Kathryn Glover's Paintings and Other Creative Works

"Visitors" 8" x 8" Oil on Panel

2012-01-20T14:31:00.000-05:00

The Florence Griswold Museum

Well, anyone who knows my work knows that I love to work with eggs. Especially those raw in clear a glass container. The variations of yellow I love with the distortions caused by the glass. I'm working now on putting a little show together for early March. Actually the show is booked, I just need to get everything framed and have cards printed. The last couple of weeks have been rather sad for me, for my best friend and art buddy, Carol Dulaney died. We first met in Studio 2 in Westport, Connecticut in a painting class, then roomed together for my first painting workshop on Block Island. In the late 80's we would drive into NYC every week for 2 years to explore art. Primarily we were hunting out paintings, but found many surprises along the way. Of course lunch, or tea at the Stanhope was mandatory to replenish our thirst and feast our eyes once again. We did a lot of sketching there, too. As the years passed, we still did workshops and gallery hunting, but then there were times when we just sat around talking art and books.

On one of our last trips together, we checked into a hotel to watch the Presidential Returns with full room service. Carol was so lovely and generous. She was there for my divorce and knee replacement surgery and I would be there for her surgeries. I miss her so much. I will always look at art with a bit of her spin on the academics and theories. She would have loved the opening of the new American Wing at The Met and the latest Biennial Show at the Whitney. One of our favorite museums was at one time a boarding house for an art Colony in Old Lyme, Connecticut, called The Florence Griswold Museum. This was the location of the beginning of American Impressionist Movement and is such a wonderful gallery to see some of these early paintings. I must make a trip back there again soon. Anyway, I dearly miss Carol, as do so many others.

after N.C.Wyeth oil on linen

2012-01-02T13:38:00.000-05:00

Copying paintings is supposed to be good practice....as long as you give the original artist credit. NC Wyeth was one of my favorite illustrators, though his illustrations did not fulfill his creative mind. He left illustration to paint his own scenes, but his inability to meet his financial needs forced him back to illustration again. The scenes he painted are so filled with emotion and drama. We know him by his dramatic scenes of knights secreting a cave by torchlight or of pirates landing on shore with huge billowing clouds taking two-thirds of the canvas. Wow! I've always been amazed by his wonderful painting and striking scenes from childhood stories. So.... over Christmas, to get the spirit going, I decided to copy one of Wyeth's best loved magazine covers with Santa Clause. I became restless and frustrated early since I did not chart the whole painting out from the beginning, thus not getting critical parts of the painting on the canvas. Perhaps I would like to try this one again. It will be fun, anyway, having this one hanging around the house at Christmas time.

"Three Flowers" 8" x 8" oil on gessoboard

2011-12-16T20:33:00.001-05:00

I needed a little help to set up this arrangement, so Piper did all the work. I stepped up to the easel with no previous judgements or expectations of what was to happen. And, you know, I really did enjoy working this out. I think that when I begin in my studio in the morning and begin the task of setting up, I just get a bit too worked up and frustrated. So, I've decided to set up the afternoon or evening before. I'm working now in a 12" x 12" format and sticking with the gessoboard, which is a surface I love for applying paint. My flowers all seem to look alike so I want to work with an orchid or rose to really throw a challenge in front of me. Stay tuned. To purchase this painting you can go here.

"On the Bright Side" 12" x 12" Oil on Panel

2011-12-08T19:46:00.000-05:00

First let me say how thrilled I am to have so many of you tuning in to my blog. I love sharing my work and also enjoy reading and BIG TIME smiling at all your comments. Thank you!

We are not officially into winter yet, especially it seems with the springtime weather we've been having in SW Connecticut, but I'm really for the lock-in. I no longer have my nanny job with Piper, but still see her on a regular basis. She's really awesome for 13! So, that is supposed to leave me with a lot more time to paint. Right? Well, I'm creating delays in charging out of the starter's gate. But I think I'm settled with getting those long overdue chores out of the way, like the leaf clean-up. I have been painting all along through these months but very sporatically. Painting more out of guilt than desire. I'm writing more now about my working process again as I paint and sitting back to just study what is in front of me. I have a little show coming up in March and want to have consistently good pieces to offer. I've never considered myself a painter of flowers, but I'm finding that the floral still life are the ones that sell in my ETSY shop. I'm constantly searching for my voice in my work and I know that evolves through process and time....lots of it, too. I want to work larger, as I mentioned before and the 12" x 12" today is a comfortable size for me to tackle in a day or two. Nothing ever seems finished, but I know that at some point I have to release myself from the point of control to letting the piece go as it is. I know I need to practice every day and I really want to paint everyday. I just want to make sure that I'm excited about what is before me and not just settling for random objects on a table that offer up no inspiration. It's a really awesome experience to actually see the brush strokes before me without even picking up a brush. I want to surprise myself all the time with little random quirks from my brush, however my focusing ability is too random for consistent and sustainable awe...... So here's to a Wonderful and productive ( in your own way) Holiday for you all to enjoy with all the people and pets you love and way too many calories for extra credit. I hope to be entertaining all of you with some pretty awesome attempts with painting the still life over the next few weeks.

"Compliments" 12" x 12" oil on panel

2011-12-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

I have been working in a larger size, 12" x 12", but I still love a bit larger. The tangerine in the jar had a really bright reflected light going across it. I find it a challenge to paint a group of fruit when they each have a varying lighting condition.......reflected light, direct light, light in shadow, reflected fruit. Value is the key as well as the color intensity. I was taught that color was a product of light, however, I find the most brilliant colors in the half tones. Guess I didn't follow the rule here or the front orange would be glowing with orange. Did I break the rule or is this a mistake? If I had made the front orange more intense, then your eyes might not be able to take the jump into the picture to view the rest.

Working with Apples These days

2011-11-27T18:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I have worked a little bit with the painting, but too much has been happening in my non-studio life.

I thought this apple would turn brown before I could finish a sketch, much less a painting, but in looking back, I'm not singing praises for my work. It was important that, at least, I put in the time and try. I love this bottle that I found at IKEA. They sold in a 3-pack in different shades of aqua. What a find! I need to work on more interesting set ups..... that seems to be my big struggle-du-jour. In this second painting, non of the items appear to be anchored down. Well, all of them have that problem. Perhaps I'm worrying about the wrong things here. I have a few other things to post, but not all at once.

"Bottoms Up"

2011-11-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

I have many things to post for I have been painting a bit lately. The difficult task of setting up a still life is still haunting me most every day. I don't want to copy what someone else has done, but still be fresh in my approach to my subjects. I've tried to think of my palette first, then pull from my surroundings items that help me to realize my colors. I want to tackle folds in fabric more....a lot more, but some days I'm reluctant. Lazy? You betcha! Folds are very difficult for me, but that only means practice, practice.

Seeing the light better with "Yellow" 8" x 8" oil on panel

2011-10-27T14:44:00.000-04:00

What a dreary day outside. Cold, rain, wind. So I was drawn to the color yellow this morning. This little pitcher was, in the 60's, a promotional giveaway at Phillips 66 gas stations with a fill-up. I love painting pool balls, especially my Number 1. Since I've been away from painting for some time, I've, over the weeks, tried to figure out how I might see the color better in my set ups. What was I missing? Well, I bought some clip on lights to illuminate my palette that was looking more and more like mud as my painting progressed. Today I noticed, despite the dark weather, that I could see my colors as I mixed with a bit more clarity. But the truth of this solution will reveal itself throughout my next few paintings.

"Snuggled" 8" x 8" oil on Ampersand panel

2011-10-25T14:08:00.000-04:00

Long time no paint!

With all the apples available this time of the year, I couldn't resist my urges to work with my "to the applesauce" stash. I would like to focus more on painting folds in fabric, which is really like foreign territory to me. Another artist once told me there were 7 kinds of folds... possible angles and light variations to look for when painting. One would guess if one understands the anatomy of the folds, the language of interpreted light would be easier to understand. I guess this is when I need to "paint what I see and not what I know, but know what I see when I begin to paint". Huh? Makes sense to me. But exhausting when actually practiced. But practice is what painting is all about for me. I just need to get back to the everyday ritual. When working, a lot of times I get lost in thought. But maybe that's because it's unfamiliar territory.

"Reflecting Orange"

2011-10-04T15:10:00.000-04:00

I know it has been awhile since I've posted...and painted. I went to Germany to visit my daughter, son-in-law and babu, Max. Also, we all went to Octoberfest in Munich. What a scene! I like a beer occasionally during the hot weather, but wouldn't consider myself a fan of the brew. But the beer was great. A little sweet and light to taste. My little grandson was the main attraction, though, and I just couldn't get enough of him. I took a sketchbook thinking I might do a few gestural drawings, but that didn't happen. I was too busy playing.

So, I'm back to the daily routine of this and that and finally got a few hours to paint today. I've painted this little orange pitcher only once before and find it a little challenging. The setup is resting on a sheet of foil for some interesting reflections, but then I excluded most of the foreground. Duh! I'm going to work with this again with just switching the pitcher for a pink plastic cup. We'll see how it goes.

By the way, I have a ton of new things to paint if I can just get past the difficult task of doing a setup. Definitely the most difficult task of painting is doing a creative setup, for me. Anyone else feel that way?

"Scarlet"

2011-08-03T22:56:00.000-04:00

Nectarines and honeysuckle! And it is summer! We've had some hot, hot weather, but not as bad as others. If I position the fans just right, I can maintain a cool breeze running through the house, except when the sunlight hits the skylight in my studio. Then the heat rises. I have been painting, but I haven't been as pleased with the results. So I don't have much to post. I'm at a standstill with the quilt for my sewing machine is not behaving right and it is just too hot to hand quilt. Happy news, though, for I sold a painting today!

The "HEART" of My Garden by Susan Jenkins

2011-07-25T13:14:00.000-04:00

This is the Heart in my garden and made by Susan Jenkins. She is an artist of many talents, but has recently been making these ceramic hearts with china bits and pieces which she specifically cuts for placement. My heart even has a special ladybug she made and fired from a section of scalloped plate. I have this nailed to the post by my back door for all to see and I treasure it so much. Thank you Susan! If you would like to see her other work go here to here etsy shop. To see her blog and paintings go here.

Current Quilt Frenzy!

2011-07-16T18:22:00.000-04:00

I really needed to take a break from painting for several reasons. First, I really needed to clean my house. I really needed to weed the garden. I needed to work on my etsy vintage. I really need now to finish this quilt. I'm going to Germany to see my daughter, son-in-law and baby Max in two months. This quilt was to be a present to all for Max's first birthday, which has now come and gone. So I would really like to get it finished before and take it with me. Yesterday I rigged up a high table with plywood and saw horses to lay out the quilt to baste all the layers together. I had a small umbrella to keep a little cool, but the day was still hot. The basting is all done, so now I begin the quilting. I still need to cut the grass. I still need some food in the house, but, being the chore I loath the most...food shopping...I will put it off until I'm really low on cat food and coffee. But I'm wanting to paint real bad now with a few days away from my easel.

"Christmas in July" 8" x 8" oil on panel

2011-07-12T21:58:00.000-04:00

Guess I'm continuing with the Christmas balls. They so went with the flower with a nice contrast of the green cup in the middle. At first after painting and squinting to see it, the colors and shapes, to me, looked a bit like barkcloth. I did use a new surface, which is the Ampersand with the gessoed surface. But now I'm excited about trying the Ampersand with the clay finish....even smoother than the previous. I love when the paint just slips and slides around on the surface in the beginning stages of a painting.

This one is called, "Bud, I think Junior Fell Out" oil on a canvas panel. This is the first time I have painted this blue pot. It's really large, so it held (sorta) the big sunflower blossoms. So I had to use big brushes with the large scale of things and didn't want to get hung up in the little details.

"The Great Escape" 10"x10" oil on canvas panel

2011-07-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

What a surprise to throw in some shiny Christmas balls during one of our hottest days. I like the way that each ball acts as a mirror to everything around it. Fun to try and I plan to do this again, but with varying sizes.

"Sunflower with Dots" 10"x10" oil on canvas panel

2011-07-10T22:21:00.000-04:00

I bought a bunch of sunflowers at the market the other day. I love the shape of the flower. I was searching through my flat file for a piece of colored paper to use as the background of the painting and came across a pastel drawing I did of dots, mainly to test this new paper. I had fun doing the dots and getting reacquainted with my pastels. Why not use this as the background? So, that's where the dots are coming from. I think the sunflower looks a bit weird with just the one leaf, but I wasn't thinking about it too much at the time and just painted what I saw. Looks a bit weird to me. I do have another sunflower to post and painted the flowers again today.

I've got myself backed into a corner with re-examining what my priorities are when I approach a painting. I think that I'm not putting enough thought into the planning stage, because I'm just so excited to begin that I just stumble right in. I believe that design should be my first issue that I tackle, then my color palette... But then sometimes I look at my shelves with my still life things arranged and just want to dive in and paint "THIS"!...then try to make it work somehow. I remember in painting classes being disciplined to paint something I don't really want to, learning to go beyond my desire and tackle the academics of painting head on....not to get wrapped up in the sentimentality of the things. But at home, I'm the boss, and I want to do what I want to do and, not necessarily, what would be best for my skills training. Sometimes I find it beneficial to set up problems for myself to tackle in the beginning. But then I find on most days everything is a problem in the beginning. I'm daily struggling to "find myself" and my "voice" through my painting. Isn't that enough? I know the best thing for me to do is practice and to practice everyday. On good days I SEE everything in brushstrokes. What a way to travel through life. Huh?

"Oatmeal Cookies" oil on masonite

2011-07-05T23:31:00.000-04:00

I've been working since the winter on this painting. There's always a first when painting.....raisins out of the box. I had fun with the arrangement of the objects, but had a little trouble getting the whole setup to "glow". The blue in the background helped present a stage against which the objects were on exhibit. Jars of honey are always a plus in a painting for me. Honey cannot help but glow.

"Surrounded" 10" x 10" oil on panel

2011-06-23T23:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was really in the mood to work with red. Actually, I just opened my refrigerator and pulled out the red apples. Then later in the afternoon I returned to the kitchen and found cherries ready for the grab. I've never painted cherries before.

"Hail to the Chief" 10" x 10" oil on panel

Today I moved over a notch on the color wheel and found myself painting orange. That one I don't feel is in a presentable state. Some days things just don't work out as planned.

"Number 12" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-06-18T13:54:00.000-04:00

I seem to be on to these pool balls for a while now. I especially love the yellow one, which is number 1. I'm currently looking to purchase a number 3, which is a solid redish-orange color. I love drawing spheres, although the yellow ball, now that I'm really looking at it, looks a little off anatomically. Light bulbs, also, are an excellent object to practice your drawing. I wanting this little painting to be viewed mostly in shadow with accents from the light source.

"Love"

2011-06-17T20:14:00.000-04:00

This is the other embroidery I purchased along with "The Peaceable Kingdom". Don't want to sell this one either, so I pulled it out of the etsy shop. Now to get down to some serious painting!

"Peaceable Kingdom" farewell!

2011-06-15T19:11:00.000-04:00

I had a sale in my etsy shop this week that actually saddened me. This is a picture of an embroidery I purchased at a tag sale on my street a few years ago. In the basement of this house, I came across a young girls entire school art portfolio. I remember when I did one of these pieces in high school. Well, I found two that were absolutely adorable so I purchased them both and this is one of them. Done in 1970, the artist's name is Debbie Easton and is depicting "The Lion and the Lamb" embroidered with yarn on a piece of burlap. It reminds me of a sampler like the ones done by young girls years ago. The couch stitch is mostly used throughout. This is the image I have on my computer desktop at the moment. I really did not think it would sell, so I felt somewhat safe in having it listed to "round-out" my shop. What a surprise when I checked the sales in my shop and found that someone in Arizona had purchased it. I wrote an email telling the purchaser how I felt about it leaving my house and I was reassured it was going to a loving home. Farewell to a beautiful piece of Debbie's art class project.....

"Azalea in Blue" 6" x 6" oil on panel

2011-05-23T20:32:00.000-04:00

Well, I have received advise from several people to paint smaller. People, on etsy, are looking to spend less on a painting, perhaps their first, to begin their collection. I've painted 6" x 6" only a few times, fearing I would not be able to cram all my ideas into such a small space. I had to use different size brushes from what I usually use. I love big brushes, relatively speaking. A larger brush holds more paint, therefore allowing me to drag that sentence out a bit longer. I can see what is going on with the canvas when painted not so small. So, on this painting, I kept with medium size brushes busy with the establishing of my major shapes. I love to see the tracts of the brush as it releases the paints. Brush strokes show their organic capability, I think, with the larger brush. "Keep it simple," I keep telling myself. In painting classes I was taught to "Start with a broom and end with a bristle". I could just as well forget the bristle stage completely. Larger statements and a loud voice need ample tools.

Are My Colors Right/Correct?

2011-05-08T14:40:00.001-04:00

It seems that I have a real issue with photographing my art. I'm getting colors that vary widely with the same camera and the same monitor, but photographed in different places. What a HUGE difference! This painting that I did last year I experimented with today. These are pools balls that I painted resting on a piece of tin foil...to reflect the image. Neither photo is exactly correct, but the first picture is closer to the actual painting. It's 22" x 24", which is large and has a black frame on it. I used to photograph art for collectors eons ago, before the digital camera was out. I used special film and lights and would bracket my exposures. It was a lot of work, but I always got accurate results. Is this a Photoshop issue? Does anyone know how I can get accurate results without the use of an Adobe program? Darcy, could you ask your husband, please?

"Rebecca at the Well"

2011-05-05T20:58:00.000-04:00

Boy, was today a great day! I painted not so good today, but received something in the mail that is so beautiful! I have met some wonderful people and great artists since I've had my computer, but most recently since beginning this blog a little over a year ago. Yes, this is about you, Dulcy. Dulcy does the most beautiful rug hooking and is a pattern designer, as well. you can see her at: Dulcy's Doorstep. She was recently featured in HAUTE HANDBAGS Magazine with one of her beautiful creations. Well, I just had to own a piece of her "wonderful"! Her handbag arrived today and the colors are so rich and deep. Pinks and greens! I love it! I'm taking it to bed with me tonight. I love the way she leads your eye around the picture, or pattern, by the direction of her her hooking. It all has so much movement....like flowers blowing in the breeze. Thank you, Dulcy. I will treasure it forever.

I had some trouble painting today and wiped out 3 or 4 times, so I'm showing an older painting I did from one of my favorite spots on earth to paint. Block Island, Rhode Island. This is just the beginning of a painting of "Rebecca at the Well", which is the name of a statue at the only rotary on an island that is only 3 miles wide by 7 miles long. Beautiful place to go for a weekend. I think of it as "little Ireland". Perhaps my painting tomorrow will be a little more successful. What I wiped out today was really bad. No pictures of this one.

just the seeds added.....to the Strawberries

2011-05-02T18:10:00.000-04:00

I have not gotten to paint for the last few days, but I just could not look at these strawberries any longer without seeds. So on the first attempt I added lots, way too many. So I wiped out, since the painting was dry, and tried again. I just wanted to suggest seeds without defining the whole lot. Much improved, I think. Also, the painting a few posts back with my brushes and apples....well, I switched the painting. Usually I don't like to go back in and rework after I've declared "done". I have ruined more paintings that way without the ability to edit it back to the way it was. I only have a memory through a photo image. I also have photos of a few "could have beens" if I just had not been so hasty in wiping out.

This painting, I think in looking back, had a really good start...and I wiped it out. The setup was placed on a piece of white acrylic, so I could get some interesting reflections to paint. I had never done that kind of setup before. Here the dark background really made that vase glow! What was I thinking! Guess I was just afraid of the challenge.

"Magnolia" 20" x 20" oil on linen

2011-04-29T15:15:00.000-04:00

I've always wanted to paint a watercolor or oil palette. This is my little Cotman I sometimes use when I travel. I seem to have lost the little water reserve that goes with it. The magnolia blossom I picked earlier yesterday. Then in the afternoon the skies opened up and the rains came. When the storms were over all the blossoms were on the ground. When I returned to my easel this morning the blossom I had picked was pale and limp, so I had to paint this flower from my memory, which is rather scattered and sparse. I really should go back to watercolors for awhile and take a break from oils.

"My Brushes and Apples" 11" x 14" oil on linen

2011-04-27T23:06:00.001-04:00

Today was surprisingly busy just in my back yard. Just tree stuff, but enough interruptions to distract and redirect. I love painting these green apples with this turquoise pitcher. Needs a spot more of red, though.

"Pedestrians" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-04-26T16:58:00.000-04:00

I've felt rather disconnected lately. There is just so much going on with not enough time to get it all completed. And now it is about grass cutting season. Yes, I cut my own grass, but only with music in my ears. Well, spring is definitely here, as there is a green haze in the trees....almost leaves. My little grandson, Max, is turning one in a few weeks, so I bought these Waldorf cars for him in a rainbow of colors. So, before I ship them off to him in Germany, I thought I would use two of them in a painting. I should have worked on drawing them for a few hours first! I didn't capture their shape easily. I thought of the orange slices as pedestrians in the middle of this traffic jam, scurrying across the road. I put my "Pink and Green" painting in a show today. Thought I would spend the day outdoors but that did not happen. Driving in the car does not count as being outdoors. I wish I could paint abstract. A painting friend of mine is now painting abstract and her colors and shapes are just beautiful! You can see her work at: lindageorgeart.com
I think this painting is too tight. I usually begin very loose, but somehow lost it in translation.

Drawing in your Painting

2011-04-20T11:33:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to pay more attention to my drawing in my painting, if that makes sense. I remember when I was in art school majoring in drawing, and the day in class I found that it was not the contour line of the figure or the shading, but some space in between that represented "relationship" that I saw. Like lost-and-found edges. And this I had the power to control, which was where your eye moved through the drawing. I have always looked at my picture as a way to tell a story by means of a journey with your eyes down a road, up a path or over a bridge......don't quote me on this, but my picture is a map. So, in your composition you are setting up, through shapes, color, value and line a journey. I prefer a pleasant journey and I do this through color harmony, subject matter and value contrasts to name a few. A little tension is good, too. I'm working on the rage thing!

"Scattered" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-04-15T17:38:00.002-04:00

I feel like I've exhausted my options on things to paint. The last two attempts have been wipeouts after two full days of painting. I tried to do a self portrait with my reflexion bouncing off the light of an old brownie camera flash bowl. Big. Silver. Round. Dull. The next one was a jar of colored pencils with a variety of other things scattered around. No good. Mistakes and failed starts are supposed to be good, I know. That's usually where I do my learning. So I cleaned the inside of my car, which I knew was a guaranteed success. I didn't learn much, but it caused me great pleasure to get into a clean car, start the engine, and move it 20 feet. Ever onward!
This painting, "Scattered", is for sale in my etsy shop at a lower price. Just trying to get that first sale.
http://kathrynglover.etsy.com

"Five Plus One" 10" x 10" Oil on Linen

2011-04-11T15:04:00.000-04:00

I'm still on the green apple thing I have going, but strawberries....I don't know. I'm so tempted to eat them. I had, I thought, a real challenge in front of me. I wanted to try to paint really red strawberries, but I just couldn't come up with a pleasing composition. So I actually pulled in the green apple to keep me in my comfort zone, being that I've been painting them a lot lately. I tried to indicate the seeds in the berries, but that was a disaster, so I just kept them "sterile".

"Just A Spoonful" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-04-08T16:10:00.000-04:00

Well, today has been rather interesting. I finally went back to my old palette, which is just a piece of thick glass with white paper underneath. What a difference it makes to work with a clean palette! I also did my "thinking hard" session of painting and think that it finally paid off. But I need to be able to pull this off 10 times in a row, with success. There's nothing like being hard on yourself. But if I don't crack the whip, who will? My house is a wreck, it's time to do spring clean-up in the yard and I have recently ignored my vintage etsy shop. Laundry is piling up and no food in the house but cereal...no milk. But I just want to stay off to myself and paint. A gallery contacted me today...they are interested in showing my work. This scares me! I don't do business, but I guess it is time to learn. Can you tell in this painting that the bottle on the left is opaque ...different than the others? That was my problem today; to paint transparent and opaque and be able to tell the difference between the two. I always have to solve a problem when I paint. It takes my mind away from the hard academics of painting.

"Apple Seltzer" 20" x 20" Oil on Linen

2011-04-07T11:46:00.001-04:00

I don't post twice in a day, but I have a little backlog here. This is my third painting of the four with the pink flower.....I really ought to move on now. I love this shape of the seltzer bottle and hope to be using it more in my set ups. I haven't painted successfully green apples before, but these gave me fewer problems......or maybe I'm just finally getting it! The overall value of the apples might work a little lighter, but I'm pleased with the value relationship in each one. When I painted the apple in the back on the left, I remember thinking that I should leave it alone and not mess it up by working on it further, just because it was there, though I was taught that when working on a painting, to work everywhere all the time and not to "finish" up one area. If one area is finished to your liking early, you tend to hold that finished area sacred and will sacrifice other areas of the canvas visually ...like you want the remaining areas to rise up and meet your little sacred piece. I thought of that the entire time I was painting; not to make that back apple sacred. It's very hard to do that; to possibly mess up a well-painted area for the good of the whole.

"A Pair" 8" x 8" Linen on Panel

2011-04-07T11:19:00.001-04:00

I bought this new panel yesterday and I like it. This was painted on a panel stretched with a very fine linen on a MFD wood panel and treated with an acid-free primer. Centurion makes the panel in several sizes, but I went straight for the 8" x 8", which is a new size for me. I prefer a square format, always have, but occasionally will use a slight rectangle. I seem to be hung up on this aqua/cool red palette in the last few weeks. This little plastic pitcher is new to my stock. It was made in the 50's or 60's as a promotional giveaway with gasoline. Phillips 66 is printed on the bottom. It's another great find from etsy. I love to mix greens from the blues and yellows on my palette. I use no greens from the tube.

" Pink and Green" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-03-30T12:58:00.001-04:00

While I have this booty of fresh flowers, I will use them in numerous still life set ups. I just need to keep their water fresh and the ideas flowing. I built a light box in my studio and drape it with a blackout cloth. That way I can control the light on my set up for hours, even as the sun comes through my skylight. I usually do these smaller paintings in one session. Not because it takes a short amount of time, for often it doesn't. I just have to go with the flow and I, fortunately, do not have to break to fix dinners for someone else, especially if I'm not hungry. I'm enjoying working with the cool red on my palette, a welcome change. This red is Permanent Rose( quinacridone) , and makes wonderful purples and violets mixed with cobalt or ultramarine blue.

"Charming" 14" x 11" oil on linen

2011-03-28T21:09:00.000-04:00

My day didn't start so well. I had an unpleasant dream that started me down that road of negative thoughts. So the best thing to do is get out of the house. I had 4 purchases from etsy which took a bit of time boxing everything up. Found out at the post office that, once again, I had miscalculated my shipping NOT to my advantage. I need to stop guessing and use the scale I purchased and look everything up on the computer. Then on to Trader Joe's and home. I was determined to paint SOMETHING today, and spending time working on a set-up put me in such a foul mood. I don't enjoy inventing still life set ups at all. Sometimes my execution of the paint is going well, then 3 hours into it, I realize the picture is all wrong. It just isn't balanced or interesting. Today I was thinking of what colors I wanted to use....my palette, dirty as it was, still had some mixing space left...and being too lazy to clean and begin again...SO there is a BIG problem right there. Start with a clean palette, no matter what. Sometimes I get so involved in the color mixing that I forget where I was going to put the color. My brush is loaded and ready to make my mark ...and I haven't the foggiest where that color I spent so much time mixing, was supposed to go. Anyway, the painting went a little better once I got started. It's so difficult for me. I have to focus so hard every second. It's so exhausting! I have to have an out loud dialogue with myself on all the decisions I'm making. Whew!

"Jump" 20" x 20" oil on linen

2011-03-24T12:37:00.000-04:00

I was not going to post this painting because there are so many things wrong with it, but I guess this blog is supposed to help me get over that "only show the best' syndrome. Sometimes I get so excited about getting that brush in my hand and making my first marks, I breeze over the set up phase. I talked about this in a recent post. I love the jar of eggs and the napkin, but there is an area that has nothing going on and your eyes just get stuck in that big blue area. A painting should have a lot of passages and bridges to move your eyes around and this one just does not have it. I wiped out the dial on the scale several times....just could not get the cylindrical shape correct. I thought of adding a canister of some sort on the right behind the jar, but I think, your eyes get stuck on the other side of the scale, as well. It's just a bad set up and that's what I really need to work on. Perhaps to spent hours rearranging with executing some value sketches would be beneficial. One instructor jokingly told me, "if all else fails, crop.

"Boots" 14" x 11" oil on linen

2011-03-21T17:59:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe it snowed this morning... only an inch. Actually it was really pretty. So I was prepared for major bad when I went to do errands. The snow turned to rain and made being outdoors an uncomfortable mess. I need to get out of my "oh, it's almost dark outside, so time to wrap-it-up" mode. It begins around 3 PM, which I then struggle to make productive the rest of the day. Yesterday I started this painting around 4:30 and managed to work out the drawing part in 2 hours, but once again today I found myself finishing up about 3:30 with nothing else to work on. At that point, it's kinda late to start something else, when I have to struggle for ideas anyway. Starting, I find, is the most difficult stage of a painting for me. Not the painting part, but coming up with ideas. If anyone has any tricks to help them along, I would love some ideas. Of course, I'm probably looking at the obvious in front of me instead of digging around in my cupboards for fresh, new stuff. When the light floods into my bathroom at the end of a sunny day, I see lots of potential. But when daylight wraps it up, I feel lost. I feel "sundowners syndrome" at the end of the day. I'm still on a high from, hopefully, a good day of painting. Why can I not sustain it for another 2 or 3 hours?

"Oil and Lemon" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-03-18T20:30:00.003-04:00

I did not just paint this, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew about my etsy shop that has my paintings for sale. This one is for sale, but I wanted to show it in the frame I usually use. Now let me see if I can type up the link correctly. Thanks for looking!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kathrynglover

"Medium" 10" x 8" oil on linen

2011-03-17T20:03:00.000-04:00

I forgot that I had this little painting. Glass just attracts me....as do shadows. I want to try and paint this one again soon. I want to experiment more with different lightbulbs, warm vs cool and work more with reflected light. Right now I want to just focus on the light and shapes...cannot forget those shapes.

"Apple and Salt" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-03-12T15:57:00.001-05:00

Well, I really struggle with apples, especially the variety that has a lot of yellow, orange and green. That's why I chose and Red Delicious this time. A bit of purple in this one, but it was the bottle that gave me problems. The salt shaker is a recent acquisition from etsy. I feel like I will rust up if I don't paint every day, but I believe pauses in a routine can be quite enlightening. Perhaps I need a good dose of chocolate!

I got First Place folks!

2011-03-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

I haven't checked to see if I've posted this painting before, but anyway, I FINALLY won a First Place in Oils! I don't even remember what I named this one....something about a teaspoon. When I dropped it off at The Rowayton Art Center, I remember standing there with another artist discussing how we hated to name our paintings and were waiting till the last possible minute to do so. Uh, I just don't know if I should name it "Spoon", for that's what I was focused on....for awhile. "Honey Glow" was another option, for I was, for awhile......., focused on making the honey glow. But then what about, "That Flower in the Background". No, that would bring it too forward, which I did not want to do. It really doesn't matter too much to me, because I won First Place! Does that mean that I get an extra helping of cookies after dinner? This one is for sale at $225, and it is in a nice, chunky black and gold frame. Maybe I'll sell something! 10" x 10" with 2 1/4" frame = a little over 14"square.

"Uncle Bob" gouache on coated paper

2011-02-26T12:53:00.000-05:00

I don't think that I have posted this painting before, but this one I call Uncle Bob. Actually I did this from a photo taken from when I was at the Highland Games in the Loone Mountains in New Hampshire one fall. This is another example of working on gesso-coated paper. This is done in gouache, which is an opaque watercolor and pronounced "gwash". Most watercolors are painted on watercolor paper, which can be quite absorbent. I find the medium to be very non-forgiving in the first place, meaning you make your mark on the paper....then you have to live with it. The colors can stain the paper and if you are having second thoughts and want to lift off your paint, well, too bad. With gesso-coated paper the paint sits on the surface just waiting to be pushed around. Some staining can occur, especially with thalos. Gouaches give you much more vibrant colors and do not muddy up so much when white is added. I also used a rapidiograph pen for the black. These pens are expensive little suckers that give you a consistent width to your line. No thick then thin line, like with nib pens or even a pencil. And the ink is waterproof so washes can be applied over your line and there will be no running. The problem is that the india ink used has shellac in it, so unless you are obsessed with cleaning your pen every day, and cleaning that little hole where the ink flows out REALLY WELL, you are in for a clogged pen. It's then almost impossible to unclog, especially the really fine ones that make such a thin, fine line.There are less expensive, fine-tipped felt pens that work almost as well and are great for on-the-go drawing, but I still find they run a little if a wash is used over the ink. Bottom line is that with a bit of experimentation with papers and the use of gouache, you can achieve illustration-like results that are not so washed out, which is what I was going for with Uncle Bob. This painting below was also done with gouache, but on a brown paper bag-like paper.

"Taking a Break" gouache,oil and colored pencil on coated paper

2011-02-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

I love working on gesso-coated paper. The paper I use is Strathmore Bristol 2-ply plate finish. I tack a huge sheet to a piece of plywood, coat with not-too-thick water-based gesso with the brush strokes all going in one direction. I let this dry, then do another coat with the brush strokes going perpendicular to the first coat. I let this dry again, then turn the sheet over, re-tack and do the paint process again on the reverse side. I find that the 2 coats cover quite well and also leaves a wonderful surface, with the gessoed strokes showing through, especially with washes. Gouache can be used under oils. This coated paper is also great to use for straight-up oil painting. The paint stays on the surface and sets up real well....similar to working on masonite. It sounds like a lot of work to prep for working on paper, but paper needs a preservative if oils are used. The coating is not necessary if you are using water-based paints, but the surface looks interesting, I think.

"Pears" oil on linen 11"x 10"

2011-02-20T20:31:00.001-05:00

Well now, a pair of pears. What else can I say.

"Pears" oil on linen 10"x 10"

2011-02-17T16:40:00.000-05:00

Well, the good news is that I opened my etsy shop today. Here is the link. http://etsy.com/shop/annykate I don't see how I can fit my paintings in among the merchandise, though. I know that I should get it in there somehow. Any suggestions....I'm open. When I painted this, I had the pears on the right side of the canvas...totally vertical. But I knew that something looked wrong. So I just tried rotating the picture. Lousy way to save a painting, but I do think that it looks better this way.

"Maybelline" pastel

2011-02-14T19:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I think I need to spend some time updating my website. I need to add many new pieces. This is a pastel that I really struggled through. Dark to light...or light to dark? Hard pastels first, then the soft? How much layering and blending is right or do you just try to hit the right color first off? Is a finished pastel a drawing or a painting? "Maybelline" is about 16"by 20". A lot of space to cover...like burning dollar bills!

"Strawberries and Kate" gouache on paper

2011-02-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

Working with children presents a big problem like "hope I can remember this 'cause this child is not sitting still for 5 seconds". So, working from a 2 minute pencil sketch with notes on patterns and colors, I painted this at home. With only spending a short amount of time in gouache, an opaque watercolor, I captured the essence of Kate and the colorful, little package she presented. Far from a portrait, but it does look like her!

"Scot" oil on linen

2011-02-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a cat picture today. This is an oil I did, but today I'm attempting to work in pastels again. Not easy for me at all. I love looking at all the beautiful colors of my pastels in their wooden trays. Using them somewhat successfully is another matter. Someone recently recommended that I keep the sticks in a dish of raw rice to cut down on the dust... and it really works (:

"Slices" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-02-07T22:38:00.000-05:00

In this painting I was going for making as few marks as possible to say what needed to be said. We don't want to know what happened to this painting the next day):

"My Underwood" oil on linen

2011-01-30T19:38:00.004-05:00

I have 2 very cool old typewriters. This is my portable Underwood that actually works. Hundertwasser is one of my favorite artists...my favorite pen and old silver teapot I found at Portobello Market. Oh yes, one of my old and worn out quilts and Buffalo China platters with oranges included. I love my old "stuff".

"Sliced Lemon" 18" x 20" oil on linen

2011-01-22T15:44:00.002-05:00

Unintentionally I seem to be working with a full palette these days, with a wide spectrum of colors. In the beginning of this painting, I had painted a patterned blue fabric underneath a group of whole lemons. With the planned flowers in the upper canvas, this just did not read well. So I broke the front right space up with cut lemon slices and placed them in an arranged scatter, which works better as a composition.

"Transparency" oil on linen

2011-01-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

I have been working with clear glass and cobalt glass over the last month or so. I was trying to abstract the design of the red bow. I love the way looking through clear glass distorts objects. The bottle is not painted with precise lines, but then, I wanted it to have it's own personality....like it is breathing.

"Dripping Grapes" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2011-01-04T20:57:00.000-05:00

I did this painting in the fall. The silver pedestal tray I use in many of my paintings. I wanted the grapes, dripping down, on the left to show their opacity against the light.

"Salt and Kiwi" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2010-12-24T13:38:00.001-05:00

I was painting this Roseville baby cup with the kikis and salt shaker. I thought, when through, that the painting looked too symmetrical, so I replaced a kiwi with another salt shaker. Now I really do not like it., but thought that I would show you anyway. What do you think?

Flowers

2010-12-22T19:03:00.000-05:00

So today I made flowers. This is made with Liberty cotton lawn for the puffy fabric center, hand- felted wool for the petals and a vintage bakelite button in the shape of a cube for the center. I really needed a break from painting. This flower will top off my pile of cookies to my best friend for Christmas.

"Maxine" 10" x 10" oil on linen

2010-12-21T17:58:00.002-05:00

I've been commissioned to do a few pet portraits over the last year. This is one I just painted for myself of my dog, Maxine. She was a real sweetie! My June 2010 post shows another "Max" I painted for a friend from Facebook. I will soon post the third of an Australian Shepherd. I do work from photographs.

"About the Glass" oil on linen 18" x 20"

2010-12-12T16:21:00.004-05:00

I had mentioned before that I had purchased some pretty blue glass on etsy. The cobalt blue creamer I thought was beautiful in the light. I like the way glass distorts objects viewed through. What I was focusing on in this painting, besides just having it turn out OK, was transparency and opaque, as well as matte and reflective surfaces. I like the fact that in a still- life all of the objects sit still, barring no bumps to the table. Flowers constantly move, people breathe, but, with a consistent light source objects stay put. I use a big black-out cloth for draping my light box, which is set up like the framing of a box, using PVC pipe. Therefore, as the day progresses and the light moves across my studio, I don't have to worry about the light changing. Too bad the present does not contain a reward for all my hard work....just a prop.

"3+4=7" oil on linen 18" x 20"

2010-12-10T16:12:00.001-05:00

I have taken an interest in cobalt blue and aqua glass, and with all these tangerines around the house, what a nice compliment in color to paint them together. This is SO obvious, though, that tomorrow I need to find a different color palette to work with. I just found this beautiful little cobalt pitcher on etsy that I want to paint. It's so petite and the light shines through it so beautifully!

"Joker" colored pencil and ink on bristol

2010-12-05T22:49:00.000-05:00

I've always wanted to design a deck of cards. Well, at least the face cards. Do Joker's count? This was just a fun little exercise.

"Cobalt Bottle" 8"x10" oil on linen

2010-12-03T18:53:00.000-05:00

When looking for things to set up in a still life, sometimes I am thinking of an "object", while other times I look for colors I want to use. I recently picked up this cobalt blue bottle, thinking orange, orange. I have another blue bottle I am excited about painting, because the shape is just so beautiful.

"Remains of an Egg"

2010-12-03T13:36:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post this one with the last. Before I broke this jar in the sink, I did a small painting of the jar after the egg was poured out. Then I broke the jar! 8"x6" oil on panel

"Just a Break" 8"x6" oil

2010-12-01T22:40:00.001-05:00

Not a lot of time today but I painted this small 8"x6" panel. Egg yolks can look rather funny in clear glass. I accomplished what I set out to do...a quick study. Upon cleaning out the egg from the jar, I, by accident dropped the jar in the sink, eliminating any possibility of painting this jar again. Oops!

"Not My Coffee!" 6"x6" oil on panel

2010-11-29T20:35:00.000-05:00

Well, here is little mouse making another appearance and always wanting something. Last time (a few or so posts ago), mouse wanted the last crumb of cookie, being that he was fully submerge in the jar to begin with. Just like my cats, he thinks he wants a sip of my coffee. But I know that he's only after the rich coffee aroma.

"Pecking" 10"x10" oil on linen

2010-11-27T22:53:00.002-05:00

I've never painted glass Christmas balls before, and was having difficulty in choosing the colors, knowing they would be reflecting off each other. Then with the placement, I thought I would separate the two, hopefully getting a wonderful shadow shape to work with. I think the end result looks like big bird eyes with a little beak where the nose would be.

"Hop On" 8"x10" oil on linen

2010-11-26T19:45:00.001-05:00

There wasn't even a doubt as to whether I would paint today or go out to do necessary errands. I'm sure the stores were mobbed! Errands can always be held off to another day. So today I was thinking while painting, of making every brushstroke that I put down to really matter, meaning that I wanted to say as much as possible with fewer strokes. I clearly knew what I wanted to say and how I felt about what I saw. The light was beautiful! I just get into this thing sometimes where I think just one more bit of paint will do it. Then again...and again. And before I realize it, I've got a thick mess quickly looking like mud. Well, today I took my time, allowing only so many strokes per square inch...basically. I am a bit more pleased with the results, but I probably would have been better off stopping 30 minutes earlier.

"Mug Shot # 2" 20" x 20" oil on linen

2010-11-24T22:27:00.000-05:00

This is my second post of this particular painting. Actually, I have a series in the works

using all of my vintage mixers. I love plastic, especially bakelite, once used in the manufacturing of many items used in the kitchen. I even still have my bakelite Viewmaster with many round slide cartridges in their paper sleeves. Crazy 8 ball! Got that, too! My brownie camera from the 50's still hangs on the mirror in my room. Back to this mixmaster....to me the top, working body looks like a squid when removed from its' stand. Star Wars planet Hoth also previews a droid that hovers over the snow, looking much like my mixer. Anyway, this is my fourth, but not final, interpretation of this nifty appliance. Stay tuned. Look out eBay!

"Kids at the Wedding" 42"x42" oil on linen

2010-11-23T21:39:00.000-05:00

"Kids at the Wedding" has been a work in progress for the last 3 years. I always seem quick to critique my own work. For me there will always be more issues I could be resolving daily, but there has to be a point when I must stop. Not quit, but stop for awhile. Nuff said! This painting is too big to get into my car, so you are the first to see it, for it has never left my house.

"Kiwi" 6" x 6"

2010-11-17T20:24:00.001-05:00

This is one of my recent daily paintings. I don't work this small very often, but find that I can pretty much finish a thought or idea in one sitting... and before my subject dries out from the hot lights! I've been working on a lot of holiday things lately and not found enough time to paint and DO IT ALL. Whew! When will I ever catch up?

"Oranges Up Front"

2010-11-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

I don't have much to say about this one except that I'm glad I took out the eggs and substituted orange slices. I'm having trouble coming up with composition ideas, but by the end of the day I thought that painting foreshortened sliced fruit with a bit of a tweak on the perspective might be fun.

2010-10-28T22:46:00.000-04:00

When there is no time to paint, then draw!

"One Remaining"

2010-10-25T20:17:00.000-04:00

I think sliced oranges give off a beautiful glow with the right light shining through. But not all slices are viewed equally, especially if one is in the deep shadow of a cup. This slice in the little pitcher has but a very small section peaking over the top, therefore giving off a slight glow as the light passes through.

2010-10-24T18:27:00.000-04:00

"Egg and Honey" 10" x 10" oil on linen

I'm painting most every day. Sometimes I have a little trouble coming up with new ideas. Well, go outside, dummy! The foliage is beautiful...I just get so overwhelmed by the open space above me. I tried to take it a little slow on this piece and not rush through in my excitement to get started.

House portrait Puzzle

2010-10-17T22:18:00.000-04:00

Hand-painted puzzles are a great gift for someone moving in to a new home. I love to paint puzzles, usually with gouache, an opaque watercolor. I've worked on location and worked from a clients favorite photograph. I've painted cars to Christmas cards and Birthday greetings. If you are interested in having a puzzle painted for you, please get in touch with me through my email. We can then discuss subject matter, size and price.

"Will You Marry Me" 10" x 10" oil

2010-10-11T20:13:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back from Germany. I did not draw or paint ANYTHING while I was there and I'm not so disappointed, for I had a blast playing with my new grandchild, Max. In the meantime, I've been hunting for little toys on etsy to paint, one of which I have already posted...."Here". This 10" x 10" painting was fun to paint, so I forgot to try really hard to "follow the rules" while working. However, I did play around a little by changing my perspective on the glass holding the flower. Notice it is quite impossible to be looking DOWN on the toy while looking UP on the glass.

"Sketching on the Road"

2010-09-18T15:29:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm off to Germany to meet my little grandson, "Max", and of course, visit with my daughter, Rachel, and son-in-law, Gerd. About the only thing I enjoy about the actual time of traveling is the opportunity to sit around, for hours in most cases, and watch people. I always carry my sketch book with me most everywhere I go. It's so easy to spend a brief hour or two sitting in one place observing and drawing the activities around me. I never impose or intrude on anyone and will move to a different location if I am being noticed. Families bond and separate, business deals transpire and many travelers lounge in a complete state of exhaustion, waiting for a much anticipated or dreaded trip to who-knows-where. What better way to pass the time than to document, in my own language, my take on the world passing me by. The making of marks on paper, as my eyes move through the terminal, leaves me with a recorded page in my journal and unique feeling of a "sense of place" in my heart that no purchased souvenir can capture.

"Sea of Green Umbrellas"

2010-07-23T19:57:00.000-04:00

This is another painting from my recent Block Island workshop. The day was overcast and I was having problems "settling in" on a subject to paint in town this day. Then, all of a sudden, the owner of this cafe came outside to open all his umbrellas on the patio. Wow! There was this huge horizontal strip of green going through my vision. It looked like a Sea of Green. I found an out-of-the-way spot to park myself for the day and was so lost in thought about how I wanted to say what I needed to say. I worked towards simplification of the shapes, trying not to get hung up on all the little details of the scene. I had no shadows to consider, since the sky was a perfect New England grey. The colors were just popping out!

"The Narragansett 2"

2010-06-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

This painting was done in my studio from information I had gathered on site. It's still not what I wanted, so I will make another attempt. Then I ask myself the question, "Is it possible to ever get it right?"

"The Narragansett"

2010-06-27T10:55:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I attended a plein air workshop on Block Island with painter Pamela duLong Williams.
The workshop was very helpful in pounding in those academic rules that I tend to forget so easily. One thing I tend to forget after laying in my darks in the beginning, is to go back and re-establish those darks again throughout the painting process, when I tend to let things get a bit muddy. And to keep my darks rich! I also worked on planning my paintings better in the beginning with small thumbnail sketches. This is a thumbnail of "The Narragansett", one of the large hotels on Block Island on the Great Salt Pond.

My first attempt at painting, which is oil on wood panel.

"Just a Nip"

2010-06-25T13:46:00.001-04:00

Cut up orange pieces are fun to work with if the lighting is right passing through the orange, giving a translucent appearance. I have been experimenting with reflected light off this black coffee cup. I find it helpful to keep in mind that the cup is still a black cup regardless of what bright object is reflected off its' surface. I must paint the oranges in a low key, with the colors leaning towards a darker grey on the color scale, to make it believable. The blue background is complimentary to the oranges in the painting, creating a more harmonious feel.

"Max" the dog

2010-06-19T20:25:00.001-04:00

A few months ago a dear friend on Facebook wrote to me asking if I would do a portrait of her dog, Max. After receiving photos and information about Max I was eager to go. I knew what he smelled like, where he slept, his likes and dislikes of the outdoors and a well-rounded sense of who Max was. With all of his mixed- in good looks from various breeds of dogs, I thought that Max would be best portrayed in a celestial-type painting that included whimsical design. He's a real sweetheart, so why not paint him with trees, little Max's all in a row and the stars. He was very well- behaved and quite the patient sitter!

"Mug Shot # 1"

2010-05-31T21:09:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I bought on eBay a vintage Sunbeam Mixmaster. I found the mixer to look not too dissimilar from a squid when the top was popped off, therefore becoming a hand mixer. EBay then had another Sunbeam mixer for auction of a different vintage. The design was similar but the wooden handle had a sleeker design. Once again though, the mixer, to me looked to be the brother of the other one I owned, with it's oblong body, two black eyes and the cord serving as the tentacles. I had to paint these! A series of paintings evolved from my little spending spree on eBay once I became the owner of 3 mixers. I found the best way to show off the similarities of the mixers, but to still exhibit individuality of each was to do mug shot paintings. "Okay number 3, let's see a profile." This painting is of "Mug Shot # 1, with Accomplice", the green bowl.

"I Want More!"

2010-05-23T19:23:00.000-04:00

This painting I did from a sketch I made of a mouse hand puppet inside a big glass canister jar. For once I was able to let my imagination take a story and run. I am usually painting what I see, taking into factor my environment (landscape), which I experience before me, or a still-life I have set up. I do not work from photographs but try to rely on sketches and studies I do on location. Trying to figure out where I want to go before I begin a painting is usually the most rewarding route to take in the beginning. However, with this mouse in front of me posed with his hand hanging out of the jar, and a flat felt hand at that, suddenly possessed a character and personality that only needed a bit of embellishment. And the entire time I painted was actually fun; no struggles with any analysis of what I was doing. If I could only paint like this more frequently I'd be a happy camper. Oil on linen 18"x 14".

"White Pine"

2010-05-13T20:08:00.000-04:00

This is one flower that did not get away. These are baby pinecones just formed on a White Pine branch. This is done in gouache.

painting flowers

2010-05-11T15:41:00.000-04:00

About 10 years ago I decided, as a painting discipline, to paint everything that bloomed in my yard as it appeared. Well, I quickly fizzled out on that project when I got to number four, within a week of the first blooms. So much was happening in the yard I had not noticed before. The smells were a give away. Pachysandra smells wonderful in it's early bloom. I moved on to one of the daffodils popping up. I realized a year later, when attempting the project again, that I had never bothered to look up at all the little hellicopters in the maple trees. Then bloomed the lily-of-the-valley... so sweet smelling and only in bloom for a few days. That's when the overwhelming exhaustion set in, either from to much adrenaline or was it the pollen? Every year I tell myself that I'm going to make more progress on "that flower painting project", but I always get sidetracked or realize by then, as usual, that I am so over committed in the art department. Here is the little painting I did of the lily-of-the-valley. First I toned the paper with a blue gouache and before it dried used a rag to lift off the excess paint. Not a particularly great painting, but was then trying to achieve a goal that kept me looking for months at the painting (and flower) that got away.

"Grapes" detail

2010-05-09T20:54:00.002-04:00

By the time I went to photograph this painting this afternoon, the light was too far gone, so I tried something different. I put the too large canvas in my scanner and scanned at 300 dpi. The editing was interesting, but the colors are true.

"Second Cup"

2010-05-01T13:00:00.001-04:00

I painted this the same day as the last one, but just took out the egg shells and gave the cup a new spin. I prefer this rendering on the handle and find the egg white to be more translucent.

"Fresh Start"

2010-04-30T22:30:00.004-04:00

I began the day painting with a subject I like. Coffee. I like to paint eggs, preferably raw in a clear glass container. I like the way the glass distorts objects, like the bottom of the cup.

"The Lobster Claw"

2010-04-27T17:13:00.005-04:00

The last of the daffodils for this spring. I cannot help but think "lobster" when I see these pruners. I'm in a bit of a painting rut now with using the same palette consistently.

"Here"

2010-04-27T02:55:00.003-04:00

The clown said "here"!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

2010-04-27T02:40:00.004-04:00

I have not posted all my almost daily works, for I'm still getting to know the new features to this blog. On a more productive note, I am always looking for something new to paint to walk through my door. I ordered these 2 infant toys from etsy a few weeks ago, thinking I would begin setting up a little makeshift nursery for my soon-to-arrive grandson. The light was good, so I set up a little still-life with the new toys. I couldn't help but see the "clown" on the left screaming "here"!

"Glowing"

2010-04-10T12:27:00.007-04:00

My time has not been my own over the last 4 weeks because a bad storm made a wreck of my yard and a tree fell on my studio, totaling the entire space. But I was able to paint in a makeshift corner for 2 days. When I'm really distracted or worried, I find it difficult to get into my creative zone in my head. But once I start, all seems better with the world. In this little painting, I was trying to capture the luminescence of the orange with the light going through. I purchased this little black cup on eBay, and have used it several times in paintings. It's a challenge painting reflected objects on black, remembering to keep the values low.