White Pitcher, 11x14 Still Life Oil on Canvas Panel

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I'm trying to be more colorful with still life painting, especially when there is a subject with a lot of one color, as in this white pitcher. I had to depend on shadows and reflections for added interest.

Carmen

Peonies, 11x14 Still Life on Canvas

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Although I haven't been painting still lifes for a long time, I'm pretty happy with this one. Today Donna, Carol and I are going to do a lot of loosey-goosey quick still life paintings using the vast amount of information Elio Camacho tried to cram into our heads in five days.

Carmen

Blue Pitcher, 11x14 Oil on Canvas Panel Still Life

Donna, Carol and I just returned from the Elio Camacho workshop on Amelia Island, and it was exhausting and fulfilling. Elio is a master of color and kind critiques. We had five days of demos, lectures, intense painting, and shrimp. This was my first effort:

Once again, we ate shrimp at every meal. Fried shrimp, shrimp salad, shrimp chowder, shrimp tacos...I sound like Bubba in "Forrest Gump." Our favorite place was Timoti's, where they displayed this sign:

Now it's time to start preparing for Thanksgiving. Back to the real world!

Carmen

At the Movies, 30x40 Oil Painting on Canvas, Transformations Exhibit

 

Several years ago I participated in an art show called Transformations, in which each team consisted of an artist and a poet who collaborated to produce a painting and a poem. It's amazing how well-paired each team was, because many never met before this project.

My poet partner, Jean Shepard, lives in Jacksonville, so we met in Ormond Beach to toss around ideas for our collaboration.  When I was born, we lived in an apartment inside a movie theater, and my father managed the theater. She was fascinated by the idea of living inside a movie theater. She wrote her poem from my father's perspective and also made interesting observations on time and motion. All of this gave me the idea for a painting with my mother in the center, sitting on a crescent moon, surrounded by movie stars.
Here is Jean's poem, "At the Movies."

Being two with the hope of three,

it was all they could afford,

an apartment above the cinema

where for hours each day he was a god

at work, turning day into night,

night into day with a flipped switch.

Where he revealed moments

snatched out of time

and run through a light

for believers who sat in silence below.

When two became three,

they ascended the narrow stairs

carried a pink bundle to an empty crib

watched with fascination

the arms waving, the legs kicking,

the unknowing, introverted face.

But others waited below.

He descended to darkness and the machine,

the sour smell of celluloid,

its tiny pieces of the past

curled on themselves like a  shell.

As he turned the switch on

and watched the relentless streaming

he suddenly saw how we move in the world,

how we run forward while

looking back over our shoulders

caught up in continuous flight.

Then he thought of the pink bundle above him,

the new skin, curled fingers,

the tiny feet that had not touched earth

and he was afraid.

Everglades Spoonbills, 24x20 Oil on Canvas Wildlife Painting

SOLD

Thanks to our dynamic Brevard Cultural Alliance for exhibiting my Spoonbill painting at the Titusville Airport, where it recently sold. These beautiful birds were at Mrazek Pond in the Everglades; there were many species of birds there, including white pelicans. I realize now how lucky I was to get this shot, because I went back to Mrazek Pond on another trip to the Glades and saw no birds at all.

Spoonbills are unique. They have exquisite plumage and a face like a spoon.

Carmen

Mermaids, 36x22 Pen and Ink Drawing on Nautical Map

This map is different from the nautical charts to which I've added sea creatures (see my posts on July 25th and August 27th), but I think it works. I especially like the colors. Click on it to see more detail.

Three of us Pieces of Eight painters will be taking the Elio Camacho workshop again on Amelia Island. That is always an adventure in colorful painting and also an adventure in shrimp. The area is known for the very best shrimp, and it is hard to resist eating it every day. It's just like the scene in Forest Gump where Bubba is describing all the different ways of cooking shrimp. So many shrimp...so little time.

Carmen