Still life ~Story of The Bronze Shoes

`Hello there, You do wonder about the story behind these and who's little feet they were on. I worked on this a few different times and I think it's finished, might go over the background again to create a definite background and foreground. I just love little shoes and have painted different ones several times. I found this little pair of bronze baby shoes at a antique store and fell in love with them. Tricky painting bronze, hoping this feels like bronze. Trying to reproduce what I was seeing with color and value and placing the highlights in the right place. This is acrylic on a 8" X 10" Raymar panel. What is it about tiny things that make them so dang cute? lol Enter your email address in my Google Group box to receive my posts. Thanks so much for visiting me :)

Abstract Sunflowers

Hi there, I wanted this painting to be a bit abstract with sunflowers and I had such fun doing it, this is acrylic on a 8 x 10 canvas. I signed it but may play with it a bit yet?? Also good news, I have new representation. Gallery 42 in Mason Ohio has accepted me as one of their exhibiting artists. I'll attach the link here so you can check out my page. Have a wonderful day.

A Pair of Pears

Hello, Monday after my workshop with Patti Mollica I did this little painting. I really took my time and did my value sketch first. Patti believes that a painting has to be a strong image in 3 values and I agree with her. Her background is illustration so of course her images had to read well in black and white. I know when I photograph my paintings and download them it helps so much to view them on my computer, like looking at another artist's painting. I did try to do a painterly painting and I like the finished painting. This is acrylic on a 8 x 10 canvas. Heading up to a local gallery tonight to paint a costumed model, such fun. I hope you are enjoying your day.

Workshop with Patti Mollica

Hello there, I spent this weekend in Rising Sun Indiana at a workshop given by Patti Mollica. The workshop was "How to paint Fast Loose and Bold" in acrylics and one of the best workshops I have attended. Patti gave it a 110% and tried to fill us with as much knowledge as you possibly can in two days. Check out her style, very loose and painterly. The idea is to give as much information as you can about your subject with the fewest strokes possible. She did a demo each day, the one I have posted she did in 15 minutes. She did do a value sketch first and worked out the best possible composition so when she sat down to paint she had all the necessary information and her sketch was on her canvas. I painted 7 paintings and one I did in 8 minutes, she gave us 15, 30 or 45 minutes to paint. The best thing I took from it is to slow down think a lot about design do several value sketches to see what works and think value value value. I plan to practice lots, I purchased her book and even purchased one of her little jewel paintings. Don't judge these too harshly, they are just learning tools. That is Patti painting and you can kind of see her finished painting behind her hand, lol. The other 5 are some of mine, I ran out of canvases and started drawing squares to paint in. I loved the workshop and would highly recommend attending one of Patti's workshops if you ever have the chance.

"Tulips in Glass" The Meaning of Flowers

Hi there, This coming Tuesday June 18th is the opening of The Meaning of Flowers. This is a show of paintings completed by my group Mason Area Painters/ Arts Alliance Painters. The show will be at Mason Christian Village and hang for a month. This is one of three paintings I have entered. I am so proud of my group, they have been working hard to get their flower paintings ready for the show. So if you live near Mason Ohio stop by Tuesday evening to enjoy the art, music and food, would love to see you. This is acrylic on a 11" x 14" stretched canvas framed. Please enter your email in my Google Group box to receive my posts. So great to see you :)

Shades of White

Hi Friends, I purchased this little white glass bird a while back and thought it would be so nice to use it in a still life with other white objects. White is such fun to paint, as you can see there are warm and cool whites. I wanted to keep the hydrangeas white also but wanted touches of other colors so they wouldn't be boring. This is acrylic on a 11" x 14" stretched canvas. Getting pretty excited, this next weekend is a workshop with Patti Mollica, there is a link to her blog on my blog list. The workshop is acrylic, using them in a loose style, should be fun. Check out some of my Ebay auctions, reduced unframed paintings available. Have a wonderful day.

Another competition piece

Hi there, I painted this piece for a competition, it isn't until August but I like to work ahead. They provided several wonderful old black and white photos to be our inspiration. There was one of a sailboat and that was my inspiration for this painting. I wanted it to feel like a gray day with lots of clouds and this is very different from the boat in her photo, didn't want to copy it. Also this is a mixed media piece with acid free paper added to the canvas first, I thought that would make it more interesting. This is acrylic on a 11" X 14" stretched canvas. Please check out my Ebay auctions Also please enter your email address in my Google Group box to receive my posts. Good to see you.