work, work, work, work, work.....

here's a bit more of my lady - i'm refining the darks a bit and working some on the figure. the "work,work" i'm referring to is not my painting...it's the yard!!! i started yesterday with the intention of just weeding down the front walk and..one thing led to another..and before you know it i've weeded the whole dang thing!!!!! - and that means pulling out maybe a million wild strawberries, the very bane of my existence!!!!! we're having the fam here tomorrow to celebrate jen's birthday and i really need to be finishing the back - a bit more planting and stuff...so that's my afternoon!! - and then tillie and ollie are spending the night so jimmy can take jen out for a proper birthday celebration...if we get things in good shape outside then all i'll have to worry about is the inside for our party on friday...when would i even have time to paint, anyway?? good thing i took a few pics as i went along..and i think my do-over on the venice painting has gone by the wayside...i worked on the design issues and now the issue is to crop or not to crop.....i've had opinions going both ways - so much to do..so little time....

more stuff...

so here's the scoop...since i started over on "venetian red", i thought i'd start with the darks. it needed to dry a bit so i started another piece i've been wanting to do...an old bag lady reading on a bench. first the venice painting...as i look at it on camera, i'm not that sure i've fixed the design problems that much...hmmmmm...anyway, i've started on the bag lady and placed darks and will continue to work and post as i go along. i'm still not sure what to do about "venetian red" but we'll see.... my problem is i have to get all my painting done asap since we have mike and ginny arriving for the member/guest golf tourney a week from tomorrow and the upstairs need to air out... all the paint smells can get a bit overwhelming! - anyway - another glitch...we're hosting a little soiree for some of the participants next friday and i've got to get cracking on stuff for that! - this place is a madhouse and a funhouse all at the same time!

with some work...

ok - so here's another phase of the painting...at this point i'm thinking the shadows on the left are too severe and too dark, according to my reference. i'm also not happy with the design...my center of interest is too much in the middle of the painting. at this point i can either scrape it off and start over..(not possible because the paint has dried too much...or wait til it dries and then restretch it and make it smaller but with a better design..(also risky because it may not dry enough to be sure i could dismantle it by next weekend, when i have to deliver it to be juried (or not) into a show.)...this morning i made the decision. i'm starting over - with a better design and just a bit smaller canvas. i can put in some good hours tomorrow and we'll see where we get. so far, all i've done is put the venetian red ground on it and done the drawing....why do i get myself into these messes??? - my art spirit would say...growth!

venetian red

here i've put down a ground color - often i use venetian red as a ground so a bit of it peeks through the rest of the painting - helps to add interest and to unify...as i was putting this wash in i had an inspiration! -i'm going to name this painting "venetian red"! more to come...

first stage -

the first thing i did was to draw the image on the canvas - the perspective is important and i'll tune that up as i go along but it really helps to draw the eye back and give the painting depth. i don't necessarily start off with a charcoal drawing on every piece i do - often i just start right in painting...using the brush to draw...with this complicated piece, it was better to start with a fairly correct drawing. the next thing i did was to place some strategic darks..i painted these quite thinly so they would dry for the next stage. i need to photograph that again since something happened with the photo i took. i'll post that next time.

venice - photo

my friend sukey and her husband bill went to italy for a romantic and adventurous holiday a while back. she gave me this glorious photo of one of the canals in venice, thinking i might like to paint the scene. so i thought it would be fun to document a painting as i go along...over the next couple days i'll post different stages i go through and in the end, it may or may not look like this photograph. i just might put my own stamp on it.....anyone can do a painting that looks like a photograph - that's not the idea of painting - you want to try and capture the feeling or essence of the place so we'll see how it progresses.

new commission

it rained all day today...i mean all day. what a bummer - i got so much done in my yard yesterday - even the frenchies came over to lend a hand - planted all my flower boxes..upstairs and down..i wanted to finish the yard today but couldn't get it done. i did start some commission work but i can't post it yet - maybe tomorrow.

TOO tired.....

well...the yard won today! - early today my hubby asked me to play nine holes this afternoon so i had to make a decision for the morning...and the yard won! - of course, my back is the biggest loser!! - i am absolutely NOT supposed to be getting myself into those positions and i'm paying for it now! - just another day or two and i'll be done and can head back up to my studio!...plus...oliver's here to spend the night with me while papper's working all night in the ER. we're counting down...i think only two more nights after this one...and we'll be celebrating!!!!!

natasha's beautiful daughter...

6x6 oil on canvas panel
so we finally thought to get my hubby's old digital up and running - hadn't been used since 2003...but i managed a photo - don't know if the quality is the same...but my new camera just arrived and when i get it figured out i'll be in business!! - spent a few hours in the yard yesterday and planned to get back out there today but life got in the way...i am beginning to think the studio time will be hit and miss at best until i get my chores done!!!

i am so bummed....

i finally got up to my studio today!!!! - yeah!!!!! - i have some commission work to do - small portraits - and i did a warm up piece of the daughter of one of my daughter's friends...make sense? - she's a gorgeous girl and i've been dying to paint her so i did and i am so bummed that i can't post it - i still have no camera!!! - i never thought i'd feel so lost without a stupid piece of technology...(or techanonogy, as my son used to say about the 6 million dollar man!...."we HAVE the techanonogy!")..but i digress...anyway - it feels good to be back and i enjoyed the process and the end result. but right now i'm heading out for a walk with my hubby and nels - the rain has finally stopped and i'm thinking i can get out and pull weeds VERY easily!!!...and very soon!!!!!! lyb

on the beach...

14x11 oil on stretched canvas
this painting is now at the left bank art gallery on st simons. it's a painting of one of etta's boys...some of my best painting fodder! - too busy to get to the gallery upstairs yet but soon...very soon....

found a new gallery

no time for painting...attended my grandson will's baseball game this morning at 10 am in zionsville...i think the wind chill might have been....1.....the actual temp was in the 40s and the wind was absolutely HOWLING!!! - but better weather's got to be ahead, right? - i discovered a nice new gallery in zionsville - right on main street - called the watts fine art gallery - if anyone's in the area it's well worth the stop. took a few grands to lunch and then headed up to the carmel midland gallery to take some new work - that's such a nice place! - long day, after a few extraneous errands and then tomorrow we're gathering for mother's day so it looks like i won't get to the studio til next week. i'm newly inspired after seeing such nice work in the watts gallery so we'll see what lies ahead!

home at last!!

so here's the scoop...we had a wonderful time - i got to paint a little bit but only for a few days...i really wanted to take a break and enjoy my friends and family. boogs and greg and joe arrived last friday so we shared the weekend with them...just as the weather was starting to get HOT!! before that, we had our couples' trip, played lots of golf, ate lots of food, played a little rummykub, visited my galleries and a few others...had a wonderful evening with our friends janet and paul (www.janetpowers-artist.com). we arrived home tuesday afternoon and i've been re-entering since then - with the warm weather, my yard has become unruly...and i haven't even gotten to my planting yet!!!! yikes!!!! i think i have my last tennis match tomorrow and then it's on to golf!! - but not before i get this place in some sort of order - don't know when i'll actually get to the studio again - i switched out some stuff and delivered some stuff in georgia and i plan to visit my carmel midland gellery tomorrow after my match. i have nothing to show for my work down there for one reason: - my camera DIED!!! - i was walking the beach one day and crossed over what i thought was a very shallow little waterway and sank up past my knees!!! - i freaked!~ - i KNOW what quicksand must feel like!! - my camera was in one pocket and my phone in the other - both totally submerged til i could extricate myself with davey's help! anyway - i have a disposable camera that i may have some stuff on but it's not ready to be developed yet - even at that i don't know how good my images will be - i'm excited about the prospect of a new camera, though...lemonade from lemons and all that....

"Winnie the Pooh"

12x12 oil on stretched canvas
so here's winnie - sticking his mitt in the honey jar...i wanted to at least get him to this stage so i could post something before we leave. i'm thinking this will be the last painting i have time to do before we leave for georgia. i'm hoping to post while i'm there but once again i'm at the mercy of finding wifi so who knows...one thing - this will be a vacation!! - i may even take a vacation from painting....looking forward to seeing what life brings our way...for sure i'll be back in early may!

winnie's on the way...

no painting to post but i've started winnie the pooh - what a busy morning...tax stuff, walk with nels, business calls, and now we're getting ready to go pick up our new odyssey!!!!!!!!! this is also the only chance my hubby has to play golf this week so we're meeting our good friends larry and phyllie for nine!! i absolutely can't wait!! i'm trying to stress upon my husband what a lucky man he is to have made enough money that he grumbles at tax time. i think it's working....

"Pooh's Piglet"

12x12 oil on stretched canvas
so after painting kermit and miss piggy, i thought it might be fun to do the pooh series. this is piglet and i have plans for pooh, eeyore and tigger. we have so many babies and grandbabies in our set of friends that these might make nice welcoming gifts. things are getting complicated around here. we leave for georgia a week from tomorrow and just found out we need a new transmission on our almost 10-year-old honda odyssey. so that means we need a new car! it's also getting gorgeous outside and i'm torn between yard work and golf - so i did a bit of both today - we played the par three, getting the dreaded phone call about the car mid-way through so then yakked about that - then i did a bit of weed-pulling with the lovely frenchies next door. they are the most delightful children - and always want to help when i'm working. i am blessed to have so many spectacular people around me! plus what a wonderful ending to the masters - that shot phil hit out of the woods on 13 was unbelieveable...so happy for him and his family!!

the masters...#13....

6x6 oil on textured canvas panel
so we're getting to the heart of the masters and i only have a minute to post - phil just birdied to take the lead!! - this is #13 - just a very quick study on a small panel that i'd textured beforehand so this may look a bit weird - no matter - just a study in honor of the day! back to the tv!

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!!!!!