Out Damned Red

I guess after having a few good painting weeks I was due for a struggle. I am having the hardest time with this subject - and it isn't just the problem that I'm having with the red, I'm starting to question what I'm doing with these still lifes (so is it "still lifes" or "still lives"? There is no past tense for "still life" as far as I know). They're starting to bore me a bit - so I think I need to add more complexity to what I'm doing.

But back to this painting. So many things that suck. This the second weekend I've tried this - last weekend I wiped the whole canvas off in complete frustration.

The red of the tomatoes and peppers are very different - but I can't seem to capture that difference. There are shadows on both of them, and mid-tones, and highlights - and I tried very hard to depict the differences between the two very different veggies but they ended up the same. I'm closer on the color of the tomato because there is a lot of yellow and orange in the tomatoes, but the pepper is more blue. I couldn't figure out how to get that bluish hue without making it muddy or just not "light" enough. The peppers have a kind of internal glow and it is totally escaping me. So frustrating!!! I can see it with my eye, but I am not skilled enough to interpret it on the canvas.

The veggies are sitting on a black stool. I'm ok with where the reflection on the stool is going - but the background is not working. I changed it halfway through, the stool actually extends all the way to the left but that didn't work. The background is really a placeholder until I figure it out. I think the issue is that I didn't think through the composition enough before I started painting. The background doesn't exist really, and I'm making it up. I'm trying to create the "air" around the still life and, again, beyond my skill level. I think I need to create a decent background in life, and then paint it.

I'll get back to the studio during the week and continue working - try to separate the colors of the tomatoes and the peppers. They all have stems too, in fact the tomatoes are connected on a vine. The stems will make this more interesting, and add green in other places besides the big green pepper, and they will be the last things I paint in.

Struggling with red

Last weekend I tried painting some tomatoes and peppers and had a really hard time. I struggled with the reds and getting the shadows etc. I started the painting on Sunday and thought it was going OK and then came back one night during the week to work on it and it was all down hill from there. This is where it was on Sunday:


I thought it had some promise but as I worked on it things went poorly and I got so frustrated I scribbled it out, and then wiped the whole thing off, and finally ended up just painting over it with red.

The biggest issue I had was the curly red pepper (is it a chili pepper? not sure) and dealing with the light and shadows on the red. So I decided to just do a quick practice on a panel to try and work out the light and curves of the pepper.

I posted the pepper study below - and yes it is pretty ugly but it helped me figure out the color problems I was having. I went back to the studio today and started the still life of the tomatoes and peppers again - different arrangement. So far so good, and if I don't have a spaz attack and wipe it all off, I'll post it when I finish it.

Artichokes, Marketing and Mediums

So I do a lot of fruit & veggie paintings - not because I'm obsessed with them, although it looks like that, but because they are the perfect subject for me to learn all the things I need to learn about painting. There is an endless supply - I just stop at the grocery store on my way to the studio and look for interesting shapes and colors. I am that weird lady in the produce section picking through pears and apples and nectarines, holding them up, staring at them, turning them over, comparing them to each other. Taking fruit waaaay too seriously.

During Lowell Open Studios a woman asked me if I had any paintings of artichokes because she loves artichokes. While I failed miserably as an art marketing person by actually telling her she didn't have to leave her email address - just check my blog - it did get me really into the idea of painting an artichoke. Dropping the ball on the art marketing is sad considering I've been doing marketing for a living for years - I guess when it is my product that I'm marketing I find it harder.

Anyway - here's my first artichoke. It's another small one - 6x6. I had a hard time with the photo, the focus is off. I'll probably do a couple more because I enjoyed this and I worked through a lot of painting challenges. My favorite parts of the painting are the leaves on the table.

Oh, I also tried a new medium on this painting. Medium - for those non-painters out there - is not some new age psychic coming in and checking the painting chakras, it is the stuff you mix with the paint on the palette to get it to flow better, dry faster or slower, add gloss and probably other stuff I'm forgetting or I don't know about. I have used Galkyd (my first oil paintings) and linseed oil (the past 3-4 months) and I liked both of them. Then someone told me about Liquin and that's what I used on this painting. I'm not sure I'm digging it actually - I think I really like linseed oil the best, but I'm going to use Liquin a few more times before I decide. The advantage of Liquin is that it allows the oil paint to dry faster, which is great because you can come back the next day and it's almost dry - or at least dry enough to paint over. Galkyd supposedly does the same thing, so I need to go back to that again now that I have more of a clue what I'm doing.

I sold my first painting!

I sold my first painting (the one titled "The Sentinel") and it is a result of the Lowell Open Studios I did in September. I got an IM from someone who had brought a friend to the studio and he liked one of my paintings. I dropped it off on Sunday and got a check so it is official!!

This is the painting - I posted the many variations it went through a few weeks ago, but this is where it ended up. I probably would have kept fiddling with it but once someone said they were buying it, I had to stop.

It is a very strange feeling to sell a painting. Its gone now, never to be seen again.

2 Macs

It's been way too long since I posted a painting. The past month has been really busy and kind of nutty - too many things going on and too little time to get everything done.

I have been painting though - and making progress. I went back to some smaller canvases because I'd like to get a bunch done for the November and December Open Studios.

This is a 5x5" canvas and it turned out well, although I am getting all realistic again. But that's ok - I'll go with it and see where it takes me.

I started this and after a couple of hours I just wiped the whole thing off - it wasn't working. Then I don't what happened - I started again and it all sort of flowed.

My studio on Lowell Open Studio day

It's been a while since I posted - I've been so busy with work and trying to get things set up to help out with publicity for Western Avenue Studios Artist Association (WASAA) that I haven't had any time to post. Creating a blog for WASAA is turning out to be a much bigger project than creating one just for me. Especially with no budget and my very limited HTML skills. I did get a volunteer designer to help create a banner and help with the overall colors, etc which will be a huge help.

Last weekend was Lowell Open Studios and it was great. Exhausting, but great. I had to move a lot of stuff out of my studio, and rearrange everything to make room for my paintings and those of a friend, Nadia Richman, so it was 2 days of work before I even opened the door. Nadia came up from Brighton to show some of her work. That's her on the left in front of her paintings. It was great to be able to spend so much time with Nadia - we've been friends for over 20 years, from our days as single bartenders in Boston, through marriage, career, motherhood, and both of our journeys into art. Nadia has always encouraged me to go back to art and I thank her for that. She's an amazing woman - the mother of 4 smart, talented, wonderful children and somehow managed to squeeze painting in while raising her kids and working.

Annie Cronin was there too handing out her gluten-free goodies (excellent chocolate chip cookies on Sat and unbelievably good focaccia on Sun). She is a gluten-free consultant who helps restaurants develop gluten-free menus and people who are newly diagnosed with celiac learn to shop and cook in a new way. She is my neighbor and close friend who feeds me her good food and listens to me and is always there for me. Annie was the sales woman, she literally coaxed people into the studio from the hall with "Hi, would you like a chocolate chip cookie?" and then proceeded to introduce Nadia and me and our paintings, while we sat there like lumps smiling a lot. It's hard to "sell" your own stuff.

The three of us had so much fun and I'm so glad they were there!

I didn't sell anything, a couple of people came by and asked about my painting of the glass salt shaker "Lonely Shaker" that they had seen on the LOS web site, but I gave that to my father. (no...oops...forgot...A prominent Florida collector bought it to add to his collection).

I got a call from a friend who had stopped by with her boyfriend and she said that he was interested in my wetlands painting "The Sentinel" but I haven't heard back so not sure if he is going to buy it.

Here's how the studio looked that day. I framed and hung some paintings, and others I put on table stands. Sunday night I put everything back together again and rearranged so that I can do the monthly first Saturday Open Studios without having to spend two days of preparation. Next one is actually tomorrow - so I have to go there tonight and re-hang my paintings and finish cleaning up. ugh. But hopefully after tonight I'll be set.

It's here - Lowell Open Studios Weekend

No paintings to post, although I did finish up a couple of paintings over the past week that I've been working on. I'll post them in the next day or two - you've seen them before, but they're closer to "finished".

Today is the day! I open my studio for the first time. I spent the last 2 days getting ready and I'm still not done. Yesterday I rearranged the studio to make room for my friend Nadia who will be selling some of her paintings. I framed a bunch of my paintings and hung most of them. Need to finish today.

I'm looking forward to this so much. My son is managing the elevator/parking lot/visitor counting crew so he'll be busy. Last year 2500 people came through the building.

I'll let you know how it goes - I am not expecting to sell anything but if I do it will be very exciting. I'll try not to be a complete goofball if I do and freak out the buyer.

Going back into an older painting again

I've been at the studio a lot the past couple of weeks getting ready for Open Studios next weekend. I have paintings I want to show, but it is kind of wierd looking at the earlier ones because I've progressed since then. So I went back into two more paintings this weekend.

This flower painting was originally done as a quick study in my MFA painting class. It was done in a couple of hours and it really was a great exercise. It was the first, and one of the few, large paintings that I've done - I think it is 24x40 or something. I had a lot of fun painting this because it was so big and my teacher kept urging us to be quick.

But there were things about it that really bugged me - especially the background.


So Saturday I just said "f@#$ it" (sorry Mum) and started changing things.I am having a blast - just painting away and using my imagination.



- I have 3 pictures - the original, yesterday's changes, and where it is today. I'm going to keep going. The background is interesting now, but not right. Also want to put the tall flowers back in, but I'm waiting until I settle on the background.



Here's where it is now:

Open Studios!!

I'm finally doing it - opening the door, showing my work and actually putting prices on my pieces. Two of my favorite people will be with me - Nadia Richman will be selling some of her paintings and Annie Cronin will be there handing out yummy gluten free treats.

Come to Lowell Open Studios!

I have about 12 people that read my blog :) but if you love art, and want to spend the day enjoying the creative world, you HAVE to come to Lowell on the 26th or 27th. There are over 100 artists open in my building alone, others in downtown Lowell, and lots of activities going on. Bring your friends, your kids, yourself and have a relaxing day immersed in art of all kinds.

Hard to believe that a year ago June I started painting and wouldn't even open my door on a normal day - and now I'm opening for open studios. I'm really excited about it - I don't really care if anyone buys anything, its more about the evolution of feeling confident enough to show my work.

Work in Progress 2

Stopped by the studio on my way home from work and did a little more work on this painting. Also started prepping a small canvas to paint something small for the Open Studio on 9/25 - 9/26. I'm going to try to paint at least 3 smaller paintings in time for that weekend.

I worked on the chairs and I'm getting closer, but spent the most time on the porch and the background. The black lines on the porch need to be toned down. So far so good with this painting.

Two new things I've discovered that I LOVE: Filbert brushes and Windsor Newton Naples Yellow. The brushes because they allow me to both push the paint around freely - they're sort of soft and flexible - but also create straight lines and details. Naples yellow because it is a really great, pale shade of yellow. Before this I had used Cadmium Yellow and Lemon Yellow - both great colors but they are very strong and bright. Naples is like a creamy, soft, mellow yellow (to quote Donovan).

Every day that I paint is like experiencing a little miracle.

Work in Progress

This is what's on my easel today. I'm painting from a photo that I took this summer at the cottage we rented. I'm doing something different with this painting (every painting I try something different) - I'm starting by blocking in the large color areas with thin layers of paint mixed with mineral spirits. First I painted the entire canvas orange using acryllic, which, if I don't completely cover it up, should give the whole painting a warmer feeling. I'm trying to get across the feeling of a warm summer day.

The chairs are a bit tough because of the angles - and I painted out the trunk of the tree so I could work on the background without muddying it up with the brown from the tree. I'm also changing a few things - there is no house in the background, but it sort of painted itself in :)

Since I took this photo I've removed and restarted the chairs. They are the focal point of the picture so I need them to be right.

Landscape Struggle

I'm trying to paint a landscape of some wetlands near my house and I just can't get it. The water was the biggest challenge, and then the damn dead tree - which was supposed to be the focal point and is just getting worse and worse the more I paint.

I will keep going until I work some stuff out, but this will never be a work of beauty.

I'm posting 3 versions so you can see the changes. Hopefully I won't get so frustrated that I scratch the whole thing out before I learn what I need to learn. Or maybe I just throw in the towel now and start another one.

Peach tree

Labor Day weekend meant three days of painting! I worked on two paintings and this is the first one. The other one isn't done yet, and I can see a few things in this one that I'm going to tweak.

It's fruit again, but its still on the tree so technically this is not a still life. :) I have this wonderful, rickety old peach tree in my backyard that produces big juicy peaches that I hardly ever eat. No clue why because I love peaches.

I'm happy with this painting because it captures the light and movement in the leaves. I'm a little shocked to be honest, because I'm starting to get things down on canvas that are close to what I envision. In the beginning it was all a big crap shoot; I never knew what would happen and the paint definitely controlled me, rather then the other way around. It was very frustrating because I knew what I wanted to create but I couldn't do it. I guess all the painting books and magazines I've been pouring over for the past year are starting to actually make a difference.

Back to work tomorrow - ugh. Work is fine and I really have absolutely nothing to complain about, not to mention that it provides the means that allow me to have the studio and paint - but, still - ugh.

Revisting an older painting

I was looking at some of my paintings and this one always bugged me because the background was funky. So in the spirit of being "loose" and just having fun I started fooling with it on Sunday. One thing led to another and I ended up really changing the painting. I just used my imagination and enjoyed myself. I think the new one is more interesting and the difference in style between January (when I first painted it) and now is pretty drastic.

What do you think? Sorry that one of them is a little out of focus.

Laying It On Thick

I was back in the studio this weekend after a couple of weeks away. I went on vacation to Maine, which was fantastic, and didn't do any painting or drawing while I was there. Not sure why - I brought everything but I wasn't into it for some reason.

So yesterday I needed to paint something fun and loose to get back into the swing of things. Very different than the way I usually paint, but wanted to experiment with lots of paint and just laying it on thick. It really is a mess, and damn those leaves are uuuglly. I think it was good in that it helped me loosen up - but I did get a bit lost in what I was doing. I had a lot of fun just going crazy with the paint.

New York City Workshop

I just enrolled in a 5 day workshop in NYC with Karin Jurick - I'm so excited!! I think she is wonderful painter and I mentioned her in an earlier post. She started painting about 5 years ago and does it full time - she's an inspiration. I've also heard that her workshops are great.

The workshop combines 2 things that I love - NYC and painting. We will be taking photos around the city and then going back to the studio to paint. The workshop is being held at the National Academy which will also be very cool. I don't paint from photos, mainly because it would probably encourage me to be too exact and also you don't see the shadows and colors accurately. But Karin always paints from photos and she has somehow figured out how to overcome that.

I have almost a year to save the money for the outrageously expensive hotel (don't have one yet, but it is NYC so it comes with the territory) but it will be so much fun. New York is one of my favorite places.

Little Mr. Salt Chef Guy

Took a break from the fruit. This is a little salt shaker that I think my friend Nadia gave me years ago. I don't know what happened to the pepper (I have a lot of lonely shakers). This was so much fun to paint and I flew through it. I think I need to take more of a break from fruit.

Fruit is a great learning tool though because it is really challenging to capture the color and light.

I am trying to paint a lot of 4x6 panel paintings for the Lowell Open Studios at the end of September.

Have to figure out how to frame these.

I added a photo so you can see what my little still life set up is like. For some reason this cracks me up.

Lemon Slice

I'm starting to get what Carol Marine was trying to say during the workshop I took with her last fall. The goal is to think about the colors and the paint BEFORE you put it on the canvas. I'm finally able to start doing that more and more.

Coincidentally - I heard from some of my workshop classmates this weekend and I've added their blogs to my blog roll. Check out Lisa Daria's Painting a Day and

Laurie G. Miller's Painting Patter.

We're all artists trying to paint the best we can.

I'm so happy with this painting - it is one of those "breakthrough" moments. I do see something I have to fix though - the lower right hand side of the bowl opening is off a bit :).

Dark vs. Light

These are two very quick studies (yes I've moved on to the next fascinating member of the fruit world - the lemon) of the same still life. Both done on 4x6 panels and I spent less than an hour on each. The first is done on a light gray background, and the second is done on a black background.

The other difference is that the first one I sketched out with graphite and the second I painted directly on the canvas. I learned a lesson with this exercise - don't sketch with graphite, or at least heavy, dark graphite. It doesn't stay put on the canvas and when you add paint it blends and turns the colors muddy. I did kind of like how it showed through on the edges (like the cut lemon) so I might try sketching with a dark acrylic color just to see what happens. Acrylic dries really fast and won't bleed into the oil.

I like the composition of this, so I want to do a longer painting. I think I might like starting with the darker background - but I'm going to do one with a red toned background because I think that will give an interesting tone to the lemons and bowl.


The other thing I focused on here was holding to the tenet that I should put a paint stroke down and leave it - no blending if I can help it. I really have a hard time with that - but I was more successful on the second painting (dark background) - especially the bowl. I really like how that turned out.

Final (sort of) nectarines in a bowl

I worked on this yesterday - really improved the shadows and made the background more violet (not sure if I like that but its hard to tell in this photo because of the glare0. The background is much darker on the right side, but the glare that screwed up the photo.

I wish I had done this on canvas rather than paper.

Things to fix: the pointy nectarine shadow. Also, I was going for a "glowy" thing with the nectarines that are in the light because the light was so bright, not sure if I pulled it off.

Is it distracting?

So what's with all the fruit?

I've done a few nectarines and still haven't moved to canvas. This is on canvas paper and I'm still working on it. My friend asked me "So what's with all the fruit?". Good question. No real reason accept that it's easy to get, comes in all colors and shapes, and I can easily set up different arrangements. You'd be amazed at how long fruit will last in my little studio refrigerator while I work out a painting. I wouldn't try eating it though.

The fruit is just a tool to help me learn about color, tonal ranges and... well ... how to paint.

I'm in a battle once again with the shadows. The shadow area of the bowl is not right - at the last minute I changed it completely and used a violet made up of alizarin crimson and cerulean blue. It doesn't relate at all with the shadow cast on the table cloth, or really with the bowl, but I'm getting closer.

I'm using Kevin MacPherson's book "Fill your Oil Painting with Color and Light" (it is open on a table next to my easel as I paint) but I'm failing miserably at his suggestion that I put a brush stroke down and leave it. Maybe after another twenty paintings I'll get closer.

More work to do on this: the bowl, background and shadows need work.

Nectarine or Apple?

Here's the latest.I like where I'm going with the fabric - the best part is on the left where it drapes down and sort of fades. Love that. I'm struggling with the nectarine because it looks like an apple to me. But I had a revelation in one of my many endless work meetings while I was doodling.

Nectarines aren't perfectly round. If you look at this nectarine you can see the seam and the uneven outline that the seam causes for the fruit. What came to me today while doodling was that there should be a corresponding seam below the stem which should cause the fruit shape to be uneven. So I'll go back tomorrow and work on that.

The strange lighter streaks in the upper right background is actually a reflection off the wet paint.

My new cozy, warm and wonderful studio space

I moved into the new studio this weekend and I love it. I was so nervous that it would be too small and that nothing would fit, but I like it better than the old one. (Studio is in the Western Avenue Studio building in Lowell.)

I took some photos of my new spot. The last two are photos taken to the left and right of my door and gives you an idea of how many studios are on the floor. There are 4 floors of studios - a couple hundred artists from all areas of art - painters, fabric artists, graphic designers, photographers, sculptors, potters, jewelry designers and more. So if you are around Boston/Lowell it is worth the trip. A great way to spend a Saturday (first Saturday of each month is open studios.) I am going to finally get up the courage to open for the September Open Studio weekend - woo hoo.

You can click on the photos to see a larger image.


The view:

Strangely enough I like this view better than my old one, although the old one looked over the canal. I couldn't really see the canal unless I stood up and looked down. This view has distance, and spires, and the whole urban thing going and I can sit in a chair, relax and look out.




And here's the hall:

Odd Man Out

This is the painting formerly known as 3 Pears on a Blue Plate. Now called "Odd Man Out". I think it looks like the two pears on the left are having a conversation and the poor third wheel is stuck on the outside.

Or, as my brother and I always used to say, "sitting with the coats".

I spent a lot of time on this, and I'm finally pretty satisfied with it. Only thing that bothers me are the brush strokes in the reflection of the top left pear - I may fix that. Also, I'm a little insecure about the composition. But other than out, I'm really pleased.

Since the last photo of this painting - I improved and brightened the background color and changed the shape, tone and color of the shadows. Added more light to the plate, and corrected the shape of the plate. Last - I stopped trying to recreate the exact reflection in the plate, thanks to input from Bill Tyers at the studio. He reminded me that simple is best, and that I don't have to paint everything that I see.

I managed to get a good photo that is pretty accurate in terms of the colors, brush strokes and shadows. The only thing I couldn't get to come through is how bright the lighter side of the pears are, as well as the little piece of light at the top left of the "odd" pear. I couldn't figure out how to do the exposure without overexposing.

Out of focus fruit

This is a really bad photo of a not very good painting. I'm finding that nectarines aren't really easier than pears :).

This is another quick study. I'm struggling with the black background - not really sure how to handle it.

I'll keep plugging away until I figure it out. I spent the day today moving studios, so didn't get to paint. I'll take some photos of the new studio and post them tomorrow.

She's baaaack

I've been gone for about a month, but I'm back. It drove me crazy not to paint, and I didn't expect to be gone this long but it feels great to be painting again.

I've finally moved on from pears and now I'm into nectarines. I find them easier to paint than pears. I'm going to do the same thing I did with the pears and do a bunch of quick studies and then a couple of paintings that take more time. This is the first study that I did.

I did finish the 3 pear painting (which I've named "Odd Man Out") but I don't have a good photo of it yet. Taking photos of paintings is really hard because of the glare, and the pear painting is pretty dark so I'm having trouble getting an accurate photo that shows the colors and light correctly. You can't use a flash because it just bounces right off the paint.

My Boy

Rather than bore you with yet another version of the 3 pears on a blue plate (yes I'm still working on it) I decided to post a sketch of my son that I did in November.

I won't be able to get to the studio for a while so I may not be able to post anything until next week.

I did get my new pochade box yesterday though - very exciting. I've been waiting 4 weeks for this - they make them to order. It was my gift to myself after one year of painting. A pochade box is a self-contained little studio that allows me to paint outside. It's very cool and you mount it on a tripod. I may be able to do some painting around the house and outside - if so I'll post those. My first attempt at landscapes.

My email subscriptions and feeds

Hi all - I've made changes to the way that the email updates appear - (I think) and made changes to the blog feed as well. Let me know if it is screwing anything up because I'm not clear on exactly what I did, if anything!

Tchotckes

I used to be really into kitchen items from the 30's-50's. It all started with a yard sale at my parent's house in Holliston back in the 70's and one of my parent's friends was selling a Harlequin teapot and teacups (exactly like this one but in a sort of light cerulean blue) I bought them and I was hooked. But suddenly, a few years ago I just lost all interest and sold most of the stuff that I had collected (although I still have the teapot, it's in the studio waiting for me to paint). It was part of getting my house ready to sell, and I discovered that it was amazingly freeing to get rid of all the crap I had everywhere.

But I really liked these salt and pepper shakers and I couldn't part with them. Unfortunately, the salt shaker broke, so now I have another lonely shaker :).

I ended up painting a wierd background because I didn't like it and futzing (is that a word?) with the shaker, so I don't actually have this anymore in this state. Now I kind of regret doing that. Oh well.

I can always paint it again.

The Evolution of a Pear Painting

I've been working on this for a couple of weeks while reading the Kreutz book mentioned earlier. This painting is done on board, and I think it is 9x12.

Here's the various changes over the past couple of weeks:

Phase 1: Scary to say, but I think I might like this one the best. It's scary only because I have spent about 2 weeks working on it since then.
Phase 2:


Phase 3:

Phase 4:

Where I am today - I need to spend some time looking at it and figuring out what it needs.




Here's a photo of the still life. The angle is a little different, but you get the idea of what I was looking at.

My new favorite artist

Karin Jurick is a really great painter. She's inspirational - she started painting in 2004 and she is very successful, self-taught and creates really beautiful paintings. Here's her latest:
Check out her blog to see some of her amazing figurative paintings.

And the Pears Keep Coming

My best pear yet. There's a lot I like about this one - the light and shadow of the pear, and the pear's shape. It surprised me when it turned out the way it did, because for a long time the pear looked like a giant turnip - a wierd green turnip. This is a little painting, done on a 4x6 board.

I'm going to work on the background and the shadow. Made some progress last night on shadows thanks to the Kreutz book.

I have this one painting (yes I know, more pears) that I've been working on for about two weeks and it has gone through a lot of changes. I've taken pictures of its evolution and will post it as one post when I'm done.

Amazing that I'm not sick of pears yet, although you probably are.