has polka dots on it, but I omitted them
in the quest for sanity!

Artist Note.

This painting was started
from a demo piece of
white and pink roses.
This is the initial block in.
I was showing an artist
how to start, but this was
their set-up and
should be the only
one.

I started the teapot  right where the vase was and
as I liked the abstract design on the background
I left some of it in.
For the foreground I  brought the background color
back in by using the yellow mug but it still didn't ping
my heartstrings... so I added the two blue
plastic spoons. Why? Because I wanted some
fun time with color!
Is this bright or WHAT!
I may have to tone down
those spoons, but for now I like them..

Blue and White Study

Blue and White Study

8x6in oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD

I love blue and white china and I think it goes
back to my childhood. There was a lot of it around.
The north of England was home to the potteries
and everyone appeared to have a good assortment.
Blue Willow, Blue Onion and Wedgwood were
some of what I remember.

Artist Note.

I was trying to push the different types of white
and blues in this piece. The light was directly
overhead and I could clearly see the change
in the blue background near the top area in color
as well as value. It toned down in saturation as well
as deeper values while merging into the lower area.
That happened to be the easy part.
The whites were more difficult as the areas
with blue patterns still picked up the reflected light
which bounced around. I painted the white first
and then added the patterns painting wet into wet.

Deli Delight

Deli Delight


8x6in oil on canvas panel  $125.

I love my cold cuts with red onions and Dijon Mustard.  I was making a
really yummy sandwich when  I looked up and all of a sudden
I saw the set up on the counter as a painting... and yes,
the sandwich was forgotten.

Desert Sunrise

Desert Sunrise

6x8in oil on canvas panel  $125.

Sunrise is a personal, favorite time.

This is for the Daily Paintworks Sky Challenge
|Jill Bates came up with the challenge. Click on her name
to see her beautiful work.

Artist Note.
This was done very quickly and there are areas which
could be tidied-up, but I know if I start fiddling around
with it I will lose part of what I like.
I am sure I am not the only one who has messed up
what could have been a fresh, nice sketch by trying to
make it perrrfect!

Petunia Profusion

Petunia Profusion.

6x8in oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD

I painted this during class time today and it meant lots of
interrupted time. The artists needs come first so I was a happy
camper attending to both and the day flew by.

Artist Note.

The petunias I have been drawing, failed to rally so I picked
 fresh ones and included some with vibrant color.
I wanted to get my trusty mechanical pencil in the set-up.
I tried to show a bit of a  drawing too, but it was impossible with
the fracturing technique.

Tomorrow I am resuming making the video on the fracturing for the
DPW Artbyte. I have found the process rather difficult.
When I concentrate, I apparently forget to say what I am doing.
Duh!
If I make a video I do want it to be a good and helpful one...
 No pressure there - right?

Sharing voices I hear in my head!
Best foot forward, as my mother would say.
If you agree to do something, then make sure to do it right,  from my father.

Petunia Progression

Petunia Progression

4x5in  pencil on linen card   SOLD

Here are the buds all opening up and the first large petunia
is starting to wilt. I now have four flowers and another
bud is starting to grow in-between the two
middle trumpet shapes.
It amazes me that a cutting can keep growing and
blooming  in the water...dark water now!
Petunias are beautiful and hardy flowers, but I never
appreciated their beauty until I drew them.
Now - back to oils!

Drawing the Petunia

Drawing the Petunia

4 x 4 1/2in  pencil on archival card  $50.

I painted the Petunia a few days ago and magical things
happened to the cutting as it continued to grow and bloom.
I did two drawings of the progression and this is the
first one.


Artist Note.

I used a mechanical pencil for all of the drawing
and went in with a number 6 (softer and blacker)
for the darker areas. I lifted off with a kneaded eraser
where I wanted soft blending.
It was done on an off-white, acid free, linen card as
I liked the ridged texture and wanted to see if
it would create an interesting surface.

Some Kind of Bean?

Some Kind of Bean?

Study. floral still life. NFS

This beautiful plant was a surprise find on a walk today.
I was with a friend and we were on our way back from our annual,
and wonderful, Empty Bowls fund raiser.
http://elcaldito.wordpress.com/empty-bowls/
What a marvelous
gift to the community the potters do. Over a thousand bowls
are made, sold and funds donated to our local soup kitchen.

I have no idea what plant this is, but I do know it had long, bean
shaped pods hanging from it... as well as beautiful flowers
with delicate, curly, thread like tendrils coming out of the
flower clusters
It was used as an ornamental wall covering.
The pods looked as if they had a pretty tough skin.
Anyone know their name?

Fracturing a Little Part of a Cezanne

Fracturing Cezanne

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100.

Apples and a pear - Influenced by the Master, Cezanne.


Artist Note.

Last year I painted a series of small areas (details) from famous paintings.
It was a way to learn and explore techniques.
The one I copied, below, is from
Still life with Fruit Dish, Apples
See Cezanne
I remember it was hard to tell the correct colors when I was trying to copy
it because every reproduction looked different. As I painted, I discovered
it was a pear balancing on top of the apples. Crafty Cezanne was most likely
trying to see who was really looking. Most of us would fall into the trap.
If it says apples in the title then we are apt to think they are all apples.

I placed one of his jugs from another painting
behind the apples and took out the glass
so it would not be exactly the same.

Petunia in a Plastic Glass

Petunia in a Plastic Glass

5x7in   oil on canvas panel   $100. SOLD

After the blast of color yesterday I was inspired to paint this
very simple harmony of neutrals with the green leaves being
my main color.

Petunias in a Costa Rica Mug.

Petunias in a Costa Rica Mug.

8x6in oil on canvas SOLD

A friend went to Costa Rica and brought me back this tall, bright
yellow mug. No handle showing because I turned it so I could
get the heart in.
I remember in the 70's when the now famous, I love New York logo
using a red heart instead of the word love, became so popular.
NYC Logo
The man who came up with it (Milton Laser) got the idea from a Canadian
radio station promotion - Montreal, the city with a heart. (so true)
The magnitude of its popularity can be seen the world over and
I particularly enjoyed seeing the heart on this mug.
It makes me happy!

Farm in the Valley

Farm in the Mesilla Valley

6x8in oil on canvas panel   $125. SOLD

This was very quickly done on location and "tweaked" in the studio.
It was a very beautiful day and the pecan orchards at the back of the fields
still have their leaves.


Artist Note.

The "tweaking" part was the foreground. I had an even space
either side the larger front bush. See below. I try and stay away
from even spacing with either positive or negative shapes.
I used my painting knife to smoosh some of the paint from
the smaller bush sideways into the larger one, but I had to
mix more paint and create a new shape. Once I did that
I started making small adjustments here and there, and had
to force myself to stop. I know you all understand the
need to to do that. I could go on piddling forever and
completely lose the plein air freshness.

Marigolds and Zinnias

Marigolds and Zinnias

6x8in oil on canvas board   $125. SOLD

What gorgeous colors! Mother Nature sure got it right.

A friend gave me these zinnias from her garden and
another friend brought me an assortment of  flowers from hers
so I had quite a bouquet. I LOVE my buddies!
There is a stem with tiny clusters of white flowers which further
down the stem had turned into small green berries.
Not being a gardener I have no idea what they are but I know
I like them.

Artist Note.

The Zinnias are quite remarkable with a beautiful range of colors.
I have never painted them before so it took a few tries.
I found that painting the basic shape in a darker/middle value
and then placing a few lighter petals near the front of each one
gave it some form without painting every individual petal.
I pushed my background dark into the color to shape a few edges.
(of petals). Hope this makes sense.

Apples and Plums

Apples and Plums

6x8in oil on canvas panel   $125.  SOLD

This is for the DPW Emotion Challenge.
I do not want to feel sad so I avoided painting anything serious.
Been there - done that.

COLOR - now that is what makes me feel happy

And, an apple a day keeps the doctor away,
so that makes me happy too!
Throw in a couple of plums and hopefully I will never
need a doctor again.

Fall Colors Along the River

Fall Colors Along the River

6x8in  oil on canvas board   $125.

The colors can seem unbelievable at this time of year.
We are not quite at this stage of color here in Las Cruces, but up in
the northern part of New Mexico
the aspens and cottonwoods glow with brilliant oranges
and many shades of yellow and rust.

Artist Note:

This was a demo of neutralizing the fall colors, but still keeping the colors bright.
Every color has some "yellow green" or "reddish purple" in it.  Yes - even the blue.

Dripping Springs, N.M. Revisited

Dripping Springs, N.M. Revisited.



6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

This is a palette knife painting I did basically from
memory. I painted this view several times yesterday
during the workshop, and each time I would wipe it off.
I was trying to get every little rock in the correct place and
it would get all fiddly.
Today I  went for what Eric Wallis kept stressing - the basic
shapes and color, and like it much better!

Workshop Weekend

It was a busy and stimulating weekend with
a workshop I organized for Eric Wallis

Eric is a fabulous artist from Logan, Utah
He was having an opening at the Phillips Gallery in
Las Cruces, NM. and the workshop was designed
for the members of the Guild to take advantage
of his expertise.

Here is the portrait demonstration he did on the first day.
May I introduce young Master Justice Bleiweiss.
He was a marvelous model, holding his saxophone
perfectly still.

A warm spotlight was used and
the shadow side was cool
from the florescent bulbs



A simple mass in of light and dark
patterns of the hat and face  were
placed with a thin wash.

 After blocking in the light and dark
areas, Eric concentrated on getting the
features in place. Starting with the
darker areas
He worked with slight value changes
being careful to keep everything in
the shadow side still in the overall
correct value.
Some of his oil color mixtures were
cad yellow/venetian red for warms
cad green light/venetian red for cools.
These were both modified with
some of the shirt and background colors already on the palette.
When he did the hands he talked about how it was important to
see the negative shapes between the fingers,
and on painting the sax it was useful to see the direction of the
individual shapes of both highlights and darks.

Today was the Landscape Class and 12 eager artists headed for
the beautiful area called Dripping Springs
It was a bright but hazy morning. Very rare here.

Here is the painting Eric did.
I used my phone to take this
shot and it doesn't show the
beautiful subtly of the
neutral colors and
correct value changes.

Eric quickly put in the basic shapes
following the same steps as he did
with the portrait.
The values changes were very close
 due to no sunshine and shadows.
I was amazed how he could quickly
grasp the complexity of the rock
formations and colors. Several of us
have painted this area quite a few
times and we still do not have it
down. Later, the sun came out
along with a tarantula on Lynda's hat!

The Problem Birch Trees

The Problem Birch Trees

8x6in  oil on linen  Sketch  $100. SOLD

The problem was in the painting of them.

Artist Note.

Class demo today.

 wash of color











Lift off shapes of trees

 Start with trees

Add foliage










BUT the class wanted MORE...

anything so they didn't have to start to paint.

Fracture it, they demanded. Well, how can you fracture
long skinny trees?

Answer...not very well.

one try







They still wanted more...

Are you starting to feel sorry
for me having such a
demanding group?
Well don't, because
by now "I " wanted to
see if I could do it.





I added green growth at
bottom to try and fracture it.
Not interesting in saving
the painting, but trying to solve
what has grown to be a
multitude of problems.
I must be honest and let you know that by now
I could have thrown
the painting through the window!
There are two more versions (not shown)
before reaching the top one.
Enough is enough.
How many of you keep working a painting long
after the original joy of painting it has vanished?