Tantivy

Sometimes a girl just wants to have fun! Those little paintings , as simple as they are, are work for me. The set-up needs some more work (it needs to be at eye level and is presently a little low.) That  and my lack of expertise combine to make things challenging. I am not complaining, but sometimes a break is nice so tonight I painted another Abstract Expressionist piece and enjoyed playing with color and brushes. Tomorrow Dean and I are going to work on a higher stand for the "stage" and I hope that will make things better.  Yummy colors.  All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO, Caroline

If you wonder why I keep posting these obviously amateur paintings in which progress , if there is any, is not readily apparent, it is because I said that I would post (nearly) every day and that keeps me painting. I have painted and posted about 25 or so times out of the 300 that are necessary (some say 500!) to get to know what you are doing. I really appreciate your checking in and the comments you sometimes make. I don't, by the way, expect a comment on every painting but one every once in a while lets me know you are still there. Here is today's piece. After breaking the cup I went to GoodWill and bought thee things. Except for the spoon which I bought from a box of spoons and stuff years ago and it is one of my favorites - and unbreakable! 6"x6" and I ate the strawberries as soon as I finished!  By the way, Saudi Arabia has dropped out but the number in France is up to 11, according to the stats Blogger provides. All is well and all will be ...

I am embarrassed to have posted that painting from yesterday. When I looked at it this morning I quickly picked up my brushes and did some alterations. I still is not that good, but at least that awful rendering of the shell is gone - a definite improvement in my humble opinion.  So here is the new one. I, at least, like it better. I will be using 6"x6" canvases for a while and hope that with a little room I can do better. You will have to be the judge  All is well, and all will be well, XOXOXO, Caroline

My new brushes came today and I tried them out on the last of the 4"x4" canvas boards. I think that I am going to like them. This is a vase that Dean brought home from his travels in SouthEast Asia and two beautiful shells. The one at the bottom of the vase is one we found on the beach but I didn't draw it very well. The other is a murex that I bought. As a special treat here is Nora, whose older sisters are on Sarie's soccer team.  Could that be any cuter? All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO, Caroline

Yesterday morning it was a cup, and then it wasn't . That was after I knocked it off the "stage" where I set up the still life in order to paint it. I was rearranging things and went behind to adjust the paper at the back, forgetting that a cup was in the corner until I heard the crash. Whoops! It kinda made me sick, but it is only a (previously was a) cup. The set up in process. At least two cups weren't broken! The shards. Not my best painting but I just couldn't get excited about it! I have a busy weekend, one that will most likely not include painting, so I will get back to this next week All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO, Caroline

Of course I did not let these cups tumble - they are my china that we use and I don't have extras. They do stack well, though, don't they? Up close this looks like what it is - patches of paint, but from a distance it looks like what it is supposed to portray - cups. At least I think that it does! The canvas on this one had been underpainted a bright green. Not as much of it shows in person but the camera sees all! I am afraid that you will see these cups again and again unless I actually get out and find some others; I am not sure when that will be. I will also post about my set up process and palette in the future, in case you are like me and want to see behind the scenes, as it were. Hmmm. I think that the inside of that cup on its side might need to be darker. Amazing what you see after you post.  All is well and all will be well, XOXOXO, Caroline

And here is the second cup drawing. I am making another today. Practice makes improvement! All is well and all will be well XOXOXO, Caroline

The bristle brushes are working out, as are the long handles. The brushes I bought were natural bristle, better with oils, at Michaels. I am going to order some synthetic ones because I think that synthetics work better with acrylics and, having tried oils once, but only for a short while, I don't think that I need another thing to learn about right now.  My guess is that you might see more of these cups (well, I know that you will see at least one more) although I would like to find some old fiesta ware or something similar to work with. I think a trip to the antique/junk store or to GoodWill is in order. Actually, I painted another one but I will post it tomorrow. Something to look forward to (haha).  All is well and all will be well and all will most certainly be well, XOXOXO, Caroline

I  finished up the first of two class projects. The next project involves painting, stating, stenciling and otherwise designing deli paper to piece together to make a picture. Since I am not a big fan of deli paper art I might just do another painting with yellow lines. Maybe. I kinda like this, so another might be a good thing.  On the other hand, next class Sandy will show us her deli paper collage and it will look so good that I might have to give it a whirl.  Meanwhile, I have been using a long-handled bristle brush which is as different as can be from my usual short-handled synthetic sable or equivalent.  Learning all kinds of stuff this summer! All is well and all will most certainly be well, XOXOXO. Caroline

In my house I discovered that we had an old flatiron. I don't know where it came from or if it is original or a reproduction (and I really don't care). I also have a very small box iron that was given to me. All I can say about either of them is thank goodness for my steam iron and thank goodness for knits t hat I don't iron Of course I don't always iron linen either - something I picked up from my daughter whose Mother-in-Law was/is quite scandalized by such sloth. I figure that by the time I get anywhere linen is a wrinkled mess anyway. I do actually iron a dress I want to wear somewhere nice from time to time. I haven't gone completely hippie in my old age! At the bottom of this page I explained that "sad " irons are also called "solid" irons All is well and all shall be well,  XOXOXO, Caroline

All the abstract in me did not go away. Here is Abstract Expressionism, writ small.  This is 4"x4" and took about the same amount of time that the other small paintings take. Even with or maybe especially with abstracts, it takes time to put the strokes in the right places. What is not required is the time to set up, change and refine, photo, redo, photo again.  I have been trying to find a suitable arrangement for my next piece and I am not sure that I have it yet! All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO,  Caroline

Among my treasures is this wasp's nest that we found on an outdoor light at our house in the mountain. I cut it carefully off and have kept it for years.  It is very fragile so I keep it in an open glass jar. For this sitting it was accompanied by a feather I picked up at the beach - most likely brown pelican- and a pot/basket that Sara gave me for Christmas several years ago. I think that they make a nice trio.  On another note, we had rain yesterday for the first time in a long time. We needed it and I am sure that Louisiana was glad for it to come here instead of there! All is well and all will be well, XOXOXO, Caroline

I like this 4"x4" of shoes (they once belonged to my older daughter) and a scarf. AND, I learned something. I was having trouble getting the paint "juicy" enough to paint so small and get into the crevices of the canvas but not runny. I tried some of my Golden Open paints(the red) which are softer and a little more liquid - tomorrow's painting will be done with them and we will see how that works. I think that it might be the answer. If not, I have another thing to try but I am flat out of soft gel. All is well and all will be well, XOXOXO, Caroline

I updated my phone and now my photos won't download. I am sure that I can find a way to do this but probably not tonight. It has been a busy weekend with not much time to paint although I did a little sketching and added another color to my class project. I will have to share the photos another day.  All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO Caroline

The work we are doing in class began with a huge still life - it was spread over two 5 or 6 foot tables. We each brought in three things to add to it and there were also things in the classroom. The first day we photographed and sketched from it getting as many views as we could.  Here is one of the views I photographed. As you can see I have graphed the plastic serve it is in to  help enlarge and transfer the photo.  Here is the beginning of my piece. I have transferred the drawing and gone over the lines with yellow paint. This is a yellow line painting - the yellow lines will stay. It gives an interesting look. My teacher, Sandy, chose something with lots of patterns all over it, but I am too much the minimalist to do that. I know that hers will be great and that mine will either be good or that I will have learned a lot. Either is a good outcome, don't you think? All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO Caroline

It is strange, the lessons that painting every day can teach you. One of my problems is that if I am not careful my days and nights get turned around and trying to get back in sync with the rest of the world is a problem. That has happened recently, so yesterday I ended up painting when I really did not want to or feel like it. Not a good idea on my part. The result is a painting I am not especially pleased with of two of my favorite fish and a letter opener. I decided to show them to you, but perhaps I should have just gone to my good friend Gesso and covered them. Tomorrow I will show you what is happening in Art class. Yellow line painting. Interesting! All is well and all will be well, XOXOXO' Caroline

A month or so ago, while heading home from a visit to a house that the Simpkins Sibs had been renting to a family from Germany, Dean and I saw this scene. Everyone was heading home - the German family, we, and these cows. I just had to try for a photograph. Today while Vicki and I were out we stopped behind a trailer of cows - one white and three blacks. I studied hard because painting this had made me realize how little I really knew about cows. How  their ears are set, how their head joins their neck, etc.  I wish that I had seen that yesterday! All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO, Caroline

I took a tiny slice of the enormous still life set up for art class and made a tiny painting. The bottle actually says something about cider on it and the apples are in a beautiful and sturdy basket.  I love this little vignette but it did not think that it would be good for the class project. That being said, I might want to make another painting like the tiny one but much larger - I have some 30" x 30" canvases and I am comfortable working that size. I think that I could even go with this "new" technique, but I also think that I might get a few more minis done before I venture into larger territory. Somehow I managed to cut this one a little close on the right side but you get the idea.  All is well and all will be well XOXOXO, Caroline

Back to the fruit - tomatoes and a line this time. I am not sure about the dark place on the tomato at the left. It did not show up so dark until it was dry and  I had put all the paints awThis is aa 4" X 4" and I rather like it. More to come in the next few days  Tonight I went with Vicki and Lorraine to Friday night at the In Town Gallery where several of our friends have paintings hanging. Really interesting, nice to see everyone, and we went out for Thai afterwards. How can you beat that? All is well and all will be well,  XOXOXO, Caroline

I got busy working on my homework and nearly forgot to post this little fish - actually two fishies The one in the front is metal, patinated just a little by virtue of being several years old. I think that maybe if I had done him on a 6"x6" I might have been able to do a better job. but there is no guarantee. In the background is a glug pitcher. The tail of the fish is hollow so that when you fill it or pour from it there is a glugging gurgling  sound. I have a larger red one also from which I fill the dog's bowl with "fish water." He doesn't care but I like it. I don't remember where the starfish came from. We find so many live ones at the beach and always throw them back but I think I bought these long ago. For class I have selected a photograph, copied it in color and black and white, and put it in a sheet protector which I then gridded in two inch blocks. Next I cut down a piece of Mixed Media board to 16"x20" and gridded it in 4...

Here are two of the three paintings of the children. After making a 4" one, which had the children looking fairly square and quite young I made a 5"x7" which had them looking tall and older. I finally got it nearly right with a 6" square. This is not coming easily to me! Now for the news. Two of my previous paintings have been accepted for the Creative Arts Guild Festival in Dalton, GA, this September and October. My sister also entered and four of hers   were chosen. She sold a painting there last year - I hope that I can sell one or both of mine this year. Today was the first day of the last art class I will be taking this year. We set up a huge still life and will be making two paintings by two different processes, neither of which is the one I am learning now, I am sure that what I learn will be helpful, however. I took pictures and made some drawings so I will have those for my own work later. For the rest of this month I will be doubling up...

It was one of those days. I had a hard time deciding what to paint, a hard time sketching it from an 8"x10" to a 4"x4" (Ha!) or even a 5"x7". I couldn't get a decent skin color mixed and now it is so late that photographing the painting is a pain with lights and glare etc. So, tomorrow is another day and I will see you then.

 Anonymous asked about the difference between whatI did before and what I do now and I have been pondering the answer. There are some technical differences, but most of the difference is mental, I think. Alla Prima painting is an old technique that is defined as" at one time"  or painting "wet into wet." It is usually done with oils for the simple reason that acrylics dry very quickly. However, new OPEN acrylics have a longer drying time so some Alla Prima painting is being done in that medium. My before painting were usually begun with pouring diluted paint on a canvas or paper , playing around with it in various ways then waiting for it to dry before "finding" an image to develop. Once painting began I could go back into any area to darken, lighten, or in amy other way further define it, deciding as I went what it was to be. People who do this well, make lovey and interesting paintings this way. I did not, for the most part. The technique I ...