Vase and Pears 12 x 16 on Panel

I decided once again to paint one of my favorite vases that people seem to love. It is still a challenge every time I paint it. You would think I would have it down by now, but its different in every setup. I love the small pears that come out around December and they look good in paintings. Happy New Year to Everyone!

Beau 9 x 12 on Panel

This painting is of my late cat Beau Bear Bray. This is from a photo that I took years ago. I had started this painting and then had to put it away because it made me so sad. I was the 3rd owner of Beau. My childhood friend Gail gave him to me after having 3 boys. After she gave him to me I added my own version of his name. Beau loved Christmas. He loved the tree, presents and the Grinch stuffed animal under the tree. He thought he was invisible among the presents. As far as the Grinch I found out that he was fixed a little late in life from his first owner and therefore still had those feelings. So he liked stuffed animals, bolster pillows and a few other things around the house. It was quite funny. He was also the runt in his litter and had many health problems. A week after taking the picture of him his right eye became blood red and on New Year's Eve I spent the majority of the time at the emergency vet clinic. Come to find out Persians are susceptible to hypertension. His blood pressure was high and that caused his retina to detach. He ended up on blood pressure medicine. He later lost sight in that eye and eventually had to have it removed. He was then known at the vets as the one eyed cat. I think 2 years later his other eye did the same thing and I was just devastated. He lived another year or two blind and did quite well. The dog and my other cat looked out for him. So if you know anyone with a Persian Cat you may just want to forewarn them about blood pressure and their eyes.

Painting Beau was so difficult. I wanted to try and capture his look. He had a blank stare when I took the picture, probably because he thought he was a present. He was so perfect looking that it was hard to capture his eyes. I think I basically captured his overall look.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. Thank you Gail and Family for Beau!!!!

Chinese Lantern Plant 11 x 14 on Panel

For the last 2 summers I have been trying to grow Chinese Lantern Plants. David Leffel puts them in his still life paintings once and awhile and I wanted to try and paint them. This last summer I had them growing everywhere and finally had 2 small flowers one on of the plants. Well a bug got into all of them and all though I sprayed I never got any of the lanterns to grow. Then this fall I was in Whole Foods and they had fresh ones in the flower area. I was so excited to see them and bought a bunch. So now you will probably see them in future paintings. The white vase is a piece of pottery that I bought from Connie, who takes classes at Chastain Art Center. I had been eyeing this piece at the festival and thought about it for a month and finally ran into her to purchase it. It is a great piece of pottery and I really enjoyed painting it. I love how the blue ran and gave that vertical look to the piece. The reflection of the orange in the pottery was really a nice look.

Holiday Art Event

A MIXED BAG
The Gallery at Paper Mill Village255 Village ParkwaySuite 320Marietta, GA 30067 Driving Directions
Add to my calendar


Please join us for a holiday art event hosted by

The Art School
in
Sandy Springs

December 4 from 6:00 pm until 8:30 pm. Show runs through December 29th.

Works by students and instructors of the school.
Thanks and hope to see you there!!!

Thoughts of Autumn and Gold Vase with Apples-SOLD

So far these 2 paintings have sold at "Little Things Mean A Lot," at the Swan Coach House Gallery. I will be delivering a few more paintings to the show at the end of the month. Thank you for your purchases. If you are interested in seeing the paintings that sold they are below on an older post.

Swan Coach House Gallery

"Little Things Mean A Lot"

Opening Reception: Thursday, November 19th from 6 to 8 pm

A holiday show and sale of over 200 works of art in all mediums by a multitude of contemporary Georgia Artists.
I will be participating in this show and I am so excited! Please come by if you have a chance. There are around 120 artist participating this year. All artwork for the show has to be 8 x 8 and smaller so therefore more affordable to people. Also, once something sells its replaced with another piece of artwork so the show is always fresh. The gallery is next door to the restaurant at the famous Swan House off of West Paces Ferry in Buckhead.

CHASTAIN HOLIDAY SHOW & SALE

HOLIDAY SHOW & SALE
November 20 – December 19, 2009

OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, November 20, 5:30-8:00 PM

Lots of great art! An incredible variety of jewelry, pottery, paintings, prints, scarves, garden art, and more – all skillfully crafted by Chastain Arts Center students and instructors. Find unique, affordable gifts for everyone and fine art for your collection. We guarantee there will be something to suit everyone’s taste and budget. The sale opens with a reception on Friday, November 20, from 5:30-8:00 PM. Free and open to the public. Please bring a non-perishable food item to support our food drive to benefit the Atlanta Community Food Bank!

Thoughts of Autumn 8 x 8 on Panel-SOLD

This painting will be part of the art show at the Swan Coach House Gallery. The show is called, "Little Things Mean A Lot." All paintings have to be

8 x 8 and smaller. The show is from November 19th thru January 9, 2010. Please stop by if you have a chance and also have lunch at the restaurant. It's always fun to go there during the Christmas season.

Three Plums 6 x 6 on Panel

This painting will be part of the Swan Coach House Gallery's, Little Things Mean A Lot." I am excited to participate this year and can't wait to see all of the beautiful paintings.

Gold Vase with Apples 8 x 6 on Panel-SOLD

This painting will be one of three at the Swan Coach House Gallery for the show, "Little Things Mean A Lot." All paintings will be 8 x 8 or smaller for the show. This is there yearly show and I am so excited to be able to participate in it this year. The show starts on November 19th and goes thru January 9, 2010. We are each allowed 2-3 paintings and there will be 120 artist participating this year.

Madison Avenue and Streets of San Francisco- SOLD

Robin,
Thank you so much for purchasing these paintings. I know you love that thick paint from the palette knife and these will look great together. Thank you for purchasing them from looking at my blog. I can't wait to see you the next time you are in Atlanta!

Tranquillity - SOLD

The Chastain Park Festival was successful despite the cold weather on Saturday. It was a great time to meet people stopping by the booth and seeing fellow artists. I sold the painting Tranquillity. I do not have the name/address of the person who purchased the painting, but wanted to tell that person thank you and I hope you enjoy it!

Chastain Park Arts Festival Oct. 17th & 18th

Chastain Park will have its 1st Annual Arts Festival
It will be October 17th and 18th.
Saturday 10am to 6pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm
I will have paintings at the Chastain Art Center booths. In those 3 booths there will be pottery, paintings, jewelry and everything else the center offers. I have been told that there are 120 booths of artists. So please come out and take part in what will be a tradition for the area. I will be at the booth from 12-3 on Saturday.
Directions: from 285 and Roswell Road0- Go inside the perimeter and make a Right on West Wieuca Road (there is a Avril car wash on the right) go through the stop sign and you will come upon the Chastain Park area. I am not quite sure where the booths of the artists will be located, but I am sure there will be signs.

Whimsical Fury 12 x 16 on Panel

I painted this bird's nest at the workshop with Roseta. It was the first thing we all painted. We were asked to bring in birds nest along with eggs if we could find them. Everyone really loved painting the different nests they had brought in and afterwards we did a class critique. Every painting was unique and beautiful. Because of the rains I was late that first day so I had my own setup and my own bird's nest that I found at the house. This is the most successful painting that I did that week of the workshop. I learned that I really like painting my own setup and during a workshop I like having my own area where my supplies are located. At this facility you have to bring your own lighting, easel and things to paint. The rest of the week the way it was spaced I had to paint with other students and their still life setups. Sometimes I have found this to be easy and fun, but for some reason the room was too tight and therefore not comfortable for me to paint and the result was I was just out of sorts and struggled after this painting. I did learn different techniques from this workshop so the end result will be beneficial for me.

Roseta Santiago Workshop

A few weeks ago I took a workshop with Roseta Santiago at the Quinlan Art Center in Gainesville, Georgia. Roseta used to live in Atlanta, and now lives in New Mexico. She has studied under many of the same artists that I have so I thought I would learn some additional skills. The paintings below are all experimental. Each painting gave me different challenges along with having a medium problem all week long. My medium started to clump up during the gourd painting and brass bowl painting so I ended up switching mediums. The workshop was during the flood week so the combination of not having a full bottle of medium along with the humidity gave me problems. Also, there were many other students painting the same setup and objects seemed to move from day to day. In the Gourd painting the paint would not dry for me to do some glazing so finally I had to move on to another painting. The brass bowl painting also gave me problems with the medium and since I had lent my lights with the first painting(other students were painting same still life) I had no lighting for the second painting and was really working in very dark circumstances. When I paint at home I usually paint in low light, but this was ridiculous. On the Gold Rim painting Roseta actually came over and painted the beautiful gold rim so I can't take credit for that. It was great to learn how to layer the gold colors to get that look and then how to add the highlight of white. Also, I think in this painting there should have been some leafy stem in the painting; its boring to me. I would say that I learned more about glazing, how to change a painting that you might not be happy with, painting fabric and then glazing. Roseta is wonderful at marketing and was great in sharing her information with us. If you go into a Bass Pro Shop the murals in the stores were painted by her. After painting 23 of the stores she decided to go into oil painting full time.

Sold paintings from Brushstroke's Show

I just wanted to thank my friends for coming out to the Brushstrokes art show this week. We had a great time and it was fun seeing everyone. I wanted to thank the Berman's and the Young's for purchasing my paintings. I hope you enjoy them. Below are the paintings that were purchased.

Brushstrokes 2nd Signature Art Show and Sale

This is the first year that I am participating with the art group Brushstrokes. The show will be located at TULA Art Center.
It is located at 75 Bennett Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. To get there take Peachtree Street South and pass Justin's Restaurant on the right at next right will be a light and that is Bennett's Street. Go halfway down the street and Tula is on the right.
The show runs from Tuesday, Sept 29th-Sunday, Oct. 4th
"Cocktails & Canvas" is Thursday, October 1st 5:00-9:00
Gallery Hours are
Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 11:00 to 4:00
Thursday 11:00 to 9:00
Friday and Saturday 11:00 to 8:00
A percentage of all sales will be donated to the Youth Program at Chastain Arts Center.
Please stop by during the week if you have a chance. There are around 20 artists participating.

Blue and Gold 11 x 14 on Linen

In this painting I wanted to use the flow blue cup and plate that I found in a box after cleaning out the garage. It was a great surprise to find some flow blue because I had wanted to buy some for a painting. There were a few more pieces in the box that I will paint at a later time. I put the antique with the newer gold vase that I like to paint. After taking the workshop with Nancy Franke she said she had a lucky green pitcher and I have this lucky gold vase. I decided to use her palette of colors for this painting, to see if I would get a lighter feel still painting in the old masters style. Her palette is minimal and I am used to more colors. I did add the yellow ochre for the palette. The minimal palette is a challenge in getting the color you want without it ending up muddy. I know how to mix colors easily since that is what I do for my daily job, but in oil painting I think its great to have a larger palette for truer and cleaner colors. Also, when you are painting something that is red, be it a flower or an object, many times you will have to buy the red you need because in many instances you cannot mix colors to get certain reds.

Cupcakes 9 x 12 on Panel

The new challenge for DSFDF was the theme of cupcakes. Karin was inspired by the painter Wayne Thiebaud, who is known for his paintings of cakes and pies. If you go to the website that I have mentioned at the bottom of all the paintings there is a YouTube video of an interview with the artist and his work. With this painting I definitely wanted to do a knife painting. Using the palette knife was just like putting frosting on a cupcake. The thick luscious paint really made me feel like I was using frosting instead of paint. Afterwards I had to bake a cake.

Nancy Franke Workshop

Last weekend I was at a wonderful workshop with Atlanta artist Nancy Franke. It was a two day workshop at The Art School in Sandy Springs and it went by very quickly. It was a fun packed weekend of demos and experiments. Nancy has great positive energy and a great style. The first exercise we did was paint with paper towels-no brushes(picture 3). You can see the looseness from the paper towel and plus the time crunch we were under. It was a great way to loosen up. The 2nd exercise we did was paint a still life set up and we had around a hour left in the day to do this. I like the looseness of the edges around the teal vase and the leaves(picture 1). The 3rd exercise was another still life we did on the 2nd day and it was a pear and lemon slice(picture 2). I have found when I paint a pear that I either paint it right the first time or have to scrap it off and paint it 5 or 6 times, which was the case that day. Another student, Marilyn bought this painting, which I thought was nice. If you have a chance you I recommend taking a workshop with Nancy.

Tranquillity 16 x 12 on Panel

This is a follow-up painting to Solitude. It is a more contemporary yet old masters style of painting. I wanted it simple and have a backwards "C" flow to the light and the dark since it was a vertical painting. It leads your eye into the painting. The colors in the painting create a calmness to one's eyes and mind.

San Francisco Street 16 x 8 on Panel

This is the current challenge for DSFDF . It is a scene from the beautiful city of San Francisco. I believe my mother and I might have walked up this street since it felt like we were walking for miles when we went there years ago for a vacation. When we went it was in the month of August and it was cold and they had record rains. At least we can still laugh about it and we had a wonderful time!

I decided to do this painting using a palette knife like the scene a few months ago from another challenge with a street scene from NY. This was a lot of fun to do and a challenge with the perspective of the street, buildings and telephone poles. I think I accomplished what I set out to do in this challenge.

Black-Eyed-Susans 11 x 14 on Panel

We have an area of the garden where there are Black-Eyed-Susans. The gold finches love them and many times they are in there without anyone knowing. I had this painting ready to post for days, but there was rainy weather. Today was the first day that I got a decent, but not perfect photo.

Rowing on Lake 8 x 8 on Panel

This painting is for DSFDF and this weeks challenge is a girl rowing a boat on Lake Michigan. This girl was probably having a challenge just rowing a boat, if you have ever tried it. I decided to make the water look more colorful then in the original photograph. I wanted it to remind me of the beach since it looks like this summer this painting maybe as close as I get. Have a Happy 4th of July.

Thanks Phil for emailing me how to condense a link to the website :)

Bowl with Bittersweet 8 x 16 on Panel

I decided this time to try another panel with the scale of 8 x 16. I wanted the painting to be longer and not as high. Since I love painting bittersweet I painted one with a brass bowl and a vase. This painting was painted in May and it has taken me this long to get a decent picture. I have taken pictures for weeks with this painting in 100 degree bright sunlight, sunset light and everything in between. I wasn't happy with anything so this morning I once again tried the early light of day and I think I finally have a picture that looks good. The picture was turning out redder then it actually was in the painting. I think this one shows it as less red, but maybe a touch more then it actually is in the painting.

Summer Vegetables 9 x 12 on Panel

This painting was so much fun to do. I haven't painted tomatoes, corn or onions in a longtime. Corn, leeks, and scallions are really fun to paint because of their roots. You can use the other end of your brush and make the squiggle like roots. Also, mixing the greens of the vegetables is great with the yellow-greens, blue-greens and everything in between. The painting was done for Karin Jurick's blog http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ . By the way if anyone knows how to shorten this when posting like just the initials of the blog or something please let me know because I see on blogs a shortened link to the blog. Thank you.

Pennsylvania Landscape 8 x 10 on Linen SOLD

This painting is for this weeks challenge from Karin Jurick's blog http://www.differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ . It is a scene from Pennsylvania in the country. We were given a black and white image and we interpreted the scene in color. I decided I was going to paint this on Linen instead of a panel for a different look. I wanted the background trees to blur into the sky and wanted a loose painting instead of sharp images. Also, I thought on this painting that the linen would give a nice texture for the landscape.

Thank you Robin for your purchase! I hope you enjoy it for years to come.

Madison Avenue 16 x 8 on Panel

This painting was for http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ . The challenge was to paint the photo taken of Madison Avenue. At first I painted the painting flat and then decided it would be more interesting to do a knife painting with thick paint. Also, it made it more loose and abstract then painting it in detail, which I didn't want to do. If you go to the blog you can see the original photograph and how other artists interpreted the photo. I loved the photo because you could feel the energy, chaos and smells of NYC. The way the photo was taken you felt like you were there. It's fun to visit, but expensive to live there.

Bittersweet 12 x 12 SOLD

Andrea, thank you so much for purchasing this painting. I really appreciate your comments when I post a painting!

Mystery 14 x 18 on Panel

The objects in this painting came from all over the world. After receiving this jewelry box from my friend Jennifer for my birthday I decided it needed to be painted. I liked the size and color. The box was made in Brazil. The vertical teapot was bought by my coworker(Roberto) recently when he was traveling to Turkey. On the left the dark blue bowl is an Antique bird feed cup that is Chinese, which my coworker searched all day for me while in San Francisco in Chinatown. As you can see he is the world traveler and usually picks up some kind of trinket for me while on one of his trips. The trinkets all mean a lot and it is probably the closest I will get to most of the places that he has visited. The white bowl I bought at World Market and the big teal plate I made in pottery so that I could paint in a still life. I wanted this painting to be dark and mysterious with fruit added in for color. After taking around 150 pictures of this painting and finally getting a few that were good I did go back and make a few minor adjustments to the painting like making the brass more solid on the box near the knobs, and touched up the plate, the edge of the box and the wood shelf. Now I just need to sign it.

CHASTAIN ART CENTER SPRING ART SHOW AND SALE

DATES:May 1 – 29, 2009
OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, May 1, 5:30-8:30 PM

Don’t miss the opportunity this year to shop for unique gifts for the special occasions of this season: graduations, weddings, Mother’s Day. Or, you may want to acquire something special for your own collection. The annual Spring Art Show & Sale takes place from May 1 – 29, featuring a dazzling array of artwork created by instructors and students of Chastain Arts Center. Previous shows have featured the work of more than 70 artists, working in jewelry, painting, pottery, knitting, and much, much more. With the anticipated variety of styles and media, there is bound to be something to suit everyone’s taste and budget.The Sale will open with a reception on Friday, May 1, from 5:30-8:30 PM. It is free and the public is welcome.
CHASTAIN ARTS CENTER
135 W. Wieuca Road, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30342
T: (404) 252-2927 F: (404) 851-1270

Bittersweet 12 x 12 on Panel

Well I have once again painted another painting of bittersweet with the gold vase and I haven't gotten tired of doing these paintings. I seem to get a great response and so far all of them have sold. I love the bittersweet and I still have my batch from Fresh Market that I bought in November.

Sushi 5 x 7 on Panel

This is for the blog http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

The challenge was a photograph of sushi on a plate. I decided to do a knife painting along with some brushstrokes. I used more of a brighter palette this time around. At first it looked more like a pastel cupcake until I made the dark colors darker and then added in the soy sauce color. Maybe I had my birthday on my mind and wanted a cupcake.

Pears and Pottery 11 x 14 on Panel

The piece of pottery was thrown by my coworker Roberto, and he gave it to me for Christmas. I always love his pottery to place in my paintings. They have great colors and textures. The teal glass bowl was really fun to paint along with the fruit. I took the picture of this painting today with a very clear blue sky and it showed more details than I could even see in my studio. I will probably go back and touch up a few things that I didn't see before. For me I think taking a photo on a clear day works better. I am still trying to figure how to take the best photograph.

SOLD Paintings from Trinity Show

Thank you for your purchases at the Trinity Show. They do not tell us who purchased our paintings so I wanted to thank you for your support.

Peace 8 x 10 on Panel

The name of this painting is for my grandmother that died on Friday. She now has Peace. She was supposed to die on Wednesday then on Thursday she suddenly got up and ate breakfast on her own, spoke with people and then got her hair done. That night she died in her sleep at 98. Now that is the way to go!

The plant in this painting is called the popcorn plant. I have painted it before and it is from the coastal areas of South Carolina.

I am reposting this painting because I did retake the picture of this painting. The last picture turned out blurry.

TRINITY SPOTLIGHT ON ART FEBRUARY 17-21

I am proud to announce my participation in Spotlight on Art 2009 and invite you to come see my latest works. I will have 12 paintings in the show; not that all of them will be on the floor at one time.

.Artists MarketFebruary 17-21, 2009
February 17, Tuesday, 6 pm - 9 pm
February 18, Wednesday, 8 am - 4 pm
February 19, Thursday, 8 am - 4 pm
February 20, Friday, 8 am - 6 pm
February 21, Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm

Trinity School4301 Northside Parkway Atlanta, GA 30327Phone: 404.231.8100
Directions
From West Paces Ferry Road/Buckhead
Take West Paces Ferry Road, which runs west from Peachtree Road,
At the major intersection just before I-75, turn RIGHT on Northside Parkway (please note that this is further west than Northside Drive ),
Continue North on Northside Pkwy through the third light (Mt. Paran Road),
Continue to the next traffic light and turn RIGHT into the complex,
Once in the complex, turn RIGHT; follow the road approximately one-half mile to the Trinity School gates, which are on your RIGHT.

From Downtown Atlanta, traveling NORTH on I-75
Take I-75 Northbound to Exit 256 - Mt. Paran Road,
On the exit ramp, remain in the middle lane and turn LEFT onto Mt. Paran,
Proceed immediately to the far right lane, turn RIGHT at the light onto Hwy. 41 N. /Northside Pkwy,
Continue to the first traffic light and turn RIGHT into the complex,
Once in the complex, turn RIGHT; follow the road approximately one-half mile to the Trinity School gates, which are on your RIGHT.

Clementines 8 x 10 on panel

I really enjoyed painting this smaller size of a painting. The black bowl is a pot that I threw on the wheel last fall in my pottery class. I decided if I couldn't find the object I wanted to buy I would throw it on the wheel and create it myself. In the spring I plan on probably taking another wheel class to create more bowls and plates to put in my paintings.

Tea Time 11 x 14 on Panel

I wanted to use an antique teapot along with cup and saucer with patterns on them, instead of plain objects to make the painting more detailed. This painting for some reason was really hard to photograph. It has taken me two weekends to get a decent result.

Black Bowl with Gold Vase 12 x 16 on panel

This painting is a continuation of the Gold Vase with Bittersweet. I really like how that painting turned out so decided to add the gold vase again while adding a few more objects to the still life. This painting will be available at the upcoming Trinity School Show in February.

Jefferson Memorial 4 x 4 on Panel

This small painting was for http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ created by Karin Jurick. She picked this scene for the upcoming Inauguration.