finishings

I've been working on finishing things lately. I'm due to move, again, at the end of the month, so set-ups must come down, paintings must be dry, brushes must be packed away, etc. etc. Today I worked on this fellow:

I think it's nearly done.

Posies

Today I did a little study of flowers.

My favorite part is the top, right hand corner:

That is all.

Scrolls, continued

Day Two:

Scrolls

I started a new piece today. The bits on the left are broken scrolls from violins and a cello, I realize they're not quite obvious yet. Here she is:

Day one:

Spouts

I told myself I had to finish at least one painting this weekend. I choose the elephant and watering can because it seemed the mostly likely to get done, and I hoped the energy sparked from actually completing something might carry over into the rest of my work. I'd argue it's not quite finished, but the end is in sight, which is encouraging, not the least because I have several other painting ideas I would like to be able to start.

That this painting is being difficult is my own fault. It is considerably more difficult to paint a still life with a white background than a darker one, and I created such a simple set up, that it became quite vital for the painting to be interesting as a painting as well as an image. But I really liked the two trunks, or spouts, of the objects, facing each other, and the negative spaces highlighted by the white background seemed like too much fun not to paint. Looking at the photograph now I'm realizing I'll have to repaint the elephant's feet again, as they still don't seem to rest on the table top. I guess I'm back to the studio.

Out of darkness

It was rather dark and dreary today, which in some ways is ideal weather, or light really, for still life painting. Except, if it gets too dark, as it really did today, one ends up squinting into obscurity, trying to make out anything of ones painting. I started a new painting anyway, but you'll have to pardon the images, as many are slightly blurry; my camera did not like the darkness either.

Day one, block-in:

a travelin'

Today I packed and shipped two paintings to Principle Gallery for their Spring Still Life Invitational. The show opens April 15th in Alexandria, Virginia.

Attendees:

Close-ups of the mouse a travelin' with Sebbie:

adventures on panel

In continuing with the in-progress bits, I have yet another painting in stages. This one is on panel, however, which I've seldom used, so it presents a new challenge for me in that regard. I'm enjoying it; I think the panel prevents me from resorting to the bad habits I've developed when I get frustrated, as the materials don't work the way I'm used to, and I'm hoping it will force the better painter in me to the surface. It's also a very small painting, which means I can focus on it in my current, scattered state. The white painting with the elephant has rather been laid to the side for now. My scatteredness is my own fault. I've moved often, but somehow I always forget the long period of adjustment that is the beginning of living in a new place. New routines, new homes, new jobs, new grocery stores, new banks, new public transportation systems to lose my temper with, the whole effort of trying to make new friends. It's exhausting, even if it is exciting. I started a new job last week, at a string instrument shop. Roughly, I get to take violins apart, clean all the bits and pieces, replace any broken bits, and put the whole things back together again. It's a job that fits well into my resume of odd jobs. Not all the instruments can be fixed though, and I'm hoping one of the lost causes might make it into one of my paintings one of these days. But in the mean time, my painting hasn't been going as well as I'd like, but things, I'm determined, are looking up. So, without further ado...

Day one:

Day two:

(not finished)

I found this little guy at the Christmas market in Leipzig. I'm such a sucker for little toys with big noses and wooly beards.

New paintings make me happy.

Day One:

I think these would make for a fun flip book.