Workshop Photos

This is my latest group of kids (and me in green). They might look nice but last night they dragged me, against my will, over to the house where they were staying and forced me to drink wine until late at night, telling all kinds of stories that risked us all peeing in our pants from laughing too hard. It was awful.

But really, the new Andreeva location in Salado, TX is top notch. They have sleeping accomodations next door for students (in a historic, haunted house) that includes breakfast, a fabulous studio (open all day and night) for class/painting, a campfire at night with s'more's, and the cutest couple ever running the whole thing. If you're considering it, I highly recommend taking a workshop here. Below are an assortment of student paintings (& 2 student feet). Another fabulous class!

"Obsession" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

I am currently in Salado, TX teaching a workshop. Above is a painting I did yesterday but wasn't able to post because I forgot my camera cord, dang it! Below is my demo from class today (sold) and a photo of the class concentrating on a 5 minute value excercise. They did great!

"The Pointy End" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid - auction will begin 8pm, PST, 1/29/09

I really need to get to the store and buy some more stuff to paint. On the other hand, my lack of stuff is making me reconsider all the other stuff around me as potential subjects. So much stuff, so little time.

"Smells Like Orange" - SOLD

My temporary studio, until the new one is built, is in our bedroom. Unfortunately. It is a cramped space, but I painted there today and it will do. It was fabulous getting back to it, though I was a bit rusty, even after a few days. The room has a proper window - a couple of them - and the view outside is of trees. Lots of them. I love it.

"Only Oranges Left"

Click Here to Bid

We've been in the same house for 7 years now so we forgot how hard it is to move. How did we accumulate all this crap?! I didn't have the energy to post a painting last night, and I completely forgot to take a picture of the house while it was still light outside, so below is a photo from when we first saw it a few months ago. My future studio will go just to the left of this view. Isn't it funny how when you're in the middle of a move, the places you're moving from AND to look like total disaster areas?! Or is that just me?

"Purple & Green" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

This is one of my favorite color combinations. I have painted a few ahead because this weekend we are officially moving into our new house! So you'll still see paintings from me, I'll just be busy doing other things. I have been really organized packing my stuff and will hopefully be painting again in a few days. Sometime this weekend I'll try to remember to snap some pictures of our new house for anyone interested.

"White on White" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

Thank you ALL who wrote to me yesterday, in comments or otherwise, about the improvement in the bunnies! It is much appreciated. A few asked what number the second bunny is (since I started these daily paintings), and what the time lapse between them are. The first is #20 and the second is #706, and there is a little over 2 years inbetween. I'm not counting all the wipers.

I thought today I'd do a white on white excercise to counter the black on black from yesterday. White on white is one of the most challenging painting excercises you can do, especially if you're mixing all your colors from white, yellow, red and blue. Plus, you have to leave room for the highlight, so even what you consider the lightest part of the object still has to be toned down a bit so the highlight will be lighter in comparison. I was concentrating so much on those things here that I lost the shape of the pig just a bit. So it doesn't look exactly like it, but hey, you don't have to know that. : )

"Chocolate Bunny" - SOLD

This title is a big lie. This is not a chocolate bunny, though I think it looks like one here. It is actually a black, ceramic bunny. I did a very similar painting for my 20th ever daily painting and thought I'd show it here for comparison. The original, below, was lit with a whiter light, where the above is lit with a yellowish spotlight. What do you think - have I improved a bit since then?

"Breakfast" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

Yes, this was my breakfast this morning (sorry mom), and yes, I generally eat my pizza with a fork. : )

I got a glowing review from Lisa Gloria today on Art Studio Secrets. Check it out here: http://artstudiosecrets.blogspot.com. It made me blush a few times over. Thanks, Lisa!

"Beside Myself" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

After my post yesterday about edges I got a very thoughtful email from Bruce Hedges. He said the key to interesting edges is "variety," and I completely agree! He says: "There are other factors, too. But variation, whether in edges, color, value, shapes, or textures, is a key to interest." Right on, Bruce.

"Huddled"

Click Here to Bid

One of the biggest tools I've learned (through experience) for making edges more interesting, is to go past the edges with the first color I put down, and redefine them afterwards, dragging the second color alongside and slightly overlapping the first. I said this to my husband recently and he said "what makes an edge interesting?" Good point. So I guess when I first started painting, all my edges were hard, or crisp. I would paint right up to an edge from one side, and again from the other, with sometimes a little space inbetween that would bug me. Now I choose when to have hard or soft edges. What I get depends on how loaded my brush is with paint, how much I overlap the stroke, what the two colors are on either side of the edge, etc. The more I paint the more I find I can control the edges and it's not so much up to chance.

"Simple Strokes" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

This painting took me 2 1/2 hours to paint. Sort of. I wiped the 2 before it, so I'm counting that time too. : ) Lately I feel like I've been getting away from the interpreting part of painting, and more towards just painting what I see. So today I took my own advice (that I give at workshops) and simplified my subject into fewer strokes, getting the color and value just right before I put down each stroke. And even though the subject is very simple and ... perhaps a bit boring ... I am really happy with the result.

"The Big Squeeze"

Click Here to Bid

I admit this was a quickie. It took me about 30 minutes. I worked all day on a large painting and I had just 30 minutes before my sitter left and nothing to post otherwise.

MUCHO Thanks to all of you who gave me title suggestions for yesterday's larger painting. It was really hard to choose, but I'm going with "Waiting in the Wings." I also really liked "Orange Potions" and "Some Looked On While Others Fell!" Every single one of them made me smile, so thank you! Below is today's larger painting. I'm calling it "One Misplaced Grape" (again, not a great photo, but REALLY fun to paint).

"Ruby Red" - SOLD

I just updated "Off the Island" so it reflects the small change I made. There was a little dark line on the edge of the middle slice that had to be corrected. I am much happier with it now.

Below is a 20"x20" painting I did today. It's not a great photo - I took it inside so the color isn't exactly right. For some reason it is much easier for me to come up with titles for my smaller paintings than the large ones (though today's is pretty unoriginal). I am going to call this one "Oranges & Bottles" unless someone can give me a better suggestion. I'd appreciate it.

"The Others" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

I got an email this morning from an Orangeaholic. Yes, you read that right. I have been blogged about on an all orange, all the time blog. Because I used orange in my paintings. What I am wondering is, if there is an Orange Fan Club, where is the GREEN Fan Club? Being that it is a superior color and all ... not that I'm partial.

Regarding yesterday's post, I did fix the painting, but my photo of it was blurry and I didn't notice in time to take another. So I will do it tomorrow.

"Off the Island" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

Now that I'm looking at this again here, I realize one little change I'd like to make (have updated the image). I usually don't do this, but I will make the change in the morning and repost the image.

The title is in reference to the show Lost, which my husband and I have become addicted to lately. We got all cable/satelite turned off about 5 years ago and just rent movies when we feel the urge. Or tv shows. Right now we are on the 3rd season of Lost and there's a cliffhanger at the end of each one which means we MUST watch the next one right away.

"Vertical on Glass"

Click Here to Bid

I had a tough day of painting today. I did one before this that turned out just terrible. Orange insides are tough because you can either go really specific and get in every little seed and highlight, or you can generalize it, as I do. And when you generalize it, you have to get the values and saturations and placement just right, even though you are suggesting things with bigger brushstrokes. I don't think I got everything just right here, so it's not the most glowy orange insides I've done, but I am really happy with the composition, and the leaning slices vs. the straight ones ... I have to admit something about this really speaks to me.

Please forgive me, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm babbling ...

"Four On Red" - SOLD

A while back, a reader asked me a couple of questions (in a comment) that I completely neglected to answer. I was going through my old emails today, found it, and figured I'd answer them here for everyone to see, and Sarah.

Q - If there was one thing you could point to that has helped you with your paintings over the years, what would you say that was?

A - Painting every single day (or as close to that as life will allow)! It's true, and I can't say it enough. There is no secret to painting - just hard work. If you paint every day you will gradually work out your painting muscle and you will get better gradually. If you languish, so will your painting muscle. : )

Q - What artist's did/do you admire and influence you the most?

A - Oh my gosh, where do I start!? It started with John Singer Seargent. What a master! Some other favorites: Burton Silverman, Kim English, Elaine Coffee, Karin Jurick, Jill Carver, Colin Page, Ted Goerschner, Larry Moore - to name a few.

"Ice Skating" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid

I am participating in a group show coming up at the Wally Workman Gallery. The show is called "A Grand Affair," (everything is priced under a grand) and the reception is this Saturday at 6pm. So if you're in town and you're free, please consider attending this great show! Here are my paintings for the show. They are all 12x12.

"Magic Grapes"

Click Here to Bid

Every once in a while I finish a painting, step back and have no memory of painting it. I suspect someone else did this one. And because of that you won't think it awful of me to say I love it. It is a magic painting of magic grapes. I was supposed to do a self-portrait today - everyone in the daily painters group was - but I didn't. I can give you some excuses, but really I was just daunted by the task. Sorry about that. Someday I'll do one again.

"Grapefruit"

Click Here to Bid

My instinct is usually to crop in close with the composition, but I really liked this one with a little more space around the subject. I got the grapefruit (which is a funny name now that I think about it ... "grape" - which is a fruit but nothing like an orange say - and "fruit" ... funny) from my brother's girlfriend's mother, who has a grove. I don't even know her name - my mother brought them to me - but thank you!

"Vertical Stripes" - SOLD

Do these vertical stripes make the vase look thinner?

I just lowered some prices in my ebay store - on everything except what's currently in auction.

"Oh Enchanted One"

Click Here to Bid

What is it about polka-dots that so interests me? Let me count the ways: I like simple regular patterns. I like circles. I like 2-color designs. I especially like 2-color designs where the 2 colors are close to each other on the color wheel (ex. red & orange). If I've learned nothing else in my now 2 years of daily painting it is that everyone has very different tastes, AND that it is these differences that make us so fascinating! So I like polka-dots.

"Look, the Sun!"

Click Here to Bid

Thank you for the great response about our upcoming move and new studio! Ok ok, I'll gush about it! In fact, I'll start a separate blog where I'll post updates (when we get started ... in a few months) about my studio, and I'll put links from here when I get new stuff up for those who might be interested.

I tend to come up with new ideas for paintings in the car or in bed right before I fall asleep. I had an idea recently to do paintings from straight on with stacked bowls and cups, etc. This is the first, but I have done a couple of other larger ones too. I really like them. They have a grounded feel that makes me feel good. Don't ask me why.

"Want Shade?"

Click Here to Bid

Happy New Year! I spent the day assembling shelves at our new house. Yes, we are moving! This new year will bring a lot of changes for us, this being the first. After a lot of deliberation (we thought seriously about moving to Germany) we recently bought a cute, little house in Bastrop, an hour outside of Austin, TX (where we live now). It is on 1/2 acre of land, in a forest filled with blackjack oaks and loblolly pines, in a quiet, rural neighborhood. The only thing missing is an extra room for me, so we will be building a custom studio!! (I'll try not to gush about this too much) in the next 6 months or so. We have a lot of other stuff going on too, so everything will go kind of slow, but I am going to try to still paint at least something every day.