Tomato Tango

Does anyone else feel a very strong pull to put your home and life in order after the Holidays. January it seems, is the time to straighten up all the "things" in our life that are spinning out of control. I had a difficult time with my head wanting to unclutter my surroundings and my other side wanting to paint. I was stuck in this rut until the new DPW challenge regarding the new it color for 2012. Tangerine Tango. My inspiration came from Facebook and my niece Mollie. She can capture with a camera, what I can only wish I could do. Thank you Mollie, for this beautiful, inspiring photo. These Tomato Tangos are painted in oil on a 4 x 12 canvas. Can't wait to try a watercolor version.

Breakfast

Not too good with breakfast. It is the one meal I am really good at skipping, and probably the reason I gained a few. Let us not go there...

This weeks challenge from DPW is paint your breakfast. The sun is lovely in my sun room this morning, what is up with the nice weather, this is my peach oatmeal, coffee black.

Sun break is an oil painted on a 5 x 7 canvas panel. Available in my DPW gallery.

The Color of Winter

Living near the Great Lakes is definitely a challenge during the Winter. Grey and more grey. Every once in awhile we are treated to a gift like this sunset. There is a spot at the end of Eagle Point Boulevard, that has the most stunning view of Lake Erie. There is a quaint little wedding and event hall by the name of Sunset Inn located here and not too active in the winter. So far I have not been removed from the property.

I grew up in this area and now live nearby. When the snow has fallen and the storm clouds pass and give way to clear skies, grab your camera, you will not believe your eyes. Rumor around here is we have the best sunsets, even in the Winter.....

This is an 8 x 10 oil painting on a canvas panel. It is available in my gallery on the Dailypaintworks site. I used brushes and a palette knife.

Value and color change challenge.

Took a little break from painting and blogging over the holiday. I must admit my home was looking like a certain reality tv show. I had my son home from school and made a commitment to try and live simple. Too much clutter. It is still a work in progress.

This coffee mug photo is the DPW challenge for this week. I first did a value only painting, then did the mug in blue. The challenge was to change the color of the objects and see if the value holds. The changes to the mug and grapes were ummm, very challenging.

Value only

Coffee Blues

Here is the actual blue mug with grapes.

Color change to Mustard Yellow

Took the blue coffee mug and changed it to yellows.