3 Sunset studies

"Sunset Study #1" Exaggerated color for excitement.

"Sunset Study #2" Dry brush technique for hazy atmosphere.


"Sunset Study #3" Wet into wet for painterly clouds.

These paintings are basically the same composition painted in 3 different styles. In all three I kept my palette colors and my point of view the same, low horizon, late afternoon, back lit mangrove islands.

Sunset study #1,2 and 3

8 x 10" each

acrylic on canvas on board

in a 3" plein air gold frame

$195 each

Smells like "paint by numbers"

"Island Beach Path" SOLD 8 x 10" oil on canvas
"Beach Path" and "Island Beach Path" hanging in 7Artists Key West
$275 each
p.s. "Sanibel Beach Path" sold

My computer is behaving like the bride of Frankenstein so I have been avoiding going on line, which has given me lots of time to paint. I have been going back and forth between oils and acrylics. This painting is oil. When the oil paintings are finished I bring them upstairs into the house to dry. Randy (my honey) came into the house and said, "Smells like paint by numbers!" I remember them fondly, the little skinny brushes and the tiny pots of paint and staying in the blue lines. But even then the thrill was more about the process of painting more than the finished painting.

Sunflowers in the sand

Sunflowers in the sand 8 x 10" acrylic on canvas on board.

On Thursday I brought home several bunches of grocery store flowers with the intention of painting a large and loose red and yellow floral painting. I worked all day Friday on it and it was a mess. I painted, I scraped, I painted, I scraped, you get the picture. I couldn't get the background color right and the day ended in frustration and myself being covered in oil paint. On Saturday I decided to simplify. I got a smaller canvas, I used acrylic paint and focused on just two of the flowers. I was bound and determined to get my money's worth out of these flowers. Because I felt my waterfront pictures held promise I decided to put the Gulf of Mexico in the background. Turquoise and yellow-orange are always a nice color harmony. I did a quick under painting with a brush and then got out the palette knife. I added Golden's soft gel medium to the paint to extend it and to help with the impasto properties.

P.S.

In the floral set up picture in the lower right hand corner you can see some ceramic buttons I am working on. I don't know if they will ever get finished they are such a pain. (I don't know what possessed me to try and make buttons.) I had to stick the one poor sunflower back in the jar. It did not like being out of water. Tom, can you see your clock in the background?

Sanibel Island Beach Path

" Beach Path" In this painting I like the color of the water and the subtle gray of the shadow.

"Sanibel Beach Path" SOLD In this painting I like the dark cloud and the little glow of light under it.

My background as a production potter seems to make me want to do things in multiples. When I do something once, I always see a few things I could have done differently. These two beach path paintings were done on two successive days. Each one has elements that I like. They are oil paintings on canvas mounted on ampersand board. I painted in the background very loosely with oils thinned down with turps and then proceeded to finish the paintings with my palette knife. I add Lukas painting butter to the paint while I work. It extends the paint and speeds up the drying time. I only use it with the palette knife, not with the brush. I like the hard surface of the board with the palette knife. For inspiration I used a photo I had taken on Sanibel Island, one of my favorite places, several years ago. I still see things I would like to do differently with the shadows, so maybe I wll do it again. They are both 8 x 10 inches.

Sanibel Beach Path 1 and 2 $275.

The Flip Flop Lady

Several years ago I had a very nice business making hand made ceramic flip flops. I had a lovely rep and she got me into galleries and gift shops all along the south east coast. Whenever I had to call my customers I would always say, "This is Maggie, the flip flop lady". That business went down the tubes when someone sent my flip flops to China and mass produced them. The worst thing was they asked another artist to do the designs for them. Oh well, I decided it wasn't worth the money or effort to fight it, and shortly thereafter, the flip flop craze was dying out. But I still make flip flops and sell them in the gallery. They make really cute wall sculpture. I make a ladies size and a child's size in lots of different patterns.

I have recently added two new designs. The dragonflies and the cottages. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day, I did.

Ladies flip flops $48.00 a pair

Child's flip flops $38.00 a pair

Welcome

Pineapples have long been the symbol of "Welcome" so I like to use them in the serving pieces I create. I very often do a pineapple - papaya combo. And I love using the saturated reds against the orange and greens. I think when you are having a party your serving pieces should be as festive as possible.

Rectangular tray $58 sold
lg bowl $135. sold