Rose Cottage

Rose Cottage, 8 x 10 inches oil on canvas covered board

Here is a little oil painting taken from a scene at the Renaissance Faire in Muskogee.  This structure has a lot of character and was fun to paint.  It houses a shop that sells soap during the Faire.

Guardian at the Corner

Guardian at the Corner, 6x8 inches oil on canvas covered board

I am working on a series of oil sketches, each one taking an hour or less, here is one of a very handsome peacock I found at the Castle in Muskogee.

Parade Banner for Spinners

Spinners Parade Banner for the Renaissance Faire in Muskogee,  15 x 17 inches acrylic on canvas

Here is a painting I just finished for the Spinners Parade Banner at the Renaissance Faire in Muskogee.  It is attached to a canvas banner trimmed with green velvet ribbon.  It has been a long time since I worked with acrylics and though not as blend-able as the oils I have been using it worked out fine for this project especially since they dry so much faster.  I tried to give it a Fairy Tale feeling with the distaff rising into the clouds and the castle in the far distance.

Pond At Gilcrease

Pond At Gilcrease, Oil on canvas covered board 6 x8 inches

Here is another Plein Air done on Tuesday at the workshop.  As the afternoon wore on the pond grew lighter and lighter with the reflected light from the sky.

Curt Walters Demonstrating at Gilcrease Museum

Here is a photo I took on Monday morning of the Demonstration painting by Curt Walters at Gilcrease Museum during the workshop last week.

Gardens at Gilcrease Museum

Gardens at Gilcrease Museum, 6 x8 inches oil on canvas covered board

Here is the second painting from the workshop I took this week done in the front gardens at Gilcrease on Monday April 11th.  We had a lecture in the morning followed by a demonstration by Curt and then broke up to work on our first painting of the day.

Woodward Park Version Two

I decided to make a few changes to see if I could increase the sense of recession in this painting.  So here is version two.

Morning in Woodward Park

Morning in Woodward Park, 6 x 8 inches oil on canvas covered board

I recently took a three day Plein Air workshop with Curt Walters at Gicrease Museum and this is one of the paintings from the class.  I have two others that I need to put some finishing touches on and one that will require going back to the sight to finish.  It was a great class and I met some interesting people and feel like I learned a lot. One of the most exciting things was going to paint a Nocturne on Tuesday night at the Boston Avenue Methodist Church which is a beautiful art deco that dates back to 1907.  I got it drawn in and made a start but I will either need to go back or make some reference photos.  It was the first time I have tried a Plein Air at night and it was fun.  Of course I was already a little worn from painting all day but I would love to try it again.

Backyard Spring Plein Air

Backyard Spring, 6x8 inches, oil on canvas covered board

I did a little Plein Air study from the backyard the other day.  It was so windy I found it a real challenge to keep the brush steady but my new Soltek easel is so nice.

Value Studies

Woman With Pepsi, 6x8 inches oil on canvas covered board

Here are some value studies I have been working on for VAA assignments. I find doing these to be fun and helpful in so many ways in thinking about ideas for paintings.

River Scene, 6x8 inches oil on canvas covered board

On Ewephoria Farm, 6x8 inches oil on canvas covered board

Tina's Ram, 6x8 inches oil on canvas covered board

Lawrence Retreat 2011

Here are some sketches from our annual Fiber Retreat in Lawrence, Kansas.  We had an awesome time as usual.  The first sketch shows Jeannine in her arm brace, resting after some spindling.

Jeannine with her arm brace

Karin Spinning

Here is Karin Spinning in the doorway of the parlor at our bed and breakfast. Below is a sketch of the cone yarns I brought for her scarf project.

Cone Yarns for Karin

Lynn Spinning

Last is a sketch of Lynn spinning in her pink lace scarf.  

Auction for Japan

At the Lake, 6x8 inches, oil on linen covered board

Dailly Paintworks new challenge this week is an auction of art to raise money for Japan.  I have donated At the Lake above and there are already many wonderful paintings available on the Daily Paintworks site. Please check it out if you get a chance. http://www.dailypaintworks.com There is a link in Places of Interest. Thanks!

Frankoma Bowl

Frankoma Bowl, Oil on Board, 6x8 inches
This is the weekly painting challenge, a white object on a patterned ground using only primary and secondary colors and white. Palette for this one is Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Dioxazine Violet and Permanent Green Light.
Frankoma Pottery is made with red clay here in Oklahoma and this red under color tends to show through the glazes making it interesting to paint as the glaze is translucent.

Conan Does Abraham Lincoln

Conan Does Abraham Lincoln,  Oil on Linen Covered Board, 8x6 inches

Here is the new Daily Painting challenge so named because of the flaming red hair.  I am a little late with this one because of the computer crash but happy to be up and painting again.

Plein Air Studies

Quiet Cove, Keystone State Park
6x8 inches, oil on canvas covered board

Dry Spell, Arkansas River
6x8 inches, oil on linen covered board

Here are two more plein air studies from last week.  It has been a crazy week because our computer crashed and now I am on a new IMAC.  It is wonderful but I am experiencing a slight learning curve and it will be so nice when I get all my old files on the new MAC.  Thank goodness for painting!

Plein Air Studies, Haikey Creek

Haikey Creek, Morning: 6x8 oil on canvas

Haikey Creek, Early Afternoon: 6x8 oil on canvas

I did these last Sunday which was sunny and not to chilly- a beautiful day to stand by the creek and paint.  Each one was done in under an hour and meant more as a study than as a complete painting.

Good Morning Ruby Red

Here is the new Daily Painting challenge,Oil on Linen Covered Board 6x8 inches
I decided to paint my favorite morning fruit, now I will set the half that has been sitting in the studio out for the birds and they will have a treat too.

Topsy

Another daily painting limited palette study, Topsy, oil on board, 6x8 inches

At the Lake

Here is another limited palette study using only Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red , Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.  Oil on Linen Covered Board 6x8 inches.

Light My Zippo

Here is the new Daily Paintworks Challenge.  Oil on Linen Covered Board 6x6 inches
This is not a subject that I would normally choose but what a painting workout it turned out to be.  Only Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White so the whole painting relies on values and temperature changes obtained with those three colors.

Evening Comes Early

Evening Comes Early, Oil on Board 9x12 inches

This painting shows Mack standing on the bridge to the old Tulsa Zoo entrance in Mohawk Park.  We had been at the Zoo all day and were leaving about 5:30 pm and what struck me about the scene was the evening sky rolling in and the warm glow it cast on such a cold grey day.  I tried to get the feel of it.

Mollie's Rose

I am dedicating today's painting to Mollie, our 13 year old dear dog friend that passed last week.  She was an important part of our lives and a dedicated loving companion.  We will miss her. Oil on canvas 6x8 inches.

Ten Minute Eggs

Here are my 10 Minute Eggs, this is a 6x8 inch oil on canvas.  I divided the canvas into 6 sections and painted the same egg in each section setting a timer for each one for 10 minutes.  Total time for the whole painting 60 minutes.  I did change the color of the cloth under the egg, it's position and the lighting.  This was done based on the Daily Painting Weekly Challenge Group. I am going to include a link in my areas of interest.

Notans and Value Studies

I have been doing a series of Notans and Value Study paintings for my work at Virtual Art Academy.  The Notans are quick one to three inch studies done with a brush pen and the Value paintings are mostly 6 x 8 inch oils on canvas paper, except for the last one which is 6 inch square.  I think I am learning alot by doing these and may have a couple from this selection that grow up to become paintings at some point.

These two are from a sketch I worked on in Cathy Johnsons online Sketching and Drawing class.  I had sketched this scene  several times in different materials and here is the Notan and Value painting.

This is a scene that is close to my home and on one of my bike routes.

Here is a scene from Riverparks in Tulsa, early in the morning.

This one is Mack on a Turkey Mountain trail hike we did last Fall.

This is a musician from the Oklahoma Scottish Festival last Fall.  This project has been alot of work but I am feeling more confident about approaching my painting.  I would be very interested in any comments about it.

Saturday in Riverparks

Saturday was another beautiful day so we went to the park.  Here is my bike loaded with essentials, lunch and art supplies.

Here is my travelling watercolor kit with brushes, brush pens, kleenex, blotter, tape, mask, sharpener, erasers and even a small container of salt.  The small cigar tin is my paint kit.

When open my little cigar tin looks like this, all the paints I need plus sponge and white watercolor crayon for when I need a touch of opaque white.

Here is the quick sketch of Mack I did while we were there.  The drawing is black Pitt pen embelished with some watercolor washes.  This was our last day of Springlike temps, tomorrow we are expecting snow.

Keystone Dam Area

On Friday we had a high temperature of the low 70's and we celebrated by going for a short hike in the Keystone Dam area.  It has been years since we have been on this trail and I had forgotten how beautiful it is there.  I sat and did this sketch while Mack went back to the car to get extra camera batteries.  We had a wonderful time and both took some great pictures.

View of the Arkansas from Bixby Bridge

Here is my second oil painting of a scene I pass when I walk the Bixby Trail.  I have seen it in every season and this is mid October.  We have had a very dry fall and winter here.  Even though I did not paint this outside it is a view I know well and I have sketched frequently in this area in pencil, pen and watercolor. Oil on board 6x8".

SketchCrawl at the Tulsa Zoo

Mack and I went to the Tulsa Zoo yesterday to participate in the international sketchcrawl. Of course he had the camera and I had the sketchbook.  It was about 11:30 am when we arrived and cold but at least it was not crowded.  We started with the Chimps and worked our way through the exhibits.  Here are some of the first sketches I did.

The Collared Peccary's were the best models of the day. Of course they were settled in for a long winters nap at the time.  About 2pm it was time for coffee, lunch at the zoo, a  few tweeks to the previous sketches and more coffee.

Then we headed to the Rainforest exhibit where it is very warm.

Inside, I did some more sketches

The Black Cayman was a good model too.  It was just as I was finishing the Lion Monkey that they reminded us it was almost time for the zoo to close at 5pm so we started hiking back to the car.  A sketchcrawl is great fun and I would reccomend giving it a try.