Te he he

Sometimes I get so excited about a new painting, or even just the idea for a new painting, that I get all silly and giggly, bouncing up and down like a little kid in a toy store (or, really, for that matter, me in a toy store).  This is definitely one of those times.  So, while I'm really still at the block-in stage, I couldn't resist sharing.

Lessons learned so far: 
A, rib cages not covered in skin are wicked hard to draw--I knew this, was well aware of this in the good ol' days of anatomy class, but had forgotten.
B, I had no idea what the inside of a bird looked like.  I'd been around plenty of them, I thought I did know, but definitely did not.
C, birds evolved from dinosaurs.  The more I look at the chicken, the more I see a raptor-type critter.

Prints

I've been asked so often if I sell prints of my work, and for the longest time the answer has been no.  It seemed like so much time to dedicate to finding someone to make prints of a quality I approved, time I could have spent painting.  The catch, however, was that I was worried that I was pricing my paintings beyond the means of those who might love them most, and while, happily, my paintings sell, I kept hearing the refrain, "I really love your work, but..."  So, I've finally caved, and have had prints of some of my work made. They are now available on Etsy.  I hope they find happy homes, as my paintings have.  

Sebbie and the little guy

sneak peak

It came to me the other day that it's been a full two years since I did a proper figure painting.  I found this tragic for two reasons: one, I thoroughly enjoy figure paintings, and two, they're rather invaluable exercises.  I immediately set about to remedy the matter, and have now started not one, but two proper figure paintings.  I am, expectably, a bit rusty, and they're rather still in the "well... if you squint and cross your eyes a bit it looks about right" stage, but in an effort to not completely neglect the blog and to prove that I am, in fact, working, I here post a detail in progress of one of them (don't forget to squint).

(detail, in progress)

In progress

Just a brief post to show some work I've started, but, obviously, not yet finished. 

(please, pardon the photographs of dubious quality)

Someone brought me flowers...

And so I painted them.

A hundred things at once

I seem to have finally broken in my studio. Where once there were empty spaces, now there are stacks of canvases in various stages of progress and finish. Portraits, landscapes, still lives, street scenes peering out from various corners; it's starting to feel as though I'm a painter again. Part of me is frustrated that it's taken me this long; I'm eight days shy of being in Boston for a full year. But, to be fair to myself, there has been so very much contained in that year: I started a new life in an unfamiliar city, I moved three times, started three new jobs, climbed mountains, swam in the ocean, lost loved ones, found loved ones, travelled, spent time catching up with old friends, made new ones. It's somewhat amazing I've gotten any work done at all.  In the year I spent without a studio, I found endless ways to fake it. I came across some photographs of my various "studios"--but I think, perhaps, that should be a separate post. So, to the meat of it: a sampling of various works now inhabiting my work space.   

Pennsylvania Sunset, 30x22", oil on linen

(they always look more impressive framed)

Flower stall, Toulouse... oil on panel is growing on me

Street performer, Albi--one of many studies of the subject, hopefully leading somewhere (oil on panel)

Still life with violin?  Okay, the working title is a bit dull.  (more panel painting)

(my favorite bit, though I'm told that's terribly obvious from looking at the whole)

And what's a post without a Sebbie? 

And just to prove I haven't given up on my quest to paint children's portraits well... I continue with my studies.