On a Smaller Scale

My camera is sadly on its last legs, so my beautiful little painting that I did today had to be shot on my cell phone. Despite the horrible photo quality, I really like this piece. This is one of the new "painting minis" that will soon be appearing in my Etsy store. It is 4"x 4", oil on wood panel. The sides are 1" deep and are painted bright blue. And hopefully by the time I am ready to list them I will have solved the camera situation.


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A blank stretch of wall

I spent a portion of the day yesterday hanging work with two of my fellow Art Crossing artists, Cheryl Combs and Ron Gillen, at The Woodlands at Furman. The Woodlands gave us a wonderful long stretch of wall on which to hang our work, so I was glad I brought along the big paintings. I decided to hang the remaining six large pieces in my Where I Came From collection. I feel certain they will enjoy their stay at The Woodlands!



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Emily in 3D

Saturday I finished up my bust for Tatas on Trade. Since I am a painter, not a sculptor, it was tempting for me to totally ignore the back of the piece and just focus on the front. But, as I don't know where she will be exhibited I really wanted the back to be as beautiful as the front. I got the idea to almost tattoo her with a vintage wallpaper pattern, and I absolutely love it! This was an interesting project, partially because I had no idea what it was going to look like until I was finished. Normally I like to have some concept of where I am headed, but this piece was totally spontaneous. As soon as I know where she will be displayed I will let you know.




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Towards the Camera

11"x 14"
Oil on Canvas
$200

To purchase, email me with the title in the subject line.

I have several projects that I am in the middle of working on, but something about today called for something new. Maybe it was the beautiful blue sky, or the sunshine, or the fact that it is Friday, but I needed to start something fresh-and to finish it. To do something fun, just for me, that had no expectations attached to it. I love this photo of my grandmother and my aunt. It is so casual and spur-of-the-moment, and I think that just ads to how lovely it is. I was concerned when I first started that I had chosen the most obnoxious shade of yellow imaginable for the background, but now that it is done I like the lightness and energy it gives the piece.




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Unforseen Challenges

This piece has turned out to be more challenging than anticipated. It is difficult to see if the painting is proportioned correctly with all the curves and ridges. But, I do like the effect I am getting. Now, to figure out how to finish it...




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In an apron, on an apron

I've been steadily working away over the past couple of weeks on my bust for Tatas on Trade. I painted her a sepia tone, and decided to add one of my vintage housewives to it, just so there is no doubt about what I am trying to portray. Painting on the three-dimensional surface, especially around the ruffles and pleats, is fairly challenging. One of my patrons commented today that he loved to concept of a "woman in an apron, painted on a woman in an apron."



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Another Glimpse

I received an email this morning from a library assistant at LaGrange College. They had come across my blog after I mentioned that my grandmother attended there, and asked if I would be willing to share some of her photos from her time at LaGrange. I've been spending a few days with my parents in Atlanta, and my mom pulled out several copies of "The Scroll", LaGrange's literary magazine. My Grandmother had been the editor-in-chief in 1940. In the 1940 Commencement issue, we found this poem that she had written:

On Leaving L.C.
I take one hasty glance around my room.
The shelves are bare; the drawers yawning wide.
My books are packed away in musty gloom.
One last remembering minute, then I'll go.

How strange the beds and barren table look!
So much more hopelessly forlorn than when
I came four years ago. But every nook
Now holds a host of haunting memories.
No use to stay, I'll quickly close the door.
Oh, there's my worn-out shoe brush- an excuse
To walk again across this old familiar floor.
Four happy years, with just one minute left.
Shirley Barton

Another glimpse into the life of someone I knew, but also never really knew.



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A handsome pair

Still working out the details on this piece, but I'm starting to like the overall look. I hope all of you are outside enjoying this beautiful weather today! Happy Friday.

To see her smile

I've been working on filling in the details on my Empire State Building picture. Yesterday I spent most of my time working on the figure of my grandmother- putting detail in her clothing and hair, adjusting her facial features. I am very happy with the likeness. I am very fortunate to have known all of my grandparents for a good portion of my life. This grandmother passed away when I was in high school. But I wish there was a way I could have known her in this moment- a young woman in New York, clutching her guidebooks and going to to top of the Empire State Building with her sweetheart. We don't think about the people we love having a life before us. I love getting these little glimpses into my family before I was a part of it.

Calling this one finished

A Day At the Beach
22"x 28"
Oil on Canvas
$525

To purchase, email me with the title in the subject line.

Obviously, I decided to leave in a lot of the red background color. I like the contrast of the red against the black and white, plus I wanted to maintain the sketchy quality of my original drawing. I focused mainly on the details in the clothing, umbrellas and faces. I really love this one, though I don't think the photo does it justice. If you get a chance, swing by the studio and let me know what you think. Thanks friends!

A day at the beach

A couple weeks ago I posted this photo along with several others that I found on my recent trip to Hickory. The woman who is second from the right is my great-grandmother on my father's side. My interest in vintage fashion doesn't usually run this far back, but I absolutely adore this photograph and could hardly wait to start painting it.

I am not finished yet, but I am in love with this piece already. The various styles and details on their bathing suits are great (yes, in fact they are bathing suits!) This would have been around the late 1800's to the early 1900's. Women's bathing clothes were very similar to their everyday clothing styles, except with a few less layers, and women began to show off their arms and sometimes ankles (shocking!) I am still debating how much of the red background to leave in the piece. I like the idea of it just peeking through around the edges, but I may change my mind.

More Adventures in Watercolor

6"x 6"
Watercolor on Masonite

Today I continued to work on my love/hate relationship with watercolor. While I love some of the effects I can get with the medium, I am still trying to figure out what I can and cannot do with it. For example, there is something that I like about this piece, done from an old photobooth photo of my grandmother, but I an not completely happy with the drawing of her face and wish I could adjust it a bit. If this were oil paint, I would just wipe it off or paint over it. What I should do is a bit more pre-planning on pieces like this, which is not something I am used to doing either. I always like to just dive right in. But, I do love the lightness in her face, as well as the texture I was able to create in the background with the watercolor on masonite.

This photo is part of a strip of photos of my grandmother. I intend to do a larger version of the whole strip in oil. There is something facinating about photobooths and the pictures they create. A lot of "happy accidents", as Bob Ross would say, and candid moments in amongst the posed shots. And I have noticed that photobooths have an almost hypnotic pull on people. Try walking past one without at least thinking about stepping inside! I know I have shared the link to Square America before, but I wanted to specifically point out their collection of photobooth photos from the 1930's through the 70's. Lots of fun to look through.

 Photo courtesy squareamerica.com