"Park Stream" - SOLD

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Chuck Rawle emailed me today with another suggestion for packaging paintings safely for an airplane ride home. He says:

I usually either take with me or buy some wax paper at the grocery store. Then I put a sheet of wax paper between each painting---face to face works best. Then I tape or use a stretchy Velcro strap to hold the stack together. They take up even less room this way. If any of them get a small smudge on slightly wet areas, they are easy to fix when I get home, but this is usually not necessary.

"End of Summer" - SOLD

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This was from a lightly overcast day, but with some sunlight still filtering through. Some of you asked to see how I carried all my paintings home from Germany. I paint relatively thin, so my paintings tend to dry to the touch in just a few days. For the 6 most recent paintings I used a Raymar wet panel carrier. It is sturdy and nice. For all the older ones, I brought a bunch of small, 1"x1", cardboard squares. I put those on four sides (would have worked at the corners as well) of a painting, then put a similar sized painting face to face with it. I then taped these together. I did this will all my paintings, then taped the whole batch together, then taped bubble wrap around that. Like this: (click on image for enlargement)

It really didn't take up much room at all, and all in all I brought back 15 paintings.

"Foggy Cows," - SOLD, 10-minute studies & workshop lessons

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I have a few more paintings from Germany that I didn't get a chance to post. For the above I staggered out into the fog and drizzle to paint some German cows. The problem with cows, as I soon found out, is they move. Quite a bit actually.

Below are some of the 10 minute studies from my students that I mentioned in yesterday's post. They were kind enough to email them to me. Thank you!



Speaking of students, one of mine from Canada who studied with me last month in Benalto, Sharon Williams, has a blog. She is a teacher herself and wrote about 16 lessons on her blog that entail her take on my workshop. It's an interesting read, and interspersed with her lovely paintings. Be sure to scroll all the way to #1!

"Cut Up" - SOLD

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I did this painting Saturday morning before class, and the one below (sold) directly afterwards for the demo.

Below are most of the kids from my Salado class (a few left early). It was a fabulous group, as usual! I experimented on them a little with a new exercise. I made them paint 10 very small paintings - of just one item - with a time limit of 10 minutes for each one. The progress they made from the first to the last painting was remarkable!

"Scattered" - SOLD

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Another great day at the workshop here in Salado! Unfortunately it's another one of those wild groups that forces me to go out after class and drink lots of wine and have ... fun, of all things! Here are a few of my kids working diligently away in class.

"Salt Piper" - SOLD

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Today was a great first day of my workshop here in Salado, TX. I'm still a bit jet-lagged, but surviving. This is not my demo piece, but I will post that later as I was pretty happy with it - especially considering I hadn't done a still life in about 3 weeks. This painting above I did before I left for Germany - you'll see one more, and then a few more landscapes from Germany.

"Safe at Home" - SOLD

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I've got good news and bad news. The good news is I am NOT hopelessly lost in Germany, (see previous post) but rather home, safe and sound! The bad news is it took me an extra night and half a day to get home. The weather was terrible in Atlanta so my plane was diverted to Charlotte, NC, where I had to stay overnight (in a hotel, thank goodness) and rebook to Austin today. I am way too tired to paint or ship today, so I will do it all tomorrow and then go off to teach a 3-day workshop in Salado on Thursday. The painting above is one I did before I left that I never had a chance to post. Now, I will sleep like the dead.

ps. I am way behind on email, so please forgive me if you've emailed and I haven't gotten back to you yet - I will!!

heading home...

Tomorrow I will travel back to Stuttgart and then fly out early Monday morning towards home. I am a little worried just because I will be all alone in a country where I speak very little of the language. Usually I rely on my husband to take charge in this matter, as his German is much better. I have to transfer trains about 5 times - yikes! - and find my hotel, then walk to the airport the next morning. If all goes well, I will write again on Monday or Tuesday night. If not, then I am hopelessly lost in Germany. Alas.

I have a few more paintings to post, but I waited until too late today to photograph them, and by then it was too dark.

"German Boats" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Friday, 9/18/09, 8pm, pst)

Another painting in the dreary weather that I am very happy to have done. Actually, there are a few beneftis of painting in overcast conditions, in my opinion: 1. the light doesn't change much at all, so there's no chasing of it; 2. you don't have to worry about finding shade, for you or your painting; and 3. you don't have to worry about warm vs. cool - it's pretty much all cool.

Some of you have suggested I do some still lifes or interiors, and I would really love to, but the mineral spirits I have are too stinky to use inside. I looked for Gamsol at an art store in Freiberg, but they had never heard of it. Alas.

"German House" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Thursday, 9/17/09, 8pm, pst)

Well, I did it - I got out in the dreary weather and painted! And I'm so glad I did - thanks for the push Steve PP (from yesterday's comments)! It was drizzling when I went out but miraculously stopped right before I set up. Tomorrow is supposed to be at least without rain, but probably still cloudy. I know this one is simple, but I really like it. I had to take some artistic liberties. The side to the left of the house was cluttered with other buildings so I took them out and continued the distant hazy trees.

"The Way Home 2" - SOLD

I finally got back to this spot, only to see the clouds roll in just as I was setting up! I swear, those clouds are out to get me. I ended up painting a close-up of the winding path - pink because of the crushed granite. Today it was cloudy and rainy all day, and tomorrow will most likely be more of the same. I am going a little stir crazy being cooped up inside.

"The Way Home" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Monday, Sep. 14, 8pm, pst)

I did this a couple of days ago when the weather was just getting cloudy. I set up in the late afternoon when I saw this beautiful light. Unfortunately, I had just started when the sun went behind a cloud - for 30 freakin' minutes!!! When it came back out again everything was different, so I had to fudge a bit. I've been trying to get back at the same time of day to do another but the weather hasn't cooperated.

"Forest on Fire" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Saturday, 9/12/09, 8pm, pst)

I find it very difficult to paint "through the trees" views like this. This was my third attempt. This is a scene I saw walking back from painting "Im Schwarzwald." There is a clearing just up the hill that is being lit up brightly by the sun, and the row of trees behind it is turning blueish/purple from atmospheric perspective. I'm really happy with it. Tomorrow we are going to Freiburg for a couple of days. I will post again on Tuesday.

"Lakeside" - SOLD

This scene is very near the bridge from yesterday. I went back to paint the bridge again from another angle, in different light, but wasn't feeling inspired. I was just about to paint it anyway, when I glanced around and saw this little scene. It could be anywhere, but I really liked the little island with the small rocks, the reflected blue sky, and the tall grass in front. It's not a great photo - I will retake and repost.

Several people asked who the artists are I reference when I'm looking for fabulous landscapes. To name a few: Jennifer McChristian, Jill Carver, Larry Moore, Greg Larock, Colin Page, Calvin Liang, Darcie Peet, and Kathryn Stats. All wundabar!

"Schluchsee Bridge" - SOLD

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Schluchsee is a small, tourist town, complete with lake and beautiful bridge. I painted this in the morning and the light changed very quickly (as it always does, of course). I have a bad habit of chasing the light ... changing my painting as the light changes. I do this because I can't remember how it looked before. Bad Carol! I do paint fast, but not fast enough, and certainly not fast enough to capture the train running over the bridge every so often.

"Im Schwarzwald" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Wednesday, 9/9/09, 8PM, pst)

This morning I walked into town again and painted a terrible cityscape. As my students know, I've never been crazy about the warm/cool idea. It makes sense, but I don't see the practical application in still lifes, especially since lights and shadows can be affected by so many things (ie. light reflecting in from somewhere else, something half in shadow, the color of the light vs. any other lights nearby, etc.). I prefer to just paint what I see. But with landscapes I can see the value of thinking in terms of warm & cool, or rather, warmER & coolER, since there is just one light source (generally) and it is warm. I'm finding it's important to work out right away the difference between what's in the light and what's in the shadow. What's eating me though, is how to establish the warms and cools in the distance, when everthing in the distance is getting cooler.

This afternoon I hiked up into the forest and found a gorgeous spot with absolutely no one around. I had a great time and painted what you see above. Unfortunately the spot was so secluded I got the jitters a little, thinking something was going to jump out and eat me at any moment. Are there artist eating monsters in Germany? The title means "In the Black Forest".

"German Neighborhood" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Tuesday, 9/8/09, 8PM, pst)

I feel a bit like a fish out of water here. One, because my German is poor and people keep asking me questions about what I am doing - in German, no less! But also because landscapes are not something I do often. Not that I don't enjoy it - I do, immensly! But I know I am lacking skills specific to plein air painting, and I see a learning curve in front of me. Painting landscapes requires a different approach than what I have developed for still life painting. Unfortunately I am sketchy about that approach. Each night I look to my favorite landscape painters online to see how they've tackled certain things. It helps a lot, actually.

This scene, by the way, is in the town of Schluchsee - about a 25 minute walk from the house. The little road is a kind of a back alley for these beautiful, quintessential, German houses.

"Country Road" - SOLD

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I admit I have an affinity for windy roads in paintings. This scene is not too far from the house - a 5 minute walk. About 20 minutes after I set up and started painting I felt a tickle on my leg. I looked down and to my horror saw ants everywhere! Including crawling up my pants. I literally had ... ants in my pants. Luckily, they didn't bite, and I was able to move back and few feet and still get the same view.

"Two New Trees" - SOLD

Click Here to Bid (will begin Sunday, 9/6/09, 8PM, pst)

Unfortunately the only thinner I could find here in the small town of Schluchsee was Mineral Spirits, odor and all. Fortunately I am only painting outside, so it tends to just fly away on the wind. It was fairly windy when I painted this, again on top of the hill behind my husband's parent's house. That's the top of the their house you see barely poking through the trees. It is 400 years old. We live on one side, and their 4 horses live on the other.

"Follow the Highway" - SOLD

Hallo from Germany! Unfortunately it took me 4 days to run down some mineral spirits, but it rained most of those 4 days anyway, so not much was lost. Germany is as beautiful as I remember - more so now that I've recovered from jet lag. : ) This scene is from on top of the hill behind my husband's parent's house. They live in the black forest - the fields in front are for horses, cows and hay.

The flight here was better than we had hoped. Jacob (4) slept about half the time, and more on the train afterwards. He's just about on Germany time now, which is fabulous! More tomorrow.