Day 30 - Party Preparations

The last day of the January 30 days of painting challenge is here, and I am feeling it... I'm always so glad, at the end of these, for making myself do them.. but, in honesty, this one was particularly challenging.. Life is busy right now with many other important things that have challenges of their own, so juggling a painting a day has been a work out.

That said, today's painting is a visit to an old friend, the Highland Cow, also known as a Coo in certain part of the world.  I love painting these hairy guys, and love the fact that their face can carry expression even though their eyes are lost in their fur!   Birds often make it into my compositions too, as I'm sure you've noted :)  I wanted to put 3 little sparrows in this one, to create a dynamic story and after adding the colorful bunting, it looked like they were preparing for a party, and so a title was born. A party sounds like the perfect thing to me!

If you've come here to read my ramblings this month, I just want to thank you. With so much noise on social media, I am honored that you would take the time to visit my page and read my sometimes disconnected thoughts on my art, my life and why I do what I do. So, here's to you!  Thank You!

"Party Preparations", oil, 10"x10", click here to purchase

Day 10 - Gentle Companions

In case the word Coo is unfamiliar to you, Coo means cow in Scotland. (so cute..) The cow pictured below is a Coo and in my opinion, the highland coo is one of the most entertaining and fun animals to paint.  They have adorably expressive faces and shaggy fur, plus the horns... which are just the icing on the cake. This friendly lady has an aura so sweet and gentle that butterflies and ladybugs can't help but flit about her as she dons chicory blooms in her hair. 

Some color talk:

Recently, I have been exploring different tones for my backgrounds.. Many of my paintings have very light backgrounds. A favorite straight-out-of-the-tube color of mine is called Warm White (manufactured by Gamblin). I love this color as it always imparts a warm glow and I like my paintings to have a light and airy feel to them.  

I recently purchased a tube of phthalo turquoise.. (phthalo is pronounced Thalo.. why is there a phth?  Dunno..) and have been using pops of it here and there in many of my recent paintings..  Today, I made a puddle phthalo turquoise and mixed it with a tiny bit of indian yellow and burnt sienna (two colors complimentary to phthalo turquoise).  This helped to knock it down and neutralize it a notch...phthlao colors are intense.. After mixing it, I thought that this shade of "warm" turquoise could potentially be a pleasing variation to the warm tones that are in the Coo and insects so I used it for my background.  And that's my color story.  I think it worked out nicely.. :)

Sometimes paintings are dense with philosophical meaning (my last two were...) and sometimes paintings are simply designed to make you smile. This is one of the latter kind, and I am just as happy with these kinds of paintings as the ones that are laden with symbolism.  I think there is room for all kinds of art in this world and joyful art definitely has a place.  That said, I am very happy if you do find meaning in my paintings. Art is for everyone and is a unique experience for each of us.

"Gentle Companions", oil, 10"x10", click here for purchasing details