Day 1 of January 2017 30 in 30

 Well, I am doing it again.  It seems like just last month that I did a 30 in 30... wait, it was. (!) Anyway, Leslie Saeta, one of my mentors from afar is hosting her bi annual 30 in 30 again, and I can't help myself.  I must do it.  But, I will be honest here. I did not actually start painting for it yet! With New Years, being sick, just finishing up my holiday campaign, delivering paintings to my collectors and spending much needed time with my family.... well, I ran out of time and haven't been able to get to my studio.  But I will tomorrow!  

In the mean time, I am posting a commission that I just finished and delivered just over a week ago to a good friend of mine, Blair Seitz.  In the 1970's, he lived in Kenya, and was a photographer for National Geographic.  It was a special time in his life and he asked me if I could paint this painting as a way of remembering it.  One of my specialties is compositing many photos and ideas to make one unified picture.  This is what I did here.  Below is the finished painting, and under that are the photos I used to create it.  I love helping people to realize the images in their mind, and this painting was particularly fun to paint.  And Blair's reaction when he saw it for the first time was priceless!

That Time in Kenya, oil, 18"x24", sold

Day 10 of my Holiday Painting Spree - "White & Black"

"If everything isn't black and white, I say Why the Hell Not?" - John Wayne

What does that mean? I am not quite sure, but it made me laugh.  Today's painting is 10th in line of my Holiday Painting Spree paintings.  An upcoming show I will be hanging in is themed "Black and White". As a painter, you come to realize that there isn't ever true black or white in an object or scene.  This is because surfaces are always reflecting their surroundings and the ambient light.  So, a white car may actually have shadows that are purple and reflections that could be any color of the rainbow.  So, maybe this is an answer to Mr. Wayne's question above... Because Mr. Wayne, as the impressionists found out a long time ago, black and white do not truly exist in nature..... Without further ado, here is today's painting, "White & Black".  Had to paint another VW beetle... just one of my favorite subjects to paint... :) 

White & Black, oil on panel
to purchase this painting, please click here

Day 30 - Rowan and the Bug

Its the last day of the 30 in 30 and uh.... I can believe it!  Well, sort of not, but, when I look back to the first painting I did, and all the ones in between, I definitely feel like I painted for the e n t i r e month.  Of course there is a sense of relief and, pride I guess, that I am finished and I did it... But, I am always sad when the 30 in 30 ends too.  The sense of forced urgency to produce a painting every day seems to fuel creativity differently than at calmer times.  And posting everyday is a very beneficial for any artist.  I always hope to keep it up.  I will definitely try to be better about posting more often.  To be honest, I only painted 26 paintings this month.  Me getting sick and then Rowan staying home sick from school yesterday threw off my groove so, there are several lost days. 

Anyway... today's painting

Rowan came home from school last week very excited to tell me that his bus passed by "this awesome VW beetle!  It would make a great painting, Mom!"  His enthusiasm and happiness about finding a painting subject for me put a healthy dose of joy in my heart. :)  So, we drove there the next day and I took a bunch of pics. I told him he had to pose for me, though, since the theme I chose for this 30 in 30 is figurative and I definitely wanted to paint this in the challenge. I thought this picture was the cutest of the bunch!

By the way, as always I will make a collage of all the paintings I created and post it here tomorrow.  Have a great night and thanks everyone for reading my blog and following me through the challenge!  From the looks of my people counter I had over 750 people read my blog this month.  Peanuts for some, but awesome for me!

Rowan and the Bug, oil on panel, 6"x6"
NFS

I haven't posted a progress pic for awhile.  If you are interested, this is the painting early on...

The Process of Art

I have the good fortune to be hanging my work in the Double Tree hotel in Reading during July and August. The body of work I created for this show is representative of everything I have been considering in my painting in recent months.  I have found that I am generally what is called a process artist, meaning simply that I appreciate and study the process of making art above all else in my artwork. To further explain, this quote from Helen Van Wyck sums it up for me right now... "It doesn't matter what you paint, it's how you paint it". I love color, the paint itself, elements and principles, brushwork, simply put, the language of art... These 5 paintings represent my latest in my endeavor to convey my own personal language in the art of oil painting.  I chose these subject matter because I am drawn to the lines, colors and form of 'things' from the 1950's and 60's.  If manufacturers started using the aesthetic of this time I would rejoice and probably... buy everything! So, I ask you to enjoy and please look closely at these paintings...  I love the abstract quality my paintings take on when viewing closely.  I revel in texture, edges, brush stroke, color and the juiciness of oil paint!  If you are interested in purchasing these paintings, please contact me at karelyn1772@gmail.com     Thank you!

Blue Chuck Taylors, 24"x36", oil, $1050

Green Metallica, 24:x36",oil, $1050

It's Not a Bug, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Rotary Dial, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Schwinn Phantom, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Day 10 - Orange Bus

So, VW got itself into some hot water recently.. and did some pretty despicable things... But ~
I have always liked the look of early VW vehicles... the bug, the rabbit, the bus.... Just so cute!  And the colors.... don't get me started....
Anyway.... Here is a sunny orange VW bus, I am guessing early 60's.... waiting to take me away on a road trip!

Orange Bus, oil on panel, 6"x6",
to purchase please click here