This week's pottery

 A customer had a request for some fish flops.  So I made a few pair.  I've also made some nesting wall chickens.  I used to make a lot of those "back in the day" and it seemed like fun to do some again.

I also made some flip flop ornaments.  Some for me and some for Margaritaville Key West.

Little wall chickens are $29
flip flop ornaments are $22
fish flops $48 a pair

Learning curve

I have been wanting to paint a cow for quite some time.  While going through my stacks of paper to use there was another odd size one that just said "cow head" to me.  At the time I put my signature on it I thought it was finished but as I look at it now I see a number of improvements I could make, and that is a good thing.  It means I learned something.  But now the decision, do you go back and work on it some more? or do you leave it as is and apply what you learned to the next one?

acrylic on paper
about 15" x 15"

Standing Tall and Proud

This great blue heron, again on odd size paper, looks like he is standing guard at the entrance to the swamp.
"Great Blue Heron" acrylic on paper
11" x 7"

I call this one "Ruffled Feathers"
acrylic on paper
11" x 7"
I get to see white herons, and great white egrets on a regular basis in the wetland areas that surround where I live. But a blue heron sighting is more rare. For these poses I would like to thank the artists who share their photos on wetcanvas.com.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/

This painting is on larger paper 15" x 11'

no title as of yet

Feathered friends

September in Key West is a quiet month. Not very many visitors and the snow birds haven't returned yet. The gallery ( 7 Artists Key West) is opened limited hours this month and I am using my extra time in the studio as best I can. I am determined to use up art supplies that I have on hand. Some of which is beautiful watercolor paper that was cut in an odd size for a workshop and didn't get used. The paper is about 7" wide and 11" long. Not standard at all, but a great shape for this series of expressive roosters. My plan was to start abstractly with just shapes and then use layering and brushwork to resolve the image. My new favorite brush is a synthetic liner that was perfect for the feathers. I used acrylic paint for all the paintings in this series. I will be showing more.

I like the above image because even though there is a lot of activity in the grass and feathers he seems calm and reflective.
"Lost in thought"
acrylic on paper
I think this rooster is just about to shake himself into a crow.
"Day Break II" acrylic on paper

I like this rooster very much but it has a "commercial" feel to it (my opinion). That may be the result of the color palette and its abstract qualities.
"Day Break I" acrylic on paper

The title says it all.

"All riled up" acrylic on paper

A look at what is in the gallery

Just a quick peek at some of my pieces in 7 Artists Key West.

Big Skies and the white dot trick

Here in the Keys, we have been having some really lovely big skies. The dark clouds move in, drop some heavy rain and move out. Leaving bright clouds and puddles. This is a painting of those skies with a marina in it. One of the things I learned while doing this painting is the white dot trick. I often use a dark spot in a painting to stop the eye from moving out of the picture plain. It acts like a period at the end of a sentence. In this painting I found that a white dot works just as well. I got this little insight when I placed the little area of light that comes between the two boats in the lower right hand corner. There is also a more muted one in the peak of the building at the edge of the left side. I have been looking at the work of English landscape painters lately, so this is painted with the palette I call my "gray skies palette" Lemon yellow, vermillion, ultramarine blue, naples yellow, yellow ochre, English red, and titanium white.

Searching for a title

Sometimes it seems that finding the right title is harder than painting. This lovely blue heron and turtle are from a photo on wetcanvas.com. In the photo they were facing away from each other. But I wanted the painting to be about their relationship. I placed them facing each other and they are having a converstion. They are very comfortable in each other's company dispite their differences. Now I just need a title that will say all of that in two or three words. It may take me awhile but I will come up with one. This painting is 20" x 24" and is still on the drying rack.

P.S. However, a painting where they are not looking at each other might be an interesting way to show a shift in their relationship.

Low country marsh

I have been experimenting with painting with oils on a very absorbent ground. It is an acrylic gesso mixed with calcium carbonate. While this technique is new to me it is not new to others. It really speeds up the drying of the first coat of paint and lets the second coat go on without the colors getting muddy, which so often happens in oil painting. I did tweak this painting a little after I took the picture. I made the marina in the distance a little whiter and I made the the edge where the reeds hit the water a little darker.


I call it "A distant marina"


14" x 18" not sure if it is finished.

Sunny Day in Tuscany

SOLD

I did a lot of painting this week and I have been continuing my "travels". I went to Italy, England, and the low country, USA. Here is my painting of Tuscany. I enjoyed wandering around these hills, but I'm not sure if the painting is finished yet.
12" x 16" oil

Loose and Juicy Flowers

 

Loose and Juicy Flowers

This week in painting class there was a large vase of flowers to paint. I had a large canvas and decided to paint loosely on the canvas the same as I did on paper last week. (See earlier post) I covered the canvas with various blues mixed with a lot of water. While it was still wet I sprinkled it with alcohol. That is was created the spots with halos. Then I took white and did a thin negative shape painting of the vase, flowers and table top. Then I laid in the large yellow flowers as focal points and worked all over the canvas adding more flowers and leaves.

This is the finished piece. I'm happy with it.

This is what the sky looked like while we were painting (the class is out doors). If I ever put two twin clouds like that in a painting they would just look fake.

 

"Wild Flowers" 24" x 20"

framed in a white frame SOLD