Boxes and a Monoprint With Gold ACEO 2.5x3.5" miniature abstract painting
Continuing on with some fun abstract experiments........
This painting began with boxes painted on Arches hot press watercolor paper in acrylic. Next, a black monoprinted image was pressed from a glass plate. Lastly, gold metallic trimming was added.
About actual size:
Enlarged image:
Boxes and a Monoprint With Gold
2.5 x 3.5", Acrylic and metallic ink on Arches hot press 100% rag paper
$8 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)
Australian Groper ACEO miniature painting in acrylic
Little Cranberry Island in Maine
Little Cranberry Island in Maine
This is an ACEO size miniature (2.5x3.5"), gouache on 100% rag watercolor paper. It is a scene from a photo I took while visiting Little Cranberry Island for a day, off the coast of Maine. The price is $25 including postage within the United States, payable via Paypal. Email me if interested. (Email link is on the sidebar.)
Five Miniature ACEO Size Abstract Paintings
Hastings on Hudson Water Tower along the Hudson River en plein air, oil painting
Hastings Water Tower en plein air
12 x 16", Oils on Canvas covered hardboard
$395 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)This is a plein air painting that I did in July of the famous water tower at Hastings-on-Hudson. There has been a big environmental feud brewing between residents who want the tower restored and kept as a local landmark, and the property owner who wants to avoid the high costs of restoration and just tear it down to build something more lucrative. I love the warm colors and interesting shapes, and wanted to be sure I had the opportunity to capture it in paint before it disappeared.
Last sketches of Scavenger Hunt 22---I'm done!
Click to enlarge image.
Scavenger Hunt 22 (See my Dec. 20 post) contained a list of 26 items. These are the five I had left. I arranged them in a still life to finish up the hunt. They are sketched with a Uniball Vision pen and watercolors. The items are:
22. Something cold: ice cube
23. Puddle: The melted water from the ice cube
24. Coaster: What the ice cube is resting on
25. Cutlery: My favorite Henkle knife
26. Something you dislike: Dead flowers!
I'm glad that I managed to finish up all 26 items in spite of a heavy holiday schedule here. It's been a lot of fun to have this sketching break from the usual finished painting routine. With 14 coming for lunch tomorrow, it's likely that I won't be able to get any painting done until at least Thursday, but I hope to get back to the oils soon!
Scavenger Hunt three more items, almost finished!
These are all Prismacolor pencil in my 7x10" Canson Montval cold press watercolor book. Click on the image to enlarge it.
These are items 19-21 of the 26-item scavenger hunt, so I've only five left to do by Wednesday to complete the hunt. (See my December 20 posting for more about the Scavenger Hunts.) Hopefully I'll be able to do at least a couple of paintings after that and before the New Year. The most challenging item by far in the hunt this week is to draw/paint a piece of crumpled foil. I put that one off about as long as possible, and you can see why; mine doesn't at all resemble crumpled foil. Actually, I crumpled it into the vague shape of a swan in the hope that if it didn't make it as crumpled foil, it could be loosely identified as a swan. Very loosely. Imaginatively. *smile* I'm giving up on that one for now, though I might throw in some gouache highlights and try to salvage it later. I'm looking forward to seeing what the other scavenger hunt participants do with that one.
The ear belongs to my nephew, Tal, who is one of our houseguests till Wednesday. He was sketching a clementine while I drew his ear.
I cut a twig from a forsythia bush and brought it inside to sketch, to satisfy the "twig" component of the hunt. I loved the little buds forming along the twig stems. Pretty soon, it will be time to force bloom some for a late winter painting.
Just After Sunrise en plein air, and Merry Christmas!
Just After Sunrise en plein air
Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Sold
Seven More Sketches from the Scavenger Hunt
Since I'm so busy through the holidays, I've joined an online sketching "Scavenger Hunt" this week, where participants draw as much as they can from a list of 26 items. At least I can keep doing a little artwork, without the pressure of having to turn out finished paintings every day. Sketching is such great practice, and I try to do a day of sketches at least once a month. These are all pen and ink with watercolor in my 7x10" Canson Montval Watercolor book.
Click on the images to see larger versions. See the post from 12/20 for more information about the Scavenger Hunts.
More Scavenger Hunt Sketches
Click to see a larger image.
Read about the current Scavenger Hunt on my December 20 post below. These are four more list items, done on a page of my 7x10" Cotman watercolor book.
Red Trees on a Grey Day
Red Trees on a Grey Day
8x6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Sold
A Scavenger Hunt of Sketches in ink, watercolor, acrylic
Click to view larger images.
The Wetcanvas art website has a Scavenger Hunt that starts every 8 days. Since my time is so interrupted now with holiday goings-on, I figured I'd jump in there and do as much sketching as I can when I don't have a long block of time for oil painting. You can find the rules and the current list here:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=389272
Anybody is welcome to jump in and participate! Basically, you find items to sketch from life from the current list. You can do as many or as few as you like, but it's a nice challenge to try and complete them all within the 8 day period. You may do them in any size, time frame and medium, but they must all be done from life---no photo references allowed. You can see the current list by clicking on that first image; I wrote it down at the bottom of the page. Some scavenger hunts also include special "challenges" in addition to the 26 items, but this one did not.
It's such a fun break from the usual routine. For the sketches above, I used a Sharpie marker (just on the first one), Uniball Vision Micro pen, Prismacolor pencils, Koi watercolors, and Golden Fluid acrylics. They are in my 7x10" Cotman watercolor book.
Road in the Preserve (Ward Pound Ridge) plein air oil painting
Maine Sunset painting matted and ready to frame
Maine Sunset
5 x 7", Acrylic on Arches hot press 100% rag paper
$49.99 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)I remember so well the vividness of the sunset on the night I took the photo for this painting. We were returning from a sunset cruise on one of those perfect Maine evenings. This painting is 3x4.5", and is hinge-mounted to a backing board and double matted to fit into any standard 5x7 frame. The backing board, double mat, painting and shipping are all included in the price within the US. It would make a nice trio with the two acrylics from the previous two days! The photo makes the mat appear a little grey, but it is actually an ivory colored outer mat.
Sailing by Porcupine Island in Maine matted and ready to frame
Sailing by Porcupine Island
5 x 7", Acrylic on Arches hot press 100% rag paper
$49.99 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)This past summer, our hotel room in Bar Harbor faced the Porcupine Islands. We'd watch the boats sailing in and out of the harbor. This painting was done from one of the photos I took there. The painting itself is 3x4.5". It is mounted to a backing board and beautifully double-matted to 5x7", so it is ready to pop into your favorite standard 5x7 frame.
Frozen Pond matted and ready for a frame
Frozen Pond
7 x 5", acrylic on Arches hot press rag paper
$49.99 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)This acrylic painting was done today from a photo I took last winter of a frozen pond in Somers, New York. The painting is 4.5x3". I have mounted it to a backing board and double matted it to 5x7", to fit in any standard 5x7" frame. Price includes the backing board, double mat, and shipping, as well as the painting of course!
Yellow Carnations and a Brass Bird shown actual size
Yellow Carnations and a Brass Bird unframed
5 x 5", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$95 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)
I went into an antique shop last weekend and saw this little blue cobalt pitcher/vase and just HAD to have it to add to the vase collection! I told the man in the shop that I'm an artist and he immediately knocked 1/3 off the price, telling me that "artist" is a magic word. hehehe...This is its still life debut. I paired it up with some yellow carnations for contrast, the brass bird for color cohesion, and the baby's breath to soften it all a bit. It was way fun to paint.
Here's another image of it, larger than actual size (click to enlarge):
I cut the panel and selected elements specifically to go with this wonderful frame I found. Here's a photo of it framed. If you'd like to purchase it with the frame, click the link below instead of the one above. The frame looks a little overpowering in the digital image, but in real life it looks perfect and truly suits the painting. You can have it either with an easel back for a tabletop, or hanging hardware for a wall; just let me know.
Yellow Carnations and a Brass Bird FRAMED
5 x 5", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$115 framed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)
Sunset Boat Ride on the Lake in oils
Sunset Boat Ride
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
Great Blue Heron in the Marsh
Great Blue Heron
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)This painting was done today from a photo that my sister took on a trip to Florida years ago. Great Blue Herons visit frequently on the stream behind my house. I plan to paint one from my own photos soon, but this pic that my sis took was so beautiful and majestic that I thought I'd try hers first! It's amazing how green the Florida greens are. I rarely need to punch up greens with viridian or phthalo green here in the northeast, but in working from this Florida photo, I finally had to give in and use a tiny dab of viridian mixed into the green of the foreground.
Mommy and Me---sheep and lamb in the barn at Muscoot Farm
Mommy and Me
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)
This is the painting I'd started on Friday, but didn't quite have a chance to finish until today. It was painted from a photo I took at Muscoot Farm in Somers, NY. Too cute!
I've also taken a photo of the nocturne (night painting) I tweaked a bit in the studio, after painting it initially in the pitch black of night and not being able to see what I was doing, and swapped that image on the previous post.
Yesterday's receptions and openings were great fun. Many thanks to friends, neighbors and patrons who came to the events. I managed to get a lot of my own holiday shopping done in the process.
Painting and Showing and Painting and Showing
I started a painting today, but was disappointed that I didn't quite have time to finish it. Yesterday I finished the tweaks on my night painting from the day before, but haven't had a chance to take the pic and upload it. Hopefully I'll finish up the one I started today over the weekend, then will take photos of both and upload them here.
To those in the area, I'll be making the rounds at my shows over the next 24 hours or so with receptions and greetings. Feel free to visit and browse at: - Garrison Art Center, Member Show---Tonight from 7-9pm
- Putnam Arts Council Belle Levine Gallery, Invitational exhibit of about 40 of my paintings---Saturday from 12-3
- Bannerman Island Gallery---Five of my paintings in the show, reception is Saturday 4-6pm
- RiverWinds Gallery---9 paintings left in the Buone Feste show, reception Saturday 5-8
Also, the owner of The Paint Box gallery visited my studio this morning and selected five more paintings, so she now has about 15 down there in Bedford Hills. Stop in if you have a chance!
A Little Night Sketch en plein air
A Little Night Sketch en plein air
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)
While waiting outside the gym for my daughter, I pulled out my little pochade box and did a sketch.Painting at night en plein air is great fun, but it sure is hard to see what you're doing!
I'll be doing a little more work on this, cleaning up some edges and tweaking a bit. I didn't quite have time to finish it last night. Then I'll repost and add a "buy" link.
Trading Places No. 1---Clementines and a Flower
Trading Places No. 1: Clementines and a Flower
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
$100 unframed via PayPal, free shipping within US (email me for international rates)
I love placing a piece of fruit at the base of a vase of flowers for still life paintings. Today I thought I'd let them swap locations. The vase was a recent gift from a relative of mine. It's making its still life performance debut here today. Thank you, Shirley! I love it to pieces!
For anybody planning to attend my show at the Belle Levine Gallery on Saturday, I'm going to have to change the hours that I'll be there. I'm hoping to go from 12-3 instead of from 2-5; I have a conflict with the opening of a show at the Bannerman Island Gallery, which will be Saturday from 4-6pm. Five of my favorite small works are in the Bannerman Island Gallery show. More about that later! I am so behind on posting, but must go get dinner started now or my family will take my brushes away!
It's a Dog's Life
It's a Dog's Life
6 x 6", Oils on sealed, primed hardboard
SOLD
When my Bichon Frise, Rondo, isn't busy making trouble, he's asleep on the chair or sofa in my studio. Even though he sleeps for long stretches, as soon as I start to draw or paint him, he gets up and moves, so I have to resort to photos if I want to capture him in paint.
