Show at Palace Bakery

Sunday my husband and I hung my show at Palace Bakery on Pearl St. here in Eugene.  It was a challenge because you can't put any nails in the walls.  There are pre-positioned hooks nailed into a moulding strip so you have to hang the paintings on fishing line from the hooks--and they rarely are positioned where one would like.  But my husband had the brilliant idea of running a wire between several hooks so we could then use that to hang from.  It's certainly not as well hung as I would like but, given the circumstances, it's fine.
Palace Bakery will be on the Art Walk on April 5.  The show runs through April 21.

March Day at Stewart Pond 8"x 10"

It's so great to have a stretch of decent weather.  I'm hoping to push myself to paint often.  My goals today were to make an interesting sky shape and to paint lighter.  I was pretty happy with both of those.  The trees came out a little orangey.  Still struggling with leafless trees.
Using round brushes has really helped me.  I had no trouble getting this canvas covered.

Amazon Slough at Bertelson 8"x 10"

 I've been painting outside lately but this is the first one I've felt comfortable posting.  I started using #4 rounds and am finding I can get a lot more paint on the panel quickly than with my little flats.  So I'm feeling good about the direction I'm heading.  Those 2 little black spots on the right bank are bugs who gave their lives for art.

Egg with Shells 6"x 6"

On our last class with Sarah we painted eggs and mine were so horrible that I decided to practice some at home.  I totally love these egg shells and their shadows.  I got a little help with the shells from looking at Carol Marine's work.  As far as painting fast, I think I'm just not a fast person.  This took about 4 hours.

Rosie 6"x 6"

My granddaughters' rats are beginning to age so I thought it might be nice to do some rat portraits.  This is Rosie, Julia's little friend.  The photo was taken on her first birthday.

Sara's Class--Compliments 6"x 6"

Today we mixed 7 seven piles arranged by value.  These were all made (in my case) from orange and blue.  Then we added some white to a second pile of each one to have a lighter value.  I was pleased with my composition but it did take me too long time to get the drawing right.

Orange Sections with an Orange Cup 6"x 6"

I just loved this when I finished it but now I see the orange in front is misshapen.  My paints are all cleaned up and I'm exhausted.  I guess there's a lesson there.  I love this color combination!

Tomato in a Silver Bowl 6"x 6"

I was really taken with Sara Sedwick's idea of putting an orange in a silver bowl and painting the reflections.  So I tried a tomato.  Well, I'm not happy with it.  Hard edges seem like the main problem.  But I did paint faster than usual and decided to try another.  I have never done 2 on the same day before!

Limes and Cup 6"x 6" 15 minutes

I was just starting to put down the white rind when the timer went off so I let myself have a minute more to do that.
This was real interesting to do but I'm still trying to figure out what the lesson is.  I think trying to figure out the big color changes on the first pass, then refining later.  Normally I spend a lot of time fiddling with the little nuances the first time through.  I put those oranges in the shadows after I already had the purple in.  Mixing big gobs of the main colors saves time but I pretty much already have been doing that.  Just using one brush might be faster.  3 more classes.  I'm excited to find out what we'll be doing.

Limes and Cup 6"x 6" 30 minutes

I actually had trouble telling the difference between the 30 & 45 min. ones.

Limes and Orange Cup 45 min. 6"x 6"

I started Sarah Sedwick's Fast Painting workshop yesterday at Maude Kerns.  The first day focused on doing 3 paintings--One which took 45 min, the next 30 min and the third, 15 min.  During the class we had to change subject matter each time.  Also had to mix our paint during the time alotted.  That was real difficult for me although other people did well with it.  So to practice at home today I let myself do the same set up so I could use the same pencil sketch each time.  Also since I was mixing the same colors each time, it went faster.

Lemon with Bottle 6"x 6"

I enjoyed painting something I could actually look at instead from photos--altho I generally like painting from photos, since the drawing part is easier for me.  This is a little Meyer lemon from my tree.

Drummer Girl 18"x 18"

It's been awfully wintry so I've been working inside.  I decided to do a few larger paintings from photos I have around.  Some parts of this I'm really happy with, others I just wish I could do better.  But I'm calling it finished and will move on.

Edge of the Pasture 8"x 10"

The colors are not so vivid as the photo but I've not been able to adjust them correctly.  This is not an actual scene, just a composition I wanted to try.  It was hard for me to just make it up but a good learning experience, I think.

Off Dillard Road 8"x 8"

I was practicing clouds here.  We have so many these days.  Also thinking about how dark the trees are in Oregon.  How to use that compositionally in moving more toward abstract painting.  The winter grass here is so bright.  I want to use that again too,

Blueberry Field acrylic 6"x 8"

I bought some acrylic paints at the UO trade show.  I've never painted with them before.  I was afraid to use good brushes so used two old scrubbers.  Sure enough the paint was very hard on them.  I wonder what people who paint with acrylics do.
So anyway it's pretty rough but I like the composition and colors better.  I plan to try a few more of these.

photo of the blueberry field

November Blueberry Field 6"x 8"

Finally back to painting after way too long.  I saw these fields near Corvallis on our way back from Thanksgiving in Newport.  It's really just so garish, but I want to work on this scene for a while.  I hope the weather  will let me do it from life one of these days.

Alley Puddles 8"x 8"

This has taken me 2 days to complete.  I'd sure like to paint faster.  Anyway I've been wanting to try puddles and with all the Oregon rain we have plenty of them.
This was my last day to paint for a while.  I need to go keep my dad company for a week or so.

October Clouds 6"x 6"

I did this for the DPW challenge.  I took the photo out at the Fisher Unit parking lot.  I really need to practice clouds so I was glad that came up.

Foggy Morning 6"x 6"

We had a pretty thick fog this morning before the sun came out.  There were lots of interesting value changes.  Also things in the distance were really out of focus but the things close up were really clear.  So I wanted to try painting that.  I reworked this a little to get a little more fogginess into the yellow trees as they recede.  The parts I'm happy with are the background trees melting into the sky and the color of the road.  I hope I get a chance to try fog again.

Girl in Blue Shorts 6"x 6"

I enjoyed doing this one--keeping it simple and the small size made things come together faster than usual.

Eleventh alley at Jefferson 8"x 10

I made a few changes.  Maybe I learned something.  I have a heck of a time with straight lines.  What I really liked about the scene is that group of evergreens catching the morning sun.

Willamette Alley 8"x 6"

I've been trying to find a good place to photograph and finally think I have it, until it starts raining.  I was doing it on the front porch which has a blue ceiling so I was getting a cold cast.  I should probably try to get those verticles a little more perpendicular.  I do love the cheery colors.  Also I am trying to learn to use a palette knife so I used it on the sunny pavement.

Downtown Alley 8"x 8"

I can't really remember exactly where I took this photo, somewhere in the west side of town.  One of my favorite things in the urban landscape is the way the light is so strong on the top of flat hedges.

Fisher Unit--Late September 6"x 8"

I've been painting inside alot lately.  In lots of ways it's easier and more comfortable.  But I went out a couple days ago.  My objective was to not grey my colors and to use rectangular brush strokes (flats).  So this came out not so accurate colorwise, but I  like that about it.  Pretty colors.
They were doing a controlled burn so I actually packed up after I made a sketch, thinking they'd chase me out.  But they said painting where I was would be ok so I went back.  Glad I did.  My alley project is kind of exciting for me so I've been to lazy about going out.

Downtown Alley 10"x 8"

Well, I thought it would be good to try a few new things.  I planned to do this whole thing with a palette knife but I was so inept at maneuvering it that I resorted to the brush for most of it.  I spent 2 days on it and finally decided to just scrape it off.  I'm not sure if I learned anything, but I'll try again.

House Shadow 8"x 8"

I was really taken with the shadow one house cast on the other.  I wish I could have done the car better.

Broadway Alley at Lawrence 8"x 10"

I'm pretty excited about painting this alley series.  I hope I get a few more days to take photos before the rains come.  I thought the guy was going to be the main thing.  That part was really hard for me.  But when I got to the van it was just plain fun, mixing all those slightly different colors.  I know there's stuff I didn't get right but I really like this one.

7th Ave. Alley 8"x 8"

Yesterday I decided to try painting inside from photos for a while.  I'm running out of places to go to paint where there won't be lots of people around.  And I love the alleys in my neighborhood.  I just wish they were all as colorful as this one.  It's right next to the Sweet Life Patisserie looking east.
I just got these 8"x 8" panels from Raymar and I think I'm going to like this size for urban landscapes.
A couple problems I had:  I couldn't really see the color of the shadow side of these buildings in the photo.  I hope to go there tomorrow morning to get that right.  The electric lines, I don't know how to do them.  I tried scratching them in but I was too shakey for it to work out.  I guess I'll use a liner brush once it's dry but that's not the solution I'm looking for.