Time to Eat, Junior

 

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This wide format never shows up well here, so make sure you click the image to see it bigger. I've had this pink pig for a WHILE - a student gave it to me years ago. And I have so wanted it to make it's way into a painting, but it was just a little too big for 6x6. So today is the debut for Mrs. Pink Pig, mother to Junior here, who has been playing with his shiny ball instead of eating his lunch.

Horses, Shade, Water

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We've been doing a lot of exploring here in our new state of Montana. We love to hike so we're looking for that, plus potential spots to camp and for me to paint. On a recent explore we bumped into these guys. They were very friendly, and came right up to the fence to say hi. They even followed us along until we came to this little creek, and then took the opportunity to have a snack. So I snapped a million pictures (with my phone, which is all I had), and someday I WILL do a bigger version. Oh, and on that same day we saw a moose! I love this state!

The Gorge

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This one's been sitting in my studio for a while. My husband asked me to keep it, but I really hate keeping paintings - I'm always moving on. So don't tell him. (shh) It's from back in the spring when I went to Hood River with a group of painting gals. The weather was terrible (cold and rainy) but we luckily had a friend with THIS view, from her BIG house windows, and space for about 6 of us to stand inside, cozy and warm, and paint it - lucky us! It's actually a place one can get married, or have other events, so check it out.

Calm Reflections

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This is a scene about 5 minutes from camp, our local pond. I've painted many scenes around this pond, but rocks star in all of them.

Convergence

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I'm honored to be featured in the November issue of Artists Magazine! A four page spread, no less. Or would you call that eight? Dude. Regardless, I'm on cloud nine!

Morning Rocks

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I found this scene just a few steps from camp (in the Sierra's), in the morning, before breakfast. This was the only time I painted so early on this trip. I tend to shy away from painting too close to sunrise/sunset, just because the light changes so fast. Maybe someday I'll get more brave. This was perhaps an hour or so after sunrise, and the light on these particular rocks didn't change a whole lot. That said, I still had to make some adjustments back in the studio - again mostly darkening the shadows.

Peekaboo Mountain

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I still have more to show you from my trip up into the Sierras, but this one I actually did after I got home, from a photo reference. I am showing it to you now because I painted it for this month's Daily Paintworks Challenge. If you'd like a crack at this scene (or rocks in general, which is the theme of the challenge), follow the link for the reference. Anyone is welcome to submit to our challenges!

I hate to bail in the middle of posting my mountain paintings, but I am off to squeeze just one more camping adventure out of this summer. This trip is all about family, and not painting. : ( It also means I won't be able to ship until I return, which will be as late as 9/18/19 (2 weeks). I apologize for the inconvenience!

Red Rock Creek

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Here's another creek scene from the upper pond (in the Sierra Nevada mountains). This was the little creek that flowed from the "big" pond, to a smaller pond, down through a series of waterfalls, and eventually to Garnet Lake, which we were camped beside. I know, lucky me, huh?

A Break with Birds

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Here's another one from Florence. This was a massive, paved, uh "yard" in front of a palace. You can sort of see the line of people waiting to get in, in the background. I had to rearrange the birds a bit, but I just love how they're surrounding the sleeping man and his wife.

Passing the Resale Shop

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I love resale shops. I get a lot of my still life props there, but also clothes and other things. I think of it as a treasure hunt. You can't go in looking for anything specific - you just go and look. You might come home with nothing - you might come home with amazing things you can't find anywhere else!

Sold Out

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Here's another horizontal scene. This one is from a market in Germany. I love how the light from red umbrella filters down onto the tiny, little food van.

Saturday

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Big thanks to everyone who has ordered my books! I have just a few volume 4's left, and then they will be no more.

As for the painting, after I finished it (an urban scene from Seattle) I realized I had already done a cropped version, about 2 years before. It's interesting to me to see the different choices I made, after the fact. My favorite part in this one was all the different colors in the "white" trim.

Water Channel

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I struggled with this one. Actually, I painted it, wiped it off completely, and painted it again, all in one day. These little people paintings are taking longer and longer it seems. Why? It takes forever to get those tiny little faces right! Even when they are very "suggested." And I guess my standards are going up. This is me feeling very frustrated right now. This is me calling it a day and pouring myself a drink. Bye.

Our Shade Island

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FINAL WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT:

May 14-23, 2019 - Florence Italy - REGISTER NOW (full with wait list)

Meanwhile, I've returned to experimenting with a palette knife. I was doing a large painting a couple of days ago and my favorite palette knife broke!! So I had to go to a actual art store for another one. Of course I ordered a bunch more on Dick Blick too. Who knew they broke?! At any rate, after finishing the large one I was on a roll so I tackled this one, which is a combination of brush and knife. I still have much to learn, I know, but the texture is so ... luscious!

Lunch on the Lawn

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Here's another one from San Francisco. This gal was on a hill, in a park, in the spring, with droves of other young, hip people, seeing and being seen, with her snazzy yellow bag, and grabbing a bite while she was at it.

Morning Mountains

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On one of our mornings up in the Sierras, we woke up to no smoke! It took me a minute to realize just why it was so beautiful, but then I grabbed my gear quickly and painted as much as I could before the light changed too much. I took some pictures and finished it at home, since we never had another clear morning.

Rocky Path

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Here's another one from the Sierras. If you know me, you know I LOVE this format for landscape painting. It's 6x12 inches. But it's tough to see here, so please click the image to see it better. As opposed to the first post (yesterday) this one is not entirely plein air. I definitely tweaked it once I was home, from memory, and using photos I took. I am NOT one of those people who is obsessed with  keeping it "pure," and never rework - instead I am in pursuit of a decent painting, at any cost. And I'm really happy with this one.

Walking Home in France

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This size/orientation never shows well online, but I like to paint them now and then. Please enlarge to see fully. (Also it looks better in person.)

Meanwhile, I'd like to tell you about a project I've been working on. I got some big, flat Ampersand panels recently, intending to do some larger paintings. I did two before I realized they are too big to store vertically. Which sucks, because I recently built myself a vertical storage rack - doh!!! So I set out to buy a horizontal rack. But the only ones I could find were ridiculously expensive, and wouldn't fit in the space I had for it. So I invented and made myself one. You can see it here, on top of  my vertical rack. I used hemlock to build the frame, and metal shelving for the ... shelving. I also recently built myself another work table, which you can just see the corner of in the photo. I need to make one adjustment to it, and then I will share that as well.

A Tight Squeeze

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We go back to France for this one. And speaking of France, I am happy to announce that I will be teaching another workshop there next summer! We are not yet ready to open it up for registration, but you'll be the first to know.

Mostly Cloudy

sold.

This is my second-to-last painting from the alpaca farm. I debated whether or not to post this one. I like it, but it seems very simple. I don't know. This is something I struggle with a lot - what to post and what not to post. I've been very surprised in the past at what gets a good reception, so I'm always second guessing my instinct. Often I have a particular goal in mind for a painting, and may not post it just because I didn't feel like I accomplished what I set out to do.

I have quite a hefty stack of paintings I didn't post, (this stack is from the past 6 months or so) and about three times as many that get wiped before they dry. I feel good about this stack because it means I'm trying stuff! I'm experimenting, and that means lots of failures along the way. I didn't always feel good about this stack. It took a lot of work to get to this point.

When I get a few minutes, (and some clean space in my studio), I'll take a few of these and prime them. Lately I've been using Gamblin Titanium White FastMatte for this, rather than oil gesso. It dries much faster, and I LOVE the surface for painting on. First I take the panels outside and scrape all the lumpy bits off with a palette knife. Then I simply take the tube of FastMatte, remove the lid, and dab little bits of the paint all over the panel. Then I dip my brush in Gamsol and wipe it all over the panel, smearing out the paint evenly. As soon as it's dry, I'm good to go!