Waiting in the Afternoon

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When I was in Florence last month, there were a lot of people sitting around, waiting. For what? I don't know. But they were wonderful to photograph, and even more so to paint.

That said, I haven't been doing a ton of painting since I got home. Besides camping, my hubby and I have been doing some outdoor projects, and we have a lot of family stuff coming up. That and I caught a stupid summer cold - ack. I feel a little funny, having a written a book called "daily painting," to be taking so much time off, but that's life, huh? As my friend Bren used to tell me, "honor the ebb, Carol." So it's all cool.

Black Socks

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Do you know what they say about black socks (which are suddenly ... in?)?

Black socks, they never get dirty
The longer you wear them, the stronger they get
Sometimes, I think I should wash them
But something keeps telling me, no, no, not yet.

This was a camp song I learned in girlscouts many, many years ago.

Lunch in Italy

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Here's another scene from Florence. I got a lot of comments after my previous post about taking pictures of people, mostly very positive(!), but I just wanted to clarify something. I've done my research, and it is completely legal to take pictures of people if they are out in public. They might not always like it, and it might sometimes feel a little weird (even for me), but it's legal.

To anyone who might feel it is stealing or morally wrong, or I should ask for permission every time (ugh), there's this: 1. I am never shooting for a likeness when I paint them (if I was, I would definitely ask) and 2. I try to be very discreet. I never ever get in someone's face - I have a zoom lens and I use it. If they see me, I move on.

No one has complained to me about my picture taking in years! The last one was in San Francisco, the guy was homeless, across the street, and I wasn't even taking pictures of him!!

Saturday Morning with Dad

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I took the references for this one at our Saturday Market here in Eugene, right before I left for Italy. What's funny is that I felt really funny about taking pictures of people in my hometown, when I don't at all when I'm anywhere else. I ended up leaving after about 20 minutes, and this was really the only usable scene I captured. What was I afraid of? I'm not sure. Anyone else had this experience?

Guys with Glasses

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One day in Florence we got a tour of some of the main spots in the center of the city. I encouraged my students to snap photos as we went. I think just about everyone got a few of these guys! One or two even painted them in class. This is my go.

My husband and I are headed out for some restorative camping therapy. This means I won't be able to ship from now until 6.17.19. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

Walking Fido

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Here's a very gray scene from Florence. I actually expected a bit more color in the buildings, but I guess we were in a very old part of town - lots of stone. I'll try not to complain.

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.

High-Rise Florence

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I took the reference photos for this one with absolutely no intention of painting the scene. I just liked the composition. But then I thought, well, lets give it a try! And now I wish I'd taken more like this! Because I kind of absolutely love it.

And Then I Want to Go There

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Not that it matters particularly, but these people are in Florence! Or they were, when I took the reference photos. So this is my first Italy painting. : ) Unfortunately the weather was mostly overcast and rainy while we were there, but we did have a couple of sunny outings, and this is when I most enjoyed taking photos. If you know me at all, you know I love light and shadow! And you can't beat this gal's feet, right?!

Bug in Shade

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A few years ago I did the "painting" to the right as a demo at the Plein Air Convention in San Diego. I had an hour and a half to paint in front of about 200 people AND talk about how I do what I do. Which, wasn't enough time to actually finish. But I kept the start as a memento - of the time I almost died from being nervous.

I painted the version above recently, in Germany, without the first version around to see - only the photo reference. What's interesting to me is that I made a lot of the same decisions in editing the second time around.

Front Garden

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Here's another Eugene house painted in Germany, this one with some raised beds in front, ready for growing.

Come On In

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This is a genuine Eugene, Oregon house that I painted (from a reference) in Germany, in my mother-in-law's kitchen. I went far to paint near. : )

Four Friends

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This is my last painting/still life that I completed before all my recent travelling. After this I'll show you some different subjects. Woo. : )

Protecting Treasure

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I had a little elephant figurine just like this one before the fire, and I'm pretty sure I got it at Hobby Lobby, because that's where I recently found this replacement. And in the short time he's been in my studio, he's gotten really attached to these bottles. Can you tell?

Street Fight

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I got home from Italy a few days ago. I have a theory that the better the trip, the worse the jet lag. And this was a pretty SPECTACULAR trip!! So it's taken me a little time to recover.

Please forgive my indulgence if I post a few more photos than usual. After all, this was my last workshop! With a fabulous batch of students/kids!

Here is a view from the Uffizi art museum. Our very shic hotel/studio was over to the left from here by a few streets. All the downtown stuff was to the right.

Here's the inside of our studio space where we met and worked each day. These gals were dedicated. I barely had to crack my whip.

We saw lots of great art, and I (for one) learned more than I ever knew I didn't know about it.

We ate a LOT of amazing food, in one gorgeous location after another. There MAY have been some flirting with the cute Italian waiters, but I'm not confirming anything. (what happens in Italy stays in Italy...)

My entire class got to take a cooking class one evening, which was very fun!

On the last day, we drove out into the countryside and toured a winery, tasted all their wine, and ate lunch - not necessarily in that order (who can remember!)

In general this trip involved wine. Kind of a lot. And did you know Italian wine doesn't make you feel bad the next day? Or at all? That I will confirm.

At any rate, I want to thank Debra & Ivano Zamperla for hosting us, and my 13 kids who were courageous enough to tackle people painting in Italy. I couldn't have asked for a better workshop finale!!!

One Blue Bulb

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Hello from Germany & Happy Mother's Day! I got an email from a friend/previous student who happens to be in the area, on a river cruise with his wife, so we had a lovely reunion the other day. Also I had a visit from another friend/previous student and his wife who live in Zurich, which isn't far from my mother-in-law. It's been really wonderful to see old friends!! I've barely had time to paint, but as promised here is one I did before I left home.

Extended Family

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Tomorrow I head to Germany. In case you don't know the story, my husband was adopted from there as a baby, and we looked for and found his birth-parents about 10 years ago. His father has since died, but his mother lives in the Black Forest in a 400 year old farmhouse. This will be my first solo trip to visit her, so I've been using Duolingo for a while, trying to pick up a few new German words. Mostly I feel like a cave (wo)man communicating with my mother-in-law, with lots of hand gestures and help from google translate, but even still we get along very well. My husband jokes often that she is MY mother. At night we drink a bit of gin and suddenly my German gets VERY good. We laugh a lot anyway.

I will be in Germany for a week, eating good food and recovering from jet lag. Then I fly to Italy where I will teach my very last workshop. I'm hoping to bring home a slew of reference photos from Florence, along with good memories of my last group of kids.

Until then, I have a few more paintings which I will post when I can. Unfortunately this trip means I won't be able to ship anything until after 5.23.19. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Lined Up

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Here's some more paint gooshy-ness. It's amazing to me how different colored glass can look depending on the exact angle of the light, and the color of what's behind it.

Tiny Cup Stack

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I've been thinking a lot about perfection lately. I heard a saying a long time ago, and repeat it to myself regularly: "Perfect is the enemy of good enough." This is especially true for painting. If you shoot for perfection in any of it, you will never be happy. It's all a gooshy mess. The idea is that when you step back and squint at it, the gooshy mess reads like glass somehow.

Cow Conference

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I'm heading back to Germany soon, so I thought I'd dig through my old Germany files. After I painted these guys (my mother-in-law's cows), I realized I already had once before. Oh well. I actually love seeing the differences.