An Award

I received an award for my blog yesterday from fellow artist Nicki Ault who gave me the award for creative and positive blogging and for my ambition at chronicling my work over the past 6 months! Very nice! Thank you, Nicki! To continue the recognition, I am passing this award onto my favorite bloggers and artists.

Cedric Egeli
Rick Casali
Andree Tullier
John Clayton
Desiree Holmes Scherini
John Ebersberger
Majorie Perrin
Abigail McBride

Many of these artists I met in Provincetown, MA and Annapolis, MD and they are all students of the great impressionists. I will update as many of their links that I can so that you can take a look at their work!

Steve's SAVI Boat

SOLD

Tomorrow is Steve's birthday and so today I painted his boat...well...a small painting of his boat! I fixed it a little after I took this photo but when I went to re-shoot the work, my camera could not tell that the memory card was inside! Grrrh! It would not let me take a picture! So this is his birthday gift at the not quite finished stage. Tomorrow I get to go out to eat dinner with Steve and his daughter Victoria! I am looking forward to it very much!

Update....Steve sent me a photo this morning of the finished work so that I could post it. He and Tory have decided to display it on a wall in the boat. Very fun....this is the first time that one of my works will be set out to sea!

This painting is no longer available.

Adah and her Baby

This is Adah, the daughter of my niece, Lauren. She is holding a little doll in a blanket. Adah is very independent with her doll so I am glad that she needs help with the receiving blanket. I lost count of how many times that I wrapped the baby up but I remember that it was a joy each time! This is a "shout out" to Adah and her little baby doll! I have been asked if I would take portrait commissions on these small panels. I have been saying no simple because when I paint these small works at random, it is just to please myself and to practice new techniques and to improve my skills. I don't worry about capturing an accurate likeness which entails hours more work. Having been offered more money by a client, I reconsidered! I will start taking commission on 5.9cm square works. The cost for each small oil portrait is 350.00 US due to the additional time and effort that I will be putting in to achieve a strong likeness. Thank you!

Rock Crabs

One thing that I like about living in New Bedford is that the Portuguese grocery store often has live rock crabs. Years ago, my mother and I would buy them, cook them up and feast on them for lunch with some Portuguese bread and butter. It was a simple meal but it is still one of my favorites. The other day, James and I bought four of them and had them for lunch. What a treat! So, here is a rock crab fresh from Little Portugal for you!

This painting is available for bids starting at $150 US dollars. Offers may be made via e-mail.

First Attempt at Little Girl

Today I got to work a bit more on the big painting. I got more done on the little girl. I decided to paint her holding the pebble in her hand that she had picked up on the beach. She still needs a few more days of work but it is coming along a bit ahead of schedule so that makes me very happy.

Just a Peek

Just a peek of the face that I worked on today. I don't want to reveal too much as it goes along...just a glimpse here and there before the the whole work comes together. I have more pictures of what went on in the studio today on my other blog. Having company while I worked was nice!

Boy at Buttonwood Park

I saw this boy with his Mom and Dad and older brother trying out the new playground in Buttonwood Park. He liked to sit at the bottom of the slide. We played here as girls but there was a corkscrew style metal slide at the time.

This paiting is available for bids starting at $150 US dollars. Bids may be made via e-mail.

Much of the Background

I have not touched the members of the family yet so they are still very sketchy. I spent my time today working on the water and background. The small painting that I made a few weeks ago is a big help as a reference. I did change a few things. In the small work, the girl's arm is straight. I changed it to a bent arm so that it draws you back into the painting instead of just having a rectangle of blue ocean on the left side of the work. Also, in her hand in the large work, she will be holding a small beach stone that she picked up during the shooting.