"grand" fun

ok - here's the gang! - gathered in the library before presents! willie and tillie in back, joey, luce magoose and ollie in front. we snapped a picture of them later in the day with funny paper hats on but i can't seem to find it - how much fun we had and oh how they love getting together with their cousins!! happy new year one and all - i promise to get back to painting one day soon!!! lyb

"Teri and Jacqueline" SOLD

this is a photogrph of my good friend janie's twin grangdaughters. she wanted me to paint these sweet little girls for her to present to her daughter for christmas. i think it's finally safe to post this!

11x14 oil on stretched canvas

here's the final painting of these cute little girls - they're all snuggled up together - almost holding hands - janie said that when they grow up and have spats with each other, everyone would love looking back at them snuggled up as pals!....on another note, we finally got to celebrate our christmas yesterday - (we love dragging things out in this family....sometimes my birthday lasts for weeks!!)..we had such a good time and the grands were in hog heaven ..i made my usual chicken kiev but we had a new addition this year..it's a polish dish called haluski we found on guy fiero's DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES....absolutely sinful!!!....almost ready to start our program..but not quite...there's still pie and cookies.... but we're heading to new york in a month for plays and food and fun (a christmas present from my boy)..so we have to start soon....

"Oliver at One...Two?" and Merry Christmas!!!

6x6 oil on canvas panel
i'm sure it's ok to post this - my daughter will be too busy today with santa coming and all to notice - and she'll receive it tomorrow so i think we're all right! - with this painting i have completed 2 each of my 5 grands. so much more fodder - i have to figure out which years these actually were and then fill in - i'll be having lots of fun in the coming months...and years!! i really love these loose little vignettes of the kids - so much fun to do and they'll be so wonderful to look back on as they keep growing up! -...my hubby's back in the ER today for a few hours after working 10 hours there yesterday. so we're having our family christmas tomorrow so this is actually christmas eve for us...aren't we lucky? we can have christmas eve and christmas day all at once! our wish is for peace and happiness to all our friends and family and a very merry christmas to all! lyb

"In Italy" SOLD

24x20 oil on stretched canvas
well - he couldn't wait!! - actually he couldn't get the wet painting out of the trunk of his car without her help so she got her christmas present a few days early!! from mike to deborah and it was so much fun to paint! - it's in italy - (i'm so italy illiterate) - lake como -near tuscany i think -if that makes any sense - and this scene was special for them on their recent trip so mike surprised her with this painting. that's what's so much fun about this painting thing...the look on somebody's face when they're obviously happy with what you've done. it means so much!!...

"Lucy at Two""

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's luce ma goose - i'm not sure whether she's two or three here - but she's almost five now so it's definitely a retrospective! i know it's been said before but i have to have the most gorgeous grands in all the world! and so much fun to paint and keep painting til they're all grown up!! busy day today - delivered two commissions - can't post them yet - another couple days! also -had lunch at an indian restaurant with boogs and her friend diane and then took a bunch of work up to the carmel midland arts and antiques mall...just like the one in downtown indy but also very different...i have a small wall and it's now loaded with stuff - plus i found a "lucky" penny in the slush on my way out. i'm expecting great things for 2010...for all of us!!! lyb

"Willie in His First Year"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's willie - he's my oldest grand so this is taken from a picture nearly 7 years old. a very happy kid - the leader in crime for all his cousins - i'll post lucy's painting tomorrow - lots to do today - have to deliver two commissions today and then i can post them after christmas.

Ollie and Lucy at the Piano

12x12 oil on stretched canvas

ok - so here's the story - it's close enough to christmas and i haven't posted in so long that i don't think anyone will see this before we open presents! i'm doing another one like it for the other family - ollie and lucy are cousins and they both love banging on the piano (all the grands do, actually)...they love the grand piano in the library - they love the small piano they can sit at and pick out twinkle twinkle with the book that comes with it...they also love this little music box piano...probably my mom's one day long ago...as i mentioned i have a few commissions i'm working on and i dare NOT post those on the slim chance that someone is watching what goes on here. i've done a few more small portraits of the grands and i'll be posting those - can't believe christmas is upon us!

hello again....."Do You See It?"

20x16 oil on stretched canvas

hello again......it sure has been a while - with thanksgiving and christmas and two openings thrown in - i've been pretty busy - just like every other person at this time of year! - i have some commissions to complete and i've been working on them - also on some stuff for my kids so obviously i'm not able to post that or else it'll ruin the surprise...i did get this one done - i think i may have posted it in progress several months ago but i'm trying to finish my cycles so it's done....i think....anyway - we're heading to our annual couples christmas party tonight only my hubby may not make it since he's down for the count. another couple can't make it - another medical emergency...seems like each year it gets harder to all gather in one piece but we're still all together in spirit! hope to be a bit more faithful with my posting and no, JE, you haven't been taken off my list for being bad. my bad! lyb

best buds artisan market

here are some photos of our artisan market! - linda callahan (lco designs) hosted it in her GARAGE!!!! (would you ever believe these pictures were of a garage???) she's a fabulous designer and staged this beautifully! - actually these photos highlight some of my paintings but there were several other artists/artisans participating: linda, of course, who has a thriving design business, LCO designs; connie skyrme, Midnight Sun Artistry - beautiful hand-painted furniture of all kinds; linda's daughter emily, EM photography and design, photographic giclees; carol kent pottery; jules jewelry by julie allen; kathy allen's cork art; joy o daniel - metals; emily mabe and her framed watercolor prints; amy leinhoop; susie signorino with all sorts of stuff; marilyn kern's fabulous hand made jackets; linda comstock's teal. all in all, we had a wonderful time and we're hoping to do this again in the spring but for sure next christmas season. happy holidays everyone

"cousins" SOLD

24x18 oil on stretched canvas
here's another of my new paintings - it's done from a photograph of two of my cousins' kids taken ages ago - they're both in their 20s now! - i had originally named it "sisters" but then i thought..actually they're cousins!...this has been a busy weekend for sure! - we had the 2 day artisan's market and our wine and cheese reception friday night. i'm so thankful for my friends who showed up to support me and the other artists participating. the last day was yesterday and although i coudn't be there much to help out, they had a really successful day. we had our family thanksgiving yesterday - with two turkeys, one roasted and one deep-fried and all the trimmings! - we had a great time but we forgot to roast the marshmallows with the kids outside over our roaring firepit! - totally forgot! ah well - there's still christmas! i can't believe christmas is almost here so i got going on my decorating this afternoon - i guess with thanksgiving so late, we don't have much time to get in the spirit! - but we'll do our best!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a wonderful world! - we have so much to be thankful for - life, health, friends, family, laughter, walks, dogs, golf, tennis, good food, great wine, paints and brushes and canvas and pallette knives -and people to share all that with. what a lucky girl am i...and happy thanksgiving day to everyone!!! lyb

"Pomegranates"

10x20 oil on stretched canvas
here's another pallette knife painting for the market this weekend - just framed it but it's still wet! - i also decided to put a few painted pots in the show - i was really into this 5 or 6 years ago - hand-embellished and painted pots - people often remark about the one they have at home and wonder if i'm still doing those - i answer - not any more. so i decided to put a few in just for old time's sake! tomorrow...thanksgiving...while my hubby's working in the ER, i'll be cleaning my house and setting my table -getting ready to celebrate our turkey day on saturday - a long time ago, we realized that the day you get to celebrate any holiday..christmas, thanksgiving, birthdays...is the day you CAN celebrate - and that very often turns out to be some day close but not necessarily ON the day! no worries! -

"Red Hat" SOLD

18x24 oil on stretched canvas
i love this painting! - it was so much fun to do..very textured and done completely with a pallette knife! it will be part of the artisan's market this friday and saturday in hickory hills but i haven't framed it yet and it's still wet!~ - so are a couple others but i think that may be the nature of getting a show together at the last minute - lots of fun but kind of hair-raising all at the same time!! stay tuned!!

"Blue Vase"

11x14 oil on canvas panel

i'll be framing this for the show - another pallette knife painting - i spent the day today in my son jason's 4th grade class. he asked me if i'd come up and do paintings of his kids - it was a blast! - they were so excited to have their very own portraits - actually they were more like drawings or character sketches - i took pix of everyone and was working from them but then my camera ran out of juice so i started sitting them down in front of me to do their portraits. they were so good - sat so still - and they were especially delighted to hear they got to take them HOME!!!!! i was really delighted to be so appreciated - what a fun day!

small bouquet

9x12oil on stretched canvas
so i've been busy getting ready for this artisan show i'm doing.. spent the day in my studio today and am busy listing and pricing a bunch of prints and originals. i've been working primarily with pallette knife - i'm thinking this is becoming my favorite! - i've taken pix of the new work and will post over the next few days. our poor hoosiers are just hapless! - both our basketball team and football team - just pitiful...i'm hoping brighter days are ahead!! -

no painting today

i spent the day in indy....went for lunch with three gorgeous ladies and thank you, jill, for my lovely gift! worked on my wall at Midland and did a bit of shopping - got home way too late for studio work...but i plan to get there tomorrow! (hope, hope!) - i have sad news...with the economy struggling so much, the art world is struggling more than ever and my friend kurt is closing his artworks gallery in brunswick georgia. i brought home several paintings from his gallery and i wish him well in his future endeavors! i've been asked to be in a holiday artisan's show here in columbus so i have much to do to prepare for that but it's exciting, none the less! i'll have more about that in the next few days. hang with me!

some workshop stuff...

10x20 oil on stretched canvas
this is the only palette knife work i did during this workshop -as opposed to the one in may where i did a bunch! - this is the one i ended up glazing with burnt sienna and reworking a bit and leaving on the easel in our great room - replacing an original that's hung there for many years. i thought we were ready for a change. i forgot to take a photo of it - maybe i'll remember to do that when we go back in february!

11x14 oil on panel

so here's a painting of my new friend ella, painting the marsh beyond the little satilla river. there was so much to see that day - too many choices for yours truly so i ended up doing a couple paintings of people painting...
...still re-entering - tackled our closet yesterday and now i need to clean the house (dirty job....blah, blah...)while my hubby's working in the ER - hopefull later today i can head up!

back home again...

we're finally back from georgia - when i say finally, i don't really mean finally...wish we could still be there - but duty calls - my brushes are calling and soon i will get back at it - but first...the dreaded "RE-ENTRY"!! we had a wonderful 3-day intensive workshop with janet powers...loved every minute of it! - afterwards, i decided to really go on vacation with my husband - no painting - (well actually i did put a burnt sienna glaze on one painting and left it on an easel in the great room)-other than that - no painting - only golf, reading, walking, brain work, lots of good eating! in the coming days i have 3 commissions to complete from little portraits i donated plus other things i have in mind. i also managed to take a few pics of the stuff we worked on in the workshop - i'll post some of that later... be patient with me and i'll soon be back painting on a regular basis. heading to get our first glimpse of the new hoosier basketball team tonight - should be great fun!

no time...

i am so sorry i haven't been able to paint or post in the last couple days - lots of life getting in the way - willie came down with the "heiny" flu (as my hubby calls it) sunday morning - so we're all battling not to get it! - i think lucy may have succombed - she's possibly just jealous of the stay-at-home mode -met the new grandson of a good friend at a little gathering last night - had a pedicure - and i'm working to get my images to the left bank gallery - don't know how many she'll want - waiting to hear on that...also getting organized for the upcoming workshop with janet - can't wait for that! - packing for our trip - need to be all ready since i'm playing in a tennis match on friday - i shouldn't be taking the time but i feel bad for missing the last two matches because of this stomach thing...now thinking it could be an ulcer - yikes!! - anyway - i'm hoping to be able to post while i'm down there but you never know - for sure i'll be golfing and painting a lot!!! not to mention relaxing!!!...a lot!!!

a few more....

6x6 oil on canvas panel
here's another fiery sunset over the marsh - it's amazing how many different paintings you could garner from just one scene - all you have to do is stand in the same spot - every evening - and the sky and sun would work their magic...and you have another gorgeous sunset! -

6x6 oil on canvas panel

i call this "patrick's sunrise" because it's from a photograph by patrick anderson. he does wonderful coastal shots and i've worked from his images before. i'll have to say - i'm not sure it's possible to capture the exact moment in a painting like he did in this shot - so elusive...so i don't try to replicate what he's done..just use it as reference.

life.....

so here's the deal...i did a little work in my studio today but at the moment there are 4 children in the library pounding on the grand piano and the miniature grand piano..i'm not sure who's on which...but they love to pound away! - every now and then you'll hear an actual "twinkle twinkle little star" come forth...but mostly it's just letting loose. we can do this, you see, because papper's working in the ER tonight - we had a "bath" in the hot tub earlier..and willie, tillie, lucy and oliver all swam" nakies"..no, i take that back..for some reason lucy had her suit on...and we talked a lot about baby joey - the only one missing - he really loves that hot tub! tomorrow morning we'll do our usual...go out for a breakfast feast at Sadie's...a full family fun event - sometimes we hang spoons...sometimes we flip little pieces of napkin off our forks - all great fun and lots of noise and the proprietors seem to love it!! and now - willie's dragging me off my chair to go play another game of rummykub so i must run - ain't life "grand"???????

"another sky over the marsh"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
i'm going to have to figure out a better way to name these paintings. so many of them are marsh and sky and i'm not being very creative in naming them. this is from the same photo reference as the one i did a few days ago - this time i made it more of a sky painting. i still have more possibilities with that wonderful photo - i'm also not sure i have my camera set correctly - i'll have to double check with my buddies downtown to make sure i'm getting the most out of the digitals i'm taking! -i'm planning a couple more beach babies and then i have to finish a waercolor commission before i leave. stay tuned....

"Float My Boats"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
this is my work for today - as i mentioned - we were gone a good deal of the afternoon, finding out that i am, in fact, a crock. but i had some time when we got home and the studio is so good for my psyche. painting heals my soul somehow.....and another thing i've learned..or i knew but i'm reminded - it's good to view your work either in a mirror, upside down, or in this case, take a photograph. as i was working on this, i didn't notice the little black triangle at the upper right ..but there it is! - and that's where the viewer's eye will go until l tone it down a bit - somehow, it's so very dark and the fact that there aren't really any other true triangle shapes in the painting makes it all the worse. so tomorrow i will fix that but i kind of like this little guy!

"Another Marsh Sunset"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
this is the painting i worked on yesterday but by the time i finished it was too dark outside to take a photo and post it last night. i have a fabulous photo reference that i can crop in all sorts of ways to create different paintings of the marsh...the marsh i so dearly love and that i have missed tremendously for the past almost 6 months!! most likely i will do another couple of these to take with me to georgia. i had my last series of tests today - proving there is absolutely nothing wrong with me - in fact, my husband says i have the healthiest gall baldder in columbus! and everything else proved to be negative so again i have a new lease on life - if only this tummy ache would go away....and maybe now it will do just that!

ah well.....

ok - so life got in the way today. i wasn't able to get to my studio until just before dinner and since my hubby's working tonight - i may be able to get back there...but i still wanted to share this news: ...my little painting that was accepted into the national AIS show.."big sky over the marsh" ...well guess what? - it's already SOLD!!!!! - and the opening isn't until friday night! needless to say i'm over the moon and inspired to keep at it!! every minute counts until i have to leave for the island and it's kind of exciting! lyb

"Marsh Sunset"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
actually i really like this little painting! - it was a lot of fun to do and the camera doesn't do it justice, i'm afraid. we golfed yesterday - in the howling wind - and i know it didn't get over 60 - we're trying to take advantage of every last minute of golfable weather before old indiana winter sets in! - we can go for months without playing and that's no fun! - really looking forward to georgia - should have delightful weather and so much fun.

"Big Guy Little Guy"

6x8 oil on canvas panel
i haven't been able to post for the past few days but i have been doing a little painting. this is from yesterday or the day before. actually it's from a photo of my son-in-law greg and my grandson joe on the beach on st. simons. working on a few things for the Left Bank Art Gallery on the island...don't know how many they'll take but i like to have several for them to choose from. they have a "little picture show" every fall and these small paintings i've been doing will be perfect for it.

"Another Babe on the Beach"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so we're heading to georgia in 2 weeks and i haven't really been doing any painting for my galleries down there. i thought i'd better get started! - i feel so much better today - possibly because all my tests were negative and i could just be a hypochondriac...but i digress...this little one is from a photo i took this spring - or maybe last fall - can't really remember. it's painted a little differently than my usual fare - i'm experimenting with using more medium and thus the paint is a bit thinner - except in spots, obviously. if anyone has any comments about the difference and which is preferable to the viewer - i'd love to hear from you. meanwhile my hubby just got home from his third stint in the ER in as many days and i must attend to him - happily, i might add!

work in progress...

i haven't been able to post for the past couple days - something's wrong with my tummy. my hubby had me come in to the ER today for a battery of tests but nothing showed up - we'll see about tomorrow - anyway - i've been working on this painting for a while -little bit at a time -i'm sort of sneaking up on it which is very unusual for me - usually i go at a painting full tilt and it's done alla prima or in one session. but this has more detail than usual and that's yet to come. since i'm posting this now and then i'll post the finished piece whenever i finish it...it may be a bit disjointed. i think i may take some pictures of a painting in progress - and think of it ahead of time so i'll actually DO it..so the various stages of the painting can be seen. now that's a tall order for me - to get that organized..but we'll see....

"Eli's Alex"

11x14 oil on stretched canvas
so here's my offering for today. this is alex, a wheaten terrier. i'm not sure alex is around any more but this painting is a wedding gift for JE's daughter and her husband-to-be, eli. katie wanted a painting of eli's childhood pup and sent me some pics. we actually had a dog, cubby - a mutt we thought was a poodle-sheepdog mix but i'm thinking she might have had some wheaten in her. cubby was the best dog - (other than nellie of course) - and we loved her til the day she died - i hope this gift brings fond memories for eli -katie was so thoughtful in planning this surprise for him! lyb

"Big Sky Over the Marsh"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so finally i found it - this is the painting that was accepted into the AIS juried show in denver! -(especially for you, lillian!) - i'm so mad at myself that i didn't take a photo of it framed - too late now but it's framed in a thick 2" gold frame - really cool! - they don't accept works with a frame showing - just the image! - anyway - didn't get to the studio today - i've been watching the president's cup and doing paperwork. i'll get back there tomorrow!

"Im Thinkin I like This One...."

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's a better big o! - as i said, for some reason this kid's personality is so elusive to capture - but i'm thinking i really like this one a lot! he's usually laughing his head off so this is pretty typical - i can't wait to document him from birth til who knows when -just like the rest of my grands - i am such a lucky girl!!!

i give up!@!!!

my friend lillian asked if i would post the AIS painting...i've spent the last 2 hours (or so it seems...) trying to save my photo of the painting so i could send it to my photo processing program and present it nicely...i 've saved it at least 6 or 7 times but for the life of me i can't find it anywhere! if anyone wants to see the actual painting...go back in the archives to may 19th...it's the 6x6 pallette knife painting i posted on that day. it's called "big sky over the marsh" and i sent it off today - what a lot of paperwork, etc. involved!! but a thrill nevertheless!! - i did another painting of ollie today but it got too dark so i'll post it tomorrow! hope the rain ends soon!!!

"Another Stab at Ollie"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's another attempt to paint oliver - he'll be 4 next month and for some reason i still haven't captured him properly. i'm not unhappy with the painting...i'm unhappy that i haven't quite captured his "look"...he has this unbelieveable impish glint in his eye - he's the little guy who beat his papper by 27 strokes in wii golf this week - and papper is a GOOD golfer!!!..i may tweak this a bit tomorrow and post it again - we had so much rain today - flood warnings abound - and the thursday afternoon paintout was cancelled - hard to get in the mood. i have to pack up my AIS (american impressionist society) painting tomorrow and get it off to denver. i talked with the president today and she reminded me how proud i should be to have gotten in. never having applied to a national show before, i didn't know what to expect. i only wish i could be there - maybe next year...if i am accepted...lyb

"Shomler's Serenade"

16x20 giclee on canvas
i had no time to paint today! - thus the blast from the past. this is a painting i did from a photo by a wonderful photographer named shomler - thus the name of the piece. i found this image on the net and got permission to paint it. today life got in the way. i went to a funeral, had to clean my house...(it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it)...(wasn't that from a movie?)...and had an hour and 20 minute derm appointment. i got poked, prodded, frozen, biopsied, injected with cortisone...and i was thrilled!! if you ever discover a basal cell carcinoma - like i did several years ago - you just feel better after these appointments. tomorrow we're gathering here to paint so i for sure will have something to show for myself...these days just happen now and then and that's ok....i'm learning to be gentle with myself! lyb

"Max"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so this is max -(i was right about finn...) the oldest of the fair-haired little boys! - they are something, aren't they? there's something about painting children that is so magical - they don't have the worry or sun or age lines we older folks do and the're just enjoying everything so much! - takes me back, for sure!~ i have to paint ollie again before i do anything else - and i have some portrait commissions i'll be working on in the near future. what fun that'll be!!... also i went back to tennis practice today - closing day of golf was rained out so we had our final luncheon golf luncheon after tennis - time sure flies when you're having fun! life is good and i am so blessed to have so much fun stuff to do!!!

"So I Think This is Finn"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
as i said...i think this is finn -= however it might be max -i'm so chagrined to say i don't know which is which - but i'm going to paint the last one tomorrow or maybe the next day so i'll have them all on here whatever!!! didn't i tell you they were gorgeous??? and they all have this amazing white hair and these amazing blue eyes!....to die for...anyway - we took nels out to the golf course for her 8th birthday...sort of a tradition...she chased squirrels and went swimming and we tried to play nine holes - wasn't the greatest but at least she had a ball! - we have ollie tonight - jimmy and tilly will return from australia in a few days and i know there will be a family reunion like no other...

"Little Cam"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
i'm still enthralled with painting little people. this is the third son of a good friend of my daughter's. he and his two older brothers are drop dead gorgeous and i plan to paint them for practice. i'm working on other things in my studio...(actually i SHOULD be working on my studio...)..but i plan to do a small portrait every day in the meantime. i'm waiting for my kids to supply me with pics they'd like me to paint and in the meantime i'll probably do some friends' kids and grandkids ....i'm having the best time!!

"Tillie at Three"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
so here's my oldest granddaughter matilda. she just turned seven (check out the last painting i did of her...) - but here she is at three. isn't she a beaut?? - too busy yesterday to get to the studio and we're getting ready to head to bloomington to see if this IU team has anything at all...but first a family reunion in brown county - this time my father-in-law's side.....looking forward to meeting long lost rels...and as for fall, it won't be long....we've already had a couple fires!!!

"Joey at One"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
so here's baby joey - i think i'll paint more of him since he hasn't had as many birthdays as the other grands. i still don't have a keeper for ollie - i wiped that quick study i did of him earlier...it just wasn't him...this one, on the other hand, i'm very pleased with. this project is going to be so much fun. last night i was with a bunch of ladies and someone asked if i did portraits. usually i say not really - more like character studies...but i'm thinking these little pieces are portraits after all. i have so many little people in my life - children and grandchildren of friends and then there are my rels - i could paint little portraits from here on in and not run out of painting fodder. what a lucky girl i am!!!

"Just the Three of Us"

6 x 6 oil on canvs panel
so we were at the cottage this weekend..very sad to think we may not get back there this fall but always such a healing and relaxing environment when we're there. of course we did mexican on friday but the girls had to have martinis on saturday night - and so the olives. (these were actually olives from my frig at home) - their dad hand-stuffed their olives with bleu cheese ...(such a guy)...- we spent one whole day playing rummykub..at least my son in law said we spent 10 hours and he may have been right! my friend katie introduced me to the game in arizona and it is so much fun!! - i finally got my girls to play and i must admit i think they're hooked! i have a busy week but i hope to get back to painting! golf season is really winding down and i have to squeeze every last morsel out of it! in another couple months painting will take priority again but, til then.....

"Georgia Sky"

6 x 8 oil on canvas panel
just another georgia sky....we're actually heading down there in 45 days...but who's counting?...we're heading to the lake tomorrow and i'm not feeling quite up to snuff. i'm fighting a cold and i'm not sure i'll be taking my paints with me so if i don't post anything for a couple days, that'll be the reason!

"Repose"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

so here's a little study i did a few days ago - it's from one of many reference photos from workshops gone by -no time to paint today - we played in a member-member golf outing and actually managed to win second low gross despite some really shabby play. we won these fabulous packable chairs we're going to take to our workshop in georgia in november. did i mention we're taking janet powers' workshop again? - we took one in may and had such a good time we thought we'd give it another go@!! happy autumnal equinox everyone - i think it officially turned fall a little more than a half an hour ago!

"I've Got Your Back"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
so here are just a couple tomatoes - busy day and not very inspired - i'm having so much fun with the kids' paintings that fruits and vegetables don't turn me on all of a sudden...we'll see where this is leading.....

"One Strawberry"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

so here it is - sunday - pouring down rain almost all day long! - no golf of course...bummer...i spent a couple hours in my studio - i really need to keep at it about straightening it up - very bad! - i did this little strawberry painting and then i promptly ate my subject matter! - tasty! - then i did a small nude study - i'll save that to post on anther occasion when i have nothing to show for the day. thaaaaat's it folks!

"Where There's a Will..."

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
so here's my first and oldest grandchild will...probably about age 5.... as you can see, he (like all of my grands) has his ganny's "go funny" eyelid. they all seem to have inherited my droopy left eyelid so i alternate between being proud and feeling sorry for them! we've been able to play some golf lately - nine and dine last night where our team came in second - i do believe we were low gross with a score of 2 under however...then today davey and i played 18 and got home in a timely manner to watch the hoosiers. (we're winning 38-14 - sounds good but we haven't started conference play yet...) getting ready for a good steak and some wonderful red wine so all in all, it's been a good day: golf, painting, and a good meal. only one thing could have made it better....

"Come to My Party"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
so here's tillie! - this photo was on the evite for her 7th birthday party and i just love it! - you can see her front teeth are beginning to grow back in and she's having a ball on that swing! -i am one lucky lady to have such wonderful painting fodder as these grands of mine!!! plus i got to play golf today so all in all, i have a pretty perfect and magic life!!!!

"Baby Joey"

6 x oil on canvas panel
this is my youngest grand, joseph, or baby joey as luce ma goose calls him. he turned two the end of june and is incredibly brilliant but, of course, so are all my grands!!! just returned home from a golf outing in martinsville - lovely ladies to play with but really bad putting from yours truly - i can't even blame it on a strange course with new greens...i just had no confidence in my putting and that can really ruin your game! - but it was a lovely day and better to be out there playing bad golf than home doing anything else...(other than painting of course)

"Luce Ma Goose"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
well - after a little time away from painting i'm back. our granddaughter tillie celebrated her 7th birthday this weekend and there was a mighty celebration indeed! i helped a bit with food and dog sitting and ollie watching so i didn't have much chance to get to the studio. i've decided to carry out my plan to paint the grands each year - maybe more than once a year since it's so darn much fun!! this first one is of four-year-old lucy...otherwise known as luce ma goose or, as her dad calls her, the magic lady. as her mom is fond of saying.."lucy will run a small country some day..." and i think she may be right! i started a painting of my youngest grand and hopefully i can post that tomorrow - such fun!

"Nicoise Prep"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel

life has been busy lately - we stopped at the market on the way home from golf today to pick up some stuff - i'm fixing tuna niciose tonight and thought i'd paint a few of the goodies that will go into it. it's one of our favorite summer dishes - not sure i will be posting tomorrow - big day out of town and home late. i'm planning to donate a painting to our local volunteer fire department and they've given me a list of several to choose from. even though i'm painting for my own edification, i'm so delighted when folks seem to enjoy my work!

"Nude in the Window" (in progress)

11 x 14 oil on stretched canvas
this is the nude i've been working on - i'm sort of sneaking up on her - seeing something i want to change, adding something, taking something away...i love the dramatic lighting in this view..

i was working on this with the girls at our paintout the other afternoon and we were commenting on what a wonderful thing the human body is - to paint, to sculpt, to draw...i have lots of fodder for nudes from workshops i've attended and i'm thinking i may do more of these.

"Lisa's Sunflowers"

6 x 6 oil on canvas panel
so we had a family reunion at the cottage this weekend - about 45 people - not all of them family - lots of friends, etc - one friend, lisa, brought these from her garden - so festive! - they were in a tall vase but i wanted to concentrate on the flowers themselves. fall is arriving and i think i'll have more time to paint - i'm thinking it won't be long before we have our first fire!! yikes!

"Yellow Tulips in the Backyard"

7 x 9 oil on panel
we were in my friend jane's back yard today - i worked a bit on a couple other paintings but ended up doing this as my daily endeavor. beautiful yellow tulips with lots of color in them but i'll have to check the values and color later since we were outside and the sun was peeking through here and there. this will be the last post for a few days since we're heading to the cottage for another family reunion..other side this time...i'll get back to work sunday or monday - happy labor day weekend everybody! lyb