NOLA After Dark

Beginning

Midway

12 x 16 oil on canvas

New Orleans after dark.  I thought I would post how I saw the painting from beginning to finish.  I still have some tweaking to do but overall I'm fairly satisfied.

D D and Edward

9 x 10

This is a commission I completed for a surprise Christmas gift.  The recipient has received it now so I can post--a special beach experience for a grandfather and his grandson.  

Sidewalk Cafe II

11 x 14 oil on stretched canvas

This is what I've been doing instead of Christmas baking and wrapping packages.....  I have been wanting to try this as an abstract figurative and am fairly pleased with it although probably not completely finished.  I might tweak it a tad more.

I'm Watching Yall! (2016)

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

My 2016 version of I'm Watching Y'all!  I need to head to the shopping mall and find some more Santas!  

Champs!

11 x 14 oil on stretched canvas

This was created after my first attempt of the day - a Santa Claus face - ended in a total wipe-out!  I used a little artistic license on this picture, a championship baseball team from Mississippi.  I moved players around and deleted a few.  I wanted to just do a value study of the players and the photos had lots of contrast in them.

Christmas 2016

It's that time of year again - getting Christmas ornaments ready for an auction in November.

Jolie

8 x 10 oil on canvas panel

Worked on this one yesterday and finished up on her collar today.  This was a fun one to paint.  Dogs are such good subjects!

Back Bay Re-Do

12 x 16 oil on linen

This one took some re-working and I like it better.  I have been re-working quite a few of my older paintings lately.  Mistakes stand out more clearly when I go back after a year or so and review.  Some I leave alone but most I try to enhance/improve (alas, some can't be be helped!).

Tweet Chatter

11 x 16 oil on linen

I've worked on this one off and on this week and have enjoyed playing with all the whites and grays.  Lately I have been working on a very large (for me as it's a 30" x 40") painting and I have discovered I just don't enjoy painting big.  First it takes too much time and it's difficult for me to add little subtle strokes here and there--everything is magnified!!!!  I was glad to get back to a size which is more comfortable for manipulating paint.

Mustangs - Study

12 x 16 oil on stretched canvas

This was submitted to the Daily Paintworks Equine Challenge today.  I enjoy painting horses in motion and try to stay loose.  They are beautiful creatures and I tried for looseness and just had to make myself quit.  

More Koi

8 x 10 oil on canvas panel

Trying to paint with a palette knife is like trying to paint with all thumbs to me!  I am forcing myself to practice with it and this is my result.  I have a  LONG way to go!

Peonies

8 x 10 oil on canvas panel

Painting flowers again today - working on abstracting them!  I have NO patience painting flowers....don't know what that's about but I could paint figures and faces all day long,  just not flowers.  I have been attempting to paint outside my comfort zone with both florals and landscapes lately.  We are leaving town for a few days tomorrow so I won't be able to post on my blog from my iPad but I can post to Instagram, so check out my Instagram page wandamlowery.  

Flower Study

8 x 10 oil on canvas panel

I painted these today and am wishing I had some growing in my garden.  I had them at our previous home, they were given to me by my Mother,  but they didn't make our move.  I'm sad and wish I had some, the old fashioned variety like I had before, not the new cultivated ones.  I'm on a mission to find some.

Red Retreat

8 x 8 oil on stretched canvas

A re-do of an older painting I was never satisfied with.  I painted out a street that was leaning at a diagonal over the creek.  It just didn't "read" well in painting to me.   Can't figure out why digital image is not clear in this post and on my twitter page - the actual digital shot was clear.   I still haven't mastered the use of the camera in photographing my paintings.  It looks clear in Instagram!

Willie N. - Study

11 x 14 oil on canvas panel

My niece took the reference photo for this.  I loved the features on his face - such a distinctive look - so thought I would use him for my therapy this week.  My Tuesday painting group is "therapy" for all of us.  We enjoy each others company and love painting together each week.  I can feel crummy and get with my painting pals and am feeling better before I even realize it!  It's therapy for me, especially during these troubling times.

Floral in Acrylic

8 x 10 acrylic on stretched canvas

I couldn't figure out how to crop this one because I took it with my iPhone.  I know there is a way but it has slipped my mind I do so seldom.  I've been experimenting with acrylics for florals lately and trying some new products.

Outside Taylor, MS

24 x 36 oil on stretched canvas

This is one I am re-working and will probably work on it some more.  The creek was actually muddy looking but I didn't think it made for a pleasing painting so I added some color but might work on that some more.

Oldie But Goodie

11 x 14 oil on stretched canvas

I painted this one 39 years ago, the year I started painting - 1977.  I decided that I liked painting people instead of still lifes and landscapes and had painted one other person before finding this little boy in an American Geographic magazine.  This has always been a favorite for me and I dug it out after going to an estate sale yesterday for the artist who taught me how to paint back then.  Nostalgia crept in as I remembered her telling me how to deal with his freckles and the polka dots on his jacket.  She was a wonderful teacher and I will be forever grateful for all the things she taught me.

Sunset in Fairhope

8 x 10 oil on panel

This one was painted over an older painting.  We were in Fairhope last week and the sunset on the water was beautiful!  There is a good bit of glare in this photo but I have been attempting to photograph using my iPhone instead of my big Canon camera.

American GI

12 x 16 oil on linen

One I've been playing with the last couple of days.  He has had several transformations as far as color goes.  I don't know why pictures of people smoking interest me?????  I know during WWII the Army gave the GIs free cigarettes when they were in combat.

Through the Woods

12 x 16 oil on panel

Another cover-up - nothing much else to say about this one--still attempting landscapes occasionally.

Last Dance

12 x 16 oil on linen

More dancers....I will probably fiddle with this one some more - not satisfied still.   I didn't want to show facial features initially and think I overdid it so not sure at this point where this one will end.

Dancing the Night Away

18 x 24 oil on canvas panel

Started playing with this today as I painted over another figurative I did a year or so ago.  The background needs some more work and maybe the lady - trying to stay loose so I don't want to work it too much.  

Stampede

12 x 16 oil on stretched canvas

Started this today as a study for a much larger painting, possibly 30 x 40.  I don't usually paint in a large format so I wanted to try it out in a small version initially.  I plan to keep it abstract.

Zippy Doo Dah Parade

14 x 14 oil on stretched canvas

Quick study of drummer in the Zippy Doo Dah Parade held around St. Patricks Day every year in the Jackson, MS Fondren area.  The photo was taken at dusk so there wasn't much color or detail to work with so I just mainly painted the two or three values I could see.  I am having trouble photographing my paintings these days because my iMac is not reading my camera card - don't know what that's about so I am using my iPad to photograph and I can't hold it steady enough to get a clear photo.

Back Bay

12 x 16 oil on linen

A scene from the back bay in Biloxi.  I love the water and looking at the boats and their reflections in the water.   

Magnolias #1

12 x 16 oil on canvas panel

Playing with acrylics this afternoon and trying to paint magnolias in an abstract fashion.   This is the state flower for Mississippi and it is beautiful and has a wonderful fragrance but it is very difficult to paint without a stiff look;  the petals are so thick and perfect looking.

Little Mozart

12 x 16 oil on stretched canvas

Loved this photo so decided to paint it.  I see a few areas I need to re-visit but overall I like the composition.  This is my  5 year old great niece who was trying out the piano at a Bed and Breakfast in the MS Delta.   

Pink Peonies

12 x 16 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Since it is so gloomy and dark out today, thought I would try something with acrylics to see if I could brighten my mood and the day!  I haven't worked with acrylics much in the last few years and it is definitely a different feel to the mixing, blending, etc. plus the colors just seem more saturated. 

Checking Tube Times - Complete

18 x 24

I'm stopping this before I get even more carried away.  I attempt to fine tune and that's where I get in trouble; caught myself doing that on this so I'm stopping.  That's not to say I'm totally satisfied - wish it was more abstract!

Checking Tube Times

18 x 24 oil on stretched canvas

18 x 24 oil on stretched canvas

Goodbye horse head!  This is the beginning of a painting I am doing over the horse's head in the post below.   The horse head just wasn't meeting my expectation of how it should look so it is now buried beneath this paint along with another failed painting - a flamingo!  I love to paint on top of other paintings because I like to build on the texture and colors that are already there.  I have more work on this one but want to try to keep it somewhat abstract (something that is very hard for me).  I think that is what happened to my horse.  The photo on top is after I got the horse's head totally out of the way.   In the bottom photo, you can definitely see the horse in background!  A work in progress......

Horse Complete

18 x 24 oil on stretched linen

Finished - but I actually liked the original version below over the finished product!  I think I fiddled with this one too much but what the heck, it's just for practice anyway!

Starting Horse

18 x 24 oil on stretched canvas

I started working on this yesterday but have a long way to go; not sure why I decided to paint a horse's head but it feels like figurative in a way (it's a horse's figure) and that is just what I prefer to "play" with.  What in the world will I do with an 18 x 24 horse's head?  

Whimsical William

14 x 14 acrylic on stretched canvas

I finally painted my youngest grandson's picture.  I had done the other two previously but not Mr. William.  This is just a whimsical one to put over his bed like the others.  I am having fits with my new version of Safari and new Mac operating system.  I just upgraded today and can't figure anything out.  The editing in iPhoto did not work AT ALL!  Learning curve here.......

Delta Neighborhood

12 x 16 oil on canvas panel

The reference photo for this was taken before Christmas when my husband and I were driving through the Delta on our annual road trip to Greenville to buy hot tamales!  It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I loved how the shadows crossed the lawns and roads.

Vermont Countryside

9 x 12 oil on linen

This is a covered bridge in Vermont that a friend commissioned me to paint.  I've never been to Vermont but it is definitely on my bucket list of places to visit.