Thinking Outside of the Box

 Thinking Outside of the Box

6x6, oil

Day 6 Strada Easel Challenge:

Today I needed color! While dealing with shingles...and watching in disbelief as radical protesters stormed the Capital building...I just needed to go to a happier place! That involved searching for items that would make a happy colorful still life. So here you go! The beauty of painting is being able to go into “the zone”...where pain is dulled and the political rhetoric of the day is muted. May God bless and re-direct Americans towards a more tolerant peaceful existence. 

Hook Shot

Hook Shot

6x6, soft pastel

A bit of basketball nomenclature for this little piece. I found this colorful fishing fly in my husband’s gear box. My favorite painting subject and my favorite color all wrapped into one tiny fly...what a joy to paint!

Little Blue - The Last M&M

Little Blue

6x6, soft pastel

Recently I bought a small bag of peanut M&Ms with the intention of using them for a colorful still life... but, by the time I was ready to use them the bag was almost empty.  Alas, “Little Blue” was the lone survivor.  

Shot of Lead

Shot of Lead

6x6, soft pastel

Day 5 of the #stradaeasel challenge - up at 3:30am ready to go and enthralled with my little shot glass theme. I’m sure I’ll tire of it by month end...but for now, it’s captured my attention.  This time I stayed “painterly and loose”. 

Iron and Wool

Iron and Wool

12x12, soft pastel

This is a second still life painting of the old cast iron kettle and wool rug I recently purchased.  I just love all the textures and placed them on a wooden table in my living room against a textured wall.  I'm enjoying this little series.  It reminds me of the resilience of items from the past. These things weren't "throw away" household items but stood up to all kinds of use and abuse over the years. Resilient and strong...reminding me of the pioneering spirit of days gone by.

Cast Shadow

Cast Shadow

12x12, soft pastel

Painting realism can look like tedious work...but, I find it mesmerizing.  Focusing on the details to express a realistic image sends me into "the zone".  On this piece I loved expressing the texture of the cast iron and subtle reflections on the side of it from the rug it sits on and the challenge of depicting the shadow it cast. I loved painting the textures in the rug with all its imperfections and I'm reminded of how beautiful we all are, imperfections and all.

Pretty In Pink

Pretty In Pink

9x9, soft pastel

It's funny how we anticipate water lily blooms. It takes months in the Idaho mountains for a water lily plant to send up its offerings for the year. I patiently monitor their progress all summer long and take many, many, many photos. But alas, this bloom was actually captured by an artist friend, not me. I love how she captured the vibrant blue of the sky against the colors of the bloom.  So pretty in pink.

Vintage Ornament

Vintage Ornament Demo

9x9, soft pastel

I will be the first to admit it!!!  I'm not an art instructor and in fact haven't completed a "demo" in front of an audience...that is until now.  Recently I hosted a meeting of local pastelists (who many are members of the Pastel Society of the West Coast). Thankfully my "audience" was kind to me as I completed this little study of a vintage ornament.  Demo'ing may not be my expertise...but I have to admit it was more painless than I had imagined it would be.

Below is a practice piece I did before hand.  I'm glad I practiced a bit.  It sure helped with the jitters!

Vintage Ornament Study

6x6, soft pastel

A Cozy Spot In The Corner

A Cozy Spot In The Corner

11x14, Soft Pastel

I took a winter break from blogging and I have to admit...I miss my old routine of daily painting, blogging and posting works.  Much of what “derailed” me was getting a puppy 1 1/2 years ago...the pup (Benny) is now almost two and about as trained as he’s going to get.  He’s no longer noodling his way into my painting time...but waits patiently nearby in hopes of me finishing soon and going outside for a fetching session...or at least a good wrestle on the floor.

Along The Shoreline

Along The Shoreline

20x16, soft pastel

It's always fun for me to see someone else's work-in-process so I thought I'd post a couple of the  WIPs of the latest, "Along The Shoreline".  I painted this scene before as a 12x9 but decided to go larger this time.  This piece is 20x16 and was just as fun to paint as the first one.  I hope you enjoy!

If Vincent Had A Rocker

If Vincent Had A Rocker

6x6, soft pastel

This rocker has been in the family since my youngest brother was small...a good 45+ years ago...so I thought I'd paint it similar to Vincent Van Gogh's chair painting...just for fun.  I included his pipe and tobacco which were in his original painting (even though it seems a bit inappropriate given that my painting is of a child's chair).   Oh well.

Saguaro Canyon At Dawn

Saguaro Canyon At Dawn

6x12, soft pastel

It was fun to paint an early morning scene in our neighborhood when the landscape was filled with deep blues and purples and the snow was mostly gone.  This one actually worked out.  I loved the warm tones cast by landscaping lights which is what drew me to this spot.   The bare branches of the deciduous trees looked like glowing lavender spires.  In some spots I can see greenish grass so I played up the greens in great anticipation of spring.  Wishful thinking at this point.

Windy Sail

Windy Sail

6x8, soft pastel

I doubt that I'll ever be on a sail boat. While it always looks quite thrilling, I imagine all the tilting and swaying wouldn't be up my alley...but who know's, maybe someday. For now, I'm content studying them from the shoreline with my feet firmly rooted to the ground. Or, better yet, laying in a hammock on the beach sipping something cold.

I'm always tempted to paint realistically but for this one I really tried to paint in a "Edgar Payne Impressionistic" style to help depict the feeling of a very windy day on the water.

Carlson's Trees

Carlson's Trees

6x6, soft pastel

John F. Carlson was one of the leading landscape and snowscape painters in America in the early 20th century.  He also authored a book "Carlson's guide to Landscape Painting" which is extremely popular with landscape artists...a must read that's currently still on my "must read" list.  I'm sure I'll get to it someday.

For this piece, I took a bit of liberty with the colors I chose compared to those in his exceptional piece.  However, my purpose with this painting was to practice a snowy landscape and not actually copy his piece.  I'm happy to put my own little spin on it.   It's actually a scene very similar to one I see often while walking the dog in Cascade. 

Why Am I An Artist?

In the back of my mind I know I'm trying to out-race dementia.  I want to be a REAL artist before I start to forget how to paint!  That's the journey I'm on.  I don't have it now, or even any symptoms but I know it runs in my family. Watching my mom struggle with it for the past 10-15 years has been a sobering reminder.  Alzheimer's or dementia...whatever you want to call it...it stinks!  So, I'm assuming over time I will progress and get better at painting only to decline in later years.  I don't dwell on it because after all...I may not be here tomorrow!  (lol)

If you've ever struggled to achieve a dream that seemed so far out of reach it would be almost impossible to achieve...or, you've felt like that " little engine that could"...chugging, chugging, chugging uphill always thinking..."I think I can, I think I can..."  Then you know a bit about how the past three years have been for me.

Diving headlong into creating art three years ago (at 58), I've been an obsessed woman!  I've had so much to learn and fortunately because of the Internet and workshop teachers there have been mountains of information to absorb.  I felt I was starting out so many years behind everyone else and to top it all off I began with the most brutal self doubt imaginable.  My inner voice was so so critical of every painting I produced I didn't think I would ever feel confident.  And, because of it, I thought about giving up from time to time too.  I'm glad I didn't.   

My tombstone should have one word on it.... "Persevere" because throughout life that's what I told myself to do when things got tough.  It's SO very easy to stroll through life when things are going ok...but challenges call for perseverance.  So, I've hung in there.

For the remainder of my years I know I will love the artist life and continue to be in hot pursuit of that perfect painting...my masterpiece.  Personally, I doubt I will produce an actual masterpiece but every once in awhile a painting does magically "paints itself" (if your an artist, you know what I mean).  

In three years (and over 390 paintings) it's happened exactly twice.  Today I'm happy to report that the second of those two paintings (Along The Shoreline, above) was awarded Best Of Show in the Pastel Society of the West Coast's (PSWC) general members online competition as well as one of the Top 15% FAV on FASO's Boldbrush competition.  I don't enter competitions very often so this is a big deal for me especially because I've taken a look at the wonderful work submitted by all the other artists.  

I was dumbfounded when I got the call from PSWC and humbled to have my work acknowledged in this way.  I also know to "keep it real"...judging is subjective and another judge or panel of judges would most likely come up with a different winner altogether.  But today, I will enjoy the news because I know tomorrow, I will be in hot pursuit of that masterpiece all over again!!!

Love At First Sight

Love At First Sight

6x6, oil on board

Day 29 of 30....Once again I found a really good reason to by a sweet treat at the grocery store.  After all, finding just the right prop is critical for a good painting.  It was all for the sake of art.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  This little guy was gone before the painting was even finished.  

WIP:   I started with a drawing of an earlier oil painting I did of this scene.  Then I began washing the pastel underpainting down with alcohol when I noticed the initial drawing wasn't right....so, back to the proverbial drawing board for this one!  I wasn't paying too much attention...just playing around.  Oh well...live and learn, and learn, and learn!

Along The Shoreline

Along The Shoreline

12x16, soft pastel

Along The Shoreline is most likely my favorite painting during the January 30in30.  Unfortunately the photo doesn't really pick up the true blue and green colors in the water...I'm assuming it may be because of the strong red dominating the center.  Being much larger than the typical 6x6 paintings I often do for the Challenge, it took a week or so to paint.  Painting larger is easier for me if I paint each day, not expecting to complete it all in one go.  Of course, I like the variations of red...but I also like the water and all the trees reflecting in it that were along the shoreline....thus, the title.  I will surely hate to part with this one!

Riffles

Riffles

10x8, oil on board

I actually painted this on Jan. 21st during a workshop conducted by Mark Davis of Boise.  Thanks for the reference photo Mark! The workshop was at Edward's Greenhouse which was a great environment for a mid-winter workshop.  We focused on painting water.  And, because I am new to oils, I thought I'd better get "my feet wet" with oils so to speak.

My husband (who is a fly fisherman) says these types of waters are called 'riffles"...thus, the title.  It was great to get out and about after so much snow!   Hope you enjoy it!


WIP:  This little guy below is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I know, I say that all the time for the paintings I like...but really, this one has been absolutely painting itself!

Sunflower Bouquet

   

Sunflower Bouquet

6x6, soft pastel 

Sunflower Bouquet started out as a completely different bouquet of flowers...in fact, I scrubbed off two different attempts and had no expectations that anything would work.  This one worked well enough to call it finished and get on with what was left of my day.  Much of it came from imagination mixed with a bit of perseverance.

WIP: Untitled, 16x12
I remembered to take a picture of the sketch...so here it is.  This particular little boat has got to be a classic wooden boat.  I don't know the make or model or even year but I like the head-on view.

This paper (Wallis) is mounted on foam core.  I had a small tear in the sanded paper so I re-adhered the seam and covered it with Art Spectrum's Colourfix Primer.  I'll have to see if it's enough texture for the pastel to cover it. With the water reflections on that side of the boat, I think it's going to be fine (a little inside story on this one).

Once again, I'm drawn to the boat's strong colors and reflections in the water.

Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Rain

Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Rain

6x6, oil on board

Oh my..."Partly Cloudy" is....what?   To me, a total mess.  Today's painting is my least favorite so far...oh well.  I just don't necessarily have the stomach to be as loose as I need to be to pull off a good landscape especially with oils.  I should stick with a genre that I don't get bored with...maybe that's my problem.   I also find it tedious to mix colors...it impedes the process (for me anyway).   I guess I need to practice mixing so it's easier to come up with the color I'm looking for a lot faster.

WIP: Untitled, 12x16

On the heels of the above painting...I thought I'd better return to my beloved soft pastels.  In fact, the last two paintings in oil were so disappointing that I've started two larger boat scenes.  One, a familiar kayak scene and the other a small wooden boat.  I don't have titles for them yet.  But here's the progress on the kayak scene.  I love to kayak while my husband is fishing.  This scene reminds me of so many places but especially Horsethief Reservoir near Cascade, ID.   Given the winter we've had, I'm sure looking forward to warm summer months!