Sketching the News

Day 7 #stradaeasel

Scraped off two oil sketches today and decided to go for the news.

Afternoon Biscotti

oil on panel  |  6 x 8 inches

Day 6 #stradaeasel

The tea was cold by the time I finished the painting. Made fresh tea and ate the biscotti after dinner.

Lawn Chair

oil sketch on panel  |  8 x 6

Day 5 #stradaeasel

Another beautiful day — painting in the late afternoon.

September Maple

oil on panel |  8 x 6

Day 4 #stradaeasel

From one of my favorite trees, painted in the garden this afternoon. The leaves seem to change color every few weeks—from pale gray-purple to rose, light chartreuse, green, yellow, orange and are deep red just before they fall.

Into the Woods

oil on panel  |  6 x 8 inches

Day 3 #stradaeasel

The plan was to paint an abstract of the light coming through the woods in front of our house. The painting ended up a bit looser than intended, but it gives the general feel I was hoping for.

Day 2 of the STRADA September 30-Day Challenge

Coffee Shop Sketch

Day 2 #stradaeasel 

Coffee shops are fun places to sketch, since the folks almost never pay any attention to anything but their books, laptops, or newspapers. That makes them great models.

Today's painting was an attempt to catch the reflections in the water on top of the garden rain drum. However, the attempt truly missed the mark and became an excellent scraper. I photographed the palette just before I scraped it off as well. The coffee shop made the mark instead.

My palette at the end of today's painting.

September Afternoon Shadows

 

6 x 8  |  oil on panel

This is the first day of the STRADA September 30-Day Challenge!
I have joined the challenge and I will be creating and posting a painting, sketch or drawing from life each day this month. My first day's piece was painted this afternoon.

I love the bright colors in these flowers. They seemed to glow. Also enjoyed trying to capture the dark shadows that fell over some of them.

Day 1 #stradaeasel

In Celebration of Mother's Day . . .

 

Martin, Kristin and Kara long ago. Our fourth child, Gala, was sleeping under a tree beside me. They all grew up and had children of their own. 

My daughters and some of their children are below. 

 

Courtney and Mitch in Goin' Places

 

 Modern Madonna I
Gala and Dante
 

Antonio

 

Modern Madonna II
Kara and Ambika

Indira Sketching

Modern Madonna III

Kristin and Mitch  

Courtney

Happy Mother's Day!

Crackers, Pico and Wine

8 x 8  |  oil on panel

I bought the cheese because I wanted to paint the little box. Turns out the cheese is very good. Pomegranate juice, my "wine" in the painting, also good. Nether contents of plate or glass survived until the painting was finished. I enjoyed all three.

Ready!

153 new panels — dry and ready for paintings!

Finished adding the three coats of gesso yesterday.

So far today we have had glorious sunshine, rain, and big wind causing all the trees to dance. Now, at this moment, the sun is shining again and I am going for a walk. I'll be painting when I return.

Almost ready . . .

As the STRADA January 31-Day Challenge was nearing an end, I ran out of panels. Today I finished sanding a new batch of them. Tomorrow they will receive three coats of gesso. When the panels are dry, I will be painting again!

Stradaeasel January-31 Day Challenge — Day1-31

#stradaeasle Day-1-31

These were posted individually in January, one for each day of the month. You can find them below in this posting and on my Fine Art Facebook page.

Major Grey's Chutney with Crackers and Cheese

8 x 7.75  |  oil on panel

In celebration of Day-31 in the STRADA January 31-Day Challenge, creating and posting a painting, sketch or drawing from life each day this month. I have enjoyed the process and will continue painting from life every day. 

#stradaeasel Day-31

Thinking of Spring

 

7 5/8 x 5 7/8  | oil on panel

Today began as a gray day, followed by sunshine that soon became heavy rain. Next hail turned the ground white like snow and when the sun came again, I went out and picked this early andromeda. It usually opens in early March.

#stradaeasel Day-30

Sweet & Savory Pepper Duo

10 x 7  |  oil on panel

These are South African honey peppers stuffed with mango cream cheese and sweet picanté peppers stuffed with cream cheese. They taste so good!

#stradaeasel Day-29