Red Rubies - Abstracted Pastel

"Red Rubies"
8 x 8" pastel on paper
Purchase Painting

A few days off and back in the studio today.

This started off as a piece of Stonehenge paper, used mostly for colored pencil work. I have a ton of it and I wanted to use what I had on hand. So I taped the paper down to a board and applied a 50/50 mixture of Golden Acrylic Ground for Pastels and water. I let it dry thoroughly and then applied the pastel over the ground. The pastels adhere beautifully.

Interested in Hot Rocks?

"Hot Rocks" was created in 2008 from my own photo reference. I used it yesterday as my profile picture on my Facebook account. I've received a lot of interest in the original (the original sold last month at an art gallery) and the art card (sold the last one yesterday.)

I had posted back in 2008, when I apparently had much more energy and time on my hands, about the work as it was progressing.  For a walk down memory lane, here is the link to the original "Hot Rocks" blog post. The finished piece is 5 x 7" colored pencil on Pastelbord.

Toward the Light

"Toward the Light"
11 x 14"
Pastel on Sanded Paper

Earlier in the year I started this painting - follow this link to check out the original painting. I've had it hanging on my display rack since I thought it was done. I wasn't convinced and today I decided to take it down and play with it some more.

I think i'm now happy with it - but hanging it up on the display rack makes "the finish" iffy.

New Painting "WildFlowers" Featured on Vida Products

My newest abstracted floral is pastel on paper that has been layered with ink, charcoal and pastel ground. Various layers have had a rubbing alcohol wash painted over them to give more of a watercolor look. I thought this painting would make a good design for my Vida Voices Collection.

If you like the look you can order by clicking on the link below each item. I will be ordering one of each of these and they will be available for sale at my studio during our 40 West Studios First Friday in November.

As always the painting can be purchased at the link in the caption of the original painting.

Hope you enjoy!

Wildflowers
8 x 8" pastel on paper
Original Painting

Wildflowers Scarf

80% Cashmere, 20% Silk

Machine washable

Wildflowers Sheer Wrap
100% Polyester
Machine washable

Wildflowers Modern Tee
100% Polyester
Machine Washable

Wildflowers 12" Square Silk Scarf
 100% Natural Charmeuse Silk,
Machine Washable

New Project on Vida

I received an invitation to Vida Voices to become a designer for their apparel. (Not to get too excited...tons of artists have been invited. I have even found some of my friends with shops on Vida.)

Always willing to explore, I thought what the heck, doesn't cost anything to upload my images and design several types of scarves, sheer wraps and tops. I even have a men's silk pocket square. The collection is all based on my abstract art.  Below I have shown the original art and the piece that was designed from the art.

Who or what is Vida? Vida's Story  

My feelings about the world and my art resonated with their story.

Until August 15th I am able to offer (through Vida) a discount to my friends. (You are all my friends.)

Enjoy 15% towards your purchase using code Welcome15-0808

OR

Enjoy $50 off your purchase of $250+ using code Welcome50-0808

To see my entire collection of designs, click here

Original Painting

Shop at Vida

"Seaside" Cashmere/Silk Scarf

Original Painting

Shop at Vida
"Serenity" Cashmere/Silk Scarf

An Award from Daily Paintworks

"Blues"
8 x 8"' pastel on pane

Woke up to the wonderful news that one of my pastels, an abstract to boot, has won 3rd place in the Daily Paintworks monthly contest. The judge this month was none other than Carol Marine, the famous daily painter. She and her husband are the founders of the website.

A little prize money doesn't hurt either!

The Big Move

"Lime and Pink"
2.5 x 3.5" oil painting
on miniature canvas panel
Click here to bid in auction

The time came in May to begin thinking about selling the house. In June I listed it with a real estate agent. She got the MLS listing all ready and turned it live on a Friday morning at 10:00am. By noon I had a wonderful offer, more than I was asking-I took the offer. The end of July I closed on the sale. I had actually found a lovely apartment in a walkable neighborhood the end of June. It was a little risky to sign a lease before the closing, but I would have been crushed if I lost the apartment.

So, getting 2500 sq feet of accumulated "fluff" down to necessary "stuff" for a 628 sq ft apartment was most challenging and emotional. My sister came from Omaha to help, she kept me moving. When I got bogged down in the sentimentality of my stuff, she would say "go ahead and cry, but keep sorting." I couldn't have done it without her. My son was the muscle, but not good at sorting into piles. Only I could really do that. Most of my furniture and good things went to the Salvation Army. They came in for free and moved it all out. Then smaller things went to the local thrift store, and the junk hauler took the rest. Then I had professional move out cleaners come in. When it was all done I cried my eyes out and then I breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as soon as I signed my closing documents I took off for Tacoma for a week for the annual Colored Pencil Society of America convention. I was exhausted, did my tasks for the convention, but I slept a good deal of the time.

Just this last Wednesday was the most normal day I've had in many months. (And that's a long story, and it doesn't merit reliving it here.)

When I start off painting again, I usually have to paint something small, and the subject is usually a lemon, lime or cherry. I could paint those in my sleep by now. But after a month of not painting, the brush feels a little unsteady in your hand and you second-guess every brushstroke you put down.

Today is the first day back painting. I managed to live through it!! And now my mantra is "I choose to live a joyful life." It's been dark for too long.

Back at Daily Paintworks

"Mini Lemon"
2.5 x 3.5"
Oil on canvas panel
 Bid on this painting here

I have always loved the Daily Paintworks community, but when my husband was battling lung cancer I had to let my account go. I just wasn't painting.

Now I have my art studio and there is LOTS of painting going on, I re-established my account. It's an inspiration to paint as much as I can.

I love painting these little mini paintings. Makes me feel really productive. 

I use high quality mini canvases from SharksArtCanvas on ebay. They craft the best mini canvases I have found.

If Only I Could

If only I could.....I would do a lot of things.

"If Only I Could"
5 x 5" oil over collage material and matte medium
Click here to purchase

Adrift

"Adrift"
5 x 5" oil over acrylic and collage material
SOLD

This is how I feel, adrift. So many changes happening all at once. All I can do is take a leap of faith and walk through it.

While on Vacation

"Walk About"
5 x 5" oil on Gessobord panel

"Purple"
5 x 5" oil on panel over acrylic for texture

"Me and my Shadow"
5 x 5" oil on Gessobord panel

Just returned from an extended trip to visit family and then a meet-up in Chadron State Park in western Nebraska. We rented a cabin with no internet service. I have a very teensy data plan so the phone was only for emergencies for seven days. Refreshing..just spent time talking and playing alphabet games. My 87 year old mother was one of my cabin mates. She was a trooper. So was her 8 year old boxer, Cami. My youngest sister joined us. My brother and his family tent camped up around the bend. I was glad we had the cabin. It got a little chilly most nights.

40 West Arts District Article

"Cross Over"
4 x 4" oil painting on a 5 x 5" Gessobord panel

The fascination with abstract continues!

As some of you may know my studio is in a 16-artist studio complex within the 40 West Arts District.

Colorado has 12 state-certified arts district. An online magazine called Confluence-Denver is writing a series of articles highlighting each of the districts. 40 West Arts District is up first with a few paragraphs devoted to our 40 West Studios complex. The reporter came to our March First Friday open house and we struck up a nice conversation which appears near the end of the article.

I'm so thrilled, the reporter captured the spirit of our arts district and has some lovely things to say about my art.

Purples and Turquoise

"Healing"
5 x 5" oil over acrylic on Gessobord panel
Click here to purchase

"Healing" on mini easel
suggested display

I've been having fun playing with texture and color.  On this experiment I used white acrylic paint to spread around on a Gessobord panel. Once the acrylic was dry I started applying oil paint sparingly with a brush and then used my fingers (with surgical gloves) to move the paint around and work it into the valleys caused by the acrylic texture.

Before I left the studio today I applied white acrylic to a cradle board panel with a wood surface. I can't wait to start applying oils and working it into the subtle color changes to see the acrylic texture pattern emerge.

Sea Greens

"Sea Greens"
5 x 5" oil on panel primed with acrylic ground for texture
SOLD

It's been a long week of not being able to get to the studio..what with the snowstorm and some other annoying things.

So today was a lot of catch up conversations with my studio neighbors. One of my artist friends is working on a piece with lots of texture. I wanted to try to see what I could do with the materials I had on hand. 

This is a Gessobord panel that has pastel ground, an acrylic product, applied thickly. Then I oil painted over it. I was originally going to just let it be a textured painting with color, but it kepy edging toward an ocean/sea feel. And then again it could be clouds..or just an abstract.

More Display Space

East wall of my studio with new hanging "system"

My studio neighbor Sean being a good guy

No painting today, but it was productive. A couple of weeks ago I was explaining to my studio neighbor, Sean Doherty, my idea for display/drying racks for my paintings (instead of lined up on the floor.)

He said he knew just what I was looking for. Yesterday he made a trip to the hardware store and returned with four 10' lengths of 5/8" J-trim, used for drywall.  A pocket full of screws, a level and an electric drill/screwdriver made this functional and beautiful "system" for me. About $16 worth of materials and a Chipotle gift card for payment of labor. 

Wild Things - A Rework of an Earlier Painting

"Wild Things"
6 x 6" oil on canvas panel
Click here to purchase painting

As I wait for my energy and brain power return after being away from home last week, I decided to tackle an earlier painting that I decided wasn't quite where I wanted it to be. This is now the finish...a little brighter a little cleaner.

A Little Strawberry

"Strawberry 315"
4 x 4" oil on panel primed with copper metallic acrylic
Click here to purchase

A quick painting to get back on track after a trip to Houston last week. I spent three days with the 12 other awesome women on the national governing board of the Colored Pencil Society of America. Lots of creative ideas, laughter and food/wine.

Abstracted Landscape

"220"
12 x 12" oil on gallery wrap canvas
SOLD

This was great fun to paint....a little each day. I am attracted to the bare tree figures against the abstracted landscape. There is no reference material, just my imagination, the paint and the brushes.

I specifically gave it a numerical title because so far everyone feels something different when viewing it.

Mini Paintings

"Mini Lemon"
2.5 x 3.5" oil on canvas panel
Click here to purchase painting

"Mini Lime"
2.5 x 3.5" oil on canvas panel
SOLD

This little paintings are so fun. For these two I painted the canvas with orange acrylic, let it dry and then painted the objects and background in oil. I like the little peeks of orange here and there.

Painted Red and Clowns

My two most recent paintings. I've been experimenting with taping around the edges of the image so when the painting is done, you remove the tape and you have a nice smooth edge which looks alot like a mat.

"Painted Red"
6 x 6" image on 8 x 8" canvas panel

The entire panel 

"Clowns"
6 x 6" image on 8 x 8" canvas panel

Framed and hanging on my gallery wall at 40 West Studios

I think these little cherries look like they are at a circus and so I decided they were clowns at the circus.

Rush and Rhythms

"Rush"
Mixed media 4 x 4" image on
5 x 5" panel
Click here to purchase painting

"Rhythms"
Mixed media 4 x 4" image on
5 x 5" panel
Click here to purchase painting

Very fun day..some music...other artists....beautiful weather.....and a bunch of paint.

My Next 30 Days

So, my last 30 day challenge was all about pastel abstracts. My next 30 day challenge is still about abstract, but in oil with alkyd and acrylic. I'm aiming to go completely to oil. There was so much to learn in the last challenge, I'm really looking forward to the next challenge.

"Long Division"
4 x 4" image on 5 x 5" panel
Click here to purchase painting

"Bits"
4 x 4" image on 5 x 5" panel
Oil paint, alkyd and acrylic - mixed media
Click here to purchase painting

Purple and Pears

"Purple and Pears"
8 x 10" pastel on panel
Click here to purchase painting

I'm re-purposing all my old panels that have unwanted paintings on them. This was a Pastelbord that had a horrible blue and orange painting on it. I washed and scrubbed it down to the grit, but not all of the old painting came off. So I painted the board a blue acrylic, then coated it with Golden ground for pastels (I love this stuff!) I put some initial lines and masses in with charcoal and washed it lightly with rubbing alcohol. This helps get rid of the initial linear marks and gives nice masses to then apply the pastel.

Again I'm playing with the idea of an abstracted setting for more realistic objects. It offers me freedom to use colors I wouldn't normally introduce, like the hot pink, or the little bits of pale yellow.

Red Cherries

"Red Cherries"8 x 10" pastel on panel

Trying a little realism with a little abstraction today. I took an old Gessobord panel, washed and scrubbed the old pastel painting off, dried it and then coated it with pastel ground. This left a beautiful light colored surface to add new pastel to.

Golds and Grays

"Golds 3"
11 x 14" pastel on sanded paper

Grayscale image...helps to see the structure of a painting
Darks help to direct the viewer through the painting.

"Golds 3" was started last Friday and, after surviving 4 days of snow and being in the house, finished yesterday. I thought I was done, but after staring at the image for awhile realized I wasn't quite there. Below is the unfinished version and it's grayscale. What I realized is the structure of my darks was virtually non-existent. I added some darks to the unfinished piece and it was much more satisfying. Not perfect, but satisfying.

unfinished painting...darks are needed

unfinished greyscale...it's apparent my painting is all mid-tones and lights

Five Queens

"Five Queens"
8 x 10" pastel on panel
Day 27 of 30 paintings in 30 days challenge
Abstracted Landscape

I worked in the studio later today as I wanted to stay down in Lakewood for an art reception tonight at the 40 West Art Gallery. There was a nice buzz of activity at the studios - a reporter from one of the lifestyle magazines in Denver taking a tour, a visitor in studio 8 next door, lights going up on the overhang out front.

After working fairly quickly on today's painting I headed down the block to the gallery and attended a reception for "Point of Departure" produced by the Athena Project whose mission is to empower women and strengthen the Denver community through developing and showcasing women's and girls' artistic contributions, while inviting new audiences into the creative process.

I love my art community!

The Nine

"The Nine"
9 x 12" pastel on panel
Day 26 of 30 in the painting challenge
Click here to purchase painting

I read this morning that nine saguaro cacti were vandalized at the Saguaro National Park in AZ in the last couple of days. When I read it my thoughts were how sad that some would essentially kill living things just for the "fun" of it. Then the story and my thoughts slipped from my mind.

Later today when I faced my painting surface I started making marks and laying in a few colors. Fifteen minutes into it I thought these look like trees...no they look like cactus and the story about the vandalism popped forward in my thoughts. So it become an abstracted landscape with saguaro cactus.

If you look closely you will find nine cactus of varying sizes and shapes. I'm still sad someone would do this to the beautiful saguaro.