Day 160 Showing at the Grill

 

Too busy painting to take a picture of a painting for the blog.

So, I'm going to show off my current show at Anthony's Woodfire Grill in Everett instead. :)

 

 

This painting sold the day we hung the show!

 

 

View from inside the restaurant. Love those sailboats!

 

We were able to hang 20 of my paintings around the restaurant.

Crossing fingers that many of them will find happy new homes.

Day 159 Iris Vase with Gerber Daisey

 

Iris Vase with Gerber Daisey

5 x 7

Oil on Gessobord

 

Phew! Paintings are framed, delivered and hung at the Woodfire Grill.

I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Day 158 Double Cherry Blossoms

 

Double Cherry Blossoms

Oil on Gessobord

5 x 7

 

Trees with huge, dense clusters of cherry blossoms give

me a special thrill. So of course I had to try painting a bunch.

I guessed they would be a challenge and, by golly, I was right.

 

Spent almost the entire day today getting ready for my show

at Anthony's Woodfire Grill on the Everett waterfront. A reception

will be held this Wednesday evening from 5-9pm. Stop by and

say "hi" if you can. Happy hour prices will be in effect for the

entire evening - just mention you're there for the reception.

Day 157 Spring Green on the Snohomish River 2

 

Spring green on the Snohomish River 2

Plein Air

5 x 7

Oil on Gessobord

 

Returning back to the Snohomish River on yet another gorgeous morning.

More or less the same view as the first one, just a different composition.

Day 156 Plein Air on the Skykomish

 

Skykomish River View

Plein Air

5 x 7

Oil on Gessobord

 

Tuesday I drove out to Snohomish for more plein air and

just kept driving until I found myself in Monroe. This is a

great view from Al Borlin Park. I like to call this painting alla Ned.

That means I painted it plein air, I took it into my oil painting

class with Ned Meuller where he gave me some advice on composition and

also proceeded to paint on parts of it. I wish I had taken

a before picture to show you. Ah well, next time.

Day 155 Snohomish River Plein Air

 

Spring Green on the Snohomish River

Plein Air

Oil on Gessobord

5 x 7

 

 

We have had the most amazing weather recently.

This time of year sunny days MUST be taken advantage of.

In July, August, or September you could waste a sunny day but

the rest of the year, no way. This is because it could be many days,

a week, two or even three before you get that glorious sunny day again.

So naturally I spent it outside painting. One of my all

time favorite things to do. 

Day 154 Tulip Triangle

 

Tulip Triangle

5 x 7

Oil on Gessobord

 

I once read a book on organizing for creative people. According to

the author, creative or "right brain dominant" people hate to

put things away. The reason being, the moment it's out of sight it

is completely forgotten. I don't know that this is true of all

creative people but it is certainly true of me - much to my husbands

dismay. This painting is a case in point. I put it in a wet painting

carrier to dry and immediately forgot about it. Yesterday, I

rediscovered it while looking for places to store more wet paintings.

 

 

Day 153 Resting

 

Resting

Oil on Gessobord

5 x 7

 

I tried my hand at painting a live model last Friday at

Eastside Life Drawing in Bothell. I really liked the way

her hand hung gently down and the "S" shape of the red pillow.

 

Day 152 tulips and Pansies

 

Tulips and Pansies

Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

6 x 6

 

The tulips are from my lovely neighbor Melissa. Thank you Melissa!

Somewhere she got the idea I like to paint tulips. The pansies are

from a flower box on my deck. Needing flowers for still lifes has

given me a very dangerous excuse to buy plants. I'm having a

hard time figuring out where to put them all.

Day 151 A Lost Painting

 

Tulips and Daffodils

Oil on Canvas Board

5 x 7

 

I almost forgot to post this painting. I painted about a month ago.

Elizabeth had given me some suggestions to improve the composition

but I hadn't gotten around to following her advise yet. However,

I'm very behind on photographing art. I photographed this

quite a while ago. So here it is! When I get around to applying

Elizabeth's recommendation I'll post the new version and see

what you think...

Day 150! The Neighbor's Camellias and Tea

The Neighbor's Camellias and Tea

Oil on Gessobord

5 x 7

 

Continuing on with the Camellia theme. This is the last one.

A fun little teapot I picked up in a thrift store last week.

 

On a separate note, I have now painted a painting  a day for five months!

Few! Only seven to go......

Day 149 Neighbor's Camellias #2

 

The Neighbor's Camellias #2

Oil on Gessobord

6 x 6

 

I really enjoyed painting these camellias. It's been interesting

 finding out which flowers hold up well for painting still lifes. Only a few so

far can lay on a shelf out of the water and under a strong light

unwilted for up to four hours. Camellias get two thumbs up for this. 

Day 148 The Neighbor's Camellias

 

The Neighor's Camellias

6 x 6

Oil on Gessobord

 

I did it! I knocked on the door of a neighbor that I only knew

slightly and asked if I could have a Camellia flower or two. To

be fair it was a low risk situation since I was planning on taking

the flowers that had already fallen on the ground. She was so nice

about it though that I bucked up and asked if I could trim off a short

branch. She was okay with that too. What do you know!

 

Is it just me or do you think this might be a nice Mother's Day present?

Just a thought. :)

Day 147 - Another 8 x 10 for the Grill

Purple Tulips in Tall Glass Vase

8 x 10

Oil on Canvas Board

And another one to be displayed at the Grill in May and June.

I'm pretty happy with this one. More gorgeous tulips from 

RoozenGaarde.

Day 146 Tulips in Glass Carafe

 

Tulips in Silver and Glass Carafe

8 x 10

Oil on Canvas Board

 

Another 8 x 10 for my upcoming show at Anthony's Woodfire

Grill. These are the same tulips from RoozenGaarde.

They were magnificent! The carafe (I'm assuming that's what

it is) is a recent thrift store find.

Day 145 Painting at the Cabin

 

Tulips at the Cabin

8 x 10

Oil on Canvas Board

 

I'm getting ready for a show at Anthony's Woodfire Grill in

May and June. Most of the show will consist of my daily paintings.

I wanted to add a few larger ones to the mix so I'm painting a few 8 x 10s.

This is quite possibly the first 8 x 10 still life I have ever done.

I painted it while we were staying at our cabin on Whidbey Island. Megan and I

purchased the flowers at RoozenGaarde Gardens in Mt. Vernon.

A beautiful place to visit in the month of April.

Day 144 Brass Pitcher Returns

 

Purple Tulips with Brass Pitcher

Oil on Canvas Board

5 x 7

 

A more simplified version of the tulips than I have been

painting. That brass pitcher is a pretty cool little piece. It needs

to model more often. I'd love to know its history.

Day 143 Early Spring in Snohomish

 

Early Spring in Snohomish

Oil on Canvas Board

5 x 7

Plein Air

 

On a breathtakingly beautiful spring morning I packed up my gear

and headed for downtown Snohomish. There is a "sweet spot" there

full of Victorian homes and flowers. I was a little too early for most of

the flowers. Thank goodness for plum trees! I found this very charming,

two hundred and twenty five year old home to paint.

For us in the Northwest that is a really old home.

Day 142 Tulips in Blue Vase

 

Tulips in Blue Vase

Oil on Canvas

6 x 6

 

Tulips continue to fascinate me.

 I especially like the ones with two sets of petals.

Day 141

 

Cherry Blossoms with Red

Oil on Canvas

6 x 6

 

I've been walking my neighborhood with lust in my eye. So many

flowers I'd love to paint! I really wish I knew many of my neighbors

better - especially the ones with pretty flowers. :) It really doesn't pay to

be bashful. Believe it or not these cherry blossoms came from my very own

yard. I just couldn't resist putting red behind them.

Day 140 Elizabeth's Flower

 

Elizabeth's Flower

5 x 7

Oil on Canvas

 

Oh yes, not only do I borrow still life props from friends but

I also run off with their flowers!  A big thanks to Elizabeth Kincaid for

letting me trim some branches off of a beautiful tree in her yard.

The flowers were so crazy I could only get one to cooperate for

a painting. Unfortunately, I don't know what they're called.

Elizabeth could you enlighten us?

Day 139b - Megan Slish Sloshing in the Tulips

 

Megan Slish Sloshing in the Tulips

Oil on Canvas

5 x 7

 

 

The painting I promised yesterday.

Our trip to the tulip fields was a very soggy one.

That red umbrella made a great accent though didn't it?

Couldn't have planned it better myself.

Day 139 - Of course, more tulips

 

 

Thursday my daughter Megan and I took a trip up to see the tulips in Mt Vernon. The

tulip fields weren't at their peak yet but there were some awesome daffodil fields to

see. We stopped at Roozengaarde display gardens while we were there, always a

feast for the eye. Below are a few photos I took while we were there. Later that

evening I painted one of the photos with Megan in it. I don't have a photo of the

painting yet, my apologies. I will have it up tomorrow.

 

Day 138 Still Painting in Coupeville

Since the weather was not cooperating I had originally planned to paint under cover on the deck of the Island County museum. Then the sun came out and that changed everything. So I found another vantage point to paint from. Things were going pretty well until once again the rain rolled back in....

Day 137 Painting in Coupeville

Spent the afternoon painting in downtown Coupeville. I've always admired the look of these buildings while driving down to Front Street. As I was walking buy the Knead and Feed restaurant the smell of cinnamon rolls dragged me indoors. Guess what I'll be eating for breakfast tomorrow!
Painting buildings in plein air is definitely not my forte. This one will certainly need more work back at the cabin.

Day 136 - Painting in the Valley

Spring Creeps into the Valley

Plein Air

5 x 7

Oil on Canvas Board

We had some truly wonderful weather recently. The kind of 

weather that makes me wish I were an opera singer. Ah, spring.  So

of course one can't paint inside on a day like that. This is a favorite

painting spot near my home - a little artistically edited of course.

Day 135 - Purple Tulips

Purple Tulip Still Life

Oil on Gessobord

6 x 6

I finally found an arrangement of the full bouquet that I liked.

No hair pulling that day either!

Day 134 - Warning!

During my oil painting class with Ned Mueller I spent

three hours painting a charming Chinese red lion. At the end of

class Ned came by and added a few touches pulling it all together.

We were both pretty satisfed with the result. So after class I carefully

put the painting in the trunk of the car and drove merrily on my way.

When I got home I opened the trunk to find the painting below in

the very same place I had put it but with half the paint missing.

Really? What on earth had happened here?

It took me a day or so to notice a paint covered volleyball lurking

in a dark corner of the trunk. So here is my warning -

Wet paintings and volleyballs do not mix

(Unless you like the mysterious look)

Day 133 Tulip Angst

Teapot Lid

Oil on Gessobord

6 x 6

I couldn't resist one last trip to Central Market for a bunch of tulips.

I remember being so excited to get home and arrange them for a great still life.

Little did I know it would take me over an hour to figure out something

I was even remotely happy to work with. I was so frustrated that hair pulling

seemed like a good idea - my hair, my husband's, my daughter's, my dog,

anyone's would do. This is what I ended up with. You'll be happy to hear

everyone's hair is safe - for now.