Pig and Peony

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's one last peony from my garden. They are all done now. It's never long enough. The pig feels the same way.

Peony Shadow Touches Plate

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another peony from my garden. It looked especially good from above, and I used these blocks of blue (paper) for contrast.

Pick Your Peony Cup

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I took a break from painting people scenes to take advantage of my blooming peonies. I missed some of them, but better late than never.

A while back I did a little color chart to help me understand my pink and red options. I used only the colors I have, and played around with different mixes. Camera's don't pick up the subtle differences between the reds, so they all look the same in the picture. Unfortunately it's the same for reds in my reference photos. That is why I paint from life whenever I can, so that I understand what is missing in the photos.

EBB Tulips

These were the tulips that did me in. Ok, not really, but painting them I think kicked off the dreaded EBB. Or at least, this is what I was painting when it started. I said to my husband, "Should I wipe these?" He said, "No, I like them." I couldn't see it. And that's part of the EBB for me - nothing looks pretty. So here they are for you to decide.

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Five Tulips"

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Four Tulips"

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel - "Two Tulips"

We're Losing 'Em

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I haven't posted for a few weeks because I had a pretty big EBB. That's the opposite of FLOW, and it's when absolutely nothing I do in the studio works out the way I want it to. I used to feel really terrible and scared when this happened, but now I know it's just part of the creative process - like a field lying fallow.

After a few frustrating days, I realized what was happening and I gave myself a break. I went for more walks and got some stuff done around the house. I spent more time with friends. Every day I managed to go into the studio at least once and push some things around - sometimes oil, sometimes watercolor just to try it - anything to keep one toe in. And after a while, the flow returned. I've got a few more paintings to show from before the break (including this one), but eventually I got inspired by some things outside my studio. I know, crazy! I went outside! That's coming soon.

Just a reminder that if you want to get emails with my latest paintings, you can sign up here. : )

It's the Simple Things

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. oil on panel

When I set up this arrangement, something about it sang to me. I love it when that happens.

Gathering Safely In

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

This is the last of the orange slices for now. The title is a line from a song I like. 10 points if you can guess it without looking it up online. : )

Orange Pals

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I've been thinking a lot about friends lately, old and new, and specifically friend groups, and all their dynamics. I think I subconsciously pour my feelings about these kinds of things into my paintings. You can see it in all the groupings of objects. Some get along better than others.

Guarding Plates

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I found this purple-ish glass recently at the thrift store. It was quite a challenge to make the colors read right since you can see through to the white plates and the green background in different places. And then of course the glass gets thicker and thinner, and add reflections on top of that! Whew.

A Juicy Snack

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

A few more orange slices. You can see that little white cup again, sneaking around, trying to get closer.

I painted the silly little white cup by itself below to illustrate what I was talking about in this post. The bottom image is the bottom of my palette, beneath which is a simple value scale I made with acrylic paint. You can't see it perfectly because of my photos, but I mixed each color for the cup above the value it corresponded with. This helps me keep them all straight in my mind. I only used the lightest value for the highlights.

And before someone asks how I mixed these colors, I used red, blue, yellow, and white. : )

BTW, I painted it on a little Richeson 4x4in. panel that I got a free sample of years ago. The surface was smoother than the gessobord I'm used to, and the paint application was very different. It seemed to kind of soak up and dry the paint super fast. Weird. Anyone else use Richeson panels?

Organized Orange

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel

I got an email today from a gal who says that she "struggles with the middle values." And I can honestly say - me too! Recently I added a new thing to my studio that has helped. I painted a simple little value scale (with acrylic paint) that I put under my palette so that the values peek out along the bottom.

When I'm having trouble, I mix colors with corresponding values right above each value. This helps especially with all the white cups and plates I paint. I also think to myself, when I'm looking at the plate, for example, what like value can I find? Is there a value in the cup that is similar? And every time I mix a new color, I look for like values to compare it too (as opposed to looking at only the colors right next to the thing). I might even put a little dab (on my palette) of the new color next to a color with a similar value just to compare.

I will try and post a photo with paint on the palette to show more of what I mean. Hopefully this all makes sense, but feel free to email me with questions!

Red Resonance

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

Technically there's pink in some of these, but it's still the red family. In fact it's the variations within the colors that excite me - including adjacent colors. Maybe that's why red has been so challenging for me - I don't have a lot of variety in my red things, in color or value. I think I'll try green next.

Red Rendition

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I did 5 of these red themed paintings, but only 3 worked out. I found it quite challenging to make an all red composition work. I mean, obviously I added some white things for contrast, but still it was hard. I recommend the challenge! And guess what - the challenge for Daily Paintworks this month just happens to be a Color Theme Challenge, just like this. : )

Just a Few Things

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Tomorrow we're headed out for some much needed camping. We'll be gone about 2 weeks, so I won't be able to ship paintings or prints until around 4/19/26. I apologize for any inconvenience.

One thing I love about camping is - I get bored. And when I get bored I get new ideas - for painting, for sewing, for everything. I imagine it's a problem for young people today - there being so much easy entertainment at their fingertips that they never get bored. Boredom is SO good for creativity. For me anyway. I try to get bored on a regular basis, but camping is the primo version.

Got the Blues

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

I did a small series of blue paintings on a shelf, of which this is the first. It's amazing how just a few, simple objects and a light can create such drama.

The Red and Green Team

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I've been asking AI for title suggestions, but haven't used any yet. Not that my titles are so great or anything, but I guess that's one area where I'd rather be myself.

My son is 20 and in college and has a lot of thoughts about AI. Mine are still evolving, as is AI I guess. If they ever make a robot that can paint natural media, I'm done for. Or will there always be a demand for human-made art?

Power of the Flower

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I just did an AI image search on this painting to see if it would identify the kind of flower (even though it's just a fake one, haha). It says, "The artwork is a still life by artist Carol Marine," and identifies the flower as a "sunflower," which I've painted a lot of, and it showed examples. Obviously it got the artist right (which I probably shouldn't be surprised by? even though I am), but I'm not sure about the flower. Maybe a cone flower? Thoughts about any of this?

And Breakfast

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

This is another object I borrowed from my friend Patti - the ampersand. It had a lot of neat reflections in it, but also reflected a lot of funny light everywhere. I used my artistic license and left some of it out. My guess is you can't tell?

Not for Consumption

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

In case you missed it, I recently released a new online tutorial (ArtByte) that is all about painting glass! The idea behind the ArtBytes is they are bite-size and affordable. If you have seen it, please email me with feedback, or leave a review. Thanks!

Networking

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

When I was younger I dabbled briefly in web design. I didn't know how to get my name out, so I joined the Austin Chamber of Commerce and went to a few networking events. For me, securely in the introvert camp, it was painful. This is my re-envisioned "happy" networking event, with happy apples and cups, all completely comfortable with each other, no financial advisors allowed. : )