Picasso & I Finished ?

Finished at last....well almost finished?

I think my photography skills are improving, but I still have issues with the eye on the left side of the painting.

How about those moist lips? I am very happy with the hands and of course, Picasso is perfect. Some folks who came through the gallery the other day, commented on the nice sparkly effect of the beads on the dress top. I am most proud of the way I have finally learned to soften my edges. The only thing that could make this better, is if I were to remove 60 pounds and give myself a facelift. Ahhhh Vanity!

Picasso and I

Picasso and I is almost, maybe finished. I will photograph it today and post it tonight or tomorrow. I still am having one issue with it and will probably always have an issue with it. I find that I just can't be totally honest with myself when it comes to self portraits. I just may, (not that I am comparing myself to Davinci) keep working on and carrying this portrait around for the rest of my life. Maybe we will rename the painting the, Mona Lawler.

Shall we vote on this?

Flint HIll Barn - April 15th

On April 15th, Tax Day, I drove past this barn on my way to the studio. This barn is on Cresthill Rd. just outside of Flint Hill and I pass it every day on my way to the studio. It makes me a bit sad to see it is deteriorating rapidly. I wondered this morning if it had to do with families in the farming community who can't pay their taxes or in general the current economic situation.

Mental note.........I should paint this barn in all four seasons and various types of weather.

Grand Opening Flowers

Here is the final painting of my grand opening flower bouquet. It started as a small study and I loved the colors so much, I decided to do the entire bouquet. These incredible flowers lasted an entire month. This is the type of painting I call decorator friendly. It is a simple color scheme and you can build an entire room around this painting. It was fun to do and actually helped to loosen me up a bit.

New York Bound

I have just received notice that my painting, "Vanitas #2" has been accepted into the Salmagundi Club 32nd Annual Juried Painting and Sculpture Exhibition for Non-Members.

The show is at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, New York City, from June 29th through July 10th.

Grand Opening Flowers - study

In my efforts to become a more focused artist, I have been doing little studies on bristol or art board that I gesso. They are usually 5 x 7 or 7 x 8 1/2 inches. This is how I determine if something warrants a larger painting and if the composition is good or the idea exciting. This little study is of the flowers I had at the grand opening of the Ice House Gallery/Studio in March. These incredible flowers actually lasted a month and I was able to do the study and then the actual 20 x 16 painting before they withered and died. The colors were so intriguing, I had to do them in a large format. I am offering my little studies to the public through my gallery/studio for around $125 matted. They are selling really well. I have also had three requests from visitors to the gallery to see the larger painting as soon as it is finished . After the three requests are honored, I will post the larger painting to this blog.

Picasso & I, May 1

I am absolutely going to take some photography classes.

I worked on the cheek and lower jowl area of the lit side of the face. Not my best feature. Oh Vanity!

I also played with the door a bit, since I thought the value was a bit dark. I saw a beautifully painted door in a painting done by ?????. The artist is a teacher at Studio Incaminati and I wrote the name down somewhere. Anyway, you can see the painting in the current literature the school is sending out.

What I love to paint - More thoughts

I am still searching my soul, looking for that one thing that I love to paint.

We know how much I like to paint cats and dogs as evidenced by the numerous cat and dog studies and paintings I have stacked in my studio. Hopefully in August my show at the Ice House Gallery, "Raining Cats and Dogs" will result in a reduction of these recent pieces. Over and over again, well meaning friends and family have suggested that I should paint horses, foxes, and foxhounds, because of the area I live in. Very Big equestrian market here and foxhunting groups abound. But, I feel no real affinity to those subjects and one thing I do know......an artist should paint what they know or can see. I could not tell you the difference between a feltlock or a whither, so how could I possibly paint one expertly?

Off to work now, More thoughts tomorrow.

Mary Whyte speaks at Cecilia Beaux Forum

I had the pleasure of hearing Mary Whyte speak at the Cecilia Beaux Forum last week. Since then, I have been in such a quandry over one point she made. Ms Whyte directed us to sit down and decide what it is we most love to paint. She said that if you paint what you truly love, it will show in your work and your progression as an artist. Your growth towards the goal of being a master artist will be impeded if you paint what is fashionable or uninteresting to you.

Now I must decide what it is I truly love to paint. That one thing I must paint to be happy with my work as an artist. I can honestly say, I don't know what it is. It may be easier for me to figure out what it is I don't like to paint or have no interest in.

I don't care to paint en plein air.....I hate bugs and am very sun sensitive to the point I get very ill with too much exposure to the sun. But, I do love landscape painting. I often paint vineyard scenes based on field notes and numerous trips to vineyards to do tastings. Such a hard job, taking all those field notes with wineglass in hand! I don't like to paint old cars or machinery and rusting metals. I do enjoy painting shiny objects such as glass, silver, gold and raw dripping slippery eggs. I am currently working on an egg painting and hope to have photos for you soon.

I will think more on this subject and let you know where this train of thought leads me.