Gold

Every once in a while I open my gold paint and have some fun with it.I love using gold in the sky and for highlighting areas. I added it to this aceo of an oak tree ( with baby swing ) It doesnt always photograph well but I like the way it looks. New grandchild is due any day so the baby swing should continue to get a good work out!

From the Mountains to the Valleys

This scene reminds me of my brother-in law's village in Southern Italy.
Its on 140# paper, aceo size, watercolor. I love the scent of lavender - and the color too.
From a ref photo of France.

Watercolor, ACEO size.

Different Strokes Challenge

This is my painting of a man resting, from a photo by Karin Jurick on the Different Stokes Challenge. I did my entry as an ACEO, that is 2.5 x 3.5 inches in acrylic. The quest to do believable figures is an ongoing effort. As soon as I finish a piece and take a good look at it I know what I want to do differently next time.Maybe thats progress?

Elephant

The little ACEOS got me in the mood for more animal paintings. My dear friend Marion gave me a shopping bag of old calendars that have full size glossy photos and I found some great reference material to inspire me. Another great resource is copyright free photos on websites. Just surfing through these images will get you inspired!

This watercolor is 5 x7 - bid on it here

Watercolor Friday

I decided to list just watercolors on eBay today ~ here are some of the animal paintings I'll be posting..all are ACEOS. Maybe I should call this Wild Watercolor Week?

If It Aint One Thing...

Poor Ladybug - she just turned her back for a minute... luckily all the kids got out safely and she was insured. I did this as part of an artist paint out challenge on WetCanvas - my second home. The reference photo was a ladybug... the rest is my own quirky vision.

Land and Sea

I've been playing with colors, looking for the unusual without giving up harmony.

I did a seascape with a pink skyand teal water

and a stone wall/garden gate that is almost spooky with its skewed perspective.

Always looking for a different edge to keep things interesting.

Most of you know that I'm doing all my eBay listings on Tuesday evenings and Friday afternoons now and these two will be listed tonight.

Two Landscapes

I love this color combination together!

And this one was inspired by a scene I saw Saturday morning along Route 303 in Peninsula:

I'm getting ready to post new ACEOs Tuesday evening on eBay.. these will be two of them.

Boston Mills Art Show

I am lucky enough to live near the site of the Boston Mills Art Show which runs for two consecutive weekends - each weekend has different artists. I thought I would share some photos from the second week of the show.
These are some of the prize winners:







The venue is the Boston Mills Ski Resort in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Here's the entrance~

and some of the wonderful artist booths:

Out of White

A little ACEO -

I'm still listing the ACEOs on eBay but my new 'Summer hours" are Tuesday night and Friday afternoon. I'll list all them then and they will all end then. I figure people dont want to spend the summer on the computer waiting for auctions to end.

I also want to work on figures and forms.... I called this one "Waiting"

and what would a week without flowers be?
>

Besides painting this week I watched a DVD called "Sweet Land" - really enjoyed this love story and give it two thumbs up.

ACEO on Stretched Canvas

"Mountain Stream"

I'm excited about using mini gallery wrapped stretched canvas for my ebay ACEO auctions. They have a nice 'finished' look to them and look great on an easel...


The back is clean and neat and looks like this:

"Pecan Trees"

This one is not on ebay - its for the next show at the MD Garage which has a winter theme ~

Barcelona

This is the scene in Barcelona, Spain that I found on Google maps.
It is on the boardwalk on Calle de Sante Maria and Calle de Prim. The Mediterranean is on this fellow's left. I imagine that Barcelona is colorful and modern and I approached the painting with that in mind.
The idea of using Google maps to do a virtual paint out is Billy Guffy's. To see other Barcelona scenes visit his blog here

Paintings from my virtual visit to Florence is here and Paris here
I am really enjoying being an armchair tourist and cant wait to see where we go in August!

Dieter's Dream

Guaranteed to not stay on your hips ;-)
ACEO 2.5 x 3.5 inches .... listed here on eBay now...

Backyard Trees

This was my second Plein Air effort yesterday. I love painting the branches of pine trees, the bulk of them. This piece is 8x10 alla prima. ...

... I also took another crack at the "Lifeguard" from Different Stokes Challenge. This time I did it as an ACEO

Those of you who receive my email newsletter know that I am grouping all my eBay auctions to end on either Tuesday night or Friday afternoon. My thoughts are that summer is just too short to spend it near the computer monitoring ebay. There are 8 ACEO pieces ending tomorrow and 5 more on Friday - including this Lifeguard. See them all here

Plein Air - No Commute

It was such a beautiful day today that I knew I had to paint outside. But rather than drive to a pretty location I decided to stay home and paint in my own backyard. I have a birdbath set near the woodline, so I sat in the shade and had a fine time listening to the birds and painting this 8x8"

Plein Air Art Show

Many thanks to Carolyn, Steve and all the folks at the Peninsula Art Academy and the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce for hosting the Plein Air paint out and exhibit.

The show opened tonight and all the work made during that rainy weekend was on display.

The quality of the art was so impressive and I was thrilled to receive an Honorable Mention for my painting "Before the Rain".

I know they are busy preparing for next year and I am looking forward to participating again.
More from the show:

Summer Flowers

Here are two ACEOs done in a very loose style. I think the tall flowers are called hollyhocks.
We're gearing up for the 4th of July holiday here in Ohio. But first I have the opening of the Plein Air show tonight. I'm excited to see all the finished work, framed and hanging. And see all the artists, cleaned up and ready to party!
In case you missed the story in the Plain Dealer you can still read it here
I should have photos for you tomorrow of the opening reception.

Paris - Florence- Barcelona

Its a busy Virtual Summer for me. In May a group of us 'internet' artists used Google Maps to paint street scenes from Paris. I chose the Carousel. All of this cyber painting is organzied by Bill Guffey on his blog Virtual Paint Out

In June we moved to Florence Italy.
I was feeling a little confined in the streets of Florence so I moved up to the mountains and using the Google street view found a beautiful vineyard to paint,Via delle Corbinaie, Scandicci, Tuscany, Italia



My painting is 15 x 30" on stretched canvas

Close ups:







And today, I popped in on Bill to discover that the city for July is Barcelona. I'm sure I will spend hours exploring the city deciding where to 'set up' by easel.
I'll send you a postcard!