Velvety Red

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We are off tomorrow for a 4-day backpacking trip in the wild's of Oregon! If we survive, I'll be back to post on Sunday night. If we don't, well ... enjoy this red rose. : )

Crazy Petals

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This was the very rose that hijacked my world and kicked off my obsession with roses. I found it on a walk with my husband. I used the photo reference for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge, and this is my entry.

Coffee Break

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This is a scene I happened across in San Francisco last weekend. Part of my visit was a reconnaissance of the area where I will be teaching next year. It is just this kind of scene we will be looking for and painting.

WORKSHOP: Speaking of teaching, I am doing a workshop at the Coppini, in San Antonio, TX, next January (2013) 7-11th. Check the Coppini website to register.

Forked Over

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I found this greeny glass bowl recently at an antique mall near the coast. It has a gold rim but I ignored that. I am particularly happy with the brush strokes on this one.

Tiny Plums

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Thanks to all of you who weighed in on the dilemna from yesterday. Unfortunately I didn't get a definitive answer, but then, I didn't expect one.

Recently we found a tree in our backyard with tons of tiny (what we thought were) cherries hanging from it. When we picked some and at them we found they tasted much more like plums. Just tiny. Here are some in a shiny box, right before I devoured every last one!

Nose to the Rose

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So here's my dilemna - I worry, whenever I take a break from painting, that I'll get rusty. And this does happen! But I also know when I take a break, especially if I do nothing, I get new ideas and inspiration. And sometimes when I come back to painting I'm actually not rusty at all. But sometimes I do my best work when I plow through a tough spot and just keep painting even when I'm not inspired. The hardest thing for me - my dilemna - is knowing when to take a break and when to plow through. I wonder if there is a secret for this, or if it's just ... a dilemna.

Pink Power

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"Still Life Stage"

A few months ago I posted instructions in one of my ArtBytes for constructing my shadow box, which I use for holding and lighting my still life setups. Since then we've been working with an enterprising couple, Connie and Jeff Nobbe who have greatly improved upon my husband's design and are now selling it as a kit! So, if you have a need for a shadow box, but aren't interested in tackling making it yourself (or don't have a handy husband like mine – no, I do not rent him out), then this would be a great option for you. I've been using the one they sent me and it is really well designed, easy to put together, sturdy, and well made. I very much recommend it! It is called the "Still Life Stage" and can be purchased on line here.

Rose Glow

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I am still having a blast in San Fran, but will be back home tomorrow. Meanwhile, this rose. I am so so so happy with this. It came about slowly. First I got obsessed with taking close-up pictures of roses, randomly. I had this vague idea of maybe doing some large rose paintings, someday. And then one morning last week I woke up and an image of a very abstract rose popped into my head. I ran into my studio to paint it, but it wasn't working out, so I painted this. Which I love. Did I say that already?

Little Buddy

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This is a small scene from a photo I took at Eugene's Saturday Market. I am including the reference below. We had a lovely time camping, and now I am off for another vacation (I know, very indulgent of me!) to visit a friend in San Francisco for the weekend.

Simplici-three

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We are at the public library in the closest town to our campsite, posting and checking in on the wider world. This is a painting I did before I left, of flowers I found on a walk not far from our house, growing wild in a field. I haven't done any painting here yet, and may not. It is far too enjoyable just hanging with my boys. We'll see.

Seeking Revenge

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We're off tomorrow for 4 days camping at the beach! I can't tell you how lovely it is to say that. Camping at the beach in Texas in July would be beyond miserable. But in Oregon? Aaaaawesoooome! I am going to try to squeeze in some plein air along with all the relaxing. : )

WORKSHOP: Boothbay, ME, June 10-14. 2013, email Lee to register.

Drawn to Reflections

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With this painting I focused especially on putting down one brush stroke at a time, and mixing a new color for almost every stroke. I have to admit, I loved it all the way to the end, and then I wasn't sure. But now I like it. Fickle me.

NEW ARTBYTE - I just finished my latest online tutorial. This one is all about photographing small paintings, editing them on the computer, and keeping your files organized. While you're there, check out DPW's other ArtBytes!

Power Shot

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We got these cool new cups at Costco recently. I have to admit I had a double motive from the start. Most of them will stay in the kitchen, but I retain painting rights at all times.

Twice Broken

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Eggs might be my favorite thing to paint. I know I say that about a lot things. Maybe it's just painting I love. : )

Like Lemmings

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Sometimes I ask my husband for title suggestions. This time I totally didn't get it. When I inquired he said, "They're like lemmings because they're all about to jump off the edge." ... Okay ...

The Multiplier

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This was tough. Getting the proportions right on the knife, the value right on the orange half in shadow, the bowl shape right around the knife, and the reflection of orange slice in the shadow of the bowl - all toughies. I'm not saying I did any of them perfectly, but I gave it my best and I'm pretty happy with the result. I tell my students - perfect is the enemy of good enough!

Orange and Juice

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Should I say when I love a painting? Because it always seems to be different from what is popular. Ah, screw it. I am crazy about this one! I bought a whole giant container of orange juice for this one painting, and I don't even drink the stuff. It just had to be.

Also, regarding the clamp I posted about yesterday, apparently the fellow who sells them does so directly from his website, and he's an artist. So you might consider buying one directly, if you're interested, rather than through Amazon.

Just Around the Corner

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I posted a while ago about the trouble of holding a viewfinder steady while you're getting the drawing down, and how one solution is to buy a clamp that holds the viewfinder in place. Well, a friend of mine, Kelsey, has found and tested one that she raves about. It's from Accurasee, and you can buy it from Amazon. Here's a picture -->

Evening Walk

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This is a throwback to an earlier kind of composition for me. The long shadows remind me of walks in the evening with my family when I was a kid. Except there were 6 of us then.

Speaking of kids, my recent Sedona class just sent me this awesome shirt (below). The back answers the most common question I get at my workshops, "What did you mix to get that color?" The front is the word I use most often in my classes - I try to say it at least 13 times - squint! Thanks, ya'll!!!

Tools of the Trade

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First of all, I posted the wrong link for the frames yesterday, sorry about that. It should be www.frankenframes.com (Franken with an "e"). Second, the specific frame style I posted pictures of was #2026. And lastly, several of you asked how I attach my panels to the floating frames. Well ... I haven't actually done this yet. In the photos the paintings are just sitting in there, unattached. I just ordered some black foamboard from Dick Blick and plan to cut pieces of that, slightly smaller than the paintings, and then use silicone adhesive to glue the panel to the foamboard, and the foamboard to the frame. That's the plan anyway.

Mini Storefront

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When I was chopping up panels I made an itty bitty one, for kicks. This is 4x5 inches. The scene is from an early morning walk around Greenville, NY. My solution for future small panels has been decided - I very much appreciate everyone's input! Since I already love the Ampersand gessobord surface, I am just going to buy big panels and cut them down. Because I hated gesso-ing anyway.

I also wanted to share some pics of some frames I just got from www.frankenframes.com. I love this simple, black, floating style. The awesome thing about the site is you can get any dimensions. So for example, the paintings I just posted that are not "standard" dimensions, are easily framed with Franken Frames (no, they are not paying me to say this).

Oh, and happy July 4th!

High Stack

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This is another cut up section of ... what I thought was gessoed masonite, but is actually gessoed hardboard. I got a couple of suggestions for making the surface better. One was mixing in marble dust and the other was oil based gesso. Have any of you tried either of these? Does the marble dust gesso make a surface similar to Ampersand gessobord? I would love that.

Three Geese

Click Here to Bid 6x12 - bid starting at $150 (click image for larger view)

I have felt limited by the sizes available for gessobord, so I bought some archival masonite, gessoed it myself, and had my husband cut some interesting sizes on the tablesaw. Specifically I wanted small, wide panels. This one is 6x12 inches. I like the surface of the gessobord better, but this worked fine. I took this picture near a pond in Greenville, NY. My husband assures me these are geese. I thought maybe just the middle one was a goose, and I was going to call it "Duck Duck Goose," or maybe "Duck Goose Duck." Too bad, huh?!