A successful night at the fund raiser

Last night was the Artistic Affair which raises money for the Spruill Center where I teach. It was an Italian themed evening and I was a part of the 'market'. I worked on a demo painting while I was there and had 4 paintings on display for sale. I sold one. Yeah. I met a lot of interesting folks there and had a pretty good time. I am happy this little guy found a new home.

Apples and Pewter Pitcher

Here's the latest. Well...the latest that I'm remembering to post. I've done a number of watercolors in the meantime, but this is the latest oil.

The Spruill Center is having a big fundraiser March 6th. It'

s called "Three Coins in the Fountain" and it has an Italian theme.

I've been asked to have a 'booth' there where I would have some paintings on display as well as work on a piece during the event. I thought this might be the one I'd work on, but I think I'm pretty well done. I may tweak the keys and add a bit of 'aged-ness" to the pitcher.

This was done in that same 'Old Masters' technique w

ith the grey underpainting like the sunflower tutorial I did last year.

Hope you enjoy it.

A few new paintings

I have a lot on my art plate right now. A lot of people are asking for my "time and talent' without a lot of people offering up the moolah for either. But...it's exposure and I like the organizations, so...I'll do it.

In addition to my own classes that I take and the 8 that I'm teaching, I've been asked to: donate a few, do a painting that will be included in a book that will be auctioned off, create a kids table and chairs, design and paint a set for "Alice in Wonderland", my own classwork, and somehow find time to work on building up my own stock of 'ready to go' paintings.

This month I have 8 paintings hanging at the Chamber of Commerce in Dunwoody, Ga. There's not a ton of foot traffic, but a solo show is always nice and of course looks good on the old resume.

This week, I finished two works. One watercolor and one oil . They were both kind of fun and while niether of them fulfill any of the above required works, I'm happy with them.

The smaller watercolor image comes from an image in a commercial. As that is someone elses work, even though I've altered it...I wouldnt put it up for sale, but, like I said, I like it.

the larger oil is just a still life that I snapped a photo of while trying to use up some fruits and veggies in the house.

enjoy.

quick painting sketch

I have a small solo 'show' at the Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce this month. A lot of the paintings I have available right now are pretty large so I wanted to do a painting that was about 16x20 to have something relatively smaller to hang with the rest. To that end, I did this kind of rough, quick painting. I had a canvas that I had previously painted black and I like the way the colors really pop in this one. It's a pretty simple composition, but I like the way it kind of keeps you moving.

Painting trade

Next Monday, the fine ladies from class are coming over for a lunch and painting trade. We've been trading journals for awhile, but this time we are going to trade a painting, 12" or smaller. I'm kind of excited. These ladies paint in oil, acrylic, watercolor, etc. So, who knows what we'll get. I'll post pictures of the luncheon and the paintings traded next week.

The ATC

Today, I've been doing a million errands and small jobs. And as it is officially "Be A Total Jerk At the Grocery Store Because YOU Are The Only One Who Still Needs Something For Thanksgiving" season, I've needed to do small things to make me happy. Today I worked on a few ATC's in between laundry, raking leaves, shopping, etc etc. If you're not familiar, the ATC is the Artist Trading Cards. There are a lot of ways to go with this little buggers. The only rule is that they are of a uniform size (2x3 inches) and that they are NOT for sale, they are for trade. Of course, there are artists out there who create such MAGNIFICENT works that they simply MUST sell them (note sarcasm) that you can sell them as limited edition some sort of nonsense or other.

Also, people do all kinds of things with these. From textiles, to collage, painting, sewing...you name it. I of course, just paint mine. And almost always in watercolor for the simplicity and speed.

Like my rant on 'journaling for journaling's sake, where people get so caught up in creating this masterpiece of work in a journal that will earn a spot in great libraries like Da Vinci's codex...again with the sarcasm. I think I'm hungry. Anyway. I think that the ATC should be a quick outlet to create something transient. After all, the point is to trade them away. Sometimes I work out compositions for larger works, or just play with color, or...whatever.

So, here are two that I did today. Enjoy.

A small one for warm up

Many of the artists I admire do several paintings a week. This can be a crutch in itself not unlike my little rant on sketchbooks and ATCs, but those whom I admire paint this often because thier style lends itself to it. My paintings can take anywhere from a week or two to a year. But I try to complete a few small ones once in a while to keep loose and reconnect with color and just have fun with paint. Here is yesterday's.

Small Pears (Oil on canvas 5x5)