Challenge 12 (Sunday Morning): Renegade. (Painting #88 Finished.)

I will say that I've been really inspired by doing all the still life challenges. I never thought in a million years I'd enjoy doing a still life, but I'm finding you learn a lot about painting and technique through them.

Also a dear friend from Iowa surprised me with a gift in the mail! A Van Gogh scarf! Taken from "Irises". 

Challenge 11 (Books Still Life): Madness. (Painting #87 Finished.)

I feel like I work in solemn colors quite often and wanted to change it up a bit with this picture. I've been liking yellow more recently, and mixed it in with pretty much every color you see here. 

Challenge 10 (Insect): Take A Walk. (Painting #86 Finished.)

Not sure why I decided to tackle four mini paintings in one sitting. I like how the bottom two turned about, but the top two seem too heavy and I wish that I had flip flopped the ones on the left. I don't like bugs (after waking up one morning to find a slug in my kitchen - how the hell does that happen??) so this wasn't my favorite challenge at all.

Challenge 9 (Found Still Life): Chandelier. (Painting #85 Finished.)

I actually got this painting done several days ago, but I couldn't for the life of me get a good picture of it until today.

I was really excited on Sunday to go visit a nature preserve in Hollywood, SC, got lost getting there for about an hour, finally found the trail, to find that it was closed due to preservation of migrating birds. Look at the utter disdain in Winnie's face.

Challenge 8 (Influenced by a Song): Montezuma. (Painting #84 Finished.)

I was a little nervous about this painting because the challenge is to listen to music and basically start creating. That means no sketching, no planning, and all improvision. I listened to the album "Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes - one of my favorite albums of all time - and instantly went to my favorite place on earth, up in the Smoky Mountains in autumn. Odd color choices for me, dont you think?

Special Project.

What in the world am I working on? I needed a project that combined this huge canvas that's been sitting in a closet or underneath a bed for over a year now, and all my unused acrylic paints.

Dont expect to see this thing done anytime soon.

Also, look what Winnie and I found! A beautiful little forest oasis right across the street from me. Taking walks in the swamp in summer and 90% humidity is a lot of fun around here.

And lastly, who would throw away this 1950's Bassett dresser? I dont know how I managed to move this thing into my apartment all by myself, but I'm sure it was probably pretty funny to watch. 

Challenge 7 (Architecture): Simple Song. (Painting #83 Finished.)

Challenge 6 (Water): Bad Blood. (Painting #82 Finished.)

Also: I'll be Anchor Sign's new Permit Coordinator starting soon! Yay promotion!!! 

Also: my fun new stuff!

Challenge 5 (Window): Clarity. (Painting #81 Finished.)

Winnie approves.

Challenge 4 (Black and White): Welcome Home. (Painting #80 Finished.)

I should have named this painting "Highway to Hell" because that's what it felt like. The skill required to paint in black and white is not something I possess and I think this is a situation where laying out a whole pallet of grays beforehand would have been beneficial instead of winging it on the canvas. Lesson learned! Onto the next.

Also, I don't want to brag, but I went to Goodwill the other day and made my own headboard. And then spent too much time at Hobby Lobby and got this fun stuff.