Two Vases - Sept 2011

Jean is trying to loosen me up. We followed a painting exercise from Ted Goerschner's book, The Workshp Experience. This is the resulting painting. I like it! The next step is to try the technique again using a live setup. Wish me luck.

Tomato & Knife - September 2011

We were in Costa Rica during 1 month of the tomato season this year. Capturing this one in paint helps me hold the memory of that flavor. Of course with no rain the tomatoes in my garden should be forgotten.

Knit Art - Summer 2011

I promised all kinds of art as the focus of this blog, not just painting. This little lady I call "Ballerina Rabbit". I am experimenting with knitted animals, made from leftover bits of yarn. There are ALWAYS leftovers and I hate to see them go to waste. BR was gifted to the grandaughter of a friend. When the temperatures get a bit cooler in Central Texas, I will be more attracted to some knitting projects. Today we have heat (still more than 100 degrees), wind, and now fires. It is only the hope of Fall that keeps me going. Today it is back to the paintbrushes.

Hot Mama Reclining - August 2011

In August Central Texas celebrates Hatch Chiles from Hatch, New Mexico. Jean spent some time pawing through all the peppers in the bin at the grocery to find peppers with interesting shapes. This one reminded us of a reclining nude. The name refers to what the pepper invokes, not it's heat. Hatch Chiles may be either spicy hot or not.

Summer Stone Fruit - August 2011

When we got back to Texas I was feeling rusty and anxious that I had forgotten everything that I had learned since I hadn't painted in a month. Jean re-started me with some simple shapes to build up my confidence.

These are organic plums. Not only are they pretty but they also have the most delicate perfumed flavor.

June - Early July 2011

I am not ready to show the projects that I worked on from mid-June through mid-July. They are larger and more complex subjects and I haven't finished them. Jean's painting mentor and friend, Liz Maness, thinks that I tried to be too aggressive in my subject matter for this stage in my development. But I can't leave these projects unfinished so I will get back to them, and when I do, they will show up here. Hold this space.

In mid-July we went to our home in Costa Rica for a month. I did a lot of painting there but it was of the exterior wall type.

Rock On Ribbon - June 2011

I pestered Jean to paint something hanging. We saw a painting at the Greenhouse Gallery show in San Antonio and for some reason the set up of objects hanging fascinated me. Maybe the shadows get me. Hanging objects to paint isn't a new idea. I have seen vegetables hanging in a gallery in San Miguel de Allende. I think Jean wanted to surprise me by accomodating my request in the strangest way possible. It took me more than one class to get this done. The painting Jean did of this hanging rock sold on Daily Paintworks. Go Jean!

Lemon Through Glass - May 2011

The object of this study is seeing and painting an object through glass. It is amazing how much the object is distorted. The amount of distortion, of course, depends upon the thickness of the glass. Glass turned out to be not so scary. You paint everything that you see that isn't glass; then you paint the glass. It just appears.