Reflecting!

I do love reflections that appear in shiny objects.

And then with the glass that you can see through,

well the problem of making it turn out well is

compounded. But what a lovely problem to have

and then when it has been recorded, I can have

a glass of vino and congratulate myself.

Once I heard a great interview done by the late

Charles Kerault. He was talking to an artist and

asked 'why do you paint'? And the artist said

(drumroll please) "To Thrill Myself"! Ah see?

We are our first audience.

By the way, this isn't quite done, but close!

Sides of glasses need 'shape tweaking'!

Update on painting progress

This painting is the most marvelous fun to do.

No way did I see all that was going on when I was

actually physically present. You know that a photo

will give you a frozen moment in time and so now

I have the luxury of really seeing all that was there

in that moment.

I only use my own photographs for my paintings

unless it is a commission where there is only the

other person's photo that can be used. On a few

rare occasions, there have been photos of family

members that I could use. But for the most part,

when I am shooting, I know what I need to have

in order for it to translate into a painting. I rarely

use my camera for anything else!

Razzle Dazzle

Well I hope you all liked the slide show.
I got a lot of good comments on them, especially
the last one of me at work. I am shown working on
a banner, one of seven that I have been doing for
a small private school where I taught art quite some
years ago. To show oneself at work was a tip
from Alyson at www.artbizcoach.com and you see
I took it to heart! She said that people like to
see artists doing what they do. The stars were
extra, but really, when I'm in the Zone, it can
sorta feel like that.
I have been painting a lot lately. Getting
ready for upcoming shows and needing more works
that have similar subjects to hang together.
So this is a sort of 'filling in' of what I
already like to do.
I'll post more progress pictures soon. I am
painting nearly every day now.
Wow, that is really something for me. I am
liking it very much. Think about my new ideas
'night and day'....spread my wings and fly away.
Oh wait a minute, that song has already been written.

Check out my Slide Show!

Progress on recent work

Painting such a scene is quite like a puzzle...what
pieces to put in first for the best effect in working
toward the completed image. I just love this gal
with her shopping bag swinging away from her
body, and her body all surrounded by the bright
sunlight of that October day. I see that the image
is not entirely captured here as the right side of
the wall is cut off strangely. I will look to do better
when I post the next stage.

On a roll with a glass of wine

I find a glass of wine quite beautiful to look at in

itself, but what is more intriguing is what gets

reflected in it. A glass of water doesn't have the

same height and coloring going for it to start with,

therefore my interest in the just filled wine glass.

(Of course that's my only interest!) Anyway, this

is the first go as of yesterday at this subject. I think

the purity of the clean tablecloth with its neat crease

and the as yet untouched glasses is quite beautiful.

Now to get in there with my very small brushes

and do the amazing reflections in both glasses. Also,

painting cubes of ice in water is quite the challenge!

Completed painting

Here she is. You can compare this to the
post several days back and see the subtle
changes I made.
I am calling 'Quiet Reflection'. Let me know
if you have a better idea! I did not make
this a piece full of great detail as it was
the tones and subtle colors that attracted
me to it in the first place.

Next!

OK so I'm on a roll. Or a tea biscuit as relates to

this barely begun piece. I began drawing this on

the canvas yesterday and roughed in the middle

and dark tones. Today I only had a little while

to work on it as I was teaching instead! But it was

good to have a painting in the early stages to show

my students why we are studying tone or value so

carefully!

The next one

After doing my taxes, taking part in a fabulous

coaching program and training my new and

wonderful assistant, I am now back at work at

my easel. This is the beginning of a 24 x 36

piece that struck me because of the light that

day. You will see it develop. Stay tuned.

Work on Display

You saw the colorful walls of a place that

I visited several posts ago. Well here

is my work on display there now. Mine

are the two pieces on the right, a pastel

portrait (for commission requests) and my

giclee called "Daydreaming".

In progress

This is what is currently on my easel.

This young lady was in the large open

lobby of our local art center. She was at

least 50 feet away from me and I managed

to get a few fuzzy hand-held shots of her

with the wonderful reflection. That is

actually what attracted me to this...the

relaxation of her position and the abstract

quality of the reflection. There is some

keystoning in the photo I took here which

makes it looks like I can't paint a straight

line. It happens when I get close the camera

too close to the thing I am shooting. Anyway,

I consider this about 2/3 completed.