Halie at the Pool

This is a memory of my granddaughter years ago. Now she is in her twenties, and I miss the hours playing with her and her sister in our pool. 

Carmen

 

Mother and Child, 11x14 Oil Painting

This mother and child were getting ready for a wedding. The photo inspired me to paint it, and when it is dry I will send it to Lisa, whose family is pictured. I haven't had an inspiration in a while, so this got me moving.

Carmen
 

The Black Hat, Portrait of Woman Original Oil Painting 8x10

$175

This is quite a departure from the 50-stroke paintings I've been doing. I don't know what got into me, but I really enjoyed this one. It has a vintage look but with a timeless feel. We need a little glamour now and then.

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Queen of Genoa, Small Oil Painting on Canvas Panel of Woman in Italian Cafe 5x7

Click to Purchase

This was one of the funniest days of my trip to Europe with my sister. We got off a train in Genoa, Italy at the wrong stop. We thought we had lots of time so were lollygagging outside the station and had lunch at this woman's cafe. She never stopped moving; she was cooking, serving, taking money, and talking the whole time.

When we got back to the station we found out we were in the wrong place and had to dash to a train to go to the right station to make our connection to France. On the plus side, I got the picture that inspired this little painting. 

Carmen

Paris Crosswalk, 5x7 Oil on Panel, Daily Painting, France

This is one of my favorite paintings. I took the photo from the window of our hotel in Paris, and I love the simplicity of it. I love Paris in the Springtime...I love Paris in the Fall...

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Rouge et Or, Oil Painting on Canvas, Portrait of Woman with Red and Gold

Purchase

I went for a bit of drama here. I used metallic gold paint, which is hard to appreciate on a computer monitor. I had some fun with it. This is a larger painting, not a "daily painting," 18x24 inches.

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Color My World, 8x10 Oil Painting on Canvas, Portrait of Woman

This was my contribution to the Pieces of 8 challenge for July, which was to paste a half face to a support, then do a creative rendering of the other half. Everyone did an amazing job, which you can see at Piecesof8art.blogspot.com.

Summertime always means painting between traveling and yardwork. Am I still a full-time artist if I keep stopping to pull weeds? Hmmm. Not sure. This week I was weeding four feet away from a large snake, but he was pointed the other direction, so I didn't bother him and he didn't bother me. I did keep an eye out, though. I try to be at one with nature, as long as nature isn't a roach. I will kill myself trying to get away from a roach.

I complain a lot about weeding, but in truth I enjoy gardening, and in my family we have a name for that. It's the "Chulie Gene." My grandmother Chulie was a master gardener, and most of our family is infected with the Chulie Gene. My niece actually has a nursery, Paradise Found, and works like mad to grow very exotic and unusual succulents.

See what I did here? I plugged the Pieces of 8 and my niece's nursery, all in one blog post!

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Lining It Up, 11x14 Original Oil Painting on Canvas Panel

Not for Sale

This is our grandson Reece, age 14 when the photo was taken, lining up a putt. His father and son activities have always included ATV racing, hunting, fishing, baseball, etc, but as far as sports go, he fell in love with golf and is really good at it. His dad is the golf team coach. What a good dad.

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Silver Sandals, Oil Painting on Canvas, 18x24, Figurative Painting

NFS

This is my daughter Suzanne getting ready for my sister's wedding. It was a lovely occasion in Middleburg, Virginia.

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Street in Venice, 8x10 Oil on Canvas, after John Singer Sargent

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I'm still on a Venice kick. I copied this Sargent painting because I liked its mysterious air and because I felt I could learn from it. The two characters on the right look a bit shifty, if you ask me. Sargent spent a lot of time in Venice, as any artist should. It is a completely unique place now as it was then, Old-Worldly beautiful.

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Italian Man, 10x8 Original Oil on Canvas, Figurative Art, Portrait

This man was waiting for a train outside Venice and the light was shining so beautifully on him. In spite of my digital camera having that delay before being able to snap the first shot, I did get the picture before our train pulled out of the station. 

I hope I see Venice again before I shuffle off this mortal coil. What a beautiful and unique city.

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Three Portraits, 16x20 Graphite Drawing

This was a long-ago commission, graphite on paper. I haven't done a portrait in this style for quite a while.

I have been devoting too much time to marketing art and not enough time to doing art lately. I don't like that. I start thinking of my painting time as a guilty pleasure, and that is warped thinking. That's my job, and if it happens to be a pleasurable job, well, good for me. I've also been neglecting my health by not exercising enough. I told my husband I was going to suffer from flabosity if I didn't change, and he said there is also danger of gelatiny (pronounced jel-at'-nee). Such a wiseguy.

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Broken, 16x20 Oil on Canvas Portrait

This painting has been on exhibit in the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery's "Word" show this month. Artists were given three words to be possible titles for a painting. I picked "Broken" and painted this homeless man. He looks like he has been broken by life; maybe by addiction, or foreclosure, or even an illness that bankrupted him. He has a sad story that is written on his face.

Patrons visiting the gallery opening were given the list of words to see how many they could match to a painting. A very clever idea, isn't it?

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Glitterati, 18x24 Oil on Canvas

Click to Purchase

I used metallic gold paint on this one, and I am very pleased with the result. It's shiny gold, a bit Klimptish, just as I wanted. Or perhaps the term would be "ForKlimt." heh heh. This is not a daily painting; it's larger than usual, and quite a departure from my landscapes and seascapes. Just browsing through my blog, you might think I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. This one with its gold is truly what you'd call (as Cindy Michaud would say) chasing shiny objects.

This original is available on Saatchiart.com. 

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Girl in a Kayak, 6x6 Oil on Board

$99, Click to Purchase

I was standing on a bridge when this lovely sight suddenly appeared, and I was fortunate to get a shot of her before she sped away. I'm so lucky to live where there is so much water. In an interview I once was asked where I would live if I could live anywhere in the world, and I couldn't think of a better place than here.

I am continuing my list of irritating, teeth-gritting things we put up with (see previous posts):

From my son:

4. People driving slowly in the left lane.

5. Airplane passengers who bring carry-ons so heavy they can't lift them into the overhead bin.

Coiffure, 5x7 Pen and Ink Drawing

$39, Click to Purchase 

Sometimes my hair looks like this when I get up in the morning, but not as interesting. When I drew this Zentangle I was thinking about the "Draw Me" girl--remember her? She was the ticket to correspondence art school.

This morning on the news they postulated a theory that profiles are usually drawn like this because the left side of the face is the more attractive side. My theory is that a right-handed person draws it nose-to-left, and a left-handed person draws it nose-to-right. Applies to horse drawings too. That's just my theory.

Today was the first day of the Qiang Huang workshop in Melbourne. We have a very enthusiastic class! Qiang already posted his first painting to his blog--click on the link here to check it out.

The Kayakers, 6x6 Oil Painting

These folks were kayaking on beautiful Lake Crescent in Washington State. They presented a bright and sunny picture with lots of color. Wonder how long I'm going to mine my photo collection from our Washington trip?

Happy to report that I won Second Place in the Contemporary Fine Art International September Art Challenge with my collage, "Femme Fatale."

PURCHASE

City Girl, 9x12 Oil on Board

Seattle is a beautiful city, and a very busy one. This girl caught my eye as she was striding purposefully down the sidewalk with her big bag. I love all the hanging plants in the city, especially the dangling ones like the one above her head. The composition pleases me, as do the reflections in the doors.

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