Friday, July 29, 2011

Rear Reflections

Rear Reflections
4x4 inches
acrylic on gessobord panel

Finishing some last details on this....hoping to finish it up so I can finish packing for our camping trip!
The reflections were fun to play with - lots of crazy stuff going on with them. But all I kept seeing was how the tail lights and the chrome bumper made me think of a robot's face  ;-)

This may be the last new one for a while.....I will be without internet access for the most part except for an occasional trip in to the nearest campground - and unless I find a way to download photos, any painting I do will have to wait for when I get home to be posted. Expect to see a few posts "from the archives" in the meanwhile......



Rear Reflections - $45 + $3 shipping & handling in the US
(please contact me for international shipping)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Kohlrabi - New Still Life Vegetable Painting SOLD

Kohlrabi
6x4 inches
acrylic on canvas
SOLD

I am still touching up the edges of this canvas, but I wanted to get this posted tonight. This is the first of my Farmers' Market Series. Farmers' Market season is in full swing here in New England. I find the markets so inspiring - for cooking, for socializing, and for painting! I can't resist all the brightly colored fruits and vegetables!

I went to the Farmers' Market last week and bought this lovely kohlrabi. Being a good midwestern girl, I always had some of these growing in the garden when I was growing up, yet I hardly ever see them here in New England for some reason. I love the hint of purple and blue in the bulb, and all the leafy stems. I hope to continue this series of things from the Farmers' Market after our camping trip to Maine.....


Just a note - for those of you who told me that you had problems with my blog showing up in your blog feed - I hope it is fixed now. I have been trying to syndicate to NetworkedBlogs and have had just one issue after another. Please let me know if you have any more problems with it!
available at MiXtMedia Gallery

Friday, July 22, 2011

Parker River - New England Landscape Painting SOLD

Parker River
6x4 inches
acrylic on linen panel
SOLD

I am so in love with the marshy areas around the Parker River. Hope I will be able to get the family out there to wander again soon....I find the landscape there very inspiring!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Red Pear - New Still Life Painting SOLD

The Red Pear
3.5 x 2.5 inches
acrylic on watercolor paper
SOLD

It felt good to do a quick little one after spending so much time on the last painting! I love the color of these red pears - I keep buying them at the grocery store. I don't care too much about eating them, I just love painting them! Such a lovely color.

Went to the farmers' market yesterday.....love, love wandering around there...I'm guessing there may be more produce paintings in the near future!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Fruitful - New Still Life Painting by Debbie Shirley SOLD

Fruitful
5x5 inches
acrylic on gessobord panel
SOLD

It's been a couple of days since I posted last....painting went way too slowly on this one - I seem to have the concentration of a flea! I guess having three screaming little boys constantly running around me probably doesn't help much either.....but at any rate, I've been trying to do some stuff with the kids - summer always seems to go by way too fast!

This is for the DailyPaintworks.com Reflections Challenge from Abbey Ryan. If you haven't checked out the DPW site yet, you really should! Some amazing artists on there, lots of interesting challenges (it's always fun to see how different people interpret the various themes) and art auctions, too. I hope to give the auctions a try some time in the near future.

The next few weeks are looking awfully busy, and my posting may remain pretty sporatic, especially when we go camping in Maine (no internet access!), so I hope you will stick with me.......

Friday, July 15, 2011

Haynes Field - Plein Air Sketch SOLD


Haynes Field,
Boxford, MA
6x4 inches
acrylic on canvas panel
SOLD

This is what I did with my morning yesterday, a beautiful morning that was not nearly as hot or humid as it has been lately.....my kids were in a playground program and I had an hour and a half of free time (a true luxury in the summer!). So I went across the street to a beautiful field that is part of our town's conservation land and adjacent to many hiking trails. I found a shady spot in the back corner and spent my hour and a half on this little painting. It once again shows me things I need to work on (like clouds!) but at least I didn't feel like throwing my easel over a cliff this time! The plein air practice continues....

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Early Morning Water Lilies - SOLD

Early Morning Waterlilies
Lowe Pond, Boxford, Massachusetts
4x6 inches
acrylic on canvas panel
SOLD

This is the plein air piece from the other morning after I re-worked it a bit. I still would like to go back and try again another day! I read that the water lily blossoms open each morning and close by early afternoon and only bloom for a few days then they sink down in the water for the "fruit" to grow under the surface. I was at the pond just after sunrise, so that explains why not many flowers were open. I'd like to go back and study these further.

I spent and hour and a half painting in a field this morning while the kids were at a morning playground program across the street. A better expedition that my last plein air experience! I hope to post my painting from today later. I know I need to push myself out of my comfort zone a little and keep practicing the plein air work - hopefully I will start to see some improvement........