Watering Can Chickadee

12 by 12 watercolor on paper
Inspired by the birds in my back yard!

Amy's Hummingbird

This little humming bird was inspired by my daughter, Amy. It has the look of her Tattoos. Its 6 by 6 inches painted in watercolor on paper. This little guy is a bit stylized and different from the many hummingbirds I've painted in the past. I hope you like it. Yo may use this image if you make sure to give me credit for the painting.

A painting a day

A wintery morning a few years ago.  

Today it 35  (F)degrees and clear...

I'm not sure that I mentioned to everyone that I have finished my painting a day regimen. I did stick to it for two years... Now, I will only paint several small paintings a week. Its good practice and allows me a kind of freedom that I don't always have with the larger works or commissions. Looking back over my painting a day commitment, I know it was good for me and I learned a lot. Mostly about myself. It was surprising because with only a few hours to finish a painting each day, I had to pick either a simple subject or a difficult subject painted simply. Usually (not always, everyone likes a shortcut once in a while) I opted for a difficult subject painted simply. Thus I found all kinds of ways to create depth, tried my hand at abbreviated brush strokes and learned to like things with accidents, drips, soft edges and less detail. Basically, how to do everything economically, This wasn't a big stretch because I learned long ago that I loved realism but that I really loved loosely painted, wet into wet, free flowing water color even more. So.... as each day progress, I tried to incorporate a less detailed approach. I learned to trust my instincts, gave myself permission to just try it, like not fighting the urge to put that color in there or leave out those lines or change the perspective to whatever usually doesn't seem right. My style seemed to emerge little by little, one day I would stand back and say, "I like that!"... then figure out why, add that to my mental list of gotta do that more often" and my approach to painting gradually and uniquely became my own. For me, one of the best things that happened is I don't beat myself up over poorly painted work. I don't feel let down by the not so perfect paintings... I now know (not just intellectually, but really know) the road is not a straight one where, when you reach the end, you are a perfect painter, never creating another work of art that is less then perfect. Best of all, I don't have that feeling that every work I start has to end up a masterpiece, its ok to try anything, push forward into unknown color schemes, unfamiliar products and subject matter. Each painting doesn't have to be better than the last and I'll learn something about painting and about myself with each painting so they all have value. Even if they end up in the trash. P.S. If it bothers you to throw them out, gesso over them and paint another painting in a few days when the gesso is dry.

"She Soars"

Barbara Hakenberry passed away recently and as one of my collectors and email friends, she will be missed. Not only by the Daily painter"s artists but by so many folks. I met Barbara when she bid on some of my paintings on Ebay and I realized very quickly she was a savvy ebay buyer. Even though she balked at the higher prices, I asked her to switch over to the daily painter's group and check out my work and the work of other artists because I felt the quality of the Art was better. ( also I wouldn't have to pay the ebay fees) She became an instant friend to many of the Artists emailing me and others often. Sometimes it was a joke or a video she thought I would like but at other times we would get into heated discussions about life and societies issues. We talked about everything and because we both has some similar beliefs about religion and death, I think many of my religious paintings struck a cord with her. She was an Art lover that bought paintings purely for the fact that they moved her. It was obvious, she really felt the paintings more than anything. I used to say she was like a Chcolate creme, hard and solid on the outside with a soft center. After seeing a new painting and before hearing what I had to say about it, or why I painted it, she would type a long explanation and emai it to me about her reaction to what she saw or felt from the piece. I always found her insite to be really interesting. More than once her influence would show up in my future paintings. She like realism and many of my works were abstract and I could see as time went by she began to appreciate some of the abstracts more and more. We also had our tiffs, she had a very strong and determined personality and didn't bother to beat around the bush, she wasn't the type to mence words. I have several friends like this and I'm not bothered by some of the blunt ways she would let me know I didn't particularly get a painting just right. We always worked it out and even though she didn't like the prices of some of the more expensive paintings, if she liked it she'd buy it. I of course always lowered my price for her as I do with collectors and friends. She would get particulary mad if she wanted a painting but didn't buy it in time and someone else bought it. So if I thought she would like it, I would send her an email. I also think she bought some paintings just to help me out financially. This was the kind of person she was, I'm sure she did the same with other artists. I would go to her ebay account and sometimes I would be shocked to see how many paintings she would buy in just one day. If someone had the room her paintings would make a great investment.

About my tribute painting... I really struggled as to what to paint and as late as 3am I still hadn't painted my painted for today. For some reason I have seen myself ( in dreams) as a bird flying over the landscape looking down on the earth. I've often wondered If I have a bird spirit which is watching over me and perhaps because of this belief I seem to notice birds following me. Flying from tree to tree as I walk thru the wooods. I wonder if in a past life if I were a bird and if so perhaps I will one day fly again. Since Barbara was in pain in many ways, I hope now her spirit is soring over the ocean flying ever higher and her soul is at peace.

Bachelors

Watercolor on paper, 11 by 15 $150.00
Bachelor’s Buttons, a Wood Pecker and an old stump.
This piece was inspired by the wood peckers that come to my house to eat suet. I assume this bird is a he, its a beautiful bird with a touch of red on his head. He is very comical, he walks up and down the tree trunk, I guess looking for bugs or whatever and when I come outside he just walks around to the other side of the tree.

sun, sand and h20

Watercolor on professional grade watercolor paper. Matted in white $150.00 7″ by 20″Lots of talk these days of making a trek to the beach, looking for beach houses and places to go. Of course we have to take the dogs too. The dogs are all very well behaved and don’t ruin things or pee indoors, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Of course Art my husband won’t go, just me and the girls with the dogs. Hopefully we can find a house right on the beach and the beach is as deserted as this painting. The plan isn’t to go until October so I have plenty of time to find just the right place. Maybe Pauly’s island, or Edisto…. Any suggestions, I don’t really want to drive more than three hours or four at the most from Charlotte NC.

Parrots

This little watercolor is 3.5 by 5 and is on paper. Its double matted to 8 by 10.

$35.00

Busy day today... hot and humid.  The kudsu is growing!

Meditative Sunset

5.75 by 5.75 watercolor on paper. $40.00

I squeezed this painting in between dinner and errands. I had only one hour so I had to really paint fast. I like sunsets and trees but sometimes I feel that everyone paints them and I should concentrate on other things….but if you think about it.. you can say that about anything.

Three dogs at the beach

7 by 10 watercolor on watercolor paper.

This is part of my dog series. I've been painting groups of dogs looking out at the skyline for a few months now. I guess you can say its a series. Some things aren't planned but they can be a lot of fun. I've had a bit of fun painting these pups.

Probably its because I like dogs and I "know" their mannerism so its easy for me to see these dogs carrying on a conversation amongst themselves. I can only imagine what they would say. One line that always comes up is.... "do you think we ought to tell him he's adopted?"

I know I have a sick sense of humor.

have a nice day...

Blue Heron of the South

I hate to throw out paintings and after showing someone how to paint this type of background I decided to try to save this painting and painted in the bird and the foreground. Its not the best composition but… it will do. Unfortunately my last painting, a koi…was a bit wet wjen I placed it on the scanner, so those orange spots on this painting are not actually on the painting but on the scanner screen.
Quick lesson…
Here’s how you do this background, you choose a couple of warm colors and a couple of cool colors like blue, purple and burn’t sienna, & sepia then you paint the background in various mid values in a vertical stroke, creating a horizon line, when the paper has lost its shine, pull out some trees and limbs with a pin knife or palette knife.
Last, you will darken some areas, and when all is dry glaze over ( yellow) certain pulled out areas to create lighter and brighter areas that will also create interest and posssibly a secondary focal point.

Fantasy Blue Heron

SOLD
11 by 15 $100.0 plus 5.5 s & h watercolor on paper (matted)This is not a daily painting but one I started awhile back. I knew I wanted to put a bird into the scene but wasn’t sure what should go into the water.

I’m really influenced by conversations with other people. Like most artists I’ll let things creep into my subconscious they will sit there for awhile but finally I find the images must come out. When I was packing up my paintings for the mail tomorrow, I saw this painting which I had set aside. Sometimes this happens because I’ll start a painting and I just have the right or complete idea to make the painting successful. Then just when I have an idea brewing I’ll pull out one of these “starts” and the image will fit!
Sometimes you just need the right thing to spur on your creativity. Thank you Barbara! I have a good friend, Barbara and she was talking about blue herons and how her bedroom has blue Herons as a theme, I starting seeing Blue Herons everywhere, of course….I do live near a lake. Anyway, this made me want to paint a blue Heron for her as a gift, I painted Lake Wylie blue Heron and sent it to her last week… but for some-reason, that wasn’t enough…I didn’t want this one to be as realistic. I wanted it to be more fantasy. Not knowing what I was to paint tonight… I was looking thru some reference material of Blue herons and came across a pretty good looking bird that I thought I could exaggerate and it would fit right into this fantasy forest painting. I had painted this painting some time back and never put in the bird or whatever, I wasn’t even sure I would put in a bird. I do love the light and the colors on these types of paintings. They aren’t for everyone but the use of exaggerated color is something that I like a lot. My daughter Amy also likes these fantasy paintings too. What do you think?

Bird Watching

When I painted this sunset background I had no idea what the foreground would be. I was thinking of making a silhouette of trees because so often as I drive home I look thru the tall trees at the colors in the sky and I love the way the trees look especially the pines with their pointy shapes and needles. But I also love the hardwoods because they glow with the color of the sun and are usually much warmer. For some reason after I painted this one tree…something said… well now the dogs… so here are the dogs watching the birds at the end of the day.
This whimsical piece is still very beautiful with wonderful golds and lavenders... one of my favorite color combinations.

A hawk... South Carolina fall

A cooper's Hawk I think... Have I ever mentioned that birds are everywhere I go.. no really...It seems I'm always looking up and there is a big Hawk or A buzzard or crow... But its Ok I like it and today I had my camera.

Lake Wylie Blue Heron

I put this up today for my daily post... it's a painting from my painting a week blog http:h20color.wordpress.com

Snowy Egret

11 by 15 This was painted in a very bright green which some folks may not like. I love this color and even though it may not be realistic I find that I can lose myself in this wonderful green, Its a bit raw but vibrates and emits such energy its one of my favorite colors. Someone once said all artists are colors slutes... I think sometimes this is very true.

Chickadee- a painting a day

SOLD

This little painting is 5 by 6 inches,it is painted on 140 lb paper. Black capped chickadees come to my house most days.