Madison County Countryside

5 x 7 oil on canvas panel

Still learning..... Note to self:  don't place objects dead center in a painting!!!   Oh well, it's better, to my way of thinking,  than the radishes lurking beneath the surface.

Study in Umber

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

This was painted for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge - VERY challenging!  The only color allowed was burnt umber - no white!   The oil painters had to use turpentine and wipe off color down to the canvas for white with whatever you could figure out - mostly q-tips!   A friend who went on a mission trip to Africa took this photo while there and I loved the look on the young girl's face and had saved the photo to paint later, thought it would fit for this challenge but the features weren't very clear, so I had to use my imagination.  

Miss Ollie

8 x 10 oil on gessoboard panel

This is Ollie our neighbor's dog who is about 11 years old.  She has gotten a little more lively lately because of some new boxer brothers, Crown and Tito.  They are real frisky and are keeping Miss Ollie on her toes!  

Below is my granddaughter Caroline's self-portrait she did for her mom for Mother's Day.  I think she did a fabulous job.  She just turned 5 and will be going to kindergarten this fall.  We were in Atlanta over the weekend for her dance recital - loving the arts!   Pres, our grandson, gave all of the dancers a big applause after each dance.  He turns 3 in June and loves music.   Being a proud grandmom, I had to post their pics.

Pres and Caroline

Dance With Me

8 x 10 oil on canvas panel

This was a painting I did last fall.  We have been getting ready for a trip to Atlanta to see our family there and I haven't had much time to paint the last day or two.   This is painted on a hardboard similar to Ampersand but with a smooth texture.  It feels totally different from painting on canvas, at least to me it does.  I plan to pick up more of these panels in Atlanta this weekend.

DPW Challenge #15 - Kit Kat

5 x 7 oil on canvas board - SOLD

This is #15 on the Daily Paintworks Challenges.  I have attempted all of them, some look better than others, but it has been a real good experience in painting different subjects.    Dreama Tolle Perry chose this challenge and she is an expert in painting cats.  Hers are beautiful!

Delft Home on Canal

8 x 10 oil on canvas board

During our visit to the Netherlands in 2009, I took the reference photo for this in Delft, a quaint and picturesque town.   I loved the old architecture and the way people could make beautiful gardens out of such small patches of space.  

Singing Barber

11 x 14 oil on stretched canvas

I've been so bummed out about my radish rendition that I haven't been too inspired to paint much this week - well that and some inner ear issues.  This is a guy I photographed outside a barber shop a couple of years back and actually I painted it some time ago.  I guess it was a slow day for him and he was just outside strumming his guitar.  When I asked if I could take his picture, he broke out in song for me. 

Daily Paintworks Vegetable Challenge

5" x 7" oil on canvas panel

This week's challenge was tough for me.  I don't do many fruit/vegetable still lifes.  It's not something I am particularly fond of doing, sort of like flowers!  I struggled with this and to make matters worse the leaves were really pretty wilted before I even got them home.    I'm pretty stubborn and wouldn't abandon the effort though - probably should have, or picked another vegetable.  Oh, by the way, these are radishes.

A Change in Direction

 6" x 6" oil on canvas panel

Today was almost a total wipe-out but I was determined to come up with something for all my previous failed efforts.  I'm ok with this one but maybe because the other two were so bad.  This started off as a beach scene that morphed into a pair of sandals which I then transformed into this outside play scene.  Lots of wasted paint and paper towels in this morning's session.

Have A Seat

 5" x 7" oil on canvas panel - SOLD

Chairs and more chairs..... I admit I am on a chair jag right now and can't promise there won't be more on the way.  I love painting them for some reason.   This is one of my dining room chairs that I got years ago from my hometown of Greenville, MS.  We travelled there on Friday for the day to see the Mighty Mississippi and all it is doing in the area.  It is HUGE with lots of flooding inside the levees right now.   I think they are planning on it cresting around May 17 or 18.   It has a lot more rising to go from where we saw it Friday.  They closed the levees Saturday to the public.    So sad to see all the widespread flooding and so many lives affected by it.  

A Mother's Day

5" x 7" oil on canvas panel - SOLD

This reference photo came to mind when I was thinking of the upcoming Mother's Day weekend.  What better way to spend time with your kids than on an excursion to the park!   I think I spent a significant number of mine on soccer fields though.  

may be me -

6" x 6" oil on canvas panel

The Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week was a self portrait - sort of tough to do!   I used a photo after giving up with the mirror, looking over my reading glasses, etc.  I agree with John Singer Sargent when he said "a portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth".  I have always found that to be true and it certainly is the case here.

Chair #2

 6" x 6" oil on canvas panel

Chairs have always been appealing to me.  My attic is full of them and my husband keeps threatening to pitch them.   Back in my antiquing days, I would pick one up and think I would get around to working on it someday but somehow I never did and they are just gathering dust.  I can't bear the thought of getting rid of them.   I started off thinking I would paint this with really thick paint but in the end I caught myself thinning with linseed oil - a bad habit of mine!