Friday Inspiration: home pleasures & the year in review...

Here we are again at the end of a busy and blessed year. I find this time of year to be the best time to stop and contemplate the pleasures that are found at home. Yes, I am a home-body and I enjoy simple activities such as sitting on the sofa in the evening with my love, or reading cook books and this is the best time of year to do these things...

However, as I am preparing to pause and spend some quality time with my family I also feel compelled to reflect on all that has occurred this year. It has been a year of gifts, activities, and new opportunities.

In 2011, I experienced the joy of finishing my first copy of a master's painting at the National Gallery of Art. And getting the opportunity to participate in several member exhibitions at the Salmagundi Club in New York and the reward of collectors choosing to purchase and live with those paintings.

This year was also a year where I grew as an artist and made some friends that led to the development of a new project that will debut in January 2012. I am so looking forward to sharing with you this new series, so please stay tuned for what is to come...

And by far the greatest addition this year was the birth of our daughter, Naomi, and all the new experiences that go along with being a new parent.

May your holidays be filled with laughter and enjoyment, and spiced up with love!

Thanks for making this year so wonderful, Liz

{Naomi is now five-months old!}

{some baby oriented presents under our tree}

{Slim next to a blooming amaryllis}

Still Life with Alstroemerias and Bottle {a small floral painting}

Still Life with Alstroemerias and Bottle

{6" x 6" (15.2 x 15.2 cm) – oil on linen panel}

SOLD

Framed painting: $225.00 + S&H

Hello,

Here is another framed 6x6 inch painting. Sometimes it is important to see the paintings framed, so when I painted these still lifes I also had some frames assembled so I could see how they would look framed.

Still Life with Lemon, Aster, and Bottle {a new small painting}

Still Life with Lemon, Aster, and Bottle

{6" x 6" (15.2 x 15.2 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Please email me to purchase, contact[at]elizabethfloyd.com

Framed painting: $300.00 + S&H if not local

Here is another framed 6" x 6" painting with a composition that has everything I love, reflections on glass, a floral element, and an ongoing challenge - the lemon. I find lemons to be particularly challenging because of the light value of the yellow, the rough texture of the peel, and the variations in color temperatures and the nuances of colors I see in the yellow rind, yellows tinted towards orange, green, blue, and purple... sometimes I go overboard when painting them and I lose the "gist" of the lemon.

With this painting I worked to simplify while also using the texture of the linen to emulate the rough surface of the rind.

Thanks for stopping by and reading,
Liz

PS, here is how it looks framed.

Still Life with Concord Grapes {a small painting}

Still Life with Concord Grapes and Alstroemerias

{6" x 6" (15.2 x 15.2 cm) – oil on linen panel}
Framed Painting: SOLD

Hi there,

This is a small format I have been experimenting with this fall, square and where I paint the composition edge to edge in anticipation of framing it in a custom-sized frame where the painting floats on a black background. I think it presents a clean look that emphasizes the painting.

I like how the framed painting looks so much that I am incorporating this method with a new project starting in 2012. I am pretty excited about it and will share more soon!

Friday Inspiration: Books and Friends

{a pile of books - either gifts or borrowed from friends}

Last week I shared with you how friends are a great source for inspiration. For me, books are often paired with friends because of the sharing, giving, and receiving of books that occurs.

One of my favorite joys in life is getting to read. One never knows where inspiration will come from, and I believe through reading I am able to gain insight beyond my experience or knowledge.

Before Naomi came into my life I would wake up an hour earlier than required so I could have uninterrupted time to read, now I am not so lucky, especially as I am always on the edge of being sleep deprived, but when I do get to read, a warm glow pervades my existence and I feel like all is well in the world.

Currently I have a stack of books that I have been looking through, Richard Schmidt's Alla Prima is the book I have been reading snippets from the most... it is borrowed, however I have decided to buy my own copy, and I am just waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

Pansies {a new small painting}

Pansies

{6" x 5" (15.2 x 12.7 cm) – oil on linen panel}

For Sale in my Shop

Unframed painting: $100.00 + S&H

Hello,

Do you have issues with deer helping themselves to your garden? Well, up until now we never had issues with them. Twice this fall I have purchased several flats of pansies with the intention of planting them and painting them. Unfortunately a young buck has moved into my neighborhood and has actually been helping himself to the buffet I call my garden.

These two flowers were all I could find when I went out to get some flowers to paint.

Yellow Mums {a new small painting}

Yellow Mums

{4" x 6" (10.2 x 15.2 cm) – oil on linen panel}

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 + S&H

It was late in the afternoon when I began this painting, so the light was coming in at a low angle, catching the glass rim with brillant highlights and the rest of the jar coming across as being very dark.

The mums were also mainly in shadow, however the shadows were glowing gold with the light filtering through the yellow petals.

Still Life with Yellow Mum {a new daily painting}

Still Life with Yellow Mum and Green Bottle

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

Sold

Unframed painting: $100.00 + S&H

Hello,

It was a nice weekend and so far a busy Monday. Naomi is keeping me on my toes, which makes it difficult for me to focus on what I want to share with you about this painting... but here goes.

The painting was completed on a gray overcast day, with only natural light. On overcast days I find the light quality is particularly cool and blue, which slants all the color temperatures in the highlights and the shadows end up being on the warm side, but still with hints of blues, greens, and purples. This was the first time I began to perceive and understand this while painting, I feel certain future investigations on how gray days affect color quality will be pursued. So let the gray days continue and luckily we are entering winter, so I expect many more gray days will occur.

Have a wonderful evening, and thanks for stopping by,
Liz

Friday Inspiration: Friends

{late afternoon at home}

Inspiration comes to me from many places, though the most influential source for me are my friends.

Spending time with friends always inspires me to explore and move forward on whatever project I may be contemplating. Spending time together, chatting, and sharing books always opens the mind and enables new concepts that were just bits and pieces to coalesce into something complete and whole.

Our dining room table is currently strewn with books from friends and loved ones. I know I need to pick them up and clear the table, but I must admit I like seeing them there... it like having my friends with me right now with me.