a busy day...

today i spent immersed in art but not painting. i did some drawing, talked to a couple galleries, worked with my production guys and rummaged around for some photos of augusta national.. we went to a practice round there several years ago and i snapped loads of pictures, something they DON'T allow during the regular rounds. i'm planning to do a masters painting tomorrow in honor of the weekend. i do have some news!! - my gallery in carmel called...i sold a painting!!! always so thrilling to know that one of my efforts is appreciated and finds it's way to a good home!! it's such an honor and so humbling!!! now - heading to watch some golf!!!

"Italian Art Shop?"

8x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's another painting of a quaint little alleyway in italy. it looks like it may be an art gallery...or maybe a coffee shop that caters to artists? - or...who knows - i just want to BE there!!! played a tennis match in indy today and now i'm heading to put my feet up and watch some masters - maybe i need to do a masters painting this weekend. last year i think i did one of tom watson - this could be a big year for him...i love it that the oldies are doing well!!!

"C'est Moi!"

20x16 oil on stretched canvas
here she is!! - i need to let this rest a while to see what needs tweaking but i haven't put a painting up in a few days and wanted to, in basketball terms, "feed the post". like kermit, she was a lot of fun to paint and i need to do a few things to make them more compatible in color - just a matter of adding a bit of each painting's color to the other to make them harmonize a bit. nothing drastic - just a bit. hope we can stay up late enough to watch the dogs! - really rooting for an upset!

happy easter...

we had such a good time watching butler advance!!! - now on to the dukies....today was my first golf outing since november and it's kind of like riding a bike...if you plan on riding and falling off and then getting back on and falling off...i hit maybe 3 or 4 REALLY good shots! - and a bunch of bad chips and 3 putts - but i was so happy to be back out there!!! - i'm working on a new painting...i may post it tomorrow....my good friend judy, when she saw my kermit painting, said i needed to paint miss piggy...they were always such an item.....

blast from the past...'Beyond Cows"

this is a pastel painting i did in the very early 90s...i drove my daughter and 3 friends down to our family cottage in florida. they were freshmen in college and it was quite an adventure! - we drove down during the worst gale i think ever to hit the eastern seaboard and we couldn't stop at all on the way down or we would have gotten stuck with the onslaught of snow. i ended up driving most of the way down because the weather was just too bad for these new drivers and when we arrived our cottage was partly under water. we didn't find that out until the day after we arrived because sand key was CLOSED and we had to stay in a hotel the first night. long story short..the girls played cards and went to the tanning booth and i painted! - i did a watercolor of a red cabbage that won a purchase award in the hoosier salon and this pastel painting of cows. it doesn't translate well after all these years but this was a very fun project and filled with lots of memories! i haven't been to my studio lately - tennis match yesterday and spent the whole day with all my grands at the indy zoo today...the WORST place to be on final four weekend, i might add...

"Gang of Goldens""

12x24 oil on stretched canvas
so here we go - lots and lots of goldens -(two feet across!!!!) i wanted to see it through the camera's lens to decide if i need to do any tweaking......and i want to be sure i have all their little leggers and ears discernable - some are in front, some behind...but i love the look of them!

they each seem to have a distinct personality...who's the leader, do you think? we plan to get a new puppy this summer to keep nells company - she was the female runt and we plan on getting the female runt of this new litter. hard to say who's playing that role in this bunch!

"Goodie Basket"

12x9 oil on stretched canvas

so here's the small golden i was talking about yesterday...he's sitting in a basket - hence the name...i could probably paint goldens every day - they are such lovely and loving animals. i'm not sure when i'll get to post the large one i'm doing - this is shaping up to be a busy week and that's shaping up to be a complicated painting! but i can't wait!!!!

"My Friend Kermit"

20x16 oil on stretched canvas

who says kermit's out of style?..i painted him in honor of my grands....i wanted to post this yesterday but finally got it done today - i'm working on some paintings of golden retrievers...in honor of our nellie and our grand-dog beatrice and all the goldens we meet on our daily walks...one is a small piece that i will post tomorrow and the other is a very complicated horizontal piece with seven goldens in a row!! - it's so much fun but it's turning out to be quite an undertaking! go butler!!!!

surgery's over...

my daughter boogie came through her surgery just fine and is now on the mend...we spent the better part of the day up there and then i spent a little time in my studio when we got back...i'm working on a painting of kermit the frog...not quite ready to post but maybe tomorrow...meanwhile we're still rooting for the big ten and butler in the tourney - can't start the official golf season til the basketball season is over... another week or so...i also found out the name of the bridge and will add that to yesterday's post...

a famous bridge...(ponte Vecchio)

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's a famous bridge...i don't know where and i don't know what for sure! - i am so bad - not having traveled extensively like so many people, i am pretty clueless and have to depend on my picture takers to fill me in. this is another of my friend diane's photographs and i just free- handed it quickly - not even sure if i got the dimensions right but it was fun to do as an exercise. it's raining today and i have 4-year-old ollie for the afternoon, who insisted on painting with me. he created 2 glorious masterpieces while i fumbled along on this one...but then one of his was all in purple...yesterday was spent in indy, playing a tennis match with my friend linda -= we lost the first but hung in and won the second. then i had to do some work on my wall at the downtown midland gallery - home too late to paint. tomorrow my daughter's having surgery and we're heading up there for the day so i may not paint tomorrow either. that's the joy of this painting business - it's always waiting for me when i have the time!!
p.s. - i found out the name of this bridge is ponte vecchio..the most famous bridge in all of florence, italy

quaint stairway

8x6 oil on canvas panel
my friend diane stopped by yesterday with some gorgeous pictures - i'm pretty sure this is italy but i'll have to find out where for sure...i love these winding stairs - you get the feeling that something good is bound to be right around the corner...

finally done!

no painting to post today - but i had a very good day nevertheless! finally finished the yard work - prep for may when we can plant here in indiana...i didn't have my grands with me today but i had a few of the "frenchies" lend a hand. we have the most delightful french family who moved in next door to us several years ago. (tillie affectionately dubbed them "the Frenchies")...they are such delightful children and are always eager to help so we toiled away - they attacked the gumballs - more are constantly dropping from our beloved sweet gum...another sweet thing happened...i got a call from an old friend - who told me she had met someone who lived on our strret in indy nearly 40 years ago!! so i gave this woman a call and we chatted on and on about the old days and our kids who used to play together as pups. it's so much fun to have serendipitous things like that happen! - what a small world! - so here i am..at the end of the day...very tired and not wanting to spend one more minute on my feet - i'm heading to the tub and then to put my feet up and read this wonderful book i'm in to.. i promise to get back to my studio tomorrow...it's calling me loudly...i can tell it's lonely for me...

update....

so we went to fort wayne last night and i got to sing in the most magnificent theater!!! - this place is called sweetwater sound and it's world-renowned! - lots of very big people go there to mix their music! - my brother gave a little benefit erformance for a fundraiser for st. francis unniversity and a bunch of us got up on stage at the end and sang our hearts out to his music...so much fun and a throw-back for me to my theatrical days of yore...home today and have had two of my grands for the whole afternoon - no yard work - a bit of rummykub and all of a sudden it's 6:30!!! - how does that happen?? - hope to get back to the studio tomorrow but we'll see...meanwhile - i donated the "yum" painting of a few days ago to our local symphony group! by the way......HAPPY SPRING!!!!!"

"White River - Millrace Park"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's the painting from last night - it's a glorious day today - lots of sunshine and LIGHT!!!!...i can see some things that i'd fix if this were a keeper but this was only an exercise...i needed to get my painting muscles warmed up again after so much yard work....my hubby says i'm not allowed to belly ache about how much every bone and muscle in my hands, back and body are sore...he says i'm too old to be out there anyway. the thing is...with all the warm weather we've had, the grass and weeds are already growing - and often in the wrong places and to tell the truth..i really love spending time out there! - got almost the whole front done and next is the back. i need to get those babies back to tackle the gumballs that never stop dropping from the tree in front. (i'd like to kill whomever planted that tree back in the late 60s before we bought this house)...anyway - i won't get out there today - we're heading up to fort wayne because my brother's putting on a benefit concert and i'm going to sing harmony with him on a couple of the songs he's written...(God help me!!!)

"dark" river...an experiment

ok - this was an experiment - i was hoping the values would carry this but maybe not...you see.. after working in the yard all day i was exhausted! a good exhausted, but still exhausted - but i had a bit of dinner and then headed up to my studio refreshed - it's been a while and i needed to go there! - this is a little view of our local river and by the time i was finished it was after 8 o'clock! - but with daylight savings and all i thought the photo might work...obviously not. you can just make out a bit of value change and maybe i need to adjust those...at any rate - here's my daily painting for march 18th and i'll have to post it tomorrow...after the sun comes up, of course!!!!

grands and yardwork....

didn't get to the studio today - i had two of my grands with me all day - they went with me to tennis - we played rummykub...(i came in third)...then went to the "sidepark" playground for an hour or so and then we came home and did a bunch of yardwork...they are so industrious when cash is involved! -so here it is at the end of the day and my studio is languishing...such is spring....lyb

Sunshine Blog Award

THANK YOU Stephanie Berry for giving me the sunshine blog award!! it's an honor and i'll do my best to pass it along to others. some of these artists may have gotten this award before but i wanted to share their work with my viewers who may not be familiar with them. according to someone's blog "the sunshine blog award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world." pass it on!

1. post the flower logo on your blog

2. pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers

3. link your nominees

4. let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog

5. be sure to link to the person you received the award from

Carol Marine
Dale Sherman Blodget
Lawrence Chrapliwy
Michael Naples
Aaron Lifferth
Belinda Del Pesco
Zachary Proctor
Aaron Schuerr
David Slonim
Ann Elizabeth Schlegel
Cathleen Rehfeld
Fred Bell

rainy day....

well - no painting today - i spent the morning framing and working on the house a bit and the afternoon at the loveliest baby shower!!! these hostesses absolutely did themselves proud!! - we played some darling games and had delicious food and it was so nice to catch up with all these friends. i wanted to head to my studio when i got home but got sidetracked! - tomorrow for sure.

"Sunrise in the Rain"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
ok - so the rain is outside...not in the painting!! -once again - i got impatient and wanted to post this today - i need to get back to regular posting to get my juices flowing again - today was a day of taxes and framing (with just a little bit of painting near the end) so i was using both the left and the right sides of my brain - good for staying centered i think - in this piece i used the biggest brush i have to stay loose and threw in a bit of pallett knife as well. i entered a few pieces in some on-line competitions and am thinking about the hoosier salon and indiana heritage arts here locally in indiana. i'm thinking about a landscape piece for the heritage arts show and i've been doing so much figurative stuff lately that i need to flex my landscape muscles a bit to prepare. wish me luck!....p.s. - i may or may not rephotpgraph this when the water droplets have dried...depends on when it quits raining!

"Yum!!" NFS

6x6 oil on canvas panel
i had to get back to the studio...just for a quickie...i needed to exercise my painting muscles and loosen up - i worked so intently on my sultry lady that i was getting a bit tight so this was a good exercise for me. now i can relax and watch the hoosiers and hope they can remember how it felt to beat northwestern on saturday and come out victorious!!!! - taxes are still not done and the yard is still calling - can i do it all? maybe...maybe not....maybe....

computer woes...tax time....yard work...

i haven't been able to do much painting in the last few days...we've been struggling with our internet - our email in particular - in fact i just got off the phone - again - after a good hour - very frustrating!!!! and of course it's tax season and i have to get my part of our taxes in order - and all of a sudden my yard is beckoning - so many excuses, so little time....

"Sultry"...(Lady in a Hat) renamed "Missed Opportunity" SOLD

22x28 oil on stretched canvas (SOLD)

so here's my lady....my husband, who's agonized with me over this for the past several days, has named her "sultry". i love this painting!! - this is a very large painting and i love it!.... it's so different from anything i've ever done that i'm completely exhilarated and psyched about painting again!!!....ok - so i see something i need to fix - when you work this large things are all so magnified - and she's looking at an angle instead of straight on so that makes a difference as well -over the past several days - i would think i was done and then i would photograph her and see something that wasn't right -i'm almost there!!! but i have one little thing to attend to - and then.... i may or may not post again with the additions - but i wanted to at least get her out there!!!

hoosiers win!!!!!!

still nothing to post - i'm working on my lady again - but no time to paint today -the hooosiers finally won a game!!! - nice ending on a positive note - and we were actually rooting for purdue and glad to see them pull it out in happy valley. i plan to spend the whole day in my studio tomorrow - and i WILL finish that lastest painting. meanwhile i was able to retrieve a commissioned oil painting i did years ago of the phi psi house in bloomington. we're going to get some prints made and hopefully earn some money for their rebuilding project. those kinds of things really make me smile! -

my latest painting...

i'm not going to post this painting until i'm happy with it. i've been working on a large (for me) work of a woman in a hat - after photographing it, i see what i need to do - but it's too late today and i may not have time to get to it tomorrow...hope so because i'm having such fun with this particular piece. patience...(my hubby told me yesterday that i'm very impatient...)...

"Surf Splashin 2"

24x12 oil on stretched canvas
so here's my other little guy - they're brothers, actually and having so much fun in the water!! after letting them simmer for a few days, i'll decide if they're done - these will be going up to the carmel midland gallery probably next week.

"Surf Splashin' 1"

24x12 oil on stretched canvas
ok - so i haven't posted in a while....doesn't mean i haven't been painting...i've been working on this beach diptich (two paintings that relate to each other) and i'm still not sure they're done - once again i need to see them through the eye of the camera and let them sort of simmer for a while...i'll post the other one tomorrow. (i already see some things i need to touch up - i may or may not repost after i do).....meanwhile - my hubbys' feeling so much better and back to work. thanks for all your prayers.

working on some things....

i am so disappointed that i couldn't post today!!! - i've been working on two paintings at once...brothers at the beach...and i'm just not quite happy with them yet - and tomorrow i'm out of town all day for a tennis match so i don't know when i'll get back to them...but i am very excited....

"Look What I Found"!!

18x18 oil on stretched canvas
believe it or not - here's another painting of tillie - her mom was such a photo freak in tillie's early years - (she has less time now of course) - so i have so much painting fodder from her efforts!! i've been working on other things lately - still haven't rearranged my studio but i DID clean out the frig today! - a major undertaking! but i realized yesterday that a day that i don't get to my studio or do something art-related...well - it's sort of a strangely unfulfilling day....i really shouldn't feel that way since i have so very much other wonderful stuff in my life...but i dearly love to paint. and that's a fact.

"Tigger and Me"

20x10 oil on stretched canvas

here's a little beach beauty with her tigger beach ball. she's certainly stylin with her fancy little outfit! - i photographed her a few years ago on the beach on st. simons and just now got around to painting her.... i got a call today from the carmal midland gallery that two of my paintings sold as a set - the prospective collectors took them out on approval last sunday and finally made their decision! - the folks up there really seem to like the beachy paintings so i'll be concentrating on them for a while. what a thrill for me!! i hung 5 new pieces there on friday so we'll see.....

"I Want this Flower"

20x16 oil on stretched canvas
another painting of tillie - i put a yellow hat on her this time - my hubby's getting better every day but it was spooky there for a while - i'm able to get back to the studio so that's a good thing - it means he's really on the mend! this painting will go to the midland gallery in carmel -i have to wait til it dries of course....

snowed in....

man oh man! - it started snowing sometime last night and it hasn't stopped yet! - at least 12 hours! - i'm thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 inches! - my hubby's still recuperating on the couch after his surgery - got home in record time but feeling kind of punk today - one of his partners, bill, came over today and cleared our whole driveway and front walk with his snowblower. the things people do!! - what a sweetie! - we've also had soup delivered from several good friends -i made it to my studio today - working on a new painting but it's not quite done and i couldn't have posted anyway because it's snowing too hard to photograph! - maybe tomorrow!

"Boys on the Beach"

18x24 oil on stretched canvas
so here are two of etta's boys - she's sent me pix of them over the years and they make such great painting fodder - they are so busy and so much fun to paint! ..... spent most of yesterday and today talking with comcast because something was wrong with our email - finally got it working but i'm exhausted@!!! - my website is up and running - susiegregoryfineart.com. i have to put a link somewhere on this blog - maybe tomorrow. speaking of tomorrow...my hubby's having surgery tomorrow so i will probably not get any painting done! -

a bit of tweaking....

ok - so i tweaked each of the last two paintings a little bit -in my mind, they were good tweaks. i really like these and will probably have digitals made so i can sell giclees of these particular images. off to the IU game soon...which team will turn up, i wonder...

working on my website.....

i have spent most of yesterday and today getting my new website ready. my current domain name, sgregoryart.com will transition into susiegregoryfineart.com over the next year. if any of you have accessed my old site, soon i'll be up and running with the new one - and i'll be able to access it on my own - a wonderful thing for us artists. i still have lots of work to do but it will be a work in progress - i haven't even determined the final look or colors - much harder to accomplish than with this wonderful blog.....ah well - back to work!

"Smell the Roses"

20x10 oil on stretched canvas

here's a painting of matilda - another pose the same day maybe 5 years ago in our garden...she loved wearing long dresses when she was a wee one - now she wears all sorts of stuff - very stylin'!! i heard a sold another painting today from the carmel midland gallery - always makes me smile!! i have to get up there tomorrow or wednesday to add some stuff. they're having a big fund raiser there on wednesday evening and i need to get organized!! -

"Lazy Summer Day"

18x24 oil on stretched canvas
this is a painting i've wanted to do for a very long time - i've had this reference photo forever and just found it again. as usual i'll probably do a little bit more work on this but i wanted to get it photographed so i could have another look. go colts!!!

"sleeping In" (edited a bit)

here's a bit of an edited version of the painting i did yesterday and the day before. there were a few things i didn't see until i got it photographed - sometimes you get so immersed in what you're doing you have to get away from it for a while and see it from a different perspective - i like this better...oops - i see one more thing i need to do - i won't rephotograph it though - this will be going to the downtown midland gallery next week.

"Sleeping In"

18x24 oil on stretched canas
here's the painting i started yesterday when lucy was here - didn't get to finish it but it's almost done - i ran out of time today and i see a few things i want to tweak...as usual...but i rather like this sleeping beauty...i found out i sold two paintings from my carmel midland gallery - both to the same collector so that's a thrill - now i have to get up there and redo my wall - such fun i have!!!

luce magoose at work

so here's lucy - her mom had a meeting here yesterday and lulu was staying home from school because (in her words) she threw up big time! so she came down and of course...any time the grands come over, they want to paint! - here's lucy painting a pot for her mom. i started a new painting and i'll post that next!

"Sylvia"

24x18 oil on stretched canvas
so we're home from the big apple! - we had a wonderful time - saw mama mia and the jersey boys - both great!! we had 3 beautiful meals - the first at our hotel W on times square - then friday night we ate at bobby flay's place "cafe americain" - absolutely wonderful and bobby actually came in midway though our meal and got crackin in the kitchen - i saw him fluff up some fries/chips so they'd look better in presentation! - wild! -saturday we ate at "21" - quite an adventure - lots of very mafioso-looking people gathering there - we visited both the guggenheiim and the met - first time for both of them - and i was very inspired after seeing a number of nudes....thus "sylvia". i've started another but may not get it finished to post for tomorrow - it's good to be back at it!

"Big Guy Little Guy" finished..i think

24x18 oil on stretched canvas
so i think this is finished...i'll have to look at it a while - especially through the camera lens...the last "big guy little guy" painting was of my son-in-law greg and my grandson joe. this is of my son jason and my grandson will. now i have to do one of my son-in-law jimmy and my grandson oliver and i'll be all set! oops...i already see a few things i need to correct, colorwise. just a few. we're all over the moon that the colts are in the superbowl! - it turned out to be quite a nice game after that horrendous first half! - the poor hoosiers on the other hand...i think we got a raw deal by having to play a game at that hour - not a lot of fans in the stands and so much emotion over the colts win - they're young...they'll come along! this will be my last post for the rest of the week - i need to work in my studio and get ready for a little long weekend trip to the big apple!!! can't wait! - i'll be taking lots of pics and probably do some city scenes next week! tata!!

""big guy little guy"...in progress

24x18 oil on stretched canvas

i thought it might be interesting to take a photo of this painting in progress - i had a bit of time to work today but then the colts game started and then IU plays so i'm hanging it up til tomorrow - we'll see if i finish it then. now. if the colts don't get their act together, i just don't know what!!!!!

a bit of tweaking....

18x24 oil on stretched canvas
so here's my little gull...again..i needed to define her shape a bit, lose a few edges and darken the corners of the painting to help bring the eye where i want it to go. i also tweaked my brother's painting a bit - he's coming down tomorrow to check it out! go colts!!

"John and Les"

this is the second photo - the one below is the first photo of this painting in progress - i'll get the hang of this one day - check the bottom for the explanation!

12x12 oil on stretched canvas

for those who know my brother, john, you might remember that he's a musician and song writer. in fact, elton john's "sorry is the hardest word" was actually my brother's song...but that's a story for another time....anyway - after a long hiatus, he's back to writing and performing music. he's doing a benefit in ft. wayne in march for a local college and plans to make a cd of the concert. it's going to take place at a world-class recording theatre / studio and it should be quite an event! - he's asked me to paint someting for the cover of his cd so here he is with his les paul guitar. i've been working on this for the past few days - and i'm still not sure whether i got the guitar quite right - the reference was a bit ambiguous - it might be fun to post a few pix of the painting in progress -

"Testing the Waters"

18x24 oil on stretchd canvas
so here's the painting i've been working on for the past few days - a bigger one - i really like this little girl - she could be either one of my granddaughters - dipping her hand in the pool - thinking about whether she's brave enough to venture in... makes me realize i have even more painting fodder right in my own back yard - i just need to keep my camera at the ready next summer!! i finished a commission today so now i think i can finally tackle my studio -

i'm in the middle of a new large painting...actually near the end...i had to quit and come down and watch the replay of the IU game - what a win!!. i'll finish up tomorrow and photograph and post...i promise!!

"Lucy at 4...almost 5"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's luce-magoose...the photo was taken this past november and she just had her birthday last week so she was almost 5 here. she's really stylin' with her pretty blue bow, isn't she? she's the perfect mix of her mom and her dad - big dark eyes, big grin...and of course she has her ganny's droopy left eyelid...what have i done to my grands???? - yikes!! i had a busy day today so i didn't get to finish this until late - i decided i needed to tweak it a bit after photographing it last night - and the photo was too dark to post anyway. luckily i got out there a bit earlier today so i still had enough sunlight. and don't forget...the days are growing longer as we speak!!! yeah!! hoosiers really blew it last night - only 5 down with five minutes to go and i just don't know what happened! michigan got hot, i'll grant you but come on.....

"Mint Julep, Please"

6x6 oil on panel
so here's our lady...off to the derby...in her big hat...once again i need to sit on this for a day or two and decide if i'm done. this is an image i've wanted to paint for a long, long time. great fun!!

"Matilda in the Garden"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
here's tillie - probably age two - in our back garden - she loves wearing long dresses - aways has...she's a very "stylin" little "gull"...as her aussie daddy calls her. had fun at tennis today - good workout - and i've agreed to play in the morning for a gal who's 4 centimeters and about to pop her baby - yikes!!...happy to be of service in that case!.....oops - after viewing this through the camera's eye, i see something i need to fix...there's too much contrast between that little dark leaf and her dress - draws too much attention there - i'll fix that!

"Windy Day"

20x10 oil on stretched canvas
i like this one! -i had a need to get back to the pallette knife after my friend lillian asked me about when i used it - these loose, impressionistic paintings really lend themselves to the knife - as opposed to the small portaits where one really needs to find a likeness. i really love doing both! - i have several images of these little gals flying kites on st. simons and may do a series.

final Mia and Jackson

i did a bit of tweaking to jackson's portrait and added more color to mia's...i was working from a black-and-white in mia's case so i'm still not sure of her skin tones. hope this is close. getting ready to head up to the studio - i may do a golden painting today....

"Jackson" (in progress)

6x6 oil on canvas panel

so here's jackson - my friend sukey's first grandchild... i get so engrossed with the work that sometimes i have to look at things through the photograph's "eyes"...in this case, i see a few things i need to work on..but he's almost finished! - he has this fabulous hair and maybe i need to let the background dry a bit to be able to really do justice to his curls.....lots of snow here in southern indiana...not as much as up north but enough to close schools for the last 2 days...the kids are lovin it..not so sure about the parents!!!! hope the hoosiers can do a better job of competing tomorrow night - what a bad game against ohio state. the big ten is just too tough this year!!!

"Hey, Jude"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so here's my friend judy's first grand...JUDE!!! - can you even imagine how cool it would be to have your grandchild actually named after you???? - how wonderful would that be?? i finished this last night -after dark so too late to post - i ran into judy and my friend diane at lunch and begged this photo off her so i could paint this sweet image - she's so rapt in this talking card judy sent to her..i'll bet she's going to be a big-time reader when the time comes! i absolutely LOVE painting these little guys!!!....next i think i'll do jackson!!

"Mia"

6x6 oil on canvas panel
this is a pinting of my good friend ginny's first grandchild, mia. isn't she stylin' with her earring and her backwards ball cap? - she's very chic!!! - this was done from a black and white photo so i'm hoping i have her skin tone close.....back to tennis today - finally moved a little bit and it felt so good!!

"Busy, Busy"

9x12 oil on stretched canvas
here's another little beach painting - another from st. simons - such a wonderful place to find these little guys hard at work. started on the house today - taking my time - it seemed like such a short season this year and i'm dragging it out as long as i can!! also trying to figure out how to use facebook - it's a great big world out there - just heard from my childhood nextdoor neighbors - one of them is a painter as well - lawrence chrapliwy -he does good stuff out in new england! small world, really!

"Practice Makes Perfect"

10x8 oil on stretched canvas
i got a call from my new gallery - the midland arts and antique gallery in carmel, indiana - i just went in there 12 days ago and they called to say i have a hole in my wall! - i sold a painting and they want some more stuff with kids. so i reworked a couple originals.... this is done from a photo of a little guy warming up on st. simons island a couple years ago. i think i'm finished with this but i'll have to let it sit for a day or two. tomorrow my program starts in earnest - can't wait!! - so much to do and look forward to! -

"Here..Fishy, Fishy..."

6x6 oil on canvas panel
i'm not sure what this fish is called...carp? goldfish? tetra? tuna?..but i've had this photo image forever and have really wanted to paint it for along time. i wanted to get my painting muscles warmed up after a bit of a break. i spent a few hours in my studio today - trying to create a space to walk, let alone paint! i've a long way to go but i think i'm back on track! - i've got a couple grands with me tonight so i had to quit - tillie created a painted pot for summertime flowers while ollie was of course glued to the wii - at the moment we're settling in to play a rousing game of kids cranium. they love the charades aspect of it...could it be that they'll end up doing a few plays..like their gan...???

Happy New Year!!!!

it's 2010! - wow! - i remember when we were filling our bathtubs with water (at least i did) to prepare for the eventuality of disaster when y2k struck! my first plan for the new year is to start getting somewhere in my studio - it's still a disaster up there and maybe that's one of the reason's i'm having trouble painting as often as i should...but all that will change - we have a new beginning and a new purpose! our wish is for all the best to everyone for a happy, healthy, safe and bountiful new year!!!

"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