Go out and buy some art...

I noticed that one of my favorite 'daily' (I loathe that term, and wish I could find a better one) painters, Paul Hutchinson is engaging in a 'dutch' auction. I urge you to consider taking a look see at his site (if you haven't already, or it's been a while)...

Postcard from Puniho

Watering Can (sold)

Watering Can, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

sold

Metal Pitcher Redux

Metal Pitcher Redux, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Same subject, different support media (masonite instead of canvas)

Metal Pitcher

Metal Pitcher, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Low Hanging Scud (sold)

Low Hanging Scud, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

sold

Olive Oil

Olive Oil, oil on canvas, 8" X 10", 2008

Available at Dezart Gallery

Saw Altman's Popeye movie last night...

also... this is an oil painting.
get it? oil painting...
heh heh heh...

Two Clementines in a Box (sold)

Two Clementines in a Box, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

sold

A hard day. Two wipe downs.

Jackpot! (sold)

Jackpot!, oil on canvas, 5" X 7", 2008

sold

I saw these baby pineapples in the market, and I thought that if I were to put this together with a banana painting and another piece of fruit, I'd have a nice little roll of the one armed bandit...

Maybe I ought to do cherries next?

Clouds (private collection)

Clouds, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

(private collection)

Another cloud captured from the studio window. My head has been in the clouds as of late.

As promised, here is a peek at some of the larger kite pieces currently underway. The photos of the paintings need to be retaken (these are quick snapshots), but you get the idea. These are very different from what I normally do, and I'm not sure how they fit in with the rest of my oeuvre... hence the very different pricing scheme from what you'd normally see from me for a painting of these sizes.

Star Kite, oil on gallery wrap canvas, 30" X 40", 2008

sold

Tiger Kite, oil on gallery wrap canvas, 30" X 30", 2008

sold

Kite with Clouds (sold)

Kite with Clouds, oil on canvas, 7" X 5" (approximate), 2008

sold
Second kite study for a larger work. Doing the study convinced me to shift this composition to a square format. The larger piece size is 30 inches X 30 inches. I'll post some larger piece shots tomorrow...

Building Storms (sold)

Building Storms, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

sold

I've been doing some studies for the kite series, and figured that I'd best look to life for some inspiration. This isn't en plein aire... it's en plein studio. As in, view out my studio window.

Star Kite

Star Kite, oil on canvas, 8" X 10" (approximate), 2008

$100 USD framed
e-mail me for purchase information
(please mention title of painting in mail)

This is a study for a larger piece (about 30 inches by 40 inches) which is a little bit of a departure for me (both in size and subject matter). There's likely to be a few more of these over the next day or two...

Delicious on a Plate

Delicious on a Plate, oil on canvas, 5" X 7", 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Tailor's Shears #2 (sold)

Tailor's Shears #2, oil on canvas, 7" X 5" (approximate), 2008

sold

Cherry Tree Branch private collection

Cherry Tree Branch, oil on canvas, 8" X 10", 2008

private collection

I've been working with greys now, after the yellow.

Orange Blossom (sold)

Orange Blossom, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

sold

Orange you glad I didn't paint another banana?

Accident Waiting to Happen

Accident Waiting to Happen, oil on canvas, 8" X 10", 2008

$225 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Chiquita #2

Chiquita #2, oil on canvas, 7" X 5", 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Still working on yellows... :)

Chiquita

Chiquita, oil on masonite, 5" X 7", 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Working on yellows...

Spring Daffodils #2 (private collection)

Spring Daffodils #2, oil on canvas, 5" X 7", 2008

(private collection)

These flowers are kickin' my butt. I was happy with the first, painted under artificial light, but the last and this one were tough. I actually put this one away yesterday, and revisited it again today, after screwing up my courage. It's better than the last...

...of a Feather (sold)

...of a Feather, oil on masonite, 7" X 5", 2008

sold

Spring Daffodils

Spring Daffodils, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

This picture doesn't do the painting justice. I might try and get a better one later.

Spring Daffodil (sold)

Spring Daffodil, oil on masonite, 5" X 7", 2008

(sold)

First few daffodils are blooming in the yard...

Red Zinger (sold)

Red Zinger, oil on canvas, 7" X 5", 2008

sold

Winged Lever Style #2 (sold)

Winged Lever Style #2, oil on canvas, 5" X 7", 2008

(sold)

Knuckleball (sold)

Knuckleball, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

sold

Baseball's back underway! Or at least it is, if you're hardcore, and listen to the spring training games...
One of my favorite baseball terms is 'knuckleball', and this season, Seattle's got a true knuckleballer trying to make the team...

Assorted (sold)

Assorted, oil on canvas, 7" X 5", 2008

sold

I haven't done much pastry, in part because there are some very great artists (like here, or here, or here) who cover it regularly, and they're a hard act to follow. :)
I had one of those sort of waking dreams a week or so ago where I painted donuts though, and that led to buying a couple boxes of Entemann's. I've painted one type already, these are from the other box.
Still not the painting that I was sort of dreaming about, but fun nonetheless.

February '08 milestone review of goals and commitments

February milestone review of goals and commitments

Sophomore slump.

This wasn't a terribly great month for progress for me. I struggled with some artist's block, painted a lot of bad paintings (which haven't seen the light of day here), and generally sort of waded through the month. On the plus side, I did come out of the block/sucky painter portion of the month for a strong finish in the last week.

In my second month as a full time painter, I have been feeling out the boundaries of what is working well, and what isn't. I have a much better idea of what makes a painting session 'successful'-- for me at least, even if not for the end result.

Last review, Frank Gardner asked if the small works kept me from painting larger stuff. Answer so far? Yes, the smaller works do make painting bigger pieces harder to manage.
On the flip side though, they still serve as the best mechanism I've found to date for building artistic stamina. In what has been a hard month (creatively), the small works have served as a baseline of accomplishment: I posted 29 new paintings in February. In the middle of a bout of artist's block.


On to the recap. The original goals/commitments/resolutions post is here.

Resolutions
—I am making good progress on painting every day for at least an hour, and meeting with family and friends at least once every week.
—I finished David Copperfield!

For me, artist's block is a little like a bout of depression. And I don't know about you, but when I'm depressed, I sure don't feel much like walking... which means that the walking 2 miles a week goal pretty much went belly up in February. I am hoping the advent of Spring brings a resurgence...

As with last month, other resolutions are in varying stages of progress, and two months is still too small a sample size to determine if they're on track or not.

Goals
—3 shows of 5 down, and I have 3 more scheduled!
—I am roughly on target for meeting my 1/3 of yearly spend goal.
—No progress on additional gallery venues, but I have been pretty lucky with a few non traditional show opportunities that have popped up.

Commitments
Again, as per the precis, my commitments have taken a hit this last month...

—I have posted a new painting for sale everyday, and have been drawing in my sketchbook regularly.

—I have had little success with painting larger canvasses (I did paint 2 16 X 20s the last week of Feb, I now have 4 total)

—Organized learning and development has been suffering. I have been growing, but I need to make better preparations in this arena.

—I have not completed any of the 50 +2 hour drawings. (Bear in mind though, when I go on a drawing kick, these will come in bunches)

—Nor have I applied to any juried shows. Still looking and figuring out which shows I will apply to.


Moving forward
I did see some improvement in a few areas, despite the bout of block. That being said, I really want March to represent a better accounting, and I have some serious ground to make up this month...

And for those who read to the bottom of this post, here's one of the 16 X 20 canvases I worked on this month. This is probably about 95% finished...

Umbrellas (sold)

Umbrellas, oil on canvas, 7" X 5", 2008

(sold)

...And this Little Piggy Went to Market (private collection)

...And this Little Piggy Went to Market, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

(private collection)

I think that it makes for an interesting contrast; yesterday's piece done in natural light, this done with artificial.

...Penny Earned (sold)

...Penny Earned, oil on canvas, 7" X 5", 2008
sold

Paper Airplane # 8 (in flight) (sold)

Paper Airplane # 8 (in flight), oil on canvas, 8" X 10" (approximate), 2008

sold

Buttermilk Donuts

Buttermilk Donuts, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2008

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

More on this post tomorrow... I want to squeak in under the deadline! :)