Blue Table

Finally a painting. It's been a while. I was sick for a bit with bronchitis and was also struggling with my painting. I went on vacation last week and feel rejuvenated.

I was in Maine and didn't do any painting but took hundreds of photos (actually over a thousand but I deleted half after reviewing them all). My photography has really improved over the past year and I think it has to do with painting - both because I take thousands of photos now and because painting has made me more attuned to composition.

This is a painting inspired by the back patio at the cottage I stayed in. It was a sweet little cottage.

Blue Table
8x8 Oil on Canvas

Flip flops again

I enjoyed painting the other flip flops so much that I painted another pair today. There is a bit of glare in the upper right because the paint is still wet.

I like the two paintings together. Is it a reflection on their personalities that Audrey places her flip flops neatly side by side and Olivia just leaves them where they fall?

Olivia's Flip Flops
Oil on 5x7 Panel

Audrey at the Beach

I did this painting in May - the week before I went to Karin Jurick's workshop in NYC. I wanted to do a figure painting before I attended the workshop because I didn't want to go in there cold without ever doing a figure.

Audrey is a really great kid - she's so guileless and sweet and I hope she can hold on to some of that through all the crap life throws at us all. 

I liked that I was able to lay the paint down so that each brush stroke meant something. I have a big issue with the perspective on her arm and I really want to fix it but I am afraid I will ruin the painting.

I hadn't posted it earlier because I plan to give it to my brother and sister-in-law as a gift and I didn't want them to see it. But they aren't blog readers so I realized that I'm safe.

Audrey at the Beach
6x6 Oil on Panel

Symbols of Summer

I love summer - it is my favorite season. I don't know why I live in New England and not in a warmer climate. On the bright (?) side, suffering through endless winters and rainy springs does mean that I appreciate the gorgeous (and too few) days of summer. Wow - how's that for reaching for the positive?? Is that the best reason I can come up with?

Flip flops are all about the summer for me. I wear them all summer long (when I'm not at work) and have since I was a kid. These little yellow flip flops belong to my 8 year old niece Audrey.  They are so cheerful and cute - just like she is.

Audrey's Flip Flops
Oil on 5x7 Panel

Summer Cottage

Here's another painting of the cottage I stayed in this summer in Maine. For some reason I find this cottage very "paintable", this is the third painting I've done from that vacation.  This is a small 6x6 painting that I did pretty quickly. I've started to time myself - the first day I only worked on it for an hour, and then another 2 hours yesterday. I'm trying to force myself to stop (I actually have a timer) because too often I just keep going until I ruin the painting or I get so frustrated that I wipe it off. I did that to the last painting I posted - the one of the little syrup pitcher - I ended up wiping the whole thing and then hurling it in the trash. Not the best painting day I've had.

I really liked this little cottage. Wouldn't it be great to have a spot like this to get away to? It was so cute and just the right size and I could walk to everything - the beach, dinner, coffee, shops. When I say 'get away' I don't mean some secluded spot in the woods where I take lots of long solitary walks communing with the flora and fauna,  I'd be bored out of my mind in about 15 minutes. My idea of vacation always includes good food, good wine, people watching, art, beach, funky shops, and a perfect spot like this to relax in.