Day 25 - Artist Chick

 One reason I've done so many daily painting challenges (this is my 13th!) is because I love the new ideas that come by pushing the creative flow.. To come up with new ideas every day, there is a degree of letting go you have to do.. letting go of censoring, letting go of control.  This little idea came yesterday and while it is so simple, the imagery and story are striking to me.

another point of interest, I had no blue or green on my palette for this painting.. Its probably obvious, but it was fun painting with what is known as an analogous color scheme, meaning all of the colors are next to each other on the color wheel (yellow, orange and red)

Oh, and how do you like the funky red saddle shoes?  (I love them...)

Last bit of commentary - by day 24, I am feeling the fatigue.. designing, painting and posting every day is a challenge for sure.  The posting in particular is hard for me, but also, I know, vital. Vital to get my art out there, and vital for myself, and others who care to come here and read my blab, to get a deeper insight into why I do what I do. I am so thankful to everyone who follows along with these challenges I do and of course for all of the kind comments and likes my paintings glean.  ♥  So today, this painting celebrates the challenges and rewards of being an artist chick :) Thank you for reading ♥

"Artist Chick", oil, 8"x8", click here for purchasing details

Day 24 - Bunn Berry

 Hello and welcome to day 24 of the challenge.. :) I painted 2 bunny's in honor of the Year of the Rabbit, the Lunar New year's animal this year.. I'm looking forward to some peace, productivity without stress and prosperity for all.. This little bunn is giving up an offering of a juicy, ripe strawberry to help with the welcome!  I've enjoyed painting fuzzy little critters for the past few days.. seems that a little bit of fuzz goes a long way towards the cuteness.. ♥

Mary Jane dudds seem to make it into my paintings every now and again.. I love the simple, classic design and, every time I look them up, I want to get a pair.. why have I not gotten a pair yet??  That'll be a goal for 2023.. get a comfy, chic pair of Mary Janes all of my own.. :) Its the little things..

"Bunn Berry", oil, 8"x8", click here to purchase

Day 21 - Hamming it Up

 Its day 21 and today's painting features a fuzzy syrian hamster, hamming it up :) 

Now, I'm not a rodent aficionado, but from what I have seen, I think syrian, long-haired hamsters are some of the stinking cutest little dudes on the planet.. their little faces look like tiny teddy bears and their fuzzy bodies almost don't look real.. 

Beware though!  They may only be cute from a distance..  After I painted this guy, my daughter was admiring the paintings, but then went on to remind me of different long-haired hamsters she has known over the years, and she reminded me that they did not have particularly sweet temperaments!  Years ago, she worked in a pet store that sold different breeds of hamsters and she relayed the story that every time she would walk by their tanks, they would, well, stand up and hiss at her!  She wasn't terribly fond of handling them, as you'd expect.  And, I believe it was in 3rd or 4th grade, her class had a class pet.. and it was a long-haired hamster. Each student had the opportunity to take it home for a week to care for it, and when Meilea brought him home, he bit her. 

Oh well.. I still think they are stinking cute, even if they have a stinker of a personality :) And I promise, this guy won't bite you! :)

"Hamming It Up", oil, 8"x8", click here to purchase

Day 19 - Seeing Clearly

Todays painting is tentatively titled "I can see clearly Now"... there are so many odd things going on in this painting, I was having trouble landing on the meaning...Plus I'm a little under the weather so also having trouble coming up with words!   Here goes.. We have a Llama, of course, and the rainbow in the background.. the Llama is wearing the funky 80's, square engineering glasses and, what is the leaf doing on his head?  I don't know!  Sometimes when I design images, I'll have ideas fly through my head and I put them together not necessarily knowing why or where the ideas came from.. and this is one of them.. the best I can do is say that I do have a rainbow theme going in some of my paintings this month and I wanted to explore that a bit more.. plus, as I've said many times, I love making images that make people smile, so I hope this one does that. :)

And thinking about it, its quite ironic that I chose the temporary title "Seeing Clearly" when it is clear I am seeing anything but clearly about this one!

"Seeing Clearly", oil, 10"x10", purchasing details can be found here

Day 13 - Mid-Century Euro Robin

Good day :)  

Todays painting is titled "Mid-Century Euro-Robin" and it is a simple little one with a mid-century modern style teacup and an adorable European Robin.. I like mid-century modern design and the funky little drawings that are sometimes found on the products of the time. I think this teacup is just the sweetest and like not only the design on it but also its little circular handle..

If you are not familiar with the term, the Merriam Webster dictionary describes it thusly:  Mid-Century Modern (MCM) is a style of design (as in architecture and furniture) of roughly the 1930s through the mid-1960s characterized especially by clean lines, organic and streamlined forms, and lack of embellishment.

"Mid-Century Euro-Robin", oil, 7"x7", purchasing details can be found here

Years ago, when I was bored in school and would doodle in my notebook, often, my doodles would look similar to the doodles below.. I didn't realize it at the time but I was definitely channeling MCM...

And European Robins... I came across these cute little birds awhile back when looking through pictures of...wait for it... cute birds!  If you google "Cute Birds" I guarantee European robins will make the list somewhere :) According to this website  "The European Robin is seen throughout most of Europe year-round. Although it is called a robin, which is a member of the thrush family, this robin is actually a flycatcher. This very attractive bird is recognized by its orange face and breast"

Just do yourself a favor and google European Robin.. nearly every picture you will find is adorable. :)

Detail from today's painting..

Day 8 of the January 2023, 30 in 30 - Its Never Just Black and White

 ...a sentiment I, more often than not, believe... there are so many shades of gray in most situations in life, things are rarely just Black and White.. and if you look, you will see my largely black and white painting has a shade of celadon in the lip of the bowl and a smidge of red too :) If you have read a few of my previous posts, you remember my musings about rainbows.. So this painting is in response to those paintings and here is the enjoyable reason why...

If you mix all of the wavelengths of the electro magnetic spectrum together, combined they make White Light.

and.. 

when dealing with pigment and paint, for example, all of the colors of paint mixed together gives you Black..

 

Its Never Just Black and White, oil, 9"x12", click here for purchasing details

I found this explanation on a Reddit and think it describes the phenomenon pretty well:

Light is additive color and paint is subtractive. When you paint something green, you're not exactly "putting green" on the object but instead putting a substance that reflects only green and absorbs the other colors. Thus, our eyes see the object as green. If you mix all the colors of paint together you get black because you've created a substance that subtracts (absorbs) all the colors and to us, an absence of light is seen as black. With light, you're combining colors and not removing them. That's why when you mix all additive colors
it's perceived by our eyes as white. So if you think about it, white light is the most colorful color.

Day 8 - Five Lost at Sea

This painting was inspired by yesterday's painting of the duck in the bowl-turned sail boat.. I decided to take it a little more literally and paint the chickadees in a more boat like bowl in an ocean like setting.. :) I am loving this concept and have a few more in store..

I started this composition by deciding the color scheme and what animals I wanted in the bowl.. I am enjoying the more muted palette lately so went with generally a muted but saturated triad (yellow, red, blue).  I also began with just 4 chickadees but it just wasn't right.. this story needed a hearty bunch of these fellas to complete the tale plus the design rule of thumb to try to use odd numbers of things in a composition was niggling away at me. So, I added another and felt better about things... 

my question is why are the chickadees in a boat, and are they really lost?

5 Lost at Sea, oil, 9"x12", purchasing details can be found here

The original design of 4 Chickadees in a bowl -  and also, before I added leaves.. See?  Not as good..

Day 7 - Ducky Day for a Sail

 Another little ducky today - Its my birthday, and its what I wanted to paint, so, here she is.. :)

After I painted her, I was standing back looking at her and realized it kind of looks like she is in a boat, with a leaf for a sail.  And, I'll disclose, I did not plan that.. But, it gave me some new ideas and I'll be revisiting the bowl/leaf sailboat idea at least once more during the challenge. :) So, with that, I named the painting, "Ducky day for a Sail" and am calling her done.

"A Ducky Day for a Sail", oil, 8"x8", purchasing details can be found here

Day 5 - Prismatic Contemplation

 It is day 5 of the challenge and today you will notice I'm experimenting with a more colorful background than is typical for my paintings... I enjoyed the little rainbow that the duck was sitting on the other day and decided to take another look, also continuing with a muted but saturated color color scheme, making the prism really pop against the black cat..

Why a cat with it's tongue sticking out?  Likely because, why not?  Honestly, I wanted to see how I would feel about it once I committed it to paint and, I think I like it.  For some reason, I can picture this painting surrounded by house plants near a sunny window.. scroll down to see for yourself if it looks good with plants.. :)

 Prismatic Contemplation, oil, 9"x12", Click here for purchasing details

And for some reason, I also see this cat as deep in a meditative state.. Have I seen some yogi somewhere meditating with his tongue out? Well, anyway, due to all of that, I've named this one Prismatic Contemplation.

Day 4 - The Warm and Fuzzies

 So, books are another trope I come back to now and then.. kind of like grilled cheese and tomato soup.. Books are good for a rainy day.. or a sunny day on the beach, or to listen to while I'm painting... and, as a former children's librarian, my connection to and love of books is well engrained. and don't even get me started about book banning.. oy... Anyway, books are a refuge for me.  

And then there are ducks.. :)

As soon as I paired this little girl on these books, it just felt all over warm and fuzzy.. This one is a simple image mostly about my love of books and cute little animals.  I'm also loving the brushwork and saturated colors.. ♥

The Warm and Fuzzies, Oil, 8x8, Click here for purchasing details

Day 3 - A Gift from the Welkin

 Hello :) It's day 3 of the 30 day challenge and I'm going another round with the Simple gifts idea.. This one is titled "A Gift From the Welkin" and shows a Kingly but pensive Lion, possibly unaware of the gift he is being given by this benevolent cardinal.. 

"A Gift From the Welkin", oil, 9x12, click here for purchasing details

Incidentally, welkin is an old word meaning 'sky', or 'heavens'.  I thought it fit in the title of this one, what, with the imagery of the cardinal just about to place a star on the Lion's crown.. Of course the Lion has rich symbolism in many cultures, which I won't go into here.. This lion is whatever he is to you..

 While I was painting him, his expression just kind of became lost in thought.. and slightly unaware of the gift he is about to receive... Which made me think about the fact that sometimes in life we receive gifts but don't realize we are receiving them at the time.. These are gifts from the heavens.. be on the look out for them because everybody gets them :)

Day 2 - I'll Light a Candle for You

 It's day 2 of the January 30 and 30 and I'm in the groove.. Leaning into yesterday's spark of Simple Gifts, today's painting is a different take..  Titled "I'll Light a Candle for You", this one features a Duck in Chucks, a trope I come back to time and again.. kind of like peanut butter and jelly.  He's wearing a birthday candle for a hat, and is atop a soft rainbow. All together, the image feels like a simple gift to me...

"I'll Light a Candle for You", 8"x8", oil on panel, click here for purchasing details.

There is something to being able to appreciate the little things in life that helps bring happiness and peace to the chaos.. It's the simple gifts that make up our safety net, I think.. :) The wee duckling here agrees..

To take this a little further, I paint a lot of small paintings.. 8"x8", 10"x10" and 9"x12" are some of the most common sizes for me.. but, if you look closely, you will see that I try to pack a lot into every mark I make on this small space..  My painting style is what is known as Alla Prima, which means all at once.  This helps me to keep my marks fresh and along with my often thick and juicy textures, I hope to convey a sense of joyful life in each small image.  Take a look at some of the details below..

And my imagery is fairy simple when taken by itself.. What intrigues me is when you put the simple things together you often get a story. I try to make my stories ones that convey happiness..

The Day After - 28 in 28 Collage

 It is a lot of fun to see all of the paintings together and satisfying to know that I worked my tail off this past month!  I spent much of the month pursuing themes and series that I have been exploring for the past year or so... Cupcakes, stackers, Spirit Animals, teacups and ducks.. and I started a few new things too - namely Watercolor!  I only posted 3 of the watercolor paintings I completed this past month, but I've painted nearly 10 paintings so far.. some better than others, but all so much fun and such an exciting new medium to explore.

7 of the challenge paintings have found new homes, 1 of them is at Studio B in Boyertown and won and award, 6 of them found their way down to the Square Pear Art Gallery in Kennett Square, and even more of them will be in Art Plus Gallery’s upcoming March/April exhibit. Yay!! That being said, if there is one you are interested in but have been him hawing.. don’t wait!  It may not be available for for long..

Thanks again for following along and reading my ramblings.. Happy March and happy creating!

Day 26 - Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

 This is the latest in my Spirit Animal series, where I focus on animals as symbolic guides that help us through our lives.  This one features a coyote and 3 crows.  Coyotes are known for their ingenuity and adaptability, while crows are known for their intelligence and symbolize the mysteries of existence. I've painted both animals before, and have paired them together as well.. They seem to belong together somehow, as if their energies work together.. 

 In my painting, Coyote is joined by 3 crows (thought patterns?) to remind us that we are adaptable.. there is always the possibility of change.  I am a firm believer that if we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change..  Of course, thinking can not change everything.. My daughter reminded me that you can not 'think' away all of your problems.  But, a lot of problems are caused by how we are thinking about them.  Shift your perspective and observe what happens...  

Another variation on this theme is this quote that I came across: If you don't like where you are.. move!  You are not a tree..  Love that!  

"Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life", oil and cold wax, 11"x14", 

click here for purchasing details

Day 23 - Maybe it's Neighbelline

Yes, I am one of those people who find satisfaction in a good pun.. and this one fits the bill.. 

I'm not sure if Maybelline, the cosmetic company, still uses the tag line "Maybe she's born with it... maybe it's Maybelline.." but, you can see where this pun came from :)  Made me laugh when I came across it and, well, frankly, all horses are beautiful creatures naturally, and white horses can be particularly stunning.. so, of course, this title was the one.

Titling my work:  Sometimes I am lucky and a title just comes to me as I'm painting the painting.  Other times, not so much.  When this happens, I will do some research on the animal or subject matter I am painting (which I do anyway) and as I read about it, a title often emerges. 

This is the companion painting to yesterday's half of a horse, "Horse sense".  I like to paint in twos, or threes (sometimes more..) because often one painting doesn't quite satisfy my desire to explore the subject.  With this one, I truly was wanting to hone my skills of painting a horse (not an easy animal to paint, I will admit) as well as experiment with this half of a horse composition.  Again, I am interested in the negative space around the horse, maybe not as much as, but in addition to the horse itself. :)

"Maybe It's Neighbelline", oil, 7"x7", click here for purchasing details

Day 23 - Horse Sense

 "Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people." - W.C.Fields

Fields may have been making a joke with this turn of words, and yet there is a bit to unpack here.. :) My thoughts about what he may have meant when he said this lean towards the often unpredictability and sometimes unreliability of human nature.. is it any surprise that animals are many people's best friends?  

On another topic, I am happy to announce that I have been invited to be an exhibiting artist in the Art Gallery at the Devon Horse Show :)  Growing up in Chester County, PA, I always knew when the Devon Horse Show was happening.  Surrounded by horse country, many of my classmates had horses and would go. I never had the chance to attend (or reason to at that time..) so I am excited that I'll be going this year, and have the chance to see it from an artist's perspective.  As one might expect, I've had horses on the brain lately...  

Today's painting is of a painted horse, focusing on his front half... I love how the negative space is emphasized by composing the design in this way. :)

"Horse Sense", oil, 7"x7", click here for purchasing details

Day 22 - Gone Fishin

 Back a year or so ago, I painted a small series I called "Animals Behaving Badly". Each painting featured an animal leaping out of a mixed drink.  This was one I designed during that spell, but never painted.  While scrolling back through the archives the other day, I came upon the design and decided it was a good time to paint it. :) 

I love how it came out and am particularly happy with the glass and the liquid.  Not necessarily a difficult subject, it still just makes me happy when glass turns out looking like, well, glass!

I imagine this Bass in a martini glass was just hanging out, lazily minding his own business when along came a fisherman.. apparently unable to resist a challenge, this guy may have ended up someone's meal, already pickled and seasoned for the pan.. or, maybe he was the one that got away..

Gone Fishin, oil, 9"x12", click here for purchasing details

Day 14 - Purification

White animals often have a special place in the stories and myths of a culture. Because it is extremely rare for most animals to be white, if a pure white animal crosses your path, be sure to take note of what is going on in your life.  The color white usually symbolizes  clarity, purity, renewal, honesty and new beginnings.  

Because the Crow is such a resourceful animal, when we see a white crow (which is rare, but they do exist) it is a sign that now is a good time to take advantage of whatever opportunities may be presenting themselves to us.  Seeing a white crow means that you have clarity and strength at this time, plus the opportunity for new beginnings, should you wish.  Know that a time of purification is near :)

Purification, oil, 7"x7", click here for purchasing details

Day 13 - Something to Celebrate

 I promised some new snails and I wasn't kidding.. today's painting is the latest in my series of snails who have alternative shells.. :)  

So, jumping right to it... things can get pretty dark sometimes...every one of us knows that. But on the flip side, there is always something to celebrate too.  Always.  Finding things to celebrate is good for the soul and helps smooth the way for happiness. 

Todays snail is titled "Something to Celebrate" and she is having a little celebration right there in my painting.  Her and the ladybug, of course.  I thoroughly enjoyed painting that rainbow cupcake... can't help myself.. I'm a color nerd. :) And it was nice to paint a new snail.. they are so much fun to design and paint.. a great little world to live in for awhile.  

 Today, I'll celebrate COLOR.  Can't imagine not having color in the world! ♥

"Something to Celebrate", oil, 8"x8", click here for purchasing details

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Day 12 - Tea for Two

I have painted so many birds in my career as an oil painter.. but it's so strange that I don't think of myself as a painter of birds.  It's just that they often seem like the right thing to add into a composition.  They are often colorful, which makes it easy and fun to choose the perfect accent.  In addition, they are perchable, flyable, poseable, come in all sizes and add life to what could otherwise be a 'dead' composition... And, birds are revered by cultures the world round.. they appear in stories both ancient and new, as symbols, talismans, spirit guides and companions helping to weave a story within my work ..So Versatile are birds that no wonder they end up in many of my paintings! 

Cardinals are brilliant and very common here in PA.  Whenever I see one, I think of the belief that, when you see a cardinal, you are seeing a messages from loved ones who have passed and they are letting us know they are here, checking in... true or not, it is always soothing the soul to think about.

This cardinal is joined by an even smaller brilliant friend, perhaps a message to the cardinal, or perhaps coming in for a sip..  And so it is a cup of Tea for Two..

"Tea for Two", oil on panel, 8"x8", click here for purchasing details