Saturday, November 27, 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

art every day 24: airplane art


I could also call this "turbulent" art but then that might sound like I'm making excuses...
Thankfully it was a short flight.






 
 I am so very...


and wondering what life would be like to be named Thankful L.



Sunday, November 21, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

art every day 17


Today I felt like I needed some help so I turned to Cezanne.  I have been asked often if I think its cheating to copy and the answer, for me, is always no.  

I'm preparing now for an unexpectedly busy time of year coming up.  I committed to doing more shows than I have ever done within a few weeks time so I will be in full creative swing. 
For now, I am concentrating on smaller pieces and since I will be traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday I will be able to keep up the pace...I think, I hope. 

For anyone who is checking in for the first time I should mention the post titles of "art every day" is in refereance to an online challenge Art Every Day Month  put together by Leah Piken Kolidas.  You can view the list of participants here.  I'm in the studio nearly every day but I still like having this challenge to spur me on and it was definitely helpful in providing the impetus to getting this blog off the ground.
Now if I could just find the time to figure out how to add buttons...

         
a little abstract watercolor from last night


Below are some photos of a painting I finished two weeks ago.   I got some great feedback on the last painting that I posted the progress on so I thought I would post some photos of the beginning, middle and final states of this one.   It is 48" x 36" and sold!





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If you are in the Cambridge/Somerville area this weekend stop
by the Burren for SLAM, the Saturday Local Artist Market. 
Its an execellent opportunity to browse, shop and enjoy a pint at the same time!







Monday, November 15, 2010

art every day 15: breakthrough




Untitled
acrylic on canvas
48" x 36"

After spending the day working on this painting I finally feel like what I have been wanting to happen happened.  I knew it needed to open up and I kept wishing I could crawl inside it somehow and work on it from the inside out.  Impossible, yes, but that was the sensation that kept arising.  So the question has been playing with me, if I can't blow it out from within then what?  I think I got as close to what I was going for, aside from a few touch ups,  that I will stop for now.  This is what it looked like a week ago and this is what it looked today when I started painting.  Because I know all along I wanted to push it in a more expressive direction I like to think of it as all the color and line underneath just exploded and rearranged in a new, more organic order.



Sunday, November 14, 2010

art every day 14


Playing catch up today.  This first photo is from the sunset I experienced Friday evening.  I didn't have my camera with me so I could not wait to get home to see if I could recapture it from memory.  It was changing before my eyes as I just sat and watched to make sure it was imprinted.  I was looking east toward a distant rise and the entire sky was filled with this suble color.  I was kind of glad I didn't have my camera because I also suspected if I had tried to take a photo my little point and shoot would probably not have captured the full range of soft colors.  I was so happy yesterday when someone chose it and another suble landscape painting to take home as a pair.   


This feather I painted yesterday while sitting at my table at a show I did in Sterling, MA.  It was an excellent day and I met a lot of really great people.  I did another smaller aceo sized painting of a feather that I put on the table on a mini easel.  It sold within minutes!  This larger one still needs a bit of work but wanted to post it anyway. Thanks to all who stopped by my table to look, talk and purchase!   




This is the painting I have been wrestling with for almost two weeks now.  I keep seeing it opening up in my mind but every time I work on it it seems to get tighter.   I worked on it for about 4 hours on Friday and could not get myself to open it up the way I had in mind so I just went with it.  I'm sort of expecting it will just happen when the time is right.  So until then I'll just keep staring at it and wondering. 

  
I am so excited about joining my first Etsy team, Finding Fine Art.  I have been an admirer of founder Jessica Torrant's work since I came upon her work on Etsy.  She created the team, a blog to go with it and it is taking off!  Sara John Afana is a her west coast affiliate and they are doing a great job.   I was so thrilled last week to be chosen for two of the treasuries on Friday.  A big piece of the Finding Fine Art movement is Fine Art Friday, which encourages members on Etsy to put together treasuries of fine art, thus giving so more exposure to so many talented fine artists.  I love this!!  Finally. It was noticeable to me right away when I joined Etsy in 2008 how little attention fine art got in the treasuries compared to the other categories.  So thank you to Jessica and Sara for taking it on!

And thank you to Michelle Pryor for featuring one of my favorite paintings in her "The Fine Art of Flying" treasury she put together for Fine Art Friday.  (I still have not figured out how to post the treasury images but I will! )  You can view Michelle's work here.

 now I'm off to enjoy what is left this beautiful day

Thursday, November 11, 2010

art every day 11





The past couple of days have been a bit more on the busy-ness side of creativity for me.  I have a few one day holiday shows coming up so I have been spending time getting organinzed and tying up loose ends.  These photos are group shots of some of the smaller pieces I have been working on.  In the top photo are two I was able to do today.  I think of them as abstract ornaments or art blocks, for any occasion. 

The photo above are some of the aceo's I have been creating for a while now.  I like to spread these out on the table for people to look through at shows.  Its a great way to start or add to a art collection or an excellent and inexpensive way to give original art as a gift.   

I don't want to let the day pass without acknowledging Veteran's Day.  Below are a couple of shots I took on my daily walk...


Thank you to all past and present vets.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

art every day 9


Today was a day full of busyness.  I wasn't sure if was possible to squeeze creativity in but it happened.  I teach a class each Tuesday and I just love it.  I feel so inspired and charged afterwards that sometimes I wonder who is the student?  As the night went on I considered what (as much as if) I could pull out of me and I decided to tap into a topic that has been the subject of much conversation around my house lately: reflection, self-reflection, image, reverse image.  I didn't have the energy to create from the raw so I resorted to a master, thus the Picasso.  I have to note that it was a quick copy, maybe 10 to 15  minutes, and in very low light, but all the same, it was just what I needed...and just in case you were wondering, mine is the one on the left!
   

Saturday, November 6, 2010

art every day 6

progress on the painting I started Wednesday

How could I resist posting these fine drawings done today by my daughter and her friend  
"The Party Diva & Queen of Frecles"


Friday, November 5, 2010

art every day 5: whats on your wall & secrets


This is how the day started, very grey...again

 



Today I worked on the larger painting I started earlier this week.  I used some of the left over paint to cover a couple pages in a sketchbook I've been working on.




Not one, but two, Etsy Treasuries today!


And to top off the day I had a painting featured in an Etsy treasury, "Whats on your wall?"  put together by Sara John Arfana
Its part of the Fine Art Friday movement put in motion by Jessica Torrant & Arfana to share and promote artists' work online.  Its so great to see collections of fine art put together. So many amazing artists!  Sadly I am not blog savvy enough yet to
be able to link the treasury with images but I'll get there.

The second treasury, Secrets is beautifully put together by Liora Lleucu and features the same painting, "Cycles of Secrets" alongside beautiful and enticing mixed media pieces, photographs, jewelry and books.  
 

Enjoy!



Thursday, November 4, 2010

art every day 4





I've always wanted to paint trees darkened black by rain but never have.  With the every day painting challenge in mind I took the opportunity.  It was pretty dreary but the black of the trees with the color of the leaves was striking.  I think I need to keep at it though, this little painting captures barely a slice of what I have been imagining.  I got a little heavy with the watercolor so I think if I try working a bigger sketch next time it might loosen me up.   Also it is usally a larger expanse of wooded areas and trees that most often catches my attention.  I'm sure there will be plenty more days of wet weather to come... 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

art every day 3

 

This was a little offshoot from a larger painting I started today.  I was thinking about something else but it turned out to looked like a funny kind of bird.  It's painted on a small piece of plywood, 
3 1/8" x 3 1/8" x 7/8"






This is the larger piece I started, waiting to dry. 





       When my son got home from school he asked me to do an "exquisite corpse" with him. 
We love doing these and laughed so hard at the end result.  I especially love the teeny, tiny hands.  

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

art every day 2







Making sure to get the work done before the daylight disappears is a challenge for sure.  The light is much cooler, the colors are actually much warmer than appears to this camera's eye.  I think of these paintings as very light and playful, quick studies for something bigger or as a first layer to something more to come.  The possibilities are endless aren't they?