The Greatest Gift

sold

I have to wake up at 3 in the morning so I can fly to Maryland for my next workshop. But don't feel too sorry for me. Unless you want to. : )

A Special Gift

sold

I had to have one more go at this one. I liked the first one but I wanted to get a little further away from it. Why? Uhhhhh...

Too Early for Christmas

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I recently went to Michael's to get some things for knitting and while I was there I noticed their extensive ribbon collection! What was weird though, was the extensive LACK of wrapping paper. They had maybe 3 solids, but fortunately one was gold, which is always fun to paint.

Gifts & Grape

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Going back to gifts for a moment - I love the dichotomy of the silver and gold. And the single, reflected grape. Not much else to say about this one.

Gift & Grapes - SOLD

This is my entry for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge - the Gift Challenge. I dug out some gold wrapping paper and went to town. It was a blast.

I am home from my trip but haven't processed photos yet - soon, I promise.

Precious Plums - SOLD

Apparently the bugs that have been biting me (while doing plein air here in Arizona) are Buffalo Gnats. Not only are they annoying when they swarm around my face while I paint, I wake up each night with new welts that are amazingly itchy! And scratching them only make them more itchy. I had more luck today with the trucks. I will post them when I get home, so for now please accept more plums. And I thought I'd mention - they are teensy plums that I got from a neighbor down the road - he grew them on his plum tree. These plums don't have cleavage (see comment on yesterday's post).

Happy Monday - SOLD

Have you ever received a gift completely unexpectedly? On a random day, for no reason? I felt this painting really invoked that feeling. "What's this for?" "No reason." "But today isn't a special day." "Yes it is, it's Monday - Happy Monday!"

For Me? - SOLD

So my class here in Sedona finished up yesterday. My husband and son went with me, and I got a photo from the night we all went out to dinner together. Who's the star here?

Below is one of my demo paintings from last week (sold). A couple of my students found these at a local thrift store. One even wore them ... but could only stand a few minutes of the torture. But they made for a fabulous still life setup.

"Apple Boats" & workshop photos - SOLD

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We finished up the workshop here today in Louisiana. I usually only post photos of my kids working so I decided to post a couple of happy shots (they'll tell you I threatened them to smile "or else" but don't beleive a word they say). Debbie's glasses broke so she used an earring to weigh one side down ... "it's not a fashion statement" ...

Below are a couple more demos. One of my kids, Jerry, brought in this beautifully wrapped gift specifically for me to paint. It was a real challenge, but my favorite from the week.

At one point Anne grabbed my camera and insisted on a photo of me making my rounds, so here I am helping Martha with her 10-minute apples.

And here's my entire group of kids from this week. Can you tell it was cold? I suppose I can forgive them for all their whining and complaining since they took me out to dinner and generally treated me nice ... and of course there was wine. But really, they became like family and I was sad to see them go. Thanks ya'll!!

"Cherry Christmas" - SOLD

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This one just worked out. I really like so many things about it. So much, I even managed to get it in my book. One of my "kids" asked me once, a couple of years ago, how to paint gold. I said "gold is hard - but just paint what you see." She said "don't get cheeky with me" or something to that effect. Here's a better, updated answer:

Painting metal is often about contrast. There are usually large value jumps between the darks and lights (ex. top edge of gift). A look into metal is basically a very compressed view of what's around it. It's best to squint a lot, and compare each value to everything else - not just what's right next to it.

"Pig's Present" - SOLD

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I should mention that I will be in Germany for 3 weeks in December - 13th-31st. I won't be able to ship any paintings during that time, unfortunately, but I will still be painting and posting. I apologize for the inconvenience! Meanwhile, do you think the pig can handle this present?