"Been Chewing on it" ( SOLD )

One of my favorite art forms is collage. I haven't focused on it for awhile, but when I get together with my Thursday Painters Group, I try and do something different from my normal attempts at art.

I found this picture of the sheep in a magazine and decided to try doing a collage with it. I cut out the sheep and some trees from another magazine; pasted them pictures down on a piece of Gatorboard and then decided to paint on top of all that I had pasted down. The title came from a sentence I found in another magazine, which is located at the base of the trees.

Plein Air Price $100.

My friend and fellow artist Wendy Dehart, http://www.wendydehart.com/ asked me to go out recently to paint in a local park. Our plan was to go out later in the day, around four o'clock to catch the afternoon long shadows. Well, it's Portland and while the summer has been beautiful and now that fall is approaching we didn't get to catch the long shadows. We had really no shadows as the afternoon just became overcast. We decided to paint anyway and this is my attempt at Plein Air. I have only been painting outdoors a handful of times and always seem overwhelmed. I have a hard time narrowing down what I want to paint. My daughter commented she thought the trees looked like they are doing a plie'. I realized I painted both trees with the same "V's" in their branches making them very repetative. Posting the photo's always gives me a differnt perspective of my paintings. It's a very good tool to help see what I don't always see when I'm painting.
I have another friend that has put her art on a new web sites for artist. Check out Patty Ryan's art at:http://greenfabric.com/ and also her blog; http://shialavati.blogspot.com/

Blue Nile (Agapanthus)

This is the most recent painting in the flower series. It's the first time I have worked on a canvas that is deep (1 1/2 inches ) on the side and the flowers continue on the edges. Nice not too have to frame this one. If you click on the picture you can get a larger view of the painting.

Lipstick #2 ( SOLD )

This is another painting in the cosmetic series. I have been painting this on my own prepared gessoed Gatorboard panels. It's been a challenge. I realized that I do prefer painting on canvas, but the panels with the smooth surface; let me do a more detailed painting. The gallery I am in wants some some smaller paintings for the Holiday show, so I will do a few more before the October dead line. My painting time has been limited this summer. Our Daughter gave birth to premature ( two month early ) twin boys in June; so I feel fortunate that we are close by to help care for them now that the boys are both home.

lipstick #1 ( SOLD )

I thought I'd give myself a break from the flower series and start another series with a different subject that I thought would be fun to try and paint. I also wanted to try approaching the subject with more drama or perhaps graphicness.....I don't know, this is my second attempt, several years ago I did an oil of nail polish bottles, which I enjoyed the challenge of painting. I will post that painting next to get perhaps some comments on this new direction of subject matter.

I do have another flower painting started and am hoping to have more than one painting going at a time. My daughter gave birth to twin boys that were two months premature. Both boys are finally home, so I try and help as much as I can to give her a little rest. I have been painting in the evening, which I find kind of difficult with the fading light.

I should really take a new photo of this painting, the tubes are standing straight, I think I didn't have the painting upright enough.

Pastel Sketch and Cone Flower Painting

The top picture is the pastel sketch I worked from. I originally tried painting the intense yellow and greens I had in the sketch, but felt the painting was screaming at me. Sometimes I find it hard to work large from such a small sketch. I had to improvise too much in the painting and therefore I am not happy with how the painting is going. Any suggestions?

Zinna Tango

Another finished in the dried flower series. I haven't had much time to paint lately. My daughter just gave birth to preemie twin boys named Cole and Jack. The boys are doing really well for such little guys ( 32 weeks). So I spend time with my daughter at the hospital until the boys can come home. I am in the process though of squeezing in time for a sketch on a new canvas, so I can start that painting. Not sure if I am liking the blue centers on the two flowers to the left...should they be more purple or toned down perhaps?

Back at it

My beautiful Grandchildren were visiting from LA so I put painting on hold for awhile. I started back on this painting and as usual am wondering how to tackle the background, which always seems to be my nemesis. I tried following the pastel sketch I had been working from but the lower area with the pale lavender just wasn't working. Now I am trying more white, so I shall see where that takes me.

In a Gallery!

I recently was accepted into a new Art Gallery/Framing store ( is a gallery a store? ) opened by Annie Howden. She has relocated her business from the West Linn area to my town of Oregon City. Needless to say it's wonderful to see my work hanging in a gallery. Annie has done an amazing job of renovating the space to 3000 sq feet which was a former garage/ pizza parlor and karate studio. Annie had a open house this past Friday ( the 16Th) which was standing room only and she provided us with delicious appetizers and beverages. Annie said she was thrilled with the response and several artists sold works that evening.

The finished Commision (SOLD )

I was asked to post the finished commision piece. It was a wedding gift and I spoke to the Bride and Groom who say they are very happy with the painting. Any comments?

From pastel to Oil

I recently started a new oil. Earlier I posted the pastel sketch that I am working from. I also have the dried flowers as reference, but find most of the painting is coming from my imagination, especially the composition. As always working this way I am usually not sure which direction the background will take. I'm still trying to work that out in my mind. The pastel sketch has a mid tone lavender in the lower half. It was suggested to me to make that darker, but I need to work out more of the leaves in that area to figure out what to do there.....any suggestions?

New Start

I am in the middle of framing the Hydrangea painting and getting it ready to be shipped off to Texas next week. I will post a picture of the finished piece in a few weeks.
Many times before I start a new flower painting in oil I will do a pastel to get composition and color ideas. So I thought I would post the various stages of this new Zinnia painting.

Nothing new

I haven't posted any more pictures of the Hydrangea painting because I don't want the person who the painting is for to see it before it is finished. The painting will be shipped off at the end of April. I am almost finished with the painting, but have had some problem areas that I had to work out. I am anxious to get it finished so I can start a new painting!

Hydrangea's

This is the start of a new painting, actually a commission I am doing. First I sketched out various arrangements in my sketch book. Then I photographed what I felt was the best composition. So, now I am working from several photo's and the original dried hydrangea's. I toned the canvas with an oil and gamsol wash of Burnt Sienna; then since I was working from a photo I gridded out the canvas and sketched in the composition with white pastel pencil.

Oranges,

Well. once again it's been awhile since I have posted any art work. My wonderful family keeps me busy. My daughter is expecting twin boys, so she and I have been working on setting up the nursery. Then I went to Los Angeles to take care of my adorable grandchildren ages 5 and 3, while their parents went on a business trip to New York City. I'm still working on the flower series and have been working up ideas to start a new painting. In the mean time I did this small painting for a show I am having at a local coffeehouse/cafe in Portland.

Done..I think?? (SOLD)

I have had a terrible time lately trying to post new pictures on my blog. I have been very frustrated with the whole process. My poor husband has had to come to my screaming rescue every time. I think we have finally figured out what the problem is. I usually have the Internet up while I try and post. That seems to be the problem ...we think. So here is my last post for this painting. I think I might rework the top leaf, but probably I will put the painting away for awhile, then bring it out months from now which sometimes helps to see where it needs work. Sometimes I ask for comments to see which direction I should go with a painting;but I generally don't get any comments which is a disappointment because it really helps to get feed back ( good or bad ) on what other people see in my work. I am definitely going to continue doing the flowers series because from what I have seen in galleries most artist seem to do a series on one subject. I imagine it shows a consistency in an artists body of work.

More Petals

I finally had time to work on the painting today, now that Thanksgiving is over. I took this picture before I decided to change the shape on the first leaf. But, I feel I still need to work on the shape some more. Hopefully tomorrow will have better results. I also haven't decided how much of the pink in the background that I want to bring down to the bottom.

Any comments on what to do in the background be would great!!!

START OF NEW PAINTING

I have started a new painting in the series of dried flowers. I thought I would try to post some of the attempts at this one as I go along.
Not sure if I will always remember to take a picture of each painting session but I will give it a try. It seems as though watching my own progress though a series of photographs of the painting sometimes helps me see where I might be going wrong or what needs to be rethought.

Autumn Flowers

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This was my next attempt in the Flower Series I have started. Again, I am trying to get some movement in the Petals. I am working from a variety of flowers I have dried over the summer. I really need some comments left on my blog, so please feel free to give me your thoughts on this recent direction of paintings!

If you aren't able to leave a comment on the blog by clicking comments, please leave a comment at my email address, jacmacpdx@gmail.com....Thanks!

Reaching for the Sun

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted any new work. I have recently felt the need to work larger and to start a series. Sometimes trying to decide which direction to go in painting can be an emotional one. This is my first attempt at a series of Flowers. I really enjoyed trying to capture the movement I saw in the petals.