Old Friends

Old Friends  6x6 oil on museum board

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I just loved the gesture of this old woman walking and 

her dedication to come and feed the birds

everyday.

They seemed like old friends and

really kept each other going.

That's what friends do:)

I do love the juicy paint in this one and would like

to try it larger and see if I can keep

the same paint quality.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks so much for following along and 

letting me share my art/life with you.

Kronenbourg Beer

Kronenbourg Beer  5 x 7 oil on museum board

to purchase click here

There's a little cafe down the street from my house where

the locals like to hang out. I love the Kronenbourg beer sign

and see it often.

Produced in Alsace it has over 40 per cent of the market share in France!

Sports Center

Sports Center 8x8 oil on museum board

for purchasing info click here

No matter where I go in the world, some things never change!

The season is here!  I hope all my stateside friends

enjoyed Thanksgiving (and football). I've just returned from

a wonderful break stateside for a family wedding.

I really enjoyed seeing everyone.

What would I do without the internet and Skype?

At the end of the day

"Happiness is found in friendships we make along the way."

-unknown

Where shall I start?

To my good friends near and far, I couldn't have made it through this move without you. 

And special thanks to those who came to visit (three different sets of them) and help me re-acclimate to my French life.  I couldn't have indulged in all the laughter,

the decadent cuisine, the incredible desserts, foie gras, meursault , chocolate, award winning macaroons

 all by myself now could I?

After all, what are friends for?

Thanks for the calories, I mean, memories!

Now it's time to, squeeze back into my work britches.

It must have been the French who invented sans a belt pants.

At the End of the Day 6x6 oil on museum board

more info click here

I loved the quiet intimate mood of this couple.  I can only guess what they were discussing. You might be about to tell whether you're a optimist or a pessimist by what you think they are saying.

I worked on this painting in the morning but wasn't satisfied with it and moved on to

something else. Just when I was about to clean up for the day I decided to pull

it back out and do a "make it or break it" maneuver.

I had a few colors left on my palette and some nice gray mixes.  I went back into

the painting, eliminated all the fussy detail, and kept what I felt was essential.

 I can only speculate on this couple's conversation and it was the same with the

painting process. I took a gamble and gave it a shot. In this

case I like what happened at the end of the day.

End of the Day

End of the Day  9x12 oil on board

for purchasing info click here

I love this time when people begin

to relax and unwind at the end of the day.

The shadows begin to lengthen 

but the sun is still sharing it's brilliant light with us.

Museum Guide

Museum Guide 9x12 oil on board

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Wishing a happy Labor Day to my 

friends stateside.

I hope you do something you really enjoy today!

 

 

Déjeuner

  Déjeuner 6x6 oil on museum board

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  déjeuner = lunch in French:)

Pizza and red wine? Why not it's France and it's lunchtime.

No wonder I'm always so happy there;)

 

 

 

 

She Loves Me

She Loves Me  8x8 oil on board

sold

When my kids were young I used to get asked to

paint alot of  children's portraits.

Now that I'm older more mature it's

grand babies.

 

Sweet!

 

 

 

 

Sun Bathers

Sun Bathers  6x6 oil on museum board

to purchase for $100 click here

There's a beautiful park near my house that overlooks

the rocky Maltese shore. There is always something interesting

to paint there. I meet there with a friend to paint every week.

It's become a joke with us that whatever I choose to paint

moves almost immediately. I definitely need to

paint faster!

Snoozin'

Snoozin'  6x6 oil on museum board

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My friend Jeni Caurana and I were painting in the

park and hit the jack pot with this guy dozing in the

sunshine with his hands crossed.

 

He woke up, noticed us, and came over to 

have a look.  I asked him what he thought and he said-

"I'm going to go back over and hold my stomach in!"

LOL

 

 

Strollin'

Strollin' 5x7 oil on museum board

to purchase for $100 click here

Is this gentleman the quintessentially British chap or what?

Even my British friends say so.

I loved his character as I saw him strolling along the

seafront and he politely posed for me to

snap his photo.

Artistically I was worried that he would look

too stiff in the the painting, being so

proper and everything, but

I think I lost enough edges in the process to

keep it from being too ridged.

What do you think?

Shufflin' Along

Shufflin' Along  5x7 oil on board

to purchase for $100 click here

I loved the character of the old fellow

shuffling along the seafront in the Maltese sunshine.

Keep on keeping on! 

Remember that expression? You know

who you are, and we're NOT going

to talk about age any more.

We're as young as we think;)

Enthralled

Enthralled 6x6 oil on museum board

to purchase for $100 click here

The warm weather and sunshine has people hanging 

out in parks and on the benches that dot the

seafront in Malta.  It's one

of my favorite spring subjects!

I feel for you guys that still have snow.

Book Enthusiast

Book Enthusiast  6x6 oil on board

 

When I saw this collector on the left bank in Paris

I had to snap a reference photo to

bring back to my studio.

I love a good book don't you?

I'm trying to stay as loose as possible and still give you 

enough information to understand the subject.

It's a really fun process inspired by my 

recent flirtation with watercolors.

 

Thanks for viewing and comments are welcomed!

to purchase for $100 click here

 

 

In The Weeds

In The Weeds  6x6 oil on board

All that blogging I did yesterday about Burgundy and

all the delicious specialties they serve there

made me kinda hungry.

And we all know where this delicious food is created don't we?

Out of all the paintings I've done for the recent challenge on

Leslie's blog

this is probably my favorite.

Maybe it's because I had the most fun painting it.

Pity it's the last day,

I feel like I was just getting warmed up.

No pun intended!

to purchase for $100 click here

Bahama Mama

Bahama Mama  6 x 6 oil on board

This was a pleasure to paint.  I like to continue down

this path and see where it leads. I've attempted to

not overwork the paint and be bolder

and less fussy with my mark making.

Something I do before I lay on the color is to

decide what harmony I'm going for.

In this case it was a Tetrad with the primary being blue-violet

and yellow-orange and the secondary red-orange and

blue-green.  I have all the colors laid out on my

palette and will use them as well to bend the color bias with.

I do this intuitively once I've made set my original 

intention so it gets a bit sloppy sometimes,

But for the most part I think the colors worked out OK.

to purchase for $100 click here

Al Fresco

Al Fresco  6x6   oil on board

There are usually two sides to every story or a couple of ways

to look at the same thing. Painting is like that for me.

It's awesome because I'm on an endless adventure

and there's always more to learn.

So that's exciting and frustrating at the same time!

It's exciting to make progress and frustrating because

I never actually arrive, I'm always

looking forward to the next painting.

The actual act of painting is also a push/pull.  I'd like to

say more with less, so it's a game of adding and subtracting.  

Did I say too much or not enough?

Sometimes, if I'm really lucky it feel just right!

to purchase for $100 click here

First Cup

First Cup  6x6 oil on board

I really had fun with this little oil painting.  One

of my goals is to be as loose as possible but

still be representational.

Hopefully you'll enjoy viewing these painterly

qualities as much as I enjoyed

the process.

 

to purchase for $100 click here
sold

 

Hip Hop

Hip Hop  6 x 6  oil on board

This was a painting I was supposed to finish yesterday,

but just as I got started the whole country

of Malta had a black out!

My computer has two monitors, one of which

I keep right beside my easel so that

when I work from photos I

see much better colors.

I enjoyed doing these motion paintings

and I wanted to get one more

done to post before the challenge ends tomorrow.

to purchase for $100 click here 
Sold

 

Jump!

Jump! 6 x 6 oil on board

I've always wanted to try to paint motion, so when my buddy 

Francesco Fontana

posted the 'paint movement' challenge

on DailyPaintworks

I thought it was a good excuse to try!

My plans for posting remotely didn't go as well as

I hoped so I've been MIA. The internet was out

where we stayed while we were abroad, which I

didn't expect.  I also didn't expect to land with

a flu virus. I haven't been sick in ages

and it really bites.

Not that I'm making excuses......

I'm just sayin'

life happens.

Glad to be gettin' back in the groove.

to purchase for $100 click here