Camille Olsen Studio

Pears Near Window

2012-02-13T15:29:00.000-06:00

12 x 12 oil on cradled Ampersand panel SOLD

Today I was going for a limited palette, hoping to tie everything together well. Also had in mind loose edges and attempting to capture the light on the form. I still didn't get the feeling of volume I was seeking and I can see that my values are still too similar, need to shoot for some stronger darks next time. I do like these colors I got though, and I like that the brushstrokes have a similar feeling to what I did in the last boots painting. But the main thing is, back at it. I tried yesterday and wiped it. Does anyone really want to look at a bicycle seat? Too bad if so, it's history!

In Progress Self Portrait Continued

2011-12-08T11:24:00.001-06:00

16 x 12 oil on masonite panel

Still in my robe from breakfast, I decided to wipe out yesterday's hoodie jacket (it's coooold in our house this week) and paint in the robe. My husband got it for me for Christmas one year and he loves it, I hope you do too. And if you don't, oh well! :-)

I liked the more Fauve feeling of yesterday's start but as always, with people I tighten up and get more realistic and traditional as I go along on a portrait. Or at least I try. I like the challenge of it and I always have to feel my way along with proportions. I've heard about the rules of feature placement (Peggy Kroll Roberts', etc.) but those just confuse me. What I need to do is hang myself upside down like a bat and then paint what I see, since I'm not working from a photo. If you don't know about that trick, turning your reference photo upside down makes you see big value shapes and exactly where they are so you don't rely on what you *think* you know/see in front of you.

Okay, back to painting on this... thanks for stopping by.

In Progress Self Portrait

2011-12-07T16:52:00.001-06:00

16 x 12 oil on masonite panel
Started this one this afternoon. I know I look all troubled and/or angry, but that's just my nearsighted way of frowning to see myself better in the mirror. Nothing like bright sunlight coming in the window to give you lots of strong lights and darks (i.e. wrinkles and sags and bags never look more clear). This has a loooong way to go ... I need to get my schnoz bigger and my head less bulbous among other things... But it's fun to paint people and I'm the only one here who will sit for me! Maybe my frowning is intimidating...

Made-Up Pig

2011-12-01T13:16:00.001-06:00

6 x 6 oil on wood cradled board
Just painting for my own enjoyment again today. Our girls, now grown and out of college, both played with the plastic farm animal sets when they were very small and this pig is the only one I saved. I keep it on my kitchen bookshelf and it always makes me smile because of the memory attached to it. My youngest couldn't quite remember how the nursery rhyme "To Market To Market" went. One time I was saying it "To market to market to buy a fat pig, home again home again and she jumped in with "...leave out the pig!!" instead of 'jiggety jig.' She saw how funny we thought that was so she said it that way every time after that. She also found a marker and put eye makeup on this one "because she's the girl." (There were always two of each animal in the bag) So here's Madeline's favorite pig. She is sooooo glamourous.

Molly in Color

2011-11-30T17:02:00.001-06:00

5 x 5 oil on mounted panel
Pattie Wall said she was hoping I'd do a more colorful version (and I almost never follow through on redo's and enlargements lately as some may have noticed). But I felt like trying a closeup of Molly's head. (the best part of her photo if you ask me, but the commissioner wanted a full body painting for the Christmas present). These colors aren't at all as wild as I was planning on though... hmmmmm....

Molly at the Beach

2011-11-30T13:00:00.001-06:00

8 x 10 oil on canvas
It feels good to have a Christmas dog portrait commission done before December! Molly is big labrador retriever and she loves the water (I guess, as does probably any dog who hasn't had a frontal lobotomy). I think she has a really sweet face. I'm tempted to paint her again, just for myself, in wild colors.

Faith Rescued

2011-10-24T18:31:00.002-05:00

6 x 8 oil on canvas
I have some friends who are heavily involved with GALT, the Greyhound Adoption League of Texas. This is their very special foster dog Faith who when taken from a home in Fort Worth, was covered in ticks and fleas, had intestinal parasites galore and a litter of puppies to boot. She also has tested positive for Ehrlichia. This photo shows her just after her rescue, getting some TLC finally. She has had expensive surgeries and GALT is trying to raise money on December 3rd at their art auction in Dallas, to pay for her surgery and care (as well as for their other rescued greyhounds). So I am trying my hand at painting this breed for the first time in hopes of making a bigger, better painting that might help raise some money at their auction. Even with all her troubles she has had, she is a beautiful girl and I sense that she really appreciates being rescued. She has also been reunited with her puppies. I think I saw a trace of a smile on her face in my reference photo. Oh, you know dogs smile! Oh yes they do.

Tack House

2011-10-22T14:45:00.001-05:00

12 x 16 oil panel, plein air
Plein Air Austin made a trek to Gracias Ranch in Buda this morning and I joined them. This little house was adjacent to the horse corral and I assume it is full of riding gear such as saddles, bridles, etc. I watched one of the family members getting horses ready for her daughter and herself to ride. Reminded me of when I used to ride our quarterhorse Dallas when I was young. I liked Dallas until a bee stung her on the rump and she reared up and bucked until she threw me, then tried to run over me. Yikes! It was a long time before I got back on a horse after that. But about this house, I liked the pale green paint on the tin roof and the old leaning weathervane, and the deep shadows on the rust colored wood. Clouds moved in and changed the light a lot but I need to get used to that.

Kayaks Waiting Below Barton Springs

2011-10-20T16:25:00.000-05:00

8 x 10 oil on canvas panel, painted en plein air
Could not have asked for a more beautiful morning for painting this scene by lower Barton Springs today. I found a nice peaceful spot right by the water and attempted to translate what I saw. Had the great surprise of Austin's noted painter Pablo Taboada suddenly appearing next to me with his adorable spotted terrier. I was happy he remembered me. He gave me some good advice, to make a really good dab and then make another really good one. I had said I thought I was starting to blend my dabs. He does such beautiful seascapes.
So, about this painting. Those kayaks are just waiting patiently for Madeline and me to come back and take them out again. Claire may never want to row again after being on a U. T. rowing team. But I digress again... I was really entranced with the tree reflections on the water. In person, that middle tree's goldish areas are a little more clay-orange. Must sharpen my photoshopping skills!

Boggy Creek Farmhouse plein air

2011-10-05T15:34:00.000-05:00

12 x 16 oil on panel

I revisited Boggy Creek Farm this morning and decided to try and tackle their old farmhouse. When I began painting, the shadows were all climbing up and over the house and by the time I finished several hours later they were hanging down from above. I went ahead and kept the early ones. I bet that in about April this garden area was full of greenery but I made do with what little plant life I could see. I'll be on a plein air paintout in Fredericksburg this weekend so I needed to go get the cobwebs out of my outdoor painting skilz. My goal next time on a house like this is to... simplify. Maybe even just crop one area of the house and do that.

Boots Say "Get To Work"

2011-09-29T17:28:00.003-05:00

20 x 16 x 1 1/2 Oil on gallery wrap canvas

These are my stompin' boots I bought a year or two ago, since we have a little problem with rattlesnakes around our property. I usually only put them on when we have recently sighted one because they aren't as comfortable as I hoped they would be. But when it's time to do serious work outside (as in, moving rocks or anything where those lovely creatures might pop up), I will don these babies. I probably mostly just like how they look :-) Regarding how this was painted, I felt like laying it down pretty darn loose today.
I haven't gotten a ton of painting done lately but I have lost 14 lbs since the photo of me driving the boat (that was in June). Hooray! Two steps forward in one area, a step forward elsewhere; yin and yang and all that...
Oh, one more thing, Donna Crosby honored me by asking me to be her invited artist for an upcoming Austin Art Space Resident Artist Show on Saturday, October 15th. I need to choose one large or two small available paintings to display that night. Any opinions about which ones? I love Donna and am so stoked she asked me to do this. Thanks for stopping by.

Looking Out From Within

2011-09-21T18:57:00.002-05:00

26 x 11 oil on panel

This was a 'getting back on the horse' exercise today. I've got my studio set up back where I had it before, which really doesn't have the greatest natural light at this point in time. I found that if I stood in the family room looking into it (the family room having super bright natural light) that I could really see my palette and I was able to focus and get after it. It will all work out but ideally I would just take over the entire family room for my studio! I'm sure no one in this house would have a problem with that. :-)

We watched the old Kirk Douglas/Anthony Quinn movie about Van Gogh last night. I had never seen it before and it got me all inspired to get my rear in gear today. Thanks, Kirk! I also found out I got in the Plein Air Austin juried exhibition next month (reception is Oct. 16th, 2 to 4 in the Chase Bank Building). First time I've entered this show so I was relieved not to be... r...r...rejected! Only entered one painting, the one of Boggy Creek Farm. I feel like things are looking up in my art world; I've had a really good year so far on painting sales. This could be my first year to qualify for paying taxes on my art income -- yikes! It helps that I have weaned myself off of giving paintings away. :-)

Sunset Profile

2011-09-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

This was done months ago but for some reason just showed up here at the top of the page. Poltergeist?

5 x 4 inches, oil on canvas
Again from the same photo but this time I painted her in oil and trying Hawthorne's 'spots of color' approach. I was just looking at Frank Gardner's 100 Mudheads Challenge site today and was glad to be reminded that I need to make paint spots that don't blend together. Every once in a while I have to relearn things because I get mentally lazy (or because my brain is just plain impaired). So in this study for the future portrait of my niece, I was attempting to follow Hawthorne's rule. And this is tiny if you will note the size. I'm not used to making such small strokes with a little bitty brush. Tricky, but a good exercise for me.

Haute Art Show

2011-09-11T22:16:00.000-05:00

Update: Sold four paintings at Haute Art! I like it!

So hello everybody,
I have been taking some time out to re-organize my studio which I moved across the house. I have also been generally doing a lot of purging of accumulated crud, in all areas of our home. That's my excuse, anyway, for why I haven't painted this last month. We all need time out occasionally. My studio is now Much better organized and I think I'm almost ready to whip out some new work.
Coming up this next weekend at Interior Design Gallery in Austin, TX is a preview art show, Haute Art, in which I have 10 paintings, of work that will be shown at Art Outside -- Austin's answer to Burning Man. I heard that about 50 paintings will be shown at Haute Art and mine comprise about a fifth of that. I don't know the full roster of who is showing but Chris Chappell is one -- when I hear the others I'll post their names here, and any other pertinent details. I really appreciate Danielle Mika asking me to participate and I feel, as trite as it sounds, humbled and honored. And did I mention, appreciative?! It's not easy to find venues for displaying your work and this just fell in my lap without my having had to go drum up some bidniss, and I feel really lucky for how that worked out. While trying to decide what to display it was the perfect time to go through all my paintings and cull, ruthlessly, what I no longer see as good work. I have a foot tall stack of gessoboard paintings with a sign on top of them that reads "BURN PILE." Now I just need it to rain here so I won't violate the burn ban when I send them all up in flames. So if you by any chance had your eye on something to ask me about, now is the time, in case I have that painting in The Pile. Just email me. c l olsen at austin dot r r dot com. Thanks.

Shed Late Afternoon

2011-08-03T18:38:00.020-05:00

12 x 12 oil on panel, SOLD
This is what I'm going to call quasi plein air, because I was looking out our window at this backyard scene. We have a whole lot of big trees so we always have a ton of stripey shadows this time of day. I had just painted some trim on the house and turned around and saw this and decided it was time to switch out paint and subject being painted. But oh man, really hot out there, so I painted it through the window in the cool of the A.C. I should try it again tomorrow out in the heat and see if the outcome is much different. Maybe at a different time of day too.

I just added in a photo showing the pine frames I'm offering with my paintings for those interested. The edges are 3/4 inches by 2 and 1/2 inches deep. The bottom photo has the true color of the wood, but the painting hues are more correct in the top photo. Maybe somewhere in the middle since I couldn't adjust it exactly as it looks. Anyway, I like the pale color of this natural pine. If you would like a frame like this with a painting you want to buy, just ask and I can include it for a very minimal extra amount and shipping is still free at this point in time.

Deep Eddy Morning

2011-07-29T11:08:00.004-05:00

8 x 10 oil on canvas, plein air

I was teaching myself to use the mitre saw this morning (pause for patting self on back) and ended up with pieces that would work for an 8 x 10 frame. I came inside and found this plein air painting I did last summer at Deep Eddy Pool one morning; touched up a spot or two or ten and you can see the paint is still wet. I won't be using this frame (not even sanded/painted/glued/nailed yet) but just wanted to see it in some semblance of a frame in a photo. Of course it could have any frame. This is very loose painting for me and I wasn't sure about it but for my purposes of forward motion, here 'tis. Now, back outside to make a frame with the wood turned skinny side out...which was what I meant to do in the first place... learning curve!

New Bales

2011-07-25T16:57:00.009-05:00

12 x 16 oil on panel - plein air + studio SOLD
This is the painting I did by the side of the road after the Plein Air Austin paintout weekend in Hunt, Texas in May. A sudden windstorm and approaching rain caused me to have to stop painting on the spot and I finished it at home. I included the fence, which I decided should have been left out (Stapleton Kearns' advice on his blog, and I agree one shouldn't 'fence out' the viewer). So, today I reworked the foreground and touched up some other areas. I thought it had too much mustard yellow in it before. Anyway I like it better now. This hay was super fresh - looked like it had just been baled and I tried to use tones that would convey that.

Great Times - study

2011-07-20T15:41:00.005-05:00

6 x 6 oil on canvas

Here's a small study of some young boys in a small town athletic club. Specifically the Athens (TX) Athletic Club, in about 1932. More specifically that's my dad in the center of the front row. Written underneath the photo was "Estes Park, Colorado - Great times - Ersh."

Since I painted this from a blurry old black and white photo I thought sepia tones would work well just to establish major value areas. I really, really need to get some new brushes, the ones I used for this are like rakes, they're so old. Bad, bad, naughty Camille!

Time To Relax

2011-07-18T17:37:00.005-05:00

12 x 16 oil on panel SOLD
Nice cool saltillo tile is the perfect place for a bunny to sprawl out and beat the summer heat. And it's a good way to keep an eye on his owner while she paints to make sure she doesn't pull a fast one and slip out the door, never to return. Sometimes I think that's what he thinks I have in mind doing. Little does he know that I like our setup and I'm here to stay. Fear not, Disco.

Calme et Volupte'

2011-07-14T13:29:00.006-05:00

12 x 12 x 2 oil on cradled wood panel, $200 plus s/h
These eggplants reminded me of the words 'luxe, calme et volupte' from Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal (I have an antique copy of it I got in the south of France). Actually they mainly reminded me of the word volupte'. I didn't want to copy Matisse's title of his painting so I left out the luxury part. So these are simply peaceful and voluptuous. I thought about naming it "Nice Eggplants." I have painted this subject before, but yesterday I saw a quote from the late Robert Levers, my beloved painting teacher in college, advising that we should not be too proud to repeat ourselves. So I'm repeating a painting of not only one eggplant but two. Addendum: I looked up the meaning of volupte' and it really means "intense pleasure that is both sensuous and spiritual; ecstasy; bliss"... well, that might be a little strong ... oh well! :0)

Still Working on Family at Beach - 'SPF60'

2011-07-06T20:25:00.004-05:00

14 x 18 oil on canvas SOLD
I wasn't satisfied with how my family beach painting was looking, mainly how my dad looked, so I was working on that this afternoon. Also I am learning to Photoshop so my photos show up here more accurately since my camera dulls and bleaches out all the colors usually. I believe this photo shows how this is currently looking... getting better, I may work on it more, not sure... my dad has beautiful blue eyes so I tried to emphasize them more :0)

Sometimes Island Remembered

2011-07-02T18:34:00.004-05:00

5 x 7 oil on canvas panel, $50 incl s/h

By the time I finished painting yesterday the light had gotten all golden and I told myself I wanted to come back with a later start. But today I got impatient to do that and decided to see if I could paint the colors from memory in the studio. I looked at yesterday's version for reference and then took a few liberties with color, trying not to get too crazy as I am *wont* to do. This one has doesn't have such believable contours or composition as yesterday's but I like the feeling of it. Sort of dreamlike.

Sometimes Island

2011-07-02T09:06:00.003-05:00

5 x 7 oil on canvas panel
Fish were nibbling on me the whole time I painted this yesterday afternoon. Standing in waist-deep water behind our boat, waves rocking me, it was definitely an exercise in concentration -- which I can certainly use. I moved the gas tank to the other side of the prop and put my palette there where I could see everything to my left with the panel propped next to it. I was a lot cooler in the water and was able to see the rocks with the increasingly warmer light on them as the sun lowered in the sky. If I had painted from the beach I would have been facing the sun and the water hues just weren't the same at all. We considered anchoring offshore a little bit but the boat kept turning, and as I said, it was nice and cool in the water. But the fish were sure hungry! Despite that I really had fun doing this and on the way home I couldn't help smiling and the colors of the world have never looked so vivid to me. :0) Seriously I felt like I was on drugs or something -- crazy! No alcohol or anything -- just nature doing a trip on my head. Fun :0)

Red Mug

2011-06-30T19:10:00.003-05:00

5 x 7 oil on canvas board
I did what I've heard others do; went to Goodwill in search of colorful still life dishes (and my daughter can use them in her apartment). It seems that Monday is a good morning to go -- new things are in after a weekend of people unloading their garages, etc. I got a good haul that day, about eight Pier One mugs for 50 cents each. Also found a nice big heavy wood tray for $5 that had a $50 Pottery Barn sticker on the bottom. Since I avoid the mall like the plague this worked out well for me :0)

Pearly Bird

2011-06-28T19:50:00.008-05:00

6 x 6 oil on canvas, private collection

I have a mother of pearl bird that my mother-in-law brought me from Mexico. It is so delicate and I love the way the light hits it from any angle. I'm a big bird lover anyway so I have several small collectible birds. However, speaking of birds, they have eaten almost all of our grapes we just noticed. That is not a good thing! (for us, -- it's great for them! I hear a very vocal/happy mockingbird out there today - running on grape fructose no doubt) We'll figure something out by the time the next crops sprouts again next year. Maybe we'll need a scarecrow...

New Website, Blog & Upcoming Show

2011-06-27T07:08:00.009-05:00

camilleolsenart.com, my new website, is finally loaded up with paintings. I hope you will stop by and see what it has to offer. I am going to move this blog there so everything is all in one place.

Also in August I will be in a group show at Russ & Company Salon in Austin, Texas. The opening is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, August 14th but the paintings will be up for almost a month, from August 9th through the first week in September. Kevin Dunne, Karina Martens, Connie Miller, Robbin Robertson, Deborah Thomas and I will all have five or six paintings each on view throughout the salon, located in a renovated three-story house near downtown. It should be a fun place to check out a great variety of artwork.

And finally, the 5 x 7 painting above is one I did several years ago from a photo of a child pouting at the beach. I love the 80's outfit. I have been so busy uploading photos to the new website that I didn't get a chance to paint the last several days. Back to it today...

First Grapes

2011-06-13T15:46:00.005-05:00

7 x 5 oil on canvas panel
I've shown you our little family vineyard before, and this week we've had the excitement of watching our first ever bunches of grapes turn from green to red and a lot of shades in between. I got out there in the blazing sun today (because I ran while it was cooler earlier) and attempted to capture the feeling. I loved the sun coming translucently through the leaves. We have nice big leaves that I can imagine could probably be wrapped around something yummy and cooked to eat. I'll have to google recipes because I feel sure in Greece I had some kind of rice dish wrapped in grape leaves, dolmades I think. I'm so glad my husband decided to plant these vines just two years ago. It was his dad's idea - he bought us vines and said, you need to plant a vineyard!

Becker Bottle

2011-06-07T16:33:00.010-05:00

16 x 12 oil on panel

The golden olive green of a Becker Vineyards bottle in the sunlight really appeals to me. I spent all day finding the other hidden colors in the glass. The label is nice, too. Becker Vineyards is near Austin and no they do not pay me for product placement.

August 8th through early September I will be showing 5 or 6 paintings at Austin's Russ & Company Salon with five other artist friends. The opening is planned for August 14th from 2 to 5. Participating artists are Robbin Robertson Polter, Karina Martens, Deborah Thomas, Connie Miller, Kevin Dunne and I (and me? and myself? whatever). They are all extremely talented and I am so excited to be in a show with them!

Lone Bloom

2011-05-27T17:24:00.007-05:00

6 x 8 oil on canvas
In the top painting you can see that only one yellow bloom remains on our cactus outside. I liked the play of the shadows and the side lighting. This is only the second time I have painted cactus. My first, the bottom one of the two photos above, marked my official return to painting about 5 or 6 years ago. I finally realized that it was so bad that I waited a couple more years before painting anything else. At first I was so very proud of it but I could tell by others' reactions to it that it wasn't as good as I thought it was. And now I see that it looks like a bunch of cookie cutter balloons, ha!

Pump It Up

2011-05-24T18:21:00.005-05:00

5 x 5 oil on canvas
I've been reading a GREAT book today, "To Be A Runner" by Martin Dugard. I am a huge fan of running even if I don't do it as often as I mean to. I would go so far as to say that if I have a religion, it is Running. All I know is that it heals my soul and fixes me like nothing else. If you want to know more about why running is wonderful you can read the book and have it spelled out for you in humorous anecdotes. Anyway, about this painting, I got several done yesterday and this was one. Just some 5 lb weights that I should pick up more often. If no one buys this painting then maybe it will remind me to pump some iron!

Fly, Little Fly

2011-05-23T12:51:00.007-05:00

4 x 5 inches, oil on canvas
I saw an aqueous glint in my peripheral vision this morning and looked down to see a glimmering turquoise-clad fly on the floor. I was immediately reminded of Kim Rempel's Bee on Floor that had made me smile the other day when I saw it. I decided to do an homage to her piece, taking care to use a different palette and composition. As Hawthorne says (I'm rereading his book) we need to find and show the beauty all around us. I actually found myself thinking this fly was really cute and was a little sorry for his demise. Painting does things to your mind after a while.

AN2 Colt

2011-05-22T16:07:00.005-05:00

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas panel SOLD
This Russian biplane is my husband's favorite airplane. I thought this image lent itself well to a value study.

Sift Through It

2011-05-18T18:22:00.008-05:00

5 x 4 inches, oil on canvas
I like this old fashioned flour sifter. I'm always finding symbolism (holdover from English Lit. classes) everywhere I look. This object reminds me not only of the times we have baked bread or made cakes and cookies in our kitchen, but also this: There is so much negative in the world, and I need to sift through it and focus on the positive. Change things if need be and if I can, but otherwise, enjoy the beauty and wonder of the life I'm blessed to have right now. Knock on wood. I just posted this on Kim Rempel's new Mundane Objects Challenge. So far she has a ball of twine, a hammer, a roll of tape and this sifter.

Conrad

2011-05-17T15:40:00.011-05:00

16 x 16 inches, oil on panel
I'm illustrating an experiment that has been done with rooks and crows. A 2,000 year old parable about these birds alleged that they know how to make a worm float high enough to reach by adding stones to a container of water. I saw a video of this and was fascinated by it. I couldn't decide on a name for this bird, but I always loved the movie Bye Bye Byrdie...

Down Time

2011-05-15T16:14:00.007-05:00

12 x 16 oil on panel
I brought some brown and white paint with me to the lake last weekend and began this one right on the boat. The waves of course made it so I was having to really grab the floor with my toes to stay upright, much less get the paint mixed and where I wanted it. I used a book with a ziploc bag around it for my palette and got a Very rough sketch down which I finished at home a few days later. I've been out of town and just now had a chance to post it here.

Cobalt Glass

2011-05-04T17:24:00.015-05:00

16 x 12 oil on Ampersand board with natural pine frame, $200
I've always loved colored glass. My grandmother Mary LaRue always had colored bottles lined up on a window sill: cranberry, cobalt, red, green. Her whole house was painted and decorated in gorgeous Victorian colors that remind me now of Vuillard's palette. So when I got older and saw cobalt glasses for sale I knew I had to have some. Since then I've run across old wine bottles in the same blue. And here they are on a linen tablecloth in the sunshine, with a little Becker Vineyards cabernet. This painting will be in an upcoming show at Ross and Co. Salon in Austin, TX.

Barefoot and Pregnant

2011-05-02T18:32:00.005-05:00

12 x 16 oil on panel SOLD
These two goats weren't sure what to make of my taking their pictures yesterday. The pregnant female froze in her tracks and didn't move for about three minutes while I was clicking away. I wanted to reassure her that I wouldn't do them any harm. I had a long conversation with a wild turkey in a tree one time, but so far I don't speak goatese. I guess I should work on that, I'll put it on my list.

New Bales - work in progress

2011-05-01T21:36:00.007-05:00

11 x 14 oil on board SOLD
I finally got a chance to paint a field with bales of hay today. I stopped my car between Fredricksburg and Stonewall when I saw these really fresh bales strewn all across a huge field. I hopped out and set up my easel right there by the road and started painting away. Before I knew it the temperature suddenly dropped 20 degrees and a cold wind was whipping by me, so I had to stop since I thought a rainstorm was coming. I did snap a picture before I left with only a sketch down. I finished it this evening, alla prima.

Octopus Tree

2011-04-28T08:29:00.004-05:00

11 x 14 oil on panel
Friends and I met in a park between the Heart Hospital and Central Market yesterday for en plein air painting. This tree reminded me of an octopus; the lower branches were long and resting on the ground. I liked studying the details of the water reflections and I liked the tranquil feeling I got from painting this scene. I think John Muir was on to something...

Humble Vineyard

2011-04-23T16:41:00.005-05:00

11 x 14 oil on panel
Our tiny family vineyard with all of 10 vines is doing well and will need trimming back very soon. It has fully leafed, leggy vines that dangle in the wind (with teensy, barely visible grape clusters). This morning there was lots of wind and the middle Chinaberry tree was swaying like crazy. The best thing about painting this was that I didn't sweat the outcome; I was determined to savor the moment and know that I will get better and better at painting green stuff and its ilk. The thought that I was enjoying so much about our vineyard is that it is just enough. That's how I feel about all we have -- just enough and we don't need more. (but I'm sure glad I got James Coulter's easel!) :D

Before Wii

2011-04-20T19:32:00.004-05:00

11 x 14 oil on panel, SOLD
My sisters and I were monkeys. In 1967 you had to entertain yourself, there was no Wii. We were not exactly ladylike girls...

Breezy Afternoon

2011-04-19T18:04:00.006-05:00

12 x 10 oil on Ampersand panel
Today I was in the mood to work on seeing colors and forms, how shapes relate to each other and just generally seeing better. I am famous (to myself) for not seeing things that are right in front of me, like a model's tattoos or cast or jewelry. I tend to see 3D objects but not the surface decoration. I have the same problem with not seeing how forms relate to each other. So today I said to heck with thinking about composition, color schemes, focal points and all those wonderful things and I was going to try and paint what I saw to the best of my ability. No editing (well, mostly none) of objects, just see it and paint it. This one was just for myself, as I said, but I'm posting it so I have a record of doing my job today. Cheers!

Who Goes There?

2011-04-14T16:32:00.005-05:00

14 x 11 oil on panel SOLD
This rooster is a resident at Boggy Creek Farm. He was strutting around slowly as roosters do, letting everyone know he was the shiznit. I decided he needed painting for the Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week. I got multiple photo views of him that I hope to paint. I think he is the prettiest breed of rooster, with shiny gold silky feathers that slide all over his back when he turns. In this shot he had quickly turned his head and paused, vigilant to see who dared try to pass. *None* shall pass!

Boggy Creek Farm

2011-04-13T15:17:00.006-05:00

9 x 12 oil on canvas panel, shown framed in pine
More beginner plein air from me; not too proud to post my early efforts. I painted this on site at Boggy Creek Farm in East Austin. Deborah Thomas, Nina Brodsky, Robin Cheers and several others were there painting also. Quick decision-making has never been my forte and that is a required skill with this sport. But I'm beginning to see more than one or two greens in front of me. I had a great time afterward photographing chickens and roosters. Nice mild breezy morning and no bugs biting, yay!

Show-Off

2011-04-08T18:36:00.011-05:00

14 x 18 oil on canvas board, $150 plus s/h, SOLD
We saw this beautiful shiny red Cadillac this past weekend at the Lone Star Roundup antique auto show. I thought with her red paint and shiny headlights she should be on the beach, showing off. So now she is.

Barton Springs Afternoon

2011-04-06T18:49:00.007-05:00

9 x 12 oil on canvas board SOLD
Several friends met me at Barton Springs this afternoon and here is what I painted on site. My family is kidding me now because I was so appalled that people don't know to be quiet around someone trying to paint something outdoors (okay, in a public place, yes). But even with my earplugs in I had a super hard time concentrating on what I was seeing and what the colors were and how to mix them. I could hear a man talking to one of the others "So you do this just for fun?" (don't ever say that) "How long have you been doing this?" "I mean how long have you been an artist?" ... Remind me not to paint in a public place again anytime soon...
I will get better, but first will need much better earplugs! Trying again tomorrow morning with the Plein Air Austin group at Zilker Botanical Gardens. Should be more quiet... one can hope!

Lady

2011-04-03T17:30:00.005-05:00

16 x 20 oil on canvas, SOLD

This dog portrait was commissioned by another lifelong friend of mine. It has been through a long process due to a glazing snafu. But I attempted to pull back some of its former colorful state and if I don't declare it finished I will mess with it from here to kingdom come. Lady is a blackish brown lab; I purpled and aqua'd her up a little bit and now will send her on her way to the Laughlin family in Dallas.

Model A Truck Sketch

2011-03-17T09:11:00.002-05:00

I liked the feeling of my original sketch for yesterday's painting. It ended up looking to me like a hound dog panting and 'smiling' with its mouth open, and the steering wheel looked like one eye open. This truck looked rarin' to go to me. I thought I was going to paint it really loosely and keep some of that feeling but of course things don't always go as planned -- I got caught up in the lines and showing the form. I may go back to sketching first somewhere else separately beforehand so I can keep my original drawing -- if I can muster the discipline to do that. I'm a little short on discipline though so it might be needed elsewhere...

By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day! This truck is wearing green...grass.

Model A Truck

2011-03-16T19:42:00.004-05:00

12 x 12 oil on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas, private collection

We saw this old rusted Model A truck when we went out of town this weekend so we stopped and I got photos of it. It had a lantern hanging inside the passenger window -- I wondered if that came standard. The chrome on the front still looked amazingly good considering the years. It's fun to imagine someone getting it for their first wheels... first taste of freedom. It was someone's pride and joy I'm sure.

Nude Eggplant

2011-03-15T22:28:00.004-05:00

5 x 7 oil on canvas, private collection
This is mine from a couple of years ago, when I first switched to oil paint, and it is now owned by artist Bruce Docker. I have something else going on my easel today and I will probably put up a photo of it tomorrow. I'm so glad we stopped and got some fun reference photos on our way back from Houston this weekend; lots of fun projects ahead from that group including the one I'm working on. I'm going to try and start posting more often because I'm considering looking into joining a daily painting group. Some will be quick studies and others more labor-intensive. Thank you for stopping by!

Underwater Bliss

2011-03-11T11:09:00.004-06:00

14 x 10 oil on canvas, SOLD

It so happens that this girl's last name is Bliss, so I changed the title to reflect both her surname as well as her happy state of mind. Her dad says he loves it and that it looks just like her, so I went ahead and signed it. Hooray for a finished, successful commission!

Underwater Girl ~ Day Two

2011-03-10T22:43:00.002-06:00

14 x 10 oil on canvas

Still have a way to go; am piecing her together like a quilt. I believe the crazy colors floating over her head are her locks of long hair, or else just the reflection of her hair. Her smile is bigger than this so I'll be making adjustments for that; I've only started on the mouth area anyway. It still has some days of work to go, but I like the direction it has taken so far.

Underwater Girl (in Progress)

2011-03-09T20:21:00.005-06:00

14 x 10 oil on canvas

Here's what's on my easel tonight. This is a commissioned work in progress of a friend's daughter floating underwater years ago; she is grown now. The original photo has some pretty wild colors floating above her head so I'm playing with the abstract forms and colors there first before I do her face. Her face will be very paled out and bluish as will her hands. That hand on the right will change a lot but I'm happy with the other one mostly. No matter how this turns out, it has been so much fun I almost don't even care how it ends up looking! Okay, that's a lie. But I wish all my paintings were this much fun. I'll post it when it is done.

Splash Day

2011-03-09T07:35:00.003-06:00

7 x 5 oil on canvas, private collection

This is my last Flying Moleskins painting and it is for James Parker, whose book theme is animals. Here are some furry girls who love to dive in a wonderful river with cliffs and gorgeous scenery out in Wimberley, Texas. Although I doubt they care about the scenery; they just want to make a big splash. As I worked on this yesterday I was wishing I could jump in with them -- it was warm enough here!

Geese 2 - Study

2011-03-06T19:02:00.006-06:00

8 x 10 oil on canvas, private collection

The color in the top detail is closer to true although it is overall really warmer and darker even than this. Continuing back to the geese we saw at the lake last summer. They seemed always to follow the leader, but in this image one wasn't so sure about the plan. This painting is for Vern Schwarz for our Flying Moleskins project. See Vern, I told you I wouldn't forget you. It will be on its way to you when it dries.

Delicate Balance

2011-02-28T12:37:00.003-06:00

6 x 6 oil on canvas

I posted these grapefruit last night from my evening light photo and here they are again in better morning light. These colors are much closer to how it really looks. I was dismayed to see that they looked more like onions than grapefruit from the way my camera blued and dulled down the yellow and orange undertones. I definitely have it on my to-do list that I will try to do my photographing in the morning. Also need to learn to Photoshop (so my colors are true to the original) and I am also building my new website. There is so much more to being an artist than just making stuff, darn it. Anyway, this painting was done with the objective of making each stroke of paint one separate color from the others. No blending allowed. I did my best to follow that but sometimes I forgot -- old habits die hard. Here are the other entries so far for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge.

Delicate Balance

2011-02-27T21:20:00.005-06:00

6 x 6 oil on canvas

I took on the Daily Paintworks Challenge to paint any subject with just one stroke at a time. The natural tendency is to smooth out and blend colors, which just makes them end up looking muddy. Here we have two Texas Ruby Red grapefruit with a pink grapefruit balanced on top. Carol Marine is the Pied Piper of one-stroke painting and I certainly need to take a page from her book. This was fun, I'll try to do more of these.

Yoga Time

2011-02-23T15:27:00.004-06:00

5 x 7 oil on canvas (study) SOLD

Several things came together to make me want to do this one today. First, yesterday I painted three sofas (very boring) and watched The Biggest Loser last night. Then I got a big kick out of a fun Rachel Renault painting this morning. Yesterday I also found photos of a clay sculpture I did in college of a figure with roughly this fluffy form so I based these women on looking at that. I have been doing a lot of small studies lately but not posting them; thought everyone might appreciate the break. :-)

Portrait of Madeline Olsen

2011-02-18T11:25:00.003-06:00

17 x 13 oil on canvas, nfs

Better photo without so much glare. I don't want to risk losing those much-beloved blog comments the other post got so I'll just leave that one up for now. Not that I'm fishing for comments. This has a little in common with the Kelli Bland portrait with the blue hair highlights. You can't really teach an old dog new tricks. Anyway, what a joy to paint my daughter :-) Have a great day, peeps!

Portrait of Madeline

2011-02-17T21:03:00.004-06:00

17 x 13 oil on canvas, nfs

This is my younger daughter. I painted her from a photo that gave her a bluish glow, which I really liked. This image has a lot of glare on the top so I may switch it out tomorrow for a better one. I have missed painting people on a larger canvas and with more color like this. Feels very satisfying.

Portrait of Sheila Tajima

2011-01-26T10:58:00.004-06:00

6 x 6 oil on canvas, not for sale
I saw the artist Sheila Tajima 's black and white baby photo awhile back, with her tiny kimono and her luminous expression. I thought it should surely be a painting. I almost added color but opted to paint it as I saw it. So this is my offering to Sheila for The Flying Moleskins project. I hope she enjoys it. I have changed it slightly since last night (still don't have her as beautiful as she was!) and I accidentally deleted the entire post with five wonderful comments (which were greatly appreciated). I have successfully switched out photos before but I guess I managed to forget exactly how I did it. sigh.

Sun on the Pit

2011-01-17T14:55:00.004-06:00

8 x 8 oil on canvas

Change of plans since it warmed up this morning. I walked outside and saw the sun hitting the wood under the barbeque pit with all the beautiful highlights and shadows and knew I had to try and capture the scene. Our wonderful brother in law had this pit custom made for us out of oil field pipe and surprised us with it. It weighs about three tons. Looking at it puts me in the mood to get some coals going in there for some barbeque...

Drink

2011-01-16T16:59:00.004-06:00

5 x 7 oil on canvas

I'm doing value studies as I try to get back in the saddle. Recently I'm fascinated with what I've learned about hydration. The theory I heard is that all pain and disease are directly caused by chronic dehydration, and all are reversible without drugs (and with proper supporting diet and exercise). Supposedly after a certain age we don't realize we are thirsty until too late, and cells and related systems close down in order to manage the body's remaining water supply. So I think that after this value study I'll paint a water glass in color. This is our crystal pattern, Kildare by Waterford.

Help

2010-11-10T20:48:00.006-06:00

8 x 10 oil , NFS

This is my contribution to Adebanji Alade's book for our Flying Moleskins site. He chose homelessness as his theme. This man was by the side of the road on Highway 71 on the way to Houston a few weeks ago. I had the feeling he hadn't been panhandling for a long time; he looked like he could have been anyone I see listening to live music at Threadgill's or at ACL Fest in Austin.

Beached Sailboat

2010-10-24T19:11:00.004-05:00

8 x 10 acrylic on paper

I almost chose animals to paint for Dean Haven on our Flying Moleskins site, since he and I both like to paint them. But something, I'm not sure what, made me feel like doing a seaside scene. This summer we were in Port Aransas, Texas and I saw this catamaran on the shoreline. My husband thinks it was either a Hobie 18 or a Nacra. But it reminded me of when he and I were dating and we would go out on his Hobie Cat and oh man, we had so much fun. I wasn't a sailor but he was, and he did all the work and I lounged and got a tan. Not really, I held the rudder sometimes, and when we came about I'd duck the boom and jump to the other side. That's helping, right?

Geese 1

2010-09-21T14:59:00.005-05:00

24 x 48 oil on board
Five beautiful, huge geese crowded around me at the lake one night, so I dropped some food for them and a feeding frenzy ensued. These geese had no fear of people at all, honking loudly and looking at me like they knew me. So beautiful, and I wondered where they had been. All I am saying... is give geese a chance.

Keep Paddling

2010-09-13T20:09:00.009-05:00

12 x 12 x 1 1/2 oil on canvas
Here are two more of the ducks in the group I saw that day at Canyon Lake. I remember having the impression that the white one was the mother of the group, and she looked tired. I felt a connection to her! I was glad her young offspring were being fed, even if she might have chosen other fare for them, at least they wouldn't be as hungry.

Ducks

2010-08-25T15:37:00.008-05:00

8 x 10 oil on canvas
I saw these ducks at Canyon Lake this past Sunday afternoon. They had just caught sight of people with french fries, which they love, and they also liked my hulled sunflower seeds. I'm a huge fan of ducks; we used to have some that hung out in our back yard in Dallas that overlooked Turtle Creek. We had a treehouse, and not a care in the world. I guess ducks take me back to that time. I remember listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and my dad would grill burgers while they ambled around our yard. This one is for Edward Burton on our website The Flying Moleskins.

Almost Ready

2010-07-27T16:53:00.007-05:00

8 x 10 oil on canvas, private collection
This is a small rough study for what will be a bigger commissioned piece. Same dad and baby models as the last painting but this has the mom also. The larger one will have about twice as much water on the left.

Flying

2010-07-23T13:13:00.009-05:00

12 x 12 oil on cradled wood panel, private collection

My daughters' childhood friend has grown up, married and she has a new baby. I have memories of my own girls at this age at the beach. Their dad could always make them laugh the hardest.

Lake Travis Morning

2010-06-18T17:18:00.009-05:00

8x8 oil on canvas
This is my first attempt at a truly plein air painting in oil. It was very windy this morning so I was concentrating more on keeping my easel upright than on more important drawing and compositional details. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and am grateful to my friend Deborah Thomas for encouraging me to come take the plein air plunge. I had the pleasure of painting alongside Nina Brodsky, and higher up the hill with Deborah were Ellen Willis and Johnnie Sielbeck. I think I'll be doing a lot more plein air work.

Mmmm...Margaritas

2010-05-06T23:06:00.006-05:00

12 x 12 x 1 1/2 oil on cradled board
We've been making Alton Brown's fresh margaritas around here lately. It requires that we keep a nice supply of limes on hand. I was working on a study for a dog portrait commission earlier today and when I came to a stopping point on it I decided to keep the painting party going. So here are tomorrow night's margaritas-to-be... and maybe the next night's too.

Thanks, Matt

2010-04-06T13:05:00.007-05:00

7x5 oil on canvas
This is my tribute to Dana Cooper's son Matt, who is currently serving in the Air Force. Since I'm so far doing all figurative work for our Flying Moleskins project I hoped Dana would like seeing a painting of her handsome son. It goes without saying that he's courageous, and I can see from his photo that he's also handsome and strong. I can't imagine how proud of him Dana must be. So if I had a hat, I'd be taking it off and saying "Thank you, Matt for all you have done and are doing for our country." And I say the same to anyone else who has served in our military.

Self-Portrait

2010-03-17T22:43:00.012-05:00

16 x 20 oil on canvas
I painted this for a self-portrait show. It is painted thinly so it would dry fast and I could roll it up and mail it in a tube.

Artist Celeste Bergin just emailed me to tell me she painted herself this afternoon after being inspired by this painting earlier today, and she said so on her blog entry and linked back here. So take a look at her cool self portrait in black and white - I love the half-glasses and un-self-conscious attitude of it. Thank you for the plug, Celeste :0) She does such arresting work; my favorites are her landscapes with bigtime drama or just really cool moods. I love this painting of herself from today, too... really striking. Maybe I'll have to do a black and white one myself as a tribute back to her :0)

B&W&Red Self Portrait Tweaked

2010-02-21T18:08:00.004-06:00

I decided I needed some darker values so I decided to darken my shirt. While I was at it I shortened and hopefully softened the neck. And I made a few tiny changes in the face that probably no one will notice. So I hope I made it look a little better. Same 16 x 16 oil on board as below. And I see what Vern was talking about... that upper right corner keeps photographing as ochre-y. But it's just the same warm red with a touch of black, Scout's honor, guys and gals!

B&W & Red Self-Portrait

2010-02-20T10:33:00.007-06:00

Choosing one color for this self-portrait wasn't an easy decision, but those were the rules at Alice Thompson's new challenge site, Calypso Moon Artist Movement. Black and white plus only one other color. I almost used transparent oxide red which is a warm brown. I chose Rembrandt's Permanent Red Medium because it is a nice warm red (has some yellow in it), and I thought black plus white would be close enough to blue. Therefore I had something close to the three primaries to work with. It's funny I chose red because it used to be (decades ago) my least favorite color in the world. Now I have come to embrace red and I enjoy the punch of it. To me, red really delivers a nice zing with black, gray and white and I thought it would give good skin tones. I wish I could say I chose it for some deep, symbolic, intellectual reason. Nope!
Alice also wanted us to include some shoulder area. Next time I'll do a pose that is less frontal because I've got broad shoulders and this has sort of a Ten-HUT! feeling to it. But it was fun and I'm glad I participated. 16 x 16 oil on board.

Portrait of Karin Jurick

2010-02-14T12:49:00.007-06:00

I joined 117 other artists to honor and thank Karin Jurick for all her work on the DSFDF website (the idea of artist Jill Polsby). I know that many, many other artists would have wanted to participate but this was done in secrecy in a brief time span and not everyone knew about it. Anyway I used the photo she submitted for the last portrait challenge, as did the others. So far I have not resorted to using a projected image as a guide for any artwork but I was tempted by this project. I'm still learning to wrap features around a turned head in a realistic way. Trying to capture her flawless, peachy skin was a challenge but I enjoyed the effort immensely. Hope you enjoy this 10 x 8 oil on canvas.

Also, thank you so much to Trish Siegel and Millie Nguyen for giving me the Sunshine Award for creativity and positivity in blogging. The other artists in whose company I find myself make me feel very humbled. Please visit their sites to see their wonderful work. Thank you again, Trish and Millie!

Michelle Burnett as a Baby

2010-02-04T15:31:00.003-06:00

This is my latest entry on The Flying Moleskins site (link at right). Michelle Burnett requested a theme of snapshots or postcards from our lives, but I saw this photo of her as a toddler and couldn't resist it. The colors are more golden and less pale in person. I was attempting to get a "faded photograph" (like the song) antique snapshot feeling. This 5 x 16" piece is done in oil on the gessoed watercolor paper of Michelle's moleskin sketchbook. In about 6 months or so it should finally reach her after the other 11 artists sketch or paint their own work in it. (13 of us in all) Michelle, you were a joy to paint. And you must have been a beautiful baby, 'cause baby, look at you now!

Portrait of Richard Olsen, 8 x 5 study

2010-01-21T08:37:00.004-06:00

As some of you may know, I have just begun participating in an artist challenge group called The Flying Moleskins. Thirteen artists will be playing "pass the sketchbook (or moleskin as they are called)" through the postal service, each of us painting or sketching according to whatever theme was requested by the original owner. For my own book's first entry I painted my husband Richard from a photo. It was done in just a few hours in acrylic so that it would be dry in time to mail and it is smaller than I'd prefer so I really think of it as just a study. He and I have been together for over 30 years and I've never painted him before -- ??? Well, for one thing, it's really hard to get him to "strike a pose" and be still. I look forward to doing a larger version in oil that really catches his essence. This one does come close I think but I believe I can do better.

AFG Group Art Show

2010-01-20T08:15:00.003-06:00

My painting of Kelli Bland has been on display at the United States Art Authority the past few weeks. About 10 artists were represented in the group show for Austin Figurative Gallery.

Portrait of Leslie Lockhart

2009-12-31T18:06:00.003-06:00

I want to say right off the bat that I accidentally mixed in some acrylic paint with my oils in the early stages of this one, hence the flaky look to the surface. If it were a commission I would have started over with a new clean canvas but I wasn't even sure it was my final version. (this being the second attempt) So, thank goodness tonight is the final deadline or I was tempted to start again with a third canvas. This is 11 x 14 oil (plus acrylic :) on gallery wrap canvas. Happy New Year to all!

Fat Fender Chevy

2009-12-01T19:16:00.004-06:00

My husband has been wanting a 1955 or 1956 fat fender Chevy truck like this since he first laid eyes on one. He likes the split window and wants one in International Harvester Green. I'm not sure he'll ever really buy one because he enjoys dreaming about it so much. This particular truck is by the side of Highway 71 between Austin and Houston. I think my husband knows where each one of these is, all over Texas. So I thought I'd paint him one. But I can paint him another one if anyone buys it at the Maranda Pleasant Gallery Artbox Show this Saturday night. :) $100 with a portion going to charity. 12 x 12, acrylic on 2 inch deep cradled wood panel. SOLD

Mutt

2009-11-24T11:56:00.006-06:00

This is Mutt (of "Mutt 'n Jeff" -- another painting from a few years ago featuring a seagull and penguin who were hanging out together in Port Aransas). This will be at the Maranda Pleasant Gallery Holiday Artbox Show on December 5th here in Austin. 12 x 12 x 2 oil on cradled wood panel. SOLD

Shiner

2009-11-07T16:46:00.003-06:00

I wanted this to be super loose to convey the movement of my friend KK's dog Shiner having fun with his tennis ball. I had it even looser than this but, you know how that goes! This is really small for me but I may do a 12x12 oil of it for the Maranda Pleasant show in Austin on December 5th. 5x5 acrylic on canvas. Private Collection.

Portrait of Kelli Bland

2009-11-02T17:43:00.003-06:00

November 2, 2009 -- When I'm not sure what to paint sometimes I'll take out an old AFG sketch and try to flesh it out some. Having to try and recall what the model looked like is tricky so as always, it's not an exact likeness. For example I don't recall she really had patchwork hair. 16 x 20 oil on board.

Gimme Some Cow Candy

2009-09-29T18:12:00.003-05:00

We visited our friends' family farm this weekend and I got to photograph cows being fed. One came up to me and got her face right up under my camera so I snapped her picture. She thought I had cow candy, then turned around afterward to see all the other cows with bowls full of it. Well, I didn't trick her on purpose. Her eyes were so big as she tried not to get her horns caught, lifting her chin up. So cute. 16 x 20 x 1.5 oil on gallery wrap canvas.

Umbrella Girls, WIP New Detail

2009-08-29T09:34:00.005-05:00

The complete painting (previous version) is several posts below but here is a new detail as of last night. I'm having trouble getting a good photo. My next task is to alter the fearful facial expression -- I think both my girls were enjoying the rainy night and the cool wind sweeping past them. Remember, this is Texas... we love our rain, when we get it! 20 x 16 oil/canvas, Not for Sale.

Portrait of Honoria Starbuck - WIP

2009-08-17T20:27:00.006-05:00

I have a big collection of my earlier paintings done in acrylic at Austin Figurative Gallery. I intend to rework and finish out as many of them as I can, as most of them are pretty much sketches (often done in 15 minutes or less). This portrait started that way; one night at AFG the model didn't show up so we all took turns sitting. This is the Austin artist Honoria Starbuck. I might turn the background into an indoor or abstract setting and her blouse is just mostly blocked in. From the bottom up are: the original sketch (I like the fresh colors and spontaneity of it) and then yesterday's oil version, and at the top, today's version with a face close-up. 20 x 24 oil on canvas.

Grapefruit

2009-08-07T17:26:00.007-05:00

Today I wanted to try a new painting place in my house since my studio is feeling uninspiring to me. The light in one bathroom is really bright with big white counter space. I kind of liked it :) So I just did this little setup of three grapefruit (which sat at such a nice height on the bathroom shelf). It's a mostly white bathroom and I have a feeling I may end up painting my studio all white and working on the lighting. I need as few visual distractions as possible when I'm awaiting "the Muse." The main thing is that I'm just trying to get in the swing again so this was what the doctor ordered... a little warm-up, back to oil painting today. Busy weekend ahead and then Monday I'll see about working on my umbrella girls portrait. The next day, Madeline (little umbrella girl) comes home from 7 weeks in Paris! woohoo! I cannot wait! 8 x 10 oil Private Collection.

Addie In Her New Home

2009-07-29T15:55:00.005-05:00

I was so happy and proud to get this photo of my portrait of Addie in its new home. It is now installed in the Johns household of Dallas, Texas (where I grew up and where most of my family still lives). The canvas is almost 2 inches deep with edges painted a lacquered brownish red but that doesn't show in this photo. Anyway I think it blends very nicely with the setting, and it inspires me to do all the animal portraits I can. I love the idea of making more people happy with permanent memories of their beloved pets. So, that's a goal -- more practice in that direction. I think I'll see if I can find a photo of our yellow tabby cat Henry we had when the girls were little... he was like a dog, and that's a high compliment from me.

Time Out

2009-07-27T23:25:00.006-05:00

It has been over a year since I painted in acrylic so I thought I'd see how that felt again. Wasn't thrilled with how fast it kept drying and I missed the smooth stroke of an oily paintbrush. The good thing was that the colors stayed separated. Might try it again in oil for comparison but I already sent this one in to Karin Jurick. 11 x 12 inches on canvas. Private Collection. (afterthought -- do any of you ever paint an entire painting again over a completed acrylic one?)

Pennsylvania Landscape

2009-06-03T21:03:00.003-05:00

As I was nearing the end of painting this tonight I started hearing Kenny Rogers singing "...You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away..." ... Not a good sign considering I know I should have walked away sooner. I waited until about 6 PM tonight to start this after a busy last several weeks. I thought I should at least go ahead and face the challenge and if I missed the deadline, oh well. It was those silos that were putting me off... I kept getting tired of seeing them and then I wasn't sure what the focal point should be. So I decided just to paint it for the experience of trying to capture the patterns receding into the distance. I think I learned a good bit and it got me thinking about things I'll need to know when I paint landscapes with a distant horizon. It will take lots of practice -- sure is harder than I thought it would be! Oh well, it was painted in a rush -- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 12 x 12 x 1, oil on gallery wrap canvas

Umbrella Girls - WIP

2009-05-15T19:03:00.009-05:00

This portrait is a work in progress (detail at top). These are our daughters about 19 years ago. I have been looking at Dana Cooper's and Paula Villanova's beautiful portraits. They are both amazing, inspiring painters. 16 x 20 oil on canvas, NFS.

Our Woodshed

2009-05-12T18:31:00.005-05:00

This is my first attempt in a long time to do a landscape. 24 x 20 oil on stretched canvas.

Claustrophobia

2009-05-03T19:21:00.006-05:00

This was a 3 hour attempt for Karin Jurick's current challenge. I have other projects waiting so I'm sending it in and moving on! 20 x 16, oil on canvas.

Addie, Done!

2009-04-22T15:26:00.005-05:00

I'm calling this girl done! 30 x 24 x 1.5, oil on gallery wrap canvas, NFS.

Addie Commission WIP

2009-04-20T18:38:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm still working on Addie; This is day 2's effort on Big Addie -- 30 x 24 x 1.5.

Diana's Companion

2009-04-13T20:20:00.015-05:00

This is my Karin Jurick entry for this time. 11" x 8", graphite on paper. The original sculpture was done in 1724 by Jean-Louis Lemoyne.

Last Tweak

2009-04-12T13:14:00.005-05:00

This study is finished, next the big canvas...

Addie Study Tweaked

2009-04-11T22:55:00.003-05:00

I decided the driveway looked like an extension of Addie's head so I turned it into grass and did some value/hue tweaking today. I'll probably leave this alone now and move on to the final canvas which is now going to be 30 x 24.