Still Life with Garlic - Finished Painting

You all know I mostly paint women's portraits, but every so often, I have an urge to paint something else. In this case it was the little bowl we have in the kitchen that - at the moment - holds two partial heads of garlic, two shallots from the garden and three bay leaves Daniel brought home from a walk not long ago.

Every time I walked past this little still life, it made me stop for a second. There was something so simple and beautiful about it, I longed to paint it!

Still Life with Garlic
6x 6 inch painting on wrapped canvas

Now available in my Etsy Shop.

And a couple of days ago, I decided to yield, which is this week's Illustration Friday theme. I love how this little painting turned out. Not my last still life, of that I am sure!

P.S. It was difficult getting a photo that accurately shows the deep and rich cobalt turquoise background color. It is yummy!!

Guardians

This painting truly was a labor of love. I put many hours into it, first sketching, then erasing, then sketching some more, then painting and adding lots of detail.

For me this piece had a mexican feel to it from the start as the main figure was inspired by a photo I had seen of Lila Downs, a wonderful singer and song writer whose mother was from Oaxaca. We once were fortunate enough to see her perform in Albuquerque and it blew us away! But I digress...

When I was done with the main figure, I thought the background really needed something else.

Daniel reminded me of a monograph we have of Rodolfo Morales, a painter from Ocotlán de Morales in Oaxaca, a place we just adore and have visited often. I had forgotten how much I love Rodolfo's art! Looking at his work did the trick and I suddenly "saw" what the background wanted to be.

I don't know about you, but I like to think (in fact, I am quite sure) that we have guardians around us who love us no matter what, who walk with us on our path, and who occasionally nudge us in the right direction...

This painting is rather large for me, 18 x 24" (45 x 60 cm) and ready to hang with finished sides. The colors are even more beautiful than in the photos and the whole canvas has lots of great texture! 

Guardians
18 x 24" (45 x 60 cm) acrylic painting
on wrapped canvas

P.S. When I finished the painting, I was so much in Oaxaca in my mind and heart that I made our favorite Tortilla Soup recipe from a great Oaxacan cookbook "Seasons of my Heart." I actually found the recipe online for you (click here) - it's definitely worth making!!

New Painting & More

Well, my friends I took the whole day off from printmaking. I needed to not be around big presses, rubber gloves, goggles, acids and metal. I needed a peaceful day painting - and I painted all day!

When I paint, I meditate, I think, I allow things that have been percolating to come to the surface and be noticed.

So, two things happened here. My style is changing a little. My women and flowers are coming together. Plus, Jane DesRosier (Gritty Jane) is having a Facebook challenge to paint a piece paying homage to Klimt. While it wasn't my intent to paint this for the challenge, I was clearly influenced by reading about Klimt, his life and his art.

It also made me remember how much I love patterns. Not the regular kind so much, but the organic patterns I see everywhere. And I added a little bit of metallic paint (gold and copper) - yum! The photos don't really do it justice, but they come close.

But here's the big change. I decided to offer my paintings for sale right here on the blog for two reasons (everything seems to be happening in pairs today).

At this point, I call myself an artist (even if only timidly), but also want to hide it from the world. I still do that!! I like to show you my art, but the selling part I am so incredibly insecure about. I barely want to mention it and then apologize for it in the same sentence.

I came across the following quote a few weeks ago, which has had me thinking - a lot. A LOT!

“The original definition of courage is to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart.”

           ― Brené Brown

This is me being a little more courageous and telling the story of who I am:

Putting my art out there for you to see, to comment on, to buy if you want to, or to simply enjoy online! 

The second reason is a more mundane one. I find it takes a lot of time to maintain two Etsy stores effectively, so I will close my Etsy art store over the next few days and offer my art here on my blog. It just feels right. I will also no longer offer prints of anything, just my original pieces as they become available.

The "Buy Now" button will take you to PayPal for very secure checkout (the same as with Etsy).

About the pricing of my art, it is not a science. I price the pieces according to how long they took me to paint and - because I only offer you the pieces I truly love - by what would feel like a fair trade to me for that particular piece. If you have questions, just e-mail me.

Jewel
8 x 10" acrylic painting

Thank you all for listening, for bearing witness to my constant becoming and for your always supportive comments! 

You all warm my heart and make my day - every day!! 

P.S. I loved all your comments on my previous fall post - seems I'm not the only one who loves this particular season... 

Never say never...

5 x 5" original painting (gone to a good home)

 

6 x 6" original painting

By now I should know that often when I say I am finished with something, I'm really not at all. So it is with the square flower paintings (well, one heart snuck in when I wasn't watching...). The canvas size has increased a little, but I'm still with the flowers and may be for a while. This last one, an Angel's Trumpet flower, isn't quite finished yet, but I like where it's heading. I love drawing and painting - it is so soothing to my soul!

The plant theme also seems to expand into my etching class. Here is a copper plate covered with a heard ground, into which I "drew" the image of a dandelion seed head with a scraper. I'll make a couple of changes this morning, then head to the print studio to etch it and then print a proof to see how I like it. I'm starting to make friends with the etching/printing process and that's good! For a while there we weren't sure we were going to like each other...

I hope you all are enjoying a beautiful weekend!!

Maybe the Last Flower

Well, friends, another flower and I think my last for a while. Painting flowers is really not the direction I see myself going in. Maybe occasionally, but for now, other subject matters are calling me.

Speaking of which, I successfully etched two copper plates yesterday and am going into the print studio this afternoon to print a proof of each of them.

As soon as I let my fingers run over the etched copper, I was in love with this technique (I am such a tactile person!) and keep staring at the etched plates. I can't wait to see how they print! I'll take photos and share...

Pretty in Pink - 5x5" acrylic painting on gallery-wrapped canvas.

I leave you today with much love and hope that you are having a beautiful day that keeps getting better and better and better!!

P.S. Today is Friday and I can tell you that this was NOT the last flower. I should have known... :) I'm off to the print studio for now, but I'll be back later today...

Still on the Red Flower Kick...

Poppy 2
Acrylic painting on 5 x 5 inch gallery-wrapped canvas

 While the first poppy I painted is getting ready to be shipped to wonderful Audrey, I absolutely had to paint another.

Of course, it is not the same. Similar, but definitely not the same. And again, I really love it!

Napthol Red and Paynes Gray and just a little Green Gold in the center of the poppy. Amazing what you can create with such a limited palette! It was hard to get the color to show correctly on the photos though. The scan (top photo) shows the colors best.

We have been enjoying cooler days and can hardly believe our luck. I got to wear long pants yesterday and socks! I was so happy!! And Ramses is sleeping in his little basket again, curling up and keeping warm. I think this winter I need to make a pretty cover for his pillow...

I am off to paint another little painting, sew some more clutches and scratch something into my copper plates for etching class on Tuesday.

Wishing you and beautiful, creative and peaceful Sunday!!