Untamed, Unnamed

11 x 14 oil on linen

This started out as a celebrity portrait that went nowhere so I made it into a redhead (love painting red hair).  The celebrity will remain unnamed - she had her mouth open in photograph showing a full set of teeth and her head cocked back.  I made a major mess of it, gave up and improvised.  I rather like the finished look - a little wild looking!

Night On The Town

18 x 24 oil on stretched canvas

This is an older painting that I re-imagined in a new ensemble!  The previous one was a plain white dress which never appealed to me because there just wasn't enough color to make it pop!  I like it much better now.  After posting however, I see a few adjustments I need to make - I always see flaws when I post pics of my paintings and most of them get revisions.  I also need to figure out how to photograph larger paintings.  They never look as clear to me as the smaller ones.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.   

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......

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.......

Ho Ho #1

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

Not a very good crop on this one...and I'm seeing, now that it is posted,  that the left eyebrow is not the correct value ... will adjust later.  

Cover-up #2

8 x 10 oil on stretched canvas

Trying something different today.  This is painted on top of some Canadian geese I did several years back that I never did like.  

The Posse (Dixie National Style)

12 x 12 oil on mylar

Calling it quits on this one - I'm mad at myself for painting so close to the top edge so there is no room to mount, frame, etc.  I have a bad habit of doing that.  I forgot and didn't allow a margin for taping mylar so I used push pins to hold to board and then forgot to allow space around edges - oh well!  I like the looseness of it though!

Thursday Morning

12 x 16 oil on linen board

Playing around today......I love the feel of oil paint on linen.

After Five

16 x 20 oil on stretched canvas

I've been working on this for a few days and decided to just call it quits for now!  

Team Work

12 x 12 oil on board

Trying to stay loose on this one.  I tried to stop myself before adding details in background and foreground.  It started out larger but I had to crop to get the right balance.

Walking the Midway

12 x 16 oil on canvas panel

I haven't painted in so long that I'm pretty rusty.  I went ahead and posted this in order to see if anything jumps out at me.  Many times I see what my problems are once I post a painting.  I have worked and re-worked this WAY to much.  

Headed to the Courthouse

12 x 16 oil on stretched canvas

Finished this one today - found myself "noodling it" too much so just called it quits.