Reading blogs...

Okay, I confess... I've been spending my time reading blogs instead of writing one.  It's your fault.  If you didn't write such interesting blogs, I'd... well you get the idea.  I did take a couple days off painting to recoup from a diverticulitis attack.  Not a lot of pain this time but no energy.  It's over and I'm back at the easel.  Yeh!

The picture below is basically finished.  I played around with the palette knife on the trees.  A bit messy but fun to do.  I'll sign it when it's dryer and probably add a dab or two of paint as I watch it dry.  I'm hoping to paint it larger but I'm a little nervous it won't turn out.  Just because I painted it once doesn't mean I can do it again.

8"x10" oil on canvas art board

Have a great week everyone.

My Flower Boxes

Frilly Yellow Pansy

6"x6"x 1.5" gallery wrapped canvas

Sides painted 

$100.00 or $78.00 for multiples

I love my little pansies.  They're painted with Winsor-Newton and Van Gogh water soluble oils. Two painted so far; ten to go.   I think of them as my winter flower boxes.  I hope you enjoy this touch of spring from my easel.

Myra asked:

My blogging buddy Myra at The Art of Dancing is like Chocolate, asked me to add my pansy to her pot...so I did.  I think our art goes together rather well... don't you think?

I'm enjoying my water soluble oil paints.

The water soluble oils are working out well.  The worst of the smell comes when I open my wet pallet each morning, but I solved any problem that might have caused by pointing the humidifier (portable one on my counter) so it blows over the pallet and away from me.  I further compensated for the odor by storing the wet paintings in the guest bathroom on a little table over the furnace air vent.  I also ensure that I throw out any paper towels I use while painting each day instead of throwing them in the garbage can under my table, like I used to do.  Now I notice very little smell.     P.S.  I use walnut oil to make fat washes.

I'm really enjoying painting with these paints.  They're soft and smooth but thick enough that they leave a nice texture on the painting.  I really like the cleanup time.  It's so quick.  I have a bar of pure soap beside my sink and within a couple rinses they're clean. 

As far as taking so long to dry, that hasn't been a problem.  I'm enjoying having several paintings on the go and several choices as to what I should paint when I start.  I can paint something detailed or continue with some underpainting.    

Life is good...  Happy painting everyone.

Two of the unfinished paintings in the drying room.  

Both 8"x8"x1.5", oil on gallery wrapped canvas.

How do I feel about losing my job?

Myra asked how I felt about losing my job:  I love it.  I was trying to figure out how and when to quit without letting my boss down.  Now I'm keeping to a new home schedule that has me painting a minimum of an hour a day (that's lots for me) and an hour of painting lessons.  Then there's all the other time I spend deciding what to paint, reading blogs and just plain dreaming about painting.  Being retired is wonderful!

Here's an update on the frilly pansy I'm working on:

My goal is to paint twelve different pansies.  They are such a happy flower don't you think?  Great to paint this time of year.

So much fun.

A New Year Begins.

I love new beginnings.  This year is exceptionally exciting because the store I manage has closed it's doors and I have more time to paint and to study how to improve my art.  I always start a new daily schedule this time of year and this year I have an almost completely blank calendar to build on.  So much time to have fun.

Today was busy with taking down the last of the Christmas decorations and catching up on some of the chores I couldn't get to when I was working everyday.  I did squeeze in some painting on my yellow pansy though, so it was a very successful day.  I look forward to a great year of painting and blogging. 

Below are the two paintings I am working on.  

8"x8" daisy and 6"x6" frilly pansy

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas