Monday Night Art Group Get-Together

For years our group of Art Teachers met at my sis's house to create and share ideas and laugh alot, too ! We have since retired (3 of us) and the others continue to teach, but we love to get together at Christmas time for a lunch and a bit of "catching up"... We have so much in common and are all on the same WAVE LENGTH, so it's a given that our conversations are a little off the wall for most folks.
Here we are in all our glory !

Merry Christmas- family fun at Aunt Linda's

Family tradition is Christmas Eve with almost All the family on Christmas Eve. Santa made his appearance, for wonderful picture opportunities, but alas, my photo card was filled up to the brim and couldn't hold any more images at that point. ( videos of the girls dancing was the culprit) Anyhoo, we look forward to a fun day today with mini-Celebrations throughout the day. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone !!

Some other Creations

Here are a few of the many baby quilts I've made in the past couple months. It distracts me from painting, I know that, but I really DO enjoy making them. I love to sew other projects and clothes for my grand-daughters, too.

Budding young artists....

Here are my little granddaughters in their 'painting' mode, just really getting into their canvases.... I had just as much fun just watching them. They loved the color, and the process...

Ad in the Webster-Kirkwood Times this week...

This is the advertisement for the art show which opens Friday. It's featuring smaller works for gift giving, and holiday budgets. I was so surprised to open the local paper and find my painting used for the ad. Most artists had sent jpegs to the gallery owner.
The show runs for a month or so. Hopefully there will be some 'sales' along the way !

Mini-Journals

I took some time out from painting and had fun putting together some collaged mini-journals, which I sell at several shops. I paint, then cover the plain journals both front and back and also inside the front and back covers. I love to use antique interesting text, like old letters, yearbooks, children's book illustrations, etc. Next step is finding an appropriate old photo which conveys the feeling of the message for each book. I add other collage elements, also, and collage on all 4 of the surfaces of the books. I usually finish with a meaningful, or whimsical stamp of a saying, which is the finishing touch to set the mood of the collage.
They are fun to do, and even though they are very 'labor-intensive' I love working on them and can hardly pull myself away to cook dinner sometimes... ha ha h a

Here are some examples of 8 of them... both front, back, and insides.

Finally..... sorry it took me so long, but hang in there, please

Here are 2 new paintings that I started with, on my road back to daily painting., I figured apples would be a good one to start with, and the cheese and grapes were actually going to be my snack, until I decided they looked too good to eat, and decided to add the wine bottle and glass and paint them.
I just hope I haven't forgotten the things I learned from Carol's workshop in August.....

New Paintings yesterday....

I'll post a pix or two after going to do my Thanksgiving shopping.....

Scary....

I just about FREAKED-OUT just now. I wasn't able to sign-in at ALL... panic set in, and I spent a frantic hour or so trying to submit HELP comments, etc. to blogger. I am so unaware of how this all works... anyhoo, I had checked a box to upgrade to the new blogger, and that was the culprit. When I just checked RETURN TO OLD BLOGGER it all came back... Whew !!!
Thought I'd post this in case anyone else had the same problem.

Breathing some life into this Studio....

I've been on a bit of a hiatus when it comes to my daily painting. So EASY to fall out of the habit, and so HARD to get the momentum going again..... Never thought it would happen, OH WELL... must move forward !!

I HAVE been busy doing other things though, HONEST, I HAVE !
I've been making these little collaged mini-journals, and selling them at some fun and interesting shops both in St. Louis, and in Boston and Fayetteville, Arkansas. I've made 3 baby quilts for my friend's babies, and have continued to try and do what I can to get someone interested in buying our house by doing jobs around the place..... A few side trips, also, to visit our daughter and friends, and NOW planning on having a feast for 20 for Thanksgiving,of course...
I think part of my problem (always looking for a scapegoat, I guess) is that I've set my studio up to paint STANDING, and I just don't think i want to do that. It seems so much more natural for me to sit, the standing just makes me have difficulty. (I know, it sounds like such a lame excuse !)

Well, look for the MORE TO COME on this very soon... I've had some success selling on the www.Dailypaintworks.com site, which is hosted by David Marine, Carol's husband, so that makes me want to get back into the swing of it, too !!!!!

Please come back and visit again, and Don't give up on me !!!!!

No landscape painting today... ugh !

It was so cold and overcast this morning, my sis and I just took a trip to all the local Thrift Store haunts in St. Louis. We did find a great store called Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. Donated building supplies come from everywhere, and land there ! What an adventure looking through it all.
Tomorrow I'm going OR ELSE ! I will find a spot and paint outside ! Wish me a good day, please.... - to be continued.

Lil landscape

My sis and I are going to try our hand at 'plein air' painting tomorrow, since the weather in St. Louis has FINALLY cooled down. I hope I can get all the stuff together to get the job done. I probably need to invest in a different easel, but will try to manage with the old one for now... Now, lets hope for a nice day. ha ha

Red Cabbage (with ham?)

Don't know how red cabbage tastes, but I've always thought it looked cool. I suppose you could cook it with ham, or make it into coleslaw... I love coleslaw.
I thought I'd give this a try, to see if it would 'read' correctly with the strange, mottled, somewhat shiny surface. I DO love it's color !

One Year of Daily Painting... woo woo

Today marks the one year anniversary of my daily painting blog... I've posted almost every day, aside from the time we were getting our 100 year old home ready to put on the market... The experience has been a wonderful lesson in discipline and growth for me. Daily painting has helped by "loosening up" my painting style, and my week long workshop with Carol Marine was SO intrumental in the growth process for me. Changing my style and approach to painting has been SUCH a struggle, though, I'll have to admit. I want to push forward, and the next year will see some changes, I hope, for the better...
The next year I would love to try a few new ideas.. Printmaking is One... Also, I would like to paint some bigger canvases, and work on changing my subject matter. I might even get more into abstracts- who can tell??
My paintings will continue to be available online on the Daily Paintworks Site. I may not post everyday, especially by working on larger paintings... but then again, Maybe I will ! I feel I've gained confidence over the past year, and am not so afraid to try to reach beyond what I've always done in the past.
Wish me luck-- and PLEASE STAY TUNED for more painting adventures ! thanks for stopping by my blog... comments that are offered are SOO much appreciated... (can't tell you how much they mean to me ) thanks, Sandy

"Hey, did you cry all the way home?"

The Daily Paintworks challenge was to 'paint your pig'-- either real, bank, whatever... I happened to have 2 different ones sitting right within reach, so I thought I'd let them get to know one another...
I just read Carol Marine's blog about her house burning down... My thoughts are with her, her hubby and sweet little boy. Wow, doesn't seem possible, but I guess that's a result of all the hot, rainless days down in Texas this year. SO glad she said they had fire insurance.. they left the area, so when they get back there, they will know for sure. Many people are thinking of you today, girl !!! Glad you are all safe !

Up Top... in pottery bowl

I got these pears to paint, and hubby had them in the bowl with my overripe peaches... Somehow, I liked the arrangement...

Little Fiesta...

I found this cute little fiesta bowl at the antique mall the other day. (I DID have to buy 3 of them, in order to get the one I wanted) Anyway, I can always sell the extra ones at OUR antique booth !
After a few other paintings, and a mess on my table in the studio, I looked and saw all of these little oranges and stuck them into the bowl to get them out of the way. They looked kinda cute there, so I decided they would maybe work on the cloth. There's not too much going on, but, maybe that's a good thing ! ha ha

Gracie's Pics

My grand-daughter, Grace Ann, picked these out yesterday at the grocery store. She thought they were nice because they were sooo shiny. That they were, and I thought..... "hmmm... they would have some great highlights" Everything always works together, doesn't it? ha ha

Vintage Glass from Kentucky

This is a cute little glass I found at the antique shop in Catiz, Kentucky. I saw another one like it, only in blue, at a shop a couple of hours later. The blue one was more expensive, I guess it was rarer !
The NEW HEADER is courtesy of Beth Bathe, who is my new friend from our August

workshop together, with Carol Marine, in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Beth has a blog- with a link on the RIGHT SIDE of my blog listings.... please check out her new site ! Her new paintings of figures and faces are really cool !!!

Love Orange with purple...

This color combination, I think works well. I added the periwinkle bowl, because of the color--(the shape gave me fits, though) Who ever invented the ellipse, I'd LIKE to HAVE A WORD WITH THEM ! ha ha ha !!

Mini Eggplants... who knew?

This composition had some oranges in it, but since the other day I had given it an olive green (drab) ground,and I didn't have any more panels,

I thought better of it, and removed them... You Carol graduates will know what I'm talking about. (couldn't do the saturated color I needed to) Anyway, I took them out, and decided to go ahead with it. I did leave the background yellow-orange (which was fabric) and I didn't care if it was particularly saturated or not. The white of the cup bothers me a bit, but, it was actually really whiter than I have it...

Oh, me, oh my.....

better picture this morning, with a few finishing touches...

3 Pink Ladies

Soon I guess I'll have to eat these, before they get too old, but for now, I'm having fun painting them. I actually did a little more to this, including the polka-dots on the bowl. (I found it for $1. at Goodwill, can you believe?) I took the painting outside to photograph it, but it was too dark, and the photo didn't turn out... I thought I'd post this earlier one, so I'd have one to post before the day was over.... (I didn't want you to think I was just lolly-gaggin', and didn't do any painting today)
Actually, I really struggled getting this one. Instead of the regular 6 x 6, it's on an 8 x 8, so maybe that entered into the mix... ha !

Suzanne's Zinnia

Not so sure this composition works, but anyhow, I wanted to paint a few flowers, since my neighbor's gardener shared them yesterday. I'll have to work at getting the composition right

Signs of Fall... hopefully...

thought I'd try the apples again... Don't know if I got it just right, but the more I do them (or other stuff) the easier it's becoming.... love it ! thanks, Carol !!

Back to Basics...

When in doubt, go back to basics. Ha ! the apples again for me, too. Wanted to get a painting done this morning, and post it before I get started with my activities.
Yesterday I took finished canvases to a gallery in Brentwood on the Boulevard across from the Galleria. They took a total of 65 paintings, on consignment. Great place to catch lunch at P.F. Changs or Magianno's, and stop by the Shron Gallery to shop for a gift for a friend, or yourself !! There is also a cute little bakery and a children's shop, as well as a wonderful hair salon !

Vase of Roses

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I tried this on a 9 x 12 canvas, which is BIG for me, and it seemed as though it took forever. (I'm so used to the smaller ones) Was able to leave the strokes alone better than ever before, but still I didn't have all the values correct, and found myself going back over to darken, or add some lights to the flowers. I have this vase, which was thrown by a potter, has a handle, and is the perfect color to complement (compliment) the roses pinkish-orangish-yellow.
I've set up my studio to paint standing now... BUT, It's Killing my feet and legs.... I'M DETERMINED to keep it up, and give it more time, to see if I can handle it ! Changing everything back to sitting would be a big deal. I do wish I had a little bit better ventilation... maybe a special fan?


OH, ALSO ----- I am having an impossible time leaving comments for anybody on their blogs !!! I've even entered a forum to ask questions about itit, and other people are having the same problem, with no help,whatsoever, frfrom Blogger... ANYHOO---I CAN leave a comment, under ANONYMOUS... only trouble is, then no one can click to see my site ! It's a mess... Anyway- I'm trying to get it worked out. I DO COME SEE YOUR SITES... and LOVE TO MAKE COMMENTS ! thanks to Virginia Floyd, Carol Carmichael,
and Suzanne Berry, and the others who always leave me some great feedback... thank you !

Whole Food Roses...

I got these on Friday and they were these amazing buds. so very cool. I wanted to paint them, but didn't know if I could do them justice. They were so complex, and had SO MANY PETALS.... Anyhoo., here they are. hopefully they "read" correctly. I posted the photo with them, although I worked from life. The large rose measured 6" across.... wow !

Sweet Peaches

These peaches from Whole Foods are particularly sweet and juicy. I buy them every chance I get... I know it's not going to last too long !

Daisy Survivors

These three are about all that has survived from my hundreds of shasta daisies. I'm not sure I got the colors right. Maybe a different background? Anyway, I was just a smidge away from 'getting too fussy' !!! Gotta know when to stop ! ha ha

Balloon flower survived the HEAT...

I set this up yesterday, before the grandbabies came for a visit. They did their watercolors, while I sketched in my glass,and flower. (Gracie remembered I told her about 5 or 6 months ago it was called a balloon flower)
Anyhoo... I painted my ground purple, and explained to the girls why I was doing it. We all became distracted about then, and we ended up dancing, trying on clothes, eating pizza, etc. While we were all sitting around the table after dinner, Gracie went and did a painting for me. It was completely purple, just like the one I had done earlier. -and we sometimes think they are NOT paying attention to what we are doing- !!!
Well, we had a fun time, so this morning I went into the studio to finish it, and the flower had

completely moved, so I had to try and hold it up into the position it was in yesterday... challenging.. ha ha

Comparing Apples to Oranges...

My hubby actually bought this apple for me to paint at the store in Fish Creek. I brought it home, and decided to give it a go... Even though it didn't have a stem, I think I should have maybe given it one... just kinda boring, that's all...

Even polka-dots... fun

We watched Carol do polka-dots on her little paper bag, and they really finished off the composition. Thought I'd try one of my favorite mugs... it's got dots, too... These darn oranges I've done a couple of times... Hope they are getting better. There are so many subtle value changes.

Two Newbies

Got to get back into the painting 'groove'--- it's soooo e a s y to be distracted, with so many things 'about'..... can you say A.D.D.?

I've done a couple of paintings, and need to post them, so here they are... they are looser, I feel, but maybe too 'crowded'--- not sure... where's Carol when you need her ?

Fish Creek Workshop 'Bits'

Here are a few of the exercises and paintings we did this last week... We were so busy we hardly had time to dance !
...

that Carol Marine really cracks the whip !

I've died and gone to Workshop Heaven...

Thank You, Carol Marine.... You are an amazingly talented young women, with a generousity which is incredible and talent and expertise to match....
I've never attended a workshop before, but last week my hubby and I drove 11 hours to Door County, Wisconsin... to Fish Creek, on Lake Michigan to a delightful little spot, where I enjoyed one of the most SPECIAL weeks of my life !
I've followed Carol for awhile, and decided when she had a workshop with an opening, I'd jump in and go before it filled up... GOOD DECISION...
I learned SOOOO much, and Carol made us put the knowledge she'd shared with us INTO PRACTICE, which really solidified it in our brains ! It was a challenge to be sure, but we all loved every minute of it, and wanted it to go on for another week, at least ! ha ha !!!
The women were absolutely fantastic, too, and I hope we have established some long lasting relationships, and can do some trips in the future, too... (Tuscany-2013 !!).... such a fun thought !!
Thanks, Kat, Beth, Lin, Nancy, Sherrie, Dawn, Barb, Jennifer, Dede, and all the rest... especially our lovely, Carol Marine... IT WAS WONDERFUL ! If you can't fit your head through the door, tell David it's OUR fault, not yours ! ha !!! we loved it !