Day 12

Japanese Doll

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

I painted this in Ned's class on Wednesday. Ned Mueller is a world

traveler as well as an excellent artist. He has a lot of very interesting items

perched, hung and hidden around his studio from his travels. This doll

is one of them. I wonder what I'll get to paint the next time I

visit his class..... or maybe even borrow. Hmmmmm

Day 11

Oil on canvas

5 x 7
Click to bid
 

I painted this piece on Monday. It dried for a few days

before I took it outside to be photographed. This method seems to

work pretty well for avoiding shine. The biggest difficulty now is in

dodging raindrops while I'm out there. Good thing it's not a watercolor!

 

The piece I painted today is a total bomb. Holy cow. If I can't figure

out how to fix it, you my friend, are never going to see it.

I've have a little pride you know.....

Day 10

Ruby Beach

Oil on Canvas 6x6

 

This is another painting from our Lake Quinault trip. The rock

formations on Ruby Beach are pretty spectacular.

The whole Olympic Peninsula is pretty spectacular!

The weather was wet, cold and a little windy but it didn't stop

the hearty souls in the plein air group. What's a little bad weather

when you have such a wonderful subject to paint?

Day 9

 

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7
Click to bid
 

This 365 day project has changed my life - as far as thrift stores go.

I've never been terribly excited about going to them until I needed to find

inexpensive subjects for still lifes. Now they have become treasure troves!

The hunt to find that exquisitely shaped vase or creamer for

a mere dollar or two -  I get antsy just thinking about it!

Day 8

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Oil on canvas

6x6



Wow! I've finished my first week. Only 51 to go!

On the one hand I'm thinking, "My that went fast" on the other

I'm thinking, "What the blankety, blank was I thinking?"

I dearly hope I will learn to paint and post faster and more efficiently.

Otherwise, this is going to be a bumpy ride!

Day 7

Oil on canvas
5 x 7

  This little piece is back out at Lake Quinault. It was painted the first day of our PAWA get-together from the side yard of Jan's cabin. The fall yellows really stood out on this grey overcast day. Although the weather wasn't terrific, what else can one expect in a rain forest? The average rainfall here is around 135 inches a year!

Day 6

Oil on Canvas
5 x 7

  I was in Coupeville on Whidbey Island this weekend. We've had a long stretch of grey, wet weather but this weekend the glorious sun returned - at least it did in Coupeville. So I was back outside painting, which is my favorite place to be. The two pieces I painted this weekend still need a bit of touch up before posting. So instead I've posted a painting from a glorious summer morning at a city park just east of downtown Coupeville.
     The red building in the painting is the Coupeville Wharf on Penn Cove. Built over a hundred years ago it is a main attraction in the town (and very picturesque too).

Day 5

oil on canvas 6x6

While I did do a painting today, this isn't it. :) I've decided to let the paintings dry a few days before I photograph them. I'm hoping this well help with the shine issue. I also stopped using my favorite Daniel Smith medium. We'll see if this helps. So in the meantime I thought I would share some of my more recent paintings.
I painted this in October with Plein Air Washington Artists (or PAWA) during a really wonderful get-together at Lake Quinault. One of the members owns an absolutely amazing cabin there and was very generous in hosting us. I hope she invites us back again someday!!!

Day 4

Oil on canvas

7 x 5

Click to Buy

Few! Got this one in under the wire. Still having difficulties getting a good photograph. My brother, who is a photographer, gave me some good tips. So I guess I'll have to play with it some more. Or I might just have to let these dry for a bit first.

All that aside, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It's time for me to go and clean up all the special Thanksgiving cookware and pack it away until next year....

Day 3

Oil on canvas 5x7

Alright, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to start this project just before Thanksgiving. Between cleaning, shopping, cooking, trying to finish a painting and the worst part of all - trying to take a decent picture of it it - I'm feeling a bit frazzled.
I painted this yesterday. The funky little red shapes are dogwood leaves. In person the shapes of the leaves a wonderfully varied. Getting them to read properly in a painting, is another matter. Live and learn they say!

Day 2

  Still Life #1

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

 

 Click to Purchase

 I painted this little scene last night using items I had purchased for Thanksgiving dinner. The sanity part of this equation has already been tested as I battled to photograph the painting today. I either got nicely saturated colors or no shine. Saturated color, of course, won out. Looks like I might have to purchase a polarizer for my wonderful husband's camera.
We are having some crazy weather here. Yesterday we had 2.15 inches of rain. We had a break this morning but it looks like the wind and rain are back. Just in time for my daughter to walk home from the bus stop.

Day 1

Here we are! First day, figuring it all out. Today is a good day to paint as it is pouring down buckets outside. I thought posting a self portrait might be a good way to break the blog in.  I started this project six months ago with great hesitation. Really, the last thing I wanted to stare at for hours on end was my own aging face. I told myself that this would be a good first step to doing something I am exited about - painting portraits of my daughters.