Punta della Dogana (after Maggie Siner) - NOT FOR SALE

I love architecture.  Even more, I love the way Maggie Siner paints the beautiful architecture in Venice and France.  I used Maggie's painting of Punta Della Dogana to guide me for painting semi-abstract architectural structures. I am very happy with the result, and intend to hang this one on my wall and use as a guide for future paintings.

Dropped Something -- SOLD

I had a bouquet of flowers from Trader Joe's that was on it's way out, so it was time for another floral!  This began as many more flowers but I simplified it to one flower.  I also experimented with a new color today: Permanent Magenta which was a lot of fun.  With such a bright color, and small 6x6 board, I think simplification was a good idea.  The yellow in the background is a big stronger than shows in the photo.  I will keep trying to get the photo just right so it is more accurately represented.

Handbags and Tea - SOLD

I've never painted an interior scene before, so this was an adventure: drapery, table, chairs, proportions ... yikes!

Why Handbags and Tea?  In Amsterdam, there is a charming little Museum of Bags & Purses.  After seeing 500 years of ladies' handbags, one can visit the charming little tearoom.  It was one of my favorite museums!

Around and Down -- SOLD

I had fun painting this painting.  In the beginning, the bottle was a different shaped wine bottle -- the kind that looks more like a Pellegrino bottle or Perrier.  It was really causing problems getting the top shape just right, but I was torn -- I really liked the label on that bottle!  When it came time to paint the top shape of the wine bottle, I switched that bottle for one with a more traditional shape.  Problem solved!

The rose is a silk rose, but I wanted a little more in the painting than the  bottle and the rose, so I took some scissors and cut out a petal.

I was pretty happy with this one though.

Pork Rose

It's been a few weeks since I've posted, and though I was feeling rusty, I painted my first rose and am pretty happy with it.  I thought the rose was going to be more problematic than the pig.  Boy was I surprised!  I had a few titles in mind:  "Pig N Rose", "Rosy Pig", but I am happy with Pork Rose.

Southern Rooster -- SOLD

I guess I'm on a rooster kick.  I love the colors in their feathers.  I had a lot of fun painting him.
He had so many colors in his beautiful feathers.

Wrong Room Buddy -- SOLD

There are times when painting can be so easy and a painting simply paints itself.  I know that all artists (writers, painters, sculptors, etc.) all feel this way.

This was not one of those times.  Originally there were three corkscrews, but the bottom corkscrew kept reminding me of a dead grasshopper on its side.  Don't ask me why.  I have no idea.  Then I thought about toenail clippers or a potato peeler - none of which worked with the composition.

I decided to go with the spoon who looked as though he just slinked into the wrong room.

Volendam Rooster - SOLD

I recently went to Amsterdam and there were these gorgeous chickens and roosters walking around town, so my friend and I took photos of them.  Today on my lunch hour, I needed to paint, so I painted this proud guy.

Two Against Two - SOLD

Squared Off, Two Against Two, The Pow Wow ... I had a few titles in mind for this painting, but saw a little aggression and movement coming from the apple slice on the right, so I went with Two Against Two.

Pitcher Nudge - SOLD

Yesterday, I bought different size boards today:  5x7 since there is a new Utrecht Art Supply store 2 blocks from my home!! Whoo hoo!  I was so delighted to discover this!  I like the new board size, too.

This is from a reference photo provided by WetCanvas member user "SweetBabyJ".  Thank you SweetBabyJ!  I changed the front apple to a red one (from one of those yellow / red multi-colored apples) because it just wasn't working for me.

Two apples are nudging the pitcher towards the scary dark space behind.  I don't think he's going for it.

SOLD - Stolen Daisies

I have not abandoned thee!  I have returned from Amsterdam, and getting back into the groove of my LA painting life.  Stolen Daisies is simply that:  two daisies growing wild down the street that I stole.  There.  I said it.  I admit it.  Arrest me.

Paying Respects - SOLD

I am alive!  I had a nasty cold last week that left me with just enough energy to get to work and that was about it!  It is interesting how when I don't paint for a while, I start to question whether or not I will still be able to paint!  These little cherries are paying their respects to the Power of the Purple.

Swim Charlie Swim! - SOLD

Has anyone out there seen JAWS as many times as I have?  When I set up this little still life, a scene from JAWS popped in my head.  Two guys are trying to catch the shark for the reward and one of them gets pulled into the water with a piece of the pier.  When he starts swimming back to the pier, the guy in the "safety zone" sees the ominous fin behind him and yells "Swim, Charlie, Swim!"  That's what I thought of when I positioned the one cherry so that the "pier" (or boat) is just a knuckle away from safety.

Barbershop Forkette -- SOLD

I was still having fun with forks yesterday, and found four very different types of forks in my silverware drawer. This painting is one of the ones that I have liked the most.  I like the composition and the highlights in blue.

My Fifth Day at Carol Marine's Workshop

This day was business business business!  I don't have a painting for this day, but  here is a photo of all the paintings that Carol painted for the week.  Drool ... 


We covered everything from how to photograph our wet paintings, getting started with your blog (at least I have a head start there), selling tools, a few things about Photoshop, and more!


I enjoyed this workshop immensely and learned so incredibly much!  Carol is extremely organized and is an excellent teacher.  I loved every minute of it, and it was so sad to say goodbye to my 17 new friends, but I am certain that we will see each other again!

My Fourth Day at Carol Marine's Workshop

I had a ceramic bell, so that's what I went for.

Here are the paintings that I worked on.  I had a hard time with the bell initially, but worked on it again and was finally happy with the bell.  The problems were a couple of things.  First, I had bought some Galkyd to use as a medium which dries incredibly fast.  Not a good idea in the dry Sedona climate, and not a good idea when paintings need to be adjusted.  So I had to start over on a whole new panel!  Second, my drawing was way off.  

WONKY BELL

The second time around, I got the drawing of the bell right.  Carol had spoken about the ellipse.  She continued her drawing right off the panel, and this really helped with my 2nd bell.  Frustration wasn't the word because I was almost in tears with frustration with that bell!  

BETTER BELL

The bell painting isn't isn't finished, but I will finish it.  I also photographed my set-up.

Carol's set-up

Beginning of Carol's demo

Carol painted such a lovely demo when demonstrating the glass! In my previous post, I included a picture of the painting that Carol did after the workshop that wasn't a "demo" per se since the entire class was not there, so the morning of the 4th day at the workshop, her demo was glass. 


What I loved about the demo was the restraint used.  Just a little pop of yellow in the middle of the daisy.


In the past, I have painted with tons of color.  My understanding is that this is common for beginners.  This little painting was just darling.  Form the flower by painting the negative space around the petals instead of seeing all the different petals.  Suggest them.  Don't define them.  Strangely, today we fixated on comfortable bras.  This probably wouldn't have happened if there had been any men in the class.  LOL.  Such a fun group.

Finished product

My Third Day at Carol Marine's Workshop

The third day we focused on brushstrokes and composition.  Our exercise was the "no fussing" exercise.  It was one of the few paintings that I actually finished.  Every stroke was a different color even if it was slightly different:  altered with white or grayed down.  It's a great exercise for getting your brain out of the habit of "fussing".  The painting should end up looking like a mosaic.  I had actually tried this exercise from one of the Dailypaintworks Challenges and named my blog Mosaic Hippo as a result since it was the first painting on my blog!

Upon Carol's recommendation, a bunch of us visited the Windrush Gallery in Sedona.  What a visual feast!  Afterwards, a few of us returned to the Sedona Arts Center for some after the workshop painting and a glass of wine.

Carol was gracious enough to paint some glass for us and produced this beautiful morsel.

Fork it Over -- SOLD

Yesterday, I went on another "Still Life Item Quest".  Initially, I only intended to visit what was an awesome Flea Market in Santa Monica.  At some point, the Flea Market changed locations, and can now be perused in less than five minutes!  Since that wasn't satisfying, I continued my quest to Out of the Closet thrift store, 99 Cent Store, and CVS looking for items to paint.  I found a vase, a few cups and plates at Out of the Closet, made my way home and painted this.  I'm pretty happy with it even though I fussed too much with the pear.

Time Constraints - Orange Cup

Sorry for the boring title.  I will do better next time.  Time constraints (for instance, a lunch break) when you are painting cause some interesting results.
There is no time to fuss or you won't finish.  Yesterday, I walked down to Goodwill and another thrift store on my lunch hour and bought some colorful dishes.  I ended up with some awful blisters on the bottoms of my feet because I had on bad shoes, but I was NOT going to be a weenie because I had made a poor choice in the shoes I wore.  

Today, I decided to paint the orange cup from my Goodwill purchases.  Next week, I will stock our work refrigerator with a few fruit and vegetables and grab them when I want to paint them (or eat them).


I'm pretty happy with the looseness of Orange Cup which is a direct result of the time constraint.

Memorial Sand Day

I haven't quite finished this one.  I need to make a few more adjustments and I should be finished.  I like the direction that it is headed though.  


I was so inspired by Carol Marine's beach scene painting that I took some photos of my own and painted one of them.  Initially, there were three little girls in my painting, but one of them was giving me a problem, so I removed her and brought the ocean waves around.  My friend made a funny comment about that.  She said something like "what if life was like that?  If someone is problematic, you simply paint them out of it."  That sounds like it may have been an episode of The Twilight Zone.  


Here are the before and after, but like I said, I haven't finished yet!

Before

After