Moonlight and holiday lights

This month we had such a gorgeous full moon that came

in tandem with everyone's holiday lights. I was able to

catch this shot just as the moon was coming up and I do

think it should probably be posted on my Art and Life

Interwoven....my other blog to which you can find the link

on the right side of this page.

Wishing you a new year filled with all you desire on every

level of life and living!

Waaaaaaaaaaay too much dessert!

The first part of this holiday meal was

fantastic, but the visual art is in the

desserts! Greek delights that are

homemade and delicious!

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

To all of you who have made this year so wonderful.

May your holidays with friends and loved ones be just

as you imagined it to be!

Up close and beautiful

This candle sat on my porch this summer. It was really hot

for several months and it began to sag with all that heat.

I brought it in when the season changed and it just sat on

my counter for a long time until I began my holiday decorating.

I love flickering friendliness of candles and so I looked at this

one again. Inside the bent over column was what you see here,

something quite beautiful. Rather like a cave with wonderful

formations.

This candle means even more to me than its recently discovered

beauty. It was one of two tall columns that were at my parents

memorial service some years ago. My sister and I each took one

after the service was over. I decided to keep using it and it is

yet another way that I remember all they were to me which was

as good as it gets.

Merry Christmas. Light a candle.

Waters House in Germantown, Maryland

I started this painting earlier this year. It was going to be in

a show at this house which is owned by the Historical Society

in this county. But due to budget cuts, it is not open to the

public now. So the painting languished until recently when

I got it out and decided to complete it. It is pretty much done,

though I need to study it a bit more to see if I want to do

anything else to it. The big tree took as long to do as the house!

SO many branches.

This painting is 12" x 24" in oil. I hope you like it. It is rather

a different subject for me from what I have been doing!

Cat commission full size!

OK folks, I just put up the previous post, and

then realized I hadn't put put a photograph that

shows you the whole painting!

Here it is! Those shadows are what attracted me

to doing this painting in the first place!

Cat commission completion!

You may recall having seen earlier posts on this painting.

They show you how I got started. You can go to those posts

for May, June and July 2010 to see them.

At one time there was a sky behind the cats, but in

discussing this with the client, she liked the idea of the

deck and plants being out there behind them.

I liked the sky idea, but now that I have done this the

way my client requested it, I am satisfied. One thing

it does which the sky didn't do....the warm yellow green

of the plants contrasts very well with the more shadowed

area where the cats are inside.

Click on the image if you want to see it larger!

It is oil on a panel and is 16" x 20".

Any ideas for a title? My client has one....

"Can we go out?"

Sharing my Thanksgiving with you

Well you already saw the turkey in the last post!

Now you see the table and the dessert I made to

bring to share with my friends! It was such an

enjoyable evening! I am truly thankful for the

wonderful generous friends I have in my life.

Thanksgiving

Perhaps this isn't the most aesthetic image for

Thanksgiving, but it got my mouth watering for

the feast and family day coming tomorrow.

So I wish you all a wonderful day of good conversations

and happy times within the blessings of your friends

and families.

"I Concentrate on You"

"I concentrate on you" is an old song. It is one of

the cuts on one of my friend Carey's albums, and

since this is a painting of him, it seemed the perfect

title. His beloved and gorgeous custom-made

guitar makes beautiful music with his accomplished

fingers and phrasing! He concentrates on that jewel

of an instrument.

I worked on this painting over many months and

almost hated to finish it because it was a constant

reminder of the beautiful music Carey creates and

painting it reminded me of his favored tunes from

the 30s and 40s. My favorite era too....though it

was really my parent's music!

I altered the background somewhat so that it

complimented him more that what was actually

there in that room. I added the fire to show more

of the warm heart of his music and his love for it.

It is an oil painting on a panel. 18" x 24". Please

do comment here and let me know what you think.

Not a painting......yet!

I love these scenes where families or friends go

out to eat and enjoy each other's company in

a warm and attractive setting. I'm alway taking

photos in restaurants. So far no one has protested,

but of course I am very discreet. Also, I never try

to do likenesses of people I haven't met.

There's all kinds of art and artists....

My neighbor's child who is 9, and his best friend made what

I can only call an art installation for Trick or Treat Day!

I am loving it. Sadly, they took all the decor down now, but

then I am thinking there will be a Christmas installation?

Just had to share the art of someone else for a change!

Small painting Butterfly #3

Here is the third of the butterflies I recently

painted. The tree hydrangea's flowers are sort

of like butterflies themselves.

This is alkyd paint on a panel, 5 x 7 inches.

Let me know which one you like best!

Small painting, but POW!

I don't think this looks as good as it does in real

life with its beautiful silver frame. But you might

enjoy it anyway. My Mother loved anemones

and this is, of course, such a one!

5" x 7" alkyd on panel

No photograph, but wanted to share

Yesterday I started a class with 5 students
called 'Critique and Discussion'. Five students
was the maximum number I thought would
work well. And it did! Very well.

Each person spoke about their background
in art, starting with their childhood endeavors.
It was fascinating to hear how each one had
been affected by their family and environments.
BUT what was even more interesting was that
each one had this nugget of interest in creating
art in place from an early age and it was not
because of anyone else, but was their own
possession, if you will. Their family and
environment affected them, but still, it was
theirs to begin with.

Then we all participated in critiquing the art
they brought for that purpose. The spirit of
help and interest was fabulous. I am looking
forward to next week and more of this high-
level experience!

Maybe I'll even have a photograph for you!

The show!

Here are two shots of the recent show

done together with my sister who

designs and makes jewelry. It was

a good show for us both and we were

happy to see the return of some folks

as well as new people to our show.

Here you have a shot of some of my

sister's display area and then a work

in progress on my easel.

Small painting of beach bunny!

This is my definition of sun-kissed

sweetness! What a darling girl,

daughter of a friend of mine. I was

with them all at the beach and this

is one of my favorite shots of that

lovely week.

Oil painting on panel 5" x 7"

It's in the show coming up!

Small painting of wicker chair

This pretty old wicker chair is in a house on the

grounds of Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.

Have a seat in the lovely surroundings...its from

a time gone by, but I think it evokes something

quite special and relaxing which perhaps the

viewer will experience when looking at this piece.

5" x 7" oil on panel. "The Wicker Chair"

Small painting of Butterfly #2

I took a lot of photos of my tree hydrangea and so

have a lot of great material to paint. Here is yet

another one. The way I would shoot these photos

is that I would drive into my driveway and be very

close to the flowering branches. They were loaded

with bees and all manner of flying insects and

butterflies. It was a great vantage point to get

the pictures.

By the way, my son tells me that this is an

Eastern tiger swallowtail!

It is also another 5" x 7" on a panel.

All of these small paintings will be in my upcoming

show, but if you are interested in any of them,

contact me. They are $175 plus s & h.

They take 4 - 6 hours to do, plus varnishing and

framing! Frames are included by the way.

Small painting of southwest scene

When I visited Arizona some time ago, I was

delighted with the crispness of shadows that

were so strong they were almost objects in

themselves.

This is another small work I did recently -

5" x 7" on a panel. Oil and alkyd paint.

My sister's jewelry

Just a small sampling of my sister's beautiful

work that she designs and makes.

Small painting of small child!

Thank you all for sending me your

wonderful email comments about

these small paintings. I really appreciate

it very much. Now to get you to comment

ON the blog itself! Please! Help!

This darling child was listening to

music not far from her parents.

It was a lovely setting at Longwood

Gardens on a perfect summer day.

I love her little chubby hand on the

stone wall and her fuzzy fine hair

which her mom had in a sort of up-do!

5" x 7" Oil painting on panel.

Small painting-Butterfly #1

This summer my tree hydrangea was visited by

so many lovely winged creatures. Here is one of

them. I had so much fun painting this I had to

do two more.

5' x 7' alkyd painting on panel.

I hope some of you who have seen these small

works will post your comments as well as sending

me your lovely emails!

Thank you so much for your interest and support

of my artistic endeavors.

Small painting of gate

I'm hoping to dazzle you all with my many small

paintings for my upcoming show at my studio!

I did this subject years ago in watercolor. I recently

looked at the photo and fell in love with it all

over again. It was fun to do it with oil/alkyd paint

and to use a painting knife for some of the effects

on the gate posts. The color subtleties are quite

challenging, but interesting.

(The spelling of 'subtleties' is the same!)

Remember you can click on the image to see the

details!

Again, this is a 5" x 7" panel and I think I have to

call it "Williamsburg gate". Any other ideas?

Small work - Bench and sprinklers

Here's another of my latest paintings. Again, it's

5" x 7" and on a panel. This one is mostly oil paint,

not alkyd. I had started it a while ago, but just

completed it recently doing the water reflection

effects. Fussy work, but I love it. I think this

painting took as long as any of them. Getting that

bench right was a challenge!

This is a bench in front of the DeYoung Museum

in San Francisco. Quite a fantastic building.

Small painting of fuschia

This is yet another of my recent small works.

I keep photographs of many things I see in life and

on such occasions as painting a whole series of small

works, I get them out and go for it!

I enjoy the use of complementary colors such as

the orange-blue combination you see here.

This is 5" x 7" on a panel and is an alkyd painting.

Now thatI am down to the wire on time, I

incorporate the use of alkyd paint. It dries much

faster than oil because of the medium used to

make the paint. But in all other respects it is the

same as oil paint.

Small painting of crystal glass

I have been trying for days to find the

photos I took of my small paintings!

Today I did and here is one of them.

This is a 5 x 7 inch oil painting.

The middle background section is

actually silver oil paint which I use

now and then very sparingly.

For those of you who

may think silver or gold paint is what

you use to show reflections, it isn't!

The top part of the background is

actually really black, though it is

hard to photograph it to look that

way because of light that bounces

off the surface.

I think I'll call it 'Crystal Beauty'.

What do you think?

Never showed you this one

While I am working away at my small pieces and trying to

get them to post to this blog (issues with my program to

upload them), I am showing this commissioned piece.

This is a work in acrylic. It is 3 feet by 5 feet. I had so much

fun with it. I did it on unstretched canvas so I could roll it up

and ship it to Texas where it now resides. It was stapled on

a strip of wood that hung on a few nails. This was important

because some of what I did to it needed to be done on the

floor. And some of what I did to it was done on the wall.

With that system that I devised, I could easily take it off and

put it back on the wall as I worked on it back and forth.

I look forward to your comments!

Where have I been?

Hello everyone,

I have been painting so much since my last post that I haven't shown up here to show you what I am doing. Soon however, you will see. I finally got my latest small works and my camera together. Twenty one in all with eight of the last of them in various stages of completion.

It is a joyous thing, painting is.

I paint subjects and images that make me happy to see. And then to paint them gives me the pleasure all over again! See?

I choose to focus on what I love about Life and to depict it for others to enjoy as well. Hopefully they are inspired to do their own looking for Life's beauties and pleasures.

Small paintings continued

I am on a tear to get as many done as I

can for my upcoming show. This is my

fabulous hanging system developed by a

former studio assistant. These strips of

wood can be hung from the molding. They

have velcro on them and then I have put

a bit of velcro on the back of each painting

and voila!

If you click on the image, you can see the

paintings bigger!

My target is to get 30 new ones done. I

have 24 done or in progress, so I'm good!

These are 5" x 7" on panels and are done

in alkyd paint which dries overnight. I leave

them to dry longer and then apply varnish.

The two photos are of the same thing, the

first one with a flash and the next one without!

Small paintings underway again

Apparently my last post was not working to show the photo, so

now you get two to look at!

I'm doing these 5" x 7" panel paintings in a group, working on one

for a while and then the next and the next. I have about a dozen

of them going now and it is really fun.

I tape the gessoed boards to a matboard a little larger than the

panel and that pretty much keeps my fingers out of the paint!

I draw the images on with a Papermate Sharpwriter. It keeps

the lines very nice and thin. Then I spray with fixative so I can

still see the image under the early thin coats of oil paint.

There'll be more, so stay tuned!

Guitarist with background re-done

I decided to put a setting around him, but you

can see from the first 'real' background, that this

one is invented, using elements from the actual

background in which he was performing. It's

called artistic license! And I am much happier

with this. It still isn't done, but is much closer

to a final product than it was. How do you like

the flames showing? I put them there to express

the sense of warmth and affinity he has in his

playing. The guitar still needs work as you see!

No strings!

Background change for guitarist painting

I decided to get rid of the previous background

which is where he was actually playing. I didn't

think it contributed anything to what I was trying

to convey. Here he is fully IN his music and out

of the physical world he was playing in.

Let me know what you think.

Soon he will come to see it and bring his gorgeous

guitar so I can see the elements of it fully. One

cannot paint without understanding.

Next stage of the guitarist

So now I've got some background in place, though

I'm not sure it really helps the painting all that

much. I may paint it out and just let the man

and his music 'stand' alone! This painting is on

an 18" x 24" panel. I've used Mars Violet in the

background. It is an interesting rosy brown that

seems to harmonize with the colors he is wearing.

I really like the blue of his shirt in contrast to

the other colors.

Let me know what you think of it. I always

appreciate people posting their comments here.

Getting started

This is how I generally work from a photograph

I've taken. I take the print to Kinko's and blow it

up and crop it if necessary. Then I have two prints

made. I make a grid on one, and have the other for

reference without any lines from gridding on it. It

is the top photo that I folded and made grid lines on.

You can see the folds in it if you click on this image

and see it larger.

When I am doing a portrait, I never worry about

likeness in the sketch stage. Just general proportions

of the face. I then work it out on the painting surface.

This sketch is on newsprint. I will transfer it by putting

charcoal on the back of the drawing and then going over

the drawing while it is taped to the panel I'm going to

paint on (or canvas).

This painting is going to be 18 x 24 and in oil on a panel.

Al fresco

This is a 5 x 7 painting I did last summer. I am

always amazed at how much depth one can get

in a small painting. I didn't have this one very long.

One of my students bought it who lives here and

knows this pretty place.

Maybe you'll laugh

This is what I did with two cat statues from

the studio. I wanted to shoot the angle that

the cats were sitting on the oriental carpet

in order to get the angle and therefore the

perspective of the carpet, the photo of the

carpet that is!

The lengths that artists will go to for our

work!

I couldn't resist-100 degrees here today

Right now, this would feel really good! Is there no

happy medium between 100 degree heat and

over 2 feet of snow?

Now and earlier in the process!

I thought you might like to see the

drawing that preceded the painting.

The painting is nearing completion,

but isn't there yet. Also, the photo

of the painting doesn't quite get the

entire shadow in, and it is definitely

there in reality!

You can see that I have changed the

background behind their heads. What

is actually there are the planks in a

deck and that just doesn't do it for me!

Cats painting in progress

This shot is slightly fuzzy, but I wanted to

show this stage of the painting before I

put in the shadow. I will glaze it after the

carpet details are in place. In the previous

post you can see the outline of the shadow.

In this shot you can barely see it, but I left

just enough so I could put it in without having

to do it over again and so I could see where what

flowers and design parts fall in the shadow area.

Working it out

So what are you looking at here? The laying out

of what will become an oriental carpet in my painting

commission. What you see at the top are the tails of

two cats who were close buddies. And if you look

closely you will see the outline of their shadows.

This is an intriguing assignment and I will soon post

the latest version. I have done a lot since this photo

was taken, but there is still quite a ways to go. It

is challenging to do the layers of work to get the

carpet perspective, then the carpet painted, then

the shadow done over all.....to say nothing of the cats

themselves!