Tubes, Bottles & Brushes

 

Tubes, Bottles & Brushes  oil, 10x10 inches

Purchase info here. 

This picture is a bit blurry.  The painting is much crisper. Sometimes when I am not sure what to paint, I paint the things I paint with.  It makes for a colorful set up, different shapes, sizes and textures.  Paint tubes are among my favorite subjects.  Artists of all kinds fall in love with their tools, and I'm no different.  Do you have tools that you treasure?  

Painting Again -SOLD

 

Painting Again  oil 8x8 inches

Email for purchase info: karenwernerart@gmail.com

I'm very happy to announce that this little still life has been juried in to The American Impressionist Society's 22nd Annual National Juried Exhibition.  Held at the 1516 Gallery in Omaha, Nebraska, the exhibit runs from September 9 through December 12th.  This is my seventh consecutive acceptance into an AIS juried exhibition.  Even so, when it's time to submit, I enter two pieces and brace myself for the rejection of both.  You just never know.  

In anticipation of the exhibit,  I painted a large still life work (16x20) entitled "When They Were Little" with the hopes that it would be chosen. I thought the size and ambitious subject matter would appeal to the juror.  Two may be submitted, but only one can be selected by the juror. This accepted painting in my opinion is small but mighty.  Sometimes the simpler statement, even though small, results in a stronger painting.  Maybe that's what the juror thought.  Then again, you just never know!   

Six Hogs -SOLD

 

Hogs  oil on cradled panel 6x6 inches

Purchase info here.

I really had a great time with this one.  On social media recently a post asked us to "describe your job badly."  I wrote, "I take sticks that have hairs on one end and put oily stuff on canvas---just the right colored marks in just the right places."  Here are my hairy sticks.  Well, a few of them.  

IN OTHER NEWS:  I'm happy to report that recently I have started teaching a bit in Orange County.  Twice a month I teach a small class inside Mission Fine Art Gallery.  Geared for beginners and intermediate painters, you will learn a lot if you study with me.  Purchase one class at a time, or a series.  Email me for more information.  karenwernerart@gmail.com

I'm sad to report that Vanessa Rothe Gallery will no longer carry my work.  We are on good terms, but nothing is forever.  So if you're in Orange County, CA and would like to see a few of my pieces framed and in person, head on down to Laguna Beach soon.  They will only be there for another two weeks.  I do thank Vanessa for the nine sales she made for me.  

Berry & Brushes -sold

oil 6x6 inches For a closer look and purchase info click here. That was a really big juicy berry.

Blue Marble

oil 6x6 inches magnify/purchase info I've been painting more 6x6's lately. This one is from September. In the past few months I've had one physical ailment after another. I've tried to keep up my commitments as best I can and paint when I feel up to it. I started doing small daily paintings back in 2009 in order to develop my painting skills. Now I can also say that the little paintings are the ticket when you have time or physical limitations. Just a thought for any of you out there who want to paint, but think you "can't." Your comments are always welcome.

Balancing Act -a still life painting in oil

oil 8x16 inches magnify/purchase info For this one I used a daylight bulb to supplement my smallish north light window. I toned with a loose uneven gray wash and purposed to paint a vignette, letting the subject disappear into the edges of canvas.

Sandy on the lookout. Apparently she thinks my guard is down while photographing my painting, so she's helping by watching the gate for intruders. Always a big help!

Apple Of His Eye -a still life painting in oil -SOLD

oil 8x6 inches magnify/purchase info A short painting session called for a small canvas and simple subject. Looking at the one simple apple in my hand, a Bible verse came to mind: "Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings." It's a prayer, actually. Psalm 17:8 I deliberately formed a cross with my brushes. So here we have what might be considered a "religious" painting without looking "religious." It's more about a relationship, really.

Tubes & Brushes -a painting of paint stuff in watercolor

watercolor and gouache 9x12 inches magnify/purchase Okay, here's some watercolor stuff. My camera doesn't know what to do with white paper. It looks better in person. Have I said that before?

Oil Tubes & Brushes -an oil painting of art supplies -SOLD

oil 6x8 inches magnify/purchase Nothing beats a good old cruciform design. My favorite.

Grungy Goodness -an oil painting of artist tools

oil 8x8 inches magnify/purchase Sometimes figuring out what to paint is more perplexing than the painting the painting. In this case, I just painted what I paint with. What color is grunge? Kind of a yellowy-greenish tan-like pale ochre gray. I like it.

Tubes & Brushes -sold

oil 6x8 inches magnify/purchase Sorry about the glare. I continue to try different approaches in my work. Here, I worked with low natural light rather than a set up strongly lit from one side. For so long I have mixed paint on my palette, made a stroke, then the next, avoiding painting on top of previous strokes. Now I'm exploring the possibilities of mixing paint on the canvas with my strokes. Along with using thicker paint, this is freeing. I feel like I can do anything I want to and see how it turns out. I've begun to question the "wipe out" in favor of working with the paint, pushing it around, trying different stuff and letting it be. In the end, it is what it is. Maybe this one looks like somebody else painted it! Ha!

Paint Me Grapes

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Thinking "rectangles" for my previous painting resulted in such a fresh look, I continued with that thought for this one. It seemed to paint itself. That doesn't happen very often. I think I'll keep it, so it's not for sale. :-)

Studio Stuff

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

click here for purchase information and magnifier

The Daily Paintworks challenge this week is to "paint what you paint with." I've painted these objects before in various paintings, so I decided to include them all. After fiddling around with the arrangement for a while, I defaulted to probably my favorite, the good old cruciform design. The dark background was chosen to show off the metallic shine, white and pure color on the tubes.

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

One-A-Day-SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
sold
One year ago today I launched my blog. Carol Marine is responsible for getting me started, so I owe her a big big THANK YOU! I feel SO grateful to be part of a large supportive community of daily painters. Thank you, thank you, thank you... to everyone who visits my blog. I appreciate your comments so much...and your purchases...well, it helps me buy more paint! I hope you enjoy the above celebratory painting...the apple is for Carol Marine.

Father, Daughter

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

not for sale

The pendelum has swung from the silly (yesterday) to the sentimental. My dad was an accomplished sign painter. He could letter beautifully with brush and enamel in any style on "show cards", cars, trucks, boats and billboards...you name it. For the most part, a lost art now. This is one of his mahl sticks, complete with enamel blotches and years of grime from his talented hands. I love to run my hands along the grime. I miss him. When I started college, he took my Grumbacher brushes to his shop and cut the ends off so they would fit in my paint box. The coating is peeling off, so I don't use them, but I've painted them several times now. I kept the composition very simple here to maintain the importance of the objects.