You Cut Me Up

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Here's the same striped fabric as in my last painting, still a challenge, but not nearly as much as when it's rumpled. This time the hard parts were the slices, and the glow they emitted.

I haven't actually been able to paint for about a week (I've been sitting on this one and a few others I did before the holidays). I've had issues with my upper-back/neck since my 20's, but due to the recent work getting our house ready to sell, often tasks involving holding my hands above my head for periods of time, my dull aches have turned into acute pain. Which bites, considering we have a deadline! And because it now hurts when I paint. But my husband is a champ and has stepped up to take over my chores. I wonder if maybe I should start teaching him how to paint pictures... At any rate, I am working on a plan to get better, and will post what I've got left until then.

On the Edge of Blue Stripes

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Let me just say, if you've never experienced the joy of painting striped fabric that isn't laying flat, try it. It's super fun. And after you've wiped the third painting, and your tears, and yourself up off the floor, and you think maybe you'll give it one more go and if that doesn't work you'll toss all your art supplies, well that's when you'll understand what I'm talking about. Because number four might not be completely terrible. And by the way, I hope you all had happy holidays and are looking forward to more art grief fun in the new decade!

Visiting Colorful Places

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Here's another larger painting. Larger than my usual 6x6 anyway. It's from a town in France that I've painted before that I always forget the name of. But I guess it's not so important, other than it is a particularly colorful town. My favorite part is the colors infiltrating the shadow the people are walking through.

A Friendly Chat

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Sometimes I have a vague idea for a composition before I start putting it together. Most of the time I'm just trying different things and waiting for something cool to happen. Occasionally it takes just a few minutes to find this cool thing, but mostly it takes longer - sometimes over an hour (and longer for larger paintings). Whenever I start getting frustrated with this process, I remind myself that the composition is as important a part of the painting as anything else. And actually, it's one of the most purely creative parts of my day.

And the Show Goes On

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This spoon has been the common denominator in a lot of my recent still life paintings. Silverware are often great things to add to a scene because 1. they add some sparkle, 2. they reflect other things in the scene, so they give you an excuse to repeat colors, 3. they are a different shape than most other things, so they lend variety, and 4. they don't insist on being the star, although in the right situation they can be.

Mysterious Apples

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This is my attempt at a mysterious scene, where you might not be quite sure what's going on...

Cradled

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Here's another apple painting, but a bit different from the last one. Pretty soon I'll have to start packing up my remaining props, but for now ...

Golden Yellow Delicious

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Here's my third attempt at these apples (first 2 got wiped). With this one I finally felt my confidence coming back. My friend Dina emailed today to remind me that another good way to get yourself back in the groove in your studio is to copy paintings you like. This is good because you already have a solid composition to follow, and there's no pressure because you can't sell it anyway. Try it - you will learn SO much.

Careful Cups

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Ok, I lied. I said recently that I'd rather be painting than not, even if most of what I do are wipers. (Recap: we're moving to Montana soon and I don't have a lot of time to paint, so every time I do, I find I've forgotten how again, ugh.) Well, I guess I had enough sessions that didn't go well that I finally started avoiding my studio altogether. I got a ton of other work done! But I became downright AFRAID of my studio. Afraid of devoting time to painting and having bad results. Afraid of wasting time. And materials.

And it made me wonder if that's how a lot of people feel. Because the thing I hear MOST from my art friends is - they aren't getting into their studio often enough - and how can they be more committed?! I wonder if they just got discouraged along the way because of a few too many "bad" studio sessions.

If this is the case, I'll tell you what helped me. 2 things. 1. I decided yesterday to go and paint but only for me! Nothing to sell. Just playing around. This helped because I had absolutely no expectations. I did two bad paintings, wiped them off, and called it a day. Then today I painted, again with no expectations, and finally got into the swing again, and did three that I liked. Woo!

The other thing, 2., is that I bought and painted something I'm comfortable with - apples (I'll start posting these next). I think when you're feeling rusty and/or discouraged, it can help to stick with something you've painted before and liked, so that you can have a little success and move into ENCOURAGED mode.

Or then maybe it's just me.

Busted

Click Here to Buy (26x24in. - $1500 - optional frame [+$300] - click on image to enlarge)

And sunflowers! Big ones. Click on the detail picture (right) to enlarge closeups and the (optional) frame. It's REALLY tough to take accurate pictures of big paintings, and I just want to say this one looks way better in person!

For these larger paintings, (in case you missed my other posts) I'm selling them for a fixed price, with free shipping. I'll box them up in a way that it would be very easy to return (within 30 days) if it arrives and you find it doesn't work in your space. The only investment you make is shipping one way, I'll pay the rest. Please note that the surface is my usual Ampersand gessobord, which is 1/8in. thick. Here's about how it would look a the wall, framed.

Rainbow Cups

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Unfortunately not having a lot of time for painting leads to some very frustrating sessions. Every time I'm able to paint for a few hours, I am not only usually a little rushed, I feel like I've forgotten everything I know. I've been wiping more than I've been keeping. But I'd still rather paint than not. I'll be SOOO happy when I am settled into my new studio and have regular hours again!! Here's one I didn't wipe.