A Day in the Garden

Tis the season for painting in the garden.  gosh, trying to find a 3 hour stretch where there is no rain in the forecast is tricky but we did it.  I had my adult class over for painting in the garden yesterday.  We had such a wonderful day.  We did one sketch that we will work with in the studio next week to finish.  I don't have a lot to do to finish my sketch but will work on it a bit.  Here are some pics of the day.  You will find them in my ebay auction when finished.  Until then here is one that is up for bid now.

We are having a pretty amazing...early... Spring around here.  This painting of the cherry blossoms and lilacs is the first of the season with hopefully more to come.  The middle paitning is on auction this week on Ebay.  CHECK IT OUT

Portrait

My adult class wanted to learn some techniques to do a portrait in oil so I lead them through a step by step method used by the old masters.  First a wash of burnt umber, then a sketch in burnt umber w shadows, lights... like a sepia toned old photo.  Next a spray of damar retouch varnish, after it dries apply a transparent layer of skin tone, sky, grass etc.  Last step is opeque paint.  or maybe one more step... you can apply another glazing coat on the final piece to give warmth to the cheeks for instance.
Anyways here is the process using  a painting by Thayer as a jumping off point.  The finished piece is on ebay auction this week.  To Visit my Ebay Gallery.... CLICK HERE 

White Blossoms and Lemons

I began this painting as a demonstration for my adult painting class.  I really liked the set up and decided to put on some finishing touches and put it up for auction this week.  A cheery painting to go to a good home ;-)

Would you like to bid on this painting, or visit my online Ebay Gallery, CLICK HERE

Gearing up for May Shows

Gosh, there are a lot of things coming up for me.  The last week in April my painting, " King of the Prairie," will be in a fundraising auction for a local charity.
May 4  I will have a painting in Chris Mantle's Gallery show.
May 14 a couple paintings in the fund raiser for Crossroads local charity
May 15 Mayfest international will get two paintings for their show ( Scott's band will perform at Mayfest this year at the Bartlet Square stage)
May 20 and 21 our yard will be featured for their walking tour and I will have some paintings for sale

Standing Nude oil on 11x14 canvas

I need to take a better photo of this painting.  Sorry for the blurry face... I have another day of auction on this piece.  To visit my ebay auction site, and gallery, CLICK HERE

Foragers

I was playing around with this painting today and as I was scrolling through my many paintings I began to notice how many paintings I had done with woman foraging.  I never intended to paint all these paintings but I guess you gravitate towards things you love and they show up in your work whether you mean them to or not.  I love to forage, take walks and explore the wild places.  I am committed to the preservation of our gifts of land, water, air and of course the biodiversity that sustains us.

Herbalist outstanding in her field.... or is she out standing in her field?  ;-)  Either way... This is my friend, Louise who had visited my house and gotten a little chilly as she went out to my garden to see what I had growing out there, and borrowed my red shawl.... and no, this isn't a painting of my garden.  I combined a couple of photos to create this painting.  Since I love to forage and ramble around the fields around our home, I decided to put her in a field of flowers.

To visit this painting in my ebay auction and hang out in my ebay gallery, CLICK HERE

Here are some more paintings along those same lines