JOE and the CLEMENTINES

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I focused on white today. I have a white cup which is a bit translucent. I filled it with coffee and added some clementines. Now they can go on the road. :>)

APPLE HARVEST

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

It felt really good to get back to the easel today after being gone for two weeks! I pulled out Carol's notes about painting white and did some sketches this morning. I felt a little rusty, but it felt great to have a paint brush in my hand. It is evident that I need more practice and will continue to do more and more until my whites look like white! :)

In the afternoon I painted "Apple Harvest" for the Studio Atelier challenge. This is the first time I have participated in this particular blog challenge. The blog host, Barb Benik, takes photos and uses one every 3 to 4 weeks for the challenge. In this particular photo I cropped it and had a blast painting. Click here and enjoy what has been submitted and maybe join in!

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS DAY

14x11 Oil on Canvas

Painted after Amedeo Modigliani

"Jeanne Hebutern in a Large Hat"

Tomorrow is International Artists Day. To celebrate I am featuring an artist that I admire, Amedeo Modigliani. He was an Italian artist born in 1884 and died in 1920 of tuberculosis. If you are not familiar with his work he painted elongated faces and necks. In his short life he completed many paintings, sculpture and works on paper. He led an interesting life and if you enjoy reading biographies I recommend Modigliani and The Artists of Montparnasse by Kenneth Wayne.

I posted this today because tomorrow I don't know if I will have wifi for my computer. Take some time tomorrow and visit The Daily Painters International Art Gallery and view what other artists are doing to celebrate.

b

DAY FIVE - REFLECTIONS

CAROL MARINE

Carol's set up for her demo.

The beginning of her demo.

Finished and fantastic!!

Isn't she remarkable?

Brenda's painting. Click HERE to view her website.

Claire's beautiful painting.

A couple of paintings with reflections. By the time I got my camera out people were getting ready to leave, so I didn't get as many photos as I had intended. However, here are two really good ones.

Some good news - Carol will be making some DVDs soon and they will be available some time next year. YEAH!!!!

This was a wonderful week and although I am tired, I could go on another day or two. Not only did I learn an incredible amount, but had a blast doing it. Carol is fun and has a way of making each student feel comfortable at whatever level she is on. We painted, had some good food, drank some good wine and painted, painted, painted!! If you ever have an opportunity to take Carol Marine's workshop, DO IT!!!

My sister, Julie, and I will be on our annual road trip so I won't be posting for the next week. In the meantime - happy painting and SQUINT, SQUINT, SQUINT!!!

DAY FOUR - LARGE PAINTING

These are just a few of the fantastic large paintings that were started or completed today. Great talent!

Tomorrow some of the paintings will be completed and we will also work on reflections. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything that needs to be done in one day. My gosh, the time just flies!!

So, now I say good night - sleep well- and remember that tomorrow when you work on your paintings ............. SQUINT!

DAY THREE - METAL

Just a few of the metal photos. These students are sooo good!

Carol's demo and set up.

More fabulous work.

Metal is very difficult and as all the other exercises this week I will need to practice a lot when I return home. I'm planning a schedule so that the discipline will be there. It is so easy for me to just fit it in when convenient and that never seems to happen. There's always something more fun to paint. But, with a set time and goals it is much easier to put into practice what needs to be done.

Today we are painting a larger piece. Mine is a 12x12. It will be an all day session on this one piece. I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow - relections and our last day. :-(

DON'T FORGET TO SQUINT!!

(Close one eye and squint the other one - who knew?!)

DAY TWO - GLASS and FLOWERS

OMG!! I learned SO MUCH today!! When I return home I am going to practice, practice, practice on glass and flowers - and, yes, white. With any one of these subjects I could spend weeks on just one. I did photograph my paintings today, but will not post them (a lot of work needs to be done to improve them).

I can not stress enough how good Carol is, not only as an artist, but an incredible teacher. This is my second workshop with her and I would like to take another one in the furture. There is so much information that she shares and I have so much to learn. One thing that has stuck with me is ................. you guessed it! SQUINT!!!

Day Three is metal. Now that is going to be a challenge!!

CAROL MARINE'S WORKSHOP - DAY ONE - WHITE

SQUINT! SQUINT! SQUINT!

I apologize for having only three photos. I wanted to have more to post, but I was busy taking all information in. This day was focused on painting white. After Carol's demo in the morning, we had lunch and in the afternoon we all got to work. I painted two paintings which are not photographed. This is a really talented group of women and it is so much fun to see what others are doing.

White is very difficult to paint. There was a lot to learn about all the grays in white, lost edges, warms, cools, etc. Carol stressed over and over to SQUINT! All through the process of painting - SQUINT!

More tomorrow. In the meantime .............

SQUINT! SQUINT! SQUINT!

POMEGRANATE TWO

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I wanted to do a quick painting as I am leaving for Jacksonville on Saturday. This pomegranate was still on the shelf and looking pretty pitiful. Poor thing is way past its prime, but I liked the angles and the color was still good so I painted one more time.

I will be taking my computer and, of course, my camera and I hope that I will be able to post a few photos from Carol Marine's workshop. If I can find a spot that I can get on the computer - and believe me, I will do my best - I will post when I can. If not I will return in a couple of weeks. Julie, my sister, will be on our annual road trip the second week. Can't wait!!

ENJOY YOUR WEEK-END!

HAPPY PAINTING!

GREEN RIBBON

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

If you have ever visited Karen Appleton's blog you know how absolutely beautiful ribbons can be painted. If you haven't seen her blog click here. You will not be disappointed. Her paintings are exquisite. Having painted my first ribbon I can now fully appreciate how difficult all the values and twists and turns are to capture. So, kudos to you, Karen!

This was painted for Daily Painters International Art Gallery October challenge. Click here to see some wonderful paintings and if you are not familiar with this challenge you may want to participate in the one for November.

HALLOWEEN

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

First - THANKS TO ALL for your encouragement from the last post!! I've been blogging since January and one thing I was not expecting with this experience is the support and friendships gained from artists I have never personally met. Remarkable!

Halloween is just around the corner. Witches will soon be in the sky and goblins around every bush! This is one of the decorations I put out each year for a holiday that I love.

PINK

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I have not been productive at the easel this past week. I can't even remember how many times I took a rag and wiped out a support and those that I didn't wipe out are now in the trash pile. I would like to say I learned something. I suppose I did reinforce my feelings for painting, because I would have surely given up entirely if I didn't love it so much!

The challenge for this month's SOME TEXAS ARTISTS LIKE TO PAINT is pink. I found this little pink take out box and finally I was able to paint something and it remained on the canvas. :-) Because the package is all one color it was a good exercise for values, which I always seem to need.

Next Monday Carol Marine's workshop in Jacksonville, Florida begins. I am very excited about attending again! Is there anyone out there who also will be going? If so, I would love to hear from you.

POMEGRANATE

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

Beautiful and rich in color is the pomegranate. We had a pomegranate tree in our backyard when I was a kid. I remember eating those wonderful seeds and getting red all over me! Well worth it!

Here is a link to a video on how to peel and remove the seeds without all the stains that come with it. Click HERE.

TEXAS STATE FAIR

Saturday was a beautiful Texas day at the fair. The crowd was full of Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns - orange and crimson everywhere! Unfortunately, Oklahoma won the game ......... there is always next year!

Among the many sights we saw were the Mexican dancers. This was the adult group. There were all ages that took to the stage and every dance we saw was fun to watch.

And, in addition to the midway, animals, advertising booths, there was food everywhere. If you are not familiar with the Texas State Fair the food and drink (yes, drink!) are deep fried! This sign tells of Fried PBJ&B (Peanut Butter, Jelly & Banana), Fried Butter, and Fried Cookie Dough. And, I am guilty of trying fried butter - I DO NOT recommend it! One year we tried fried Snickers and again I don't recommend it. As I said, in addition to fried food (this is only a very small example of what was available) there is fried beer and fried Coke. Don't ask me how it is done. it's a mystery that I really don't care to solve!

So, if you are in the Dallas area in the month of October it's a fun way to spend a few hours in the Texas sunshine! We had a lot of fun!

Philadelphia Alley

6x6 Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I painted this from a photograph I took while visiting Philadelphia last summer. I simplified, which makes a better painting, but also on such a small format it needed simplification. I enjoyed painting this. It's so interesting that a photograph can trigger memories, but painting from photographs is even more amazing. I almost felt like I was on the street in Philadelphia with my camera. The light at the end of the alley attracted me and there were interesting shadows.

Phil and I are going to the Texas State Fair tomorrow. We're meeting three of our grandchildren and their parents and really looking forward to a beautiful day full of laughs and, of course, fried ...... something!! It's Texas/OU game tomorrow, too. YIKES!

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!