Twist of Lemon

5 x 5 oil on hardboard

My beverage of choice for the heat we have been having these last few weeks.  It has been 96 degrees for the last several days and humid!  This is water with a twist of lemon.  I really don't know why I attempted this today, it is far more detailed than I like to do and I ran out of steam on the cut glass.  I think I will leave this kind of project for the realistic painters out there (and that is not me).  We are headed to Atlanta again this week so I won't be painting for the remainder of the week - going to see our grandchildren for their birthday party and baby William's christening.

Rosie the Riveter

 8 x 9 1/2 oil on hardboard

The Daily Paintworks Challenge for this week is polka dots.  I was looking for someone wearing a polka dot Du-Rag in Google but ran into Rosie instead and thought I would try her.  This is my very hurried take on her.  I have been busy today cooking and shopping with little time for painting.  Her eyes are bothering me right now so I will probably go back and adjust when I have more time.    Our daughter and her new husband are coming over for dinner so I've got to get those casseroles in the oven!

Old Glory

8 x 10 oil on hardboard

Happy Memorial Day to all.   Old Glory's stripes gave me fits today.  Initially I had about 15 stripes drawn in and I knew that was WRONG, so I whittled away on them and didn't even attempt the stars!  Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.  

Proud Ellie

 12 x 16 oil on linen panel

This cutie belongs to one of my Facebook Friends.   I saw it when she posted it and loved her cute little expression on her face so I asked her mother if I could paint her.   She had just graduated from 3 year old pre-school and had such a happy,  proud look on her face.  I love figurative painting and don't really go so much for an exact likeness as I do for a gestural or personality sketch.   She was fun to paint and made me smile.

Amsterdam At Night

 8 x 10 oil on hardboard

This particular scene was a challenging one for me.  I have wiped it out several times in my attempt to capture the beauty of the canal.  The photo was of a night scene on the canal and night scenes are difficult for me .... as well as buildings.  I finally decided to emphasize the canal and suggest the buildings.   

The Look

 8 x 10 oil

I've just been playing today and experimenting with skin tones, drawing, etc.  This was just a picture from a fashion magazine.   The model actually had her hand on her sunglasses as if she was about to take them off, but I didn't want to tackle fingers today so I painted them out!

Fresh Catch

18 x 24 oil on stretched canvas

Whew!  This one took a couple of days and I think I need a break.  I am not accustomed to painting this large (it's large for me).  The photograph just captured my interest.  I love to paint children and this one with her "fresh catch" just tugged at me.  One of my fellow painting friends gave me the reference photo. 

Just Grazing

8 x 10 oil on hardboard

We spotted this horse in the field one day while taking a back route over to the Interstate.  I attempted to paint him in a looser fashion.   This has been a good day to stay inside and paint because it has been raining all day.

Mimi and Friends

14 x 18 oil on stretched canvas

I thought in honor of Mother's Day, I would pull out an old sepia tone photograph of my Mother that I have been wanting to paint for a long time.  I sketched it about a year or so ago but never painted it because I wasn't sure what to do about color.  The reference photo was taken of  Mother and her friends when she was a teenager  around 1934 or 1935 I think.   It was a tiny photo about 2" x 3" and of course in brown and white (what they used at the time).  

All  in all I'm fairly satisfied with the end product.  The quality was very poor so I made it very impressionistic (almost abstract in the faces) but thought it turned out pretty well.  I still miss my Mother.  She died in 2003 at the age of 84.    I almost forgot.....Mother is the one in the green dress.

King Cotton

5 x 5 oil on hardboard - SOLD

Thought I would post this today.  I worked on it a couple of weeks ago but wasn't satisfied with the end product.  I played a little with it today to help it out.  I am suffering from "burn-out" right now - can't seem to find something inspiring to paint PLUS our airconditioning upstairs where my studio is located is not working.  It was 94 degrees upstairs yesterday on the thermostat!  I have been waiting on the repairman all day.  Last week it was the downstairs a/c that needed work.  Our units are only 6 years old.  Obviously  both are flawed.  I can't believe they both went out at the same time (or within a few days of each other)?