Ruby's On The Pier -sold

oil 10x8 inches Click to PurchaseYesterday I met up with Dana Cooper, Dori Dewberry and Katie Costello to paint at Balboa. We had a great time in the cool breeze painting with our feet in the sand. First time painting the ocean, so I didn't expect anything other than to just practice and have fun. When I got home I thought about using the photos to make adjustments, but decided to leave it looking fresh, not stiff. A long time ago I heard a watercolorist say, "Do you want your painting to look like fresh sushi or well-done beef?" A very valid consideration. I want to eat my beef, but paint like sushi.

The Lovely Egg -sold

oil 6x6 inchesclick here to bidMy submission to the Daily Paintworks challenge. This color combo excited me right away, but I thought I'd be nuts to try and paint that pattern with the glass and all, and my painting time was limited. Tried other simpler things, but went back to this because it still excited me the most.

Bay Arcade

oil 12x9 inches not for sale When the kids were little we made frequent trips to Balboa Island. Here in the Fun Zone we'd visit the arcade where our little girl got really good at Skeeball. We'd take the three car ferry to the island and let the kids swim in the bay. I took the photo for this painting about a year ago. It's one of those rare places that thankfully, hasn't changed much. Lots of nostalgia, and I like how the painting turned out too. Fair News: I'll be demonstrating as well as volunteering in the Gallery Store. Here is my basic schedule for demonstrating: Labor Day-10-7, Fair closed on all other Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays-4pm to 10pm, Thursdays-10am to 5pm, Fridays-10am-4pm, Saturdays-10am to 4pm, Sundays-12pm-7pm(excluding the 16th).

Gala & Grapes -SOLD

oil 6x6 inches Click to Purchase I had a good week, but alas, not much time for painting. I managed to paint this one before I went to bed last night. Tomorrow I'm off to the Pasadena Museum of California Art to attend the symposium on Edgar Payne. Yay! The LA County Fair opens a week from today. Preparations are still under way in the Millard Sheets Gallery, but the "Art Store" within is ready and full of beautiful work from paintings, to art glass, sculpture, ceramics and jewelry. Elizabeth Carr is graciously sharing her gallery space with me. We hung some pieces yesterday and our booth is looking fabulous! I'll try to post some pictures and specific demo times soon.

North On Haven

oil 8x8 inches Click to Purchase While driving up Haven Ave. last week at dusk, the light was so beautiful. I saw everything in yellows and violets. At a red light I snapped a photo. My red traffic light arched way into the center of that beautiful sky, so I left it out. I toned my canvas with Indian yellow and while I left some showing in the sky, it is a lot more subtle than this image shows. LA County Fair News: Looks like I'll be in the Millard Sheets Gallery Thursdays through Sundays. If I get more specific demonstrating hours, I will let you know.

Crimson Floral

oil 20x16 inches Click to Purchase This larger painting became quite a learning experience to put it mildly. I was done with the painting before it was done, if you know what I mean! Bigger brushes and piles of paint was the easy part. I guess I need to develop a longer attention span. :-) Below are the various steps I took to get a background I liked.

Here the dull color doesn't enhance the painting, and the drapery folds are a distraction. Yuk. I carefully wiped it off, and retoned the wiped areas.

Simpler design and the color enhances the flowers better, but now it seems unbalanced and the background seems too close to the vase.

I clipped a flower and added it for balance. Then I pushed back the division of surface and background. (See finished, at top.) I could have avoided all this if I'd taken more time with the background in the beginning. I find it irritatingly amusing that I can paint objects, but have a hard time with backgrounds! I'm open to suggestions if anybody has some. Thanks, everyone who commented on the last post.

In Progress

oil 20x16 I've been working on this larger piece and thought I'd show the progression as of today. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I've been painting only small paintings for three years. I knew I needed to start painting larger, and seeing the Edgar Payne exhibit at PMCA on Saturday gave me the kick in the pants I needed. Bigger brushes and bigger piles of paint feels SOOO good!!!

The arrangement is backed by an olive drab drape, which I will use for value and shape but alter the color a bit in my painting. That jug is not part of the painting, it's just to weight the front of my platform because the vase is so heavy. I toned the canvas with alizarin and cad yellow.

I started with the flowers first because they'll move and die. I did have to wipe out one whole section of alstromerias because they got overworked. I like to do flowers almost like Chinese brush painting, just a few strokes. All these shots were taken with my beloved iPhone. :-)

Loved painting all the subtle colors in the vase. Maybe the sides aren't perfectly matching, but i think I can adjust when I paint the background.

Early on I decided to place the vase slightly off center which necessitated another object for balance. Grapes seemed perfect. Not wanting to go to the store right then, I grabbed some fake grapes I had laying around, a bit concerned that they'd look fake in the painting. I think not. After painting them, I sprayed them with water so I could see where the highlights would be. So glad I've painted lots of real grapes. It helped.

Island Alley -sold

oil 10x8 inches click here to bid On Thursday five artsy friends and I got out of the 108 degree heat by heading down to Balboa Island. We had a fabulous time. Several passers-by and my husband too, seemed surprised that of all the sights on the island we'd pick an alley. It's the shadows and lines that lead you right into the painting. It's the telephone poles and the subtle color in the distance. We all agreed that the residents were super friendly and we could paint there every day for a year and never paint the same thing twice.

Fishing Day

oil 6x8 inches Last Saturday after painting out at Yorba/Slaughter Adobe it was still only 10am. I went home for lunch and got a chair and my little Malti-Poo, Sandy. At Prado Regional Park we plopped down under a big shady tree and really enjoyed ourselves. I consider all my plein air work practice/experimental. I'm happy with the water and distant shore. This is the first time I've tried adding moving figures to a landscape. Fun.

Red Truck -sold

oil 6x6 inches sold I couldn't resist Carol Marine's Daily Paintworks Challenge. Love painting anything red.

Field Sketch-Barn

oil 8x10 inches click here to bid Yesterday I took advantage of a cooler day and got outside to paint. I drove out to historic Yorba/Slaughter Adobe where I've painted before. Along the road is this view of the barn. I really enjoyed myself as you can see by the wild application of color. Maybe it was sound of gunfire closeby. I was right next to the shooting range. I kept wondering about stray bullets and without realizing it, I painted much faster than usual.

Double Delight

watercolor 8x8 inches Click to Purchase I hadn't worked in watercolor in a while, so Wednesday night at my painting group I thought I'd tackle Carol Marine's DPW challenge: a rose. Yeah, try something really hard since I haven't done it in a while. My friend Martha told me it's a double delight after she served wine with bugs in it. She didn't mean to. What's a little extra protein? Double delight!

I've been framing to get ready for the LA County Fair. The Franken Frames Carol Marine mentioned are great. Looks like the cow wants out, though. Someday I'm going to build my own frames, but until then these work well. Also pictured, I'm using the "mirror trick" I learned from Roos' video. For an explanation, see the comments in yesterday's post.

Old & Dusty Galleano

oil 9x12 inches Click to Purchase I paint what excites me. Sometimes I'm surprised by what excites me. Here, bottles and fake grapes are covered with a hearty layer of dust. The scene had an old world feel to it. My scruffy bristle brush made nice rough edges where I wanted them. Drawing the bottles, I used Roos Schuring's mirror trick to check for accuracy. Worked wonders. This shelf is outside, in the carport at Galleano Winery. Painted from a photo reference.

This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA