une peinture par jour

On the Authority of the Moon

2010-07-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

On the Authority of the Moon, 2010 12" x 12"

So I'm honored that my former English teacher from high school, Bill Ray, contacted me to create a painting that he could use as the cover artwork for his poetic essay, On the Authority of the Moon. You can find the work for sale for kindle on Amazon. It's full of rich imagery, but one of the final scenes about the moon rising over a city scape really stuck with me and is what I based this painting on.

I usually do not do cityscapes but had a lot of fun finding pieces of old newsprint and images of buildings to work with.

So it's been a while....

2010-06-12T11:32:00.001-07:00

Defense and Strategy, 2010, 6 x 4"x 1.5"

.....but I am still painting and have just been lazy about posting on my blog. My studio is also making a little transition this summer into another part of the house so things have been a little messy in my art-making space and will continue to be so for a while.

Enough of the excuses, here are the latest two paintings and I promise to be better about posting in the future.

Cutting Grass, 2010, 6" x 6"x 1"

Defense and Strategy was made using all the scrap pieces of paper that have been accumulating on my studio table...and of course, a little crab claw I found up in Gloucester last summer. It was my attempt to paint and clean at the same time.

Well Hello!

2009-12-11T19:31:00.001-08:00

So, I've been a little busy. Crazy Busy. I don't know if anyone actually reads this, so really, I think it's probably okay that I haven't posted in a while.
Just wanted to check in to thank everyone who came out to the Bazaar Bizarre. I sold a bunch of paintings and gave my contact info to lots of people who were interested in commissions. I do hope they follow through with those as commissions are always so much fun.
I took part in an exciting holiday painting exchange this year. I'm a member of the beeswax team, a group of encaustic painters on Etsy www.beeswaxteam.com and we had the opportunity this year to make a 6" x 6" piece for someone else...and receive one in the mail. I sent this off yesterday to a fellow encaustic painter in Delaware. I'm excited to get mine in the mail soon.
Cheers!

Seattle, 2009, 6" x 6"

Some Weekend Paintings...

2009-11-22T17:16:00.001-08:00

This weekend felt especially relaxing knowing that this week will be especially short at work!

Here are some paintings from time in the studio yesterday.

A Flyer, 6 x 4", 2009

I'm have used this image of these three in their row boat in many paintings. I wanted them to look like they were taking their last trip for the fall in this one.

Autum Boat Ride, 8" x 6", 2009

and lastly, this one:
Practice, 5" x 5", 2009

I'm hoping to get a lot more painting done over Thanksgiving break in preparation for the bazaar bizarre on December 6th.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

New Cards!!

2009-11-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

I ordered some cards made up with images of some of my favorite paintings to hopefully sell when I'm at the Bazaar Bizarre on December 6th.
http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/boston.html

They look quite professional if I do say so myself!

If you want to see more, here is the link to them on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34482546

If only every Wednesday was a day off....

2009-11-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

I would get a whole lot more painting done.
I enjoyed my veteran's day painting. It was fabulous staying in the studio all day.
Thanks for looking.

Letter to Buenos Aries, 4" x 4"

Bismark, 4" x 6"

Fall Song 1, 4" x 4" (left)

and below,

Fall Song 2, 4" x 4"

I thought they would make a nice diptych.

Lastly, I wanted to give a little shout out to my friend Courtney and her very funny and useful blog:
http:// lifeandstyleatoz.blogspot.com

I am honored that she actually did a post about my work! So, not that I'm really certain that I have any readers, but if I do, please check out Courtney's blog as well!

Painting through the end of October...

2009-10-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

Oh October, how did you go by so quickly? At least the weather is somewhat normal for this time of year and the freakish snow of two weekends ago seems to be holding off. I need to go out and collect some leaves before it falls again and decides to stick.
Here's a painting I finished up last week.

Studies, 2009

P.S. Wishing my Dad a very happy birthday.

Letter to Winnipeg

2009-10-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

This was one of those paintings that felt like it was done in 5 minutes, but really took the entire evening. I love it when that happens!

Letter to Winnipeg, 2009

Cloudy with a Chance of Rain...

2009-10-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

I guess this painting kind of sums up how I kind of feel about the fall- I try to appreciate the fact that it is quite beautiful, but I always have a little sense of dread about the upcoming winter.

Cloudy with a Chance of Rain, 4" x 6", October 2009

For now I am holding on to every last bit of warm weather I can!

Lots to post...have just been lazy!

2009-09-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

So, the beginning of the school year always means my productivity in the studio begins to plummet. I am determined this year to make more art work when I am at home. I've been doing little commissions here and there which have been keeping me busy and am still really enjoying my ceramics class and working in another media.
For the meantime, the month of September, which sadly ends tomorrow, resulted in these three paintings (so much for the 'one painting a day').

A wedding encaustic created as a gift for a lovely newly married couple:

an oil portrait of my friend's three-legged buddy, Edgar:
Keep in the mind she told me to make it "as tacky and large as possible." The fur-rimmed cape was her idea, but the scepter was all mine.

and, this little painting that I made over the weekend:

Hope, 2009 5" x 5"

I better get moving because I'm happy to announce that I'll be selling work at the Bizarre Bazaar in December!
Come see me from 12-7 on December 6th at the Cyclorama!
http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/boston.html

Back in the saddle...sort of

2009-08-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back to school and work next week. That means I only have one more week to get in a summer swim, work on two different commissions and make some work just for me. Summer finally kicked in just in time to go back to school....
I haven't done any encaustics since leaving for vacation, but this past week I work on my second Ketubah commission for dear friends. They (thankfully) were very happy with how it turned out. I was too.

Last painting for a little while...

2009-08-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Finally! I had some technical difficulties with both my computer and scanner, so I couldn't post this when it was done on Friday, but here is my last painting for the 'painting a day' challenge.
I spent Thursday at the beach, missing out on a painting but got lots of inspiration. It rained in the morning but was calm and clear in the afternoon. It was really one of the most beautiful days I can think of.

Family at the Beach, 8" x 8" x 1"

Wednesday (and Tuesday too)

2009-07-29T13:28:00.001-07:00

I couldn't hack making an encaustic yesterday as there were too many exciting things going on such as visiting my friend's baby who is only a week old and going to a Red Sox game. I did, however, bust out the watercolors to work on a mock-up for a ketubah that I am working on for a wedding next month.
I have to be honest, I'm not sure how the rest of the week is going to go painting-wise as I'm realizing I have a lot of things to do before we leave for vacation next Tuesday. So, enjoy this one from today.

Canyon Road, 3.5" x 7"

The last Monday of July...

2009-07-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Lawn Games, 6" x 6" x 1"

I'm starting to already dread the end of summer even though it's still kind of far off. July, even though you've been kind of cold, rainy and didn't really feel like summer, I'm still going to miss you when you roll into August.

Friday's Painting

2009-07-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Old Faithful, 4" x 6" x 1"

I kind of like the idea of this guy going to visit his mom who happens to live next door to Old Faithful. Happy weekend to all!

Thursday's Painting

2009-07-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Letter from Colorado, 8" x 6" x 1"

I've made a couple of incarnations of this painting- using this same photo of this threesome in their rowing boat. This might be my favorite.

Wednesday's Painting

2009-07-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Science and Industry, 4" x 6" x 1"

oh my....very pink and very purple.

2009-07-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

This painting is a little brighter than I expected! I found the hot pink piece of paper and thought I would experiment with a color outside my usual palette. I guess this is my response and reaction to today's dreary rain. The 'characters' in this painting were actually bowling. I obscured the bowling balls in their hands with the leaves because their movements were so unusual for an old photograph, I thought they almost looked like they were dancing, or flying........

Something Strange Happened at the Party, 8" x 6" x 1"

Monday, Monday......

2009-07-20T11:55:00.001-07:00

Even when you are on vacation, Mondays are still a little foggy.

I came down with kind of a nasty summer cold, so this painting is made possible by dayquil.

It was inspired by the idea that when I'm feeling better maybe I can get a swim in at Walden Pond. Even though it's often crowded and sometimes shut down due to high levels of bacteria (lovely) ....summer isn't quite summer until I've had my swim across the pond.

The Watchful Owl, 6" x 8"

Friday's Painting

2009-07-17T07:00:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure I like this one. It was kind of a struggle from beginning to end.

This doesn't really matter as it's Friday and we are heading to the beach!

Happy Weekend to all.

The Bread Wagon, 6" x 4"

Thursday's Painting

2009-07-16T10:25:00.001-07:00

Letter from the Desert, 6" x 4"

I've been eying that cactus stamp for a while. The other cacti are made up of dried leaves from one of my house plants!

One painting a day...

2009-07-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

This isn't really a blog, but I was intrigued by the challenge put forth by other encaustic painters to make a painting a day for a period over the summer. As an art teacher, I always try to use my summers to make as much work of my own as possible. This summer, I've fallen a little behind because of moving on July 1st. Now my studio is decently unpacked and I have no excuses. I am going to try to make a painting a day until August 4th when we leave for France for vacation. I'm also cheating a little and not including the weekends. So, three weeks of paintings a day...the blog, is just to ensure that I actually do it. I'm not sure if it will stick around after the project, but it might be a nice way of motivating to do new work.

I started on Monday the 13th. Here are the first three days:

Par Avion, 5" x 5" x 1.5"

I used thick supports for this painting which give it more of the feeling of an object.

That leads me to painting #2.

Letter from Caribou, 4" x 4" x 1.5"

and painting #3:

Magyar Posta, 4" x 6" x 1"

As you can see, I'm into stamps.