"The Belly Dancers' Break" #2 (sold)

8"x8"

Oil on Board

Here's the second version of the painting I posted earlier this week (scroll down a bit to see it.)   I like the first, but felt it got a little fussy with the brushstrokes and I wanted to try it again and see if I could be more direct.  This one feels much better to me!  I can't believe how hard it is to keep loose when there's a larger format.  I DO use larger brushes, but I think that part of it, too, is that I need to keep a feeling of urgency.  It's not that I want to just rush through a painting.  It's that I think it would be good to take an approach that feels like I'm on location and this scene is going to disappear any minute and I want to get the basics down NOW.  No time to noodle!

"Walk" detail of a drawing in process

Image size of detaile:  6"x8.5"

Total image size:  6"x20"

Pencil on bristol board

Unfinished

I've been needing a drawing fix lately and also have been wanting to see what might come of just using random figures from the many many photos of people I've taken.  I'm not sure where this will go!  It's interesting to be working with figures without a context.  I like how it makes me consider the individual more, think about them, wonder about their lives. . .

Here's a picture of the unfinished whole.

"A Break for the Bellydancers"

12"x12"

Oil on Board

$300 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I've been working on this painting on and off for the past week.  I really like the subject and the composition, the interaction of the figures and the way I was able to capture the moment.  I have to say, though, that it is sure a challenge to go from doing all these little 6x6 paintings to larger ones.  There's alot of things I like about this painting, but I miss the immediacy that comes with the little paintings and the focus on the shapes.  It is so easy to get caught up in details and to start "noodling" around with the larger versions!  I am sure I'll be working with this subject again to focus more on simple shapes and values.  Another thing about this and the other two bellydancing paintings I did is the light--there were yellow, red and blue lights all influencing the subject--interesting to work with that!

"Belly Dancer With Fan"

6"x5"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Another dancer today from the showcase I went to by the High Desert Belly Dancing Guild. . .I love the subject!  It's interesting to try to figure out how to use the color as at the showcase, the dancers were lit by different color spotlights.  One reason I like working with it is that it makes me see differently--wakes me up!  And we all know that any kind of representation art is all about waking up and really seeing!

"High Desert Belly Dancers #1"

10"x8"

Oil on Board

$175 plus $10 domestic s/h

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This was a kick to paint, though intimidating for me!!  For one, I took my photos while the dancers were in motion, so obviously I didn't have the detail I was used to being able to look at, and, two, I haven't used these colors alot.  I found that the blur in the photos was to my advantage and allowed me to concentrate on the FEEL of the scene rather than trying to get everything exact.  Fun. 

"Celebration Kiss!" (sold)

10"x8"

Oil on Board

$225 plus $10 domestic s/h

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The wedding ceremony was finished and the bride and groom were making their grand entrance to the reception hand in hand, started dancing around and turned and kissed!  Pretty sweet!  And a very fun subject to paint!  I think this would be a great gift for the bride and groom for their first anniversary  (and if it sells, a print will be nice!).

JANUARY CLEARANCE ITEM "On a White Horse" (sold)

8"x6"

Oil on Board

In readying photos for the website I'm working on today, I came across this one and realized it's a good candidate for JANUARY CLEARANCE ITEM!!  It was done a year and a half ago, is a painting that I totally enjoyed creating and would love to have it find a new home.  I did the painting from going to the High Desert Classic, an equestrian event held in Central Oregon every summer. Though I have always been highly allergic to horses, I have loved to draw and paint them.  Their energy, power and beauty is wonderful to feel.  Too, I love the precision and care of the riders at these events.  Truly an art!

"Trolley Stop at Balboa Park"

8"x12"

Oil on Board

$200 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I did a study of this subject last month and have been looking forward to creating a larger version of it.  This one's a bit different with the addition of another figure.  This painting brings back a beautiful November afternoon in San Diego.  The winter light where I live is cold and blue.  I'd love to be back in southern California!

"Earthrowl's Blue Pond"

10"x8"

Oil on Canvas

$140 plus $10 domestic s/h

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This is an older painting I did a few years ago that was inspired by the first time I saw artwork by Kathleen Earthrowl.  Her work was so different from mine, much looser and more abstracted and I loved it--still do!  I just had to try something in that vein.  Though I haven't tried this approach since, I always really have liked ths little painting.  Could be I'm ready to let it go now that I am feeling a change in the way I am working with my own art--not that I'm envisioning going this direction, but who knows what might happen!

"Back to the Stables" (sold)

8"x8"

Oil on board

$140 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I did this painting not long after I discovered Alizaron Yellow by Williamsburg Paints.  I love that color!  When mixed with white, it gets a warm, buttery look similar to cadmium yellow, but otherwise it is transparent and just glows.  On its own and mixed with other colors, it has a bit of an "acid-y" look. 

"Close Approach"

6"x8"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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I haven't done a rodeo painting for awhile and enjoyed this.  One thing I really like about doing them is working with subjects in motion.  It's interesting to me how I can see my work changing in this, much looser.  For the past few years, brights have been my brush of choice, but now am branching out and adding rounds and filberts to my bag of tricks!.  Back in the 90's I went through a long period when only flats would do!

JANUARY INVENTORY CLEARANCE ITEM: "Purple Boots" (sold)

20"h x 10"w

Oil on prepared board

I love the swinging of her skirt and her purple boots in the middle of the summer. . .

"Dressing the Bride" #2

8"x6"

Oil on Board

$125 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Another painting of Becky on her wedding day. . .I'm enjoying the subject immensely!

"Dressing the Bride" #1

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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Trying to get the pieces of this subject to form a whole, as the way pieces of a puzzle fit together, was the thought in my mind as I painted this today.  It made me concentrate on seeing the value and color shapes and to be aware of how the modeling affected that whole idea.  It was fun to do!  I'm looking forward to working more like this.  What is funny thinking about it, though, is that that idea wouldn't even have crossed my mind a couple of years ago, maybe even a year ago.  It's one of those things that when you see it in another painting, it attracts you, but you can't even quite name it.  It feels good to realize that we constantly learn to see more and more. 

"Winter Walk Through Shevlin Park"

6"x6"

Oil on Board

$100 plus $10 domestic s/h

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It was SO COLD when we took our pup for a walk through Shevlin Park last weekend!  Cold, but beautiful--late afternoon sun casting the cool shadows on the snow. . .weloved it!