August 30 paintings in 30 days!

August has just about arrived and I can't believe it.  My aptitude for blogging is truly lacking and I see the last post I wrote was so long ago that it certainly qualifies as another lifetime...especially factoring in everything that has been going on in the world in 2020.  So, since the blissful post of yore, where I was painting away in a covid-free world (or so I thought), it is almost laughable to say -  things have changed. Artists (and frankly everyone) around the world have felt the ramifications of covid and, we all know it, so, I am not going to go into any details about that here.  (if curious though, see my past 3 newsletters here, here and here to read some of what I have been doing since January...)

As I was saying, it is the last day of July, 2020 and after mulling it over, I have decided I need to do a 30 in 30 again, where I paint and post 30 paintings in 30 days...I'm feeling the yen for just that kind of thing. So, stay tuned future selves..  I'll be starting my August 30 in 30 on Sunday, August 2nd and I am excited! I will be posting here every day, as well as on my facebook, Instgram and dailypaintworks pages.. Woo Hoo!  Hold on to your hats... :)

Day 24 of the 30 in 30 - "Make 'em Laugh - Cosmo Brown"

When I am feeling inspired to paint my whimsical duck paintings, I am guessing that I am being influenced by my past occupation as a Children's Librarian. I worked as one for just over 6 years and  I have to say that it was truly one of the best jobs I have ever had.  Heck,  I got to choose and read beautifully illustrated books to happy, un-jaded little children every week.  What more could you ask for in a job?  And of course you can't beat the free dissemination of information that public libraries offer and defend every day of their existence.  Public Libraries Rock and don't you forget it.  
The title comes from the classic musical "Singing in the Rain", because at first I thought about titling it "Quacking in the Rain",  but just couldn't bring myself to this level of absurdity... And then I remembered this quote from Cosmo Brown, a character in the movie. -  "No matter what, never lose your sense of humor... keep smiling and make em laugh"... If you haven't seen the musical, check it out.   Its a classic for a reason! And I just remembered, the first time I ever saw this movie, I rented it from the library I was working in!  Yay! Love it when life brings you full  circle...

Make 'em Laugh - Cosmo Brown, oil, 6"x6", to purchase click here

Day 23 - "An Ordinary Decent Egg, C.S. Lewis"

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg.  We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary decent egg.  We must be hatched or go bad.  C.S. Lewis

Today was another crazy day from the book of Karen...  Woke up early and framed some paintings, delivered a painting to a happy and loyal collector (thank you Debbie!), helped to hang a show at a fabulous interior design shop in Wyomissing (Saylor House), took my son to have his ankle x-rayed (don't ask..), stopped at DD's for coffee and donuts,  and finally painted this painting. I feel pretty hatched some days.. today being one of them...  Others, I feel like I'm just waiting in my shell.  Funny how that works.   

An Ordinary Decent Egg - CS Lewis. oil, 8"x8", to purchase click here

Day 19 of the 30 in 30 - "Sugar Snow, Bethesda Church, Chester County, PA"

I have been painting mainly birds in one way, shape or form for the past 2 weeks or so...For a complete change of pace, I went out plein air painting yesterday. What a welcome and beautiful thing it was!  The original plan was simply to try to capture what may be the last snow of the season here in Pennsylvania.  My friend and I headed out to a historic little church called Bethesda Church, located near the historic Hopewell Furnace in Chester Co. PA.  I grew up a few miles from this pretty location, so I felt right at home. To top it off, it was a beautiful, mid forties day, the birds were out and the snow was melting hard. It was genuinely a perfect day for painting outside!  The beauty and simplicity of the scene and the Chester County-ness of this location were also perfect for my first plein air outing in awhile...  If you are a history buff and want to know more about this church and it's interesting history, check out  https://www.nps.gov/hofu/learn/historyculture/bethesda-chruch.htm

For details on purchasing this painting, click here or under the image.  

Sugar Snow, Bethesda Church, Oley, PA,  oil, 9"x12", to purchase click here

Day 15 of the 30 in 30 - Warbling in Black & White

Midway through this painting, I had to ask myself, why did I decide to paint this?  Possibly I was thinking about the stark contrasts and the interesting designs... the graphic black and white lines... maybe I was trying to compose something different with an intricate black and white egg and a kind of intricate black and white bird... I don't know!  What I do know is it was a challenge in more ways than I expected. White is almost never white and the same can be said for black.. And to try to depict intricate black and white details in shadow and in highlight... not easy... In addition, I was painting not in my studio, but in the gallery today as I was working there today.  After setting up shop, I realized I forgot my medium!  For me this was a thing.  I have a very specific technique I use to paint alla prima and it involves using medium in a big way, and I had none.  Suffice it to say, I had to paint this on a dry panel, which is completely different than I am used to.  To clarify, I am not actually crying about this. I'm just stressing that not all paintings go as smoothly as one would hope, and this one was definitely a  hum dinger, to put it nicely. Don't have much more to say about it, other than I have some food for thought after painting this one... which, actually, is what all art should do for you after all... I guess. :)

Warbling in Black & White, Oil, 6"x6", to purchase click here

Day 14 of the 30 in 30 - Cast Your Wish

I considered titling this painting "Peace-anka" but it sounded too clumsy... Upon looking up info on  the White sparrow,  (the type of bird in this painting) I found this information and in turn found my title...

"It is said that if you see a White Sparrow you may cast a wish and it will soon be granted..."

Well, you have just seen a white sparrow, so, make your wish!!

Happy Valentines Day and may your wish come true! :)

This painting can be yours!  To purchase click here.

Cast Your Wish, Oil, 8"x8", to purchase click here

Day 13 of the 30 in 30 - Pysanka Perlustration

True story: Many years ago, I sat in my Mother's kitchen carefully blowing the innards out of several chicken eggs.  After washing and drying them, I super carefully and painstakingly applied layers of melted beeswax and dye to finally achieve the intricate artwork called Pysanky.  My mom still has a bowl of these relics in her basement (I think).  Just one bowl though... It was an art form I never pursued beyond this initial discovery stage as I found it was way too detail oriented and tedious of work to keep my attention!  I remembered just how tedious it is as I painted this painting that has a Pysanka egg in it today!  Oh yeah, and that Magpie...I love the position he is standing in!  Great lines and curves that seem to swirl and compete nicely with the egg and egg cup. And his intense inspection of this egg had me looking for a new word that would nicely sum up what was going on... Perlustration seemed to fit the bill.  

Pysanka Perlustration, Oil, 8"x8", to purchase click here

  

Day 12 of the 30 in 30 - "Let Him Preach"

I was looking up quotes about Goldfinches to try to spark a good title for this one... I came upon a few interesting ones, including a strange one from Picasso...

But, I related most to this one from author Aldous Huxley -

"Fortunately, however, birds don't understand pep talks.  Not even St. Francis'. Just imagine, he went on, preaching sermons to perfectly good thrushes and goldfinches and chiff-chaffs!  What presumption!  Why couldn't he have kept his mouth shut and let the birds preach to him?"

-Aldous Huxley

Just too funny... Aldous calling St. Francis out for preaching to the birds... Love it...  But you know, I do agree, sir!  Listening to the beautiful song of our feathered friends is more oft better than any cacophony of human verbiage one could perceive... Thank you Aldous for the title...

Interested in purchasing?  Click here

Let Him Preach, oil, 8"x8", to purchase click here

Day 11 of the 30 in 30 - "Balanced"

Composing these paintings has been a lot fun.  I'm especially enjoying the challenge putting together disparate things and trying to make the composition interesting and successful. Today's was reminding me of a weather vane, I think because the scale of the the Mockingbird is obviously off compared to the marble and thread and whimsical weather vanes often have a small horse or other animal above a sphere of some sort. I love where art takes your mind! And it would seem that this is reason that the more I paint, the more ideas I seem to have. I wish for more hours in the day so I could paint everything I want to paint...

Balanced, oil, 8"x8", to purchase click here

Day 10 of the 30 in 30 - "A Fine Perch"

I am enjoying these little vignettes :)  I had forgotten just how cute juncos are and also forgot how much fun it is to paint marbles!  There are little microcosms in each of them.  And putting them together is even better... I think the bird agrees, hence the title.

I'll have to get a better picture as the lighting wasn't the greatest, but here it is for now. :)

A Fine Perch, oil, 8"x8", to purchase click here

Day 9 of the 30 in 30 - "Be Like a Magpie"

In the words of artist David Hockney, "Style is something you can use, and you can be like a magpie, just taking what you want.  The idea of the rigid style seemed to me then something you needn't concern yourself with, it would trap you."  

Yes!!!  Artists will naturally have their own style, if they work at it long enough, but my belief is that we should all keep trying new things and exploring different ideas.  There is too much out there in this big beautiful world of ours to hem ourselves in... Be brave people!  Be like a Magpie. :)

If interested in purchasing this or any of my other work, check out my Daily Paintworks site here. 

And to read more about David Hockney, check out this cool link! 

Be Like a Magpie, oil, 6"x6", to purchase click here

Day 8 of the 30 in 30 - Just a Spool for Your Love

When I get an idea for a painting, I usually like to make a series of them because one idea isn't just one idea... There are so many ways to interpret it that one idea can sometimes result in 5 paintings (or more!)  So, this is the 2nd in this little series of paintings -  birds and spools. I am not sure how far it will take me but I have 4 planned already, and 2 more waiting to make it out of my head....

 These birds are specifically black and white only, as I wanted to have them stand out next to the sweet colors of the vintage thread.  This little Chickadee is getting ready to make a landing - hopefully without knocking over the spool! I keep getting great title suggestions for my paintings, which are always welcome... some times the title is easy peasy, others, not so much, so spare titles are awesome. :)

This painting is for sale, as is yesterday's.  Check out my Daily Paintworks page for all the details!

Just a Spool for Your Love, oil, 6"x6", to purchase click here

Day 5 of the 30 in 30 - Red Chuck Kicking Duck

It can be hard to come up with titles sometimes!  Especially when the painting is just plain silly like this one.  When painting this guy today, I was thinking of a few things...the Eagles big time win, of course, and also my daughter who has her black belt in taekwondo.  She practiced endless kicks and punches and I know it played a big role in who she is today! This duck is confident in his red chucks, kicking butt and being cute...

There is another side to him that I'd also like to share. First, let me show my painting for today which is available for sale at my Daily Paintworks site.  Link to buy is under the pic...

Red Chuck Kicking Duck, oil on panel, 6"x6", to purchase click here

So, the idea for this painting was 'borrowed' from another painting I did last year.. I had to paint this duck again.. just in a slightly different pose with different colored chucks.  

A good friend and avid collector of my art (we'll call him Q) commissioned me awhile back to paint him a pair of Chuck bedecked ducks.. He had a specific purpose in mind - His ducks were to be wearing turquoise and pink chucks, and have the ribbons indicating prostate and breast cancer.  Below is the pic of the finished commission... 

Don't Mess With This, oil on panel, 9"x12", SOLD

You see, Q is a 2 time cancer survivor!  He found out a few years back that he had prostate cancer.. Thankfully, he went through treatment and is in remission for it... but then a year or so later he found out that he had breast cancer.  Yes breast cancer! He went through treatment for this, and thankfully again, he is in remission!  Wow!  So, first of all, men have breast tissue too, and second of all, they can get breast cancer... And lastly, Q told me that men who have had prostate cancer actually have an increased risk of getting breast cancer!  They are linked, apparently.  So, PSA - if you are a man, get checked for prostate cancer, because it can happen to anyone!  And, if you are a woman (or a man who has had prostate cancer), get your mamograms! (Q calls these man-o-grams if you are a guy... :)  Among other great things, Q has a wonderful sense of humor and passion for life that is inspiring!

Day 3 of the 30 in 30 - "Eagle Beagle"

Today's painting is dedicated to those underdogs, the Philadelphia Eagles!  I am rooting for them and can't wait to see them kick some big time butt!  Since I paint dogs, I couldn't resist painting this one today, and hope it brings a little luck to the Birds!  Fly Eagles, Fly!  This painting IS for sale.  If you would like to purchase please visit my Daily Paintworks in the link below Eagle Beagle. :)

"Eagle Beagle", oil on panel, 6"x6". click here to purchase

Day 2 of the 30 in 30 - Little Miss Mei in her mary-janes

Happy Groundhogs day... and, thank you! to those of you who reached out with all your well wishes and good vibes!  Your love is very appreciated.  My guy is getting better day by day, and news from yesterday's appt. was mostly positive. So, whew on that front.

I am just getting around to posting now as today's schedule was also tricky.. another doctor's appt, this time for my teen-aged daughter, plus other Mom duties had me juggling my time.  I'm getting better at managing my time even when things are disjointed but it can be tiring!  I think I am ready for winter to ease up with the sickness, and the cold...  I know I'm not the only parent dealing with this right now, so, love to everyone else out there <3

Yesterday's painting was in honor of my son, so I thought that it was fitting to paint today's in honor of my daughter. She is a very strong and unique young lady who I am so proud of for all she is accomplishing right now.  There is also a soft and love-y side to her that not everyone may know about.. that feeling is what I tried to capture in this painting :)

This one, I can't sell yet either! Sometimes you just have to hold on to a painting for awhile...

Little Miss Mei in her Mary-Janes, NFS

Day 1 of the February 2018 30 in 30

This is now the 8th 30 in 30 I will have participated in... I can't say enough about what doing these has done for me, the development of my art and my career.  That being said, it is with a little trepidation that I am starting this one.  Without going into too much detail, my son has been been battling with some pretty tough illness for about 2 months.  Today, we are travelling about an hour away to see a specialist about some of what he has been going through. I wasn't even sure how I was going to be able to do this.  But, I know from prior experience that this challenge is all about organization.  I also know that if I don't participate in this challenge, I probably wouldn't make myself get up to my studio to paint as much as I would like.  So, I've been planning for the past week or so.  I have 10 of my compositions already sketched out on panels (my preferred surface).  This has been done in bits and waves when I had the time.. sometimes late at night after my son is finally settled in bed... And I woke up early this morning to make sure I could get to my studio before he woke up.  I also chose a pretty simple and small piece to start with as I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot on day 1! 
So, anyway, I just wanted to put that out there because I know that many 30 in 30 participants visit other people's blogs and read about their process.  Mine is going to be interesting and I hope I can keep up the motivation and energy to do all 30 paintings. It is so worth it in the end!
Without further ado, my first painting is in honor of my son...:)  I think I will call this one "The Little Con-ducktor" 
Good luck to everyone who is participating!

The Little Con-ducktor, NFS

Collage of the paintings I completed during this 30 in 30

Well, another 30 in 30 has come and gone! The last image we always create at the end of every 30 in 30 is a collage of all of the paintings we created during the challenge.  It is really a great thing to do, as all the paintings always have such impact when viewed in this way.
This challenge was a little different for me as I had so much else going on in my life that I didn't get to paint all 30 days.  That's ok though. I must admit, I was disappointed the first day or 2 that I missed painting.  I do like to challenge myself and finish 30 paintings. But, in reality, looking at the work I did complete, which amounts to 20 paintings, I can say, Let it Go, Karen! 20 paintings is not too shabby.  

If you followed me through out this challenge, you may be wondering what happened to my Glimpsed paintings.  The Glimpsed paintings are a series of 20 of the world's most visited cities all painted on very long, narrow, vertical panels that measure 4"x 18".  I completed 11 of these so far.  What I found during the challenge was that these paintings are very time consuming to design and research and I definitely need to devote more than one day to each of them. I am still pumped about the idea as I really love the concept and results - My intent is to provide an image that gives a fleeting glimpse of one of these 20 places in the world, as if you are driving by an area and catch sight of a beautiful scene but only for a fleeting moment. Anyway, there will definitely be 9 more of these to come to complete the series, but as I said, I will be taking more time to find the images and design with care.  Thanks for everyone who followed me and gave such wonderful, positive feedback through the intensity and fun of the 30 in 30!  Love you!

January 2017 Collage of Paintings

Day 30 - "The Duck : Harmony in Red" (The Red Chair)

The last painting from me in this challenge is one that I specifically painted to hang at Art Plus Gallery in W. Reading. The member artists at the gallery are having a friendly contest to create a piece of artwork that is inspired by our sweet Red Chair.. (See pics below). I was inspired by the chair, and also by a fellow member who decided to paint the chair in a Van Gogh painting. I really loved that idea so after getting a nod of approval, I shamelessly borrowed the idea and painted my red chair in a Matisse inspired painting - in fact, one of his most famous paintings titled "The Dessert: Harmony in Red" also known as the Red Room.  I will include an image of Matisse's painting so you can compare and see the changes I have made to make it my own. Hope you enjoy!

The Duck, Harmony in Red (The Red Chair), oil on panel, 14"x18",
to purchase, please click here

The Dessert : Harmony in Red (The Red Room), 1908 by Henri Matisse

To read more about this painting, click here

The Red Chair

Day 26 & 27 - Learning to Waddle

This 30 in 30 has been much more of a challenge for me to get up to my studio and to paint every single day.  Some of that is just life keeps happening... doctor's appointments, sick kids, work, dinner, laundry... And some of it is that I also make all of my own frames, and have been doing that lately... But part of it is that I just enrolled in a design course which I am hoping will teach me the lost art of composition... knowledge that was well understood by masters such as Michelangelo, Van Gogh and Rockwell, but has been largely forgotten during the past century with the rise of abstraction and conceptual art.  I can tell you this. I have a degree in fine art and went back to college to become certified to teach art to kids k-12.  In all the years I spent in college, I never had one course that taught me what I am beginning to learn with this course.  So, anyway..

The 2 paintings I am presenting today are almost the same... Same subject, colors and almost the same composition, with some seemingly minor differences.  I call them "Learning to Waddle" (probably should include 1 & 2) I guess because it's what I feel I am doing right now with this course.  I am learning the basics again and feel somewhat that I am starting back at the beginning.  Looking forward to sharing my progress!

And if you feel inclined, would you leave a comment telling me which of the 2 compositions you like better?  Thank you!

Learning to Waddle 1, oil on panel, 9"x12"
to purchase please click here

Learning to Waddle 2, oil on panel, 9"x12"
To purchase please click here

Day 22 of the 30 in 30 - Tourist in Seoul

Seoul is the 11th most visited city in the world.  Located in South Korea, I wouldn't have thought it would be a popular tourist destination, but upon reading about Seoul, I found that not only is it apparently beautiful, but the South Korean people are said to be kind and respectful of each other and visitors.  According to one visitors site, the South Korean's way of life is "Work hard, play hard", and Seoul is reported to have an active and fun night life as well as an amazing park system.  When you look at a map of Seoul, you can see a huge park that resides smack in the middle of the city. This scene, while not in that park, is located in the area of Seoul called Yongsandong, and is near their National Museum.  I liked the small pagoda like structure with the mountain rising in the background.  Also enjoyed painting this young lady, enjoying her day as a tourist.

Tourist in Seoul, oil on panel, 4"x18"
to purchase please click here