Painting #71: Little Lights. (Finished.)

Painting #71: Little Lights. (Preview)

Well I was hoping to have painting #68 finished before Christmas, but that isn't going to happen. I still need to buy a new tube of sienna and titanium white - which is going to have to wait! So instead I'm working on a teeny tiny painting that wont take too much paint - it's a 4x8 canvas that I've had for well over a year. I think it cost me 2 dollars and I've never known what to do with it. Last night I started sketching an idea and just went with it and today I know exactly what I'm going to do. It kind of goes along with "Where the Wild Things Are" and "The Meeting Place."

Painting #70: Royals (Finished.) + Another One Bites The Dust

Here's my latest painting! I also sold a painting today on my Etsy shop to a famous pop singer! (Not really, but kind of.) Thanks to Michael Bolton! 

 This painting will be going to Utah. I now have paintings in Shanghai, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Georgia, and now Utah.

Adventures in Francis Marion Forest.

Winnie and I have been hiking different trails through Francis Marion for the past few weeks, but the one we hiked today takes the top spot. It's called the Sewee Shell Ring trail and it takes you through forest and marsh, out to the intercoastal. Once you get to the riverways, you follow a boardwalk that brings you to a 4000 year old Native American settlement remnant called a shell ring. There's debate about what it actually is - but it seems like it was a dumping ground for shells. The next trail I want to do brings you to a Civil War earthen fort that sits hidden on the Santee. 

Painting #70: Royals (In Progress.)

I have not forgotten painting #68 - I will eventually start working on it again. I just need a ton of sienna paint for it which I don't have at the moment. It will be revisited soon, as I'd like to have it done before Christmas.

Someone asked me why my painting titles seem incredibly random at times, and that's because I name them after one of the songs I'm listening to when I'm actually painting. I listen to all types of music: pop, indie, folk, bluegrass, oldies, classic rock, and even dubstep. Most of the time I listen to Regina Spektor, Robyn, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Lana Del Rey, AC/DC, and I really like this new singer called Lorde - which is who this painting is named after.

Painting #69: Departure. (Finished.)

I wanted to do a painting from start to finish in one sitting on Sunday, and this is what I created. Thanks in part to my mom, who said I needed to do another beach-y pebbly painting. I'm actually going to start another one that'll go along with this one. They are both pretty small - 8x10, 10x12.

I'll get around to finishing #68 this weekend or so. All I have left to do is detail the tree - which for me will take forever and I'll probably redo it about a hundred times.

Thanksgiving 2013.

I spent thanksgiving climbing and hiking around Table Rock mountain this year, here are a few pictures!

Painting #68: Protector. (In Progress.)

Can you tell what I'm painting yet? I'm trying out this crazy technique that pretty much all painters do - painting the background before the foreground. Don't let all the blue fool you. It'll look nothing like this at the end.

This is how impressed Winnie is. 

Painting #68: Protector. (Sneak Peak.)

Since it's the holidays now, I have even less money than usual...Which means it's time to recycle old paintings. I'm painting over a canvas that I did last year and (hopefully) making something better! Can you tell what my inspiration is yet? 

You can see the old painting in the right hand corner.

This is how impressed Winnie is.

Painting #67: Knight on the Road. (Finished.)

Here's a surprisingly not bad photograph of my new painting. 

Painting #67: Knight on the Road. (Unfinished.)

I did some late night painting yesterday and got a bit more work done. The trees ended up being a richer color than I expected - but I'm having fun working with a palette knife. I think I want to work on the sky to make it look more dusky and balance it better with the bottom.

Adventures in Charleston.

A few weeks ago I took Winnie to the Charles Pinckney heritage site, which is located over by Boone Hall Plantation. It's a really beautiful little park with some interesting history thrown in - and best of all it's free. There's lots of gorgeous sprawling oaks, evergreens, and inspiration for new paintings.

I'm guessing that's a deer stand?

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I also went and checked out the new art exhibit at the Charleston Library downtown. I appreciate what the artist was doing, but I feel like this is an example when color makes such a difference. (And something I desperately need work on) His colors seem so harsh to me...but maybe that's the point? When I think of Charleston landscapes I imagine soft, dreamy colors.

Painting #67: Knight on the Road. (Unfinished.)

Here's what I'm working on right now. Partially inspired by my new favorite, Mr. CW Mundy.

New favorite artist.

I found a new artist to love who goes by the name C. W. Mundy. I love his colors and mix of pallet knife and brushes.

Work Snapshot.

My friend Chelsea and I turned up to work today in coordinating outfits and decided it was a perfect opportunity to take a picture. Here we are doing a rendition of what secretaries do best: threaten people with staplers and be obnoxiously sweet on phones. 

Painting #66: The Meeting Place. (Finished.)

Painting #66: (Not Quite Done.)

Between work being crazy and the weather being beautiful I've been slacking a bit on painting ... But here's what I did today. I still have quite a bit to do between the lamppost and the leaves.  Im thinking it'll be done this week for sure. 

Painting #66: The Meeting Place. (Sneak Peak.)

Here's what I'm working on this weekend. 10x20 canvas. Pages come from the book "Tilted World".

Painting #65: Sunday Morning. (Finished.)

Now I'm not going to say that I'm giving up on this painting. I'm totally not. I just don't ever want to work on this painting again. Or see it. Like ever. I really don't want to even think about it's existence.

I'm actually starting on a new one today because I've had this idea stuck in my head for a few weeks now. It might be dangerous to think about a new idea while you're still working on your current project. That's like eating lunch and dreaming about dinner the whole time. And I do that a lot.

I found a new artist to love, and other things.

Philippe Charles Jacquet, French artist. 

I love that his paintings feel immense and massive. Like stepping into another world. I want nothing more than to feel like my paintings project the same.

Also the painting I'm working on is one I feel compelled to throw out the window. I think the problem I'm having is that I have a whole bunch of ideas for other paintings running through my head right now, and I feel bored with the one I'm working on. I wont give up, though. I'm proud to say I've never quit a painting no matter how much I wanted to.

Thanks to my big sis!

Erica let me know over the weekend that my painting will be visible in the show that's being filmed in her house! That's awesome! I feel very famous, and I bet you anything that painting will be worth at least $30-$50 someday.

I really like those things hanging in the window!

I re-opened my Etsy shop over the weekend. Maureen's Etsy Shop 

I changed the name, and got rid of a lot of old paintings. Check it out.

I'm also working away on my next painting, I'll show a preview probably tomorrow. It's kind of a late autumn/early winter scene. And lately I've been obsessed with lampposts, so expect to see them in the next few paintings for awhile!

Painting Life Update.

Well, I did it! I finally signed up for an art class! It starts next Tuesday and goes for six weeks and covers all the acrylic basics. I'm very excited to see how this will change the way I paint; I think it will help me a lot. Or I might start painting random squiggles and explaining how they represent my emotional struggle and my fight against oppression.

I also went downtown and saw the new art installation at the Charleston Library this past weekend. It was photography this month, and the subject was sunsets and sunrises over the marshes. I only took one picture because they all kind of looked the same to me. I'm not a great judge of photography.

I also just started working on a new painting, it's an 11x14 canvas. My last painting I worked on light. This painting I'm trying to work on distance - I want my painting to look as if it has depth. 

I also had a neat idea to create a tiny companion painting to my last one (#64, the dark one with the lamp post and tree). I have this tiny odd canvas (It's a 4x8) that I've never done anything on. So I thought - maybe I should make another tiny lamp post in the dark scene. Different kind of tree, maybe different view. Same idea. I had a lot of fun working with a night scene! Whatcha think?

This is the look Winnie gives me when I'm in full painting mode. I can just hear her say, "Bitch, are you serious? Take me out!"

Update and Painting #64: Slightly Better Picture.

My next painting has a really random subject and I blame it on my French speaking roommate so I'll let you guess what that might be! 

Here's a better picture of my latest painting: