His Siesta

His Siesta
10 x 10" - acrylic on canvas
sold

Here is the companion piece to yesterday's painting post. I think he looks pretty comfortable sitting in the Florida sunshine! Sounds good to me.

Her Siesta

Her Siesta

10" x 10" acrylic on canvas

sold

Haven't we all fallen asleep with our heads back and mouth open? I know I have. She looks so happy and relaxed - and why not - she's on vacation at the beach!  Her husband was asleep in a chair beside her - stay tuned for His Siesta, tomorrow's painting and post!

(Note: Regarding the colours in this painting - I took over 20 photos of this one in various lights, and then worked at tweaking the colours to match the painting - this proved to be more of a challenge than doing the painting! At least you get the idea, but I have to say the colours in the painting are better.)

A Very Colourful Coconut Palm

Coconut Palm
24" x 20"  acrylic on canvas  
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

Below is the photo (actually a detail from a larger one) which inspired this painting. Once again the barkish-vegetation 'stuff' that seems to peel off the trunk at the top of the palm tree, was a challenge, to figure out and then paint. Persistence helped and I was quite happy with how it turned out.

I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocounts

Florida Nuts III
16" x 16"  acrylic on canvas
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

The most interesting parts of the coconut palm tree are the nuts. I really like the shapes in this composition. Of course the real coconuts are green and the bark of the tree is quite colourless, not to mention the vegetative stuff around the top of the tree that looks like burlap (what is that stuff anyway???). A more expressive palette seemed in order. I am in Florida right now and everywhere I look I see coconuts and palm trees - a lovely alternative to snow.

Painting Poppies

Poppies from My Garden I

6" x 7"  watercolour on watercolour paper  $35

I flipped through a pad of water colour paper the other day and found several drawings that I had never painted.  Having had recent fun with my little box of water colour paints, I switched from playing in my sketchbook to painting these instead. Because the drawing was so precise however, I found myself tightening up as I painted. I am quite happy with the result, and may paint this same image in acrylic. This is based on a photo I took several years ago - of poppies in my garden.

Sketchbook Fish

Another little painting from my sketchbook - based on a photo of a fish caught by my husband last year. I love mingling (water) colours together on the paper - an effect that I am not able to get when working with acrylic. 

Sketchbook Play

Happy New Year! The last two weeks have been busy - with seasonal festivities, family gatherings, lots of eating, visiting - and so on. It was all lots of fun, but I am ready for a return to more normal living - and that includes easel panting on a daily basis. Despite the busyness of the Christmas season however, I did find some time to 'play in my sketchbook'. I call it play because I use those moments to draw whatever is at hand, or from my imagination, and then paint the sketch - loosely, using a little box of Prang water colours. I don't worry about composition, values, palette or anything - but just enjoy working quickly, mingling colours, having fun. Here are a few of these little sketchbook works.