To Start the Week

I'm still excited by the wedding reception table painting, and started on it first thing this morning.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

The background figures are probably more visible now. They'll be subtle in the finished work, just dark, shadowy shapes. Otherwise I think the whole thing is going to get rather chaotic.

And it was time to get back to Nature again:

Bluemont, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view) 

Looks very green right now; the grapevines will go more of an ochre color soon.

Wedding Reception Painting

A little more on the one I started yesterday. It really is fun working on this. Note the figures in the background; they're going to be very subtle in the end result.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Not Your Usual Wedding Painting, part 2

I did get a little further on this. It's good to be able to work on something new that excites me.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Not Your Usual Wedding Painting

A year and a half ago, I went to a wedding on the Chesapeake Bay. It was fabulous. The brides (there were two) planned everything in great detail, and it was just a wonderful experience for everyone who attended. Romance and happiness were definitely in the air.

Anyway, after sifting through the many photos I took that day, there was one that caught my eye. It's a picture of one of the reception tables, and I loved everything about it. The light from the candles, the flowers (some Gerber daisies already starting to slump in their vases), the shadowy figures in the background. Below is the first start on a clean canvas. Watch this space.

Everyone Is On The Dance Floor, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And a Few More Folks...

Rita's, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

This one has given me a lot of trouble. I sanded some visible brush strokes on the left side today and worked mainly on the signage and the trim just below it, trying to keep a steady hand as I painted the horizontal shadow lines on the trim. Painting the letters in the name "Rita's" is particularly difficult to do; the more layers of white you put down, the harder it is to control the shapes of the letters. And the multiple layers of white are necessary to cover any of the green color underneath. What really scares me is the tiny words that have yet to be painted in the lower green area on the sign: "ice," "custard," and "happiness."
Next time I do something like this I'll have to be smarter and plan ahead.

A Quiet Evening in Cambridge, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Lots more finessing to do on this one.

Whole Foods, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
Worked on the two panels on the right side, filling in background details.

People Paintings

I've spent the last couple of days working on the figurative stuff, and here are the two I worked on today:

Stockton Street, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)
I think this one is starting to shape up nicely.

And:

Whole Foods, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

Painting With a Cat

I have a cat. He objects strenuously to the idea of my sitting in the studio and painting. Right now he's out in the back yard, waiting for some hapless chipmunk to appear, but he spent the entire painting session this morning sitting behind me and complaining, then grabbing my hand when I reached to pet him in an effort to drag me away from the easel.

                                                             This is his standard glare.

I did manage to get some work done:

Bartender, Mt. Washington, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

And some more on this one:

Pershing Square, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view) 

I Think The Upper Right Corner Is Done

Spent the morning working on this one. I'm trying to get a sense of graduation in the light and shadow areas of the overhang.

Pershing Square, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view) 

Whoa! Even More Good News!

I was wondering why I hadn't heard anything about a show I'd entered last month, so I went to the website to check things out. Surprised to find my art work as the representative piece for the show advertising!

http://mdfedart.com/portfolio/78/

Some Good News

"Dear Susan,

Congratulations! You've achieved quite a feat! Of the 73 artists who entered this show, only 5 artists were selected to have both pieces included in the show. On that note, our Figuratively Speaking juror, John Morrell, has selected BOTH of your entries, "Eric," and "A Woman in a Red Hat," to be a part of our upcoming National Juried Show!"

Sunlight

Maybe the reason I really want to work on the landscapes lately is because of the waning sunlight this time of year. The sun is getting lower in the sky every day, and while we've been having spectacularly beautiful weather lately, I know it can't last.

I've been taking out the white areas in the background of Bluemont:

Bluemont, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view) 

Whole Foods

Back to Whole Foods after a break. Worked on the panel second from the right.

Whole Foods, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

White Space

The weather here is glorious. I just finished mowing the lawn under a cloudless blue sky, and the temperature is about 68 degrees. The cat is sleeping happily on the floor in a shady spot just out of reach of the sunlight, and I'm thinking about whether or not to go down to the studio.

I think I'd rather sit by the window with a cup of coffee and watch the foliage change color.

Anyway, below are two pix of the studio walls. I've been stretching canvases lately and have a bunch of new ideas in mind, especially one for a 23" x 23" painting of a scene at a really great wedding we went to last year.

Besides the canvases you see here, I also have a bunch of panels, prepped and ready to go. And that doesn't even count the two 12" x 52" panels my friend Sharon gave me a couple of weeks ago. It's going to be a lot of fun to decide what images to put on which panels/canvases.

But in the meantime, the back yard is calling my name.

Getting Back to the Easel

A couple of days before going out of town, there's a lot of preparation to do. Then when you get back, there are things to catch up on. I've spent the last couple of days tying up loose ends, and today got back into the studio, but the only painting I wanted to work on was one of the vineyard landscapes.

Bluemont, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)  

Out of Town Trip

The reason I haven't been painting is because we finally got a chance to take a real vacation. We went up to New England; saw family and some spectacular scenery. I'm trying to tie up loose ends for the next couple of days but wanted to share some pix of the fall foliage and the Presidential Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

That last one really was the color of the mountains at sunset. Hope you enjoy!

'S Nice

The actual name of this little sandwich shop was 'S Nice; I say "was" because it went out of business some time after I visited and made the reference photos. That's my cousin in the hot pink top, the color of which is hard to replicate. I watched a Sherlock Holmes movie out of the corner of my eye— "The Hound of the Baskervilles"— while working on the ripples and wrinkles of the fabric.

Counterpoint, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

That Painting I Mentioned

... is by British artist Cecily Brown. Its title is something like "Black Painting" with  a number or two in it; I haven't quite been able to track it down yet, but here is a photo.

This is what I get from an internet search:  Brown C BlackPainting4 300, © Cecily Brown

I don't know the year it was painted. Anyway, I think it's fabulous. And it's like a modern take on Fusilli's The Nightmare, also one of my favorites.

Christmas is Coming

I know; it's only the first day of October. But I have three holiday-themed paintings to finish that really don't show well in May or August, and every year I forget about working on them until it's too late. Here is one of them, still wet in places where I painted this afternoon:

A Quiet Evening in Cambridge, © 2016, work in progress (click on image for larger view)

At The Museum Of Women In The Arts

My friend Sharon, who is a painter of some renown, had an extra ticket to an opening at The Museum Of Women In The Arts a couple of nights ago, so off we went in the rain to brave the convoluted streets of D.C. The show was the reception for the Rubell Family Collection, and it did not disappoint. While there was very little in it that wasn't abstract or otherwise edgy, it was a treat to see the different approaches to creating art, especially of the female form. My favorite piece was of a woman dreaming, a lushly and confidently painted reclining figure; overhead, darkness with suggestions of floating forms. Of course I've forgotten the name of the artist, and I don't want to post the photo I took of the piece until I look it up, but meanwhile, here is a shot of the interior of the building with patrons socializing.

The Museum of Women In The Arts, Washington D.C., Thursday, September 29th. Click for larger view.