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 9 - Late Afternoon Golden

I knew I'd paint another of these sunlit pups after I painted the first one for Day 4's painting.  I do enjoy painting dogs from behind also!... I have done it for quite a few commissions and one of my own doggies too.. Something about their personality can be seen in the way they stand and how they walk from behind... In any case, this one is an older girl out for a late, hazy afternoon stroll... Going for a walk with the dog.... good for the soul...

Late Afternoon Golden, oil on panel, 11" x 14", to purchase, please click here

Just for fun, here is one I did in 2012 of my two doggies.. 

interesting to see how much my style has changed!

Ali and Scooter, 11" x 14", oil on canvas, private collection

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