Celebrate Four

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for here at our home.  We are counting our blessings, what about you?  Celebrate, for life is good!

Copper Kettle

Yesterday, we ordered the Thanksgiving Turkey and I am certainly thinking about that up coming celebration of thankfulness.
I entered this painting, "Copper Kettle" into the current painting challenge to paint a painting about texture at www.dailypaintworks.com.
Yours in art,
Pamela

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.  

On Thursday Give Thanks

My sunflowers have flowered and the heads are starting to have sunflower seeds. The sunflowers have  bloomed just in time for me to create this oil painting for the Daily Paint Works Sunflower(s) Challenge.  

On Sunday Smell the Roses

This painting is entered into the DPW Challenge on Composition.  It was fun to use two (I have a whole collection of women's needlecraft) of my tea towels and the red climbing roses, from the arbor outside the studio, in this still life set-up.  

NASTURTIUM

These nasturtium were a riot of color in my window box and it was an exciting challenge to capture their colors in paint for this still life.  Not only were these colorful flowers beautiful cascading down the window box, but as an added bonus, the flowers and leaves are edible. 

Baby Rubber Duckie Dancing

After painting this little (5" x 7") gouache painting I decided to donate it to the Oklahoma Tornado Fundraiser auction through my sales site at www.dailypaintworks.com.  100% of all of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Oklahoma Tornado.  

Diva Duckie

This weeks Daily Paint Works challenge was to paint a composition that was mostly warm or mostly cool with the remaining portion the opposite of the majority temperature.  This sounded very interesting to me and I started gathering my still life items to paint for the challenge.  As you can see I have created a mostly warm painting with a smaller portion of cool temperature pigments completing the painting.

Diamonds may be a girls best friend but it appears that rubber duckies (at least Diva Duckies) prefer pearls. 

Spring Bouquet

My good friend, Lori, sent me this lovely vase from Wisconsin.  The vase has been here for several weeks and I have been wanting to paint the dainty vase, but didn't have the right flowers to fill it.  Today I discovered wildflowers growing beside our road and knew they belonged in the peach glass vase.
Wisconsin has had a long winter so I painted a 'Spring Bouquet' for Lori and all who are still waiting for spring to arrive.  

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. 

The Traveling Chicken has arrived!

Miss Chicken and her family have arrived safe and sound from Dawn Eaton's studio (www.dawneaton.com) in Illinois.  The postal service did their job well in snowy Illinois and sent her safely to my studio.  Her blanket of bubble wrap insulted all of them from the cold and she is happy to be in sunny Florida.
She arrived yesterday and was waiting in her box patiently when I arrived back from my consultation with the oral surgeon.  When I let her out of her wrappings, read the nice note from Dawn to her and her traveling family, she was sad to hear (and a little fearful) that my root canal was not successful and I need to have the molar pulled.
I will take her to the dental clinic today to let her see for herself that the oral surgeon will take good care of me and I will feel much better once the molar has been extracted.  Since she is so young and inquisitive, I think I will let her stay in my purse while the procedure is occurring, so she doesn't ask too many questions.

Dana's Gift

This turnip was a gift from, Dana, at the garden center, which he gave me after pulling it out of the soil.  He wanted me to 'eat' this gorgeous turnip to show me that the fertilizer and compost he sells really helps to grow delicious vegetables.  He washed it off and handed it back to me, but Dana was surprised when I told him I wanted to 'paint' the turnip.  Once I explained I was and artist and would put the turnip in a still life to paint it before eating it, he understood.  By the way it was the best tasting turnip I have ever eaten!  And I love turnips! 

Rubber Duckie Your the One

It's a New Year and I hope all of you are happy and well.  After painting larger paintings for a while, it was time to paint a fun small painting.
My rubber duckie has been wanting to be painted since last year, so I finally chose to paint him today.  He was an excellent model and held still the whole modeling session.  The only problem is now that the oil painting is finished and posted, the song, Rubber Duckie Your the One,  is still in my head.  Oh, no!  : 0  
I wonder if anyone will sing the Rubber Duckie song tonight on American Idol?

Outrageous Color 1 and Outrageous Color 2

What a glorious day it was to paint this outrageous color with my art friend, Lori.  This was my last painting trip in Wisconsin this year and it was a blast.  The next day it rained with high winds blowing the rest of the leaves off the trees.  Autumn is fantastic but short in Wisconsin.

Two Bee or Not Two Bee

Two bees were working this sunflower today.  It reminded me of Shakespeare's famous line from Hamlet as I painted, "To be, or not to be, that is the question."  A possible answer to Shakespeare's question came up at last weeks Bible study, on the first eight chapters of Genesis.  This question was asked,"Why would a God of Love create death for Adam and Eve after they left the Garden of Eden?"  One of the answers given was that eternal life with corruption, illness and evil would be unbearable if it went on for eternity.  So God in his goodness gives us something better, relief from all evils, and only goodness forever.  I wonder what Shakespeare would say to that answer?

Sundae Surprise

On Sunday, I went to several stores looking for water balloons, so I could enter Carol Marines challenge on Daily Paint Works.  Her challenge was to place water balloons in a painting.  There were no water balloons at any of the stores I stopped at on Sunday.  On Monday, I went to another store when I was out, no water balloons.  On Tuesday, new store, no water balloons.  On Wednesday, at The Dollar Store they had water balloons in the back room.  As I was checking out I asked the clerk why the water balloons were not in an aisle of the store.  Her answer to me was, "Since it is autumn no one will want to buy water balloons."  I live in Florida and the day I finally found the water balloons it was 93 degrees with 90 percent humidity.
This painting will be for sale at auction starting tomorrow at www.dailypaintworks.com 

SUNSET WITH PURPLE?

My title has a question mark at the end because no one on our northeasternWisconsin lake knows what plant this is on my neighbor's property.  Joe and his family live to the west of my lake cottage and he was excited when my friend, Lori, and I came to paint on his property.  His cabin would have been a nice subject but flowers usually catch my interest and these purple flowers? with their height and color grabbed my attention. Setting up to paint them was a challenge though since Joe's property has quite a sloping yard down to the lake.  Thank goodness for adjustable legs on my easel!  If only my own legs adjusted as well, I would have been more comfortable as I painted.  After visiting with Joe for a time and sketching in my subject - the purple flowers? - it was time to settle in to paint quickly as the sun started to go down.  Later that evening I googled purple perennial flowers and couldn't find a match.  Then I looked in my gardening books (I have a lot of gardening books) and didn't find a match.  Do you happen to know what they are called?  They are about 4 feet tall and grow on the southern bank above the lake in full sun.  If you might know their name please let me know in the comment section below this post.  Once I have their name I can order some for my own garden. Thank you. 

CURTAIN CALL

It is always fun to open a box and find a surprise.  Well, this morning as I was packing up my painting gear, for my trip to Cedarburg, Wisconsin; I discovered this painting.   Since I will be packing and then traveling I won't be painting until I get to the plein air paint out.  So today I am posting my found painting, Curtain Call.  (I think the daffodil looks like it is taking a bow until it blooms again next spring.)
To follow all of the artists who will be painting in Cedarburg this year, go to www.cedarburgpleinair.com. 

Embroidered Cloth

Generations before Martha Stewart, women were enhancing their homes and families lives with beauty.  I love to go to garage, estate and flea market sales where I search for these women's creations of years ago.  I am drawn to the tables heaped with the needlework of women.  They used their rare leisure time to embroider, tat, needlepoint, quilt, knit and crochet their visions.  After buying this little cloth embroidered with violets and daisies (with a finishing touch of crochet on the edges  :-)  ), I was excited to place it on my table with daffodils in a tea cup.  This unsigned lovely needlework cloth now enhances the beauty of my painting and my home.