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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.