Sierra Vista

I decided to do a painting for my boss for Christmas.  He had shown me a couple photos from a fishing trip he had been on in the Sierras, so one morning before he arrived to work, I went onto his computer and printed out one of the photos.  He really seemed to like it!
Linda

My new most favorite saying . . .

A friend gave me a wonderful book recently.  It's called Journal Spilling, by Diana Trout.  It's filled with mixed media techniques.  I came across this saying in the book:  "Be one with the gesso, Grasshopper".  So, I made a little card to represent the saying:

Gift Tags

Gift tags are a fun way to just have some play time in the studio.  Here are a few I made this weekend.
Linda

Ballerina study

Here is a little study I did of a ballerina (6x8).
Linda

Holiday Show

I am excited to announce that one of my paintings was accepted for the "Holiday Treasures, Small Gems" show at the Debra Huse Gallery on Balboa Island.  The show will be on display until January 6th.

Here is a face I painted today.  (8x8)
Linda

Donna Schuster Painting

There is a lovely small art museum near my work.  I walk over there occasionally during my lunch hour.  One of the paintings in their permanent collection is "On the Beach" by Donna Schuster.   Donna Schuster (1883-1953) was on the faculty of the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and spent summers in Laguna Beach where she had a second home.  I love this painting so much that I decided to paint a copy of it - just for my own enjoyment.  It is not exactly the same - I couldn't help put a little bit of my interpretation into it!
Linda

The Queen

I have signed up for a painting workshop next February from a New York artist, Patti Mollica.  She will be teaching the class in acrylic.  I did paint in acrylic for a short period of time many years ago, but decided i needed to "play" a little with it to get more comfortable.  I drew a plain ol' face in charcoal on an 8x8 panel.  Had nothing in mind . . . The Queen emerged! 
Linda

A Day in the Garden

Yesterday, I took a 1-day class from watercolor artist Jane LaFazio - "Sketching and Watercolor - Journal Style".  It was a really special day.  The class was held at the California Center for Creative Renewal in Encinitas.  The owner of the center is Ellen Speert and she is an art therapist.  The grounds are absolutely spectacular.  After Jane would give a little demo, then we would wander out into the garden and find some special little spot and draw and paint. Here are 3 of my little pages (the one on the right is a totem pole in the garden, which was really cool!)  Also a couple photos of the garden.
Linda

Persimmons

Someone at work brought in some persimmons, so decided to do a little still life with them.
Linda

The Gazer

This is a study I painted last night of a lady I saw at the Sausalito Art Festival earlier this month.
Linda

Altered Books

Trying to do something creative every day . . . so, yesterday spent the day with my childhood friend, Beverly, at her lovely studio and we worked on Altered Books.  This is something new for both of us - but we are signed up for an Orly Avineri art journal workshop in November so we are prepping our books.  For those of you not familiar with this process - you take an old, used book and paint the pages with gesso/acrylic paint, glue pages together, cut out some pages, etc. and then add your own artwork/journal writing - whatever you like.  So, this morning, I got up and did the cover of my altered book.  Some photos:

Honorable Mention

I entered two paintings in a local art show -- one was a portrait and the other a little jar of daisies.  In my humble opinion, the portrait was by far the stronger painting - but!  the daisies won an Honorable Mention!  You just never know. . .
Linda

Sunshine

Here is a little study I painted last night (8x8)
Linda

Wild Thing

I recently went up to the Bay area to visit my painting pal, Mary - we each decided to do a self-portrait using acrylic paint (as opposed to my normal oil paint) and to just have fun with it!  Here is mine . . .
Linda

A Different View

I am still trying to get better at doing faces - this one is really different from anything I have tried before. And she certainly didn't turn out looking like the photo I was using as reference, but that is okay - I had fun painting her.
Linda

Wrapped and Ready to Go

So, my commission piece (mentioned in last post) was a success!  I guess all that stressing about it was unfounded!  Ha!  So, it is wrapped and ready for delivery.
Linda

Pt. Reyes Garden

One of my co-workers asked me to do a commission piece - a painting of a family vacation home in Pt. Reyes, California.  I don't usually do commission pieces as I tend to get all anxious about whether or not the end result will be the right thing - but am trying to let go of that - and just enjoy painting.  The nice thing is that I have "free reign" of how I want to paint the house/garden.  The house is sort of rustic looking - I didn't find it that interesting -- but I did like the garden and decided to focus on the chairs and the garden.   I may do another one - we'll see.  But, this is the first attempt.  (8x10)
Linda

Bitsy

I have a very talented artist friend who lives on the East Coast, Susan Medyn.  She has an adorable cat named Bitsy who broke her leg.  Susan is having a special art sale to help with vet bills. 
Go to http://susanmedyn.com/ for Susan's blog to see her artwork and read the full story about Bitsy!
Linda

Pie a la mode

For a little change of pace today, I painted a still life, using only a palette knife.  (8x8)
Linda

Sketchbook pages

I wanted to do something creative today but didn't feel like painting in oil.  So, I pulled out a couple magazines and just did some sketching of figures.  When I first started drawing many years ago, I always used a pencil and had a kneaded eraser in my hand - did a lot of erasing and always wanted to be "perfect".  Now, my preferred tool is a extra fine point Sharpie.  I guess I have grown in the respect that I now don't worry if it's perfect or not.  Sometimes things that aren't perfect are more charming.  My requirement is to have fun.  Of course, it feels good if a drawing/sketch does seem to capture the feel or essence of the figure.
Linda

Blondie

Here is a little French girl creation I painted yesterday.  (6x6 on gessobord)
Linda

Taking a Look at Myself

After doing a self-portrait last week, I looked back at a few other self-portraits I have done over the years - it is interesting to see changes in how I painted them and difference in painting technique (and maybe even how I saw myself).  And yes, it is okay to laugh!  I do consider myself a happy person who is smiling most of the time - isn't it interesting that I paint myself so seriously?
Linda

Self Portrait

It had been several days since I painted (out of town last weekend), so it felt good to be painting today.  I did this self portrait - keep in mind i was holding a mirror in my left hand and painting with my right hand the whole time!  So . . . moi, without the freckles and without my glasses!
Linda

Bow Tie Boy

Here is my latest whimsical creation . . . he's Bow Tie Boy (8x6)
Linda

Beach Girl

This painting is from a photo I took at Dana Point Harbor - lots of painting material at the beach!  So, this is Beach Girl, 8x6.
Linda

Exercises

During the Peggi Kroll Workshop, we had a great model all 3 days - she was really a good sport about wearing anything Peggi asked her to (including a wedding dress).  The first couple of days we did quite a few exercises - starting with value studies - working on our drawings - proper proportion of the figure - usually in 20 minute increments.  Sometimes we would get an additional 20 minutes, sometimes not.  It really is amazing that you can start to see some improvement in just 3 days.
So, here are 2 studies from the workshop. (The lines in the value study indicate the space I hoped to stay within - obviously, didn't do that!)
Linda

Pattern Painting

The last morning of the workshop at Dana Point Harbour/beach was very cloudy - no sun at all and, therefore, no shadows.  Peggi talked about how the Japanese block prints greatly influenced the impressionist painters, especially Degas, Cassatt, Monet and Van Gogh.  The Japanese art was more of a graphic design and they painted the elegant, fluid line to outline things and used flat and very bright colors.  So, our assignment was to do one of these pattern paintings.  Here are two that I did.
Linda

Plein Air Figure Painting

I just finished a 3-day figure painting workshop on the beach in Dana Point with Peggi Kroll Roberts.  I have taken many classes from Peggi but I still learn new things every time I take her workshop.  She is a wonderful teacher as well as a wonderful person. My painting pal, Mary (from the Bay Area) flew down to take the workshop also - so, it was super fun!
Here are a couple photos from the class - the weather cooperated pretty well - we had to deal with some wind and a few clouds but I think that is what plein air is all about.  (That's me in the second photo.)
Linda

Clown Girl

I am not that fond of clowns so not sure where today's painting came from - but, when i sat down to paint, that is what emerged . . . Clown Girl (6x6 on gessobord)
Linda 

Phone Boy

I had this idea rolling around in my head and after I painted it, it made me think of Carley Jepsen's song "Call Me Maybe"!  (6x6 on gessobord)
Linda

Saucy Senorita

Here is my latest painting - a Flamenco dancer, I think.   (12x9 on canvas panel)
Linda 

Flower Girls

So, I did the flower girl again, this time with a dark background - I am posting both so you can see the difference.  I like them both, they are just different.
Linda

Moon Boy

This is in sharp contrast to yesterday's posting. Bold colors, I would say!
Linda

Flower Girl

I may try this one again - next time I will try a bold color for the background - maybe blue or purple - that would make the flower pop -- but, I also like the softness of this one.
Linda

The Bucket

It's so interesting that while I am painting a painting (like the one below) I am really concentrating on getting the proportions of the girl correct, making adjustments as I go along . . . and I sign my name and then look at the size of the bucket - it's almost bigger than she is!  But, it was just a little study (8x8) and good practice.
Linda

Camellias

Went to painting class today (first time in about 6 weeks) - wasn't sure how I would handle the transition back to traditional painting after doing all my whimsical characters.  I guess I was a little uptight as the first try had me wiping the canvas clean and starting over!  But I am happy with the final results.  (8x8 on canvas panel)
Linda

Flower Girl

The latest character . . .

Inspiration

I find these days that the whimsical characters have made me more aware of interesting/quirky items that people wear - a funny hat, a wild pair of glasses, or a funny combination of clothes.  I tuck it away until it fits on just the right character.
So, meet Miss Hollywood . . .

Red

I had a lovely day of painting today - it was a beautiful spring day in Southern California - so, I moved my easel out onto the patio!  Here is what it looked like:

and here is "Red" (6x6 on gessobord).
Linda

Bird Man

The newest addition to my whimsical series:  Bird Man (6x6 on gessobord).
Linda

Beret Boy

Spent a lovely afternoon painting . . . it's so different when I paint the whimsical characters . . . there doesn't seem  to be any pressure of having it turn out a particular way . . . the painting just sort of develops as I am painting . . . much more fun!
So, here is today's "Beret Boy" (6x6 on gessobord)
Linda

Beanie Girl

Here is today's creation . . .
Linda

The Cook

Here is a little "Cook" i did the other night . . .
Linda