"Eel hand roll" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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Eel is delicious!   For all you who don't eat sushi, the eel is cooked and the outside of this roll is a wrapping made of seaweed which really does not have any flavor to speak of it just holds it all together.   Yum!

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"Carolyn in red" 11" x 14" oil on canvas

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The model had fun today wearing the red tulle dress with sequins.   Or maybe the dress wore her.  Either way it was quite festive.  Maybe next week I will put more of the dress in the picture.

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"Salmon Roe" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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This sushi came from a favorite little sushi restaruant here in Louisville KY called Osaka, on Frankfort Ave.   It's in an old neighborhood and the building used to be soda fountain place back in the 1950's.  

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"Rainbow roll" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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I love the rainbow roll because it has all my favorites on top of the roll.   Well it does not have the eel which is also a favorite.   One of my favorite parts was the reflections that the chop sticks make in the soy sauce.

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"Sushi Break!" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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As you can see I have started a new series.   I love sushi but it has gotten so expensive!   I guess because it is popular now.   I think I liked it better when it wasn't so popular.    If I can paint it fast enough I can eat it.

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"Sushi dreams" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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I love sushi. Sushi what I love to eat. Bite they little heads off and nibble on they tiny feet.

Actually this poem was written by a cat and was about mice.   I used creative liberties. 

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"Scout" 8"x8" oil on wood panel

Commission

Scout is another Corgi.  You can just see in her eyes what a sweetheart she is.  I chose blue just because I thought it looked best with her and knowing her personality and come to find out that is the color they use when showing her.   Amazing!

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"Girl with turban" 8"x10" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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There was a vacant spot right in front of the model so I took it.  I worked larger than usual and the goal was to use only one brush, and miracle of miracles I DID!   I can't believe it.  AND I used a filbert!   I thought I would never  use a filbert!   I used a Robert Simmons, Signet #3 filbert, hog bristle.   I used to do larger heads but in the past 2-3 years I have been doing small heads maybe 2" and half the figure on a 6x8 or 8x10, but today I did a whole head on an 8x10!   Let me tell you... it was easier!   And I only had one brush to clean!  Woo Hoo!

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"Spencer" 8"x8" oil on wood panel

Commission

Spencer is a very bright, smart Corgi with lots of outgoing personality so I decided to use red as a background.   

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"Bravo" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

To purchase, please contact me. $100

These are three of my favorite art books.  The top one is a book of paintings and drawings on Claudio Bravo,(printed in Spain in 2005),  a living artist who paints portraits, figurative, still lifes in a realist, painterly style and is very prolific.  Click here to see some of his images.  

The blue book is a book of Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema, printed in 1997.  He painted mostly Egyptian and roman people in everyday event settings with a wonderful understanding of the details of the architecture, costumes and accessories which allowed him to create such convincing illusions of the ancient world.

The red book is called Socialist Realist paintings and has art that spans Russian painting before the 1917 revolution through 1990, the decline of Socialist realism.   Most of the paintings range from 1930 - 1964.   The painters are fabulous!   I love their use of color and paint texture.

This small tiny brass loop was made in Germany and belonged to my father.  Engraved on the top was the name of the printing company he worked for in the 1950 and 60's.  It folds up and has it's own leather case.

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"Scrutinizer" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

To purchase, please contact me. $100

This little thing is called a loop and is used to inspect printing dots on a 4 color run.  This one belonged to my father who was a printer.  It has a black metal base with a top part that swivels to view.  It has been used hundreds of time and the box it is stored in is a sight in its self.   For perspective, this is a miniature book that is 3"x 4".

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"Eyeing Rubins" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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These glasses are my favorite, I think they're from 1920 or before.   The book is about Peter Paul Rubins.   The book pages are white but in the lamplight made it have a yellow cast.

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"Fine print" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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OK, I know there are no eye glasses in this painting but I thought the use of the magnifying glass was enough.  I got this favorite magnifying glass of mine in an antique store about 14 years ago.  I thought it was perfect for this painting of my dictionary.  The chipped metal base is a magnet. 

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"Andelusia" 8"x10" oil on gessobord

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At the end of the session today I asked the model what her name was in the outfit she was wearing.  She replied "Andelusia"   Great name.   I decided to work larger today, usually I do half the figure on this size panel.    It was fun doing a larger head for a change.

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"Lentil soup" 6"x8" oil on canvas

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My mother gave me this cook book in 1973 a year before I got a divorce, maybe if I had had it earlier I might still be married... naaa!   She never wanted us in the kitchen except to clean up so I did not learn to cook.   This was her way of teaching me, I guess.   This book has everything  and I have worn it out and especially the page on lentil soup.  The illustrations are sooo 70"s.

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"Sewing book" 8"x6" oil on canvas

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This Singer Sewing Book was published in 1949 and covers everything from hand sewing to upholstery including clothing, drapes, decorating your home and even making a car bassinet!  Here is one of the first sentences in the book and it will show you how people thought at that time, "The purpose of this book is to put into your hands in one complete package the means of attaining one of the happiest experiences of a woman's everyday life. Sewing, when it is done with skill and confidence, can be exactly that, for it can mean the satisfaction of family needs and wishes through the work of your own hands."

I have been sewing since I was 10 and it has brought much joy and misery to my life.  I have to tell you though that this book of 240 pages is my bible when I want to do a corded buttonhole or pocket or have any other questions about sewing.   

Never did make a bassinet.

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"Lost in thought" 6"x8" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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Well  Duh!   I could use an art book as a prop!  It just occurred to me today!    Then the decision was... which one?!   This book, Gondola Days, is about Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Plazzo Barbaro Circle in Venice.  This magnificent palace on the Grand Canal has been occupied by the Curtis family, expatriates from Boston since 1881 and over the decades has had a stream of notable visitors, including Henry James, Robert Browning, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet.  I listen to audio books while I paint and last year I listened to "The City of Fallen Angels" by John Berendt, which is a nonfiction thriller set in venice.  It centered around the opera house which burned under mysterious circumstances three days before Berendt's arrival in early 1996.   When I saw there was a book about some of the people he wrote about I just had to have it.    Have I read it?  No, but I have looked at the pictures!  

(This is probably more information than you ever wanted to know.) 

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"A good summer read" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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Little paperback books always remind me of summer reading on vacation.  Taking them with you on the trip or buying one at the airport so it made sense to me to have sunglasses with the book and having bright yellow because of the sunlight.   The hook for me was to show the glow on the opposite page and the glow on the in between pages.

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"Mary's Gold" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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This was an interesting painting to do.  Someone commissioned me to do this painting of their vase which has a special meaning in their life along with the Marigolds.   I loved the way the reflected light plays on the shadow side of the vase.

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"Carlton" 8"x10" oil on Ampersand gessobord

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Our model this past two fridays has been Carlton Ridge who is also an artist and jewelry designer known through out the US.  She patiently sat still and was a great model.   Don't you just love her color combinations!

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"Leonard Cohen Poems" 6"x6" oil on Ampersand gessoboard

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This is a book of Leonard Cohen's poems and yes some of them are are his songs.   I love his writing.   My favorite part about this painting is where the earpiece touches the book and the light shining through leaves an amber glow.

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"By the book" 6"x6" oil on gessobord

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When I first finished this one I thought I had wasted my time.   But after leaving it for a 4 or 5 hours I think it looks  better than I thought.   I want to thank everyone who leaves comments on my blog.  Your comments are great because they often give me a different perspective.   Thank You!! 

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"Taking note" 6"x6" oil on gessobord

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At first I had just the book and glasses but I felt that something else was needed and preferably something of color.    This red pencil spoke to me and wanted to be in the picture.   I like the shadow that it cast on the book and green surface.

Side note: I want to thank all the people  (you know who you are!) that have made comments on my blog. I do read all of them and often smile smile smile.  Thank you again!

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"Good reading!" 6"x6"

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Today I'm starting a new series.  I love the way eye glasses cast shadows on surfaces.   This series will include eye glasses and books.  I'm excited!

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"Singled out" 6"x6" oil on gessobord

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I couldn't resist just one more orchid painting.  

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