Koi

I painted this painting in April or May of this year.  I have a koi pond in the backyard and this was one of the most beautiful koi in the pond.  He was a Butterfly Koi.  Butterfly koi have long flowing fins and tail.  Unfortunately, we had a fish kill and this particular fish is no longer with us.  However, he left many fry some of which are still swimming and growing.  I had a hard time photographing the painting and a glare still shows.  The painting is on a 9x12 stretched canvas and is painted in oils.

Journey Through Musicland

When I was a little girl, my grandmother taught me piano using one of my mother's old music books.  This picture was ini the music book and I would stare at it and pretend that I was skipping down the path of piano keys.  Later, my sister, who is ten years younger than I, played piano and daydreamed she was living in music land.  My sister still plays piano and plays it very well.  She ended up with the original picture (albeit tattered)  from the old music book, framed it, and hung it on the wall.  Years later, she found another copy of the picture, framed it for me and I hung that one on my wall.  About five or six years ago, I found that the illustration was originally on the front cover of the old music magazine, Etude and I was able to purchase a copy of that issue.  I then framed the magazine because the picture that my sister had given me many years before had faded.  Last January, after I retired, I decided that I would try and paint the beloved picture and give it to my sister for a birthday present.  I truly enjoyed painting the picture.  I never realized until I duplicated it that it had so many elements and I figured that if I left any out that would be the one my sister would remember.  The original illustration can be seen here:
 http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/musicandtheater/etude/Etude+1926-09.jpg.html
I am not sure if the name of the picture is "Journey Through Musicland" but that's what I have always called it.  The artist's name is F. S. Cooke.  I could not find any information about the artist except he or she painted a few covers for the Etude magazine.  So, if anyone reading this knows anything about F. S. Cooke, I would love to know.

Still Life With Onions

I figured if I didn't name the painting after the onions, no one would be able to figure out that there were onions in the bowl!  This is another painting from the alla prima class.  I forget the order and I may have incorrectly stated the order in the other posts.  Next class, I will label the paintings with numbers so I can remember the order in which they were painted.

Still Life With Mangos and Peppers

Another painting from the alla prima class is this Still Life With Mangos and Peppers.  The painting was painted in May 2011.  It is on a 9x12 stretched canvas painted in oils.

Blue Still Life

This is the third painting from the alla prima class that I took in the spring of this year (2011).   I sure did enjoy that class and I signed up to take it later this summer.  It is on a 9x12 stretched canvas and was painted in oils.

Black Swallowtail

This is another Christmas present painting.  It was painted in December 2009.  It is a fairly large canvas (24x36) compared to what I usually use for painting.   This painting was a challange.  But my painting journey is a series of mistakes and frustration, corrections and discoveries.  Little by little I am learning.  But I still have a difficult time with foliage!      Where are the butterflies this year???????  I have waited for them to show up, planted things they like, but where are they?  I find butterflies difficult to photograph; they flutter around so fast!     But they make great painting subjects!                                   

Beach Scene

Here is a painting that I did for my niece as a housewarming present.  She likes faraway places and this is a scene from a photograph of a beach in the Caribbean.  I very much enjoyed painting this piece.  I daydreamed of being there quite a bit!  As usual, this painting was done in oils and I think it was 9x12.

Plein Air and Alla Prima

This photo shows two paintings.  The painting on the left is my first venture into the world of Plein Air painting.  The scene is of a shed in my back yard.  The wisteria was just about finished but still was colorful.  I cannot hold the pallet so I lay it in the drawer of the easel.  Well, the wind was quite strong that day and my pallet was blown into the grass.  I picked the grass out of the paint and finished the painting.

The painting on the right is my second painting for an alla prima class.  In the alla prima class a still life was erected and we were expected to finish the painting in three hours.  I usually was finished in two to two and a hlf hours.  Fun class!  I have decided to take the class in July when it is offered again.  I just hope there are enough people out there that want to take it as well so the class will be held!

These paintings were both painted in April or May 2011.  The Plein Air is 8x10 and the alla prima is 9x12.  They are both painted on stretched canvas.

From the Painting Class

In August 2009, I took a painting class at the local community college. I was not able to complete the class because of illness. This painting is the only photo of a complete painting I have from that class. I think I left a couple of paintings in the classroom and two I have at home were never finished. Although I was only to be in the class about a month and a half, I feel like I gained a lot of confidence. I may re-take that class sometime.

Long Time, No Post!

Wow! It sure has been a long time since I have posted on this blog. I have been painting though! I got quite ill after the last time I posted. And I did not feel like messing with the computer. Since I also got a new computer, I'm not even sure if I will be able to post any pictures (not sure if I can figure out how to do it on my new computer). In the coming weeks, I will try to post some photos of the paintings I have been working on. Let's see...

Hum...

Well, It took some time to figure that out! But it wasn't too hard!

This is a painting that I painted for my daughter and her husband for Christmas 2009. The purple flowers match the color scheme of her bedroom in her new house!

I painted a few paintings for Christmas presents in 2009. Here is another painted for my daughter's mother-in-law who came over from England to spend Christmas with her son and wife in their new home in the states.

This painting is from a photograph taken a few years prior in Wales. Wales is a beautiful country. I sure would like to take my paints over there!

Since I last posted in 2009, I have retired and now devote much more time to my painting development. As time goes by, I plan to add to this blog and may eventually upload my current paintings. This blog is supposed to be a record of my progress as a painter and I would like as much of the record to be here as possible.

Ok, all for today. Maybe more tomorrow!

Hibiscus

I still haven't been painting. But after our vacation in August that will change. I have signed up for a painting class that, I hope will give me some constructive criticism.

Today, I have a painting that I worked on last winter. The hibiscus was blooming at the zoo and the painting was taken from a photograph taken last fall. It was painted on a 5"x7" canvas panel in oils.

Boo

I still haven't been painting this summer, but I found a little painting that I completed last winter that I thought I would add to this blog. This little guy lives somewhere in Canterbury Cathedral. The painting was taken from a photograph taken in February 08. He is painted iin oils on a 5"x7" canvas panel.

Swans

Wow, I have been neglecting this blog for quite a while. I have not been painting too much because it is spring here and I an getting the yard ready for summer. In summer here it gets too hot (and sometimes dry) to plant and I am hoping for some nice subjects to sprout up.

With a last name like Swan it was only a matter of time before I painted some. I am not too pleased with the result I think maybe after I study it for a while, I may work on it some more. But, anyway, here is my latest painting. It was painted on an 8"x12" stretched canvas in oils. The swans were taken from a photograph of swans swimming in Castle Park in Colchester, England snapped a few years ago.

Houseplant

Well, here is a painting that I have been working on for the past few weeks. It is a houseplant that sits in my studio/sunroom. Many of my paintings so far are from photographs, but this one is from life. I am hoping that Anubis guards the houseplant from death as Anubis is lord of death. This little oil painting was painted on a 5"x7" canvas panel and was finished (or did I just get tired of painting on it?) last week. Oh, the houseplant is a Kalanchoe in case you couldn't tell!! I must practice more on painting plants.

Chicken

This mother hen was painted last weekend. It is my first use of the pallet knife for painting--the background, not the chicken! If you look closely there is a little chick peering out from his mother's feathers. And is you look even closer, you can just barely see another one. This chicken was painted in oils on an 8"x10" canvas paael.

Scratchboard Lion

I just ran across this scratchboard lion that I did for that class I took in the fall. This lion came from the same photo as the one in the oil painting below. I love his serene face! The bone came from a prop in the class. The object was to add something three dimensional (from life) to the drawing. It looks like the lion is sleeping off a large meal. The scratchboard size is 8"x10". It was done in October of 2008.

Secluded Beach

In early February, I visited with a dear friend that lives on a beautiful island in the warm Caribbean. This painting is from a photo of a beach somewhere on that island. With it being in the forties here, I could use some more of that sunshine! This painting was done in oils on an 8"x10" canvas panel and was finished last week.

After looking at the photo of the painting, I discovered that the colors in the photo were extremely washed out. I have removed the old image and added a new one that is a better representative of the original painting. I must remember to check the images before I post them!

Daffodils

The daffodils bloomed really early this year. I cut a few and brought them into the house to capture these in oils. These daffodils were painted sometime in February. They are painted on a 5"x7" canvas panel. My daffodils started blooming in early February and they are still blooming. Of course I have different varieties which spreads out the bloom time..

Scooter, My Sister's Cat

Scooter is a cat that was a throw-away-cat my brother-in-law found in a parking lot. He was nursed back to health and now he is a really active an playful kitty. It was difficult to get him to pose and the photograph the painting was taken from is lousy, but anyway , here is my attempt to capture him in oils. I painted most of him in December, but finished him in March. He was painted on an 8"x10" canvas panel.

Elephant

Wow! I have been neglecting this blog for quite a while! I have been painting, but not as much as I would have liked. This post is a painting of an elephant I captured on film last fall. I did the painting in January. The elephant was swishing dirt on herself. Maybe she thought she was making herself more attractive! The elephant was painted in oils on a 5"x7" canvas panel.