Kitchen renovation anyone?

Yes, sadly it is true, pink tile and all, this was the kitchen window when we started our renovation .... 9 months ago! I did not know then, how determined and focused I would have to be just to get the sink under the window. But I persisted, and with bulldog determination and a plumbing job of re-routing pipes and venting like no other in the history of kitchen renovations, I finally have my sink under the window.
Why, you may ask, am I dragging my personal life into this? Time painting, and therefore posting, hasn't been very consistent this year, and I hate to point fingers but .... all the blame goes to my kitchen sink! :)

Well ... it could also have something to do with the coyote that almost ate my cat and his extended stay in the emergency vet. Or it could have been my poor mother in Alabama who had an undiagnosed broken femur for two months and my visits there to see specialists. Or there was that crazy light pole that fell and crushed our car AS we were driving down the highway.

But I'm going to blame it all on the sink! Because 9 months without a kitchen sink certainly has the potential to make one a bit crazy, or at least derail creative output. And even though I don't actually have counters, faucet, or water yet, I'm confident enough in the progress to feel I might be getting back to normal soon.

Soooo.. with all this positive energy flowing I decided it is time to share new paintings that I'm SUPER excited about!

The small one first, a 10x10. This is the sketch and early color block-in phase. As you can see, I'm pushing some boundaries and really, really, really feeling great about it!

Of course I'm also just overwhelmingly grateful to have this beautiful kitchen, my mom, cat, and our escape from near disaster car crash to complain about, and I hope you and yours are safe and enjoying your kitchen sink wherever you are! :)

Sizing Up

I'm so sorry for the long delay in showing this finished painting, the bottom line is, I just couldn't come up with a title! Crazy I know.

This painting will be included in a book project of Steve Worthington's to help raise money for animal shelters. It was so much fun to include Steve's mouse in a painting, and I will keep everyone updated when the book is available.

This is the only present painting of mine where I have included another object, and the process was fun to share. It also caused me to contemplate exterior appearances in a new way. Does one only need a costume and cape to be a superhero? Or is it an interior state of mind? I know a pretty new cape always makes me feel invincible. :)

This painting is available, please contact if interested.

Joy to the World

This is actually a painting I finished before I moved but never posted, although it has been on my website. This is the second painting experimenting with the idea of the ribbons being held in a transparent container.

Most of my paintings deal with ideas about exteriors we can see versus interiors we can't. Thinking about ways to really dig deep and explore this core idea, a friend of mine suggested addressing directly my fears. For reasons unknown to me, the first idea that popped in my head was to make the container transparent, and without thinking more about it, I put a bow in a glass and painted Cordial. Then I revisited the idea with this painting. I didn't know what to say about it at the time, still unsure about this idea, so I packed it up and sort of forgot about it with the move.

Well I recently unpacked it, and Wow.... I could see that first layer of meaning! At least enough to know that I definitely want to pursue this idea a bit more. Pretty cool.

The painting is a bit larger (14x18) than most I post, so I thought I would show a couple of cropped shots. You can view a larger photo of the painting here on my website. I adore how all the colors melt together, and love this glowing interior space.

I particularly enjoyed using thick blobs of paint for the transparent surface, and love the distortions of the ribbons as they press against the inside. Seeing this spot below with fresh eyes actually caused me to go back and rework Cordial, which you can see here.

Dandelion

Sold

Royal Party

Yeah! I am so glad to have this painting finished, not that I haven't loved every minute of it, mind you, I am just a wee bit nervous about having enough paintings ready for the December show. I wish I could post the entire group as I will hang it, which is with about an inch of space in between each canvas. I may have to break down and buy Photoshop if I am going to continue these split paintings, unless someone out there has an idea of how to fix this on going problem of mine. Anyone????

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me along the way with this piece too!

Thumbnail sketches

Oh my gosh! How gorgeous is this vintage plum velvet!?! Okay so I've had purple on my mind as of late, likely caused by a collision of many ideas and sources streaming in all at once showing me purple. I so wanted my next painting to contain several presents in the same composition. I played around with several presents trying to figure out a theme or idea. But this guy just seemed soooo very demanding, so right now he's got all my attention.

I've been starting these demo posts by showing the set up and beginning oil sketch, but I realized that is leaving out a bunch of steps. First step for me is inspiration, and I see it everywhere. I have ten paintings being painted in my head all the time, so I keep a personal journal where I keep these thoughts. Then suddenly one idea, thought, color, feeling singles itself out and wham.... purple velvet. Next are these tiny thumbnail sketches where I play around with composition and see which format will best suit what I'm trying to say. The top two sketches I envisioned as another split painting. I like the middle idea, and may come back to it, but have settled on the bottom right hand corner composition. Hope this hasn't been too boring.

"Exist"

SOLD



"There can be no blue without yellow and without orange." --Vincent Van Gogh

"Crush" in progress

This is the second time I've painted this little present. My first attempt, about a year ago, just did not capture the feeling I was after, so here I am trying again. I still have the left side of the bow to finish, but since I have not posted in so long I decided to let everyone see what I've been up to. My painting process is a strange one, and until I discovered Alex Kanevsky's website I thought I might be the only painter that goes about destroying the previous days work with no hesitation. What I mean by that is; I begin a painting then the next day when I return to it I might totally change colors, light, mood, everything. I always paint my "Presents" from life, and I think this daily change has to do with the change of light in my studio, my mood and my music which are apt to change every day as well. This particular painting has changed tremendously. One day there will be lots of purples in the shadows, the next day these shadows will be ochre. I always have a 'feel' I'm after in my painting, and keeping this in mind has helped me get back on track.

Lake Shore, Wilson Avenue

SOLD

This little series is finally finished. I started my blog with the blue present and basically painted in reverse. I wanted to show all four paintings together and I am thrilled they are staying together as a group. A collector here in Chicago purchased them but they are travelling soon to his new bed and breakfast in New Orleans. Next for me ..... you guessed it, more presents. I am going to take Debbie Miller's advice and do several smaller sized presents for an up-coming "Open Studio" I hope to be participating in next month.

Oh shucks, I thought all four were going to be lined up horizontally!! Oh well, hopefully you can visualize what it should look. If anyone out there knows how I can arrange this so all four are together please let me know.