Snow Capped

I enjoyed painting this one and it turned out ok but it was a challenge. Every painting is a challenge but even in the challenge it's always fun to see what comes out in the final panting. This is an 8x10 from Paint My Photo site.

Wildmill in the Distance--30-30 Challenge

I love old windmills and this one from Paint My Photo was just a wonderful photo. As you know I am do the Leslie Saeta 30 paintings in 30 days for the month of September. It really is a challenge but since I have found the site with the copyright free photos it has really freed me up. I would much rather paint my own photos and I will try and do that also within this challenge. But for today this windmill called me.
It's a 6x8 and if you want it you can purchase it here.http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/martha-lever/windmill-in-the-distance/164937

30-30 Challenge--Red and Orange Tulips

This is a little 6x6 of some tulips. I love tulips and I love to paint them. This photo is from the site
Paint My Photo. This is a wonderful site that has all sorts of copyright free photographs for people to paint. They actually want you paint the photos rather than charging you $200 or more to paint one!
iStock Phots etc
It's nice for a challenge like this one where I paint everyday and sometimes my own photos just don't float my boat that day.  All they ask is that you try to post the link the original photograph from the site. I have been searching for this link and I can't seem to find it. But I will be more careful for any ones that I post in the future from this wonderful and very generous site!
Here is the original photo.

30-30--Apples on Green

I am doing Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days.
It's for the month of September and it's just a great way to make yourself paint something everyday. I try to do that anyway but it's fun to post it on her blog with all the other wonderful painters who have signed up. Many of them I have come to admire.  So here we go!

This one is oil on 12x12 panel.

Hey Y'all!!

Well, I guess summer is about over and it's been a busy one but it looks like my September is going to be even busier. But I have been painting or at least trying to. My new endeavor is to paint some children--facing the other way or partial face. Even the partial face is a challenge.
 This is little sweet Gabe from my church.  I ask him to turn around so I could take his picture and I do think he thought that was a little strange. But like the sweet kid that he is he turned around and the sun caught him right in the eyes as I caught his picture. We were all at a beach party for our pastor's 60th birthday celebration.

Maybe I will give this to his sweet mother. It's just practice so---and there are many miles of brushstrokes to go before I am feeling comfortable with the oil paint. It's getting better though.

I will "BEE" on vacation for a little while...

Meanwhile...
I know I haven't posted anything in a while but I have been really busy with several things. I have been making books. This is one that I wrote several years ago and never published it. So I put it in Blurb and made a book of it. It is really cute.

But goodness gracious--the prices including shipping are too high! I guess it's because it's full color but this is surely not an option for this little 20 page book.
Here is the inside. They really did a great job but it took me hours to format it to their specifications.

But here are the Blurb links to the book and the eBook for your iPad or iPhone.


So, as I said I will be taking a little bloggie break but still busy with Lollapalooza classes, making books and visiting grandchildren.  I will see you all soon!!!
Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Hughes Easel

 I have been saving my money to buy myself this fabulous Hughes Easel because at the touch of your hand it moves up and down and side to side. I have a back that doesn't like for me to stand up too long at a time so I have to sit down and stand up, sit down and stand up while I paint and this easel allows me to adjust the painting whether sitting or standing.

YAY!

 

 Here are my guys putting it together. No problem!

 

 "And I helped!"

Sugar Pot

Yesterday was our monthly art buddy painting day with my buddies, Rynda and Betty, and we again painted from our current favorite painting book, Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Gregg Kreutz. We choose an interesting painting from the book, read what he says about it and then attempt to paint it. It is a great exercise to "paint what you see" and just basically log in brush time. The more brush time---the better painter you are. This sugar pot was actually quite a challenge because of the shapes and the lights against the darks as well as the darks against the darks. All in all it was fun painting together since each one of us paints in a different style and interprets it differently. If you are a painter, find some buddies to paint with. You... and they will benefit from it!

More of Lori's Tulips

My buddy, Lori, is a very good photographer and here is another shot of her tulips that I painted today. Painting glass is tricky for me. My mind says to paint the glass where really I should just paint the reflections. It's a test in painting colors and shapes that you see with your eye and not think in your brain.  I fractured it a bit which gave it a more distressed look.

Julie Ford Oliver has a tutorial on Daily Paintworks to show how to fracture. I love her paintings.

Sweet Little Gigi

I have been wanting to paint little Gigi for a while now. Gigi is very old and is working on her 9th life now. She lives next door to my studio and her owner, Sarah, is such a sweet neighbor that I thought I would try to capture Gigi for her. Gigi doesn't come outside much any more but this time she was having a nice little rest on her favorite chair. She posed for me. I am certainly not a cat person only because I am allergic to them but I do love Gigi. When it dries I will give it to Sarah.

"Lollapalooza One" Brag Book

Well, I just have to brag on my very talented

 and creative  "Lolla" students!!

 I want to share some of their

 fabulous "Snippet Journals!"  

Michelle LaPoint

June Taylor

Janie Husband

Jane Ellen Kimball

Raine Phoenix

Pam Osburn

Teri at Quinceberry

Joyce Cook

Margot Bigelow

Aren't you impressed!?

The New Brown Vase

11x14 Oil on Panel
Buy it HERE

Sometimes when you are waiting at the hospital there is nothing left to do but go shopping at the gift shop.  There are treasures to be found there. I found bracelets and little zipper pouches made by Kelly Rae Roberts (if you don't know who she is you should google her) and this fabulous brown ceramic vase.  I just had to get it so I could bring it home and put it into some still lifes. It has a cute little ceramic flower on the top of the handle but the leaves covered it up. 

I hope all of my "Lolla Sisters" are having fun spraying their journal pages and having a big time.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions at all--- or you can do that in the Question and Comment section within the class.

Waiting Doodle

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday! This is a little doodle in the composition notebook as I was sitting and having to do some sitting and waiting these past few days. Thank goodness for the enjoyment of the doodle!

Image taken with my iPhone.

Happiness

More fun chunky versals...and a good quote from Eleanor. She had lots of good ones.

Red Geraniums

It's always nice when I paint from a still life and I feel satisfied with the results.  This Geranium plant actually looked pretty bad so I had to stick some other leaves in it and pump up the flowers.  I bought this plant several weeks ago with the intention of painting it and never got around to it until today. I am pretty much a plant killer so I watched this beautiful plant's health get worse every day. I even try to do right by them too! It's frustrating. I think I need some Miracle grow or something.

Pink and Grungy

This is a paint-over of a recent scrape-off.  I could still see the design so I painted over it leaving the background showing through. I still enjoy a grungy look which is a throw-back to my mixed media days.  This one is an 8x10.

Do The Things...

All I can say is----yep!

Pour L'amour de Cezanne

This is my attempt to break out of my color comfort zone and push some paint around.  I was inspired by one of Cezanne's paintings. I love many of Cezanne's still life paintings because they are a little wonky and grungy and full of texture (or is it the pixilation on my screen from a very bad online image?)... 
so this one is in honor of Cezanne. I pumped up my colors a bit.

11x14 Oil on Panel

Here is his:

Red and Orange Poppies

Well, I am in a comfort zone for sure. I need to break out. (I have been listening that song on my iTunes---remember it? it was 1989 and look how current she looks--except for the shoulder pads. Wonder where she is now? Probably enjoying singing Break Out to her grandchildren...)
I am digressing...
I think I have seen these colors before and this set up too. I keep gravitating toward them. But I am just putting in my brush time but not being very brave and adventurous in my still life set ups. I struggle with setting up still lifes. This isn't even on a canvas. It's on Arches Oil paper.  It's not quite as intimidating as a canvas and I can always tear it in two if I want to! Ok, time to break out.  Any suggestions as to how to do that??

Organic

More Chunky Versals. This word was fun to write because it has all the fun shapes of letters that go well together. Sometimes when I have to put two "Os" or two"Ss" together it is a challenge. But this one was very simple and .....organic!

Favorite Blue Vase

I am so happy when I set up a still life, get out my paints and just go for it. I have been watching 

Quang Ho's videos and I am very inspired. What an excellent teacher he is!

This is on an 11x11 coated gesso heavy weight paper.

If you are interested in purchasing you can get it here.

Live - Laugh - Love

Just a little Chunky Versal doodle.  Love to draw these fun letters.

Graytone Pots

There are also no impossibilities in my little composition notebook with a grid! I also love my Papermate Flair pens that are water soluble so it's easy and fun to make a little quick grayscale painting.   I don't mind at all that the paper buckles and wrinkles. As long as it's not drenched too much with water it holds up. The lettering is a print from my written original. I have a huge file on my computer of lettering quotes and they can be used again and again.

Also, news flash for all you "24" fans. Jack Bauer is coming back next summer on TV!
****Crickets chirping****?
Well, I am excited!!!!!!!!!!

Emma

Sometimes I pick up a black pen and just go for it. No pencil ---no fear---

Drawing these girls is relaxing and fun as I sit here and drink my tea on this beautiful Monday morning. 

Yes, I am delving into tea drinking. I went to Teavana and spent my life savings on teas,

tea pots and other tea goodies...but I must say, I think I like it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Spooky Girls

They are rather spooky I think. Not sure what their story is but I think they 

could be in a scary movie. I am still trying to figure out why sometimes I draw girls

who look straight back at me and other times they are

hypnotized. These two are definitely hypnotized.

Vintage Greta

 

This is Greta and she is loving her new Gatsby- style hat.  She loves the book The Great Gatsby and she can't wait to go see the movie with her favorite movie star, Leo. 

She is thinking about him right now.

Lilly Cathrine's Wish

The Mystery Pear

Yesterday was a fun day painting with my buddies, Rynda and Betty. We again painted from our favorite book called, Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Gregg Kreutz.

I am always ready to grunge up a painting with texture and color. I actually used a recycled canvas with a failed painting that I had painted over in bright red. So that was my undertone---bright red. You can see it peaking through. Thank you again, Greg Kreutz for helping us paint another painting from your great book!

And ALSO: Lolla Students,
So sorry again for my senior moment with the Neuland Video. I have added the edited video to the blog. I know that I must have surely messed with your creative minds with that one!!!

May Day

Today is a very special day. One way it is special is that I finally painted another painting after  a month or so. I have been working on Lollapalooza but since that is finished I thought I would pull out the paints and paint. I was really rusty and I could feel my struggle but I think it turned out ok. I even painted it from my own still life. I am always glad when I can paint from life.

But this day is special for another REALLY special reason!

Marc is 4 today!

He was going to school today with his new Jake the Pirate shirt on and his birthday ribbon. 

And just look at what my talented daughter made for him!

Jake the cake!!

Pretty cool, don't you think?!!!