Friday, June 26, 2009

"Chat Sign"


This will be my last post for this month. I'm leaving tomorrow for a 4 day retreat in a COOLER climate. Can't stand these 105 degree days! This is another version of the "Chat Gourmand" restaurant sign in Aix in Provence. I would call this a fun piece of "kitchen art". He's a happy cat, but has a mischievous look in his eyes.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

"From Behind" - First in Show - SOLD


Whoopee! I just found out that this little 8x10 pastel won First In Show at the Austin Pastel Society Miniature Show. The juror was Susan Kennar Reed and the entire show is currently on display in the Scarborough Building lobby, located at 6th & Congress. It's on the 6th Street side, entry doors just to the right of the bank. If you're in the neighborhood in the next few weeks, stop by and take a look. It's a beautiful show.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

"Trip 3"

Above is the entire triptych - below is the 3rd piece in the series. The post looks awkward because of the vertical format.



The mood was mist, trees and spirit all at once. This is what came through. It's late and I'm out of words tonight. Hope you enjoyed it.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

"Trip 2"


Here's 2 of 3. The feeling I had while painting these was - (I'm not going to tell yet). Just see what you want to see in them! I'll tell you when I post #3.

Monday, June 22, 2009

"Trip 1"


I had so much fun with my last puzzle I did another small series consisting of 3 little 4 x 4's(triptych). I nicknamed them Trip 1 thru 3. I've found it's much harder to photograph the little ones than bigger paintings. Just a little shake on my part and my paintings look blurry. They are soft paintings, but my photos look a little softer than life. Hope you enjoy this series.

Friday, June 19, 2009

"Chat Gourmand"


This is a restaurant sign painting. I saw this place in Aix in Provence France 2 years ago and decided right then I would paint it. You can see how long my painting queue has become. It's a little restaurant on a side street and there was a metal painted cat hanging by the entrance door. I thought he looked like a French Cat. We didn't stop to eat there - wonder what the food was like.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

"Series 6"


At long last, the final piece. Below is how the puzzle goes together.




I tried to get a decent photo of all 6 together, but they came out a little crooked. They are not actually mounted at this time, I just tossed them on a dark board to get a photo. Now I have to decide how to actually mount them and get 'em straight!! This may prove to be more of a challenge than the original design concept.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

"Series 5"


Hang in there Glenda, only one more to go. My husband is also anxious for me to begin painting a "real picture". He's not a big fan of something he doesn't clearly recognize. I'm in the process of painting one for him to keep him happy. I graduated from 2 grueling days of PhotoShop and can't wait to use it on my art. Kudos to anyone who is proficient in this program - it's a pick breaker!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

"Series 4"


Good thing I'm painting a little ahead of schedule. I spent the entire day taking a PhotoShop class. We were introduced to just a little portion of a very powerful program and I thought my mind would have a meltdown. Thanks to Rae Andrews for her extreme good nature and patience in teaching us a few of her skills!! Oh yes, please enjoy the above painting.

Monday, June 15, 2009

"Series 3"


I'm really getting mixed reviews on this series. Some just love it and some think I've possibly lost my mind. So bear with me, this is a little project I really enjoyed doing. That's always the problem with art; who am I painting for? When it's a commission, it's for someone else. When it's a color design series, I guess it's just for me.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

"Series 2"


This is 2 of 6. I met a new art buddy online from another country who says this kind of painting is called "psycho realism". It's your brain processing color and shapes that you translate onto canvas. I looked the term up on the Internet and sure enough, it's a category of painting. I think it sounds kind of dangerous! My cat helped on this one - there's a nice cat hair top center left - oh well.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

"Series 1"


Ok - change of mood here. I just did a small 6 piece abstract series (hence the original title). I'm going to post each one and then show a final photo of all 6 together. These are little 4" x 4" painting blocks with 1" deep sides, the design wrapping around the edges. They are really fun to turn in different directions.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

"Granbury Park"


This is a plein air painting of the park located across the street from the Iron Horse Inn B&B in Granbury. On this outing I almost stepped on a snake while setting up my paint gear. It was a close one, but we managed to miss each other. I think the snake had right of way.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

"Fixer Upper"


This is a plein air painting done in Granbury. It was someones home at one time; now it sits abandoned across the street from the train depot. It was just too rustic to pass up. We got there at 7:15 am and painted until the stroke of 9. Then we raced back to the B&B for our gourmet breakfast. We lucked out on this location, there was a small breeze in the morning that kept the mosquito's away. It's so much easier to paint when you aren't being dive bombed.

Friday, June 5, 2009

"Geometry In Motion" - SOLD


This is a big one - 24 x 30. I just completed this for one of my best client's Mr. & Mrs. Sobaski. They wanted a bright contemporary work, so this is what came out of my head. I feel like after knowing these wonderful people I could just feel what to paint for them. So a big THANK YOU to you both and I so appreciate your continued patronage of my art work.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

"Nantucket Cottage"


I don't know where the month of May went - it's all a big blur. We had our annual Plein Air trip last weekend in the wonderful town of Granbury, Texas. 14 of us showed up and stayed at The Iron Horse Inn, a local B&B that treated us like royalty. This is one of the cottages on their property. I fought the flies and HUGE mosquitos to paint this!!