"Four red cherries" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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It's that time of year again when my cherry tree is full and soon it will be time to pick them and make a pie.  But before that time comes I thought I'd use this opportunity to paint them first.  I may be a little bit smarter than last year because I thought to put the branch in water so the leaves didn't wilt during the painting.  What a difference a year makes!

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"What is this stuff?" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Sprightly was in a daze wondering around looking for more delicious cheese.  "What is this stuff?  The giant sure spends a lot of time with these things.  Maybe it is something to eat?"   But when he smelled it he just couldn't figure out why anyone would to have anything to do with this stinky stuff.

 For the first half of the painting I wondered why I chose these objects, but in the end I think it might be one of my favorites!    I have struggled every time to get the bronze coloring right.  Of course it looks different when using different lighting and with different colors surrounding.

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"Carolyn and the green kimono" 6"x8" oil

To purchase, please contact me. $100

Carolyn was our ever faithful model today.   Silly me!  I forgot to schedule a model and it was just the she was available at the last minute.    I love the way her eyes are to the far left.   I think in this painting she looks like Cindi Lauper of the "Girls just want to have fun" fame.

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"Sadie" 12"x12" oil on museum wrap canvas

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Sadie, a faithful, longtime companion to Lisa K.     This is a commission I finished recently.   I must say that the whiskers were particularly challenging and fun.    This is just one of the many things that fill up my day besides daily paintings.   Everyday is a new day and every new day is a wonderful challenge!

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"I smell cheese!" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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"I smell cheese and there it is!  Finally!"    

I go back and forth on whether I like the smooth gessoboard or the board with canvas on it.   The one today is painted on smooth.   I must say the mouse holds the pose very well!

Bronze mouse created by Steve Worthington to view his blog to see more of his work.

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"Is it food?" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Sprightly has been wandering around for over a week now and so far has only found some swiss cheese and blind mice (which turned out to be chocolate!)   His attention was aimed at this shiny object.   Can I eat it?   Is it food?   As it turned out it was not food and in fact it was hard to get a hold on it and keep it still.   The shiny object seemed to roll all over the place.   When it rolled on to the floor Sprightly was afraid the "Giant" heard it and would come to investigate.  He thought, "I'd better skedaddle"

I thought long and hard about if it would be a good idea to use this dark book that was about the same color/value as the mouse.   In the end you can see I decided to keep the book.  There is basically three colors and I think it unifies the painting.  And I'm sticking to it!

Bronze mouse by Steve Worthington

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"Sketches of Kyle Johnson" 11"x14" charcoal on grey Canson paper

To purchase, please contact me. $50 each

This afternoon I went down to 21c hotel/museum where they have Cabaret Life Drawing sessions every Sunday.  Kyle Johnson was our model and the ones at the top were 3-5 minutes sketches and the two at the bottom are about 20 minutes each.

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"Three blind mice" 7"x5" oil on canvas

To purchase, please contact me. $100

 Sprightly found these three blind mice (he knew they were blind because their eyes were white) and they were telling him to beware of the knife.  He was mesmerized because they were singing this rhyme... and from then on he was wary of knives and farmers wives, what ever those were!

Three blind mice, three blind mice,

See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

Chocolate mice from Cake Flour and bronze mouse from Steve Worthington

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"Amanda, profile" 12"x9" oil

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This was the second session for this model.  Her profile was pointed out by another artist and I agreed that that it was a fine profile!  Don't you agree?

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"Hiding in plain sight" 7"x5" oil on Ray Mar panel

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Sprightly was hiding behind the bottle oblivious to the fact that he could be seen.    H was about to make his way across the room to visit some friends.

This wonderful bronze mouse was made by Steve Worthington. View more of his work on his blog.

I struggled with this one today.   I find that some days it falls into place and other days it is not so easy.  

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"Caught in the act" 7"x5" oil on Ray Mar panel

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Sprightly was caught in the act!     I couldn't resist the obvious.   I had to get some swiss cheese to tempt Sprightly so he would come out of hiding.

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"I smell coffee!" 6"x6", oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

Sprightly was aimlessly walking around this morning when he came across this large green vessel.  "I smell coffee!" he thought as he took a sniff.   Just then "She" walked in and came straight over and reached.... Sprightly ducked as she grabbed the vessel and was secretly glad she didn't see him.   For you see he was afraid of the large giant that was always lurking about and moving things.    It irritated him that when he woke up he could never be sure if his favorite things would be in the same place!

This little bronze mouse is made by Steve Worthington.    To see more of his work please visit his website and blog. 

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"Looking thinner" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Sprightly Mouse was nosing about when he happened to see his reflection in a silver cup.   He said out loud, to no one in particular, "Is that me?  I seem to be looking thinner!"

This little bronze mouse, Sprightly, was made by Steve Worthington.  You can see his blog for more paintings of his mice.

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"Iris beauty" 6"x6" oil

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This is the last iris from my garden.  After taking Sunday off I'll be back on Monday.

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"Iris cocktail" 5"x7" oil on Ray Mar panel

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I understand that you can eat tulips but you can't or rather shouldn't eat irises because they are poisonous.    

Here darling, want a cocktail?

I purchased some Ray Mar panels to see what they are like.  The weave of canvas is larger that I like and lately I have been grooving on the plain Ampersand Gessobord.  

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"Iris siblings" 5"x7" oil on canvas

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We've been having a cold spell and the iris have slowed their growth.   Today there were two of them on the same stem, they worked well in a vertical format.   This morning it rained so hard that it was dark outside and I had to turn on some lights to see what I was painting.    Now the storm has passed and the sun is out... well sort of.

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"Iris with a leaf" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Saturday's painting did not go as planned, after working on it for 4 hours, I realized it was totally unacceptable so I wiped it all off and moved on to work on other paintings.  These little rusty/red irises are smaller and more fragile than my dark purple ones and I had a little trouble setting this one up.   After much struggle I finally have something to show.  

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"Iris, silver, glass" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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I choose colors based on the Munsell color wheel.   It is hard to find and expensive to boot so I painted one for myself.  The Iris is a dark redish purple so I chose a complementary color for the background, grey/green.  There is also a lost edge, do you see it?

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"Clink, Clink!" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Break out the Champagne!   Today marks my One Year Anniversary for my Painting a Day!  Who would have thought that I could do this for a year.  I want to thank all of you who have been faithfully following me all this time.  I have around 90 subscribers and 46 followers (I must confess that I don't know what the difference is).  You are the ones that keep me going through the rough spots.   

A toast to you!!  Clink Clink!

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"Iris Ilean" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Even though the irises look beautiful and I love painting them, I do miss walking to the bakery and getting something wonderful to eat every day.   I know I can still go but there is no necessity and I get some satisfaction that it is better for my budget and waistline.  Can you eat irises?

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"What did you say?" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Iris had to lean over to hear what Marble was saying.   He was asking her if she liked being out of the garden.  She supposed it was alright but couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying because she was transfixed on the sparkle in his eye.

Painting these irises is sort of like abstract painting because there are so many contours catching the light that the object that your painting is not a thing but a  grouping of color values.  

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"Iris meets Marble" 6"x6" oil on gessobord

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One minute I'm in the garden smiling in the sun and the next I'm shorter and in a small bottle on a table.   There is this little blue round thing staring at me!    Seems pleasant enough, although it doesn't say much.

As you can see I have started a new series.  My irises have sprung up in the garden and I must use this opportunity to paint them.   Even though I don't usually like painting flowers, these irises are interesting to me.   Maybe it is the way the petals are not uniform.  Love the way the light shows the curves of the flower and the interesting silhouette against the background.

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"Opera cakes" 6"x6" oil on gessobord

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This sure is one wet and gloomy Derby day.   The weather man says it is 67° but my meter reads 63° and with the rain I sure am glad I'm not at the track.  Walked over to Cake Flour this morning with my hot pink umbrella and got these two luscious little cakes.   The one marked "opera" is dark chocolate with hazelnut creme and the other one is dark chocolate with raspberry creme.   Just think of me eating this cake at the Derby post time this Saturday afternoon.  (I'm going to exercise extra hard before so I can indulge.)

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