Finished!

"Still Life with Grapes"

3 x 5", acrylic on canvas
SOLD

I finished this piece last night. I thought I was done before that, but I decided to go back in and work the dish a little more and to add the stem connecting the grapes on the left. You couldn't really see the stem in the set-up, but in the painting, it looked like the grape was floating. Painting grapes is fun.....it also makes me think of harvest time, so I may have to come up with another still life using grapes and a fall theme. Hmmmmmmmm........

Work in Progress

Here is a still life I am currently working on:

It is based on this month's painting challenge on about.com. The challenge is to paint a still life using two objects - a wine bottle and a piece of fruit. I kind of waited until the last minute for this one since we had been out of town, and when I went to start it, I realized - oh, horrors - no wine in the house! So I substituted another glass bottle. I will still submit it if I get it done in time and they can decide if I strayed too far from the intention. I am enjoying this one- I like the set up, too and may have to do a larger version including more of the bottle and background. I am also experimenting with something new for me - I am using acrylic glazing medium. I am slowly building up color by using thin layers of different colors. I am liking the effect - I think I will be experimenting with this medium even more.

I hope to finish this early next week.

A New Look!

I'm playing around with a new look and a new format for my blog.

I'm also hoping to post more - talk about works in progress, plans, what I am looking at and reading, etc. I plan to make blogging a more regular part of my schedule when the kids head back to school.

I'd love to know what you think!

Voting is Open!

The theme for this month's challenge on the ACEO Challenge Blog is "balloons". Here is my entry....it is titled "the Journey"

"The Journey"ACEO, 3-1/2" x 2-1/2", acrylic on 140# watercolor paper

SOLD

Check out all the entries for this month's challenge - it is hard to vote for just one!
http://theaceochallenge.blogspot.com/2010/08/aceo-challenge-3.html

Back in Town

Back in town again after two weeks in northern Maine.

Lots of hiking, a little relaxing, some reading and a little art were all part of my vacation. (Not to mention keeping up with three very active little boys!)

I was able to complete a few ACEOs while away. I am going to list them in my Etsy shop one at a time over the next two weeks. The first one I listed is this one, Black-Eyed Susan:

acrylic on 140# Canson Montval watercolor paper

SOLD

I was playing with a new kind of acrylic paint - it really wanted to act more like watercolor than acrylic! It took a while to come up with something I could be even slightly happy with. There were lots of Black Eyed Susans in the woods - so they became the subject of a few drawings, too.

This is the first one of the drawings that I have listed:

marker on 100# Strathmore vellum

purchase information

More to come.....