30 in 30 Challenge ponderings

5 O'Clock Somewhere, 6x6" Oil on Panel
$100 unframed

As Jimmy Buffet says "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere!  I decided to play with a palette knife on this one.

I have completed between 15 & 20 paintings this month. Pretty good, I'm thinking. I stopped painting because this coming weekend is the Essex Studios Art Walk & I need to frame these paintings to get them ready for the event. Out of time,

It has been fun to keep plugging away, even after I got a bit behind. What matters is showing up to the easel each day.  No matter what my mood might be.

Harvest, 12x36", Oil on Canvas
$345

This one was fun. I started it sevral years ago then resurrected it over the weekend. I had lost the reference material so it was simply playing around with paint. I combined palette knife on the pumpkins with brushwork in the back ground.

Note the purple underpainting!

This was a whole lotta fun.  Hmm, probably there's a lesson there...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

14 & 15 of 30

Twin Lakes #1, 6x8", oil on panel

Twin Lakes #2, 10x8" oil on panel

!Last Weekend I was blessed to be able to atten a Plein Air painting workshop with Mary Pettis (www.marypettis.com) through the Ciincinnati Art Club. We had wondeful weather! On Saturday we painted in a nearby park.  This bridge was a favorite spot for wedding pictures so there was a parade of beautiful people all afternoon. It was fun to watch them dodge the duck & goose poop!

Painting plein air has a multitude of challenges. This day it was the breeze and dodging stink bugs

My set up, featuring a Coulter easel and a Shade Buddy umbrella

Mr. Stink Bug (cast of thousands...)

In progress.

I do enjoy painting plein air, even if I cannot paint standing up any more. My feet just can't cope with the effects of standing to paint. Greg Storer (www.art-classes-cincinnati.com/greg_storer_bio_teacher.html) once said, "Painting in your studio is like shooting hoops in your driveway. Painting plein air is like being in the game!"  Well last weekend I suited up and threw some paint around!

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

12 & 13 of 30

Best Dogs in the Pacific Northwest!, 6x12". oil on panel

 I am calling this 12 & 13 of 30!

I have fallen a little behind in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challege.  And yet, I am still painting.

Since this painting has two dogs in it  I am taking double credits for it! I will continue to fine tune it. Actually there is another shot of it with some additional work on it that I still have to upload.  Stay tuned.  I do feel blessed to be able to paint so much this month. It is a great feeling to keep going back to the easel. I have enough images to complete paintings for quite a while.  Just gotta hold still & paint them!

source image

Studio Set up with Coulter Easel

Studio set up using Leslie Saeta panel holder

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

11 of 30

Misty Morning, 6x8", Watercolor
11 of 30

WHEW! Caught up once again. Obviously since I am traveling I a unable to attempt complicated images.  The challenge in this one was to keep it high key. I painted lightly on purpose. Really.

We are starting to pack our bags, getting ready to leave in the morning.  I have confirmed that the movers will meet us at the storage unit by 10 am.  We have to be one the road leaving Savannah by 1 to make our 6pm reservation at South City Kitchen, Vinings. Who knows what the weekend rush hour traffic will be like as we make our way around HOTlanta.  It's always a challenge

Change is inevitable. It has been wonderful having our daughter home for the summer.  Now we get to re establish our empty nest. Our kitten will be confused since she is bonded to our daughter but having a pet sitter for the past week will ease her transition.  Wonder what will ease mine?

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

10 of 30

Broken Shell, 6x8" Watercolor
10 of 30

Still playing catch up but have decided not to worry about it. I have already surpassed last September's attempt and feel confident that this year I will rise to the occasion.  Today is our last full day on Tybee Island. Tomorrow will be all about moving our daughter into her SCAD apartment then heading homewards.  Thankfully we have movers scheduled to do the heavy, sweaty stuff.

Jamie had to return one of the shells she found yesterday because it was occupied by a hermit crab.  We had suspected it might be but every time we looked into the bowl the shell was  quiet. Then I put a bit of bread into the bowl and boy howdie! There was a BIG hermit crab in there! It is now floating away on the tide...

I was inspired to paint another shell she found. It was a pretty torn up old shell but I put a glamour on it...

The Sand Gnats (or no-see-ums) have been pretty fierce this year. I have several very itchy bites on my arms & legs from sitting outside painting.  Grateful to NOT be full out plein air painting. I hate to wear bug spray but really should be wearling it. Oh well...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

9 of 30

Tybee Sunrise, 8x6" Watercolor
9 of 30

I got up early this morning and was out on the beach as the sun came up. A container ship was on the horizon. One of the fascinating aspects of Tybee Island is that we can watch the containerships line up for the Port of Savannah.  Those babies are HUGE!

It was nice to be out on the beach that early. I got tons of terrific cloud reference shots. I love my IPone 5 camera.  Golly, remember film?  When you couldn't just shoot unless you had more film?

I enjoyed taking a loose "wet in wet" approach to this image, again using my rough paper journal. Since I am using pan watercolors it is really challenging to get dark colors but I am enjoying the freedom to just throw color around.  I do miss my oils & look forward to getting back in the studio this Sunday.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

8 of 30

Chorus Line, 6x6" Watercolor
8 of 30

Yea! I'm caught up on the challenge! This image was from a wonderful boat trip we took last summer called "Little Tybee Unplugged". We spent three hours on a private boat adventure with Sundial Charters. At one point we went by these birds having a gossip on a sand bar.

The weather has been turbulent this evening with lots of thunder & lighting.  So grateful to be snug in our condo instead of out on the road somewhee...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

7 of 30

Ocean "View", 5x5" Watercolor, 7 of 30

Today I get to paint two paintings because yesteday was all about driving in the rain and checking into our condo.  We are here on Tybee until Friday when we move our daughter into her SCAD apartment for the year.

This week we have an ocean "view" condo, not an ocean front.  It is much quieter. No harleys going down the small street in front of our building. Several cute small dogs next door to help me get over missing my pup.  I am painting on the porch because our condo only has one of those high tables with bar stools.  Who thought it was a good idea to make adults feel like children? It drives me nuts to not have my feet firmly on the ground. Oh well, it's only for a few days. I created an area for my laptop by clearing off a sofa table and bringing a normal chair out of our bedroom.

My work area looks like this:

 I took a break after painting to check out low tide. Since the moon is full the tide is WAY out at the moment. This will all be under water in a few hours...

The ocean is WAY out on the horizon.

PLUS I found some creative expressions on the beach:

True Love Sand Art

Tybee Heart Sand Art

Tonight we are walking to dinner to make our goal of staying OUT of the car for 24 hours.
Life is good!

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

6 of 30

Seabirds, 5x7", Watercolor

Tonight we are in Kinston, NC.  We took this side trip in order to visit "Chef & the Farmer" restaurant and it was well worth the time and distance. We had a lovely dinner.  I started this watercolor before we left and finished it once we came home. Of course the finish was influenced by my sugar coma from the Tres Leches cake...

I am really loving this watercolor journal. The rough paper really has its own personality.  Today I blocked in the water, then added the birds instead of painting around them like I did yesterday.

Tomorrow we are off to Tybee Island, GA, for some serious R & R out of the car.  Unfortunately the forcast is for rain each day, but rain at the beach is way better than rain at home, right? We have a great covered porch at the condo we rented, so I plan to be out there every day painting...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

5 of 30

Loons, 5x7" Watercolor

On the road, back working in my watercolor journal. I swiped this image from Facebook.  Unfortunately I cannot give the photographer credit at this moment.  The image of the loon family reminded me of the 7 years we drove our daughter to a wonderful summer camp in Canada, 3 hours north of Toronto, near a small town called McKellar. It was a wonderful experience for us all.

Now we are engaged in a road trip back to Savannah for her final year at SCAD.  It's a bittersweet experience for me.  I have really enjoyed exploring Savannah & Tybee Island, GA. We started visiting the area six years ago, plotting out our strategy for her application to SCAD.  We fell in love with Tybee Island, the beach community 30 minutes from the historic district of Savannah where her college is located.  No golf, only a two block area of "beach / souvenier / WAVES / etc.  The rest is pure, funky beach town.

As a treat we are taking a side trip to Kinston, NC, to visit Chef & the Farmer restaurant.  This will be our second trip to this out of the way place.  We love it.  You can learn more by exploring www.chefandthefarmer.com or www.pbs.org/achefslife

Since we have been making the drive to Savannah for 6 years we try to vary the routine. Its only a bit out of the way to go from Cincinnati to Princeton, WVa, then on to Kinston, NC, before hitting I-95 for Savannah.  We will return via Macon / Atlanta / Knoxville to Cincinnati.  Sometimes we go Knoxvile / Asheville / Columbia / Savannah.

So, to start this painting I wet the paper and blocked in the water.  Watercolors dry lighter so it took a few passes to get it juicy and colorful. I wanted the water to contrast the black & white birds.

The fun part is that I went to the lobby of this Hampton Inn to paint because our room just didn't have a space for me to spread out.  I am surrounded by seniors playing poker this evening.  What a hoot!

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

3 of 30!

Bliss Kitty "Max", 8x10, oil on panel

This image has a bit of a glare on it because it was very wet when I took the shot.  I have requested my facebook friends send me images of their very cute pets to inspire me duing this challenge.  I have in mind to create at least 12 pet portraits so that I can use them for my 2015 calendar project.  This challenge is helping me get ready for the Holidays.

I love the foreshortening of the paws in this image. Max does indeed look blissed out.

Here are the steps of my process:

Sketch

I like to grid out the image to get a quick start on the project.

Block in the underpainting.  The colors may or may not relate to the final image. The idea is to kill the white panel as quickly as possible with transparent paint. Then I work in  the image with opaque colors, more like the actual image.

Tabby cats are tricky because they actually have many colors in their coat. Max was quite the challenge.  I am happy to know that his owners are excited by the painting...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

2 of 30!

Haut Baran Hydrangias, 5x7" Watercolor
2 of 30

So far, so good.  Today was a busy day so I decided to complete a sketch I had started in France. I have a totally cool watercolor sketchbook with handmade paper. As we travel this month I will be doing more watercolor journaling for the 30 in 30 challenge...

I drew this at 7 am on our second morning at Haut Baran.  Then coffee was served and our busy day began, leaving no time to get the watercolors out.  It was a lovely dilemma.  So much wanted to be painted everywhere I looked! (I will be painting this scene several times.)

Here is the oil painting that I did later that day in my plein air workshop with Bill Farnsworth:

Hydrangias, 6x8", oil on panel

There were so many cool HUGE pots in France.  Too bad shipping was prohibitive. I had to leave them there but took lots of pictures...

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can

30 Paintings in 30 Days September Challege!

Haut Baran Twilight, 8x8" Oil on Canvas, $100
1 of 30

 And so it begins again.  The 30 in 30 challenge as put forth by Leslie Saeta.  I am going to play, even though we are traveling for a week this month, taking the daughter back to SCAD Savannah.  We like to spend a few days on Tybee Island before leaving to her last year of student apartment life. I plan to paint with watercolors when on the road to simplify things a bit.

This piece is from our trip to France in July. We stayed at www.hautbaran.com, a painters paradise. I was honored to take a plein air workshop with Bill Farnsworth and leaned a great deal about traveling with oils.  I have tons of photo reference to use for this challenge...

Photo reference

I paint using my IPad on a tripod. I also love my Carol Marine panel holder! 

I start by laying in a transparent underpainting, then work opaque colors over that.

Its really fun to capture all this lovely color...

Once more, into the fray!

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today. 

Start where you are

Love what you have

Do what you can