Puppy Puppy

I have a new puppy!  Her name is Lucy.  Lucy is a sweet little Minature Schnauzer who is 10 weeks old.  I've had pets most of my life but after loosing my last indoor cat, Teddy, I was so heartbroken and lonely.  My husband's work schedule takes him away a lot and during those times our home gets really really quiet.

We purchased Lucy from Cajunlands Miniature Schnauzers in Raceland, Louisiana a couple of weeks ago.  She is the sweetest puppy, very smart and very playful.  My days have been filled with Lucy, Lucy, Puppy, Puppy.  Need I say more.  I haven't exactly had time to paint but we are getting settled in.  I know it will get easier, but for now my total devotion has been to her.  She is very smart and a fast learner.

Lucy at 2 weeks old.














Lucy at 4 weeks.

















Lucy at 8 weeks.  Her color is getting lighter.  She will probably be all salt and pepper like her mom.

8 weeks














Ten weeks......watching one of my outside cats, who she is desperately trying to make friends with, have breakfast.  They visit through the screen.

Sleeping after her morning walk.  She plays hard and sleeps even harder.

Plein Air Painting

Spring is such a wonderful time of the year, especially in Southern Louisiana and its the perfect time to get out and plein air paint because before long, summer temperatures in this area reach near 100 degrees on an average day.  My painting buddy, Denise Broussard, and I often sneak away from our daily lives and get together to discuss art and paint.  We usually get together at least once a week to plein air paint during the spring and fall.  During the months of February, March and April this year we have been painting the wooded area behind her house.  The area is in the middle of Lafayette and a special diamond in the rough not known to most people in this area.  The property slopes down to the Vermilion River with ponds abundant with cypress trees and truly envelopes you in Louisiana's beauty.   We've invited several artist friends to join us on these paint days and some have been able to make it so its been a very enjoyable time for us.

I've tried to concentrate on pushing my values since taking a recent Stapleton Kearns Workshop.  Stape's workshops are filled with so much information, I have so much I want to work on.  One of the treasures I learned from his is he uses a mix he calls Porn Star Pink.  I can't mix what he has exactly but I did try to mix something close to it.  The best I can describe it to you, until I have mastered the color is it's a yellow/orange/pink mixed with white that will give you those beautiful bright sunlight accents on tree trunks.  It truly makes a difference when building sunlight on those tree trunks.

I think my main accomplishment is that I have had a great time and I am enjoying the wonderful weather and great friendship.

Brush Cleaner

I am sure most of you have your own favorite brush cleaner but I thought I would share something I have found.  I've tried a lot of brush cleaners and for my use, Murphy Oil Soap works really well and is very economical, but my all time ultimate favorite brush cleaner is "Brush Plus" made by Plaid Enterprises.  I can clean my brush with any other soap then switch to my Plaid cleaner and still get more paint out of that brush.

Here is the photo and link from their website:

http://shop.plaidonline.com/brush-plus/12/product.htm

I would love to hear from you on your favorite brush cleaners.

Workshop News

My days have been really busy lately and I have really neglected posting.  I have been painting and will try to post some of what I have been doing in the coming days.

On February 22, 2013 I took a one-day workshop from the all talented Pat Bourque, a local teacher here.  The majority of the day was concentrated on color studies and mixing, value and tone.  It was a very good workshop!

She always preps her canvases by what she calls applying a ground which needs to be done days in advance.  She applies 2 coats of Acrylic Gesso to her canvas (with linen you do not have to do this step).  With a palette knife she applies a mix of oil burnt sienna + white + Liquin.   Or if she applies a coat of acrylic for the ground instead of the oil, she always puts a coat of Liquin over the acrylic and lets that dry which gives it that oil feel.

We did do some painting in the workshop, but she tricked us. She had this vase with juniper branches sitting up at the front of the class.  She had us put the outline of the vase then concentrated on the color of the foliage and the light source shining through. We scumbled in burnt sienna + Liquiglaze for the center light coming through the foilage.  [Liquiglaze is made by Weber and is a fast drying translucent gel that dries very quick.  When mixed with paint and applied with a palette knife, you get a sticky impasto effect.]  Then we concentrated on laying in the darks, medium tones and lights of the foilage.

At the very end she had us turn the painting into a tree by applying the tree trunk with a palette knife and pulled moss down  taking advantage of the light against dark wet paint.  Of course this painting is in no way completed, but you get the idea.  It's an exercise...

Poppy Fantasy

After completing the 30 day challenge for the month of January, I was ready to paint something bigger.  I decided on  a 48" x 48" gallery wrapped canvas.   Although I took a few days off, I have been working on this painting most of the first half of this month and I think it is near completion.  I've decided to give it a rest for awhile while I decide if there is anything I want to tweak before signing my name to it.

Working on a large painting is so different than small.  I really like to work on larger pieces, maybe not quite this big but larger.

I'm not very happy with the photograph I took because the painting looks a lot better in real life.  There are a few things I can see in this photograph that the camera interprets that is not in the painting.  Thus, the reason it is better to paint from real life instead of a photograph, but that is not always possible.

This painting is not from a photograph, although I did look at photographs of poppies as I drew the poppies in my sketch pad.  Once I decided what I wanted the flowers to look like I drew them on the canvas with my paintbrush where I wanted them to appear and built my leaf structure as I went along.

 Here are my progression photographs taken right off of my easel:

Nimbeaux's Restaurant Exhibit

My abstract art is currently on exhibit at a local establishment, Nimbeaux's Restaurant.  The exhibit requires large pieces which I have, so I was excited to do it.  I finally got it hung last week with the help of two great friends,  Denise Broussard and Laurie Legnon.

I belong to the Lafayette Art Association and Nimbeaux's  is one of our satellite galleries.  Nimbeaux's is a wonderful seafood restaurant located on Pinhook Rd. in Lafayette...and did I mention a very GOOD place to eat.

Some of these pieces have been previously entered in juried art competitions and a couple of them have received awards.  Sorry about the photo quality ...but that means you will have to stop by and check them out in person, right.  The exhibit will be up until April.

Looking Back at 30 Day Challenge

Here is a collage of all of the 30 Day Challenge paintings!  

All of these paintings are for sale and can be purchased on this blog, on my Daily Paintworks Gallery or by contacting me.

Thoughts on My Challenge Experience:

The restriction I gave myself in this challenge was to paint Still Life Paintings only from real life and all on size 6 x 6.

I often have problems choosing props and ideas for my still life setups. Painting from real life is really better because you can see up close what is really going on instead of what a camera thinks it is.  I know that we can not always paint from real life, but it is really so much better this way.

Having to produce a painting daily put pressure on me but as I went along my creativity flowed and I painted faster and with more confidence.  I tried to remind myself daily that I wanted to concentrate on some basics, value, brush strokes and color.

I chose the 6 x 6 size because I felt these would be easier to complete every day, but that wasn't always to case.  I don't particularly like painting this small, but the impact of all of them together is very beautiful.  They really do make a nice small gift and would look nice with a few grouped and hung together or alone in a small spot where you need a little something.  Another great option is a smaller piece can be placed on an easel and tucked in on a shelf or some other area.

Things I am grateful for:

• Leslie Saeta for initiating this challenge and getting everyone involved.  
• My Friends for the wonderful comments and encouragement.
• Other participating Artists for the support and experiences exchanged.
• My Husband for standing behind me and encouraging me.

As I return to my studio, my plans are to paint larger taking with me what I learned from this challenge.

Day 30 - Grapefruit

Today is Day 30 in the 30 Day Challenge!  Last day of the Challenge...Wow!

I went to the fruit stand one day during the challenge with the intention to buy pretty fruit to paint.  When I got to the check out counter the girl who was checking me out said "Wow, you really have some colorful fruit there."  I had to laugh because I bought it specifically to paint, maybe to eat later.

This is a Louisiana grown grapefruit.  There was a basket of them at the front counter so I picked one with a leaf left on.

"Louisiana Grapefruit"

6 x 6 - oil on canvas panel

$85

Artist Note:

The challenge is over but I have had a wonderful experience interacting with other artists and exploring and growing as the month went along.  I challenged myself this month to paint still life paintings from real life on 6 x 6 canvas.  Sometimes I think its more difficult to paint smaller.  But through the month, I got faster and gained more confidence as I went along, concentrated on shadows, color, brush strokes and value.

Thank you Leslie Saeta for initiating this challenge.

Now I am off to paint bigger...

Day 29 - Mango

This is my entry for Day 29 of the 30 in 30 Day Challenge!

Although today is Day 30 and I am posting Day 29...behind schedule I still will not give up.  I did paint this painting yesterday but had problems with the photo and gave up until I could take the picture with a little natural light.

"Mango"

6 x 6 - oils on canvas panel

$85

Day 28 - Cup of Love

Today is Day 28 of the 30 in 30 Day Challenge!

Valentine's Day is coming!  Be sure to tell someone how much you care...

"Cup of Love"

6 x 6 - oils on canvas panel

$85

Artist Note:

I've been real distracted lately and its showing, but I have an excuse.  I finished hanging an exhibit in a local restaurant today of my abstract art (blog to follow soon).