Florida Skies

 

My husband and I spent a good part of this winter exploring the Gulf coast of Florida.  

I had been to Florida several times, but never on the west coast or in the Panhandle...we loved it!

As I always do when we travel I took my paints.  I have several travel set ups:  one very compact for flights, and one for car trips.  They are both great.  The smaller set up requires me to think through everything I take.  The larger, which I use for most of my plein air outings, gives me much more room on my palette.  Additionally, in the car there was room to just throw in a lot! 

These are the 15 Florida skies that I painted.  I am now working on one large Florida sky.  

For availability, please check my Daily Paintworks Gallery. 

 

Gallery Work Wednesday

 

Fresh Bales  Oil 12" x 12"

Field Of Clover  Oil  12" x 12"

Once again this year I have been juried into "The 144 Exhibition & Online Sale" at Parker Arts Center, Parker, CO.  All of the paintings had to be 12" x 12" or smaller, thus the title:  144.  Like many shows during the Pandemic, this exhibition is being held virtually.  

I look forward to the hopefully near future when once again I can attend exhibitions in person!  Although I think that in the future, many events will be held both online as well as in person.  Online events have allowed people in other states to view art that they would not have previously have had the opportunity to see.  I guess that you can make lemonade from every lemon. 

Gallery Work Wednesday

 

I am 1 of 11 local artists to have work at Kreuser Gallery, here in Colorado Springs, in their "Horizons, the Hope & Possibilities" landscape show.  To prepare for the show I painted dozens of small pieces (3 shown here).  From there I painted 6 large paintings and submitted the 2 above for my gallery wall.  

The skies in Colorado, and the entire western US, are always spectacular.  They're large, vast, open, dramatic, colorful.  The colors are ever changing.  Every time I'm outside there's another potential painting floating by over head.  I often feel that our skies are visual music.  Many of the titles for this series were   musically inspired.

"Evening Chorale" 24"x30", on the left above sold.  "Grace" 4"x8", bottom/middle also sold.  "Like Music" 5"x7" in the middle/middle and "Billowing Sails" 7"x5" top/middle have both also been painted as large pieces.  "Evening Symphony" 24"x48", on the right, is one of my all time favorite paintings.  It's our view from our mountain property.

The show is hanging until January 22nd.  If you live here in the Springs I hope that you can attend the show in person.  If you live elsewhere, check out the show online.

Here's what my painting "Evening Symphony" looks like in a room.  I love this app!

Saturday In the Studio

 

I recently had a commission that was a Christmas gift.  A friend from high school told me about the trip her daughter and a group of friends had taken to the Caribbean for her 40th birthday.  The trip was in February, just before the Pandemic.  How lucky was that!  Anyway, she sent me this picture and asked if I would paint it for her daughter.  

This photo shows how I painted this commission.  The painting is 8" x 10".  I blew the photo that she'd emailed up to that exact size.  (Was lucky there;  didn't have to deal with size conversions.)  That photo was taped to a board for easy holding.  I put a clear plastic over it and gridded it so that the women would all be in the correct proportion.  I also blew the picture up on my computer to help with details.  

The colors of the water in this piece were so much fun to use..quite a bit different than my normal western palette.  

Here's the happy young woman on Christmas morning.                                                                                 (I didn't ask her if I could use this picture, so I clouded her eyes a bit.  I think I'll text her and get permission.  She's really quite attractive.)

Merry Christmas

 

Fresh Snow

Oil  12" x 9"

Recently Sold & sent off to Pennsylvania!

Merry Christmas to you all!  

Thank you to my family, friends, collectors, galleries & followers for all 

of your support and encouragement throughout the year.

Hatch Chiles...4 of 4

 

Silly Chile

Oil  6" x 6"

click here for PayPal

$100.00 + free shipping

Our chili dinner last night, made with our Hatch chiles, was delicious.  Luckily, there weren't any extra hot chiles accidentally mixed with our medium chiles.  I remember one breakfast where I couldn't eat my scrambled eggs because the chiles were way too hot!  It's a great life if my biggest problem is occasional hot chiles!

Hatch Chiles...3 of 4

 

About To Be Roasted

Oil  6" x 6"

click here for PayPal 

$100.00 / free shipping

Over the years I think that I've painted at least 2 dozen chiles.  They are colorful, seasonal, and fun to paint.  We usually love them in our dinners (except, as I said, when an extra spicey one gets mixed in with the mediums!)  We're having chili tonight with some of our Hatch chiles.  I'll let you know how it tastes! 

Hatch Chiles...2 of 4

Born To Be Mild

Oil  6" x 6" on panel

click here for PayPal

$100.00 + free shipping

I'm continuing to post Hatch chiles.  For those of you who live in Colorado Springs, we buy our chiles at Summerland Gardens, which also has a Gallery that has shown my work for years.  

I mentioned in my last post that we usually buy medium chiles.  I've always wondered how they can be sure that in every field only mild, medium or hot chiles grow.  I'll admit that occasionally there's a hot chile in our batch and several times I've been unable to eat as what we prepared was way too spicy for my "medium" taste buds!

Again, I'm going to be posting a mixture of some new Covid creations as well as some older work.

Hatch Chiles...1 of 4

 

Mild Things

Oil  6" x 6" on panel

click here for PayPal

$100.00 + free shipping

It's chile time here in Colorado.  We have great chiles in Pueblo, as well as wonderful chiles from

Hatch, NM (as shown here.)  Parking lots around town are filled with chiles freshly roasting.  The chile season is usually about 8 weeks, so the aroma lasts quite awhile.

We usually buy a 1/2 bushel of medium chiles. We freeze them in small amounts and use them in recipes throughout the year.

I've been blogging less this year. I post mostly on Instagram (which rolls over to my Fb site.).  Please visit me on Instagram.

While life as we knew it is now a bit different, I have been painting a lot during this pandemic.  Although my in person painting groups have not been meeting, I've taken several online painting classes which I loved!  I couldn't get over how helpful Adobe Photoshop is to artists!  It's great to be able to try out several colors without painting on a canvas.

The plein air events that I participate in were canceled and gallery exhibits have been online.  I'm so glad that we are now at least able to go back to galleries, if only with social distancing.

I am going to start sharing some of the paintings that I've created during my studio solitude, as well as throwing in some oldies, but goodies. 

I sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are in good spirits and staying healthy during this time.

Covid Creations -- Part 2

Tonight is the 2nd monthly "Virtual First Friday" in many of the Colorado Springs galleries.  As we all continue to stay quarantined, small businesses are finding creative ways to stay in business.

These three architectural paintings are part of the Small Works Online at Kreuser Gallery.  

Abby Kreuser has a wonderful gallery in downtown Colorado Springs.  She features one 

main show and has many other artists online.  Tonight is the Virtual Opening of a new show by 

Deb Komitor.

These five pieces are part of the G44 Gallery Virtual First Friday.   I've been a part of this Gallery since Gundega Stevens opened 7 years ago.  She also features one main show, and has other artists work for sale online.  These pieces are part of the online $100.00 and under.  

Check out both of theses local galleries online tonight!  

Thank you to every one for all of the support that is being given to small businesses during this time!

Covid Creations -- Post #1

It's kind of an unusual time right now.....not only with the Covid19, but with this program.  No matter what I do, it won't un-underline in the part that I see!  The button doesn't work!  And, the photos are perfectly lined up from my side.  But not when I look at "preview".  You probably thought that I just arranged them in a creative way!  Who knows what this will look like when I click "publish."  Oh well;  it's always something!!Anyway, we've all been quarantined for quite some time.   The first 2 weeks of the quarantine I happily painted away everyday.  Then, I needed a bit more to do.  I started sewing masks.  These are just a few of the masks that I made.  They all went to friends, family and donations.This was actually a lot of fun for me.  Maybe I'm a bit of a fabric scrap hoarder, but I had all of these scraps in a huge box.   Most of the scraps are from things that the kids and I made through the years.  Flannel pajamas that our son made in junior high;  shorts that I made for our daughter in pre-school;  fabrics that used to be on the family room pillows that were chosen by the kids when they were small;  on and on.  It became somewhat of a nostalgic project.  Also, I might be an elastic hoarder.  I had enough elastic to make 45 masks!  (Making ties is really time consuming.  I didn't like that!  And at that point started to lose interest;  although I persevered for quite sometime.)I'm now back to painting (and reading, going for walks, and watching Netflix.)  I've been working on landscapes for an upcoming show.  I have work in two virtual shows this weekend.  But, more about that in my next post.

 What have you been doing during the quarantine?

Merry Christmas!

Silver Bells

Oil  6" x 6"

I want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

May this season be filled with love and joy!

Thank you to all of you for your support!  

Bird House Ornaments

So, what do you do with all of the "used" paint tubes, caps, and 

brushes that constantly accumulate?  Throw them out!  

For the last few years I've been tossing them into a 

bin with the plan to use them for something.

I've turned them into little bird house tree ornaments!  

I used the tubes for roof shingles, the caps for bricks and the brushes 

for bird ledges (not that there will be any birds sitting on them!)

A fun afternoon's work!  Or should I say play!

G44 Holiday Show

This Friday, November 22nd, 5-9, is the Opening of the Annual G44 Gallery Holiday Show.  If you live in the Springs, I hope that you'll stop by for the Opening or any time until Christmas.  There are 70 artists and artisans participating in the exhibit this year!

G44 Gallery 1785 S. 8th Street, Colorado Springs, 80905

Thursday-Saturday Noon - 5pm

MegaFood Wellness Gummies

Over the last 2 years I've had the fun of being the artist behind MegaFood Wellness Gummies.

I get excited when I'm in Sprouts and see my "paintings" on the shelves!

The young Vitamin manager recognizes me...he is helpful, knowledgeable, and very friendly.

Anyway, I received a random email asking me if I'd like to paint vitamin labels.  Strange emails do go around, so I was a little skeptical.  However, I googled the design company, and looked at all of the labels that they've created.  They were/are definitely a real company!  They told me that they'd seen some Impressionistic style blueberry paintings online that I'd done awhile back.  They were looking for Impressionistic style fruit.  One never knows what happens to things posted online.  

Every 6 months or so they've contacted me again.  I'm thrilled that the gummies are doing so well!

My husband and I take the men's, women's and melatonin.

I think that I've done 11 different "fruits".  There are 9 completed and 4 more on the way.

The first step is an email asking me to sketch some "whatever" the fruit at that point is.

I email photos of my sketches back to them and wait to hear which ones work for the labels.

Then, I paint the one, two or three that MegaFood likes on canvas painted the color that 

the label will become.

Once the paintings are approved I Fedex them off to the design company.  

I then wait for the labels to appear!  Usually I see them first on Instagram!

I consider myself a painter, not an illustrator.  But, once the design company explained what and how they wanted these done, I've really had fun painting something a little bit different.

PACE Opening

Tonight is the opening reception at PACE, Parker Art & Cultural Events Center, in Parker, CO.  

I'm thrilled to have had the 2 paintings below juried into the exhibit.  I hope that those of you who live in the Parker area, south of Denver, can stop by tonight or any time over the next 6 weeks.

Alley-oop (left) and Back Alley (right) are both 12" x 9"

Paint The Town Day 3 Painting 2

By Friday afternoon the wind was bad!  We looked for a location with a wind block and settled on the wall of an antique store.  I chose this old baby carriage.  During the afternoon, as the sun kept getting lower behind the building, I moved the carriage further and further away so I would still have the strong shadow to paint.

As the wind kept up, my palette had leaves in it, the sun disappeared, and I was gritty and dusty.  However, I loved the painting.  I thought of the many babies that had been pushed in this buggy;  how their mothers had held and loved them just as I had pushed, held and loved my babies.

I think that love shows in a painting (even one with dirt and dust in it.)  Yeah!  I won Best of Show!

Paint The Town - Day 3

Day 3 of the Paint The Town Plein Air Event in Florence, CO had a rule:  paint within 6 blocks of the center of town.  Day 3 for me was Friday of last week, the 5th day of the event.  Even early, the day was overcast and windy.  I drove around the designated area for about 45 minutes looking for something that jumped out and called "paint me, paint me!"  Finally, my friend Dottie Lirette and I parked by the old Depot and decided we would paint something right there.  Sometimes, that's easier.

I had painted a series of alley doors in a plein air event in Walsenburg, CO in May, so knew that I could make this door work.  I set up across a small, dried out creek and painted away.  After just a short time I had to create a wind block.  I turned my car around, opened the back hood, and used that as a wind break.  Even still, I often had to hold on to my easel.  It was really windy!

I moved some of the architectural features around to include them in the painting.  Artistic license is great.  When setting up a still life, you move the objects around until you create what you want.  The same can be done in a plein air piece.  You take what's in front of you and make it work compositonally.

Paint The Town - Day 2 Painting 2

On day 2 afternoon of the Paint The Town Plein Air Event in Florence, CO I painted the hay bales that I'd found on day 1 but couldn't paint due to the wind.  I hoped that the bales hadn't yet been loaded and hauled away.  I was in luck!  And hoped that the wind wouldn't pick up again!  More luck!

The ground was too dry and hard to push my shade umbrella in so I tied it around a conveniently located sign post.  One has to make due!

I left the sky until last and then decided to leave it yellow (the color I had toned the canvas.)  I like that it's just a bit unexpected and how it pulls out the colors of the golden fields.

Paint the Town--Day 2

Last week I painted in the "Paint The Town" Plein Air Event in Florence, CO.  Florence is about 35 miles south of Colorado Springs.  It is most known for its' antique stores and multiple prisons:  both state and federal (Super Max serial killers live their lives out here.)

Anyway, in my life it is also where I paint in the annual event.  The week was very windy and made painting challenging.  My painting from Day 1 was my least favorite of the 5 I painted in my 3 days down there.  Artists submit 4 framed pieces at the end of the week.  Day 1 barn didn't make the cut, and I have since wiped it out.  Day 1 afternoon was too windy to paint.

Day 2 I was drawn to the light and angles of the Perlite Factory (the small, white granules found in gardening soil).  I set up on the edge of the parking lot and painted away.  You can see that by the time I finished the painting there were no longer any window shadows on the building walls.  I do a sketch before I start painting and stick to the darks and lights of the sketch.

I was pretty pleased with how the windows turned out.  I lightened the shadows on the window panes on the right just a bit to show the rusted metal and called it done!