I like Liquin......

There I said it. I use Liquin for many of my little oil paintings.  I love, Gamblin oils, & and also use Gamsol, Gamblin Refined linseed oil, but I just love how easy Liquin is to use.  I pour a bit out of the bottle and there's no mixing, it's easy to find at art supply stores and it does the job for me.  Many of you have asked me about some of my solvents and painting mediums,...so there's one of my favs. 

 

For this or other little paintings I have up for auction on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.  Thanks for your interest in my work!!!



Holiday shipping....

I was at the post office today shipping out a painting and the line wasn't bad at all...at least where I live.  Could be we're not at crunch time yet.  Always ask if you need something sent faster than my usual first class postage.  Especially this time of year. 

For this or other little paintings I have up for auction on ebay this week, just click on the link at the above right.  Remember my ebay paintings all start at just $ 0.99.  (That's right!!)  Thanks!



Mini Art for Christmas...

 

Thanks to all of you who buy from me and other local artists for the Holiday season.  Art is a very cool gift and even though I get overwhelmed this time of year with the extra work...THANK YOU!  Someone apologized to me the other day for scheduling a private lesson during this busy season for the inconvenience.  My response...INCONVENIENCE ME!  I rely on those of you who give my work a home and who allow me to share my gifts.  So again...thank you!!!!

 

For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

Watercolor work in progress...

 

Here's a few work in progress shots using the masking fluid. 

 

I use Sennelier watercolors
on the advice of a professor.  LOVE them!

 

After removing the masking.

 

Finished...or pretty much finished painting.  Below is a photo of the setup.  This table ends up in a lot of my still life paintings.  It was my grandmothers and I loving using it in paintings. 

 

 

For other paintings I have up for auction on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

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Painting studies...

I know I don't talk about my process enough, but will try to do more of that.  Painting studies really help me as an artist to decide if I want to do a larger painting.  I know the old masters did them...and most of their "studies" look like my masterpieces!  LOL!  However, they are so important for working out both design and color issues. 

This little study goes up for sale on ebay after 11/8/2012.  Just click on the link at the above right for the auction. 





East coast....

I'm still blown away at the devastation on the east coast.  I've done several paintings of the water at Long Beach and Robert Moses Beach.  We have many photos of us at Cape May and the other Jersey shores.  My heart and prayers go out to everyone there.  I've actually got a family who has come to several of my painting classes that was impacted.  They're on their way up to help out some relatives.  They've no idea what they'll find. 

 

For this or other paintings I have for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.  



Where has the year gone???

We were talking this week and it will only be a few weeks before we head to Florida for the winter!  What!!!???  Where has the time gone???  Though I am down to the last of my beach paintings from earlier this year.  Can't wait to do more. 

 

For this or other paintings I have for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.



Watercolor from a photo.....

Many of you may not know, but I started out using watercolors.  My first art "lesson" at my church was a watercolor class.  I think I was only in Jr High at the time.  I saved my money and bought a real watercolor set, the tubes, not the pans.  I hadn't worked in this medium in years, but I really do enjoy it.  I just completed this one last week.



My guy is such a trooper...

Here's a work in progress of my guy's big strong back.  I'm working on more figure paintings this year.  I swear if you can draw the human anatomy, you can draw anything!!!!

For landscape paintings that I have up for auction on ebay this week, just click on the link at the above right. 

Hello Autumn!!!

I love this time of year, except for the fact that I'm usually crazy busy!  (Secretly, I love that as well!!)  Anyway, just last night I hung this and another painting at the Cincinnati Art Club, which I am a member.  They have an artist of the month program where they allow us to showcase our work at the entry way of the building.  Right now I've also got paintings at the von Liebig and the Golden Ticket Show at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. 

For other paintings I have for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone had a great holiday!  I've been painting, painting, painting! 

For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

My Favorite Plein Air Sites On The Farm...

I've been crazy busy the last couple of weeks doing lots of painting and re-organizing before the fall.  I'm always talking about the farm where I do a lot of my outdoor work so I thought I would share a few photos from there.  One of these days I'm going to take a photo of my set up while I'm outside, but never seem to have my camera with me when I do.  (It's just something else to carry!!)  Anyway, some of you may recognize these sites.  I snapped a few with my phone one day while out there. 

The camera doesn't capture the distant hills and there are about 150 acres for me to tromp around.  It's a beautiful place and very inspiring.  I hope all of you are having a great week!!


For paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

Wet Canvas Carriers...

I've been pricing wet canvas carriers...and they can be costly!  For these little paintings, I usually just tape them inside a plastic flat container.  However, that wouldn't work if I had to travel any amount of distance, so I'm upgrading.  If anyone has any favorites they would like to share, I'd love to hear.  Right now I'm leaning toward Guerrilla totes. 

For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

Gray's Arch

One of the cool things about being an artist is gathering material for paintings.  I had the pleasure of visiting Gray's Arch in the Red River Gorge area this week and took lots of photos.  It's hard to get the real scale of how large this formation is through a photograph.  I've included a photo of Tom at the bottom to give you an idea.  Very cool place. 

For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

Painting what you love....

I've always heard you should paint what you enjoy the most.  I love the solitude of nature so it's easy for me to spend the morning or afternoon by myself painting.  I also love my Kentucky, so being outside here (even in the heat) is a treat for me.  When I was a kid, I used to love just watching clouds change shape in the sky and clouds are still one of my favorite things. 

For this or other paintings I have for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

More beaches...

There is nothing cuter than seeing children at the beach for the first time.  For those of you who've spent time at the beach you know what I mean.  I'm crazy about painting beautiful places, but I also enjoy capturing special moments too. 

For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

People in my paintings...

Most of my paintings don't have people in them, mostly because I love solitude.  I do love seeing children playing at the beach and couldn't resist doing a few paintings from some photos I have.  I have to admit that I also hunt for "shell treasures" at the beach! 


For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

I survived roller skating...

I hadn't been in a while, but just got back from skating with my sis-in-law, daughter, and nieces.  I had a great time...AND...didn't break my neck!  LOL!  It was great exercise and lots of fun.  I've been painting lots lately and can't wait to share the work with you later in the year once it's dry. 


For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

Summer is flying by!

It's hard for me to believe that it's mid-July already!  I've been trying to get more organized not only here in the studio, but with my taxes, filing, all things related to my business.  (Thanks Christine by the way!!)  It's going well, but is a much slower process than I thought.  I always thought of myself as being more organized than the average artist, because of my business background.  I guess my "creative filing" isn't really the best thing! 


For this or other paintings I have up for sale this week on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

More Hiking....

We went to Carter Caves this week.  In addition to the caves, there are several natural arches in the park.  It was just beautiful, though my camera didn't do it justice.  This is Smoky Bridge.  You can see the size of it by checking out the steps to the bottom.  It's a beautiful area and we had a great time.  (I didn't drop any water bottles anywhere this time too!!!)

For this or other paintings I have up for auction this week on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

I accidently became a polluter....

Yep.  This photo is of me at Clifty Falls State Park.  Right before this I was leaning over the side, looking over one of the beautiful cliffs when my water bottle fell out of my belt and over the edge!  I couldn't believe it and was mortified!  I can't tell you how many times I've been mad because I think that people have left their water bottles/trash at our parks....and now I'm one of them!  We replaced my water bottle and actually tried to go back up the creek to the overlook but ran into this wall.  It looks small in this photo, but is way taller than I could climb.  Needless to say, Tom teased me the whole rest of the trip.  I'm fanatical about taking your trash out.  We had a lovely day, except for my incident.  I didn't do any onsite painting, but took lots of photos. 

It may be hard to see in the photo, but that's Tunnel Falls behind Tom.  I also love this park because I'm crazy about fossils.  This place has lots of them! 

I was telling one of my students this weekend that sometimes there are paintings that I don't want to sell and want to keep for myself.  This is one of them. 


For this or other paintings I have up for auction this week, just click on the link at the above right. 

Another Still life....

Here's another still life I started a while back and pretty much finished up this week.  Skulls are hard.  Seriously!!  One of the hardest things I've ever had to paint!  I have this stretched currently in a 24 x 24 inch format.  I'm going to change it to this I think.  I'm happier with this crop I guess.  The glare is so hard to photograph too!  If anyone has any tricks to getting rid of the glare on dark paintings, I would love to hear it. 

For this or other landscape paintings I have up for auction on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

Clouds and Flowers....

Ok, so here's the botanical from the last post completed and still drying on the easel.  I just love painting these! 

And here's the detail.  My camera of course doesn't capture all of the colors in the shadows of the flower. 

The finished painting is 24 x 24 inches.  A fairly large format.  I'm working on larger paintings these days.  Below is another little landscape with guess what....???  More clouds.  The only thing I like better than flowers are clouds! 

For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right. 

Lots of painting....

I've been doing lots of painting this week.  I love doing still life work and I've been working on some botanicals that are large and are from a pretty close up point of view.  They look much like my still lifes so I guess I'll classify them as that.  I've posted a photo of some of my drying racks with it on it.  It's the calla lily with the red background (size is 24 x 24 inches).  This is at the block in phase.  So what do you think?  Still life or botanical?  

For the above little landscape or other paintings I have up for auction this week, just click on the link at the above right.

Hiking on Memorial Day Weekend

Had a great weekend.  We took Monday to go for about 6 miles of hiking at Natural Bridge, (which I've posted a photo), and Red River gorge...AKA:  Kentuckys land of arches.  It was in the 90's but was beautiful.  I was so inspired and can't wait to get to painting.  On the way home we stopped by the Kentucky Veterans Cemetary to pay our respects to some loved ones.  I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!


For this or other paintings I have available for sale this week, just click on the link at the above right.

Finals Finished!!

Well, I'm finished with school for another semester.  Two exams, two drawings, and one final 4 page essay turned in this week.  I'm so glad it's over!!  Anyway, I've posted one of my figure drawings I turned in for part of my final.  They tell me if you can draw the figure, you can draw anything.  I believe them.  Hard and challenging class, but I learned so much!  I can't believe I can get the figure on paper!  I must be crazy, but I signed up for a figure painting class next semester.  I guess I had better take it now, while this stuff is still fresh in my mind. 


For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

Should I or shouldn't I?

I've been pondering whether to do some of the summer art shows/festivals.  I wouldn't even worry about it, except some of these cost quite a bit of money just to exhibit.  You've got everything from $100 on the low side to $500 on the high.  If I were to jump in, I would probably have several very large pieces to hang in the booth (maybe draw folks in) and lots of smaller ones that were pretty affordable.  Who knows if I would get my money back even for the booth, but if it led to more commissions, I'd be ok with that. Anyone have any ideas?  I hate spending money!  (Except on clothes!  LOL!) 


For this or other paintings I have up for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

Monet was great!

Glad I went to the Monet in Giverny exhibit.  I'm always looking for an excuse to stop in at the Cincinnati Art Museum anyway. 



To all of you Moms out there....Happy Mothers Day!!!




For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

My week has been so crazy!  First, my dog got sick, so that meant I wasn't getting much sleep at night, I'm also trying to get ready for finals at school, and I've been prepping new paintings for my classes I teach.  I've done no marketing, I'm behind on some paintings I started for some events later in the year, and my house is a mess.  So what am I going to do about it?  I'm going to the art museum.  There's a Monet exhibit there right now and I can't wait to see his paintings live and in person.  I'll get caught up here eventually...but the Monet exhibit is only here for a short time! 



For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.

Big Ideas...

I'm full of big ideas.  Implementing them...well, that's something else.  I've gotten better about it, mostly because I started breaking things down into smaller steps, just like you would a painting.  You get the idea, your sort of abstractly "block it in", then you put the finishing touches/details.  I've started keeping a notebook where I can just scribble down ideas and leave them there until I want to pursue them more.  Especially for my business.  If I don't jot things down I tend to forget them and by doing this, I can go back to my little 49 cent notebook and review what was on my mind maybe weeks ago.  Sometimes I follow thru with them and sometimes, after a little bit of time has passed, I realize I should let some go.  It works for me! 



For this or other paintings I have available for sale on ebay, just click on the link at the above right.