Thursday, October 30, 2008

Flower Show

I used to be quite into gardening and flower arrangements. I was president of a federated garden club in Richmond, VA and entered a flower show once. The competitions are fierce. While my arrangement was pretty good, I was way off in presentation without enough scene-setting paraphernalia.

Of course I learned this from my mother who was in the garden club wherever we lived. When I paint florals I imagine that I am arranging flowers. Is it a hogarth curve, a triangle, a mass? I painted this last weekend thinking of an armful of fall grasses, ferns, and coleus with a few lilies added for color. To me, it is a mass with a touch of hogarth (up on the left, down on the right).

Here is Fall Flowers, 11" x 15", original watercolor painting available in my Etsy Shop.



Monday, October 27, 2008

A Change of Scenery

It's time for a new look around here. I love painting florals, and even painted yellow roses again. But, for a change of scenery, I started on a new series based on my friend's trip to the Tetons a few weeks ago. I'm starting the series with a realistic interpretation and plan to progress into some abstraction.
Here is Summer In The Tetons, 15" x 22", Original Watercolor Painting


Thursday, October 23, 2008

Tag! I'm it!

Woo hoo, I've been tagged by my colleague, Fransceca (Cecca) Whetnall. She is a fine watercolor artist that I met on Etsy where we are both members of the Watercolor Works Esty Team. As you probably know, this means I have to tell you seven things about myself and then tag seven other blogs. I'm honored to be included in this fun game!

Tagging Rules
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 interesting/random facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post, leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Leave a comment on each of their blogs to let them know they've been tagged.

Seven facts about me
1. I am currently addicted to dark chocolate and cheesecake but plan to switch to carrots and celery any day now. Really.
2. I wear earplugs when I sleep.
3. I do all the daily puzzles in the newspaper including the NY Times crossword.
4. I am a 16 year cancer survivor.
5. I have been on a 2200 mile boat trip.
6. I do not pay anyone to cut or color my hair or paint my fingernails and toenails.
7. Dust is a protective coating in my house.

Now you're it!
1. Veronica Escudero
2. Jordanka Yaretz
3. Marionette, Kauai-artist
4. AlteredEvents
5. DesignsBySheila
6. 57 Design Studio
7. HolyCuteness

And for the painting du jour:
Here is a new painting; Pink Rose Bouquet, 11" x 15" available in my Etsy shop.


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Whatnot, Whatever, What Now

Whatnot seems to be the new etc., I suppose. Well in the last decade or so. My husband happened to have the dictionary out just now where we were looking up pedantic. I mentioned my title here and he looked up whatnot. It is defined as "an indescribable thing." (derived from the whatnot shelf) However, my son, who has always been very creative with his word construction, (I'm always saying, "Jimmy, that is not a word.") started using the phrase and whatnot often as a list-ender.

Having solved that weighty matter, let's move on to whatever. A good friend, whom I spend a lot of time with on the weekends at the lake, truncates many, if not most, of her sentences with whatever. She gives a it very definitve downward inflection; end of discussion. It's rather contagious for some reason and I find myself imitating her, whatever.

So what now. I just stared out the window for about 20 seconds. Oh yeah, the yellow roses painting of the last post sold this weekend. And someone else is interested in a similar painting, only larger. That's a good thing, isn't it? For the nonce,

Here is Fishermen's Dock, prints available, original sold. I imagine those fellows on the Chesapeake are hauling up the oysters as we speak.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Color of the Day is Yellow

It's sunny and I feel cheerful today. I was just accepted to display my art on the TrunkT.org site. My portfolio will be accessible later today or tomorrow and I look forward to filling it with my current paintings.

I was also feeling sunny a few days ago when I completed this loose, painterly mass of yellow roses in a celadon vase. For the painters in the room, my pigments were New Gamboge, Winsor Yellow, WN Perylene Green, DS Undersea Green and Winsor Violet. I'm loving this perylene green! It goes from a soft grey-green to almost-black. I think these cool greens really emphasize the warm intense gamboge. I'm off to buy some more perylene green at Cheap Joe's special one-day $1 shipping sale!


Here is Yellow Roses, 11" x 14" original watercolor


Friday, October 3, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

So Much Stress

Just sitting here in a daze. I think I typed that about 3 minutes ago. I want to show you this painting that I did on Monday in the midst of all that stress - the bill didn't pass, the market dove, and I had to plan a dinner party for 18. I was over-the-top stressed into an actual place of calmness. Like when you drink so much caffeine that it makes you tired. The result here is a very quiet, serene painting.


Here is Magnolias, 11" x 15", original watercolor painting.