Green Bottle and Kisses, 8x6

I'm in a green and purple mood this week. This is a Spanish water bottle, not perfectly round, but I didn't want to stress that too much. It makes it look like I can't paint a round object. Other favorite things here are books and dark chocolate Kisses.

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Nonchalance, 5x7

The beach was crowded with people, but this bird just strolled about in an unconcerned manner. I painted him on metallic gold.

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Blue Surf, 7x5

Thank goodness this little girl didn't venture too far into those big waves. The water was unusually deep blue that day, and not too inviting for swimmers, but spectacular in its beauty.

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Yesterday's post was a copy of Van Gogh's painting of the church at Auvers, and I was so pleased to receive the following comment:
 
"What a such pleasure to find lover of Van Gogh's artwork ! Beautiful tribute to him!
Hope to see you to Auvers-sur-Oise ;-)

The Tourist office of Auvers"

Wouldn't it be fun to go to France and tour the places Van Gogh painted and lived?

Church at Auvers-sur-Oise, after Van Gogh

Yes, this is a copy. I painted it while studying the Impressionists. I have been sick all week and haven't painted, so I decided to post this one. It has been exhibited a lot, with my painting group's "Friends and Faux" exhibit, and in a mobile tour of schools in Volusia County called, coincidentally, the VanGo Exhibit. check out the tribute to Vincent on YouTube. It gets me every time. What a sad life. He never sold a single painting, yet he never stopped painting in his own unique way.

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Orchids on Gold, 7x5

These orchids are on a metallic gold background. I find orchids hard to paint. Matching the colors is not easy, for one thing. I do love the way they have such fantastic blooms on the end of long skinny stems. They are also beautiful to me when they aren't staked up, but just hang gracefully. 

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Paris Crosswalk, 7x5

I looked down from my hotel window in Paris and saw these businessmen, briskly walking across the street. They presented a challenge in foreshortening, but I really like the point of view. I'm wondering what the guy on the left has in his backpack. Workout clothes? Lunch? Work papers? I'd like to think it's a bottle of wine, a hunk of bread, and some delicious French cheese.

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Red Vase, 8x10

A bit of drama here. It was so good to be back painting with the Pieces of 8 again after the holiday hiatus.

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Cliffhanger, 8x6

Now I'm getting the hang of it (no pun intended). These grapes remind me of an old movie with someone hanging off a cliff. I am still laughing at the comments from Carol, Catherine, Kathy and Susan about my last post, where I couldn't come up with a colorful title for the painting.
I've been working on a newsletter, and writing it is the easy part. I'm dealing with templates, html, lists, mail merge, etc. and my brain is tired. Who knew it was so complicated? If and when you see a subscription box for it on this blog, you'll know I finally got it done.

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Still Life with Fruit, 10x8

I could not, for the life of me, think of a clever name for this painting. I started it in Qiang-Huang's workshop and finally finished it today. I love the names Carol Marine comes up with for her still lifes. She gives each object a personality and sometimes they are in the midst of an adventure.

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Road at Versailles, 6x8

One could spend an entire day at Versailles and not see everything. Even Ponzi Scheme Perpetrators don't live as well as Louis and Marie. They came to a bad end, which is what I wish upon all Ponzi Scheme Perpetrators.

Speaking of living well, my husband and I now have iPhones, thanks to my diligent shopping and ATT's good customer service. We have spent many, many hours figuring out the phones and downloading special ringtones and apps. My husband used to say, "I just want a phone that's a phone!" until he got this one. We had a very nice Christmas and it's hard to get back in the painting groove. My pace was interrupted. I need a good dose of painting with the Pieces of 8.

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