It's Just a Bowl of Calla Lilies

In response to my prior post, here is my latest painting.  The flowers were from my Solo show; an unexpected gift from an unexpected visitor.  Here is my thank you for coming, Mary.

To Make You Smile

I'm currently reading "The Painted Word"  by Tom Wolfe.  Interesting read;  it describes the forces behind "success" in art (e.g. how three art critics determined the course of modern art in the 60's) mostly centered in the mid-last century. Only about 1/3 of the way in, but I enjoy his wit and cynicism.  

Now if I can only hook up with the right art critic and philanthropist, I'll be a raging success!

Making the Best of Bad Weather

A Warm Sport on the Rug

Loosing electricity, and heat, wasn't so bad with this little guy helping to keep me warm.  As the day progressed, he just moved to new sunny spots on the floor, warming his little arthritic knees.  A regal pose like this was perfect for a painting.  And he earned it by snuggling next to me at night until the power returned.

While he followed the sun, I set up by a window and painted a number of small paintings for my solo show open reception. 

Prepping for a Solo Show

Marble Canyon II

Warm Kitty

Katie in the Pool

I'm going back to the wonderful town of Clinton Connecticut for my second annual solo show at the Henry Carter Hull Library.  I found many, many new collectors last year, so I'm trying to create as much new work as possible this year.

This library has wonderful exhibit space for larger paintings, so I've painted two on the largest canvas I've attempted so far.  I'm also trying to have a nice variety of subject matter.  There are six more paintings "on the easel" in various stages of progress.  My goal is to finish them all, but realistically, a few may be left behind.

It's good to have deadlines.

White Anthurium

Lifeguard Chair

Coffee Break

Painting for the Holidays

Green Apple and Pottery
SOLD

Green Apple and Copper
SOLD

 In the past couple of weeks I've been making lots of little paintings for two holiday shows.  These can be seen (and purchased) at the Wickford Art Association November 25 through December 19th.

Braeburn Apple and Silver

Orange and Blue Pot

Low Tide at Sunrise

Hydrangea Stem

Hydrangea Blossom
SOLD

Sailing on the Bay
SOLD

Holly and Ornament

Marsh Shadow

Single Wave

Just Paint

I think I'm going to postpone art classes for a while.  I enjoy my fellow students and instructors and always find something that strengthens my painting, but I've reached a point where I just need to paint.   And paint.  And paint.  The classes and homework gives me the structure and discipline I often lack, so I'll need to work in that, too.

Interestingly, as I'm making this decision, I came across a great article from Robert Glenn.  He talks about the career paths and success of  two recent art school graduates. To quickly summarize, it was the person who cranked out 2000 paintings vs. 11 large paintings who is the success and represented by a number of galleries.

Also, not to long ago I read the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.  In the book he talks about the 10,000 Hour Rule.  This is the number of hours you need to put into your craft to become a success. (20 hours of practice every week for 10 years.)  "The thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it. And what's more, the people at the very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder." 

Hmm... that's gonna mean a lot of painting to get in my 10,000 hours.

A Very Limited Palette

For a recent homework assignment, I had to create a painting using only two colors, Transparent Oxide Red and Ultramarine Blue Deep, and white.  We also created a color scale to understand the range of colors that could be created.

The results were rich "blacks", a broad range warm and cool greys, and some a nice skin tones.   I decided to see what I could do with these colors in a portrait.  I started with an imprimatura under painting using burnt umber.  (not one of the two colors, but it would be painted over)

Mid-point

Imprimatura

The blue robe, background and the darks of the hair were easy, but the skin tones were more of a challenge.  Because the photo had a strong light source, I first used warm darks in the shadows (neck and chest area) thinking the skin should have more of the Transparent Oxide Red.  The face had some reflected light from the blue robe, so I tried blue-greys in the shadows of the face.  I also found some other "cool" areas of the face. This made me realize how many blue-greys were in the neck/chest area, too.  As you can see from the "mid-point" version, it now looks too red.  So back to the easel, and below is the finished painting.

Back to Still Lifes

Three Peaches
11x14 oil on linen
SOLD

There is something about a chill in the air that makes me start back with still life paintings.  "Three Peaches" is a new painting and "Blue Vase" is one was started last winter.  With the Scituate Art Festival looming, I thought I'd bring it to completion.  I like the peaches as they have nice negative shapes, light bridges and they kind of look fuzzy (enhanced by bad photo)  Blue Vase has lots of "roundness", but there are a few triangle shapes created by parts of the arrangement to break it up.  Now to get my camera fixed.

Blue Vase
9x12 oil on canvas panel
SOLD