White Out

Paint what is outside your window, that is what the challenge is for this week. The challenge here where I live, was to see anything outside. It has been like this off and on since last Thursday. This painting was from a Sunday morning photo, last night it snowed another six to ten inches.....We are far ahead of Buffalo this year for the snowfall totals. White Out.

This is an oil painting, painted on an 8x10 canvas panel.

Walkers and Biters

The Daily Paintworks challenge was ummmm a challenge. I gave up, this painting actually turned much darker when it dried. The challenge was to paint this shack or another object of your choice, in Anders Zorn style. Using a pallet of limited colors as Zorn liked to do. Using only yellow ochre, white, black and red, I could not get the painting to lighten up. My daughter looked at it and said it looked like Herschel's farm. Walking dead fans know of this. That's when I decided it really needed a few walkers to complete the mood of this one or toss it.

Gray, gray go away

Daily Paintworks challenge. Painting glass.

Painted on an 8x10 inch canvas panel in oil. Such a gray, cold day I really needed to paint something colorful. I set this little still life in my sun room to chase the gray away.

Clouds

I love clouds. They can be moody, light, overwhelmingly grey, fast moving.
Looking for shapes of objects in the friendly summer clouds was a favorite childhood pastime.

In Florida, the clouds are amazing. On the shores of Lake Erie the clouds always grab your attention. They are definitely a challenge to paint.

Watercolor on 9x12 inch paper.

Fall Snow

Not a big fan of winter. I love the sun, especially on very windy days. Think balmy. That being said, what a lovely surprise this week in the form of a quick winter snowfall. The sun came through the clouds, dark and white, and turned the fall leaves into a color spectacular. It was actually very hard on the eyes. I can not imagine what my neighbors thought of the person running around outside with camera in tow. Pretty icy for sneaker feet, must locate boots.

Painted on a 5.5 x 8.5 premium canvas paper with acrylic paint.

November Snow

It was snowing last night went I went to bed. I live next to one of the Great Lakes and being walking distance away our leaves change a little slower than most. This tree is in a park, you can see it from my backyard. I have many photographs and paintings of this tree, none as beautiful as this morning. Fresh white snow, accompanied by the post storm sky.

I painted this on a flat canvas paper. Size is 5.5 x 8.5 inches.

10 minute Hydrangea

Another ten minute challenge drill. Great for not over thinking a subject, and gets the lead out. I chose this hydrangea in my painted mason jar. It has been grey and gloomy all week as winter is settling in here. Light, airy, breezy colors today.

Painted in oil on an 8x10 canvas panel.

Pirate of the Bathtub

This cute, yellow and chubby fellow hangs around my house. I decided to use him for the 10 minute challenge from Daily Paintworks. You get ten minutes on any single image, you can change the pose, but not the object. You also cannot go back and touch up or correct.



Painted in oil paint on a flat canvas panel 8x10 inches.

Reflections

Daily Paintworks challenge this week, reflections on water. I painted this very loosely and fast. My son was recently given some very old paints from an acquaintance. They were very old, hardly used and they were from an art company in Russia. I love working with them, the colors are very vibrant.

The Moon on a windy, cloudy night

What a gorgeous evening. The rain has stopped, it is still fairly warm outside. Instead of watching a baseball game gone wrong, I decided to sit outside. Peace, quiet, and a bright moon shining through bands of racing clouds. Color abounds in the darkness. My hydrangea still has the blooms, mellowed into a beautiful burgundy color for fall.

This is another acrylic painting on a black canvas sheet. I really like the layering of paint technique with acrylics.

Hydrangea Memories of Summer

I have been experimenting of late. Trying my hand at acrylic paints, I found myself working faster, seeing value and shapes more prominent. I painted this during a hot summer afternoon. Drying paint and so many different mediums available to acrylic paint. Experimenting further on a black canvas sheet, it was a totally different painting technique for me.

I like the loose feel to painting with acrylics. Oil paint, I love the sensory aspect, but I tend to overwork, overthink and literally have to stop myself.

Painted on a 9 x 12 inch black canvas sheet.

1955

The year we moved into the house my father built. He did most of the work himself. A fact I can't wrap my head around today.

I moved out of the house in 1977. I did not have any idea how much I would miss the place, the time and all the occupants.

I can still feel the warm, breezy air on a hot summer day. I felt so free, running through the fresh clean sheets hanging on the clothesline.

This is an acrylic painting on an 8x10 canvas panel.

Summer Daze

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The house I picked for this challenge is a favorite fantasy of mine. I always run away in my mind to a beach house. I live there all alone and paint. I have no responsibilities and time is endless.

Distractions

The DPW challenge this week was to take this photo of a peacock and alter the busy, distracting background. We have all had days like that, too much noise in the background, you just might miss the beauty right under your nose.

This is painted on an 8 x 10 canvas flat panel in Acrylic.

Paint Your Bed

I don't exactly know why, oh, maybe I do, but I love this photograph. This weeks DPW challenge was to paint your bed. You could choose the photo posted by Carol Marine, taken in a convent.

I know at different times in my life, I have wondered, even envied the imagined solitude that life in a convent would possibly bring.

I can imagine a day of solitude and reading in my fantasy get away.

What's your story?

Shades Beach Part 2

Watercolor version of Shades Beach. This was painted for the Different Ways Challenge on DPW. Same subject painted in watercolor, last on acrylic on canvas panel.

Painted on a 6 x 8 mixed media paper.

Shades Beach

I love the beach on a hot, windy, partly cloudy day. The effect of the sun shining on the water, with cold currents and clouds adding just the right shadows on the water, is a blast of the most amazing colors. It can make a northern lake, look almost tropical. This painting was done in acrylic paint on an 8 x 10 inch canvas panel.

The location and inspiration for this painting was from a photo taken at Shades Beach, a lovely little spot on Lake Erie in Harborcreek, Pennsylvania. The parking lot leads to a very steep paved road to the beach and pier. The cliffs around this beach add a unique perspective to this hidden treasure. I love walking this park.

Simply Tulips

Using the warm/cool challenge again, I painted my warm yellow tulip against a blue background. I subscribe on my personal Facebook page to I Require Art. A very inspirational daily look at masterpieces with brief notations. Last week showcased a painting by Andre Derain, a French artist, in 1905 painted The Wild Beasts. The water and boats were mosaic like with the most vivid colors, he used the warm and cool technique, the results were incredible. I try to apply it to my last two paintings, with very different results than my usual. I can't wait to try it out on the Big Lake.

Tulips

Warm and cool challenge this week on Daily Paintworks. My yellow tulips are having a great run this season. I was looking for a reason to paint them again. Painted in acrylic on an 8 x 10 canvas panel.

Hydrangea Whites and Upcycled Mason Jars

I love hydrangeas. My Mum called them snowballs. I also love the little Alfredo sauce mason jars the companies are currently using.

A collection of many different types of painting media, along with a stash of things I just can't seem to toss in the trash. I have been collecting, saving or hoarding these jars for over a year. Well, there was a wedding I mentioned in an earlier post, my daughter wanted the above look for her tables at the reception. We never found the time, we rented large vases.

Last month I took some gesso and painted a couple of jars and let them dry overnight. I painted them with pastel acrylics, some thick, some watered down. A light grade sandpaper to wipe away some of the paint around the lettering on the jars. An acrylic coat of varnish the next day. I painted the outside of the jar, so fresh flowers can be placed in them. Having a lot of left over flowers from the wedding they have a cute home now, but need a little weight in the jars.

I have done several paintings of these white hydrangeas in colorful vases. This one an 8 x 10 on a canvas panel, using acrylic paint. Waiting not so patiently for the real flowers to appear.

Friends Challenge

This weeks challenge was to paint your friend. I don't have any friends that are willing to pose, and I also would like to keep the friends that I have.....

I borrowed this photo that I saw recently, when I looked at it, I loved how the heads are gently resting on each other. Sweet little boys.

I know these twins will be friends for a lifetime.

The Earth Laughs In Flowers

9 by 12 inches. watercolor. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "The Earth Laughs in Flowers." However, when I ventured out my door today, I was buffetted by windy 30 degree weather, and biting rain. Mother Nature may indeed laugh in flowers, but right now she's crying in cold rain, and yelling in strong, angry wind gusts. 

I am determined to make the most of it. I stay inside today, and paint something cheerful and full-of-happy-spring-thinking. Flowers are such a joy to see at the beginning of spring, aren't they? Admit it: no matter how old you are, the first sight of green leaves poking out of the soil in early spring is a blissful moment. 

In spite of my cynical observation of today's weather, I thoroughly enjoy Emerson's quote. I'd like to think of earth sprinkling laughter here and there-- where it's needed. And how can you not smile, when you spy some new colorful flowers blooming in your garden, or receive a surprise gift from a loved one. 

Emerson also wrote this: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” What lies behind me was a winter of recordbreaking snowfall, what lies before me is an unseasonably cold, windy, and soaking wet day. Yet, within me right now is a bright-blue-sky, blindingly-sunny day, full of chatty birds and bright yellow flowers, just waiting behind the clouds. 

What's Cooking

I really enjoy watching the food network. I am amazed at the skill and the ease these chefs whip up the works of art they create. I can't get past the grocery shopping for these dishes.

I never got the cooking gene. At times I wished I had it, my sister is an amazing cook and baker. My Mum, her homemade bread and baking was and still is legend. She had a pumpkin pie recipe.....

I hate kitchen clean up......besides, food is much more fun to paint.

Farmers market Tulips

My second entry for the DailyPaintworks Farmers Market Challenge. We have not quite had the outdoor market weather, but I am longing for the color of Spring Flowers. My yellow tulips have been stopped in their tracks, had a lot of fun with these vibrant acrylic colors.

Painted with acrylic paints on an 8 x 10 inch canvas panel.

Rainy Day Comfort

Painted this one on a cold, dreary Erie, rainy day. Instead of grabbing comfort food....a warm room, blanket, comfy chair and a great book. Now, if only I had a few hours of quiet......

Location:Rainy Day Comfort

Flower Market Day

The current challenge for DPW was taken from a photo by Carol Marine of a flower market. I painted this on an 8 x 10 canvas panel using acrylics. I have always favored oils and watercolor and only recently began using acrylic. I like the texture you can achieve without all the time needed to dry. Makes you move it, think fast, paint fast. I am enjoying learning all the secrets of this medium.

What Spring is to Me

Spring is color. After a long, grey, cold winter in the North East, spring is color. The sky cerulean with bright white clouds. The greens are crisp, bright yellow green. The flowers adding the colorful highlights. On my street, the township planted dogwoods to line the streets. In a couple weeks they will be in full bloom, I can't wait. It always looks to me like a painter loaded the brush with white, pink and greens and splattered the landscape. Amazing.

Spring here, not.

I am trying to ignore the snow and cold temps outside theses days. Spring is here, but only in my mind. I keep looking at the 10 day forecast, not good. I had some crafty left overs from my daughters wedding last fall. At one point she wanted mason jars on the reception tables. We went another way and had quite a few mason jars not used. I used the white Hydraenga flowers she used in her centerpieces and painted all the jars spring pastel colors. Desperately needing some color, this morning I painted one.

This oil painting is on a 5 x 7 canvas panel.

Statue challenge

The DPW challenge this week, the statue challenge. This 5 x 7 inch canvas panel was used with oil paint. I love old statues, they provide an eerie atmosphere or much comfort in a cemetery. Growing up a Catholic, there were no shortage of statues in our home, school or Church. I remember getting lost gazing at them as a child. I had a problem focusing in school, the statues did not help.

In my recent years statues take on a whole new meaning. Any Dr. Who fans?



Don't blink.

Lady Bathing Challenge

Painted on an 8 x 10 canvas panel in oil. Carol Marine submitted this photo to paint. I very rarely paint figurative, so this one was out of the box for me. Something all of us should consider doing on a daily basis.

Expectations

The other morning, I saw this stunning sky. We have recently had more than enough snow......Lake not frozen, lots of Lake Effect snow. White out conditions. So I had to photograph, this sky had a biblical quality. I did my best to render it in oil paint on a 5 x 7 inch canvas panel.

I titled it, Expectations. Looking at this is a lot like looking at life, at least for me. The question is is the darkness overtaking the blue sky or the small patch of blue pushing away the darkness. Somedays.......

Movement

I was not really happy with my challenge entry for the DPW movement challenge or the rain challenge. The rain challenge will never be seen, but it is a fascinating phenom to paint. People turn into blurbs and light reflected is beautiful. Movement is very fast in rain for adults, children know how to enjoy a warm rain shower in the summer.

Movement

A difficult challenge. Painting movement. I did this quick acrylic study of a photograph I took last fall. It was a warm, windy day and I love visiting this town in my corner of Pennsylvania. The flag shows movement, but not as much of a challenge. Finding the right composition is the challenge at this time.

Granny Greens

Trying to catch up on the DPW challenges has been a real challenge. The Holidays are in the past, no more excuses. One of My favorite brother-in-laws, known as The Bear, has a favorite response to excuses.......I will be polite and just say it ends with everybody's got one.

Granny Greens was painted in oil on a canvas board 6 inches by 6 inches. The challenge was to paint fabric with all it's folds, nooks and crannies and lovely shadow. This was as fun to photograph as it was to paint.