Vietnam

We had a trip to Phu Quoc Island, off the southern tip of Vietnam (and Cambodia actually). This is a scene from the day we spent on the beach with some of the fishing baskets from our December trip to Doc Let beach. Guys get in these huge baskets and paddle out to set or collect nets.

Finally getting the time...

After a long absence, I broke out the pastels, at least to make it worthwhile to have hauled them all the way over here. I started with a vineyard warm-up.

Self Portrait

In my oil painting class, we were to paint an "alternate personality" self portrait. He suggested it be theatrical, possibly wearing a mask. Well, this is my alternate personality...I wish I were relaxing in my beautiful tub.

We also painted live from the nude model, a first for me. I wanted it to be anonymous, so chose an angle where I could not see (and therefore did not have to paint!) her face. For the background, I thought, why paint her in a dingy studio when she would look best if looking out a window at the ocean.

This is Ted, enjoying a glass of wine in the studio. 12"x16" oil

This is my mom's barn with the mustard flowers in full glorious bloom (FGB). 9"x12" oil on canvas panel

My First Showing!

I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to show some of my paintings for the first time at a local art show and fall festival. It was fun to meet local artists and help with the show. Everyone was so nice and I received some compliments on my work, which feels so good! AND...I sold 4 paintings! I am so excited that people liked my work well enough to take it home! I am thrilled! Here are some photos of my work hanging at the show...

8" x 10" oil on canvas

Here is another painting in the lemons series! It was nice to finally have some sun yesterday, so the shadows were great. I painted this in the dining room with the direct sun hitting the lemon and white tablecloth.

5" x 7" oil

Another view of the Meyer lemons on the blue plate here, this time from above. Again I focused on the composition and tried to stay loose with bolder brushstrokes. I am enjoying working with the lemons and am learning as I go!

Lemon Series

3 Lemons on a Blue Plate 8" x 10" oil on canvas

More lemons from my mom's tree. These are on a dark blue Fiesta plate and a cloth. In this painting, I tried to be more loose and "painterly," that is, bolder brushstrokes and less refining. I had a hard time with such restraint, but it was fun and I am happy with the result. I decided to tone down the highlights on the 2 rear lemons and I think it helps bring out the front lemon.

Finally Finished Photos

Here, finally, are photos of the new studio complete with cool furnishings!

One of my work stations, looking very clean and neat (for the photos only)

Treacherous stairs with new handrail and a Bonnie Peterson from 1975

Ted's chair with a warm spot for feet (it was supposed to be my chair by the way...)

Cool sofa, cooler table made by Ted, even cooler lamp made by Ted (that Ted!) and my cabinet for stashing art supplies and a really cool fishy vase on the wall.

Cool lights retrofitted by me.

Bookshelf with a Bella basket by Ted's aunt Margie on top with lighting designes specifically to highlight the basket (but not showing up in photos).

So there you have it. I have to admit to still painting in the kitchen right by the wood stove when it is really cold out. But I love the studio!

5" x 7" oil on canvas panel

This is one of my mom's lemons from her tree. I crammed some into my carry-on to bring home. A friend commissioned a lemon painting after I gave her one of the delicious lemons - Meyer of course! Painting is a little slow right now as we have several visitors and I have work to finish. But my mom just mailed a box of lemons, so I'll have many to paint over the next month! I am planning to do a series of lemon paintings, and also experiment with different styles and compositions. I'll have to force myself to feel free to experiment and play around, but since I love lemons, I think they will be a good subject for this.

What really goes on in the studio...

So this is what I have been working on...2 portraits of my Pizza! And can I just say, he is the cutest! OK now, about the paintings... I used some pictures that I took when I was visiting this summer. In the second painting, he has a really cute look on his face, but I had such a hard time with the eyes and mouth. I think the eyes finally look like him, but the mouth might not be quite right. But overall I think you would know it was Pizza. The first one I think is right on! It didn't give me nearly the trouble as the second one. I should add that the reference photo for the first painting was of much better quality than the second, and that may have made some of the difference. Another factor might be having the mouth open vs closed. I'm not sure about this, but I don't think many portraits have open mouths (and I may have found out why!). Yes, these are gifts, but the recipients never check my blog :( so I figured it was safe to post them!

My New Studio!

Let me start by saying that we can hardly believe the transformation! Maybe we are patting ourselves on the back too much here, but see what you think. Since we moved here 6 years ago, this room has been known as "The Scary Room," as you can see in the first pictures...

Our best guess is that the room was last occupied in the early 1900s, therefore I probably don't need to mention how sick it was to wash the floor before priming... When we first moved in, this room was the least of our problems and we figured we'd just never go in there. But then, as we finished other rooms, and especially the fabulous bathroom just on the other side of the door, it became the room that we'd have to renovate, just so when we sell the house, the people don't open the door and pass out! Then we thought, wow, it could be a really cool studio! So one day while I was in CA, Ted was home alone and decided to gut the room instead of work on the bathroom project that we had going on...

He found mud wasps and other really gross stuff that I won't mention.

And he also found a cool brick chimney and some very cool accordion lathe from pre-1825!

Please note his "nest" on the floor of tools and stuff that I have been working around for 6 years.

The room had no insulation, so he ordered some spray foam insulation, completely falling for their motto: "Unleash The Beast!"

Then Ted rebuilt all of the original 6 by 6 windows. It sounds like I was just sitting on my butt!

But no, I was having fun taping and mudding the joints of the sheetrock, leaving the collar ties exposed because it would have been too easy to cover them up!

And finally, after months, we started painting!
Note the sick floor! I also did wiring for 8 outlets and 4 overhead lights with 3-way switches. Ted installed speaker wire in the walls running to the bookshelf. And we did countless other things to make it nice, but let's move on to the final photos...Ta Daa!

We built a bookshelf with wiring for a light switch and 2 outlets since this wall is the outside of the brick wall of the main house, therefore no light switch in a brick wall. I'm so proud of my bookshelf design!

And wow! Look at that amazing sheetrock job!

Now, the room is so cool, it might be too cool for a studio! To celebrate, Ted took me on an early birthday extravaganza to IKEA where we picked out some uber cool furniture. I love IKEA and we had the best time! When we get it all arranged I'll post final pictures, probably next week.

And no, we never imagined that we wound stand in that room in bare feet with clean clothes on.

2 Red Apples

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel

This is the third in my series of apple paintings! These 2 apples are from our old apple tree. The tree has had more apples this year than any other. We have been enjoying many apple pies (possibly too many). The apples are sitting on a scrap from the posts that went into the Little House restoration this summer. I needed something to elevate them for a better composition and I like the color of the wood. I am going to try to get at least one more apple painting before they are all frozen. I have not had much painting time as we have been pushing ourselves to finish the studio. We are getting close! We put up shelves on the tops of the knee walls to cap the top of the wall but leave the large beams exposed. I tested out one of the shelves with my favorite little vineyard painting!

Apple & Bottle

5" x 7" Oil

Another attempt at this apple with an old bottle that Ted found under the porch.

Russet Apple

5" x 7" Oil on Canvas

I found some beautiful apples at the orchard nearby. This one is golden with russet markings on the skin. I think they have over 40 varieties, this may have to be a series! Our ancient apple tree has wonderful apples for the first time since we've been here. I'd like to paint some of those as well.

Fall Barn

9" x 12" Watercolor

This is a quick, 1-hour plein air study of the barn across the street surrounded by fall color. I'd like to try different versions of this in the studio (when it is finished!).

Fall Hollow

9" x 12" Watercolor

The hollow has incredible color this fall. This scene shows it in the afternoon with shadows on the steep slopes and the tan fields in the foreground. This was painted en plein air just up the hill.

10" x 14" Watercolor

Fall is here and this beautiful tree sits at the edge of the field behind our house. This was painted en plein air at the peak of this tree's color.

When we moved here, there were only 2 houses on this street. In the other house live 2 brothers, Randy and Bob. Although, we call him Boob because when he first introduced himself he said "Hi, My name's Bob, but Daddy used to call me Boob." That was the kind of statement that makes you wonder if he wants to be called Boob. We've made friends with Randy and Boob which they like since I think many people in town remember them for their wild younger days. Luckily we missed those and they are now fairly mellow in their late 60s.

Randy and Boob grow pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers every summer and sell them on their picnic table out in front with a sign reading "Fuddy Duddy Ranch." The first summer, when Ted and I started growing pumpkins, Randy would come over on his 4-wheeler "Bertha" and check out our pumpkins. Naturally, this turned into a competition. Despite Randy's threats to sneak over under the cover of darkness and cut the stems, Ted won the first year with a 75 pounder.

Ted, Randy, & Bertha with the 2004 winner.

We felt a little guilty winning with access to better seeds. So since then, I buy the seeds and start them in pots, then distribute them, which might be more than fair! Since 2004, Randy has "squashed" Ted in the competition. Since he was winning, he even raised the stakes from a 6 pack of Budweiser in cans to a bottle of Black Velvet (I know you're cringing). Part of this was due to these awful bugs that ate our plants. Finally this year I sought the advice of loal organic gardening experts and we were armed with some natural powder and the book on growing giant pumpkins from my dad. Success! That combined with moving our patch yielded a 155 pounder, even with the rains that basically wiped out Randy's patch. Ted is thrilled and Randy paid up with some Michelob Light! (Is that a step above or below Budweiser?)

The 2008 competition winner on display.

Randy doesn't look as good as he did in 2004. He had a stroke earlier this year and has slowed down significantly. Our parents are only a few years younger than Randy and Boob, but have not led such hard lives. It is interesting to see the differences, especially with smoking. Both Randy and Boob have tried to quit but have been smoking since they were 11 years old. They have both been married and divorced twice and now live in the house where they grew up. Randy did not come over on Bertha this summer nearly as much as in previous years.