"My First Egg"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

i wish i had a fun name for this painting but i'm too tired. this is truly the first time i've painted a cracked egg and i have to say it was fun ...white on white...and i'll probably do more of them. i got back to the nude i've been working on - still don't think it's ready...we had a wonderful family reunion on saturday with almost 30 people and we had grandkids for two overnights...thank heavens the weather cooperated - lots of swimming and dunking and diving!! joe, our barely 2 year old youngest grand, decided it was time he started learning to swim - he started in the hot tub...yelling one two three go! - and diving underwater - what a riot! ready to get back in the swing of painting every day - the house is in great shape after the reunion preparations - all except my studio of course......ah well....

"Wine and Flowers"

6 x 8 oil on canvas panel
we got together in nan's back yard yesterday - i was dashing literally all day - working in the house during the morning - a couple hours of painting early afternoon and then 9 holes with my hubby and some friends and then dinner - no time to post when i got home and probably this will be it til sunday. as i mentioned before - it's difficult to paint with the sun casting shadows which are constantly changing. it's so important to get the shadows you want down early and then just ignore what's happening with the sun. as i look at this, i can see where i was fooled and i'll tweak it a bit more when i have time.

"Whew!!!!!"

is there any more horrifying sound than the high-pitched keen of a mosquito on the hunt for blood?????....i've been working in the yard all afternoon and because of the rain we've had in the midwest, the mosquitos are runnning the country. i see them , i hear them, i swat them, i will them away, (and i do eat lots of garlic which i hear helps a bit) - but MAN!!!! - especially in the shade - they obviously don't like the heat either. i think every 10-15 seconds one would fly under the brim of my baseball cap...hence the high pitched keening noise....to make matters worse, nellie spent almost the whole time barking. i let her out a time or two but it's way too hot for her to just hang out so she stands on the inside of the door and barks, and barks....

anyway - i'm doing all this because we have a family reunion here on saturday and i have to get this place shaped up a bit. after 2 appointments this morning, and a very delightful birthday luncheon with all my tennis buddies, i came home and hit it hard and i'm DONE with the outside - i still have to bring in some flowers friday or saturday. now...for the inside! - yikes! - i'm writing all this to explain why i probably won't be able to post anything for a couple days -i'll be very lucky to be able to find time to pick up a paintbrush...and as i learned early on in this daily blogging business...sometimes life just gets in the way! lyb

"Red, White and Blue"

6 x 6 oil on panel

this is one of those days when i hardly found time to paint - played 18 holes this morning and then met some gals for lunch - and it dragged on and on delightfully...then did a whole bunch of errands on the way home - picked up some strawberries at sam's - nothing like the beauties we had locally early in the year - but still fun to paint - something's wrong with the contrast on my camera - i think the sun being lower in the sky is wreaking havoc with what i'm doing! - need to find a different place to take my photos - ah well.....

"High in the Sky"

6 x 6 oil on panel
here's another painting done on a slick ground - interesting to work with - easier than the last one i did - i think i have a bit of glare on the left side since it's so sunny outside but it was fun to do - i don't know if that's a telephone pole or utility wires but i've had the photo for along time and always wanted to paint it. i've been working on a commission and started a nude this afternoon - i guess maybe since it's fall or almost fall maybe i'll have time to paint more. i don't know ...i got a call from my tennis coach today saying practices were starting. yikes!!!

"Emma and Libby" (in progress) NFS

12 x 12 oil on stretched canvas

i was on the road all day yesterday and couldn't get anything completed or posted. this is the commission i'm working on and i wanted to show it in progress - lots more to do but i'm done for the day and i want to get final approval of hair color and stuff from my friend sally. i'm hoping to complete it in the next day or two so she can present it to her daughter-in-law for her birthday. she saw one of my dailies that reminded her of her grandbabies so we decided to do a larger one for her. i'll post the finished painting when it's completed. meanwhile the solheim cup is on and i must watch golf!!!

"Big O"

6 x 6 oil on board

so we had a paintout here today in the back yard - gorgeous day - not too hot - but quite sunny - i started a commission for a friend in indy and decided i couldn't trust the values or the colors as i was putting them down. (you have to be very careful of that when you're out in the sunlight.) so i put that aside for today and grabbed a photo of my grandson oliver. he's gorgeous, of course, just like all my grands, but i'm not sure i quite captured him. maybe i'll do each one of them now - that would be five! - actually i should probably do a painting of each of them each year as they grow up - wouldn't that be fun?

"Basket Bounty"

6 x 6 oil on board
my son loves corn so he's already claimed this painting. i just need to tell you about this wonderful artist carol marine - she posted today that four of her paintings are going to be in the movie letters to julia. how cool is that? check out her blog if you haven't yet!

"Ready to Shuck"

6 x 6 oil on board
these were some BIG ears of corn! - this view is rather looking down on them - (wouldn't want to do that now, would i?...we're all equal beings, after all...)- tomorrow i may have another go from a different angle - corn is fun to paint!....but what isn't!!??...

"Candy and Flowers"

6 x 6 oil on panel
i did this yesterday late in the day because i did a bit of babysitting....ollie and i had a little pool party with my friend margaret and two of her grands...so much fun to see these kiddoes together! - then picked up tillie from her first monday in first grade and watched over her as she did her homework - (took her two seconds....)while the kids were playing wii i painted this - then took the photo and as i was getting ready to post much later in the evening - dark outside- i realized i'd cut off half the painting in the photo. so here it is after golf and a reshoot - so i think i'm going to tackle an unshucked ear of corn this afternoon - before we have it for dinner tonight - got to get to work!

"Plate a Maters"

6 x 6 oil on canvas board

we played 18 holes today and dashed home to watch the end of the PGA - stopping on the way at a farmer's market for a few things - i love heirloom tomatoes - do you suppose they would be found in a hope chest along with other cherished belongings?....

i forgot to mention..

one of the things i like about playing in these south central conference golf events is the people i meet - yesterday i played with some great people...probably one of the reasons i played so well - very comfortable out there...lyb

"Sea Island Sea Oats"

6 x 6 oil on canvas board
so i went out to my friend cindy's house today for a paint out. i missed the paint out yesterday because i was playing in a golf tournament - (pretty good day for me - shot an 82 and won second low gross so i was pretty happy but very tired when i got home. we sat through a 45 minute traffic hold-up for construction between bloomingtgon and nashville!) - anyway - i wanted to see what my "student" has been doing and she's doing GREAT!! -while she worked on a marsh scene, i did this little painting of some sea oats from a picture her hubby had taken some months earlier. we also had our friend janie out there with us - working on her horse sculpture - she blows me away! - i don't know how she does that!!?!..she's done oil painting in her past but i think her real passion is sculpture and she is very good at what she does! tomorrow i must get to a commission and maybe a small daily as well - we'll see...

"Just Resting"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
busy day today...doing some last minute baby sitting - yardwork - general catching up - tomorrow i'm gone for an out of town golf event so i may not have time to paint - i also need to get busy on a couple of commissions -i may or may not post ongoing progress on those pieces - we'll see...hoping to keep up with the dailies while i'm at it! -

"Nestle Up" NFS

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
i stopped at two different farmer's markets yesterday on my way home with the kiddoes - the first was down on second street - daily's market - they had the friskiest golden retriever - my grands were in heaven - chasing him - being chased back - i found this very unique-looking eggplant - (the one on the right) - and i also bought some zepher (?) squash which we grilled up tonight - scrumptious!! - after that we stopped at the moses' stand on 8th and washington - another great place - with even more things - i bought farm-raised eggs and a free-range chicken along with a bunch of other stuff and the eggplant on the left. i also bought some sunflowers - fading, i'm afraid, and i didn't get to them today so i took a couple pics and hopefullly i can paint them tomorrow. after golf today i picked up ollie. he played a bit of wii while i got started painting and then he decided he wanted to paint along with me - he did a wonderful piece ( he's three) - and then headed back to the basement for more wii. we finished off the day by playing 9 holes of wii golf - i squeaked by him...but only just barely.. i am one lucky lady...
...as a post note...i've donated this painting to our local volunteer fire department. a very worthy cause!

"The Mother and Child Reunion..."

7 x 9 oil on panel

i had the best day today! - went to a bridal shower for the daughter of a good friend - those events are always so special! - met some 5 month old twins - very special in their own right! - had a gorgeous lunch on a wind swept but canopied deck overlooking a wonderful lake - it helped us feel cool on a very warm day! - then i stopped in town at two special farmer's markets - purchased some great painting fodder (and some eating fodder as well..) -then spent some time with a couple grands and finished this late in the day - another africa painting - pretty timely since it's "africa hot" right now!

"Follow Me"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
i still haven't started organizing my studio - but i DID work on my pallette - and this is the first of several paintings from the photos from africa i mentioned. lots of things to paint! - we're heading out to play golf and go to dinner with good friends - gonna be HOT HOT HOT!!!!!

"Three Men Out"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

those cherries were so tasty i tracked some down at a local farmer's market - somehow these aren't as pretty as the ones cindy had but they're still delicious! on a side note, i really need to do a whole lot of work in my studio - things are such a mess i can hardly stand up in there - i also found some old photos someone brought me back from africa - i'm seeing an african theme in some upcoming dailies - can't wait! - cows, (or maybe those were goats)..elephants, a big lion - lots of wonderful looking children....actually i've already done a watercolor of a group of these children and ended up donating it to a charity in indianapolis several years back - my how time flies when you're having fun!!

one more thing...(good news and bad news..)

i play in a nine hole ladies golf group on friday mornings and last week was the first round of our club championship - today was the second - and i was feeling pretty good coming in! - when we got off the course i discovered i hadn't played enough rounds to qualify for the tourney and so the 78 (41-37) i shot wasn't going to win a dang thing!!!! - that's the bad news! - the good news is today i birdied the par five and got my third hole-in-one!!!!!!!!! - wheeeee!!!!! lyb

"Beachwalk" and "Cherries" (NFS)

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

this is a little painting i started a few days ago but really haven't finished but wanted to post it in progress. i did this earlier this week to get my painting muscles going again - yesterday i went to my friend cindy's house for a paint out - she's sort of a beginner and so we did the same painting side by side. rather than a photograph i chose a painting with particularly strong values and unfortunately i chose a piece painted by a contemporary artist....and so i can't show it. next time i think i'll chose an old master and we'll work on that together. she really did great! i know when i started so many years ago it really helped me to be able to watch someone - a picture's worth a thousand words, i guess!

the painting above is of a bowl of rainier cherries she brought out for us to nibble on while we worked -= deeeelish!!!! while i was waiting for her to catch up to whatever stage we were working on, i thought i'd jot a few strokes down to try and capture those cherries. of course the sun changed while we were out there and that can be confusing!

another "blast..."

ok so here's what i did today...7 a.m. mammogram...and ladies - if you haven't had yours yet this year, get on it!! - back for breakfast, then to the license branch to have my license renewed...(did you know you can't show your teeth when you smile?...something about facial recognition..) then to hobby lobby, then grocery shopping, then to the bank for a deposit and to have something notarized...then back home to clean out a couple cupboards...then the grands showed up since their parents were going to a funeral - then the "frenchies" from next door all showed up and we had a housefull...then outside to trim bushes and severely cut back the roses in front - now i'm covered in thorn holes and mosquito bites so i'm heading to the tub..just in case i might have picked up even MORE poison ivy!! - needless to say, i'm not painting today - this painting from several years ago was featured in a german newspaper. this fellow was looking for golf art on the internet and found this and asked for permission to print it in an article on sports art. i was thrilled to say the least - of course nobody ever saw it although i do have a copy of the newspaper - and i was foolish enough to forget to ask them to mention my website. ah well - to the tub!!!

the sky has brightened....

a little better photo of sammy and fozy - the sky has finally brightened and the neighborhood kids are all out playing in the flooded street. kids have so much fun, don't they???

"Sammy and Fozy"

this is the painting i couldn't get posted before. and it's still kind of dark because i can't get outside and photograph it-the card seems to be working all of a sudden but today has been so strange - so very very dark and rainy - in fact it hasn't stopped raining all day and we're reminded of that horrid flood we just a little over a year ago. we were without electricty for a couple hours this morning and our golden nellie has been freaking out with all the lightning and thunder. this started around 5 am when my hubby and i both went to the window to check out what was going on ...the oddest thing - lots of lightning - almost like a fire - but no noise...it was all happening on the west side of town and we couldn't hear it but we could sure see it! - then in time it got to us and hasn't stopped yet! should have spent the day in my studio but nellie won't leave me alone - she's drooling on my feet as i write this. anyway - the newly weds loved their gift and i'll add a few finishing touches and let it dry and then varnish and frame it. it was a lot of fun to paint!

still no camera card

we're back from the wedding - what a great time! - danced our socks off ..actually that would be our shoes...i did a painting of the couple's doggies as their wedding gift - i can't show you the painting yet but i'll show you the picture i worked from. i'm back in the studio but who knows when i'll be able to post with this camera - i don't know if my camera is obsolete since i can't find a proper card to fit....as soon as i can get this problem worked out i'll post the actual painting. anyway - can't believe it's august! time is flying by!!!