Free to Be

My neighbors yard is filled with flowers.  One whole flower bed is filled with Tiger Lilies that have been allowed to self seed and the bees and hummingbirds are benefiting.  I am so lucky to be able to paint the beauty that is right next door.  

Good News

What could possibly be good news after the Marathon Bombing in Boston and the Fertilizer Plant explosion in Texas this week?  I wondered that myself as I painted in my studio.  Then I heard this quote from "Mr. Rogers" (a children's television host and Presbyterian Pastor), "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say,"Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping."  To this day, especially in times of 'disaster', I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helping - so many caring people in the world."   It is always good news to remember that there are many more good people in our world that evil ones. 

What did T. C. and the Peeps talk about?

First they talked about peeking orders and how they didn't care for them.  Then the rabbit peeps brought up how bullies could really hurt you or your feelings and they liked the book, 'Michael Vey', that explored that very subject.  The author of that book reminded them of another author with the same last name, Evans, and how much they enjoyed, Rachel Held Evans, book and blog.  Which reminded Miss Chicken that she was featured on, 'The Traveling Chicken Blog,'  just last month and wore a crown in the painting of her by Dawn Eaton.  All the chicken peeps agreed they liked crowns very much especially the music by Casting Crowns and their recording, 'Glorious Day'.   Speaking of songs, they all agreed they liked, 'The Wall Song' by Mitch Townley and the Irish saying - 'Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening, and live everyday as if it were your last. '  Miss Chicken wondered if any of the peeps had read on the Internet about Johan Huibers and how he was building a full scale replica of Noah's Ark.   The chicken peeps hadn't read that online but they had been watching, 'The Bible', on television and had seen the ark in the first episode.

As they sipped their tea and continued to talk and talk and talk, Miss Chicken asked them if they had looked at, 'The Traveling Chicken Blog', this month and seen the painting of them all having tea in the studio?  They decided to go to the studio office and check out, 'The Traveling Chicken Blog,' and see how they all looked before pouring more tea and talking, and talking and talking. 

European Turnips

My neighbor gave me these turnips because she knew I would want to paint them.  How special is that a gardener/friend/neighbor who gives me her hard earned, labor intensive vegetables to paint that may spoil before I even get to eat them.  I finished this painting a week ago and forgot to post it (after all my work at the easel).  So I decided I would post it today, since I am 'wall' painting at our sons and I am not at the easel for many days.
Yours in art,
Pamela 

Duck Tail

This is one of farmer Greg's ducks.  He also has rabbits, goats, chickens, cats, a wife and three blond children.  Greg read an article about people in Europe paying farmers to camp on their farms and was intrigued by this idea.  The European farm campers stay in canvas cabins with flooring, a deck, beds, chairs, and a filling farm breakfast.  Even hot showers are available.  Most of the campers are families and they camp on the farms so their children can experience the farm life by gathering eggs, feeding the livestock, doing choirs and picking produce in season for a weekend. Would you pay to camp on a farm here in the USA?  I certainly would!

WHO'S GUARDING THE HENHOUSE?

I just returned from the 2012 Cedarburg Plein Air Paint Out.  It was a hot week for painting in Cedarburg this year, since temperatures were in the high nineties everyday I painted.  The painting that I am posting today is a painting I did last year at the 2011 paint out.  The rule for The Cedarburg Plein Air Paint Out is to finish the entire painting in --- WELL ---  plein air or completely outside with no tweaking in the studio.  This painting just wasn't finished when the light changed, so I enhanced it in the studio a few weeks ago.  I offer it for sale now while I finish putting in a late garden instead of painting today.  

May Lilacs

I enjoy going to flea markets, estate sales and antique shops to find just the right vase for my still life arrangements.  I found this vase at an estate sale with our sons in Detroit.  This vase had evidence of heavy use by its former owner, which made me wonder if it had held lilacs before.
My palette for this painting was viridian, cadmium lemon, cobalt, alizarin, and cadmium red.  The perfume scent from these lilacs infused the entire cottage studio as I quickly mixed these beautiful pigments to capture the lilacs before they wilted. 

Sunset Memory

Painting in plein air is so exciting!  You don't know if a storm will catch you in the middle of a field, a bull might charge you from afar, or a nest of irate fire ants will decide to attack while you are setting up your gear.  The most memorable outdoor painting adventure has none of the above, but instead includes a fellow painter to share the outdoor painting experience.  This painting 'Sunset Memory' included oil painter, Lori.  (www.loriberinger.com)  We painted together for one wonderful week in beautiful Central Florida on the banks of the St. John's River.  

Nestled

Several years ago I was able to go to the Britex Fabric Store in San Francisco, CA.  What a thrill this was for me since I love fabric.  Three floors of fabric!  Each floor had every wall stacked with fabric from the floor to the almost thirty foot ceilings.  Library ladders propelled the clerks to the fabric you picked out. The fabric bolts were in every color of the rainbow and every type.  Wool, silk, satin, linen, and cotton fabrics, ribbons, sequins, buttons, and thread.  What a treat!  You can now buy the fabric online, but if you are in San Francisco you should go into the store; it is stunning to see all that fabric in one place. Located right by the trolley turn around at 146 Geary Street.
Today I painted these three eggs nestled in some fantastic fabric I purchased when I visited the Britex Fabric Store. 

Opalescence

This painting was the first egg painting that I painted in this series of egg paintings.  'Opalescence' was accepted into the WPSE (Women Painters of the Southeast) exhibit at the Corse Gallery & Atelier, Jacksonville, FL.

(www.corsegalleryatelier.com)  The exhibit opens on April 28, 2012 and closes on May 26, 2012.   

Broccoli & Bamboo

My neighbor, Debbie, has a beautiful garden full of vegetables and flowers.  The other day she invited me to paint in her garden while she ran errands.  It was peaceful listening to the birds sing while I painted on that sunny day.  The late morning sun shining through the broccoli leaves was what I had wanted to paint for days.  I was so happy when Debbie invited me over and I could paint this beautiful plant.  Thanks, Debbie. 

Don't Worry Be Happy

Eggs are not only wonderful to paint but they are also very nutritious.   10% of the profits from the sale of this painting will go to Heifer International.  This organization helps alleviate hunger by giving chickens to those in need to raise for their eggs.

So be happy - buy a painting through www.dailypaintworks.com - and feed the hungry.

Tiger Lilies in the Wind

This painting was so much fun to paint. I really enjoyed mixing the various colors to achieve the look of these orange flowers with purple slash like stripes. Not having cadmium orange on my palette may have been a disadvantage but it was exciting to mix away and paint these moving targets in the wind.