Red Chrysanthemums {a new small still-life painting}

Still Life with Red Chrysanthemums, Bottle, and Urn

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}
Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

These flowers were from Thanksgiving, they came from a gigantic mixed flower bouquet from Whole Foods. For this still life I wanted to celebrate the colors of autumn - browns, reds, and greens - while also capturing the beautiful sparkle of sunlight on glass.

Thanks for stopping by,
Liz

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PS. Here are a few photos of my two girls, I love it when they hang out together...


{Slim basking in a sunbeam near Naomi}


{Naomi enjoying some time on the floor}

Yellow Mums and Apple {a new small painting}

Still Life with Mums and an Apple

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Hi,

Here is another still life with the yellow mums. When working on this still life I tried to blend my love of exactitude with the freshness of more impressionistic paint handling.

While painting I thought about how Fantin-Latour painted chrysanthemums and also a few examples by Claude Monet. They include enough detail that you can discern what type of flower is being painted but they also handle the paint so that their personality is revealed.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting,
Liz

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Also I wanted to share a few photos of my beloved kitty, Slim.



She has been handling the new addition of Naomi like a real pro! She has never once been agressive towards our little girl, she exhibits more just a passing curiousity that is quickly supersceded by demands for some treat or food...



And when I am in the studio, Slim will often visit with me, typically taking up residence on my still life stand if it happens to be empty...

Yellow Mums in a Cobalt Glass Bottle {a new small painting}

Still Life with Mums, Blue Bottle, and Saucer

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

A few weeks ago I purchased a 8" pot of yellow chrysanthemums, at first they just adorned my front stoop, then I realized there would be no harm done if I helped myself to some of the blooms and brought them inside. After that it was only a matter of hours before they were in my studio...

Persimmon {a new small painting}

Persimmon

{5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Hello,

Here is the second small painting available for sale this week.

This persimmon is from River Farm, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society here in Alexandria. I love how the bright orange of this fruit looks against the dull grays of autumn weather. It has been particularly dark and gray today, I am hopeful that the weather turns sunny and bright on Thursday...

I am signing off for the rest of the week, so have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Liz

Still Life with Concord Grapes and Bottle {a new small painting}

Still Life with Concord Grapes and Brown Bottle

{7" x 5" (17.8 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 starting bid + S&H

Hello,

Today is the first time I am offering a small still life for sale via an online auction using the DailyPaintWorks website. I have decided to go back to completing "almost" daily paintings, which means I plan to post 2-3 small still life or landscape paintings every week.

This decision to return to the smaller daily paintings is influenced by my new status as a mother to a beautiful infant. Time is limited and I have found in the past four months that working in a smaller format is more doable when sometimes I only get to paint for a few hours each day...

If you are interested in this painting please visit the link above.

Thanks for stopping by, Liz

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{Naomi enjoying tummy time}

And on the baby front: Naomi is four months old today!

Still Life with Brown Bottles and Eggs {a recent painting}

Still Life with Brown Bottles and Eggs
{18" x 24" (45.7 x 61 cm) - Oil on Canvas}

This is the first painting I finished after Naomi was born, a composition I worked on over several months, well, really over a year in fits and starts. I shared progress on this painting here and here.

I got to work on it in September when my mom was visiting, she took care of Naomi while I got to paint! At the time, I was not sure if it was totally complete or if a few more areas needed to be tweaked, so it has been sitting out for me to decide. Last week I realized I am pretty happy with it as it is and now call it finished.

The flowers are dried alyssum, I love the small delicate pincushion shape of the flowers when they are still green and in the garden, but when they dry out they become filmy and lace-like, providing a nice contrasting texture to the smooth surfaces of the eggs and glass bottles. Now that the painting is finished I realize the setup is a study of surface texture, smooth and shiny (the bottles), smooth and dull (the eggs), delicate touches and rough areas on the table where paint is chipped off and worn.

Most times I know why I want to paint a scened, however sometimes I do not realize what draws me and inspires me to paint, I just want to. This was one of those paintings.

Thanks for stopping by,

Liz

Friday Inspiration: Artists Helping Artists Podcasts

{a new framed 6x6 inch painting - reserved for someone special}

Hello,

The weeks are flying by. Naomi has been keeping me busy, which means studio time has been precious. When I get a chance to be in the studio, I try to make the most of it and get as much completed as possible...

I have a few things in the works that I will share more about as the new year approaches.

When working on a painting I have been listening to some of the Artists Helping Artists podcasts and what I have been hearing has been helpful. If you are an artist you may also like listening to them, all of them provide helpful information.

The podcasts I have enjoyed the most to date are:

1. Carol Marine's first appearance on the show.

In this podcast the practice of daily painting is discussed and Carol Marine talks about how she got into it because she had a little toddler at home and found that painting small paintings during his naps were a way to keep her painting muscles limber.

Going back to painting small "daily paintings" is something I am considering now that I have a little baby. When I first started this blog in 2007 I was working full time and painting 2-4 small daily paintings a week was something I could do in my free time. The small scale gave me an opportunity to try out many ideas and the smaller pieces tend to be completed with greater speed, so I also had a sense of accomplishment of finishing paintings on the weekend before returning to work on Monday morning.

2. How To Set Your Goals For The Year

This podcast has been inspirational in getting me focused on planning for 2012. Life has changed in a BIG way this year, however I do not want that to hold my art career back, so I am working on some ideas that will start in 2012. This podcast has been helpful in kick starting the process and helping me see that big ideas are possible to be turned into workable plans.

3. A Conversation with Kevin Macpherson

In this podcast Kevin Macpherson is just so down to earth and clear about why he is an artist. I love the friendly conversation.

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Here is an update on how things are going with Naomi, she is now 3-1/2 months old and beginning to become mobile. Right now she is just wiggling and trying to roll over but I think any day now she will not be satisfied with the limits of her blanket and want to be into everything!


{Naomi loves her little doll and grabs for most anything now}


{tummy time is now fun!}

Have a great weekend,
and thanks for visiting!

Liz