Outside the Box

7" x 5 "

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is Day 30 of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days painting challenge.  This is the last one, and another pear.  I painted a painting each of the 30 days, not painting any ahead of time which is how I wanted to do it.  Through this I discovered I am not a daily painter.  That being said, I do like to paint each day but I don't think I can keep up with finishing a painting each day.  I found that I am more comfortable with my palette and color mixing to the point that I don't have to think about where the colors are on my palette or what colors need to be mixed to achieve a certain color.  This is definitely a result of painting everyday.  I am going to continue to paint everyday, but I won't be finishing a small painting each day.  This challenge certainly has inspired me to think of larger scale paintings, and I have lots of ideas.  Looking forward to it!

On a different note, I took a three evening workshop in glass fusing.  These are the pendants I made in that workshop and I am excited to try some on my own now.  I liked painting on the glass and I think I would like to try some more with painting.

Inside the Box

7" x 5"

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is Day 29 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  It is coming to the end and I think I will end with pears.  My favorite thing to paint.  This pear is sitting inside an antique cheese box, fits nicely.

Salt, No Pepper

7" x 5"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 28 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge, only two left.  I was going to paint the salt and then for tomorrow paint the pepper.  I didn't enjoy painting this one so it's salt and no pepper.

Red Pepper

6" x 6"

Oil on Canvas

 

This is Day 27 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  Her 30 paintings in 30 days challenge has been fun and it is great to connect with the other artists in the challenge.  I am finding I am painting a bit faster with each piece, getting used to my palette and not having to think about color mixing as much.  I wish I could think of catchier titles for the paintings!

Cherry Triplets

6" x 6"

Oil on Canvas

 

This is Day 26 of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days painting challenge.  I am getting a little more caught up and not posting as late today.

Resting

6" x 6"

Oil on Canvas

 

This is Day 25 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  I am keeping up, but barely.  I like to paint on the gessoboards now, but I ran out.  I painted this on a stretched canvas and it has quite a different feel after painting on the gessoboards.

Decoy Duck

6" x 6"

Acrylic on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 24 of Leslie Saeta's daily painting challenge.  I didn't know if I was going to be able to fit this one in.  I was at the hospital all day yesterday.  It is 1 1/2 to 2 hours out of town, so I stayed over last night and brought my husband home today in a bit of a snow blizzard.  That is why I am posting so late today.  I had taken some acrylic paints with me and managed to fit this in.  There was a great art store across from my hotel and I spent a bit of time in there, and a bit of money as well.  My husband had a shoulder replacement.  He will have quite a long recovery and quite a bit of work for me as it is his right shoulder and he is right handed.  I hope I will be able to fit painting in! 

Garden Beans

7" x 5"

Oil on Board

 

This is Day 23 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  My husband had surgery yesterday so I spent most of the day at the hospital.  I did this painting last night when I got home and it helped me to relax.  I am heading to the hospital again this morning.  I am going to take some acrylic paints up with me and maybe I can paint something if he is resting since I will be up there all day today.

Swaddled

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is Day 22 of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days painting challenge.  After yesterday's teacup painting I thought I would go back to another pear.  Pears make me happy!

Tea with Lemon

8" x 8"

Oil on Gessoboard

NFS

This is Day 21 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  This was a frustrating painting and I don't think I was happy with it at any point.  That is why it is not for sale.  Usually at some point in a painting I will really like it and it takes off from there, not with this one.  It is one I probably would have liked to work with some glazing but you can't do that in a couple of hours.  So I may go back at some point and work on it.  I had to post it because that is my painting for the day, I guess you have to take the good with the bad and not everyday will be a good painting day!

The Protector

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 20 of Leslie Seata's painting challenge.  Another painting of pears.  People may get tired of looking at them but I never tire of painting them.  Also, they are fast and easy for me to paint.  That may not be much of a challenge for me but it gave me some time to get caught up with the webinarts course for this month.  I am up to date now.

Freshly Picked

6" x 6" 

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 19 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  You really have to give the daily painters credit if they are painting and posting each day.  The artist that Leslie interviewed on AHA, Lisa Daria Kennedy, paints everyday even on Christmas.  She doesn't paint ahead of time.  This takes a lot of discipline.  I am painting each day but find I am getting later in the day for my posts.  I am going to try getting up earlier in the morning and painting first thing.  We will see!

Nestled

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is Day 18 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  I didn't know what to paint this morning so I went to my comfort zone, pears.  I find it easier if I plan ahead for a few days what I will be painting.

Sitting in the Bowl

5" x 7"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 17 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  My husband is having surgery next week.  We spent all day yesterday at the hospital for his pre-op appointment.  We have to go out of town for his specialist and surgery, so it is a two hour drive each way and I wasn't left with much painting time.  I painted this tomatoe quickly (I added the 'e' on tomatoe for the Canadian spelling).

Antique Glass

10 " x 8"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 16 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  This is another painting that I had blocked in and didn't finish so I thought I would give it a try.  I am still not happy with the pear, I may play around with that a bit more.

A Couple

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 15 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  Half way there to 30 paintings in 30 days.  This photo doesn't look as good as the original painting.  I will have to retake a photo when I have time.

Copper Glow

10" x 8"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 14 of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 painting challenge.  Almost halfway there.  This is a painting I started in the summer and never finished.  This painting challenge is a good chance to finish up some of those pieces.  Although, it took me longer to finish this than it would have to do a new painting.

Mixing Eggs

7" x 5"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 13 of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 painting challenge.  We were babysitting our two and 1/2 year old granddaughter all day yesterday so I didn't have a chance to paint until later last night.  I was getting pretty agitated with it and had to walk away and finish it up this morning.  It really isn't as enjoyable to paint when you feel some time pressure. 

Antique Insulator

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 12 of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 painting challenge.  I did this one last night and wasn't very happy with it, I did feel pressured by the time.  My husband collects antique hydro and railway insulators.  This one is made of carnival glass and I couldn't quite get how luminous it actually is.  I would like to use it again in a painting where I could take the time to build up the colors with glazing to bring out the real depth of the colors.

We were shopping all day yesterday.  We like to go to towns we haven't been to that have antique and thrift stores.  Yesterday I bought a stained glass antique window and I can't wait to use it in a painting. 

Through the Glass

7" x 5"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 11 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  I thought this one would be a quick and easy one to paint, but it was a little difficult to get it symmetrical.  I like to paint glass.  I was at a show and had several glass paintings.  A little girl approached me and asked me where I buy the special glass paint!

On the Inside Looking Out

5" x 7"

Oil on Gessoboard

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Day 10 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  Another red painting.  Maybe red should have been my theme for the 30 paintings.  I do find that I am completing the paintings a bit faster each time.  I think the reason for this is the limited palette of colors, titanium white, burnt umber, cad red, cad yellow, and ultramarine blue.  Painting one each day is good practice for color mixing.

A Pair

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is Day 9 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  I was a little rushed for time yesterday so I turned to the what is easiest to paint for me, the pear.  I do love to paint them though.

Mushrooms

5" x 7"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 8 of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 painting challenge.  When I was looking at what I have painted so far I noticed I have been painting a lot of red and green.  So I decided to tone it down a bit with the mushrooms.  It was a lot more difficult to paint something that doesn't have a lot of color.  It does make me realize I need to work on adding color to my paintings even if the object lacks these colors.  If I were doing this in pastel I would have blocked in with all different colors but with the paint I tend to stay away from that.  I need to work on being more brave with the color.  As long as the value is right the painting will read ok.  See, I am learning something through all of this.  Maybe I will do these in pastel as a study and then post.

Everybody Out

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

Day seven of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30.  This painting is one that I had started with a block in but for some reason did not finish it.  I am not even sure if the red blobs were originally tomatoes.  It is a good idea to finish up some paintings that are sitting around.

Cheers!

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

A Happy New Year Toast for Day 6 of Leslie Saeta's Painting Challenge.  I think I may need a few of these by Day 30 (maybe I should have saved this painting for Day 30!).

Peppers on a Plate

5" x 7"

Oil on Gessoboard

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Day 5 of Leslie Saeta's painting challenge.  Today is a day I feel like painting!  I had a nice comment yesterday that suggested working on unfinished pieces when you weren't inspired to paint on a particular day.  What a great idea.  I am going to pull out those paintings that might just need a little work to complete and it will keep me painting each day.  It is great to have feedback from other artists!

Pear on a Plane

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is my second Pear of the New Year.  It is perched on top of an antique wood plane.  I was able to photograph this outside today although I did drop it in the snow.  Luckily it landed face up.  Not as cold and windy today and the snow is melting a little.

I am finding that I have ups and downs with trying to paint a painting each day.  Today is a lousy day.  I don't want to paint pieces ahead.  I really want to try to paint a piece each day and some days I just don't feel like doing it, so many other things to get in the way.  I am committed to doing the 30 paintings in 30 days even on those days!

Pomegranate Pair

5" x 7"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is Day 3 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days.  It is really amazing to see what the other artists can paint in one day.  Very impressive!  I think that it is great that there are so many comments on the work.  I know for me it is a real boost to receive comments and inspires me to keep up with the challenge.

New Year's Pear

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

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This is my first painting of a pear for 2013.  I love to paint pears so I should keep track of how many I actually would paint in a year.  I never tire of painting them, they are all so different.  You turn it around and you have a whole new painting.

Oh My Darling Clementine

6" x 6"

Oil on Gessoboard

 

This is my first New Year's painting.  I have joined Leslie Saeta's group of 30 paintings in 30 days.  It is to try to encourage each other to keep up with a painting a day.  Start with 30 and maybe you will keep on going.  She has hundreds of artists now who have committed to the challenge and she is posting the daily paintings on her blog.