Day 26 - Chicasso

 This little dude is a companion painting to yesterday's "Artist Chick" and is titled Chicasso (of course!) :)  I love to paint in series (sometimes just 2 in the same theme, other times a whole mess..) and after designing the artist chick painting with red accents I knew I wanted to design one painting in blue.. I'm considering a green artist chick, but haven't yet designed her.. 

Somehow, I also have gotten into painting iconic shoes.. It started with me painting Converse All Stars years ago.. I painted them alone and then I started putting them on ducks (because, Ducks in Chucks..).. and they even ended up on bunnies and giraffes too! Then I opened up my shoe repertoire and added Mary Janes.. then saddle shoes, and wingtips and even Vans.. Shoes are just too fun to paint, and really, we all have a deep connection with our shoes.  The shoes we wear are, of course, utilitarian, but, it can't be denied, have a ton of symbolism that go along with them too.  I don't really want to explore the symbolism of shoes in words, but I do love to explore how different styles of shoes can change a painting. So this guy is wearing a stylish pair of blue wing tips, and if you compare yesterday's and today's painting, the red and blue give quite different feelings, and the shoes do too.. Hope you enjoy! ♥

Day 26 - Almost Twilight

Sometimes the stresses and responsibilities of life make me feel like that 80's ad proclaiming 'Calgon, take me away!'  I don't know exactly where 'away' is, but, maybe it is on a sail boat watching as the sky is beginning to change from day to peaceful twilight... I hope everyone out there reading this is having a peaceful day or night wherever you may be...

Almost Twilight, acrylic on panel, 9"x12"
to purchase, please click here

Me

Days 24 and 25 - "Cad Red" and "Vintage Thunderbird"

I just couldn't make it to my studio yesterday due to the immense amount of snow that I had to help deal with in my area of the world.  But, I made up for it today and painted 2 paintings!  The first one is in response to the last one I did, "Utrect Blue".  This one is titled "Cad. Red." Just look how that thin line of Cadmium red is screaming when it is juxtaposed next to Utrect Blue!

Cad Red, acrylic on panel, 4"x4"
to purchase, please click here

This Vintage Thunderbird is today's entry in the 30 in 30.. I was lovin how the red played off of the 2 different blues (ultramarine blue and this funky blue I have called "Utrect" blue) in my previous two little stripeys and decided to play with those colors using a representational subject...

Vintage cars are a theme I return to from time to time as I love their lines, shapes and details.  And I love painting chrome and headlights.  Go figure.  So, this experiment of painting my subjects on stripey backgrounds is proving to be a lot of fun for me.  I am loving being able to pick a finite number of colors for the background that will "talk" to the subject. 

Vintage Thunderbird, oil and acrylic on panel, 6"x6"
to purchase please click here

Day 20 - Blue Bird

Today's painting... another fluff of a blue bird.. This guy isn't quite as vibrant as the one from 2 day's ago... he is softer and a bit more subtle....  I wish I knew how to attract these cute birds to my bird feeder.  I get chickadees and finches.... but never a blue bird. Oh well. I painted 2 birds today to catch up since I didn't paint yesterday.  Will probably paint something different tomorrow!

"Blue Bird" oil on panel, 6" x 6",
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14 - Zahaira

Today I revisited yesterday's theme.. but focused on just the one woman... She was my favorite part of yesterday's painting (Leaving the Beach) and I just wanted to explore her some more.  I decided to use a triad color scheme of red orange - blue green - and red violet but I started it  by painting an under painting of largely complementary colors... I included pictures of the different stages of the painting below... I have done something similar to this on several other paintings... and then leave some of the underpainting showing through in the final painting.  I like the effect of this technique, and think I need to experiment more with it!  Btw... look up the meaning of the name Zahaira... (you can find it here) it just popped in my head when thinking of a title for this one... I like what it means...

Zahaira, oil on canvas, 12" x 24"
to purchase this painting, please click here

Day 11 - Expecting

Good evening!  Today's painting is a bigger one... consequently, I am actually not sure if it is quite finished yet... I took the reference picture for this when my family and I went to the shore this summer.  Actually I took about 10 pictures of this woman, pretty sure I would be painting her some day... Today was the day.  I may need to do some touching up/adjusting... but for now, I must stop and post her, as I have a gallery opening to get to! In addition, the photo I took of the painting is bleached out on top!  Will definitely re post a new and better picture of it tomorrow.  Hope you have a great Friday night!

Expecting, oil on canvas, 12" x 24"
Not for sale... yet

Day 8 of the 30 in 30 - Blue Roof

Life never stops, even if you have to paint a painting every day..... So, after helping to hang the new gallery show this morning and going to finalize plans on an upcoming solo exhibition I am having, I had just over 1 hour to complete a painting before having to get my son from the bus and take my daughter to work!  But, I got it done....
Today's image was found on Morguefile, the royalty free image site.  I was struck by the rich contrasts and strange colors.  I am including the original image here so you can see how sometimes I push the colors to be more of my liking. This one is very fauve, in my opinion!
If you would like to purchase this painting, please visit my Daily Paint works page here.

Thanks for looking!

Blue Roof, oil on panel, 6" x 6", click here to purchase

Beach Ride

My family and I recently took a beach vacation... One of my favorite sites are all of the beachy bikes that people get around on... The colors are so pretty and they are made for cruisin'.... enjoying the sites.  I snapped a few pics of them and now I wish I would have snapped more because they make great subject matter!  This is my first go at painting a beach ride and I have another planned out... Well, now I have an excuse to take another day or so in the sand and the sun!  I have titled this one "Beach Ride" and it is for sale at my Daily Paintworks site.

Beach Ride, Oil on panel, 6" x 6",
For purchasing information, please click here

This is the original photograph I took... My next painting is of the same bike, different crop. 

Day 24 - Lunar Alchemy

Painting for me is often a time and place for me to think through and process circumstances that life sometimes throws my way.  And if I am lucky, the painting will reflect an answer to my consternations.  Today's painting was one of those times.  Without going into too much detail, my 8 year old son has been having a rough time of it for the past week or so.  It can be hard growing up as a thoughtful, caring and emotionally deep young man, and that is just what he is.  Not your typical rough and tumble boy, my son would rather hold the door for me, read a book or talk about life. Sure he enjoys sports and activity, but that competitive hard nature just isn't there. These softer, pensive qualities are the qualities that make him so special to me and I would never, ever want him to change.  However, when faced with other typical 8 year old boys behavior, he is sometimes bewildered and hurt.  Today's painting, "Lunar Alchemy" started out as a study of the amazing contrasts you can find in the night sky and landscape.  It ended up being a 'portrait' of my son, or more accurately, the abstracted qualities I see in him.  I thought about him and all he has been going through this week while I painted this, and know now that it is finished that I painted the mystery, depth, beauty and power that are inherent in his soul... Now, somehow, I must reassure him that he is wonderful just exactly as he is.

Lunar Alchemy, oil on panel, 6"x6"
not for sale

Day 6 - Quiet Migration

Today's entry in the 30 in 30.. I titled it Quiet Migration because it was a cold, still day when I took this photo (during last year's endless winter) and there were geese migrating above a field.  Today in PA, it was bitter cold and it snowed all day... and everything looked blue... I thought this an appropriate subject. The picture I took was very atmospheric and I tried to capture that in this seemingly simple painting.. but was again surprised that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to create the 'foggy' look I was going for. This painting is mostly monochromatic with a tiny bit of warm corn stalks in the front.

Quiet Migration, oil on panel, 6" x 6",
to purchase this painting please click here

Day 30 of the 30 in 30 challenge - Blue Suede Shoes

Today is the last day of the 30 in 30 challenge I have been taking part in... I am a little sad because I work really well when I have an 'assignment'... But on the other hand, I do have assignments awaiting.   I have 4 commissions waiting in the wings that I will be getting on (starting tomorrow!) and many, many frames to make for myself and people who have ordered from me.  But, painting everyday in my studio this month has been a lot of fun and I learned so much about so many things!  I love sharing my work regularly like this, and I plan on continuing to post, whether I am painting or framing...  So, anyway, if you have followed me through September, I thank you for your support and interest, as well as your comments!  I hope you continue to tune into my blog to see what I am up to because I have some plans for the paintings I made during the challenge and will post my plans here!

Today's painting is called "Blue Suede Shoes".  Does anyone remember having to draw a shoe in high school art class?  I was reminded of that when I started this painting today.  It is almost a right of passage in H.S. art!  I like the style of these very blue shoes and thought they would make a nice painting...

Blue Suede Shoes, oil on panel, 6"x6"
to purchase, please click here

5 trees

If you are interested, read my previous post for my recent thoughts on Landscapes.  These little studies I am doing are helping me to see shapes and colors and design my compositions.  This is a line of trees that caught my fancy for their mis-matched shapes and their silhouette against the bright blue sky.

5 trees, 6"x6", oil on panel

Would you like to go for a row?

This is a new painting that is in Art Plus Gallery's upcoming July/August show entitled "Seaside Treasures"  I have never painted boats before, but so many artists do and boats tend to be beautiful, so I gave it a shot.  I will be painting more boats!  Want to go down to my Dad's marina and get some pics of the boats around there!  Anyway....If you live in the Reading, PA area and want to come out for a nice night out, the opening is on July 11th at 604 Penn Avenue, West Reading, PA.  Hope to see you there!

Would you like to go for a Row?, 11"x14", oil on canvas