Too Wet To Sign

A common artist trait is to paint the same image over and over. Well, I am that kind of artist I guess. I paint mangoes over and over. Each painting is a progression going to who knows where.
But after I had painted an oil early spring 2011 I  retook the sold painting in order to varnish it, then I painted a watercolor of the same layout. This is a 'channeled' design, which means it is my own minds image. And if you don't quite get that then I don't think I can help you!
 I have done this before; painted an oil then did it again in watercolor. When I did this I donated the oil to the new Health Care Access building  in Lawrence and that painting hangs in the farthest corner in the deepest most lost room.
 ho hum
meet Eight Lucky Mangoes~~ oil.....

Too bad, it is a sweet little oil. I suggested they sell it at auction so it would have a home.
The watercolor then of the same image was the first painting with my new Holbein paints and I was so enjoying them. Amazing watercolors. That painting I let go to an old friend.
Rats.... really liked it more than I thought.....

The Mango oil titled Easy Pick'ns is now varnished and being returned to it's new home. Nice.

And this new watercolor is looking for a home, but I am enjoying it until it moves out.
Paintings are like our kids maybe..... precious but ....really they are their own energy.

I'll sign it tomorrow when it is dry......

Flint Hills cows under the clouds.....

        Back in May of this year Marty Olson and I went into the flint hills to soul search and paint plein air. ...and we accomplished both. We also were struck by the clouds all day and painted them. At the end of the day, about 5:20pm we were driving into Manhattan, Kansas---where I was indeed born in June 1951 during the great flood, yep water baby me!--- I commented on the sky. I turned and said to Marty "I wonder who is under those clouds" and we went into town and ate a great meal Jamaican style at one of Marty's favorite haunts! Man is he fun to travel with!
~~~ the next day I learned that a tornado had struck Joplin MO. uhhh ohhh. That was the direction we painted and watched as the day wained. Holy Cow!

Two paintings have come out of that day. The first one is the actual plein air one I did as we sat under a tree out at the state park. I titled it Under the Clouds and it is indeed framed and for sale. See the Horizons show menu tab.

 The second painting just finished in November is Flint Hills Cows that I rendered from a photo collection I took while we drove through the flint hills. Actually it is my first cow painting and is waiting for a forever home. As a child I rode cows on my Grandparents' farm as they never got me a painted pony of my owney.

 Such a fateful day for so many.

SUN PUPPY

Here is Gracie as a 10 week old puppy..... 'cept she isn't in Hawai'i, she is laying in the laundry room floor in the sun in Kansas! I chose this image of her to use for this painting. I then changed her and made her a black and no patch on her face and put her onto a beautiful lauhala mat under fronds of tropical foliage..... which she also has in her mouth! Gracie is a patched liver Dalmatian.
 The reason I made these dog image changes is that I wanted to do a true representation of a Dalmatian as this painting is being donated to the American Dalmatian Club for the research fundraiser in 2012. It will be nationally bid on with all the other entries to raise money for health research in dogs. The top 20 will be in competition for the cover of the annual publication too!

This painting is a watercolor 16 X 13 unframed.

This is my actual photo used of real patch puppy Anticipation Bodacious Gracie Green Eyes!

Wish us luck! Go Gracie!

In The Garden

   Recently I finished the first of two paintings owed toward the purchase of our little Dalmatian puppy Gracie. After 2 weeks of email negotiations we settled on the images of the two dogs, Waverly, who is actually Gracie's mother and Lucky who is her litter mate brother.
The watercolor painting is larger (unframed 16 X 20) since it contains two dogs. I had to scale the dogs together as they were from different photos and then we also wanted the tulips behind them. I opened up the eyes of the dogs from the photos because photos are hard to translate to art work and can look odd. Waverly is sitting on the stump with the geraniums behind her and Lucky is in the bed of ivy. The rest was up to me and I just faded the background using several images of the very beautiful gardens in Georgia where they live.
I can easily say the dogs were the easiest part! And the spots on a Dal actually forms the shape of the dog so having the spots correct is a must! But, I have not used a soft faded painted style in my work so I was on the phone to my dear friend Marty relaying my work and progress and gathering his input. He is great because he always calmly states that I always figure out what I want in the end and pull it off.
 So I just need him to record that for me so I can like play it daily..... maybe you should get one too! HA!

 As I worked this painting I really enjoyed how much Gracie reflects her mom in her.
Great fun, WHEW, now I am preparing to do one more painting for the other breeder and I have one I want to do of Gracie.

Gracie you're almost paid for!!!