Another new painting from my show...

Violets in Love

Oil on Board

10 x 10 inches

Currently available through The Gallery Collection at La Posada de Santa Fe

call Sara Eyestone at 505 954-9668

I really like this 10 x 10 format and I'm considering doing an entire series called 10 x 10 x 10.

10 paintings in 10x10 format with the numbers from 1 to 10 in the subject matter. I'll have to see how it develops. I'll post them here if it works out... if not I'll post the ones I like!

LIGUSTRUM & OLD COPPER

Ligustrum & Old Copper

20 x 24 inches

Oil on Board

Currently available through The Gallery Collection at La Posada de Santa Fe

call Sara Eyestone at 505 954-9668

This is called "Ligustrum & Old Copper" and it's the largest of my oils so far. It was painted from a photo that I had taken about 2 years ago. I was digging through my photos for something interesting to do on a 20 x 24 panel that I had prepared and this seemed to fit the bill!

Ligustrum has a gorgeous fragrance and the flowers that are in the painting produce really dark purple berries in the Fall. I may have to do a remake this Fall when they are at their fullest. I can use some of the same props and see how different it might look!

I am now represented by La Posada de Santa Fe... Call Sara Eyestone at 505-954-9668.

As I promised...

...of Tea & Oranges

9 x 18 inches

Oil on Board

Currently available through The Gallery Collection at La Posada de Santa Fe

call Sara Eyestone at 505 954-9668

I enjoyed painting "Orange Peeled" so much that I decided to follow it up with this one. I enjoy painting the luster of silver and copper so I paired up my oranges with this old silver pot. It's always fun to play with the reflections and trying to get just enough presence in it was a challenge.

I am now represented by La Posada de Santa Fe... call Sara Eyestone at 505-954-9668.

Just yesterday I was working with a radio playing in the background and I heard "...and she feeds you tea & oranges that come all the way from China" in the lyrics of a song I had long forgotten! (the title link will take you to a video Leonard Cohen and Judy Collins performing the song live in 1976)

Suzanne
by Leonard Cohen

Suzanne takes you down to
her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body
with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body
with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body
with her mind.

QUEEN LILY

Queen Lily

Oil on Canvas

20 x 10 inches

Currently available through The Gallery Collection at La Posada de Santa Fe

call Sara Eyestone at 505 954-9668

It's been such a long time since I've posted anything on this blog that I'm feeling guilty! I've found that Facebook has overrun my life and I've neglected my blogging friends.

Well, I'm back and I want to let you know that I have a solo show up at 764 West Gallery in New Braunfels, TX. This is the very last painting I completed for the exhibition and I think it's one of my best new works for the show.

Maybe sometime in the next few days I'll post the other new work. It's been a long dry spell for my easel but I finally broke through and finished 7 new paintings (some of them are really small, I admit it!) which were all completed in the frenzy of the month leading up to the show.

*******************************

The story behind "Queen Lily" was kind of serendipitous (is that a real word?) I was planning to put a white Prickly Poppy in this one and I carefully drove down FM2722 looking for some with my husband. I used leather gloves to handle them since they're rather viscious and gingerly brought them home, held them with pliers to anchor them on the flower frog in the bottom of the bowl, and set up my still life. I got so involved with painting the copper (one of my favorite subjects) and the rocks and water that before I started painting the flower it was far beyond dead!

I felt a little guilty about ripping a perfectly happy wild plant from it's roots and was anticipating going through the entire process all over again.

On a trip to the supermarket, I decided to just cruise through the flower department and found this lone group of Oriental Lilies. It was pretty impressive so I took it home and here it is...far more regal and it smelled WONDERFUL in my studio for the entire week. I've been back to look for another bouquet of them and I haven't seen any since then. The universe certainly had a hand in this painting!

I can't wait to find another one so I can do a few more paintings of this gorgeous flower!

Paintout Monday!

What a great day in the Fredericksburg, TX area! We drove the Willow City Loop and threw caution to the wind in spite of warnings not to stop along the road. We stopped at nearly every turn, took hundreds of photos and absorbed as much of the beauty as we could. Once I get them sorted I'll post my favorites on my facebook page.

After that we made our way to the ranch (many thanks to the Cunninghams!), indulged in a quick picnic lunch, scared off the rattlesnake and proceeded to paint. After warnings of rain and clouds, we were thrilled to find blue skies, sunshine and a warm breeze...not to mention some breathtaking scenes to be painted and photographed.

It was a wonderful day topped off with an early evening meal at Bejas Grill in Fredericksburg, a few gallery stops and the lovely ride home. I can't think of a better way to take the sting out of a Monday morning!

A quick photo of today's plein aire painting...

12" x 9"

Oil on Canvas

WANING AUTUMN & the Salon International 2010

"Waning Autumn" was painted to save the last colors of Fall. I'm from up north in NJ and I get really nostalgic when the leaves start to drop and the first chilly winds hit the Hill Country of Texas.

When I was growing up, my Mom and I would gather the colorful red, orange and yellow leaves that covered the ground all around New Jersey. We'd pick up the best and brightest leaves & take them home in a big brown grocery bag. Mom would heat up wax in a frying pan, we'd dip the leaves in the wax to preserve them and we'd hang them all around my room.

This was one of my yearly milestones that marked the end of Autumn and usher in the pre-holiday Winter events. The leaves outdoors would dry up and blow away but my collection would remain until the decorations of Christmas would take their place.

Now I live in Texas and although the Hill Country is beautiful, it offers no match for the brilliant Autumn colors that I remember as a child.

This year, when the chilly winds started to blow and the live oak leaves started to turn brown, I went in search of some local color! I found this lone tree on our property, nestled among the "winter naked" soapberry trees and live oaks, I clipped off some branches and tucked them into my favorite vase and put them in a place of honor... next to my easel. I set the light low to represent the "setting sun" of the waning autumn and did this still life painting.

I still don't know what kind of tree it is, but I'm taking care to protect it from harm so I'll be able to enjoy it's color again next year in the last days before Winter's return.

This painting is 24" x 12" Oil on Canvas and is currently available through the Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art in San Antonio. Come visit!

THE NEST EGG

"THE NEST EGG"

10" x 10"

Oil on Board

I started this painting as a demonstration during a recent event.

I found the nest with the egg outside a restaurant where I had just had lunch. It was just the inspiration for this composition. I'd recently found the bottle in a thrift store and the bird and butterfly motif was perfect with the nest. Sometimes things just seem to fall together!