No. 489 Our Barred Owl Day 7

 

 

 

Our Barred Owl - Mini

Oil on Linen Panel

5" x 3"

 

There is an old barn near our island property reserved just for owls. Lucky us, sometimes they hang out on our property too. My daughters and I spotted this one at the end of our driveway while walking the dogs. This is a quick little painting. I will give it another go when the weather turns bad and the flowers are gone.

 

This is the photo I took with some editing done in a great photo editing app called Snapseed. If you don't have this app on your phone or iPad, go get it right now. :)

 

 

 

No. 488 Back Lit Rose Day 6

 

 

 

Back Lit Rose

Oil on Gessobord

6" x 6"

 

 

The way the sun lit up this rose next to my deck was striking. It seemed to glow from within. So of course, I had to try and paint it. I wasn't successful in capturing all that I wanted but hopefully there is still a sense of that wonderful light here.

 



No. 487 Kathy and her Pansies

 

 

More Pansies

Oil on Gessobord

6" x 6"

 

I recently acquired an instructional video by the amazing painter, Kathy Anderson. A more enthusiastic painter simply doesn't exist. Her still life set up was very intriguing and she explained her process in detail. I have almost always used cut flowers for my still lifes. Kathy used whole plants - lots of them. So here is my attempt at using whole plants and one cut flower. I must add, Kathy is a huge fan of pansies!

If you would like to learn more about Kathy, her website is www.kathyandersonstudio.com

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No. 486 Cabin Countertop with Nectarines Day 4

 

 

 

Cabin Countertop with Nectarines - Mini

Oil on Linen Panel

3" x 5"
 

 

Several months ago I painted a little still life in this exact location that I felt was one of my very best.  It had just the look I would love to master. So, this was a trial to see if I could pull it off again. Well, I'll keep trying...
 

 

 

My painting location with my daughter, Anika, at the top of the brand new stairs Don built. Our tiny little cabin in the woods looks like it's about to be consumed by that cottonwood!

 

 



No. 485 Colleen's Bike Day 3

 

Colleen's Bike - Plein Air

Oil on Linen Panel

5" x 7"

SOLD

 

 

 I am proud as punch of this little painting. When I saw Colleen's collection of old bikes in her Coupeville garden, I knew they had to be painted. Could I paint something as complicated as a bike in plein air? I had serious reservations about that. It was a beautiful afternoon, though, and Colleen was very generous with permission to move the bikes anywhere I wanted to. So, I gave it a whirl. The bike is far from perfect but considering it was painted in plein air, I'm very pleased. Can't wait to go try it again!

 

 

 

 

 

Next time, I'd like to get more of the background in the painting.

 

 

 

 

 

Another bike in Colleen's collection.

 

 

No. 484 Day 2 The Neighbor's Hydrangeas

 

 

 

The Neighbor's Hydrangeas - Plein Air Mini

Oil on Linen Panel

3" x 5"

Sold

 

I noticed the beautiful way the morning sun was lighting up these lovely hydrangeas during my morning walk with my neighbor, Melissa, and my dog, Loui. It took several days before I decided they absolutely had to be painted. I'm very happy I caught them before they faded or the neighbor used them for a bouquet.

 

If you would like to see more work by artists participating in the 30 in 30 challenge you can click here. Get comfortable with a cup of coffee or tea, scroll down to the bottom of Leslie's post and you will see thumbnails of many paintings. Just click on any interesting painting you see to get a better view and read what the artist has to say about their work. Happy art viewing!

 

 

Hydrangeas in my own backyard after a summer rain shower.

 

 



No. 483 30 in 30 Challenge Day 1

 

 

 

Antique Rose Festival

Oil on Linen Panel

5" x 7"

 

 

Leslie Saeta is at again. Best known for her blog radio show "Artisits Helping Artists", she has reissued the 30 in 30 day challenge. I think this is her third year encouraging artists to produce thirty paintings in thirty days. The number of artists accepting the challenge each time increases dramatically. I understand the September challenge has over 500 artists participating! I first accepted this challenge in January. Why not do it again?

 

The challenge is loosely structured and entirely self policed. A theme is encouraged. So while painting everyday isn't a problem for me, posting to my blog is. So my personal challenge is to catch up on posting paintings. Also, as a theme I would like to work on is clouds. I will probably stray from this theme quite a bit but be ready to see quite a few cloud paintings. :)

 

The painting above is a plein air piece painted at the Antique Rose Festival at the beginning of summer (yes, I'm that far behind). I finished it recently for one of the art festivals I participated in this August.

 

 

 

 

Another rose from the festival. It looks like it has already been painted!

 

 

Hmmm, this photo might become a painting some day.....