"The Conversation" completed

At last I have finished this painting. And

I have changed the title to "The Listener".

After working on it over these many weeks

I saw that it was really about the woman who

was receiving her friend's communication.

She is calm and attentive, just the sort of

person we need to hear our thoughts and

concerns.

Let me know what you think please. It really

matters to me to hear how it has affected you

and how well I got that communication across.

Thank you!

"The Conversation" part 5

It's much closer to what I am after. Painting things into submission so I can get the main event of the window and the 'girls' to shine. Love the black shape of that sweater! But WHY is this format like this now? I have NO idea!

"The Conversation" part #4

I don't have a deadline for this piece as I often do. And so I am letting it 'simmer' in between the times I work on it. I have a vision for it, but at this point I am simply getting the elements carefully worked out. There is the perspective to it all, the odd and mysterious shapes of legs and napkins under the table, the very subtle tone and color changes of the walls, window moldings, etc. It is rather like building a house. You first must have a vision for what you want. Then you have blueprints (or the sketch you make for the painting) and then you build the structure. Only then do you return to your vision and make the necessary changes that bring that vision to life. Or else it is just a copy of the physical universe. In that case, might as well just make a photograph!

"The Conversation" part 3

I'm working to get everything major in place so I can make judgements about how light or dark I want those things to be. That part under the table is challenging because it is hard to tell from the photograph exactly what is going on. As a painter, you have to know what the H is going on and paint with understanding!

You can see that the photo I am working from is partly showing on the lower right.

"The Conversation" part 2!

Just getting started and working out the window which is where I want emphasis of the lightness of the tones of the leaves that cast a sort of glow on the ladies who lunch and chat!

Something extra

This lovely fellow was a gift I did for a friend for whom I did a large commission. I thought you would like to see it. It is just 5" x 7" and I used alkyd paint to get it done and dry in time.

New work - "The Conversation"

This work is 24 x 36 inches. It is meant to

be a testimony to friendship and the pleasure

of conversation.

I want the glow of the leafy green trees

outside the window to somehow transmit

the magic of true connection, being to being.

Keep your eye on this as it develops!

My latest commission - Windy Hill

This painting was commissioned as a birthday gift. Three

family members got together to have me do this painting of

the home of the 'birthday girl'.

It was quite a project because while they wanted a springtime

scene, it was in snowy February that I was getting started on

it! So just a week ago, the fabulous cherry tree on the right

burst into bloom and I got the last part done in time for the

presentation.

Helping our fellow man in Japan

Dear ALOG Members and Friends,

We have all been stunned to see what the Japanese people have been enduring in these recent days. Three major disasters (earthquake, tsunami and Nuclear plant issues) and then on top of that it snows. What it has to be taking for these people to endure through this I can only guess at here in the warmth of my home.

I was very impressed to see that this site called Daily Painters (www.dailypainters.com) is doing a special fundraising effort for several agencies that can distribute needed help to the beleaguered Japanese.

Please look at it and see if there is anything you would like to bid on and then you can pick the agency you wish to receive the funds you have paid for the painting you will receive.

Click here: The DPW Painting Challenge! - The Help Japan Challenge

The innate resilience of mankind in the face of disaster will surmount all this, but in the meantime let us remember that Life is a Team Effort. So however you help, do help in some way.

Starting a commission

This is a gift commissioned by the family of someone who will

be celebrating a 'big' birthday! It took quite some time to get

the drawing done so very carefully. I went out to the house

and took lots of photographs so that I could suggest the best

angle. Seemed to me that the full house, full on, was the best

to do. The clouds were spectacular the day I went and so they

will be part of the drama of this early spring view of the home.

AND you get to see my loaded work area!

Stage Four of 'Bicycle' Painting

Here you can see that I have repaired the back wheel of the

bike so it is more properly in perspective as I mentioned in

my last post about this painting. Also the railings have been

improved upon and I have done more work on the 'girls'

who are enjoying themselves.

See what you think and let me know!

Invitation to my other blogs

Dear Friends of Joy of Art Forever!

I have two other blogs which you may not have seen. The links are on the right side of this, my main blog.

But you can go to Art and Life Interwoven right from here: http://artandlifeinterwoven.blogspot.com/

Let me know what you think!

Thank you!

Stage Three of 'Bicycle' painting

This painting is quite an interesting challenge which I am

sharing with you as I develop it. The bike needs work in

that the back wheel is the same width as the front wheel and

that is NOT proper perspective! I have made the changes

now, and have refined the railing behind the bike as well as

taking more care to refine the faces of the gals enjoying

themselves. Soon I will post that image so you can see

how I improved it!

Would anyone like to suggest a title?

Stage Two of 'Bicycle' painting

This is the first overall painting layer done in one sitting.

Probably around 2 hours of work. I am mainly working on

the tones of the ladies at the tables, and getting all of them

right in relation to each other before attention to details or

specific colors.

This painting is 23" x 29". It is a 'custom' size for a

particular frame I have for it.

Beginning a new piece

I don't generally use a ruler. But if there are really long

lines in the painting, or a lot of perspective that needs to

be really right, it saves me a lot of trouble if I find something

needs changing after I get into applying paint!

The thing is, doing this before I start painting gives me the

control I need to get it down right. Then I follow those drawn

lines with careful application of paint (but no ruler), and it

doesn't look mechanical because of the aliveness of my hand

and body movement, however slight. Doing it this way gives

life to those lines.

This is the beginning of a cafe scene at night. I love the bike

which has its own perspective challenges!

In order for this painting to have the composition I wanted

I added pieces of paper to the edges of the photo.

If you go to my teaching blog, you can find out more.

The link is on the right side of this page....Teacher Tips.

Flowering into the New Year

So what are you nuturing so that it flowers for

you this year? This is a collage I made from

bits and pieces of my watercolor paintings

along with some photographs I took. Soon

I will be showing you my latest work in

progress, but I am still in the 'get it together

for the new year' mode!

What will the new year hold?

What lies ahead? Lucy is looking

down the road to see. She tells me

there is expansion of happiness

for all my friends and family.

And for her too, of course!

Happy New Year!

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.