"Jackalope"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













Not sure if I like how this guy turned out.

I might have to paint him again.

Again, inspired by watching too much bad TV.

There's a jackalope in the framing graphics on 'My Big Redneck Wedding' on CMT.

I'm enjoying that show entirely too much.

"A Million Ways To Be Cruel"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite







Gods, I love these pears!

I think I might get a dozen and spend a week setting up passionate relationships and torrid affairs.

"Nude #3"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













Ya know, every model I've had at the Dougherty Art Center has been just an absolute joy to work with.

This lady was no exception.

I tried using terra verte as a base for this painting, I'm not sure I'm happy with it.

Flesh tones still need work.

"Sparky"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite








I've always loved snakes. I've been catching snakes since I was a very little girl.

My first book was 'Poisonous Creatures of the Desert Southwest' (I was born and spent the first seven years of my life in Tucson, Arizona) and I colored in the black and white photographs as I caught the critters in the book.

My Father was tickled to find me lecturing to some fellow tourists out of it on a trip to Mexico. I was six. It was over a velvet ant, which is actually a wingless wasp, and I remember it was bright magenta in color.

But rattlesnakes have always held a special place in my heart. I remember begging my Father to catch a sidewinder rather than kill it. He did, and I kept it for a week.

The first snake I caught in Texas was a rattlesnake. It had different markings than the ones we had in Arizona. I took it in the house to look it up and my Father made me take it back outside.

But my record is catching twelve rattlesnakes in an hour just south of San Antonio last year. I turned all of those loose.

David won't let me keep them in the house either. :(

Doesn't this guy look friendly? Look, he's wagging his tail! He just wants to be friends with you. . .

"Dulce"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













I promise, this is the last puppy or kitten I'll post for a while.

Today is my dog Dulce's first birthday.

Last year, about this time, I got a call from Dixie, of Dixie's Doodles, telling me there were enough chocolate colored Labradoodles in Amelia's litter for me to have one, and in six weeks I could make my choice.

I won't say that she's been a perfect angel, but she's been a pretty good dog so far.

Here's to another year with the dog who looks like she's a creation from Muppet Labs.

The Dulcinator.

The Fuzzball.

Dixie's Dulce De Leche.

"Sunflower"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite








I saw this bizarre sunflower at Whole Foods yesterday.

It's very striking, so I painted it as loose as I could to try and preserve that.

I'm not sure if I got it or not. I might have to try again.

"A Pair of Pears"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite







Up until today, I couldn't understand why artists were always painting pears.

First off, I'm not a big fan of fruit.

Sure, I'll eat apples or raspberries or blackberries if they're cooked into something.

Pears aren't on my 'acceptable fruit' list.

I mean, they smell nice and all, but I just don't care for the taste.

But I kept hearing artists going on and on about pears. How 'human' they are to paint.

Human? A fruit? Gay jokes aside, I just couldn't see it.

Until I went and bought a pair of pears and painted them.

They're like little flirty green Schmoos!

You can put me in the 'I love pears (to paint)' category.

"Spike"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite












Sorry folks, it's come down to puppies and kittens.

This here's Spike, my tabby-point Siamese cross. One of her other names is 'devil cat'. She likes to bite, she doesn't like to be petted, but hates to be alone. She likes to sneak up to you and cuddle against you, but the moment you notice-- she's gone.

Spike's not right, never has been, never will be. We think her momma was starved when she was pregnant with Spike's litter. Spike was the only 'white' kitten in the litter, the rest were black as was her momma.

To be truthful, she started out kinda cream colored.

My friend Susan said, "you know she's going to get darker as she ages." And she was right.

Spike has gradually darkened to where she is almost black along her spine and stripes.

I think when she finally turns completely black, she will become one with the darkness.

Which might finally make her happy.

"I Want To Believe"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













Yesterday, I heard that there's a new X-Files movie supposedly coming out this summer.

I'm *so* hoping it's not an early 'April fool's' joke.

With that in mind, I decided to paint one of my favorite things from the old series; the 'I Want To Believe' poster, which is based on a Billy Meier Pleiadian 'beamship' photo.

If I were to have a personal motto, I think it would be 'I want to believe'.

"Nude #2"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite








Nekkid day at Dougherty Art Center.

Yet another very nice model.

Very tall.

Well. . . as tall as me, which is 5'9".

One of the other artists was raving about how she was the perfect proportion of eight heads. We're talking superheroes and Greek godesses here.

I *was* that proportioned once upon a time. Not no more. Ah well. I'd rather paint than model.

I think my figurative painting's improving. Still need work on my skin tones though.

More practice.

"Flatwoods Monster"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













As long as I'm showing y'all West Virgina monsters, I might as well show y'all the Flatwoods Monster from Flatwoods West Virginia.

Supposedly ten feet tall and possessing an oily stink that caused one boy to faint and two others (and their dog) to retch for hours, this horrific thing floated hissing out of the woods in 1952.

I promise, no monsters tomorrow.

Tomorrow is nekkid day!

"Mothman"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













Tonight was a prime example of not forcing something.

I spent six hours trying to paint an apple David brought me.

No go. I just could not get that apple down. I wiped panel after panel and kept trying. Threw two into the trash after multiple tries.

After snapping at David and Dulce (the dog), I finally decided that I couldn't paint something I really didn't care about and had a look 'round for my idea pile (a pile of pictures and sketches that sorta follows me from room to room).

Guess who was on top of the pile.

(and I come by him honestly as my Granny was from West Virginia)

He took all of 45 minutes to paint.

Lesson learned; paint what you know.

"Lucile Brawl"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite











Kinda disappointed by tonight's Dr. Sketchy.

I've been looking forward to this for over a month now.

The gals they had posing were very nice (from the Texas Rollergirls Roller Derby, a team called the Hot Rod Honeys ), but had trouble holding a pose. And the lighting was for crap.

Then they put the gals on the floor rather than the stage and I couldn't see them at all.

Last Dr. Sketchy, I came out with ten, 9" by 12" sketches, four of which I'm still working on and quite happy with.

This Dr. Sketchy, I came out with four 3" by 4" sketches, and this is the only one I'm vaguely happy with.

Sigh.

The other thing I did today was build a display case for my daily paintings, so I can see a month at a glance.

Here it is.


















It's a 30" by 30" piece of 1/8" luan, with five little shelves and some framing to hang it on the wall and keep it from warping.

I figure I'll put my new paintings on the wall, then put them in a drying rack and from there I'll box them.

"Blackberry"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













David bought a box of blackberries last night at HEB.

I love blackberries cooked into a pie or cobbler, but just can't stand them 'raw'.

Great for painting, though.

"Reepicheep"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite
After an Illustration by Pauline Baynes

Last week, I saw a trailer for the upcoming "Prince Caspian" movie.

Reepicheep, the talking mouse, is going to make or break this film. Needless to say, he's not in the trailer.

So, I did a bit of research on the 'net. Turns out Eddie 'Executive Transvestite' Izzard is doing the voice of Reepicheep.

Again, make or break. I adore Eddie, but I'm very worried about him going over the top with dear, sweet, too-honorable-for-his-own-good Reepicheep.

I'm also worried that they're going to make him the wrong color.

It's not described in Prince Caspian but in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he is described thusly:

"-- a Mouse on its hind legs and stood about two feet high. A thin band of gold passed 'round its head under one ear and over the other and in this was stuck a long crimson feather. (As the Mouse's fur was very dark, almost black, the effect was bold and striking.)"

I'll bet dollars to donuts he's done up in brown for the movie.

So I painted him right. :)

"ABH #1"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite








Today in Adventures in Art, we're playing 'Anywhere But Here' as I have a dental appointment this afternoon.

Antigua, anyone?

"Eligius"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite












Week two at the Dougherty Art Center's Tuesday morning art modeling session.

(I'm trying very hard not to call it 'nekkid day'. Hooray, it's 'nekkid day'!)

Very nice model.

I didn't paint his tattoos, the largest of which was across his lower back and was apparently his confirmation name.

Really need to sit down and work on faces.

"The Old Moon Holds the New Moon in Her Arms"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite










The moon has been absolutely gorgeous the last couple of nights.

David mentioned that I should just paint all the phases of the moon and said that aught to be good for at least thirty paintings.

So, that's ideas for thirty out of 365. . .

"When Pigs Fly"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite







I couldn't tell you why I painted this.

Maybe it's the ad I keep hearing for Trojan Condoms that has a song about pigs flying in it.

They play that ad way too much when I'm watching CSI on Spike TV.

"Between Sunset and Twilight"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite







This is just one of the reasons I'm moving to New Mexico in March.

There's this point in the evening where the sky turns greenish/gold/teal.

It's past sunset and it's not yet twilight (which is a whole 'nother color I hope to attempt someday soon).

I remember seeing this color in a Georgia O'Keeffe painting and then seeing it in real life and making the connection.

Snap. That's it. She nailed that color.

I'm close, but still need work. :)

"Mystery Box"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













I saw this today on BoingBoing and just couldn't get it out of my head.

It's a Mystery Box, a sealed cardboard box with a big question mark on it, from Lou Tannen's Magic store in New York.

J.J. Abrams, the producer, director and screenwriter behind Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible III, and the upcoming Cloverfield has one.

He has this to say about it:

"It represents infinite possibility; it represents hope; it represents potential. . . mystery is the catalyst for imagination. . . maybe there are times where mystery is more important than knowledge."

"Elvis Impersonator"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite










Hi all!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Things are still pretty upset around here.

I had this great idea last weekend to paint a portrait of Elvis in honor of his birthday (and because my Mom is a big Elvis fan).

Well, things got nuts and I had to put it off.

I had a poblano pepper I had bought to paint and it was starting to go bad, so I decided to paint that first and leave Elvis until later.

But the whole time, I was thinking of how I was going to tackle the Elvis painting.

After two hours of hacking at that pepper, I still wasn't happy with it. Here's that painting.




"Bad Pepper"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite











I looked up and it was past midnight, I was tired and I wasn't happy with my painting.

So, like an idiot, I started on the painting of Elvis.

Two hours after that, I had two paintings, and I wasn't happy with either one of them.

David convinced me to go to bed without posting anything.

Today, I repainted the pepper. Here's the one I like.




"Good Pepper"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite











And I worked on the Elvis painting until I was pretty sure that I need a lot more work on my portrait painting skills.

So, today you get three paintings as an apology for not posting a painting yesterday.

"Nude"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite








I went to the Dougherty Arts Center today for their live model sitting.
This was much more challenging than Dr. Sketchy's.

Maybe it was the lack of alcohol.

Anyhoo, I just did sketches in oil on the little 3 by 4's and ended up experimenting with painting skin tones on the fly.

I think I'm getting the hang of it. I did four sketches and this was the last pose.

I was so tired, I almost left.

I'm so glad I stayed.

I think I'm ready for this month's Dr. Sketchy.

"Arrow"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite







This one's pure, unadulterated schmaltz.

David and I had to put down his thirteen-year-old corgi this morning.

This is her in much happier times.

"Rolling Clouds"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite







The skies this evening were magnificent. I just had to try and capture the pink in the rolling steel gray of front clouds.

I haven't painted any skies since November. I guess I'm out of practice as this one took forever. However, it was the first one I've ever done Alla Prima, so I suppose I should be pleased (I usually paint the background first, let it dry and then lay in the whites so they stay pure. This time I just laid in the colors carefully and used q-tips and Gambesol if things got muddy).

"Pink Rose"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite











Boy howdy, this one took forever. Wiped it at least once compleatly. Lost count of the number of times I went after small sections with a Q-Tip.

The 'stopping after 45 minutes' thing simply will not work. Asking myself over and over and over 'is it done?' does.

I think I want to come back in after this is dry and do some touch ups with some transparent alizarin crimson in the darker spots.

"Reverse Engineered from UFOs"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite










I *love* those new silver VW Bugs!

The silver ones are referred to as 'pods' by those in the know and every year, just before the anniversary of the Roswell Crash is celebrated, they have a huge meet-up in Roswell, New Mexico.

When I am ridiculously wealthy, I will learn to drive a stick and get one. :)

"Winter Persimmons"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite


My neighbor has this amazing tree full of persimmons.

When my husband and I first saw it last week we thought it was some sort of bizarre Christmas decoration.

The persimmons are so amazingly orange and so prolific and so, so, so *perfect* we just couldn't believe they were real.

And against a clear blue sky, they're just like tiny Chinese lanterns, lit from within.

"Une Cerise"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













This is another of my Central Market finds. A Washington State Cherry. Cool reds and hot yellows. Not your average Shirley Temple find.

This little tiny picture took me forever.

Actually, I should have been finished after the first 45 minutes. But I just had to keep messing with it until I messed it up and spent the rest of the day fixing it. :(

Tomorrow, I'm setting an alarm for 45 minutes and I'm putting down the brushes and walking away for a bit.

I keep messing up paintings by messing with them for too long. I need to learn to get in, get the job done and leave it alone.

Alla Prima, baby. That's what I'm trying to learn. Alla Prima.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

"Fireworks"
3" by 4"
Oil on Masonite













Here's the first of my new series!
I'm rather pleased. It took me about an hour with multiple distractions, but I'm happy to say, I managed to ignore most of them and keep plugging along.

I oiled the new carrier and it'll be ready to hit the road as of tomorrow.

I'm hoping to do some plein air works in this format and maybe even go crazy and do some live model sketches. The Dougherty Arts Center has a live model on Tuesday mornings.

I may use it as a warm up for the next Dr. Sketchy!

Anyway, Happy New Year!