62. Strike Over

"Strike Over"

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

So, today, I fell in love with painting again.

Yesterday, we broke up.

It wasn't that I didn't try to make it work. Believe me, I tried.

All day long, I begged, I pleaded...I gave it all I had. 

But, as my mom would say, "Nothing doing".

 *Sigh.* 

Ok, drama's over. :) 

It was a little frustrating, but really only because I thought I might make this my first five-for-five week. (Five paintings in five days.) 

It's all right though, not every day is going to be smooth sailing. 

It can be hard to walk away from the easel when you're as stubborn as me, but I'm learning that after a break, a good night's sleep, some prayer, ok, maybe lots of prayer, I will be much better off. 

And, the desire to create will come back. It always does. 

Ok, on to today's painting.

A silver-plated tray serves up some nice reflective bling, and my very favorite bowling pin shows off its numerous war wounds. 

Both were extremely enjoyable to paint, but I especially loved that bowling pin. Can't wait to paint it again. :)

A good day!

sold

61. Drive-Thru Lane

'Drive-Thru Lane'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

You may remember me mentioning a barn I wanted to paint in the Blueberry Fields post last week -- here it is! I didn't think I'd be painting it so soon because my photos of it were pretty lame. But, after perusing them once more, I found one to work with -- even though it was out of focus, extremely tilted and partially cut off. (That's drive-by shooting for ya.)

Anyway, I'm so glad I gave it a go! 

I'm really trying to push myself beyond my reference photograph - to take charge, to be the artist, to make the final result be punchy, interesting, dynamic! Those are the types of paintings I really respond to. Often, I'll get wild and crazy in the middle stages and then chicken out and bring things back to the safe zone. I think I took one small little step out of my 'boring' box on this one and it was really, really fun to paint. 

I like it a lot. :) 

This painting stuff is unbelievably addictive! 

I tell you, I just can't wait to start another one!

   

Thanks for stopping by. :)

sold

60. Old Glory

'Old Glory'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

This lovely church is right around the corner from our house.

I have photographed it dozens of times, but recently I captured the late afternoon winter sun making some really great, long, shadows. 

I borrowed from one of last summer's pics for the flag - it is not currently flying. 

My almost-five-year-old astutely pointed out that it was missing from my reference photograph. That made me smile because usually he and his older brother pay very little attention to what I'm painting. :) 

sold

59. Overshadowed

'Overshadowed'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

Haha - I'm not so sure about this one...! :)

But first, -- I've posted three paintings a week for three weeks now! Yay!

If I remember correctly, at least six of them were done in the course of one day.
Another yay!

Ok, about this one - it may not be exactly what I was shooting for, but this is my first attempt at painting architecture with a black ground as my starting place. And, it was so much fun! It's really kind of magical how the colors just 'pop' out of the darkness. And that tree (elm, I think), - well, it was just so crazy and mossy and all over the place, I just had to give it a try. I think the lower, simpler, portion of the painting balances out the crazy a bit. 

At least I hope it does. :)

I took this photo in north Portland earlier this week. 

It was cold, green and SUNNY. 

Have a great weekend!

sold.

58. Pipe Wrench

'Pipe Wrench'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

Fabric and a tool. 

Two of my new favorite things to paint! 

I like how the white petal print on the fabric echoes the toothiness of the wrench jaws and that part on the far right, y'know, the part that moves when you turn the little dial? Got lots of bite. :)

I'm trying my hardest to paint faster - for a multitude of reasons - and this painting is one I actually started and finished today! I started like, after ten, and finished before dinner! Love it. I try to let my painting interrupt my life (instead of vice versa), so I get up from my chair a gazillion times to tend to my real job (mommy), but one of the blessings of oil paint is that if I'm away for a minute or an hour, I can pick up immediately where I left off. 

Did I mention that I love to paint with oils? :)

Anyway, considering I did this all today, I'm very happy with it. I could have easily fiddled a whole 'nother day on the thing (been there), and have the results be not a whole lot different than this. I'm learning, I'm learning! :)

Sold

57. Blueberry Fields in Winter

'Blueberry Fields in Winter'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

There is a blueberry farm near our church that I've been stalking. It's a charming place with a gorgeous red barn that I shall certainly paint one day. 

Sunday afternoon I ventured by and fell in love all over again. 

The wintering blueberry bushes were on fire! The naked red branches were set aglow in the late afternoon sun - so beautiful. 

Here's my attempt to capture it in paint. :)

sold

56. Phone Book

'Phone Book'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

Day two of starting with a black ground - still fun!

sold

55. Water Valve

'Water Valve'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

My husband replaced our water heater a few months back, and the valve from the old one has been staring me down ever since. 

I mean, seriously, --  how is one expected NOT to put such a lovely, sturdy, jolly little piece of gloriously patinaed bronze hardware into a painting? 

I do not know.

(Ok, admittedly, I tend to find as much beauty in a junkyard as in a flower shop, but that's just me. Also, flowers are SUPER hard to paint. ;) ) 

I don't know if you can tell, but I used a different approach this go 'round. In the style of a couple of my favorites, Karin Jurick and Catherine Rehfeld, I started with a black background. It took a while to wrap my brain around it, but after a while I really started to enjoy myself. 

I can't wait to give it another shot! 

not for sale

54. Hammer

'Hammer'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

I like this one a lot. It just feels like me. 

It was tough. In ways I didn't expect.

And rewarding. In ways I did. :)

sold

53. Stealing The Show

'Stealing The Show'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

Love me a blue canning jar, love me a couple of vintage hand mirrors.

And, love me some blue and white Target/Goodwill curtains that insist on stealing the spotlight. You go, curtains. Can't keep my eyes off ya. 

I really enjoyed painting those curtains - I think I'll be dragging out some more fabric for my still lifes (lives?). 

Thanks for stopping by! 

sold

52. Lofty Ideals

'Lofty Ideals'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

I'm still looking for a little sunshine in my life, so here's another scene from last summer. 

This sweet little barn is on the dikelands of the Columbia River.

For as long as I've been an observer of barns -- like, since my memories begin -- I've always thought that they have 'faces'. The fenestration on the gable end forms facial features and the gambrel roof line provides a nice frame of 'hair'. (Um, thank you, college education.) This makes barns, to me, very expressive. Some are sad, some happy, some are sticking out their great big giant tongue at me. Some like their hair flipped out, some keep it cropped short, -- you get the (very silly) idea. Anyway, I mention it because this cute little barn has been mocking me all day. With its off-centered smirk of a loft opening, it is, like McKayla Moroney, not impressed. ;)

Sold

51. Big Sky Blue

'Big Sky Blue'

6" x 6"

oil on gessoboard

Hey! I'm still here! :)

The holidays are over, everyone is healthy again and I am ready to paint!

And, I'm craving me some blue sky therapy. The kind that comes with sunshine and 75 degrees. Not much of that to be found around here, so instead, I shuffled through my vacation photos from last summer and picked the bluest one I could find. (Taken somewhere in eastern Montana.) 

I also really liked that monster cumulus cloud that was taking up a lot of the frame. Oops, after wikipedia-ing that, I guess technically it's a 'cumulonimbus'; a dense, towering, vertical cloud associated with thunderstorms. Whatever it's called, it was ginormously huge and impressive, and very challenging to paint! 

Happy New Year!

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