A Thank You Bird

Watching

6x6in  watercolor on paper
Gift

What do I paint for someone who loves realism?
Why, something I love to paint, of course,
 but with more detail than usual.
A month or so ago
a friend's husband went WAY out of his way
when I was experiencing a rather painful
situation, and he donned a Knight's
attire and rode to my rescue.
Bless you, Wiley, and thank you.

Artist Note.
My hijacked email account was apparently
one which has been around
a while. It made me very upset and hope
everyone changed their password
IF
they opened it.
Thank you to those of you who quickly
let me know about how to deal with it.
It was my first experience with one.

A friend expressed the desire to
super glue together
the fingers of the hacker. 
Loved that thought!

Ancient Pitcher at Thanksgiving

Ancient Pitcher with Pomegranates 

12x9in oil on canvas  $700. framed On HOLD

For sale in M.Phillips Fine Art Gallery


Happy Thanksgiving to all.
May your day be filled with Love
and many blessings for which to be grateful.

I truly am grateful for all of YOU!

Watercolor - Pansy Study

Pansy Study

8x7in watercolor on Yupo paper NFS

Artist Note

I have been trying to figure out how to do '

the pansies on this slick Yupo paper. 

For those of you who do not know what it is like,  

visualize a thin sheet of smooth,

white, flexible plastic. 

The stuff is great for abstract and 

non-representational art because 

the paint floats on the surface. 

The mingling of colors happens beautifully.

Flat areas are quite doable and 

 neat edges are formed where a puddle ends, 

but try to do a more impressionistic style 

of layering and it looks pretty messy 

right off the bat because

the darn paint lifts off when you don't want it to.

BUT 

that is also exactly the beauty of using it

...to be able to lift the paint cleanly off 

to get back to the white.

Here I slightly stained everywhere but 

the main white pansy first and lifted off 

smaller white areas - trying make sure 

that nothing 

competed with the focal pansy.

Anyone with any hints out there?

Pansy Pleasure... continued

Pansy Pleasures - continued

8x6' oil on canvas  Sold..

What's not to like about pansies? 

They are sturdy, colorful and

have a happy face. Best of all 

they provide visual pleasure

throughout the winter months. 

Artist Note.

One of the advantages I find by 

using the Fracturing technique

is the ability to suggest something by color, 

without rendering it perfectly.

In this case, I first painted the focal point 

with the correct form of a pansy.

Once this had been established I could 

then make any shape, and as

long as I repeated a color or used 

the very distinctive yellow center,

it would read as a pansy.

Here is a close up to show you how abstract 

the one above and next to the focal pansy is.

The mind makes it a pansy 

because it is next to a pansy of 

the same color.

Also the little touch of a yellow center 

is code for pansy.

I am experimenting with painting the pansies

in watercolor on Yupo and regular paper. FUN.

but hard to get what I want. 

P.S.

This is a repeat of a post I did back 

a couple of years ago. I am busy wrapping up 

the classes for the year, One more week!

Pansy Pleasure

Pansies and Purple

6x8in oil on canvas SOLD

The colder weather means the pansies 

can now be planted.

My friend Sharon has a lovely new

area of them, bringing a bit of sunshine

warmth to a cold day.

Artist Note.

I am posting an old painting at top.

One I really like. 

I am going to try one in watercolor 

and use it as a reference.

Stay tuned...

VINCENT VAN GOGH'S PETS!

Vincent's Pets

8x8 gallery wrap SOLD

What could be more fun than to know that 

Vincent took his pets along to watch him 

paint Starry Night!

Artist Note

This is for a fundraiser to support the 

Humane Society here in Las Cruces, NM.

Lots of wonderful paintings will be sold

at Unsettled Gallery

Click on link to see the full exhibit.

Maybe you will see something you would 

enjoy owning at a very reasonable price.

Dryer Lint Nest.

Dryer Lint Nest

6x7" watercolor on Yupo
Sold

I was given this wonderful nest last week.
The eggs were still in there - never hatched.
Lots of dryer lint was attached by strands
of horse tail hair and stuffed between twigs.
Quite amazing how those birds are such
good engineers...
BUT
they do not know dryer lint is bad for
them if they use it.

Chemicals 
From the soap and dryer sheets.
Dust
Dry, loose lint causes respiratory problems.
Scent
Attracts predators right to a vulnerable nest

There are other serious problems too,
 but the thing I hope to pass on
 is not to put dryer lint out for
the birds during the nesting season.
I used to, but not anymore.

There had to be a reason these eggs
did not hatch.

Grateful Thanks

Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day

 6x8" watercolor on paper. NFS

This is truly the National Holiday

which effects us all. 

I am grateful for the freedom we enjoy,

but brought at such a cost. 

With great respect

I honor and thank the living military and 

 and give thanks to all those families 

who make the sacrifice and especially

those who have lost their loved ones.

Proudly a US citizen,

originally from England (a long time ago)

and have watched the 

ceremonies from London...a day ahead because 

of the time difference. It is called

Remembrance Day there and everyone 

wears a poppy. 

For Great Britain, it is 100 years ago

that World War 1 started.

A small but valiant island.

Helped to survive by a strong and 

loyal ally - the USA.

Fall at Ghost Ranch, NM

Fall at Ghost Ranch

10x12"

Oil on crappy paper

NFS

The cottonwood trees turn a brilliant gold 

in the fall and when the sun illuminates 

them they look like 

they are alight with flames. 

Artist Note.

This was a demo of painting trees with

a palette knife.

Underneath was first done with transparent washes 

applied with a fan brush using the 

chisel motion shown in my utube short tutorial

 - link below.

fan brush technique

Starting this way gave the edges of the 

trees a more natural shape by blending

effortlessly into the other colors/values 

around them.

Late Summer in Santa Fe

Late Summer in Santa Fe, NM.

6x6in oil on canvas panel  SOLD


Late summer walks along on Canyon Road
cannot be beat. This was on a side street and
the light fixture caught my eye.

Artist Note

A neat couple saw this painting and liked it.

 We started to chat and I enjoyed some interesting

conversation before they returned another time

to buy it.

I really appreciate getting to 

know people through my paintings.

For a start, it has occurred  to me that we must 

share a liking for similar places
and types of beauty.

Computer fixed. What a pain when
they misbehave.